Today's laugh--DIY

[LarryFine]

Re: Today's laugh--DIY

Originally posted by tshea:
People try to save money in the d@mdest ways.

So true! Last year, I stopped a guy from burning down his friends house. We was "doing his friend a favor" and installing a new range circuit.

Oh, he had the right receptacle and breaker in his shopping cart. The problem was the #12 NM he was going to use. Why? The #8 cost too much.

Originally posted by hank1:
Made a repair the other day, where the customer said her new micro blew the breaker that controlled the dining room, kitchen and hall lights. Sad thing was the micro was installed professionally by the appliance store.

That's what happens when you put a microwave on the same cable that used to supply the range hood. We just rewired one of these "professional" installations last week. At least they didn't upsize the breaker!

 

[bthielen]

Re: Today's laugh--DIY

"You should hire a licensed electrical contractor to change out your fuse box because if you do it yourself, there's a good chance you will get injured or killed."

This is such a true statement. Unfortunately, it is very likely that the DIYer will be too proud to take this advise to heart. "I can do this, I don't need an expensive contractor!" I wonder if a better response would be to answer her question as such. "Well, it depends." And then pile on as many technical questions as you can think of. It will more likely confuse them and overwhelm them enough to actually rethink their endeavor and hire an electrician. Then offer your card.

Bob

 

[charlie b]

Re: Today's laugh--DIY

Originally posted by bthielen: I wonder if a better response would be to answer her question as such. "Well, it depends." And then pile on as many technical questions as you can think of. It will more likely confuse them and overwhelm them enough to actually rethink their endeavor and hire an electrician. Then offer your card.

As long as you ask questions that actual apply, so that you are not just trying to show off, and as long as the intent is to instill a healthy amount of doubt in their assessment of their own abilities, I would applaud that approach. That is, until you get to the "offer your card" part. If you do that without being asked whether you do this type of work, it will come across as though you were trying to "bully them with their own ignorance," in an effort to make a profit from their inexperience. Keep it professional. If they ask for your card, then give it to them.

 

[tshea]

Re: Today's laugh--DIY

Originally posted by LarryFine:
That's what happens when you put a microwave on the same cable that used to supply the range hood. We just rewired one of these "professional" installations last week. At least they didn't upsize the breaker!

How about this. "Professionally installed microwave, above stove, fastened to wall with toggle bolts per manufacturer instructions. Toggle bolts were poking through the pocket door rendering useless!

 

[big john]

Re: Today's laugh--DIY

I had a call from a friend of mine the other day: "Hey, John, I'm trying to put in this plug where this ceiling fan used to be, and I have all these ground wires, what should I do with them?"

Because I strongly suspected he couldn't identify an EGC if I paid him, I said: "Don't do a darn thing; I'll be there in ten minutes."

When I got there, I found all the wires cut down to 2 inches long because he didn't see how everything would fit back in the box. Three black wires in the box, lo and behold there are three screws on the neutral side of a receptacle! So each neutral screw and the ground screw got a black wire.

The way it ended up was he had one dead-short between the hot and the ground, and when the switch was on, there would be another dead-short between the black wire on the switch-leg and the white wire which he connected to the neutrals.

He's a mason. I told him I wouldn't try to build brick walls if he left electrical work alone.

Edit: And in regards to those "appliance store" installs, have you ever tried to convince those guys to remove the bonding jumper when they have a 4-wire cord? Or, god-forbid, actually put a connector in the knockout? "Who are you to tell me how to do my job??" :roll:

-John

[ December 02, 2005, 08:14 PM: Message edited by: big john ]

 

[mc5w]

Re: Today's laugh--DIY

I make my customers pay fo all of the materials at the beginning of a job - otherwise I get ripped off. There is a reason why attorneys require payment in advance.

Usually, I am the one who goes to the supply house with the customer's money. If the customer is a fellow contractor say a roofing contractor then I can give them a list and send them over to the supply house because I can trust them to get what I want. In some instances I put onto a list acceptable substitutes.

Actually, one of the worst people I had for getting the wrong stuff was a boss who was a LICENSED ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR! He would obsessed with coming back from the supply house with whatever they had. Turns out that the biggest SquareD dealer in northeast Ohio is a bit eclectic about what kinds of circuit breaker handle padlock atachments they will carry. They will carry the fixed attachments for 2 and 3 pole circuit breakers but not the fixed attachments for 1 pole circuit breakers. The new requiremnt in Article 422 for a permanent padlock attachment for circuit breakers that supply appliances. When I was moving a factory back in the mid 1990s I actually had to buy SquareD stuff from 3 different dealers because of how well 1 place or the other did on prices or how well so and so handles special orders. I bought the wire from 4 different places.

This boss of mine would also do things such as buy 4 wire thermostat cable because it is cheap. 4 wire cable is used for certain computerized HVAC controls where 2 wires are 24 volts DC and the other 2 for data. When wiring other thermostats we ended up having to run 2 cables or just let the HVAC contractor do it.

 

[mc5w]

Re: Today's laugh--DIY

Big John,

What is really a laugh is that quite a few places hire the dumbest people they can find because dumb is cheaper.

I have to tell people that I have a college education because the student loans are all over my credit record because of the H1B visa scam. They then decide that I am "overqualified" whatever the h-e-double toothpicks that means.

I also cannot get it across to Lowe's and Home Depot that the vast majority of their meter sockets do not meet First Energy's requirements because they do not have a horn bypass or lever bypass. The list price for a horn bypass socket is the same as a no bypass socket but the no bypass sockets are cheaper because most electrical utilities DO NOT want them.