the worst electrical things in your own homes

[electricalperson]

A box in my basment

The EGC runs to here

thats some nice work you done right there:grin:

i have a couple flying splices in the basement, a 30 foot piece of 3/4 greenfield not supported feeding the generator. its held up by the celing grid. romex held up by the celing grid too. same with coax cable. outdoor lights on the pool house not working and a couple receptacles that dont hold in wallwarts that well anymore

 

[peter d]

That rings a bell. Every time I ask for type AC cable at the supply house, they ask me if I want original or crunchy.

Haha....when I hear the crunching sound that the old stuff makes, I know I'll be busy for a while.

 

[mdshunk]

Haha....when I hear the crunching sound that the old stuff makes, I know I'll be busy for a while.

On a more serious note, you can almost always get that stuff to "fail" a megger test pretty easily.

 

[peter d]

On a more serious note, you can almost always get that stuff to "fail" a megger test pretty easily.

I would imagine many of those failure points are in those old 3" octagon boxes with 4 cables in them, with a 100 watt lamp cooking the conductors.

 

[realolman]

Once I rented a little house in Georgia that had romex secured by driving a little finishing nail right through the middle of it. I later often thought about what good nailers they were, and what awful electricians.

Same place had little gas heaters in each room with no kind of safety device at all on them... just a valve. Light a match... turn it on... match goes out ... light another one... heater jumps off floor... wipe eyebrows off forehead with hand.

 

[mdshunk]

I would imagine many of those failure points are in those old 3" octagon boxes with 4 cables in them, with a 100 watt lamp cooking the conductors.

Yes, I've used more than a few 3-foot around light medallions patching up failures like that. The medallion hides the junction boxes I had to put in when I skinned the old AC back to find good wire.

 

[mdshunk]

Same place had little gas heaters in each room with no kind of safety device at all on them... just a valve. Light a match... turn it on... match goes out ... light another one... heater jumps off floor... wipe eyebrows off forehead with hand.

There's furnaces around that are still like that. If the pilot blows out, the main gas valve won't come on, but the pilot gas continues to come out.

 

[peter d]

There's furnaces around that are still like that. If the pilot blows out, the main gas valve won't come on, but the pilot gas continues to come out.

Really????

 

[electricalperson]

On a more serious note, you can almost always get that stuff to "fail" a megger test pretty easily.

i recently meggered some bx and it meggered out at 2 megaohms. im going to replace it soon. i also meggered some other old bx and it came out over 500 megaohms

 

[Mr.Sparkle]

I changed my service 7 months ago when I sided my house........the ground rods are still not in.....but I do have an existing CEE.

 

[ramsy]

One of my tenants installed this 12A cord & plug AC in his bedroom window, on a shared circuit. The breaker tripped all summer long, knocking out power to other rooms.

12A overload violates NFPA 70 210-23(A), 440-62(C) [20A x 50% = 10A Max]

Same tenant's failed power-tap hack from laundry, for the 3-ring circus in his rented bedroom.

Same tenant's extra power-tap hack from panel.

Same tenant hacked a receptacle into garage-light switch, but it doesn' work without a neutral. (Not shown)

This tenant is a Union foreman, inside electrician. Has been doing commercial electrical for 30 years. (Picture of tenant not shown)

The pool motor he re-wired on the same property was also missing the grounding (EGC), one of two pool-motor phases fed his room, and pool motor EMT was installed on the grass, so it corrodes as people walk on it. (Not shown)

 

[nolabama]

to funny ramsy

 

[peter d]

Same tenant's extra power-tap hack from panel.

Looks like he had his power disconnected too. (green tag on the meter seal.)

 

[steelersman]

CFL's. The wife wants to be green.

didn't know those were a code violation?

 

[steelersman]

Working clearance on the main panel & three subpanels.

you mean you aren't allowed to have 3 subpanels?

 

[steelersman]

My SE cable has hatchet marks on it, and at least three nails embedded in it.

how did that happen?

 

[mdshunk]

how did that happen?

now you're trying to act like this doesn't happen to everyone's SE cable.

 

[steelersman]

now you're trying to act like this doesn't happen to everyone's SE cable.

yes you guessed it.

 

[big john]

I've only lived in apartments, and I've never picked too closely into the electrical work for fear of what I'd find:

When I moved into one apartment there were some dead receptacles, but the lights worked. I found a blown 15A fuse in the 1940's service equipment, I took it out, and the lights went out... I replace it and the lights and receptacles both came on. It still keeps me awake at night thinking about it....

Current apartment is 1st floor; service equipment is in the basement below me. Fridge was running, toaster-oven was on, and I turned on the microwave. I noticed that the carousel in the microwave was mooovinnng verrrry sloooowly. Grab a meter: 103 volts in the kitchen. I turn off the toaster: 109 volts. I turn off the fridge: 115 volts. Everything off: 119 volts. What the heck is up with that VD? If it's one circuit, it's way over-fused. I don't like thinking about that, either....

-John

 

[charlietuna]

BOAT RELATED -- last trip i thought i smelt something burning while i was fishing??? Yesterday, I'm fishing with my brother-n-law - casting along the Gulf coastline operating on one of my trolling motors--i again smell something burning and figure it was something wrong on a boat that had just ran past us??? CAN'T BE ME !!!! Then my brother-n-law tells me "there's smoke coming out of the hatch under your feet"!!! I shut off the trolling motor and open the hatch ! Found the "TEMPORARY SPLICE" I had installed when building the boat -- Temporary Splice's Insulation smoking!!! One of those short cuts i forgot to correct! And you know i have NO overcurrent protection on the trolling motors! Used the other trolling motor to finish out the day!