Safety question with stripping

[Hemgs1]

I have had a major house fire before, so I am a bit paranoid about electrical.

Recently we had a outlet where one of the wires came loose. Upon inspection I also notice the wires were stripped back pretty far. The house is 4 years old, but when we moved in last year noticed most outlet were wiggly in the wall and the dry wall looked like it got cut by a kindergartner with a butter knife.

I did tighten up the outlets right after we moved in but I didn’t check for loose connections. The recent situation is making me want to double check everything.

My biggest question is about the stripping, see attached photo, is it being cut that far back a safety issue? If so I may have to hire out someone to go through everywhere to fix it. If it is simply checking for loose wires I can do that.

Any advice is appreciated. Sorry if I’m being a bit paranoid, but I have no desire to deal with another fire or put my family at risk.

 

[James]

Personally, i think that is a poor job.
I hope it is not the standard of most American wiring.

In the uk, it would not be acceptable.,

what do you think @Megawatt ??

p.s. i have asked for this to be moved to the American forum.

 

[Hemgs1]

Thank yoy for the input. Is this within code? Or is it just poor worksmanship?

 

[telectrix]

poor workmansip.the insulation on those cable should be tight up to the terminals. ( the ground wire on the green terminals is not so critical, but over her not acceptable. we would sleeve the bare ground wires. if yo feel confident, redo those connections that show bare copper ( making sure that the power is off before starting). if not, call in a qualified electrician to do it. megawatt is your best guide here. think he's actually in NC.

 

[Hemgs1]

poor workmansip.the insulation on those cable should be tight up to the terminals. ( the ground wire on the green terminals is not so critical, but over her not acceptable. we would sleeve the bare ground wires. if yo feel confident, redo those connections that show bare copper ( making sure that the power is off before starting). if not, call in a qualified electrician to do it. megawatt is your best guide here. think he's actually in NC.

Ok. Essentially I would disconnect the wires trim them to correct length and reconnect?

i wouldn’t need to cut, restrip and connect right?

 

[telectrix]

Ok. Essentially I would disconnect the wires trim them to correct length and reconnect?

i wouldn’t need to cut, restrip and connect right?

basically, yes. just cut the ends a bit shorter. do 'em 1 at a time so you don't get it wrong. over here we don't use those wrap round terminals, our's are more like this:

 

[Hemgs1]

basically, yes. just cut the ends a bit shorter. do 'em 1 at a time so you don't get it wrong.

So what is the hazard with leaving them as they are? If it’s within code, I assume the hazard is less? I would assume it’s more a shock hazard than a fire hazard?

if a wire came loose and contacted something else that should trip a breaker right?

I am trying to determine the sense of urgency, not determine if it’s necessary.

Sorry for all of the questions. Having been through a fire I don’t want to go through that again.

 

[Marvo]

If there's no nicks or indentation marks in the copper where the wire was originally stripped you can just trim it shorter and reterminate it. If the copper was indented where it was stripped then cut the end off and restrip the wire without damaging it.

 

[Marvo]

I wouldn't class this as an immediate electrical or fire hazard, the hazard is some of the bare copper showing is long enough to come into contact with something it shouldn't and even more so if you've disturbed them. Yes the circuit breakers or fuses should protect the installation from damage by clearing a fault but it's such a simple thing to correct it would be a bit silly not to. It should be in the realms of a competent DIY'er who knows how to isolate the power to the installation to just to remove the wires one by one, check for damage and trim to a sensible length before reconnecting.

 

[Mike Johnson]

House only four years old, is there not some kind of recourse to the builder in the US, such as the NHBRC in the UK?

 

[Bob987]

I agree, just if you disconnect the wires trim cut the ends more

 

[Mike Johnson]

Deleted.

 

[Hemgs1]

What would happen if the exposed copper on one of these wires touched dry wall?

you may be able to tell, but the boxes are poorly installed as well.

I think in NC I have 6 years to go back to a builder, but since it’s in code I’m not sure if they would be inclined to do anything about it and it’s not worth suing over.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

If live exposed copper touches drywall nothing much will happen unless it gets damp, in which case the drywall surface could become live to the touch around the outlet. Copper touching anything other than the actual connection terminal is not really acceptable practice.

I don't know how the NEC codes it, but in the UK electrical regulations we have a catch-all that states that good quality materials and proper workmanship must be used. This can be used to call out installers for rough work even if it ticks the specific boxes. E.g. they put the right size and kind of wire in the right type of receptacles, but the insulation is chewed up or the screw threads are stripped or some aspect falls significantly short of what a competent electrician would be expected to achieve.

FWIW as mentioned above, in the UK we mostly use back-wired terminals with recessed screws, so it is unusual to see any live metal that can be touched, and the same goes for the ends of the wires. I normally make the insulation stop about 1/8" into the entry funnel of the back-wiring port. You could literally run your fingers all over a live switch or outlet removed from the wall without getting shocked.

 

[Mike Johnson]

The problem could be if the drywall has been constructed with metal uprights and noggins and the live copper touches one of the those, then anything connected to it could become live, any metal objects screwed to the wall also have the potential to become live including metal pipework and anything fitted to the pipes: taps waste traps etc.