Junction splice

[peggyquade]

Hello everyone. I just wired my Linfield. Actually, I wired it yesterday with a new junction splice that I bought at yesterday's show. All tested out fine. Because I had put the wood flooring down first, I had to cut out a few places of the flooring to lay the tape but it was ok. I was able to put pieces of wood flooring back ontop of the tape, tho then the little pieces were higher than the rest of the floor because they were ontop of the tape. So I let the new little pieces of wood dry thoroughly and the next day, I sanded them...and guess what. You know what. I sanded one down to the tape wire! Imagine my horror when I brushed away the sawdust and saw copper through the wood! And, of course, the electrical didn't work anymore. However, the junction splice I had just put in the day before pulled out of the dollhouse when I pulled the lead wire out of it...it sure wasn't in there very tight! So I thought maybe it was just the junction splice. This afternoon, I gently pried the junction splice off of the Pierce and noticed that, on the back were four tiny horizontal rows of metal teeth in addition to the regular two pins. These weren't on the junction splice I bought yesterday. I put the new splice in place and the electrical still didn't work so I did end up replacing the one small line of electrical tape that I damaged. And now it all works! Whew! But have any of you ever noticed these little teeth on the back of the junction splice? Are they as important as they seem to be? Or is it just a coincedence that this junction splice works better than the one without the little teeth? If they are important, how do I make sure I get the junction splice with the little teeth? They come imbedded in a small square of styrafoam so you can't see the teeth. Thanks for you assistance with this!

[Robin]

LOL!! Everything you just said is a completely foreign language to me!! I'm getting my Cir-Kit stuff tomorrow (for my first house) so maybe I'll read it again then, and I'll have a tiny clue what you said! Someday I'll look back on this and laugh at my ignorance! I know that didn't help in your quest at all, but I felt compelled to answer.

[Charlene]

:lol: I know it's not funny, Peggy, but what a tale of woe! Little teeth? Yep. You need them! Junction splices are 'pound in' -- now that means that your little brass brads that stick out from the bottom have to get firmly placed into the tape run. I've never seen a splice without them.

I've always continued the tape run outside of the house and ended it underneath the house -- voila, no 'bumps' in your flooring and the connection is completely hidden.

[heidiiiii]

I start my run outside the house usually on the right side. That way the electricals dont mess with the aesthetic look of the inside.

Lil teeth.. Never noticed. Vampire splice!

[Missymew]

Love your story. After Ray had wired the Orchid, I stuccoed the exterior. Later we went to turn the lights on, and they wouldn't come on. The damp stucco had shorted the lights. The next morning we switched the lights on and they worked fine. Wood just needed to dry out.

I'll bet there are many electrical stories out there!! Vampire junction splices ... how totally Halloween!!!!

When the lights didn't switch on, I think Ray said some of those "magic" words that Holly often talks about.

-Susanne

[darrellandmelissa]

The junction splices I have used up until now have never had those "little teeth" you mentioned. What they DID have was a screw in the middle. I would imagine that those little teeth serve the same purpose as the screw, which is to hold the junction splice down.

In fact, in the picture in my tutorial you may notice I even cut back the inside edges of the tape wire under where I install the splice to get just a little more insurance that the screw cannot possibly short the two conductions together. I'd like to see a picture of a junction splice with these teeth though.

Darrell