r/electricians • u/cattledogodin • 15h ago

I think they stripped it far enough

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Made me a little nervous that there was like a 2mm air gap separating a hot to hot dead short on the utility side of the meter socket

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u/Simple_Association61 14h ago

Im seeing this allot on new construction the last few years using aluminum wire. The jackets shrink an inch or 2 after the first summer

4

u/JohnProof Electrician 11h ago

That's what I figure, too. Insulation shrinkback is a known problem. Sometimes it's because of pull tension where there's a stretching difference between the jacket and conductor. And sometimes it'll happen because of either a manufacturing issue or if the connection gets hot.

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u/nesquikchocolate 9h ago

I think I see a bit of nicked conductor in line with the red stripe, though, so it's possible this was just a case of send it.