Electrical wire accidently charred.

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thedude99

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I had a pinhole copper leak that was fixed by a plumber recently. Had to cut section of ceiling on main floor. Anyways the space was quite tight and while soldering the pipe a very tiny section of electrical wire nearby got slightly charred. I asked him if I need to worry about that and after inspecting it he said "that's not a problem".

Since it's somewhat close to the pipe and if the pipe ever leaks I'm abit concerned about it. I can see whatever is underneath the sheathing - probably 1/8th an inch type section - the layer underneath that appears unaffected.

Is it possible for an electrician to test this wire to see if damaged? A journeymen electrician buddy of mine - who doesn't live here so can't inspect - suggested to carefully cut the sheathing off to allow for inspection and wrap both of the interior wires in electrical tape and then tape over both of those with an additional layer of tape. The alternative wouldn't be pretty I assume as that wire would have to be pulled and re-run.

Picture in question

http://imgur.com/a/qduYh
http://imgur.com/a/qduYh
This incident happened a few days ago. Two days ago a breaker tripped in my house - appeared to be exactly when my wife opened a running dishwasher to throw something else in there. New toaster oven was also running at the time + TV which definitely were on the same circuit as they turned off when it tripped. No idea if related to the plumber thing and I have no idea either if that wire that was impacted powered those items on that circuit.
 

FullySprinklered

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I would do exactly what your buddy suggested, having looked at the picture. It's probably not related to the kicked breaker at all. That circuit is overloaded.
 

Cacher_Chick

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The simplest thing to do if you feel something needs to be done is to add a junction box or two so you can cut out the bad section and splice it.
 

Jadnashua

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FWIW, the installation instructions for most dish washers is to install them on their own circuit, which is very good advice, at least to me. And, if that circuit where you had the toaster oven is on the counter...it is not supposed to go out of the kitchen if I read the code correctly. A toaster over could nearly max out a 15A circuit (but a counter outlet in a kitchen should be a 20A one in today's codes).
 

Lone Star Charles

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To me, the wire in the picture does not look like regular house wiring. It appears as if there are two wires that are bonded together. Of course, maybe there is just a brownish line that runs down the wire. I can't really tell.
 

thedude99

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It's labelled General Wire and Cable NMD 90 Vinylex

Something like that. Built in mid 80's, am in Canada
 

thedude99

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So my main question is - besides visual inspection is there anything an electrician can do to test this thing?
 

WorthFlorida

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I... - appeared to be exactly when my wife opened a running dishwasher to throw something else in there. New toaster oven was also running at the time + TV which definitely were on the same circuit as they turned off when it tripped. No idea if related to the plumber thing and I have no idea either if that wire that was impacted powered those items on that circuit.

Not really, no way to test other than with an ohm meter but any short would trip the breaker immediately without a load.

Electrical tape doesn't fix anything. The charred covering looks like it did not melt the internal wire insulation so it maybe OK. But cutting it out and replacing it with a juncture box setup then you would have a covered box that is not allowed. Also, there is not much slack to spice the wire. I would worry more of where the wire comes out the floor above. It looks tight and chafing could occur but with a picture alone it hard to tell.

You're overloading the breaker: Toaster ovens are typically 1500 watts (13 amps), a dishwasher should be on its own breaker because most dishwashers have heating elements in them to heat up the wash water and drying plus there is the motor (~13 amps). Again, typically the dishwasher will draw 1500 watts (~13 amps). TV, maybe 3 amps, 300-400 watts. You have the example why the electrical code was changed years ago that the kitchen counter top area must be wired with two 20 amp circuits. Add electric coffee pot and a counter top microwave to the mix and you have quite a electrical load on hand.
 
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