wiring

[gillman]

I have noticed on many posts that just about everybody uses tape for their wiring.

Is this because ,it is easier to put in ?

easier to work with?

less time consuming?

I have read a lot of comments about problems with tape ,has it improved in its quality lately or is it still the same ?

[CJEP]

I can't answer why others use it. For me, when I first started it was what I could find and found a book telling me how to do it. So, yes it is easy and easily available. Whether it is better now or not, I have no clue. I have had a few problems with it in one house, but I think that is more that I didn't really know what I was doing. Hope that helps answer your question.

[chesterfieldzoo]

I use the round wire. I think the tape is easier to use because it is flat and you can paint and wallpaper over it.

[darrellandmelissa]

My views about tape wiring.

It's easier to hide.

You can put it into places where using regular wire is more difficult to get.

And yes, over the years there have been improvements made to the tape wiring system.

Most of the problems people have is with the connections between two tape runs. Often this is because it's the first time they've used it, as Carrie said, and there IS a slight "learning" curve on "how to make a good connection" or to how to isolate a problem while it's easy to locate. (even my first house or two had some problems)

I have a pictorial here on the site that shows most of what anyone needs to know on how to do it. And I try to answer most of the questions I see here in ways I hope will help others avoid any problems.

The most recent one I think had mostly to do with people making pilot holes for the small connection brads to large which kept the brad from making a good solid connection. With a secondary problem of too many steps between testing to make sure everything was working. My method suggests that every time you add ANY new tape or ANY new connection or ANY new fixture, to stop and test it out. Then if you did manage to make a mistake you have only the new things you just messed with to look at and not the entire system.

Hope this helps,

Darrell

[Peggi]

I used tape wire because like CJEP its what I could find and also more tutorials to help me work my way through it. With Darrell's great tutorial and info I got from Earth and Tree I've wired two house now and they have worked well over a year.