I was called to relocate a washer/dryer circuit on a older home that a freind of mine has rented from a friend of his.
The old "laundry" location was on a outside (covered) porch.
The breaker panel (200A) is in a bedroom closet, and the first thing that I see is a panel with about half the face blanks missing, only holes.
I remove the cover and find a 100A 2 pole breaker feeding the dryer!
Upon removing the dryer receptacle from the porch (face up in decking), I find that there is no box, only a hole in the floor with the receptacle screwed to it. The bottom of the receptacle was exposed. This was a porch that is open underneath and about 5' above ground. The #10-2 NM feeding the receptacle was run thru a hole in the block foundation and un-supported to the breaker panel.
The circuit was wired using the bare as a hot conductor and the white as the ground.
The washing machine was plugged into a duplex receptacle located under the porch using a extension cord. The receptacle wasn't GFCI protected, didn't have a cover, and the 12-2NM was "protected" by a 60A single pole breaker.
I also found (2) #14cu NM 230V circuits that had been used for space heating. These were also "protected" by 60A 2 pole breakers!
There was also (1) 120V circuit (#12cu) for the fridge that was "protected" by a 50A single pole breaker.
The old #6 cu SE cable feeding the range is suspended from each end (30') and the insulation if falling off. At least it had a 60A breaker.
In all my years, this is just about the worst case of "jake leg" that I've ever seen.
Talk about a coiled snake ready to bite.
steve
The old "laundry" location was on a outside (covered) porch.
The breaker panel (200A) is in a bedroom closet, and the first thing that I see is a panel with about half the face blanks missing, only holes.
I remove the cover and find a 100A 2 pole breaker feeding the dryer!
Upon removing the dryer receptacle from the porch (face up in decking), I find that there is no box, only a hole in the floor with the receptacle screwed to it. The bottom of the receptacle was exposed. This was a porch that is open underneath and about 5' above ground. The #10-2 NM feeding the receptacle was run thru a hole in the block foundation and un-supported to the breaker panel.
The circuit was wired using the bare as a hot conductor and the white as the ground.
The washing machine was plugged into a duplex receptacle located under the porch using a extension cord. The receptacle wasn't GFCI protected, didn't have a cover, and the 12-2NM was "protected" by a 60A single pole breaker.
I also found (2) #14cu NM 230V circuits that had been used for space heating. These were also "protected" by 60A 2 pole breakers!
There was also (1) 120V circuit (#12cu) for the fridge that was "protected" by a 50A single pole breaker.
The old #6 cu SE cable feeding the range is suspended from each end (30') and the insulation if falling off. At least it had a 60A breaker.
In all my years, this is just about the worst case of "jake leg" that I've ever seen.
Talk about a coiled snake ready to bite.
steve
