Smash
Senior Member
- Location
- Philadelphia suburbs, PA USA
I’ve gotten into a nightmare trying to help someone. NYC brownstone old old building original complaint some lights are flickering. Cant get the electrician back he won’t take there calls. No one else will come out now there stuck. I drive the two hours and don’t have enough time to explain the problems. Four stories above grade he turned into a duplex. Incoming power is old underground end box with 3 # 2 thw or maybe #1.
Anyway just to give a example of what I find is he ran 2 12/2 MC cables tied together and hooked into a range on a two pole 40amp breaker. He ran 6/3 romex up to each floor fused with scattered 100Amp breakers where ever he could find a place to tie in. It goes on from there. Biggest problem besides the wiring is he convinced the client to not fix the oil heat and installed individual electric baseboard heat. 9 total throughout. 56amps worth. Any simple load calculation and we have big problems. Most All the sub panel branch circuits are double tapped BX cable used with grounds cut just a nightmare. The place is completely finished high end tile high end bathroom and kitchen fixtures. My main question what’s the highest fused service I can use with what I got. 150A would be ok Utility companies do it all time, this guy is screwed if I can’t. I’m already replacing all panels running 2/3 MC for two floors and 6/3 MC for the other two. Will try and rescue the branch grounds etc. But I’m concerned about a winter in NYC everything is now electric. Oil boiler out of commission so hot water now electric as well. 100amp just won’t cut it. Of course the previous sparky pulled no permits. I will try and load a video that was sent to me with the basement main incoming.
Anyway just to give a example of what I find is he ran 2 12/2 MC cables tied together and hooked into a range on a two pole 40amp breaker. He ran 6/3 romex up to each floor fused with scattered 100Amp breakers where ever he could find a place to tie in. It goes on from there. Biggest problem besides the wiring is he convinced the client to not fix the oil heat and installed individual electric baseboard heat. 9 total throughout. 56amps worth. Any simple load calculation and we have big problems. Most All the sub panel branch circuits are double tapped BX cable used with grounds cut just a nightmare. The place is completely finished high end tile high end bathroom and kitchen fixtures. My main question what’s the highest fused service I can use with what I got. 150A would be ok Utility companies do it all time, this guy is screwed if I can’t. I’m already replacing all panels running 2/3 MC for two floors and 6/3 MC for the other two. Will try and rescue the branch grounds etc. But I’m concerned about a winter in NYC everything is now electric. Oil boiler out of commission so hot water now electric as well. 100amp just won’t cut it. Of course the previous sparky pulled no permits. I will try and load a video that was sent to me with the basement main incoming.
