One thing you quickly realise on the job as an apprentice electrician is that you never stop learning. Unlike a trade school, where learning is predetermined, electrical projects in the real world are full of surprises. Therefore, electricians must adapt to and find clever ways of handling emerging wiring challenges. Notably, you learn most tricks from supervisors, but it does not mean you cannot start learning early. This article highlights some lesser-known but highly effective electrical wiring tricks.

Check for Full Wall Cavity 

The best way to wire a timber frame house is to pass a cable between studs. However, you must first establish the location of a wall cavity. Nonetheless, some budding electricians don't know they can use a stud finder to locate wall cavities. For example, you can use a stud finder to check for a full wall cavity along a wall. It is a critical function because the last thing you want is to find an obstacle within a cavity, preventing you from extending a cable all the way. Therefore, before installing a cable behind a wall, use a stud finder to look for potential obstacles along the cavity, such as blocking and abandoned headers. Most importantly, it saves electricians time and effort.

Straighten Cable Before Pulling 

Pulling a cable is perhaps the most exhausting part of electrical wiring since it is done manually. Therefore, it would be best if you did everything to make the task easier. One way of doing it is straightening a cable before you start pulling it. For example, inserting a spiral-shaped line in a framing hole will knot at the opening, making it difficult to pull through without damaging the insulation. On the other hand, straightening electrical cables makes pulling easier and faster, especially for novice electricians.

Push Through Extra Wire 

When passing an electrical wire behind a wall, you need to fish it from the opposite end and pull it through. However, some newbie electricians only pull through the exact length they require, forgetting that they still need to grab the wire comfortably to work on the ends. However, it increases the risk of losing grip of a cable, making a cabling exercise challenging. An effective trick is to pull through extra cable length so that you don't lose it once it passes through a cavity. Besides, the extra length of wire allows newbies to determine the appropriate cable tension behind a wall.

Contact an electrical wiring contractor to learn more.