Worst Code Violations Ever!

[DrSparks]

Just when I thought I could not see any worse, I was hired to repair the plethora of code violations produced by 40 years of DIYing from a recently deceased tenured University of Wisconsin physics professor. He was truly a genious, but either did not educate himself with the NEC or didn't care.

 

[DrSparks]

And of course, the ever-classic relay in a jar!

 

[ActionDave]

Just when I thought I could not see any worse, ......

You have not been to our shop, or even worse,, my house.

 

[Rampage_Rick]

At least everything's labelled...

 

[ptonsparky]

Just when I thought I could not see any worse, I was hired to repair the plethora of code violations produced by 40 years of DIYing from a recently deceased tenured University of Wisconsin physics professor. He was truly a genious, but either did not educate himself with the NEC or didn't care.

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The covers are on the panels and boxes, and labeled, what are you after?

 

[mgookin]

Just when I thought I could not see any worse, I was hired to repair the plethora of code violations produced by 40 years of DIYing from a recently deceased tenured University of Wisconsin physics professor. He was truly a genious, but either did not educate himself with the NEC or didn't care.

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You are confusing his experiments with the NEC. If you read his Physics book, he hit the nail on the head.

 

[kwired]

Though it has been mentioned a couple times - the fairly thorough labeling is pretty impressive, might even make up for some other issues to some extent.

 

[Strathead]

Tell me if I am missing something...

It really doesn't seem that bad to me, from a safety perspective. The Relay is a Jar is pretty bad. The one picture with the open wiring, line the cabinet with non flammable material and put a cover on it and it would be code compliant and the work is neat. Perfectly legal open knife switch installation as we have seen here would scare me far more. How about the receptacle on the dish soap bottle, or the plug strip floating on the flip flop?

 

[Tony S]

A question, do you understand how it works?

The panel with the time clock looks interesting.

 

[kwired]

A question, do you understand how it works?

The panel with the time clock looks interesting.

The fact things are well labeled maybe does help quite a bit when it comes to overcoming other unconventional things present.

Not trying to condone some of those practices, but still does make it easier to figure it out.

 

[cowboyjwc]

If that's the worst code violation you've ever seen, then I know you're not an inspector.:happyno:

 

[ggunn]

If that's the worst code violation you've ever seen, then I know you're not an inspector.:happyno:

True dat. I went out on a few Energy Management Systems installations at restaurants as an observer for a company I used to work for. The electrical rooms were nightmares. I remember one that was so crammed with cardboard boxes of supplies, surplus furniture, mops and buckets, etc. that we had to work for an hour just to get to where we could SEE the electrical panels. There were boxes stacked to the ceiling right up against the panel doors. The only way we knew where the panels even were was by looking for where the conduits cam down the walls. If they ever had had to reset a breaker it would have taken them forever.

 

[DrSparks]

Haha yeah the pictures aren't very descriptive. I wish I'd taken more. The internals are pretty bad, especially the ad-hoc generator and transfer switch. The water main bond was run to a half inch water pipe going up to the bathroom.

And yes, I do understand how it all works. I had to figure it all out to reverse it. He had a lot of old x.10 stuff in there too and literally hundreds of icecube relays all over the house. I'm not discrediting his genious, but damn some of the stuff was pretty unsafe and moreover very confusing to the next homeowner to operate

Here are a few of the code violations I found:

#16 SO cord used as branch wiring, including open splices in a drop ceiling

42-space 200amp main breaker load center (completely full with additional sub-subpanels attached) with a 100a main ahead of it

Fluorescent fixtures in the garage open spliced into SO cord and romex stapled to the ceiling. There were actually burn marks where the wire was run

120VAC /15A outlets labeled (12VDC)

A portable generator completely enclosed in a plastic garden storage box with no exhaust outlet right next to a window

Type NMB cable directly buried approx 6" below grade

A sump pit with a cord cap for the pump open spliced into the UF right in the pit! And no GFCI protection.

Many many light fixtures installed without a box, open splices

Thinwall central vac PCV used as electrical conduit

This is just the tip of the iceburg. After everything was done, we removed 47 unnecessary circuits from the house!

 

[ptonsparky]

I thought this was his Lab work area. Not his home :blink:

 

[DrSparks]

I thought this was his Lab work area. Not his home :blink:

I doubt that he differentiated the two. He probably retired from the UW when I was in elementary school. He was in his 90s when he died last year.

 

[DrSparks]

I thought the inline analog ammeters on his generator input was pretty neat. Also see the radioshack plug-in analog voltmeters to the right.

 

[kwired]

True dat. I went out on a few Energy Management Systems installations at restaurants as an observer for a company I used to work for. The electrical rooms were nightmares. I remember one that was so crammed with cardboard boxes of supplies, surplus furniture, mops and buckets, etc. that we had to work for an hour just to get to where we could SEE the electrical panels. There were boxes stacked to the ceiling right up against the panel doors. The only way we knew where the panels even were was by looking for where the conduits cam down the walls. If they ever had had to reset a breaker it would have taken them forever.

A statement that mentions code violations (in particular electrical codes) makes most think improper install, better not hire whoever did that, which is not necessarily true, when the violation is schtuff stacked in front of equipment.

I thought this was his Lab work area. Not his home :blink:

There is no difference for some of those type of people