tracing a short

[diverguy]

Well one of my poarch lights quit, kept blowing the fuse . so at least i got that right . but i am curious what some of yall do when you get a short in a wall. i did trace my short down to the wire between the switch and the light. did some rerouting under trim and it is back up and working. however right now i am really wishing i had run my wiring through some conduit of some sort. even just some tiny pvc . I would really recomend this.

[bobhenry]

If you have nailed or screwed thru the wire and can pull it free without breaking it , tie some masons twine or really stout cord to the damaged wire and pull it out , the cord will follow. Tie on your replacement wire and drag the cord back through. However your right conduit would be great. 1/2" pvc is cheap and non conductive and make a great chase however its not fastner proof.

[diverguy]

i tried that exact thing (pullin out with a cord to pull back through) but the way i have my wires run, around braces, through holes drilled in studs, plus i guess somewhere under my aluminum skin i poped a screw through the wire, it was just not going to happen. had to run a new wire behind the trim. no one will ever know except me. its all good now but i will do the next different.

[asianflava]

If I get a short, I'm screwed. I did run a couple extra wires though.

[Steve_Cox]

When I ran wires through my walls and ceiling I didn't use conduit but really smoothed out the edges of the holes the wires went through. some runs had extra wires and the ones I knew would pull easily had nylon kite string in them for future wires.... Everything worked OK the first time cause I was sure I was gonna screw something up.

[BrwBier]

To find the exact location of the short just replace the fuse with a piece of wire heavier than the wire with the short and watch for the smoke. I only have two wires that go to two reading lights, the rest are all in the cabinets and are put under trim to start with, just so if their is ever a problem I can just pull the trim and replace the wire. Also because when I built the walls I had not decided where any wiring would be.
Brwbier

[Podunkfla]

To find the exact location of the short just replace the fuse with a piece of wire heavier than the wire with the short and watch for the smoke. :shock

Well... That will work if ya keep the fire extinguisher handy.
I'd rather just use one of these handy-dandy little "Short Detectors": http://tinyurl.com/33sucx

[jdarkoregon]

Can you take your siding off? if you can, it might be faster to do that than and find the exact location of the short. Besides, when you find it, you might have to take the siding off anyway.



John

[sdtripper2]

What is the moral of this electrical short story?


How can this thread help a new person not gnash her teeth with a similar
situation. Faced with a short after the build is complete is not pretty.

1) Run conduit~
2) Run a wire-way behind molding as Danny has done~
3) Maybe a electrical area like Mary K ... with conduit running to 12 volt lighting fan and exterior lighting?

4) Maybe there is a better way to plan for the short or open in an electrical circuit? What is your opinion?

[diverguy]

well i found my short, between the porch light switch and the light. was fairly easy to replace and run behind some trim. i am the only one who will ever know. i dont think that a nail in the fuse block and looking for smoke is a very good way to find that. there are much better and safer ways. my next build i will use sone type of conduit and even if it is something like 1/4 inch for each wire. in my case everything is from the middle of the wall out is either glued, screwed, stapled, nailed, calked, or fastened in some other fashion.
mine is repaired, but i am sure there are better and easier ways to be able to make this repair.

[Tripmaker]

To find the exact location of the short just replace the fuse with a piece of wire heavier than the wire with the short and watch for the smoke. I only have two wires that go to two reading lights, the rest are all in the cabinets and are put under trim to start with, just so if their is ever a problem I can just pull the trim and replace the wire. Also because when I built the walls I had not decided where any wiring would be.
Brwbier

They used to use pennys for that but I don't think there is enough copper in them today.

[Phil & Ningning]

To find the exact location of the short just replace the fuse with a piece of wire heavier than the wire with the short and watch for the smoke. I only have two wires that go to two reading lights, the rest are all in the cabinets and are put under trim to start with, just so if their is ever a problem I can just pull the trim and replace the wire. Also because when I built the walls I had not decided where any wiring would be.
Brwbier

They used to use pennys for that but I don't think there is enough copper in them today.

Doesn't matter.

They still conduct well enough to start a fire!