I like fixing machines and building furniture. I have done some very small electrical jobs in my house so there’s a lot I don’t know here. While installing my cabinets I ran into a snag and would appreciate some advice.
The short question: If I were to drill through a romex cable, what’s the proper way to fix this? Can I splice a new cable in just for this section, or do I have to somehow run entirely new cable?
The longer version.
I am building new cabinets for my kitchen which has been going great, until I started screwing them to the walls last night.
My stud finder chimed so I drilled a hole to test it. Turns out the chime was for a wire. While drilling the hole I saw a spark, and the refrigerator flickered.
I cut the cable sheathing open and it seems I chewed about half of the ground wire and nicked the black wire. I taped up the black wire, then taped the whole thing just to be safe for the night. The refrigerator still turns on and seems functional.
Can I splice a new cable in place or is there something more serious I should do?
@Rolo speaking as a handyman and remodeler since 1973. Your best option.
The electrical code states that all electrical connections shall be accessible from the living/work space. The patch you made could potentially create greater resistance and heat up and start a fire or just short out the circuit.
Since this is behind a refrigerator, it’s not likely going to make a difference aesthetically to add a junction box (remodel box) that will be accessible from the kitchen. Purchase a remodel electrical box, an assortment of wire nuts, a short length of Romex, and a blank cover from a home improvements store before starting work.
Turn off the power at the circuit breaker before starting work. It’s sometimes helpful to take a picture of everything before disassembly.
If you can, cut a hole in the drywall on the home run side of the booboo where there’s enough space in the wall cavity for the remodel box. Insert the home run wire into the remodel box and also run a new wire from THAT box to the refrigerator outlet. It’s helpful to do that before putting the box through the drywall. Tighten the clips on the remodel box to secure it to the drywall.
You’ll have to disconnect the refrigerator outlet and the wires going to it and run the new “patch wires” (Romex) into that box to connect the wires to the outlet. Discard the old wire, but make sure the new wire is the same gauge and type (printed on the plastic covering of the old wire - NM 2/12 With Ground). Make the wire connections matching the colors - black to black … white to white … bare to bare. Refer to your picture to make sure the correct wires are connected to the right terminals of the outlet.
Make your wire connections, stripping 5/8" or so plastic off each wire. Twist the bare copper wires together tightly and put a yellow or red wire nut on each twisted connection. Each connection must be made inside the junction box, and the junction box should have a blank cover to contain all the connections.
Energize your distribution panel, and you should be good to go.
Love David’s advice and detail. I think, based on the photo, you are going to have to cut the drywall further away from the pipe in order to get a junction box to fit due to the plumbing. I see drywall repair in your future.
Oh, yes, since a cabinet is going in front, you will need to cut an access into it for that junction access as well.
@David78737 Thank you for the detailed writeup here. That definitely helps and is something that I believe I’m capable of doing.
@Snestle When people say I’m a carpenter, this is why I tell them “No way” ha! After this project, I much prefer to build the cabinets than installing them.
The hole in the picture is behind the last cabinet and just above it. After a long day and getting a little tired, I decided to drill the hole north of the cabinet to “test” if the stud finder was right, rather than putting a meaningless hole in the cabinet.
I’m thinking I might be able to pull the cable down an inch or so and use the box and wall cap method. I either would want to do this, or somehow (and safely / appropriately) fix and conceal the cables since it will be partly covered by countertop and then backsplash.
I certainly don’t want to sacrifice safety for aesthetics if it comes down to it.
Appears you only nicked it! Wrap some electrical tape around each covered wire individually, leave the ground (bare copper) as is and you should be fine.
You could wrap a new ground wire to both sides of that break just to be safe
