How should I repair a nicked wire in a junction box?

Question

I was using pliers to pull my cable a little bit further in to the blue junction box so that I would have some Romex insulation sticking into the box, but in the process managed to make a small nick in the hot wire and can now see the copper.

The cable is already pretty tight so I can’t just pull more in and cut off the damaged part. I do have about 2” of wire to play with if I were to cut it off. What options do I have? Can I just wrap it in electrical tape or use a push in style connector with jumper?

Answer 1

If just the insulation damaged and not the wire, tape and/or heat shrink tubing will work.

If the copper wire is damaged, usually better to cut it back to good wire.

Nicks in the wire could cause it to heat up, because of less wire, or break if at connection point, wire nut or around a screw(much less likely).

You are suppose to have six inches of wire out of the cable for connections to switches/outlets/lights.

Being in a junction box, it is okay to connect/splice more wire to the short wire with wire nuts/wire connectors.

If outside of a box, you would need to add another junction box for the splice/s to reach the first box. Cannot have a splice outside of a box.