Spray foam issues

clammy

Has anyone heard of any issues with romex wire and spray foam ?I recently had a buddy tell me of some issue caused by romex being encased in spray foam and the insulation being damage due  to over heating being it had no ambient air to help disapate the heat .Has any one heard about this or is my leg getting pulled also with evevry body so tough on VOC what's the thoughts on all the VOC contained in spray foam. i wonder about the VOC container and off gasing from tri lambs peaceand good luck clammy

HDE

No

No, foam insulation has been thoroughly tested and is not a concern to electrical authorities

Spray foam walls. encapsilating romex cable has been done for decades

realolman

would definately have an effect

Most of the safety concerns with electrical wiring deals with heat.

Undoubtedly foam insulation would inhibit the dissipation of heat from wiring.

To the extent that it would cause a problem???  I don't know, but it doesn't seem too likely to me. 



However, as the temperature of the cable increased, it seems to me the ambient air temp would be pretty much equal to the temperature of the cable.

Mark Eatherton

If the circuit were close to be over loaded...

I can see how you would experience some insulation degradation.



I suspect the electrical codes addressed the physical compatability of the outer jacket to the foam, but they assumed the breakers would protect the wires from excessive overheating.



There are some circuit breakers out there (FPE's) that you can literally take the hot and arc weld with it on a neutral and the breaker will not trip.



So much for protecting the consumers :-)



Check the amp draw and see where its at compared to the attached breaker.



ME