zxcvbob wrote:
George E. Cawthon wrote:
zxcvbob wrote:
wrote:
Greetings,
What is the best (cheapest/quickest?) NEC compliant way to join two
wires within a wall that will NOT later be accessible without
disturbing the building finish?
The current method I most often see utilized in past construction is to
strip an area of insulation off of a wire without cutting it, twist
another wire around this wire with many loops and finally apply
electrical tape generously.
Thanks,
William
There's not an NEC compliant way to do it. If you want to do it
safely but not compliant, do what you said but then silver-solder the
connection and wrap with rubber splicing tape. Regular solder isn't
good enough, you'd have to either weld it (and copper is hard to
weld) or use silver solder with a high silver content (like 40%.) It
would be a real pain-in-the-ass to do, and a half-assed job when you
were done. HTH
Best regards,
Bob
One ought to follow the NEC, but the way you said is not the really
the safe way. Wires are joined all over the house and in box and are
safe. An inaccessible box can't be inspected but that doesn't make it
unsafe. In fact, if one wires inaccessible boxes just like the
accessible ones, one is no more unsafe than the other. But if I were
doing it, which I wouldn't, I would make sure I used a box that clamps
on the romex. The problem with an inaccessible box is when some yahoo
starts pulling on the wires, the wires are not stapled as required,
and the wires pull partially apart. You can stop that by using boxes
with clamps.
I think this is all nonsense anyway as you should never need to use an
inaccessible box. Just use an accessible box that is in full view or
hidden behind a door, a hinged cover, a picture, etc.
OP asked about joining wires without a box, and I was trying to make the
point that doing it without a box would be more trouble and probably
more expensive than doing it right -- and would still be a poor job when
you were done.
Best regards,
Bob
Ah. I kind of missed that point in your last
sentence and got sidetracked by the many other
comments I was reading about the boxes. Sorry.