Interesting Things I Found Recently

[tallgirl]

This is the electric service on a building I was asked to check out. The building had been vacant prior to Katrina and since Katrina it had become a crackhouse and occupied by some rather filthy squatters. Some of whom apparently tried to steal electricity.

The service was still connected at the pole (yes, George, I checked for voltage )

 

[tallgirl]

I found this interesting use of cable ties a few months ago, but never seemed to have my camera on me when I needed it. It's in the women's restroom in the Louisiana Welcome Center at mile marker 4 on I-10. The piece of Romex is suspended from 4 or 5 of those lights with 2 cable ties per light. I'm wondering how someone is supposed to change a bulb ...

 

[tallgirl]

This was taken in a friend's attic. Apparently an "electrician" had rewired his house because this mess is what I found. He'd asked me to tell him what work was left to be done. He didn't like my answer any better than the woman I told to hire a bulldozer.

Sorry for the weird image. I used my cellphone and the only illumination I had was a spotlight. None of the wiring I found was stapled down. It was run on top of whatever got in the way, include gas and water pipes and catwalks. Much of the flood damaged wiring was still left in place, though some of it had been cut out and the cut ends left uncovered.

After seeing that mess I decided to take a look at the panel. Not only was it completely unmarked (and almost completely full -- and it was a 42 break panel ...), but there was this blue tape around the neutral (you may have to squint or look really closely)

 

[tallgirl]

I was more interested in the multiple layers of paint on the receptacle than anything else (including the antique nature of the receptacle itself ...), but on closer examination with a screwdriver I found out that the grounded conductors had been burnt badly, then "repaired" with electrical tape, which also burnt badly. Sorry for the bad lighting

 

[allenwayne]

Julie we all know how bad it still is in LA.Don`t they pull co`s and require an inspection on these places ???

 

[tallgirl]

Julie we all know how bad it still is in LA.Don`t they pull co`s and require an inspection on these places ???

Yes, they do, but there are many fly-by-night people working in the city. In some instances the person doing the work is just plain unqualified -- such as someone who's not trained in the proper wiring methods, code, etc. doing residential work. This attic is a good example of that -- there's some evidence that the person knows what "whar" is, but not how to install it in a safe and code-compliant manner. In other instances the person isn't a contractor of any sort, has no intention of doing any work, and simply takes a "deposit", often 90% or more of the entire insurance settlement, to "reserve materials and labor", then never shows.

In still other instances, such as the apartment building from the first and last photograph (and I'll have to improve the contrast and brightness on it), the building is quite ancient, or has been subject to abuse post-Katrina (or by Katrina herself), or was repaired by a "handypeep" who should be barred from touching any tools for any trade.

Finally, there are a lot of homeowners who have no clue that there is such a thing as a NEC, that licenses are required for work, or that their cousin Boudreaux isn't actually an "electrician".

 

[peter d]

I can't say that I'm terribly surprised that a poor city like NO in a poor state would have work like this. This is pretty much the norm in any area that is economically depressed.

 

[mdshunk]

I can't say that I'm terribly surprised that a poor city like NO in a poor state would have work like this. This is pretty much the norm in any area that is economically depressed.

Right. If things slow down in my area, I'm opening up shop in Hollywood.

 

[tallgirl]

I can't say that I'm terribly surprised that a poor city like NO in a poor state would have work like this. This is pretty much the norm in any area that is economically depressed.

Don't get carried away with "New Orleans is poor, poor, poor". New Orleans is old. The houses are old and have been "upgraded", added on to, extended, etc. over the past many decades. They're like anything that's been worked on by so many people over so many years -- things get a bit messed up over the years.

And of course, cousin Boudreaux (rhymes with Woodrow) the "electrician" makes things worse.

 

[tom baker]

The blue tape is easy to explain. The IEC standard for the neutral is blue, hence it was intstalled by a European electrician.

 

[peter d]

Don't get carried away with "New Orleans is poor, poor, poor". New Orleans is old.

Why not? It's a well known fact that NO and Loiusiana rank near the bottom of many economic scales.

Boston and Providence are old too, and I see the same things here. There is nothing unusual about this stuff. That's all I'm trying to say.

 

[tallgirl]

The blue tape is easy to explain. The IEC standard for the neutral is blue, hence it was intstalled by a European electrician.

Well, I have a different guess and it involves a pair of cable cutters and liberating the wire from a pre-existing panel ...

 

[tallgirl]

I've complained about the "electricians" who wired my house more than once. I went to replace a coach like this afternoon (because the builder couldn't find the correct model, so they installed one that was about twice the correct size ...) and found this little prize.

The fixture's ground wire was just wrapped around the EGC -- no wire nut at all. Those two screws holding the bracket into the box (or, as was the case with one of them, into the mortar around the box ...) were 2" deck screws.

Happy-happy, joy-joy.

 

[iwire]

Look at the bright side....at least there is a box.

 

[mdshunk]

and found this little prize..

Were you under the impression that a fixture strap must be attached to the box itself? I submit to you that no such requirement seems to exist. It is also common to bolt a ceiling fan's mounting bracket to the joist that runs next to an ordinary ceiling box if the canopy of the fan will cover both the ceiling box and the hanging bracket location.

 

[tallgirl]

Look at the bright side....at least there is a box.

I'm getting ready to put some Hanukah lights (lo derech hagoy ...) away for the season and will be back with still more piccies. The attic is such a thing to behold ...

 

[tallgirl]

Were you under the impression that a fixture strap must be attached to the box itself? I submit to you that no such requirement seems to exist. It is also common to bolt a ceiling fan's mounting bracket to the joist that runs next to an ordinary ceiling box if the canopy of the fan will cover both the ceiling box and the hanging bracket location.

I suspect that the use of 2" deck screws to screw that strap into mortar isn't in keeping with the installation instructions. I'll defer to Bob on that one, tho

But that wasn't nearly as bothersome as the "lemme wrap this ground wire around this other ground wire a few dozen times" trick. All the coach lights I've ever installed came with enough wire nuts for the installation. Wondering what happened to that one ...

 

[tallgirl]

These two are for Peter D. and Joe T. Peter, because of his comments about that attic in New Orleans, and Joe because, well, Joe collects these things --

This is one of my favorite bad examples. That wire actually goes UNDER the board (and there's not much slack, so I can't just move it out of the way and hammer that board down) on its way to the garage door opener before heading off to the kitchen for the dishwasher ...

The missing staples are an added bonus.

This is another good example, but I can fix it by screwing 2x2's on top of the existing lumber, then covering it all with plywood decking. Something I'd like to do anyway.

And again, about the only staples in that photo are for the feeder that runs from bottom to top on the left.

The quality of the wiring in the attic is slightly better than what was in that house in New Orleans. The only advantage with this mess is that there are no flood wires left behind.

 

[JohnJ0906]

Right next to the attic access-and there is a handy running board already there-why didn't they use it?

 

[peter d]

Peter, because of his comments about that attic in New Orleans,

ummm....ok.....

What's your point?