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electrical hazard: A Deadly Combination - 11/10/07 03:38 PM
Kudos to the agent. He sensed, based on what his client had told him, that the house he had listed for them needed to be checked out by a professional. The middle aged couple who had lived in the 35 year old house for 25 years were not concerned about the aluminum wiring since there had been no problems but he convinced them to contact me.
The home owner told me, up front on a pre-inspection phone call, about the aluminum wiring in the general circuits and I began to explain the hazard. According to studies by the Consumer Product Safety Commission … (20 comments)

electrical hazard: Hazard Marking - 10/09/07 06:18 PM
Normally when installing an attic fan, you install the fan first, then hook up the electric wire to it, then hook up the wire at a junction box to the power source. However, I recently encountered a case where the homeowner hooked the electric wire to power first and then forgot about installing the attic fan. The wire was left coiled on a nail right beside the attic access hatch where it could ZAP any unsuspecting person who touches the live end. Unfortunately, I find hazards like these more often that you'd expect and I've learned to keep an electrical current … (1 comments)

electrical hazard: The Field Panel - 09/29/07 08:14 AM
His passion was restoring old cars and as I drove up to the old farm house on the hill, I saw several old 40ish clunkers in a field about 300 feet down the hill from the house.
He needed electrical power for a sander and some other small tools so he improvised a sub panel on a stump down in the field drawing from the main panel on the front porch.
Nothing, I repeat, nothing about this sub panel was to code. Not the wire size at AWG 12-2 which was run as a 240 circuit using the ground as neutral. Not … (0 comments)

electrical hazard: Federal Pacific Panels - 09/27/07 05:54 PM
The problem with Federal Pacific Panels is that when you find them they are not smoking or spitting sparks. They are just sitting there working as they have for 25, 30, or more years.
Because of this, some inspectors will say that a Federal Panel is OK...I say be careful. I cannot, in good conscience, tell my clients that any Federal Pacific Panel is OK when it can fail 1 out of 4 times it is challenged!
Independent certified lab tests on 240 volt (2 pole) Federal Pacific Breakers have shown that they fail to trip at 150% over current 25% of the … (14 comments)

electrical hazard: X - Wires - 09/25/07 07:13 PM
"Holy Smokes" I said out loud as my current detector went crazy next to a live, loose, jumble of 6 AWG (55 amp) wire. That's a big wire to encounter loose in a crawl space and that much electrical power would kill almost instantly.  That is an X-wire.
I've named them after the popular video game and recent movie because they tend to morph into pretty nasty creatures. But let's make no mistake about it, these are no super heroes. These are very bad guys.
X-wires are created when an appliance is replaced or upgraded in a home and the new … (10 comments)

 

Bill Duncan

Haymarket, VA

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Home Status Inspection Company, LLC

Address: 4208 High Ridge Road, Haymarket, VA, 20169

Office Phone: (703) 754-9992

Cell Phone: (703) 283-6375

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