Hi;

I have a short circuit in part of my house - the breaker immediately
trips when I try to reset it and it's not the breaker because I tried
switching the wires with another good breaker and it makes it trip as
well.

I checked all the outlets and light switches in the two affected rooms,
everything looked ok, unplugged one at a time and tested the breaker,
no go.

I think I know what the problem is though, I put in two nails into the
wall to hang up some pictures recently... I'm going to call an
electrician, but wanted some insights as to what he can do to fix the
problem and how big a job will it be? Does he have to tear down all
the drywall, etc?? What would be a reasonable quote?

Any input appreciated.

Bob wrote:
Hi;

I have a short circuit in part of my house - the breaker immediately
trips when I try to reset it and it's not the breaker because I tried
switching the wires with another good breaker and it makes it trip as
well.

I checked all the outlets and light switches in the two affected
rooms, everything looked ok, unplugged one at a time and tested the
breaker, no go.

I think I know what the problem is though, I put in two nails into the
wall to hang up some pictures recently... I'm going to call an
electrician, but wanted some insights as to what he can do to fix the
problem and how big a job will it be? Does he have to tear down all
the drywall, etc?? What would be a reasonable quote?

Any input appreciated.

Have you tried removing the nails?

Yes, they were removed and still no go... from what I have been
reading, if the damage to the wires have already been done, removing
them won't help.


HeyBub wrote:
Bob wrote:
Hi;

I have a short circuit in part of my house - the breaker immediately
trips when I try to reset it and it's not the breaker because I tried
switching the wires with another good breaker and it makes it trip as
well.

I checked all the outlets and light switches in the two affected
rooms, everything looked ok, unplugged one at a time and tested the
breaker, no go.

I think I know what the problem is though, I put in two nails into the
wall to hang up some pictures recently... I'm going to call an
electrician, but wanted some insights as to what he can do to fix the
problem and how big a job will it be? Does he have to tear down all
the drywall, etc?? What would be a reasonable quote?

Any input appreciated.

Have you tried removing the nails?

You might want to remove the nails and see if the breaker clears, to be sure
you're barking up the right tree

"Bob" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi;

I have a short circuit in part of my house - the breaker immediately
trips when I try to reset it and it's not the breaker because I tried
switching the wires with another good breaker and it makes it trip as
well.

I checked all the outlets and light switches in the two affected rooms,
everything looked ok, unplugged one at a time and tested the breaker,
no go.

I think I know what the problem is though, I put in two nails into the
wall to hang up some pictures recently... I'm going to call an
electrician, but wanted some insights as to what he can do to fix the
problem and how big a job will it be? Does he have to tear down all
the drywall, etc?? What would be a reasonable quote?

Any input appreciated.

Bob wrote:
Yes, they were removed and still no go... from what I have been
reading, if the damage to the wires have already been done, removing
them won't help.

Only if you managed to break the insulation on two conductors and leave
them touching after the offending nail was pulled. Possible, not real
probable although more likely w/ stranded than solid wire, though.

I'd question the likelihood of the problem being that though, because
unless you used a really long nail or the wiring was improperly
installed too near one wall or the other, you should not have been able
to reach hidden cable.

Now, if you saw/heard the breaker trip the instant you drove one of
them, that would be a good indication. If, otoh, it happened sometime
removed, even though after the actual nail-driving party, I'd suspect
something else.

Bob wrote:

snipped

I'm going to call an
electrician, but wanted some insights as to what he can do to fix the
problem and how big a job will it be? Does he have to tear down all
the drywall, etc?? What would be a reasonable quote?

Any input appreciated.


How the heck could you possibly expect to get a usefull answer to a
question posed that way, Bob? You haven't given us a clue about your
"house". How many floors? Finished basement? Where in the house was that
nail driving exercise located?

Based on your description, my "estimate" for a reasonable quote would
be, "More than $50 and less than $20,000."

Now, f you are really convinced the problem was caused by bad luck when
nailing into a wall, then I'd suggest you just carve away the drywall
around the nail holes, making say a 3" diameter hole you can shine a
light into and see if there really IS a wire there. Holes like that are
quite easy to patch, and as you were going to hang pictures there anyway
you could probably put off painting until the next time the whole room
needs painting.

If you DO find a damaged wire there, then call in an electrician if you
can't handle the repair yourself. I'm no code mavin, but it might be
possible to make a legal splice of a damaged wire without having to pull
a whole new length by installing a box in the wall with a cover on it,
and that box could be hidden behind a picture.

HTH.

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

In article , Jeff Wisnia wrote:

If you DO find a damaged wire there, then call in an electrician if you
can't handle the repair yourself. I'm no code mavin, but it might be
possible to make a legal splice of a damaged wire without having to pull
a whole new length by installing a box in the wall with a cover on it,
and that box could be hidden behind a picture.

As long as there's enough slack in the cable to pull it into the box, while
leaving enough to make splices there, that's certainly Code-compliant. The big
question is whether there's enough slack in the cable... and it's likely there
is *not*.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
. ..
Bob wrote:

snipped

I'm going to call an
electrician, but wanted some insights as to what he can do to fix the
problem and how big a job will it be? Does he have to tear down all
the drywall, etc?? What would be a reasonable quote?

Any input appreciated.


How the heck could you possibly expect to get a usefull answer to a
question posed that way, Bob? You haven't given us a clue about your
"house". How many floors? Finished basement? Where in the house was that
nail driving exercise located?

Based on your description, my "estimate" for a reasonable quote would be,
"More than $50 and less than $20,000."

Now, f you are really convinced the problem was caused by bad luck when
nailing into a wall, then I'd suggest you just carve away the drywall
around the nail holes, making say a 3" diameter hole you can shine a light
into and see if there really IS a wire there. Holes like that are quite
easy to patch, and as you were going to hang pictures there anyway you
could probably put off painting until the next time the whole room needs
painting.

If you DO find a damaged wire there, then call in an electrician if you
can't handle the repair yourself. I'm no code mavin, but it might be
possible to make a legal splice of a damaged wire without having to pull a
whole new length by installing a box in the wall with a cover on it, and
that box could be hidden behind a picture.

If you used a big box you could probably make it work, but it wouldn't meet
code.

Doug Miller wrote:

In article , Jeff Wisnia wrote:


If you DO find a damaged wire there, then call in an electrician if you
can't handle the repair yourself. I'm no code mavin, but it might be
possible to make a legal splice of a damaged wire without having to pull
a whole new length by installing a box in the wall with a cover on it,
and that box could be hidden behind a picture.


As long as there's enough slack in the cable to pull it into the box, while
leaving enough to make splices there, that's certainly Code-compliant. The big
question is whether there's enough slack in the cable... and it's likely there
is *not*.

Two boxes, then.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

Toller wrote:
"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
. ..

snip
If you DO find a damaged wire there, then call in an electrician if you
can't handle the repair yourself. I'm no code mavin, but it might be
possible to make a legal splice of a damaged wire without having to pull a
whole new length by installing a box in the wall with a cover on it, and
that box could be hidden behind a picture.


If you used a big box you could probably make it work, but it wouldn't meet
code.


Why not?

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

Why don't you try pulling the nail?

--
Steve Barker


"Bob" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi;

I have a short circuit in part of my house - the breaker immediately
trips when I try to reset it and it's not the breaker because I tried
switching the wires with another good breaker and it makes it trip as
well.

I checked all the outlets and light switches in the two affected rooms,
everything looked ok, unplugged one at a time and tested the breaker,
no go.

I think I know what the problem is though, I put in two nails into the
wall to hang up some pictures recently... I'm going to call an
electrician, but wanted some insights as to what he can do to fix the
problem and how big a job will it be? Does he have to tear down all
the drywall, etc?? What would be a reasonable quote?

Any input appreciated.

Bob wrote:

Hi;

I have a short circuit in part of my house - the breaker immediately
trips when I try to reset it and it's not the breaker because I tried
switching the wires with another good breaker and it makes it trip as
well.

I checked all the outlets and light switches in the two affected rooms,
everything looked ok, unplugged one at a time and tested the breaker,
no go.

I think I know what the problem is though, I put in two nails into the
wall to hang up some pictures recently... I'm going to call an
electrician, but wanted some insights as to what he can do to fix the
problem and how big a job will it be? Does he have to tear down all
the drywall, etc?? What would be a reasonable quote?

Any input appreciated.

Suggest you try removing all loads from the circuit in question, i.e.
anything plugged in to the now dead outlets and remove any light bulbs
from built in fixtures and see if you still have the fault. It's
entirely possible that one of the devices on the circuit has developed a
fault, light bulbs have on rare occasion been known to fail in a short
condition.

Pete C.

Bob wrote:
Hi;

I have a short circuit in part of my house - the breaker immediately
trips when I try to reset it and it's not the breaker because I tried
switching the wires with another good breaker and it makes it trip as
well.

I checked all the outlets and light switches in the two affected rooms,
everything looked ok, unplugged one at a time and tested the breaker,
no go.

I think I know what the problem is though, I put in two nails into the
wall to hang up some pictures recently... I'm going to call an
electrician, but wanted some insights as to what he can do to fix the
problem and how big a job will it be? Does he have to tear down all
the drywall, etc?? What would be a reasonable quote?

Any input appreciated.


Are you kidding? Pull the nails out and check if
the circuit works. If it does, use shorter nails
and put them in a different place to hand the
pictures. If it still flips the circuit breaker,
the electrician will need to cut a hole(s) in the
wall to repair the wire where the nail penetrated
the cable. then you have to repair the holes cut
in the wall.

Doug Miller wrote:

In article , Jeff Wisnia wrote:


If you DO find a damaged wire there, then call in an electrician if you
can't handle the repair yourself. I'm no code mavin, but it might be
possible to make a legal splice of a damaged wire without having to pull
a whole new length by installing a box in the wall with a cover on it,
and that box could be hidden behind a picture.


As long as there's enough slack in the cable to pull it into the box, while
leaving enough to make splices there, that's certainly Code-compliant. The big
question is whether there's enough slack in the cable... and it's likely there
is *not*.


Aren't there approved in-line crimp connectors and tools to install them
which could be used to join the three wires in a typical piece of Romex
after the ends had been fed into a box? Seems like that might take
little or no "slack".

My understanding is that you can't make a splice in a box which isn't
accessable. i.e. you couldn't hide it behind plasterboard. That's why my
suggestion would end up with a box cover flush with the wall, behind an
easily removed picture.

Could someone please clue me in about crimp connectors for that sort of
application and also "inaccessable" boxes?

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

Jeff Wisnia wrote:

Doug Miller wrote:

In article , Jeff Wisnia wrote:


If you DO find a damaged wire there, then call in an electrician if you
can't handle the repair yourself. I'm no code mavin, but it might be
possible to make a legal splice of a damaged wire without having to pull
a whole new length by installing a box in the wall with a cover on it,
and that box could be hidden behind a picture.


As long as there's enough slack in the cable to pull it into the box, while
leaving enough to make splices there, that's certainly Code-compliant. The big
question is whether there's enough slack in the cable... and it's likely there
is *not*.


Aren't there approved in-line crimp connectors and tools to install them
which could be used to join the three wires in a typical piece of Romex
after the ends had been fed into a box? Seems like that might take
little or no "slack".

My understanding is that you can't make a splice in a box which isn't
accessable. i.e. you couldn't hide it behind plasterboard. That's why my
suggestion would end up with a box cover flush with the wall, behind an
easily removed picture.

Could someone please clue me in about crimp connectors for that sort of
application and also "inaccessable" boxes?

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

Don't know about approved crimp connectors, but you could accomplish the
same task with the approved quick connect connectors that are being used
in manufactured housing now. They would allow you to make the same
no-slack type connection just snipping out the tiny damaged section.

Pete C.

On 1 Jan 2007 12:06:05 -0800, "Bob" wrote:

Hi;

I have a short circuit in part of my house - the breaker immediately
trips when I try to reset it and it's not the breaker because I tried
switching the wires with another good breaker and it makes it trip as
well.

I checked all the outlets and light switches in the two affected rooms,
everything looked ok, unplugged one at a time and tested the breaker,
no go.

I think I know what the problem is though, I put in two nails into the
wall to hang up some pictures recently... I'm going to call an
electrician, but wanted some insights as to what he can do to fix the
problem and how big a job will it be? Does he have to tear down all
the drywall, etc?? What would be a reasonable quote?

Any input appreciated.


I'm curious, how big were these nails?

tom @ www.Consolidated-Loans.info