Any electricians in the house?

[serpentman]

While installing insulation in my basement 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?

 

[Nazrac]

Wow what a question. Do you want it to be code or do you not care. If you want code then you could splice it and install a junction box at the splice. So the splice is inside the junction box. Or if you dont care just splice it right there and be done with it. If you are really good at soldering you could solder it and heatshrink it afterwards but solid wire is extremely hard to solder well. Last option is to run a whole new run of wire. HTH

 

[username in use]

have an electrician fix it up to code. It sucks to pay for that kind of stuff, but is it worth the risk of your house burning down? even though it may be a long shot risk, id have it fixed right and sleep well.

 

[sikpupy]

There are other options rather than running a new line. You can go a few ways to do it. I am not an electrician, so, take this with a grain of salt, but, would just get to the wiring and see what it looks like. If it is a jacketed type of wire that contains free moving individual wires, I would split the jacket and take a look at the wire(s) that got stapled. Youmight be able to get away just wraping them good (individually of course) with black electrical tape. yea, not exactly code, but as long as it will keep them from rubbing bare to bare wire, you should be good.

Can you get a picture of the assalted wire?

 

[mustang51js]

just put it in a junction box, how big is your house that you need a 100amp line for an ac or is it for a subpanel, anyway theres no need to run a new line unless its falling apart, like i said use a 6x6 junction box and if your going to sheetrock where it is just leave an access panel or have the cover flush with the sheetrock incase of future access

 

[Nazrac]

yeah what i said

 

[pipebash]

im assuming that since you didnt get hurt that the breaker tripped hopefully or did the staple get cleared from the wire during the fault? if the breaker didnt trip I'd have somebody come out and replace it. Also the Junction box is fine. I think its probably #2 AWG so wire nuts arent an option for splicing so you'll want to use kerneys, rubber tape and scotch 33 electrical tape. If you're uncomfortable with any of this I'd definitely have an electrician do it for you, just for the peace of mind and also if something were to happen they have the insurance to cover it.

 

[luther1200]

I would say if it sparked like you say it did. Get somebody who knows what they are doing to look at it for you. The price will be negligible in comparison to what you already spent on your tank. Not to mention the potential of losing your house or loved ones in a fire.

I give this advice having experienced 2 house fires, and luckily never losing the house. But it is still a very scary situation and something you want to avoid at all costs.

 

[chilwil84]

100 amp seems high for an ac unit my 3 1/2 ton unit is on a 30 amp breaker. many 1200 scq ft houses only use a 100 amp service. that said there are the hookup used in modular homes that are able to be burried in walls that look a little better than a junction box if looks mean anything in your situation.

 

[serpentman]

Its definitely 100A (2 x 50A breakers). I haven't gone out there but believe its to a panel.

The breakers did trip. When I reset them nothing happened. I fired up the AC and let it run for 30mins and then checked the line to see if there as any heat/resistance. There was none.

I am going to have someone come out an take a look next week. In the interim, I think the damage was minimal.

 

[sds]

if he has a packaged unit with electric heat 100 amps is pretty common. hth

 

[serpentman]

Its a stand alone AC, heat is gas. I checked and there is a subpanel outside which may explain the 100A. I exposed the wire this morning to see what the conductor looked like. Its a braided wire so its difficult to tell for sure but I didn't see any damage.

 

[mustang51js]

you could probobly just leave it the way it is, the staples arent that big and probobly melted during the sparks, if the insulation is damaged then i say put it in a box if not you could get liquid electric tape to put in the pin hole or just regular electric tape over it, if you dont feel safe just have an electrician to look at it

 

[cactusreef]

Sounds like it is a 50amp, 220v. The 2 breakers are probably tied together so that when you move one they both move. Not going to change how to fix them, just wanted to clarify.

As others have said:

best option: run new line
next best option: install a junction box if you can pull some slack to do the splice

Stay away from: splice without a box (that is a lot of current)

Patching may be an option, but if it was a large staple and you broke some of the wire in the strand, you may have a heat problem at that location in the future. I have a lot of experience with electrical but I am not an electrician. Just my 2 cents. As many have said, if you have any doubt, hire a professional. Good luck!

 

[pipebash]

please dont use the ac until the problem is fixed. if there was sparks there is absolutely damage to the insulation. if the breaker tripped thats good id just leave it off until it is looked at by a professional. also im sure you didnt but just in case, if there is insulation covering or near the incident id remove it until the problem is resolved.

 

[elf5]

If the wire itself, not just the plastic jacket was damaged you should definitely have an electrician fix it properly. NO DAMAGE AT ALL to wire you could repair as mentioned above. If the wire was compromised it may start a fire in the future.

 

[mustang51js]

if you can take a pic i'll let you know the best way to fix it.