The purpose of a junction box is to safely contain splices inside the box. This keeps people from coming in contact with live voltages. And, should the splices build up resistance and overheat, the box confines the wires and reduces the chances of a fire. If you think about it, it all makes sense. But it seems that most home brew electricians just do not get the concept that the junction boxes should be also covered. Obviously, a covered junction box is less likely to have probing or inquisitive little fingers inside of it. And any sparking is better contained when the J-box has a cover. As was mentioned in a comment below, wire nuts are helpful as well. Of course, the way some people operate wire nuts might be hidden under all the tape and, once in a while, a splice has been neatly crafted and then soldered together with an appropriate solder. Those connections will last pretty much forever, but the tape will eventually fail.

Thanks for stopping by.

Steven L. Smith

www.kingofthehouse.com