The other day I noticed our porch light was out. Assumed it was the bulb,
but that wasn't it, so I removed the fixture, thinking it was a loose wire
nut. There is a black wire and a white wire in the box. Turns out, the
black wire is severed near the back of the box, with just a piece of
insulation holding it to the wire that would connect to the fixture wire.

Is there any way to splice the wire when there is just a quarter to
half-inch to work with inside the box? Otherwise, it looks like I'll need
an electrician to go into the wall. Any advice is appreciated.


*Ideal makes a butt splice connector that is spring loaded. You just push
it on to the wire and stick another piece in the other end. No crimping or
taping is needed. Try an electrical supply company.

http://www.idealindustries.com/prodD...v=0&l1=push-in

If that doesn't work there are a few other things to try, but it depends on
the type of wiring. For BX the electrical box would have to be removed so
that some of the armor could be stripped back. For Romex in a metal box
with a clamp, you could try loosening the clamp and pull a little slack in.
If it is a plastic box, you could try just pulling a little slack into the
box. Sometimes by removing the box you can access the nearest staple and
remove it to give you a few more inches. There is no guarantee that there
will be sufficient slack to pull in.