kallisti5 Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 Lets play a round of burn or manufacturing defect. Trying to decide if calling in an electrician is in order. That romex supplies the AC blower / natural gas heater. Builder ran, unmodified. Click to Enlarge 71.33 KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kallisti5 Posted April 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 I should mention it is more purple in color vs brown (which is why originally I thought it was simply an error in manufacturing) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 Can't say I've ever seen anything like it. When you saw it up close, did it look burned? If I hadn't seen the title of this thread, I would have thought that someone drew a sharpie across it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 Your average air handler draws 11 amps or less. Hard to imagine it pulling enough power to heat up the cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 I've seen something very similar many times when I pulled the romex too tightly up against something metallic (partially driven staple, nail, plumbers plates, etc) and created the marks you see. When I see it, I look for sheathing torn open and insulation damaged. That's about it. Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Amaral Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 something got on it in the process of fishing??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 something got on it in the process of fishing??? It caught on something during the pulling. I start my new construction wiring jobs by bridging an inside corner nearest the SE with a pipe that has a 1000' ft spool of 12/2 wg on it. I pull all the home runs first. Some runs might go clear across the house and will snag sometimes. If it snags on metal, it'll make those marks if I pull too hard. Marc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kallisti5 Posted April 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 something got on it in the process of fishing??? It caught on something during the pulling. I start my new construction wiring jobs by bridging an inside corner nearest the SE with a pipe that has a 1000' ft spool of 12/2 wg on it. I pull all the home runs first. Some runs might go clear across the house and will snag sometimes. If it snags on metal, it'll make those marks if I pull too hard. Ah. That makes sense and explains the odd shape of the marks... I took a close up gander and while there is some disturbance of the surface, it doesn't seem very deep. Thanks for the input! Given the close proximity to the natural gas line I just wanted to be *sure* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Petey Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 This is extremely common, which is unfortunate since folks immediately think burning when they see it. Most times I see this associated with older craft faced insulation. There is a tar-like substance somewhere in the craft that will impart these marks on white NM cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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