jmellc
Senior Member
- Location
- Durham, NC
- Occupation
- Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
Again, I gripe about what code allows & what it forces on us with no real benefit to anyone.
A friend is way down & out, has very limited funds. Wiring in his house is atrocious. Every owner's BIL has jacklegged crap from 1 end to other. I agreed to rewire it as minimum as our city allows, with his son helping. He pays only permit & materials.
Materials are high, of course. But AFI breakers add about $300 to the cost. As a result, I will have to watch for a decent used panel & usable scrap service cable to balance the cost. Smoke detectors add about $100.
His wiring now is not safe. I could put in wiring to make it much safer, though not as safe as the authorities want it. So, since he can't afford the higher safety, he has to live with the unsafe until he can scrounge more $ or I can find free materials (yea, right).
He is partially disabled, does what he can to get by. His wife just got downsized from her job. My business is improving, but I still can't do but so much for free & can't give away materials.
AFI breakers have caused me to lose a lot of respect for the NEC, especially when it still allows backstabbing. I'm anxious to see how much arcing they really prevent down the road. While I encourage smoke detectors, I don't agree with forcing them on homeowners in SFD's. Apartments, I can better understand.
I'm sure my friend will appreciate all the rules if he has a fire before being able to pay for what is demanded.
Also, I am preparing to hook up a mobile home with a 200 amp panel outside & 1 inside with feed through lugs. Will have an AC unit & water pump outside. Previous ones were fed from outside. I'll have to refeed them from inside or buy an expensive 150A main to swap out to stay legal. Someone laid awake nights to come up with the "full load" provision in 315. Makes a lot of sense, lighten the load but beef up the wire. So that job will cost more than it should too. Fortunately, customer hasn't argued about changes I have to make.
A friend is way down & out, has very limited funds. Wiring in his house is atrocious. Every owner's BIL has jacklegged crap from 1 end to other. I agreed to rewire it as minimum as our city allows, with his son helping. He pays only permit & materials.
Materials are high, of course. But AFI breakers add about $300 to the cost. As a result, I will have to watch for a decent used panel & usable scrap service cable to balance the cost. Smoke detectors add about $100.
His wiring now is not safe. I could put in wiring to make it much safer, though not as safe as the authorities want it. So, since he can't afford the higher safety, he has to live with the unsafe until he can scrounge more $ or I can find free materials (yea, right).
He is partially disabled, does what he can to get by. His wife just got downsized from her job. My business is improving, but I still can't do but so much for free & can't give away materials.
AFI breakers have caused me to lose a lot of respect for the NEC, especially when it still allows backstabbing. I'm anxious to see how much arcing they really prevent down the road. While I encourage smoke detectors, I don't agree with forcing them on homeowners in SFD's. Apartments, I can better understand.
I'm sure my friend will appreciate all the rules if he has a fire before being able to pay for what is demanded.
Also, I am preparing to hook up a mobile home with a 200 amp panel outside & 1 inside with feed through lugs. Will have an AC unit & water pump outside. Previous ones were fed from outside. I'll have to refeed them from inside or buy an expensive 150A main to swap out to stay legal. Someone laid awake nights to come up with the "full load" provision in 315. Makes a lot of sense, lighten the load but beef up the wire. So that job will cost more than it should too. Fortunately, customer hasn't argued about changes I have to make.