# Terminating knob and tube



## NacBooster29 (Oct 25, 2010)

Leave them....wire nut the ends. That's a new can of worms


----------



## Magnettica (Jan 23, 2007)

Yup, wire nut 'em or tape 'em!


----------



## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

If you can't _'harvest' _some loom, use the sheathing of modern 12-2 (w/o the paper) , sleeve it over, and into two separate KO's in a non-mettallic box 99

~CS~


----------



## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

NacBooster29 said:


> Leave them....wire nut the ends. That's a new can of worms


They're live. They need to be brought into a box.


----------



## 220/221 (Sep 25, 2007)

99cents said:


> They're live. They need to be brought into a box.


They are just as live outside the box also :laughing:

No splices ? I'd tape the ends and leave them. If there is no current running thru it, it's not going to do anything.

Actually, I'd tell them whatever I felt was necessary scare them into replacing all of the KT.


----------



## samgregger (Jan 23, 2013)

> 394.19 (B) Limited Conductor Space. Where space is too limited to provide these minimum clearances, such as at meters, panelboards, outlets, and switch points, the individual conductors shall be enclosed in flexible nonmetallic tubing, which shall be continuous in length between the last support and the enclosure or terminal point.


So I would say put it in 1/2" smurf tube from the last knob and then into a jbox, cap the ends.


----------



## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

I would cut it no further than 300mm from the last supporting insulator and tape the end of it and call it a day.

Why does it have to go into a junction box? there's no junction, no splice. Then if the inspector says do something else, you get change order, collect lots of money and do what the inspector wants.


----------



## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

K&T was "legally" spliced in mid air. So IMO it would not need a JB. Just cap it off. If you do put it in a box, do as was said and put it in separate bushed holes.
I just worked in a house about a month ago and the inspector allowed me to use clear tubing for a bushing. You can get it in a hardware store in several sizes.


----------



## electricguy (Mar 22, 2007)

I have used a product similar to this

http://www.cabletiesandmore.com/ExpandableSleeving.php


----------



## Dash Dingo (Mar 3, 2012)

You can't bring them into a light box, there is no temperature rating on the insulation. Cut it at the knob, leave an inch and tape the end.


----------



## guy2073 (May 4, 2011)

Dash Dingo said:


> You can't bring them into a light box, there is no temperature rating on the insulation. Cut it at the knob, leave an inch and tape the end.


That is what my inspectors say to do with it


----------



## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

I always thought stray ends of conductors had to be terminated in a box. I had an inspector tell me that so that's what I have always done. Anyway, I'll wait for inspection and see what he says. Thanks for the advice, guys  .


----------



## retiredsparktech (Mar 8, 2011)

Dash Dingo said:


> You can't bring them into a light box, there is no temperature rating on the insulation. Cut it at the knob, leave an inch and tape the end.


I would cut it a little longer and loop the end. It's a little easier to tape it that way. 
I think 300mm is a little extreme!


----------



## FrunkSlammer (Aug 31, 2013)

99cents said:


> I always thought stray ends of conductors had to be terminated in a box. I had an inspector tell me that so that's what I have always done. Anyway, I'll wait for inspection and see what he says. Thanks for the advice, guys  .


Yes for cables.. but probably no for open wiring. It's dangerous to bring them together. They're safer far apart and taped up on the ends.

Although, just do whatever your inspector says.. then it's on him.


----------



## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

They still make loom, knobs and tubes. If you have a KT wire that you want to abandon, cut it at the nearest knob and just tape it up. Forget all this other dumb stuff. We work with KT all the time in houses around here.


----------



## yamatitan (Sep 4, 2010)

This is good info, ive never worked with it either but just had a job to replace a front porch light that was fed with it and re run romex from a new service. I plan to completely remove the hot but cant for the life of me figure out where the neutral was fed from. Ill just cut it and cap it off by the light.


----------



## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Why not strip it and put a Wago on it?


----------



## hardworkingstiff (Jan 22, 2007)

retiredsparktech said:


> I would cut it a little longer and loop the end. It's a little easier to tape it that way.
> I think 300mm is a little extreme!


Maybe he meant 30mm? 

IMO, cutting it short near the knob and insulating the ends makes the most sense if you can't rewire the circuit and kill the old K&T circuit.


----------



## Meadow (Jan 14, 2011)

Collect the knobs and tubes for E bay, in there place goes NM-B.


----------



## Dmansee12 (Nov 22, 2013)

Are you talking about live k&t or dead?
Deal with alot of it here if it is dead i cut it at both sides of circuit ensuring no hack comes through and ties it back in someday thinking that'll fix that tripped gfci then wirenut and tape both ends.
If it is live look in the panel you can easily remove it there if its not there more than likely it all goes to one jbox. Often as much as it sucks it is right behind the new panel they just mount the new can onto the old one. I would check a few places first.
1. Closest boxes to panel switches tend to be where they hide.
2. In the attic alot of times i find open splices in the attic or under houses where other electricians didn't want to fish down the wall. ( i don't blame them laffe and knobs can really piss you off) 

If the customer does not want to pay for a full rewire i would strongly suggest it however k&t is a lot safer than one would think the hot and neutral are ran extremely far apart on either side of the stud making arcing a small possibility and the less you mess with it the less it falls apart ( word to the wise) just tape any potential hazards and ground clip the hell out of it  hope that helped!


----------

