Things That Make Your Blood Boil

[Jim M426]

When the previous owners replaced the heat pump in 2005, the installers moved it to the other side of the pedestrian door located on the side of the garage. Probably because the line set, which is buried under the slab, was bad and it was easier to run a new one if the heat pump was moved. But for the electric, they switched from the existing GRC that came up out of the slab to PVC, ran the PVC up to where the old disconnect was and installed a "C" unilet there. They used the unilet to splice the existing #6 TW to #8 TW. Then they ran PVC up and over the door and down to the new disconnect.

The breaker at the panel was 50A and the disconnect they installed was a sub panel with a 50A breaker.

The fitting at the GRC-PVC was split and I wanted to get rid of the PVC going over the door. As I was tearing out the old, I noticed a #10 TW ground in the unilet. I knew there was only (2) #6 TW at the panel so I went to look for bonding to the GRC. There was none. At the disconnect I saw the same ground but nowhere did I see any other means of grounding. Once I started removing the wire I realized what was happening.

The installers inserted short pieces of #10 in the unilet and out from the conduit at the disconnect, where they landed it on the ground bus. :rant::rant::rant:

So for the last 12 years, this heat pump fed from a 50A breaker had no electrical ground and had to rely on whatever grounding it could get from the line set.

My wife asked if they just didn't know what they were doing. She's heard me complain about some of the shoddy workmanship I've found since we moved in a year ago. I had to explain to her this was purposeful and intended to fool the inspector. And obviously, it worked.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

From my past life as a plumber, and tin-knocker, I could not bury refrigeration lines under a slab, it's just plain wrong.

 

[texie]

From my past life as a plumber, and tin-knocker, I could not bury refrigeration lines under a slab, it's just plain wrong.

Then you would not like to be in an area like the OP is from. Common practice in that neck of the woods-millions in his area done like that.

 

[Jim M426]

Back in the 60s, when the house was built, they ran the plumbing supply under the slab but installed a larger copper flex through which they later pulled cold water copper supply lines. Hot water is run through the attic. All the electric was run overhead in NC, but at every drop to a device they installed 1/2" EMT in the walls. They pulled the NC through the EMT. All of the studs are cedar. The slab is terrazzo. The exterior walls are cinder block and the headers across the exteriors are reinforced concrete, poured in place.

So far, the only electric I've found under slab is the heat pump feed. And they did run that in GRC. :thumbsup: Pretty much everything from the original build looks like they built to last. But almost everything that has been done since then, from what I've seen so far, looks like hack work. But that they stuck those fake grounds in instead of at least tapping the GRC to complete the ground really got me POd.

They probably weren't electricians but they did know enough that they knew they needed a ground to pass inspection.

 

[norcal]

Most likely they were HVAC "techs", most know enough to be dangerous.

 

[ptonsparky]

I was doing a locate at a local truck stop when in ground box B didn't match with what I expected coming from box A. On a hunch I tugged on the Green wire. Sure enough it was just 2' long. Whoever knew enough to know better.

 

[peter d]

The only saving grace is that this was probably still grounded through the line set via the air handler. Not code compliant and no excuse for such blatant hack work, but you might be able to rest a little easier knowing it had some kind of ground at least. I'm certain that if you had put a meter on that heat pump, it still would have show it to be grounded.

 

[Netpog]

They probably weren't electricians but they did know enough that they knew they needed a ground to pass inspection.

If there was an inspection, then wouldn't there have been a permit? That's in case you're curious who perpetrated that placebic EGC.

Here (in Boston) I can go online, and see every permit ever pulled on my 1934 house. So I know exactly who to blame for the 1970's & 80's-vintage buried boxes, ungrounded & unsecured devices, loose wire nuts, undersized conductors, etc. (Our inspectors don't necessarily always 'show up for the job', as it were.)

But my 1930's BX (cloth) splices were museum pieces. Often lethal from decay, especially given the lack of those new-fangled ceiling junction boxes, but tidy & solid. Since I know who he was, I sometimes think I should find, and complement, his (grand)kids.

 

[Jim M426]

The only saving grace is that this was probably still grounded through the line set via the air handler. Not code compliant and no excuse for such blatant hack work, but you might be able to rest a little easier knowing it had some kind of ground at least. I'm certain that if you had put a meter on that heat pump, it still would have show it to be grounded.

But the line set could have been damaged because of this dope.

If there was an inspection, then wouldn't there have been a permit? That's in case you're curious who perpetrated that placebic EGC.

Here (in Boston) I can go online, and see every permit ever pulled on my 1934 house. So I know exactly who to blame for the 1970's & 80's-vintage buried boxes, ungrounded & unsecured devices, loose wire nuts, undersized conductors, etc. (Our inspectors don't necessarily always 'show up for the job', as it were.)

But my 1930's BX (cloth) splices were museum pieces. Often lethal from decay, especially given the lack of those new-fangled ceiling junction boxes, but tidy & solid. Since I know who he was, I sometimes think I should find, and complement, his (grand)kids.

I know the company that did it. They proudly displayed their stickers on the air handler and heat pump. You look at their reviews online and they are stellar. But what does that mean, really?

I hear you on wanting to compliment the craftsman of the past. I had to open up some walls here to remove moldy drywall (from Hurricane Charley, back in 2004) and every stud was plumb, every plate level, every cut perfect. When the electricians installed a box, they cut in a dado so the face of the bracket was flush with the stud. Even the terrazzo floor is nearly perfect. Then the hacks came in...

 

[Netpog]

...they cut in a dado so the face of the bracket was flush with the stud...

Could've been worse. Could've been plumbers.

Fun with a borescope: I see that the joist that's centered under my bathtub, running head-to-foot, is about 75% notched from the bottom, in the center of its span, for a drainpipe.

That might explain the ominous bulge in my kitchen ceiling.

(And no, I'm not taking many baths. Not until I get that fixed, which is my excuse to get a whirlpool tub.)

 

[peter d]

But the line set could have been damaged because of this dope.

Of course. I'm not excusing this hack work. I'm simply saying the unit was not totally ungrounded and in the event of the compressor or fan motor failing, it probably would have tripped the breaker instead of sitting there live, waiting for someone to touch it and get shocked.