Unbiased scrap wire poll

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Unbiased scrap wire poll

  • New wire of the proper length in a single section

    Votes: 49 87.5%

  • 4 pieces of scrap wire spliced together

    Votes: 7 12.5%
  • Total voters
    56
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iwire

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
zog said:
Iwire will just keep twisting this (No pun intended) to avoid the real question. Which I have re-stated over and over. Is using scrap wire, multiple splices, in a new installation 60 foot run to a range seen as professional or not.
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OK I will answer your question

To some people, no not in their personal opinion of professional.

Would I want to see 3 extra JBs in a 60' run for no other reason then to save a trip to the supply house? No.

Would I have any problem with a run that started in EMT out of a panel, spliced to MC across a ceiling and spliced again to EMT down a wall to a receptacle all in 40'? No I can make a decent splice.


Some people like myself will judge each job on it's own conditions and not make overreaching statements that splicing is always a sign of an unprofessional electrician.
 
Jim W in Tampa

Jim W in Tampa

Senior Member
Location
Tampa Florida
OK my vote is in but only because of this "Is it more professional to use:"
Hard not to say it is MORE.
How could we say MORE professional to use 4 ?
I do believe i would never use 4 pieces but might if 2 at some distance or for a good reason.
If job is 2 hours from shop and this needs inspected next day or holds up job them yes 2 pieces even if only 20 foot run.
Your getting tainted numbers because of way you created pole.
 
growler

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
electricmanscott said:
I can't even rehash this nonsense again. I skipped ahead after the first post because this is just silly. It is ONLY personal opinion and NOTHING more.
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Yes but so are religion and politics and people have been fighting over those for thousands of years. :grin::grin:

The only way to make sure that your opinion counts is to either outlast or beat into submission anyone that disagrees with you.;)
 
Jim W in Tampa

Jim W in Tampa

Senior Member
Location
Tampa Florida
growler said:
Yes but so are religion and politics and people have been fighting over those for thousands of years. :grin::grin:

The only way to make sure that your opinion counts is to either outlast or beat into submission anyone that disagrees with you.;)
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Is it legal to kill on here ? Thats 1 way to win
 
zog

zog

Senior Member
Location
Charlotte, NC
growler said:
A professional does a job as a means of earning a living or to be profitable.

An amateur is one that does a job for the love of doing so with no thought to being paid or making a profit.

When you talk of professional you really should look at why the job is being done and by whom. Job cost may not be a concern for the amateur but they are for the professional.
Click to expand...

Interesting view, and exactly the sort of discussion I have been trying to get to this whole time. I actually see things completely different but respect your view.

I love doing what I do and I help people on my own time for free all the time, some of them are members of this forum. I offer free testing of MCCB's for those that do not have the means to test them on thier own because I would rather do it for free than have a bad breaker installed in a system that leads to an injury or worse. So I guess that makes me an amateur.

As far as being professional and using scrap wire to save a few bucks, I can only relate as the customer here, corners like that just cannot be cut in my line of work, but if it were my house and I saw that being done I would view that as very unprofessional and be prety pissed off. I imagine most of your customers would feel the same.
 
jumper

jumper

Senior Member
Location
3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
zog said:
Interesting view, and exactly the sort of discussion I have been trying to get to this whole time. I actually see things completely different but respect your view.

I love doing what I do and I help people on my own time for free all the time, some of them are members of this forum. I offer free testing of MCCB's for those that do not have the means to test them on thier own because I would rather do it for free than have a bad breaker installed in a system that leads to an injury or worse. So I guess that makes me an amateur.
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No one is calling you an amateur. We have great respect for your abilities, yet you are focusing on something completely different than what you do.

We have no evidence that the OPs use of "scrap" meant "trash". It is a general undefined term in our world.


As far as being professional and using scrap wire to save a few bucks, I can only relate as the customer here, corners like that just cannot be cut in my line of work, but if it were my house and I saw that being done I would view that as very unprofessional and be prety pissed off. I imagine most of your customers would feel the same.
Click to expand...

Did you read Bob's or my example? What would you have done?
 
A

antenna2001

Member
The one thing that has been overlooked is that every splice introduces a weak point. Over the years a splice is more likely to fail than a continuous run. This is why utilities specify continuous runs in their high voltage lines.
 
A

antenna2001

Member
jumper said:
Utilities run a new line every time to a substation every time there is a break? I do not think so.
Click to expand...

No, they don't. They splice there. Not much choice. I just completed work in a powerhouse where there are no splices anywhere even though many of the runs are nearly a mile long. It is all specified with no splices to avoid introducing points of failure.
 
aftershock

aftershock

Senior Member
Location
Memphis, TN
My boss is real finicky about when I order material. I onced ordered a bag of red wire nuts. He says" I just gave you some red wire nuts last month, why are you ordering more?" I replied " I like making splices every 2 feet. By the way, I also need a case of single gang nail on boxes and a box of blank plates."

He did not find it funny :/
 
growler

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
zog said:
As far as being professional and using scrap wire to save a few bucks, I can only relate as the customer here, corners like that just cannot be cut in my line of work, but if it were my house and I saw that being done I would view that as very unprofessional and be pretty pissed off. I imagine most of your customers would feel the same.
Click to expand...

I doubt that all that many customers would be all that POed. Remember the Great Scott (electric man) saying that if the lights come on and things work then the customer is usually happy.

A crooked switch cover plate would get more of a comment from a customer than a whole row of splices in the attic. The average customer just doesn't spend much time up there or in the crawl space so they don't worry much about what goes on there. There are people that have lived in a house for 20 years and have never been in the attic or crawl space.

I find the average customer could care less what you do if it doesn't show. Most people don't know how things work and they don't want to know. They just want them to work and as cheaply as possible.
 
jaylectricity

jaylectricity

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
Occupation
licensed journeyman electrician
I solder my splices, therefore my splices are more professional than you hiring a monkey to pull a continuous length of wire.
 
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