Any electricians in the house?

[serpentman]

While installing insulation in my fishroom, I inadvertently hit the 100A service line to my AC unit with a staple. Needless to say sparks ensued. Luckily, I was not hurt. Now I am concerned about the line in question, especially given its size. Is the proper course of action to splice a patch in or am I going to have to have someone come out and install a complete new run?

 

[aerius007]

Got me, but at least you arent cooked.

 

[serpentman]

I don't believe the line was damaged much as the staples are small and the line is quite large. However need to know what to do before I burn my house down. In the meantime since I don't need AC anytime soon I left the breaker off

 

[StanD]

Jeff:
Tough to be sure without seeing the damage. My guess is you can remove the stapel after turning off the breaker, then rewrap with insulating tape. However, I would call a real electrician, or offer one a nice frag, to come out to give you an opinion.

StanD

 

[chuggy]

gallan56 or galan56 gary is an electrician

 

[chuggy]

btw i like stans idea i can come out today lol

can you see the wire or is it behind drywall? if you can see it i would split the insulation to make sure theres no metal to metal contact, and rewrap with electrical tape. Duh i just reread the first post obviously if your doing insualtion theres no drywall. I dont think its necessary to replace the run. JMO

 

[serpentman]

Yeah, I think I am going to just tape it up. The staple itself was vaporized. I flipped the breaker on and ran the AC for about 20 min. I then took temp readings on the cable with an IR Thermometer and there is no excess heat. Whew!

 

[Kostrab]

Jeff, I'm not a certified electrician, but I work with it on a daily basis. If you want, I can take a look at it.. LMK...
Steve

 

[saltydog316]

you can use a good amount of tape but i like heat shrink tube alot more its a little work in your case though,disconnecting

 

[funkyman]

I have some simple stuff that needs done. I have a dimmer switch in our kitchen that needs replaced, and my door bell needs hooked up again. I can explain the details later.

I've got some bigger projects to look at for whoever does these smaller things.

 

[chuggy]

gallan56 or galan56 i cant remember if its 1 L or 2 but he does everything handy and he is an electrician pm him his name is gary

 

[landers96]

Hey guys how ya doin? You need to split the insulation on the wire and get a good look at the copper. If there is missing copper from where the staple hit ( a sizable dent) then I would splice in a new piece. If the damage doesn't look to bad then rewrap with good electrical tape, not cheap stuff. What kind of ac unit do you have? 100 amps on a ac must be a monster. Be carefull though because no matter what now there is going to be a lot of resistance in the wire at the point where it was nicked witch translates into heat in the wire. if any question's just ask and if anyone ever needs some stuff done get a hold of me.

 

[BrunstuckyJoe]

Wouldn't adding a junction box at the point of the problem be a fix also if the wire is damaged?

 

[landers96]

That would work if there's enough slack in a cable to make a joint, but assuming it's a straight piece of wire there won't be enough wire to cut out the bad piece, then tap the wire back together again.

 

[serpentman]

I exposed the wires to see what damage was done. Its really hard to tell as it is braided wire. However, at a glance, it looks minimal to none.

I believe there is a subpanel outside, which might explain the 100A. Otherwise, I don't think my AC takes anywhere near that much.

Thanks Kostrab, I will shoot you a PM.