Crawl space wiring

[TimWhalen]

The wiring under a crawl space is 12-2. This space is under ann enclosed eat in kitchen which was originally an open porch. This is how it was when I bought the house.

The circuit that feeds this area (outlets) etc in the eat in kitchen tripped and will not reset. I assume this happened because the area is moist and the 12-2 is only for indoor use.

Does this sound right/wrong?

What cable should I use instead?

[rkenney]

This is how it was when I bought the house.

How long ago was that?

The circuit that feeds this area (outlets) etc in the eat in kitchen tripped and will not reset. I assume this happened because the area is moist and the 12-2 is only for indoor use.

Does this sound right/wrong?

What cable should I use instead?

Doesn't sound right to me. This is the first time it's been wet/moist since you bought the house.

It's quite possible a critter chewed your wiring since you say it is in a crawl space. You need to determine if that is even possible (can they get in the crawl).

Any number of other problems could exist to cause your situation.

Do yourself a favor and hire an electrician.

[TimWhalen]

I bought the house two years ago but have only lived in it for one year.

I wonder about the same thing. We bought it from an elderly woman who probably stayed away for long periods of time.

I have an access panel that is on the house side. This stays closed until I need in. Otherwise there are two grates one on each end that vents the area.

I'll need to work an electrician into the schedule.

[ghentjr]

Check all the GFCI outlets in the house and Garage to see if one needs to be reset.

[Marc]

I doubt it's a result of the type NM installed. You've a bad breaker, circuit fault or overload somewhere in that circuit.

If you're not handy in electrical diagnosis, ask an electrician to find the problem.

Marc

[John Kogel]

The moisture is a factor if the wiring is just laying on the ground, yes.

If the wiring is up off the ground, as it should be, then you have a bad connection or short as described above.

Another possibility is that the breaker itself is faulty, but most likely it is doing its job, protecting you by cutting power to an shorted or overloaded circuit.

[Jim Katen]

The wiring under a crawl space is 12-2. This space is under ann enclosed eat in kitchen which was originally an open porch. This is how it was when I bought the house.

The circuit that feeds this area (outlets) etc in the eat in kitchen tripped and will not reset. I assume this happened because the area is moist and the 12-2 is only for indoor use.

Does this sound right/wrong?

What cable should I use instead?

No matter what the problem turns out to be, this sounds like a great excuse to upgrade a few circuits. If this is an enclosed crawlspace, it's fine to use NM cable as long as you secure it to the underside of the joists and don't let it sag or touch the ground. If the space is open on the sides, so that wind, weather, and critters can get to it, well, then you should enclose it.

Take this opportunity to install new grounded circuits and, maybe, a few more of them.

[SNations]

I don't want to minimize your electrical problems, but if your crawl space is moist then that's a big problem unto itself. You need to dry out your crawl space. Seal it off from the outside. Vapor barrier on the ground. Ventilate it with conditioned house air. (Can you connect it -- or is it connected -- to the rest of the basement?) Insulate the outside walls.