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I had an old under-cabinet fluorescent light fixture which I removed. The ROMEX (?) cable comes from behind the cabinets, 110V AC. I installed new LEDs which I prefer to plug into an outlet, I bought one of those combinations switch/outlet, so it is very easy to turn ON/OFF. But now Ihave this live 110V AC wire from the old fixture. What I did was to cut Neutral and Ground flush with the outside ROMEX sleeve, and leave the LIVE wire about 2" longer, cut off the part where the insulation was stripped and put a wire nut on top of it anyway, and tucked it back in between the wall and cabinets in the small gap it came from, and pushed it back about one inch or so. Now you can't even see it, and like I said, I have a wire nut over the live wire.
Do you think this is OK?
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I bought switched LED lights for my kitchen cabinets in my new building only to find out that code required them to be hard wired.
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Leaving a live wire inside a wall is a very bad idea. You may forget it is there but some day someone may find it the hard way. You need to trace it back to a junction point and terminate it there.
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what 'fil said. You're in violation of any electrical code ... unless you live in a third world country and then.. go for it !
Find the breaker that shuts off the wire. Then trace those wires. Stay safe !
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Or install a gang box where it exits the wall and terminate it just as you have.
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touch the white wire to the black wire
it will make a small spark and no longer be live
problem solved
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Get the smallest electrical box you can find plus a blanking plate (i.e. a lid) and preferably built-in wire clamps. Terminate the leads inside the box with small wire nuts (you might want to use some electrical tape too to make sure the wire nuts stay attached. Make sure the wire is clamped into the electrical box nice and tight and that the electrical box is screwed into the wall or something solid. The electical box lid must stay accessible (i.e. not hid behind sheetrock, etc. That should provide you with a safe, code-compliant termination.
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What davester said, but please - make sure you shut off the breaker before doing the work!
