Electrical Dilemmas (Please Help RE Remodel)

I am doing some wiring and am wondering about a few basic things.

I notice that on a couple of wires after I had them pulled though the box and clamped down, the clear sheathing on the THNN wire, (romex as well as solid conductor) was roughed up or nicked or in a one case delaminating where the wire bends. Is this a problem? I assume that all I have to worry about is not damaging the insulation inself on the conductor? What is the purpose of this clear sheathing on the surface anyway?

First, I am running a over cabinet whip in one location where there is a beam. I don't want to drill up and through the beam to get the whip out as I am concerned that it is a structural beam. So I notched the front of the beam 1/2", affixed it with a romex staple and and then bent the romex 90 degrees to bring the whip straight out of the wall. Problem is, the configuration of the beam does not allow me to put on a dottie plate. Is bending the romex into a 90 degree angle and bringing it straight out the wall as it travels up the face of the beam in a notch ok? Can I get away without a dottie plate. It is behind a cabinet? BTW, even if I had brought it up and through the face of the beam I still could not use a dottie plate because of the configuration.

Lastly, I am doing some last minute electrical corrections before tile. I had to change some other over cabinet lighting whips. I was able to fish some romex through the wall behind the cabinet and up, but I cannot get inside the small cutouts to put a romex staple 14" from the box on either whip. The whip is connected to a box on top of the cabinet and well as under the cabinet (wired receptacles) as well as to the splice box. Can I get away without anchoring the romex to a stud? I do have some abandoned MC clamps on the stud near the romex, but they won't work with NMB. (Had to remove MC Cable as it wouldn't work with the recep. boxes I am using). I assume that with retro boxes, recessed cans, etc. that electricians do not typically staple anything to the framing, just fish a wire through, connect to the device, cinch up the device on the plaster or drywall and call it a day. Is this correct?

On Mon, 10 May 2004 02:42:20 GMT, Michael Roback put forth the notion that...

No big deal, and fairly common with THHN, especially if it's been around awhile, or in the sun. As long as the inner insulation is okay, don't worry about it. The clear insulating jacket is what gives it its resistance to oil and gasoline, which I would certainly hope aren't present anyway.

Don't worry about the Dottie plate, particularly if it's behind a cabinet BUT, measure carefully so you know where it is when you install your drywall, mark the outside of the drywall so anyone else who works around it knows it's there, and transfer the location to the inside of the cabinet, so you don't run a screw through it when you hang the cabinets.

Yes. Romex, MC, BX, etc. fished through an existing wall does not have to be stapled where it's inaccessible. Typically, you should use a Tiger-Grip or similar type cut-in box with screw connectors through the knockout to secure the cable in the box.