unemployedclaquerRemoved an old florescent light from a drop celling and found this splice hiding
Roof is metal rafters and the horizontal exterior roof is metal
TrackinDaKrakenIt says “electrical tape” right on the package. This is fine.
/sarcasm
I asked for the provenance of such handiwork. Unclear!
WhiteOakBayouIf there are two hot wires for that it seems most likely they went to a switch at some point. I doubt what you have now would burn down the house anytime soon but putting them in a box is a good idea. If it was me I’d get circuit tracer and verify your hunch about them going to that old wall box. If they ended up not going there I’d just do the splice properly, shove it in a box and never think about it again.
Wagos my man, wagos. Its wire nuts from the future.
Kill the breaker undo whatever the monstrosity is. Each hot, neutral, and ground gets its own Wago. You buy the type that has enough holes for your problem (if theres 4 hot legs than all should together get one with 4 holes, etc). Strip the wires so theres no bare copper outside the Wago and clip em all in the Wago and your done. No fire haze. Safer than wire nuts and easier. And I’m not even a salesman just used em before.
probably you need 12awg size (the thickness of the copper cable)
Hardware store or amazon. Seriously easy.
…just dont put hot and neutral together. Hots with hots neutrals with neutrals…
I agree with using the Wagos, as they are the best thing ever for tying wires together. Get a bunch of 2 and 3 holes, and a 25 pack of five holes. Grounds need to be continuous so they get pigtailed to the fixture under the green screw, and under the box screw if you use a metal box, which I generally use in ceilings. If your box is metal and doesn’t have a ground screw, they sell them at the hardware store as well.
I would argue that a splice should always be in a box or within a rated fixture to keep home inspectors and code inspectors happy. Boxes must be accessible. Your local Authority Having Jurisdiction may allow them to be behind a drop ceiling, but you cannot drywall over them without cutting a hole and adding a blank plate.
If you’re joining to existing, it looks like you’ll need 12 awg as mentioned above. If pulling all new you can use 14 awg since led fixtures are unlikely to ever pull 15 amps, though I rewired the outlets and fixtures in my garage with all 12 awg for future proofing and would recommend the same. You can put a 15A breaker on 12 awg but not a 20A on 14 awg.
For wire made since around 2001, yellow is 12 awg and white is 14 awg. For wire before that, you need to read the jacket.
I forgot to add, and don’t feel like editing, always buy the 250 foot rolls when you buy wire because the cost is not that much more overall and you’ll have wire left over for the next thing you find.
Thanks
You can terminate the wires in a junction box as long as the box remains accessible and has a cover.
You might also label it with the panel slot #.
Yeah that’s my original plan. Was unsure about leaving some wires up there not juiced
My preference is to always remove wires that aren’t powered to the greatest extent practicable. You don’t want someone in the future deciding they can just randomly use the wire and burn the house down.
jbellows