electrical wire damage question

[Thomas Hutson]

So I had a teensie mishap while i was finishing a long run in my shop of wire. its a long run of 12-2 romex. i was stapling the wires to the rafter when one of the staples twisted just before my hammer tapped it to start setting it. the staple went through the outer sheath and nicked the insulation on the white neutral wire. i opened the yellow casing to inspect and it appears to be a very tiny puncture through the white insulation. the wire itself is intact completely. can I wrap the neutral in electrical tape and then re wrap the rest of the line that i skimmed open for inspection or do i now have to run a splice with a couple junction boxes. One another run i had to reroute some wire and places where the electrician had nailed the wire to the trusses the staple appears it was a little tight and turned the yellow insulation sort of a paler color. I just reinforced those areas with some tape before re stapling in a different spot. is this kosher or not. there is no compromise to the jacket but i just wanted it to be secured better.
thanks,
thomas

[Paul F Franklin]

Tyco makes an approved product for splicing romex without using a jbox: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Tyco-Elec...77-2/202204326

It may or may not be accepted in your area. They are a little tricky to install and can not be reworked once assembled, so take care and follow directions.

A tape or heat shrink splice left exposed would not be code approved.

Romex is pretty tough stuff; it is possible to staple it too tight but it's rare. Hard to describe but I wouldn't worry about it unless the staple reduced the thickness of the cable significantly. The staples with the plastic piece and two nails are self limiting, depth wise, which is why I prefer them to all metal staples.

[Frank Pratt]

Check with your local inspection authority. If the copper itself is not damaged, then I wouldn't want to introduce a potential problem by splicing it. Taping the white wire separately & then taping or heat shrinking the outer sheath will probably be acceptable.

[Art Mann]

Check with your local inspection authority. If the copper itself is not damaged, then I wouldn't want to introduce a potential problem by splicing it. Taping the white wire separately & then taping or heat shrinking the outer sheath will probably be acceptable.

It won't be acceptable to any wiring inspector I have ever dealt with. Safety is not the issue. Inspectors don't just inspect for safety. They inspect for compliance with requirements - whether they make sense or not.

[Jim Becker]

If you have enough slack in the line (you may have to pull some other staples to accomplish this), put in a j-box, make your splice and have the cover of the box accessible once the wall/ceiling is finished.

[Trevor Howard]

Why not add an extra receptacle in that area

[Thomas Hutson]

Tyco makes an approved product for splicing romex without using a jbox: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Tyco-Elec...77-2/202204326

It may or may not be accepted in your area. They are a little tricky to install and can not be reworked once assembled, so take care and follow directions.

A tape or heat shrink splice left exposed would not be code approved.

Romex is pretty tough stuff; it is possible to staple it too tight but it's rare. Hard to describe but I wouldn't worry about it unless the staple reduced the thickness of the cable significantly. The staples with the plastic piece and two nails are self limiting, depth wise, which is why I prefer them to all metal staples.

would the tyco splice product still have to be accessible? its in the attic space and you could go up there through the access cover to inspect i guess. How would you finish out a splice like that. just tack it to a surface and leave it exposed?

also thanks for all of the other input.

Thanks,
Thomas

[Jim Becker]

If this is in an attic and accessible...just put in a J-Box, make a splice and be done with it!

[Frank Pratt]

As Jim says, if accessible, put in a JB.

[Thomas Hutson]

I will go ahead and install a junction box. thanks gentleman

[Dan Rude]

I had to do this in several areas of my attic. I would suggest making a small post so the box is above the insulation. This saved me further headaches, in locating it after I had insulation added later. Dan

[mark mcfarlane]

I had to do this in several areas of my attic. I would suggest making a small post so the box is above the insulation. This saved me further headaches, in locating it after I had insulation added later. Dan

Great idea for the post!

[Robert Engel]

If its just a nick, liquid tape and wrap in vinyl tape would have sufficed.

Its exposed wire so you can always inspect it.