What's Wrong with this Picture: Junction Dysfunction

ANSWER: Junction Box Needed

Junction box? Who needs a box when you have electrical tape!?! This is what’s commonly referred to in electrical circles as a “rats nest”. There are a couple of problems with this, besides being unsafe and against accepted building codes. First, because the wire junctions are covered up with electrical tape, there is no way to know what is connected to what without taking the tape off. Also, you can not see what kind of connection was made between wires. Is it a good mechanical and electrical connection? There is no way to tell. Exposing bare household electrical wires is very dangerous, even when you “know” what you’re doing! Servicing this will be a problem too. Since the contractor can not see what’s going on, the cost to repair and correct will be higher as there will be added time to research and correct any problems.

To fix this situation, a properly installed junction box would need to be installed. The licensed electrical contractor will take all necessary safety precautions before starting work. Most important is to disconnect power to these wires. Once all the tape is removed and some diagnostics are performed, the contractor will be able to connect the wires together is the right configuration. Wires are typically joined together using an appropriately sized “wire nut” (these are usually color coded indicating size).

Once the connections have been made and safely tucked into the junction box, a cover would be installed.

There…that’s much better. And safer!