Hack or HO work ?

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goldstar

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I'm sure we all believe "we've seen everything" but I can honestly say that I've never seen this one. :cool:


IMG_0646.jpg
 
I wish I had a picture of a stove wire spliced in one of those octagon boxes. They even used kerney’s and got the cover on! Of course it shorted to the ungrounded box! New cabin. Builder wired.
 
gadfly56 said:
Nobody thinks the two MC's entering the box without fittings is worth a comment?!?
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Those cables are properly attached to the box. If you look closely past the wires, you can see a BX cable in one of the two integral clamps the box came with. The two cables in the foreground are likewise clamped.
 
I just want to add something to this - before I opened this JB there was a light fixture hung from it. The HO mentioned that he added a light over his pool table and tapped into this JB but that "there was something wrong" with this JB. Just looking at it I know that something is wrong when there are 5 cables entering a 4" round JB. So, what you didn't see was the NM cable that the HO added that was inserted through the KO in the back of the box (with no connector BTW). There were also no red heads on any of the BX cables.

That was only the start of the problems. I had to add a switch to an already existing 2-gang gem box. My plan was to add a switch over switch for the two basement lights; the other switch position was a 3-way for the stairway light. When I removed the cover and pulled out the existing switches I noticed 1 black and 2 white wires on the 3-way. I investigated further and found another 4" round JB floating (not mounted) between 2 ceiling rafters with two 3-wire NM's and one 2-wire NM in it. Long story-short, they were switching the neutrals. This could not have been done by an EC (at least not one worth his salt). :cool:
 
ptonsparky said:
Red heads are a fairly recent item and I am fairly certain that cable predates them.
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That's possible. I'm not sure when the house was built. However, based on the small amount of electrical work I've seen in this house, even if red heads were around at the time I don't think they would have been used by whomever wired this house IMHO.
 
Knuckle Dragger said:
I've seen red heads in wiring dating back to the 1920's.
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You could be right !!!

I found this on the internet :

Armored cable, or BX, first appeared in the 1903 NEC, but did not start becoming popular until around 1930, and is still a popular wiring method today. AC cable is described in Article 320 of the NEC. The armor of AC cable systems is tested for grounding and can provide a suitable equipment grounding path.
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US4683350A - Bushing for BX cable - Google Patents

A protective bushing adapted to fit in a cut end of armored cable of the BX type, shaped and contoured to prevent contact of wires in the cable with any sharp edges or points adjacent to the cut end of the armor.
patents.google.com
 
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