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dpb dpb is offline
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Default Crimp-and-tape vs. wirenuts -- for hots?

wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2007 09:49:47 -0500, dpb wrote:

Doug Miller wrote:
In article .com, billder99 wrote:
Guys,

Brand new to this forum... great stuff here. Searching for info on
"wire nuts vs tape" is how I found this forum and thread.

My electrical sub-contractor has been splicing wires with electrical
tape. He insists that "3M-33 tape is acceptable for splicing #12 and
smaller conductors". I showed both him and my inspector NEC 110-14,
which includes the phrase: "... All splices, including ground wires,
shall be made with an approved splice cap or wire nut...".
No, it doesn't. Not in the latest (2005) Code, anyway.

The entire 2005 NEC is available online he
http://nfpa-acs-01.gvpi.net:8080/rrs...NFPASTD/7005SB

Neither that sentence, nor anything remotely similar to it, appears anywhere
in Article 110.14.

They still
say electric tape is acceptable, but can provide no evidence for this
assertion.
The evidence is Article 110.14, which states clearly, "All splices and joints
and the free ends of conductors shall be covered with an insulation equivalent
to that of the conductors or with an insulating device identified for the
purpose." [2005 NEC, Article 110.14(B), third sentence]

If the tape is listed as providing sufficient insulation, then it's ok.
My question: Is there any code that specifically accepts, or denies,
the use of electrical tape for splices in residential electrical
installations, specifically for wire sizes #12 and smaller.
See above.

...

But that addresses the _insulation_ of a splice, not the mechanical
splice itself.

My reading/understanding of the question is that apparently, they're
allowing only a twisted connection covered by tape and I don't think
that is allowed if so...

Maybe again it goes back to the crimp vis a vis
wirenut, but that isn't specifically what this particular poster
stated/asked.


Doug didn't bore you with the whole paragraph

110.14(B) Splices. Conductors shall be spliced or joined with splicing
devices identified for the use or by brazing, welding, or soldering
with a fusible metal or alloy. Soldered splices shall first be spliced
or joined so as to be mechanically and electrically secure without
solder and then be soldered. All splices and joints and the free ends
of conductors shall be covered with an insulation equivalent to that
of the conductors or with an insulating device identified for the
purpose.
Wire connectors or splicing means installed on conductors for direct
burial shall be listed for such use.


Which if the question is to be taken literally as worded makes the
answer to the question "no", not "yes"...

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