How To Extend Electrical Wire Inside Wall

When working with electrical you will run into a situation where someone didn t leave enough slack inside the electrical box.

How to extend electrical wire inside wall.

Use the labeled notches on a wire stripper to check the gauge of the existing wire 14 gauge is most common but you may have 12 gauge wire. Cut the sheathing to remove it and strip off about 3 4 inch of the plastic insulation from the end of each wire. From there you can run a 2 w ground cable to this location e g. You ve pretty well identified your two choices.

The size of the wire you add must match the size of the existing wire. If you don t want to re run longer cables you ll need to splice in some additional cable. Next run wire from the existing junction box to each box base. Published on dec 30 2015 a quick demonstration on how to join up the electrical wire when cutting it and adding an extension.

Drill left to right or right to left through a wall stud with power drill and a 1 1 4 inch bit working through the access openings that you cut in the drywall. The wire must be able to come out beyond the surface of the box at least 3. You will need to reroute these cables to a different junction box somewhere the wiring is able reach with the needed spare length inside the box. Insert a clamp with wires attached into the junction box hole and from inside the box push the included nut over the wires and onto the clamp threads.

The family handyman editor rick muscoplat shows you how to splice in jumper wires to give you the slack you need. Drill one hole through every stud. Avoid nicking or scratching the copper wire while removing the insulation. The method is called a western union splice where you join two ends.