John Ellis
09-30-2012, 07:35 AM
I recently inspected a home with some major wiring issues. The house was "unusual" to the say the least with it's back to back kitchens located in the same room. Two kitchens and no GFCI's anywhere. There were also two additional rooms built onto the house that gave me a fit trying to figure where the power came in from. I found it when I noticed the exterior light and traced it to a Romex "plug in" adapter located in the bathroom between the washer hook ups and the bathroom sink. This was all fed from a 15A breaker.
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu152/dude152369/IMG_2703800x600.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu152/dude152369/IMG_2694800x600.jpg
The main panel had issues but what really set off the red flags was in the "laundry room". The 200A main panel fed 100A service to a sub panel via aluminum wiring. The sub panel fed another sub panel (within 3' away) via copper wiring and they were double tapped. Add in the water heater and it's even better. The Cop/ALum connection was getting loose from the heat and starting to melt the plastic surrounding it and apparently they had been trying to tighten it to solve the problem.
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu152/dude152369/IMG_2707800x600.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu152/dude152369/IMG_2715800x600.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu152/dude152369/IMG_2716800x600.jpg
Obviously I recommend that a "Qualified and licesned professional" aka electrician be called to go over the entire electrical service in the residence.
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu152/dude152369/IMG_2703800x600.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu152/dude152369/IMG_2694800x600.jpg
The main panel had issues but what really set off the red flags was in the "laundry room". The 200A main panel fed 100A service to a sub panel via aluminum wiring. The sub panel fed another sub panel (within 3' away) via copper wiring and they were double tapped. Add in the water heater and it's even better. The Cop/ALum connection was getting loose from the heat and starting to melt the plastic surrounding it and apparently they had been trying to tighten it to solve the problem.
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu152/dude152369/IMG_2707800x600.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu152/dude152369/IMG_2715800x600.jpg
http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu152/dude152369/IMG_2716800x600.jpg
Obviously I recommend that a "Qualified and licesned professional" aka electrician be called to go over the entire electrical service in the residence.