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Phil Munro
 
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Default Wires Too Short in Outlet Box, How to Extend Length ?

After many years working on our old house which has plaster/lath
walls, I've learned to just do the plaster/lath work needed to replace
some boxes. You might want to consider this. Once you get the old
box out of the wall, and consider whether or not the wire that is there
is worth saving, it will be possible to make a safe splice to extend
the wire AND replace the box with a larger one, OR run a new piece of
romex.
This also lets you think carefully about any other changes you might
want to make there. If the romex/wiring that is there has crumbly
insulation, replacement of some of it is the wisest thing to do
This is what it takes to deal well with these kinds of problems.
OR, hire someone to do it for you!! --Phil

BOB wrote:

Wires Too Short in Outlet Box, How to Extend Length ?

I have some 110 volt boxes which hold the Outlets and some are for
Light switches. The problem is when I go to replace the old outlet or
light switch the wires are so short that reconnecting a new outlet or
wire is impossible. The wires literally will not even allow me to get
to the screw without great effort.

So when I go to install the new outlet/light switch some of the wires
either broke.

This section of the house is about 50 years old and it appears these
are the oldest boxes.

Is there a good/safe way to EXTEND those 110 volt wires?
I tried using 12 gauge wires and using a wire nut to extend a piece
but this made it impossible to push all those wires back into the box.

So does anyone have a method to extend those wires?

Thanks,


--
Phil Munro Dept of Electrical & Computer Engin
Youngstown State University
Youngstown, Ohio 44555