Liability of tying into "old circuits"

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Mule

Mule

Senior Member
Location
Oklahoma
I built a new service today on a rent house. It had a old SE cable going to a range outlet. The insulation was brittle, so I cut into the wall and gained some more slack on the cable then stripped it out. After bringing it into the new "out door" HOM panel, I find the insulation is still brittle. So I doctored it up, connecting to new wire via a monkey fist...and then landing it on the breaker....then BAM...you know what happened..

So here's my question.... I done doctoring up this old junk....I dont wont the liability.....How do you handle this scenerio with your clients?
 
if the cable or wire is old but still in good condition and no evidence of overfusing or overloading i wouldnt replace it. usually with old cable you can strip bacl the sheath and find good wire. after one cut if i dont find good insulation i replace.. get the book old electrical wiring. you might learn a lot from it.

a megger might of helped in this situation too
 
Mule said:
So here's my question.... I done doctoring up this old junk....I dont wont the liability.....How do you handle this scenerio with your clients?
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Tell them the range circuit needs to be replaced.
Charge them accordingly.

I ussually check it when I do my estimate for a service up grade. Some times the water heater is wired in #12., too. I figure on changing it to #10.
Some times on these older wires it is easier to replace them then dealing with them being to short or splicing them.
I tell the customer this when I am bidding. And tell them they will have new circuits pulled. Some times it helps as a sales pitch.
 
a good way of testing insulation quality is grabbing a conductor and bending it all the way over. if it doesnt split or break apart than i would say the insulation still has a few years left to it. if you think the wiring is old then it probably reached the end of its life and its time for a replacement anyway
 
I have devised a plan to refeed the old service from the new service. I will upsell the idea for a few hundred extra dollars to cover the cost of the ser and an hour separating the neutrals from the grounds. Now they have a new service with lots of spares and I dont have to deal with other electricians junk. I will fix the obvious problems so it doesnt start a fire and no muss no fuss. Clean slate for my work. Less liability from others crap.
 
This particular client is a slum lord. 150 houses. Great guy, but he has got some JUNK for houses.....I work T/M for him when he calls....with the understanding that I only do what's needed....but I agree...ITS NEEDED!! :D
 
Your going to have to sell it to your customer. If he's tight or has limited cash it might be hard to convince him.
 
SEO said:
Your going to have to sell it to your customer. If he's tight or has limited cash it might be hard to convince him.
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HA....He's on a cruise right now...Jamaca or some where......He's not broke....you should see his house....WOW

YEA...It will boil down to if he needs the circuit or not. There is gas there also. But I dont want to burn a house down re-hooking up SE cable, frankly. I will just tell him, its brittle and unsafe
 
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