kbsparky
Senior Member
- Location
- Delmarva, USA
We got a call from a customer complaining about some circuits not working in their house. Here are some background details:
This particular house was foreclosured on several months ago, and was left vacant.
The customer recenly bought the house from the bank, and had things inspected and checked out before going to settlement, which was held around June 9.
The next day (June 10), the customer goes out to their newly acquired house, and finds that the power is out. Upon investigation, it appears that someone has stolen the power company meter!
The cops are called, reports are filed, and they finally get the power company to install a new meter. They also install a security lock, preventing anyone from pulling the new one out without the proper tool.
Now, the homeowner discovers that several circuits seem to be inoperative.
That's where we come in.
In troubleshooting this problem, the wiring devices all appear to be in good condition, yet there seems to be a lack of continuity from one outlet to the next in the same room. Finally, an investigation of the wiring underneath the floor in the crawl space is warranted.
It was discovered that several lines were cut and sections of the wiring removed in the crawl space area. Now the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit: The meter thieves were actually copper thieves, and stealing the meter was the means by which they were assured that the power was disconnected before they commited their acts of vandalism and thievery.
The funny part of this story is that this was a very tight crawl space, and whoever did this had to do extensive crawling around pipes and ductwork to get to the area where the wiring was cut/removed. They left large sections of several circuits intact, only taking small chunks out of the middle of each run from the same general area of the crawl space.
So now we are faced with restoring the wiring in this house, but since there will be a permit and inspection, more circuits will have to be installed in order to comply with the Code.
Some bedroom receptacles were on the same line as some kitchen outlets (not permissible these days), and the water pump can no longer be installed on the same line as the small appliances. What once was on the same circuit will now have to be separated into at least 3 different circuits.
This particular house was foreclosured on several months ago, and was left vacant.
The customer recenly bought the house from the bank, and had things inspected and checked out before going to settlement, which was held around June 9.
The next day (June 10), the customer goes out to their newly acquired house, and finds that the power is out. Upon investigation, it appears that someone has stolen the power company meter!
The cops are called, reports are filed, and they finally get the power company to install a new meter. They also install a security lock, preventing anyone from pulling the new one out without the proper tool.
Now, the homeowner discovers that several circuits seem to be inoperative.
That's where we come in.
In troubleshooting this problem, the wiring devices all appear to be in good condition, yet there seems to be a lack of continuity from one outlet to the next in the same room. Finally, an investigation of the wiring underneath the floor in the crawl space is warranted.
It was discovered that several lines were cut and sections of the wiring removed in the crawl space area. Now the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit: The meter thieves were actually copper thieves, and stealing the meter was the means by which they were assured that the power was disconnected before they commited their acts of vandalism and thievery.
The funny part of this story is that this was a very tight crawl space, and whoever did this had to do extensive crawling around pipes and ductwork to get to the area where the wiring was cut/removed. They left large sections of several circuits intact, only taking small chunks out of the middle of each run from the same general area of the crawl space.
So now we are faced with restoring the wiring in this house, but since there will be a permit and inspection, more circuits will have to be installed in order to comply with the Code.
Some bedroom receptacles were on the same line as some kitchen outlets (not permissible these days), and the water pump can no longer be installed on the same line as the small appliances. What once was on the same circuit will now have to be separated into at least 3 different circuits.