Are there any quality issues to be concerned with amongst the commonly available brands of Romex wiring? I’ve noticed the local big boxes are quite a bit cheaper than the electrical houses on 1000′ spools. Should I just go for price or are there other considerations? I would love to hear specific brand recommendations from experienced sparkies out there. tia
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Learn more about the benefits and compliance details for the DOE's new water heater energy-efficiency standards.
Featured Video
Video: Build a Fireplace, Brick by BrickHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
There is only one brand of Romex.
And if I remember correctly the last time I bought NM-B at Lowes it was Romex.
"Romex" style wiring......
I stand corrected
NM is the official nomenclature or Nonemetallic-sheathed cable. More specifically the current version is NM-B. There are a couple of other versions for special appliactions.
Look for the UL marks, that is all that you need to know.
Edited 6/28/2004 11:03 am ET by Bill Hartmann
>>Should I just go for price or are there other considerations?
I don't know about differing quality of the material, but the more people just go for price the suppliers with knowledge staff are less able to survive.
I'm almost always willing to go to the supplier with knowledgeable staff and pay a bit more because sooner or later I get that "investment" back in spades.
For example, last week I was getting a bunch of stuff to put together a mobile power setup for my church's band which is starting to play some gigs outside of the church.
Between the salesman and the electrician who was hanging around the counter I learned some stuff and had my original plan improved in significant ways.
Couldn't have gotten that information (or the 20 amp GFIs and the strain relief clamps) at my big box.
"It is as hard for the good to suspect evil, as it is for the bad to suspect good."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)
I'm almost always willing to go to the supplier with knowledgeable staff and pay a bit more because sooner or later I get that "investment" back in spades.
Our Lowes has an X-electrical contractor and a city electrical inspector working there. If I have a code question, one of these two can surely answer it.
mobile power setup for my church's band
For this specialization, go to the pro that knows the product. You're right about not getting this info from big box.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
And how often are they on duty?
I overhear a lot bad advice given at the big boxes.
"It is as hard for the good to suspect evil, as it is for the bad to suspect good."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)
maceo-
I'm not an experienced sparkie by any stretch of the imagination, but as a homeowner studying different things I have to say that the codes the manufacturer has to adhere to in it's production of the romex style wiring are limited.
That being said those manufacturing guidelines once met, end, and who can say what differences in manufacturer's techniques will be better or worse than another.
Case in point, I once had two different brands of Romex style wiring and noticed that the plastic wrap on the black wire of one brand had color that went totally thru the sheathing.
Another manufacture had the black plastic sheathing just as a thin coating over the same solid white sheathing as the other white wire.
I've noticed that some exterior wrap of the wires is thicker than others. Makes one think that the thicker wrap would be more durable to nicks and such, or maybe negatively in a minute fashion from extra heat retention. lol
Ok, let's get compulsive here.
What if some manufactures used a different grade of copper in their manufacture that would let the wires endure more twists and bends before weakening or breaking? Seems that would put their product in a desirable premium category.
I'd like to hear from an experienced electrician regarding this as I too have mulled over that question at different times.
I once needed about 6 feet of loose wire, so I stripped down a section of NM. I was rather surprised to find that the black wire was bare for about 8", with a crimped splice in the middle of that bare area. Nothing but habit would have kept it from contacting the ground wire.
Presumably this was a splice that they were supposed to cut out before shipping, but they somehow missed it.
Now if I could find such a quality problem that easily, I wonder how many more are out there?
The current standard is NM-B and uses THHN was the wire. Thus thus the clearn nylon jacket over the PVC wire insulation.
Older version used different version of insulation on the wire and it is thicker. Look to see if it is labeled NM.
Hey Bill, thanks for the point.
I have installed loads of NM. Once in a great while I find a defective roll. Usually this has more to do with handling. One roll clearly fell of the truck because there was obvious road rash on one side of the roll. Seeing as that the roll had many damaged sections we took it back for a replacement. Another time it looked like a fork lift hit the pallet as there were a few rolls with damage on the exposed cable. This damage was cut out and the reel used.
I can't say that I have come across more that a couple of cases where the NM was defective from the factory. In one case the jacket was incompletely formed in a couple of places and in another the hot was unisulated in sections. Seemed to be a singular occurrence.
A couple of cases of manufacturing defects and a half dozen cases of after factory damage in hundreds of thousands of feet of NM. Not a bad record. I can't say that any one manufacturer seems to be better than others. I guess there is the danger of Chinese knockoffs with faked UL listings. I have never seen this but I have read about it with other products.
Your best bet would seem, IMHO, to be to buy from reputable stores. I would think the big boxes would be good enough. I would avoid the sales offered by the shady character with the van in the Wally World parking lot.
Look for the UL marking and the cable markings. Used to be they were inked or laser printed on but more often now they are pressed in and rather hard to read.
I wouldn't worry too much about it. I can't say I have seen any differences between what the electrical supply houses and the big boxes in the quality of their offerings. Many times I have notices that they are made buy the same people and otherwise identical.
The copper conductor in brand new "romex" looks slightly thinner than that of decades ago. Ever compare old stuff to new?
I do, just about everyday. I don't see any obvious difference.
"It is as hard for the good to suspect evil, as it is for the bad to suspect good."
-- Marcus Tullius Cicero, statesman, orator, writer (106-43 BCE)
My wire cutters don't notice a difference in new and old.
Jon Blakemore
My wire STRIPPERS, as well as another guy's do notice a difference. This was on some 12-2. New stuff is ever-so-slightly thinner than some older romex. Enough that you can see the diiference in the strippers. No, it wasn't 14 gauge.
Is it the wire or the insulation that's thinner. Thinner insulation will prevent "loose" strippers from working very well (as will insulation that's more cut resistant).
Nope it is the actual copper wire. It's a tad thinner. Had to go get some 14-2 to make sure to compare to the 12-2 size.
A micrometer will tell all.
I have discovered that attempting to strip a live wire will also cause the $25 Kleins to not function as well in future attempts.
Oh the pain the pain.
Not from the jolt but...ouch... the cost of replacement!
Yeah, I turned my favorite pair of electrician's pliers into a lousy wire stripper that way.
I managed to buy a Klein's linesmen cutter to replace mine for $3 at a large charity fleamarket the other day.
I don't hate it when that happens.
For the record, #12 should have a diameter of 0.0808", #14 a diameter of 0.0641".
-- J.S.
supply houses usually charge market value for wire, that rate can flucuate. Whereas the big boxes usually charge the market rate at the time the wire was bought.
Also remember supply houses charge less for account holders, but have everything you need.