OT electrical question

[Dick Holt]

I am replacing several windows in my house. There is a small amount of rot in one corner of the opening. I was cutting away the sheathing with my multi-tool and I nicked an electrical wire. I can see the copper where the insulation was nicked. I do not think the copper was cut , but I am not positive. Can I just tape this and call it or a day or is there a code that covers how this must be handled? Thanks.

Dick

[Dan Hintz]

If the insulation is broken, you can't seal it back up inside the wall. The most simple "to code" way to handle it would be put an accessible electrical box there, but it's likely not a good spot to have one.

[Jeff Nicol]

Dick, Post a picture and that will help to make a better diagnosis and repair, but if it is an old home with separate wires in a braided covering, it may be a bit more difficult. There is a product that is called "Liquid electrical tape" that may do the trick and then get some good electrical tape and cover the area with that. If you have to put in a junction box to make the repair and you can not get enough slack to make the connection inside the box the repair may have to go up to where you can get some slack or add a new piece of wire in from the junction box to the outlet or switch.

Good luck and I am sure someone who is an electrician will chime in and help you with the best manner of a fix,

Jeff

[Rollie Meyers]

If you had just damaged the sheathing simply taping it up would have been acceptable, but once the insulation of the indv. conductors has been damaged then replacing, adding J-boxes in accessable locations will be couple of ways to do the repair, but without seeing the damage it's hard to know the best way. Is this newer wiring? If so the grounding conductor could be what is showing.

The old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words" still rings true.

[Dick Holt]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, the insulation on one of the conductors was damaged. While taping it was certainly tempting, I wanted to do it right. So, what I did was put in a box with an outlet. Can always use another outlet in the room. Thanks again for the replies.

Dick