(Shorted Wire)40 Year Old House Wiring (BAD) How To Find The Wire Before The Fire

How To Find Shorts/ Bad Wiring In a House,Fixing It,How To Hook It Up

[zkidder]

This was very helpful even though the problem in video wasn't my exact problem... using this method of going down the line of outlets and junctions to find the short and process of elimination was exactly how I found mine!

[MrBob]

Love how all resi boxes have 0 inches of wire sticking out of the boxes, really helps out for repairs. 6 inches OUT OF THE BOX is code minimum

[fortheloveofallthingsholy]

Saw this on recommended, and you made me laugh multiple times. Have a great day!

[Alex.todorov]

I followed your guidance and was able to find a broken wire that was shorting and trimming the circuit breaker.

[YooTooobJeff]

Always wrap the wire around the screw clockwise, so when you tighten the screws the wire stays under the screw

[crockpot]

I've done this so many times it's elementary to me. Your dealing with 10/2 from around 1970 most electricians did a fast job. I've came across so many homes built durring that time that wasn't done correctly it was insane. Even the home I live in now. If you want extra lead pigtail the whites together and the blacks/reds together to make extra lead. Oh and use Wago level connectors. Them bad boys are the truth. Use the same sized gauge wires in the junction boxes for the receptacles. I'm thinking yours is 20-25 amp breaker mostly 20 though.

[fatherofkids]

Current code in many states requires an extra 6" of wire for obvious reasons.

[rolandos]

One needs to be careful to assume wire colors mean anything. That’s the last thing I would entertain. I would have grabbed annexation cord and tested for continuity between one outlet to another. I learned this valuable trick on a previous video.

[barryjameson]

Should have started with an outlet tester and checked all outlets.

[garyday]

You could wire nut and pigtail your neutrals and hots to give you some extra wire to work with. Been there done that!!

[JohnDundee-elro]

Put green and yellow sleeving on yir cpcs or yir bare earth wires it's a safer job for inside your switches

[Vastle]

I have worked as an electrician in 3 states. I have come across your no extra wire to work with quite often usually in houses from the mid 70s back.

[Studios]

When working on Mobile home wiring they do this all the time, the wires are short in the wall behind almost every fixture, outlet, and receptacle, as an Electrician who mostly works on renovation I often feel like I would like to beat on the other Electricians for just this sort of thing.. When I was trained I was told I should leave a minimum of 6 inches in the box for every run on each side. Back in the day though they did not like to do this. They thought it was wasteful. My line of thinking though especially with Solid core wire like this "Which is common in Residential applications" if you break a wire.. You are rewiring the entire run. That's it. This was very common in the mid to late 70's and into the mid 90's. I guess somewhere in there someone grew a brain and started telling them "No"!

[nathanalaneller]

I have the same camera dexterity. I'm a butterfingers . :)

[Dog-whisperer]

In the uk we test live to neural we get 240v live to earth we get 240v neutral to earth zero. As you use AC the same as us you should have the same results ie hot to neutral 220v hot to ground 220v neutral to ground zero v . It shows the circuit is connected to ground correctly. If the circuit is dead the you are testing continueurty of the ground wire /earth this is correct it you bridge the two wires at the other end.

[DavidBerquist]

Pigtail the wires together and have one wire go to the receptacle one black one white and one ground wire then you'd have more room to pull the outlet in and out

[timlorenzano]

Add pigtail wires to the device then connect to the existing wires with wire nuts. Or they make outlets that have holes in the back to push the wires into. Straighten the existing wires and insert them into the rear of the outlet. IMO, pigtails are the way to go.

[chuckm.]

Short wires (which I extend with pigtails) and boxes that are the smallest I’ve seen. And replacing the boxes is damn near impossible since the house is made of concrete blocks, and the boxes are essentially cemented in.

[raymondgarafano]

Leaving too much insulation, the screw does NOT tighten the wire, thus the more current drawn
the more heat is made by a bad connection, The bottom of the screw head MUST be against the actual wire. The wire is to be wrapped clockwise so end of wire is on the right side of the screw,
then w Longnose pliers pull the end closer to the stock wire so it is like a loop around the screw.
DO not use BACK STAB though legal it is a suck-ass way to wire, lots of current over time will
weaken the springs and switch/outlet will be faulty and cause troubles.

[wrinkledasian]

The barely enough conductors is not uncommon especially in older homes. Maybe code enforcement (if any) were not as strict back in the day. I think most new work people know to leave more, 6-inches most jurisdictions.