# Electrical questions



## Outbacker (Jun 16, 2006)

I have removed a baseboard heater from my dining room. The circuit that feeds this heater is a ganged circuit breaker with 240 volts. It also supplies the baseboard heater in the bathroom, and I want to keep this one. So, I have removed the heater, and passed the wires into the crawl space under the house. There I have placed the wires into a junction box, placed wire nuts on the black and white wire ends and placed the cover on the box. There are no other wires in this box. Where the thermostat was,  I have capped the ends with wire nuts and covered it up with a blank cover. I have left the ground wires attached to the box. Question, is this safe enough so if I turn the breaker on for the other heater in the bathroom, I will not have a problem? The circuit is open in 2 places.

Thanks


----------



## Square Eye (Jun 16, 2006)

You're fine as long as you capped the wires off with wire nuts and contained the ends in a box.


----------



## glennjanie (Jun 17, 2006)

Hello Outbacker:
I'm primarily a plumber but have done some wiring along too. In plumbing, we get everything hooked up like we want it then give it a smoke test to check for leaks. I stretch this to electrical also; I hook it up the best I know how and then give it a "smoke" test, which means I turn the power on and see if she smokes. No smoke=good test.
Square Eye is miles ahead of me on the electrical though, you would be better off listening to him.
Glenn


----------



## James Holske (Mar 20, 2019)

If you want to be super safe then you could put in a bit more work and some testing and make sure you completely remove the wire .

The circuit you have for heat that controls both baseboards is ultimately  wired back to a controlling thermostat and more than likely daisy chains from one to the other.
you may have it easy since you can get to the crawlspace where the wires run .
You can follow that wire you disconnected  back to the last place it comes from or at least in the direction of it ,or nearby it.
so follow that wire across the crawlspace area and if it goes to the first heater then awesome ! go to that heater open it up and you should see two wires .
one will be the feed which ( shut the panel off first , that's to the whole house by the way to be ultimately sure you won't get hurt !) Separate the wires from the heater and then  put power back on and test each one one of them will be live .mark it as such ( after power disconnect again )
( then once all power is shut off again ) you can remove the connection to that load wire ( the wire going to next heater you already removed) you could even pull it out from below once you loosen it in the connector)
Then re connect the feed power wire back to the heater and close it up and turn power back on and make sure everything is back to working order .
Also as a note of safety make sure you are stripping enough copper off the ends of your wires when you splice them and twisting them together by pulling with your pliers as you twist ( look up making a good electrical splice to learn the proper technique)

Here is why its so important       you tube " the truth about electrical fires "

stay safe !

and as I always say to people the best way to be sure to be safe is to shut down power to the whole house .If this means all the breakers or even the whole home at the service disconnect so be it ,I would rather be inconvenienced  by working by a flashlight
or have to reset clocks ,and possibly have to wait for my tv menus on cable to reset than to be electrocuted and injured!!!!


----------



## afjes_2016 (Mar 21, 2019)

Oups, I almost replied to this thread but then realized it is almost 13 years old. The OP has not posted since June of 2009 so I don't think the OP will be replying to this thread and more than likely has solved this issue by now.

"James" check the dates before you reply.


----------



## James Holske (Mar 21, 2019)

yeah that's some good advice but evidently other people (like yourself & me ) also read these posts even though they are old
I was thinking maybe this case would be a good example to people researching on the topic.


----------



## bud16415 (Mar 21, 2019)

James Holske said:


> yeah that's some good advice but evidently other people (like yourself & me ) also read these posts even though they are old
> I was thinking maybe this case would be a good example to people researching on the topic.




It never hurts to update an old thread if you are browsing thru them and find something more to add for the record. Lots of people do search or search engines find these old threads and sometimes setting the record straight or adding information is a good idea.


When ever I do it I normally start the post with something like “I know this thread is old, but.” Then folks picking up on it will get the idea of why I added to it.


By the way welcome to the forum.


----------

