Never in In all my days...

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hurk27

Senior Member
That has got to be Indiana.


I'm going to get it for saying that. But I have saw more plumbing pipe used in IN. For electrical then any where I know.
And I'm sure you that visit this forum from Indy. Your work is good

Watch it there,:) Around here in NW Indiana almost all jurisdictions require license and or permits, areas the don't have inspection departments, builders are supposed to have state called in inspection although it does not always get enforced, we have tried for years to get a state wide license on the books but every time it gets shot down, I can't get into the reason why as politics is not allowed on here, but we were able to get state wide building codes past so the local inspection departments can't call their own wishes (although some still try)

My apologies to all the Hoosiers. It's my understanding Pennsylvania like Indiana has no state issued electrical license.
Some counties have no inspections offices. You can build homes with out permits. Except from the health department for the sewer system.

Apologie accepted:grin:

I just want to know how they got the wires around those tight 90? elbows? double fishtape?
 

Rockyd

Senior Member
Location
Nevada
Occupation
Retired after 40 years as an electrician.
Redneck jokes that not even Jeff Foxworthy could tell without bustin a gut
 

PetrosA

Senior Member
As one of the rogues from PA who's even worked in Montgomery County, I have to say I've never seen anything even remotely like this in my life. Ever. What's more, IIRC some of the townships in Mont. Co. adopted the Philadelphia license and are very strict about permitting and inspections (Upper and Lower Merion I think...). I seriously doubt that a local EC did this work. My bet's on the building owner and the Home Depot in King of Prussia ;)
 

mivey

Senior Member
Just visiting the thread again and zooming in on the pictures for more details. Please take some more pictures and post. The urge to keep looking must be some kind of morbid sickness but I just can't help myself. That is one of the craziest things I have seen in a while.
 

PetrosA

Senior Member
I was told It's the handy work of the previous owner of the building.

What gets me is that it actually looks like an awful lot of thought went into making it all come together. This kind of property owner is a real danger to others. His reasoning could have been as simple as "There's no way I'm putting gray pipe in here. It WILL be white." I've worked for a few over the years who have been like that and it's a real waste of breath trying to convince them their way is illegal.
 

mivey

Senior Member
His reasoning could have been as simple as "There's no way I'm putting gray pipe in here.
I saw a grey 90. There is no telling what was in this guy's mind. I'm the type that would have to sit down and talk to him just out of curiosity.
 

davedottcom

Senior Member
Just visiting the thread again and zooming in on the pictures for more details. Please take some more pictures and post. The urge to keep looking must be some kind of morbid sickness but I just can't help myself. That is one of the craziest things I have seen in a while.

I only took those 2 pictures but I could have snapped 100, all just as bizaar as these. I felt bad for the owner, this wasn't even the reason I was there but once I saw the mess I was honestly speechless, just staring at train-wreck after train-wreck. Almost like I discovered a Mad Scientist's Lab or something! I told him I need to take pictures for my "forum friends" and told him "it's like a museum of wrong".
I'll try to get back for more pics... there's much, much more...

On a serious note, I made it clear to him there is no way to repair it, none of it. It would be a complete gut & rewire.
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
(Another attempt at swaying the vote for me as Mr. Obvious. ;))

captobvious-738633.jpg
 

masterinbama

Senior Member
My appologies to all the Hoosiers. It's my understanding Pennylsvania like Indiana has no state issued electrical license.
Some counties have no ispections offices. You can build homes with out permits. Except from the health department for the sewer system.

That explains it, the sewer inspector made him use all that white pipe.
 

renosteinke

Senior Member
Location
NE Arkansas
I rather like the angled tee's and 45's on the larger pipe ... let's hear it for easy pulls!

I see some black pieces above the panels ... did they join ABS to PVC as well?

I recently saw Joe T .... showed him this ... he say's he's going back to Iraq, where he can feel safe :D
 

renosteinke

Senior Member
Location
NE Arkansas
In with all the "OMG's" ther are a few honest questions that I think we ought to answer.

"Isn't PVC just PVC?" Well, the answer is yes, no, and maybe ... and not necessarily in that order. Let's look at that topic a bit more:

Electrical PVC conduit is made to "Schedule 40" dimensions, so it's the same size as Schedule 40 plumbing PVC pipe. In out picture, though, we see PVC drain/ sewer tile, which is NOT "Schedule 40" pipe. It has a much thinner wall.

Plumbing uses elbows with much tighter bends than we are allowed to use for wire. This is plain to see in the picture, by comparing the gray 'sweep' to the white 90's.

The ANSI standard for PVC conduit requires it to be sunlight resistant. There is no such requirement for plumbing pipe. That's pretty much irrellevant as regards this picture.

Electrical pipe also has 'stiffeners' added to it to make it more rigid. Plumbing pipe assumes it will be filled with water, and the water will help support the pipe. That, at least, is the official word from the geek at Can-Tex.

Unfortunately, the geek never enters the plant, and the production guru tells me that they actually do use the exact same plastic, just adding color, and changing the labeling. Maybe they do; there's no technical reason one could not make a pipe that met BOTH standards. That UL lable costs $$$, though. Maybe the color beads have the 'stiffeners' in them too; I just don't know.

If you want to get technical, you're also required to use listed PVC glue. I've only seen clear glue with the UL lable for electrical use; the stuff in the plumbing aisle has a different lable on it. The NEC makes no mention of PVC cleaners and primers. Personally, I'll switch between the 'thin' bodied clear glue and the 'medium' bodied gray (and not listed) glue depending on temperature and sunlight conditions; the clear stuff gives me more working time in the Summer.

Of course, PVC glue is completely useless on the black ABS pipe. We MIGHT bee looking at a plumbing / sewer transition piece with an O-ring inside.

The support methods used are typical of plumbing, and of themselves are allowed. There are not, however, enough of them- especially just above the panels. That open 'sanitary tee' also needs to be closed off.

Romex, by itself, is allowed in most commercial construction these days. This installation is lacking the necessary supports, though. If anything, this picture makes me pine for the good old days, where commercial work automatically meant a licensed EC was called in.
 

jap

Senior Member
Occupation
Electrician
Maybe those are active sewer drains and someone just flushed the panel and romex out of them.
 
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