Thread: Behind the kitchen fridge

Just happened to peek over the kitchen fridge and saw the first photo, pulled out the fridge and took the second photo. This was a recent remodel of a 1960's home. Kinda think this is a bad place for a breaker panel, huh?

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Not allowed. Either move the Fridge or the panel.
Oh, good catch.

Wow, a couple of inches lower and it would have gone by without a mention. I try to find all the distribution panels, but sometimes they're hiding like that one and we miss them.
I don't move fridges as a rule, but you were justified to move that one.

Now what if you scratched the floor pulling the fridge out?

And red Christmas tree lights hanging from the bottom to boot!
(You know that is when those will light up ... in the middle of the night on Christmas - when it will cost triple time to repair the burned out wall. )



Excellent catch!

Wow! .. and here I was patting myself on the back the other day when I tracked down an upstream GFCI hiding behind a refrigerator.

Good catch, indeed.

Ya know this makes one wonder just what the heck they were thinking. It never ceases to amaze me what the HI's find and post on this forum. I hope this was a homeowner remodel without permits cause if an electrical contractor did that he should put his head in the sand.

Originally Posted by Roger Frazee

Ya know this makes one wonder just what the heck they were thinking. It never ceases to amaze me what the HI's find and post on this forum. I hope this was a homeowner remodel without permits cause if an electrical contractor did that he should put his head in the sand.

Roger,

Here is an example of what contractors do:

Last week I wrote up a restaurant renovation due to the sinks not having traps. The restaurant is on a deck on pilings out over the water, the plumber called me and said the traps were under the deck.

I said okay, then asked how far DOWN under the deck below the outlet of the fixtures? Turns out the traps were too far down (not within the allowable 24").

Plumber calls back and says "I added traps up above the deck under the sinks." I ask 'You ADDED traps above the deck and under the sinks?" Plumber says "Yes, I ADDED traps there."

I asked "You mean you RELOCATED the traps from below the deck to above the deck, right?" Plumber says "No, I ADDED the traps above the deck."

I said "You know you are not allowed to double trap the sinks, don't you?"

There was a long pause and then the plumber said "Guess I need to go back under the deck and remove those other traps don't I?"

I said "Yes, that is correct."

Honest, all contractors, not just electricians, do those things ALL THE TIME. It is scary that they do not know, or simply do not care (I'm not sure which, but I think it is that they do not know - that is the scary part), what they are doing.

They also added a 3-compartment sink, which added fixture units, and did not increase the size of the fixture branch drain, so now they have to go back in and replace the necessary piping to make it large enough for the additional fixture units of the 3-compartment sink. Think of this as installing a 20 amp circuit with a 15 amp load, then deciding to install an additional 15 amp load on the same circuit ... everything will work okay as long as only one load is on at a time, but the intent is for both to be on at the same time if need be - and that ain't gonna be good.

Well I suppose I know contractors do these things...I just have to swallow hard before I can admit it.... I think you may be right about the not knowing as I still know electricians that think the grounding electrode system is to complete the circuit with earth so a breaker will trip. You can't change their mind no matter what you do.