In alt.home.repair, on Tue, 19 Feb 2019 19:18:59 -0500, Ed Pawlowski
wrote:

On 2/19/2019 6:28 PM, wrote:
I accidentally drilled a hole in the service entry wire a few months ago. Other than the light briefly flickering when it initially happened but other than that I hadn’t caused any problems at all. I know I got extremely lucky! I got a quote from an electrons of 925$ to replace it but I’m wondering if it needs to be replaced since it hasn’t caused any problems?


Depends. How big of a hole in how bit of a wire? Less material in the
wire means less capacity. Tiny hole, no big deal. Big hole can cause
problems when you run lots of power.

If you grazed a tiny bit, no big deal, but if you took out 3/4 of a
conductor, I'd replace.

I guess I'm alsways optimistic because I figured he drilled all the way
through the insulation but missed the wire. If it's like that, I'd fill
it full of silicone sealant I think. Pack it in good with a wooden
paint stirrer.

25 years ago I had my arms over a wrought iron fence to take a picture
when I dropped something and by reflex, I quickly bent down to pick it
up. Rammed the pointed iron rod into my inner elbow, about 1/2" x 1/2"
x 1/2". At the emergency clinic he was just going to sew it up when he
noticed I'd partly cut the tendon too. He charged an extra 25 dollars
to sew that up. How do I know I really cut my tendon? Might have been
a scam to get 25 more dollars.

JK