How To Fix A Short

Knowing how to fix a short may just save you not only money, but sanity as well. A short is basically a break in an electrical current. This can be caused by a variety of things, but it is a simple thing to fix. A short may simply just disrupt the electrical flow momentarily or it may actually trip a breaker. You will need the items listed below to repair the short.

  • Wire cutter
  • Wire stripper
  • Butt Connectors,electrical tape or a completely new length of wire
  • Pliers
  1. Locate the short. For the purposes of getting to the point of fixing the short, it is going to be assumed that the short is easily located. It may, in fact, be done by using a compass with a magnetized needle or by observing areas that show bare or broken wire. The needle will point toward the wire when the current is flowing, but stop where the current stops or is not strong.
  2. Cut out the short. Use the wire cutters to remove the part of the wire that has a short.
  3. Mark the wire. Though some wires come in different colors, some of it do not. As you cut the wire, there will be two wires inside of the casing. Divide and mark these wires by wrapping a piece of electrical tape on either part of the wire that will be connected to its mate. The other wire will be easy to identify because it will not be marked. If the wires are colored, simply be sure to match like colors when splicing the line.
  4. Strip the wire. You will need to strip the wire coating off of the wire using the wire strippers. You should have about 1/2" of wire exposed when you are done.
  5. Fix the wire. If you are using butt connectors, then you simply insert one end of stripped wire into one end of the butt connector and crimp with pliers. If there is no need to add wire because there is enough left to use, insert the mate of the original wire into the same butt connector and crimp. Repeat the process until the wires are spliced together. If you are using electrical tape, twist the matching exposed wire together, then cover completely with the tape.
  6. Add additional wire. If there is not enough length on the original wiring, then you may need to add some wire. Use the same process as found in step 5, only do it with the new wire.
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