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12v DC on 14 ga Romex?

Todd.Brock

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Jul 15, 2008
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Cincinnati
Hey all,


I have a question about repurposing 14 ga romex for 12v. In my kitchen I remodeled last year, I put a separate switch for undercabinet and upper cabinet lights with glasss doors. I ran romex from the switched location to a bank of cabinets, then from that bank of cabinets to the next and so on. . I ended up with a jbox with duplex receptacle and then a plug in (wall wart) driver at each bank of cabinets. It hangs down, the cord falls, it looks bad. I thought about getting a driver for each bank that can service as a junction box for the outgoing romex but they are about 60 bucks each. Not what I was looking for price wise x4. So, my thought is, can I use the existing A/C wiring from the dedicated switch to power the 12v lights from one larger driver ? I am running about a total of 18 [email protected] per ft, and 2 puck lights at 3w each. So 33 watts. Could I use a larger 40w or 50w to over come the length of romext going from one cabinet to the next? This would clean up under the counters and not require 120/gfi, j boxes, wall warts, etc. I estimate there is about 50-65 ft of romex in total from beginning to end.
 
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ForceFed70

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Apr 27, 2010
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BC, Canada
Technically it's doable.

My only concern would be confusing it with AC wiring. Not sure if there is any code to that effect, but I think not. I don't really like your idea for this reason tho.

You mentioned the cord hangs down and looks ugly. Is there any way to hide the cord away? Perhaps with some small clips than can be screwed into the bottom of the cabinet?
 
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Todd.Brock

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Thanks for the feed back! I did a low buck LED tape install to see how it was going to work and hold up. It has held up well, so it was time to fix the glitch and install permanent. The wall warts hang lower than the cabinet bottom. Plus the cords falling makes me want to redo it once and for all. I was going to mark the wiring as 12v DC with a tag at each junction. I will have to read up on class2/class1. Any thoughts on how big of a driver to overcome the length of Romex?
 

ForceFed70

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BC, Canada
At 33Watts - 14GA romex will be good for over 100'. I don't think you'll need to increase the driver(s).
 

finn

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Mar 27, 2005
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The UP, God's country
In my youth, while roaming the junkyards, I sometimes saw old derilict automobiles rewired with romex.

Probably one of the last repairs before they met their demise, but I assume it worked..

I wouldn't do it simply because the next owner is going to run into your handyman "fix" and let out a WTF! and a subsequent stream of explitives ending with "what was he thinking"!
 
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Todd.Brock

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Finn, I will have it marked and labeled as such should I forget about it. I currently plan to get wheeled out boots up, but that's another story.
 

MikeF2316

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Dec 29, 2012
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Thornhill, ON
In my youth, while roaming the junkyards, I sometimes saw old derilict automobiles rewired with romex.

Probably one of the last repairs before they met their demise, but I assume it worked..

I wouldn't do it simply because the next owner is going to run into your handyman "fix" and let out a WTF! and a subsequent stream of explitives ending with "what was he thinking"!

Not to mention posting it on Garage Journal! :lol_hitti

I've seen cars with house wiring repairs too. I guess whatever is cheap and handy is what's used.
 
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Todd.Brock

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So should I tear out the cabinets and drywall and rewire? Would it be better if I did a handyman "fix" with low voltage wire?
 

gungatim

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Jan 8, 2013
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west mich
Romex...it isn't just for breakfast anymore...

my utility trailer is wired with romex (the underground type) I had leftover from running a line to my pool pump...voltage doesn't care if the wire is too big, only if it's too small...

btw, my tv antenna is made from romex, and my shortwave radio antenna is a 30' long ground wire out of romex...I also use short pieces to tie up extention cords and hang stuff...I even made some really long easter egg dippers out of romex cuz I was tired of my fingers getting n the dye...
 

gungatim

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west mich
Very bad tech.

Never use solid wire on any vehicle. It doesn't stand up to vibration.


I'm not too worried about it as when I built my trailer I did not add a ******** to it...the wiring has been on it since I built it 7 years ago...hasn't failed yet. nor has any of the wiring in my travel trailer which is regular romex for the 120v circuits inside and on the slideout...

edit: come to think of it, my 60' ham antenna is copper out of romex as well. it vibrates quite a bit up in the wind...guess my copper wire is just special :)
 
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