A rat moved into the crawl space under my kitchen (an extension to the main
house) and chewed the white outer sleeve off of three 14-3 cables. Each
cable supplies power to a single outlet. The cables run from the main panel
in the basement, into the crawl space under my kitchen, and about half way
into the kitchen and over to the base of a wall. They then go up the wall,
and over the ceiling and down another wall to the outlets.

I am replacing the damaged cable with new 14-3 and routing immediately from
the basement up an inside wall to the kitchen ceiling avoiding the crawl
space completely; although the offending rat is now dead, I'm sure another
will show up some day, and I do not want to have to replace these wires
twice.

My problem is that it would require a great deal of work to replace the
entire runs from the panel to the outlets. I can get the cables from the
panel into the kitchen ceiling. I can even access each of the 3 damaged
wires from where they enter the ceiling to where they go down the wall to
the outlets. However, without ripping out the parts of the 2nd story wall
(above the kitchen wall with outlets) I cannot pull out the old wires, let
alone feed in down new ones. The reason is likely that the holes drilled
through the wall plate and header are probably quite small and the 14-3 wire
is very tightly inserted.

I do however have an unused junction box in the ceiling of my kitchen so it
would very convenient to upsize the junction box to a square 42 cubic inch
box and splice the old an new wires at this location. Is there any problem
with this approach? I did the calculations and a 42 cubic inch junction box
is large enough for three 14-3 in and three 14-3 out (6 cables in total). I
also don't mind having the junction covered and visible on my kitchen
ceiling since there has always been one there.

Thanks in advance for any comments or advice.

"Monte Creasor" wrote in message
...
A rat moved into the crawl space under my kitchen (an extension to the
main
house) and chewed the white outer sleeve off of three 14-3 cables. Each
cable supplies power to a single outlet. The cables run from the main
panel
in the basement, into the crawl space under my kitchen, and about half way
into the kitchen and over to the base of a wall. They then go up the
wall,
and over the ceiling and down another wall to the outlets.

I am replacing the damaged cable with new 14-3 and routing immediately
from
the basement up an inside wall to the kitchen ceiling avoiding the crawl
space completely; although the offending rat is now dead, I'm sure another
will show up some day, and I do not want to have to replace these wires
twice.

My problem is that it would require a great deal of work to replace the
entire runs from the panel to the outlets. I can get the cables from the
panel into the kitchen ceiling. I can even access each of the 3 damaged
wires from where they enter the ceiling to where they go down the wall to
the outlets. However, without ripping out the parts of the 2nd story wall
(above the kitchen wall with outlets) I cannot pull out the old wires, let
alone feed in down new ones. The reason is likely that the holes drilled
through the wall plate and header are probably quite small and the 14-3
wire
is very tightly inserted.

I do however have an unused junction box in the ceiling of my kitchen so
it
would very convenient to upsize the junction box to a square 42 cubic inch
box and splice the old an new wires at this location. Is there any
problem
with this approach? I did the calculations and a 42 cubic inch junction
box
is large enough for three 14-3 in and three 14-3 out (6 cables in total).
I
also don't mind having the junction covered and visible on my kitchen
ceiling since there has always been one there.

Thanks in advance for any comments or advice.


Only replace the damaged parts if all the rest of the cable is intact. But
use proper jointing methods to do so. Properly installed junction boxes,
left totally accessible, or crimped connections are all you really need to
replace the damaged sections.

Thank you for your response.

What do you mean by crimped connections? I thought that when 2 wires are
joined the always have to be housed in an accessible electrical box (joined
using wire connectors).

"BigWallop" wrote in message
. uk...

"Monte Creasor" wrote in message
...
A rat moved into the crawl space under my kitchen (an extension to the
main
house) and chewed the white outer sleeve off of three 14-3 cables. Each
cable supplies power to a single outlet. The cables run from the main
panel
in the basement, into the crawl space under my kitchen, and about half
way
into the kitchen and over to the base of a wall. They then go up the
wall,
and over the ceiling and down another wall to the outlets.

I am replacing the damaged cable with new 14-3 and routing immediately
from
the basement up an inside wall to the kitchen ceiling avoiding the crawl
space completely; although the offending rat is now dead, I'm sure
another
will show up some day, and I do not want to have to replace these wires
twice.

My problem is that it would require a great deal of work to replace the
entire runs from the panel to the outlets. I can get the cables from the
panel into the kitchen ceiling. I can even access each of the 3 damaged
wires from where they enter the ceiling to where they go down the wall to
the outlets. However, without ripping out the parts of the 2nd story
wall
(above the kitchen wall with outlets) I cannot pull out the old wires,
let
alone feed in down new ones. The reason is likely that the holes drilled
through the wall plate and header are probably quite small and the 14-3
wire
is very tightly inserted.

I do however have an unused junction box in the ceiling of my kitchen so
it
would very convenient to upsize the junction box to a square 42 cubic
inch
box and splice the old an new wires at this location. Is there any
problem
with this approach? I did the calculations and a 42 cubic inch junction
box
is large enough for three 14-3 in and three 14-3 out (6 cables in total).
I
also don't mind having the junction covered and visible on my kitchen
ceiling since there has always been one there.

Thanks in advance for any comments or advice.


Only replace the damaged parts if all the rest of the cable is intact.
But
use proper jointing methods to do so. Properly installed junction boxes,
left totally accessible, or crimped connections are all you really need to
replace the damaged sections.

"Monte Creasor" wrote in message
...
Thank you for your response.

What do you mean by crimped connections? I thought that when 2 wires are
joined the always have to be housed in an accessible electrical box
(joined
using wire connectors).


(joined using wire connectors)? That's what crimp connectors are. Only
they are a bit more secure than screw type connectors, especially for long
established wiring schemes. Cables go through many cycles of heating and
cooling, and screw type connectors can eventually work loose. Crimp On
connectors are actually like part of the wire after they're made good. So
they expand and contract more easily along the with wire, and therefore stay
more secure for longer.


"BigWallop" wrote in message
. uk...

"Monte Creasor" wrote in message
...
A rat moved into the crawl space under my kitchen (an extension to the
main
house) and chewed the white outer sleeve off of three 14-3 cables.
Each
cable supplies power to a single outlet. The cables run from the main
panel
in the basement, into the crawl space under my kitchen, and about half
way
into the kitchen and over to the base of a wall. They then go up the
wall,
and over the ceiling and down another wall to the outlets.

I am replacing the damaged cable with new 14-3 and routing immediately
from
the basement up an inside wall to the kitchen ceiling avoiding the
crawl
space completely; although the offending rat is now dead, I'm sure
another
will show up some day, and I do not want to have to replace these wires
twice.

My problem is that it would require a great deal of work to replace the
entire runs from the panel to the outlets. I can get the cables from
the
panel into the kitchen ceiling. I can even access each of the 3 damaged
wires from where they enter the ceiling to where they go down the wall
to
the outlets. However, without ripping out the parts of the 2nd story
wall
(above the kitchen wall with outlets) I cannot pull out the old wires,
let
alone feed in down new ones. The reason is likely that the holes
drilled
through the wall plate and header are probably quite small and the 14-3
wire
is very tightly inserted.

I do however have an unused junction box in the ceiling of my kitchen
so
it
would very convenient to upsize the junction box to a square 42 cubic
inch
box and splice the old an new wires at this location. Is there any
problem
with this approach? I did the calculations and a 42 cubic inch
junction
box
is large enough for three 14-3 in and three 14-3 out (6 cables in
total).
I
also don't mind having the junction covered and visible on my kitchen
ceiling since there has always been one there.

Thanks in advance for any comments or advice.


Only replace the damaged parts if all the rest of the cable is intact.
But
use proper jointing methods to do so. Properly installed junction
boxes,
left totally accessible, or crimped connections are all you really need
to
replace the damaged sections.

In article ,
"Monte Creasor" writes:
Thank you for your response.

What do you mean by crimped connections? I thought that when 2 wires are
joined the always have to be housed in an accessible electrical box (joined
using wire connectors).

It looks to me like you posted a US question to a UK newsgroup.
You have got a UK answer, which is almost certainly inappropriate
in the US. Try posting to a US newsgroup for a correct US answer.

--
Andrew Gabriel