Is it safe to cap and tape wires after removing a fixture?
Screwing wire caps on tightly and taping them after removing a light fixture or receptacle allows you to keep the rest of a shared circuit running while an area dries or an outlet is permanently closed off. Even after cutting back exposed wires and securing the caps, people worry whether this makeshift method is completely safe.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Leaving the circuit breaker off until everything dries completely
- 2Installing tamper-resistant GFCI receptacles
- 3Using standard plastic outlet safety caps
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“We've got an outlet next to our baby's crib and I was originally going to put in a tamper-resistant GFCI (since it's not grounded — super old house) but then I thought even that makes me kind of uncomfortable with the baby sleeping in the nursery alone every night and the outlet within arm's reach.”source ↗
“So I decided it would be better to just close it off altogether, since it's not like we'd be plugging anything into it anyway as long as the crib is there.”source ↗
“I took the receptacle out, cut the exposed wires back, screwed the caps on tightly and then taped them just to be sure. It seems ok, but just to reassure myself, is it all good?”source ↗
“Is it safe to remove the light and cap the wires while it dries so I can have other lights on?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to install a light fixture without a ground wire
- 5How to safely remove old house wiring during a renovation
- 3How to safely remove a heavy broken ceiling light fixture
- 5How to safely remove a stuck or broken lightbulb
- 11How to disconnect stuck automotive electrical connectors
- 3Is it safe to cap and abandon a neutral wire for a standard switch?