Top 10 expensive screwups.

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darekelec

Senior Member
Location
nyc
What are the installs made by electricians that at first seem to be fine when performed but then you figure out that there was a variable situation that changed the context of the code rule and it becomes expensive error to fix.
I am talking about installations that we do every day (repeatedly) and then there is a special situation that overrides the typical application of code rule.

For example;
using mc cable for parallel runs and then reading 250.112 (F)
using lb conduit body and then pulling 4 conductors
not taking into consideration of PoCo requirements
installing pvc in concrete ground floor slab for dentist chair and then reading 517.13 (A)

I am sure there is a lot of those errors when dealing with special occupancies and equipment situations.
Do not forget about 'high cost of repair/if i only thought twice' ratio.

This forum may potentially save many thousands of dollars!
 
junkhound

junkhound

Senior Member
Location
Renton, WA
Occupation
EE, power electronics specialty
one I recall was installing aluminum conduit in the volcanic soil at Honolulu airport - lasted only a couple of years...
 
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darekelec

Senior Member
Location
nyc
When giving example, please, explain your reasoning of doing so.

One more clue would be reading nec but not local amendment or job spec.
 
cowboyjwc

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
If you are talking about mistakes we made, mine was putting a residential panel on a church, when it required a commercial panel. Difference in price about $500. Since it was a T&M job I only ate the cost of the resi panel which I used a week later for a service change.

The reason I did it was that the church was fed from the same transformer that was feeding the two houses across the street and I didn't even really think about it.

Mistake I've seen. Rewiring a medical suite 4 times, because they had never done one before and wouldn't listen to me when I kept telling them what product to use.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
cowboyjwc said:
If you are talking about mistakes we made, mine was putting a residential panel on a church, when it required a commercial panel. Difference in price about $500. Since it was a T&M job I only ate the cost of the resi panel which I used a week later for a service change.

The reason I did it was that the church was fed from the same transformer that was feeding the two houses across the street and I didn't even really think about it.

Mistake I've seen. Rewiring a medical suite 4 times, because they had never done one before and wouldn't listen to me when I kept telling them what product to use.
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Sorry but what is a residential panel?

There are panelboards and there are "loadcenters" which are still panelboards, just more of an all in one pre assembled item. None of them are strictly for residential only or for that matter is any panelboard prohibited to be used in residential.

Your mistake may have simply been not following specifications more so than doing something non code compliant.
 
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darekelec

Senior Member
Location
nyc
Basically inside LB it says 3 conductors max. And fourth is not only violation but sometimes very difficult to insert (pound in) and close cover. Sometimes LB breaks from pounding in 4th conductor.
The larger conductors the more difficult whole operation is. The right way to do it is to get 6X NEC LB or use pull boxes.


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kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
darekelec said:
Basically inside LB it says 3 conductors max. And fourth is not only violation but sometimes very difficult to insert (pound in) and close cover. Sometimes LB breaks from pounding in 4th conductor.
The larger conductors the more difficult whole operation is. The right way to do it is to get 6X NEC LB or use pull boxes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Problem is they are marked with largest allowed conductor and maximum number of conductors that size. They are not marked with all possible combinations of allowed conductors.
 
jaylectricity

jaylectricity

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
Occupation
licensed journeyman electrician
Upon hearing a requirement for meter bypass levers on 200A services in a beach town I installed a meter/main breaker box. This was a long time ago.

The inspector actually let it pass because he knew how expensive the mistake was. But then he made me do some other random thing. I said, "That's not what the code says."

He replies, "Well I let you get away with the meter, soooo..."

I ended up doing it. I can't remember what it was, something silly, I'm sure.
 
mgookin

mgookin

Senior Member
Location
Fort Myers, FL
I remember getting a call at the bldg. dept. On a commercial job, new construction, offices, when POCO energized the tranny there was an explosion. It seems the specs called for pvc u/g with rigid sweeps but they used pvc sweeps and when they pulled the conductors they cut into the pvc which cut into the insulation hence legs kissing and kaboom when power came on. Nothing some more digging, pipe laying and pulling won't cure. Oh, and about 45 seconds to read those specs too!
 
cowboyjwc

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
kwired said:
Sorry but what is a residential panel?

There are panelboards and there are "loadcenters" which are still panelboards, just more of an all in one pre assembled item. None of them are strictly for residential only or for that matter is any panelboard prohibited to be used in residential.

Your mistake may have simply been not following specifications more so than doing something non code compliant.
Click to expand...

Here in CA we use combo units, meter and load center in one. The commercial grade has a meter by pass that allows the utility to do testing with out pulling the meter. Residential combo, (at the time) $200. Commercial combo, $700.
 
cowboyjwc

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
Oh did have a guy that didn't believe that there was 3 phase feeding the new apartment complex that he was building so he ordered all sing phase gear and bid it that way too. Again not my mistake.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
cowboyjwc said:
Here in CA we use combo units, meter and load center in one. The commercial grade has a meter by pass that allows the utility to do testing with out pulling the meter. Residential combo, (at the time) $200. Commercial combo, $700.
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Most meters I have ever seen with such a bypass were 320 amp series instead of 200 amp. You can call it commercial all you want, to me it is just a different specification, kind of like the difference between a 69 cent duplex receptacle commonly used for residential and a 2-3 dollar specification grade receptacle - both still being NEMA 5-15 configuration. Of course today if used for residential needs to be TR and the price has gone up some for that.
 
cowboyjwc

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
kwired said:
Most meters I have ever seen with such a bypass were 320 amp series instead of 200 amp. You can call it commercial all you want, to me it is just a different specification, kind of like the difference between a 69 cent duplex receptacle commonly used for residential and a 2-3 dollar specification grade receptacle - both still being NEMA 5-15 configuration. Of course today if used for residential needs to be TR and the price has gone up some for that.
Click to expand...
Well then, guess you haven't seen it all, have you?:p
 
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