improper electrical installation: Disposal Electrical Connector Clamps And Cover Plates
- 12/21/16 02:17 AM
Disposal connector clamps and cover plates. When electrical wires enter any junction box or appliance they should be clamped. The clamp does what you think it does. It secures the wire so it cannot come loose or be pulled out of the device thus pulling apart the electrical connection. And very importantly, the clamp also seals the hole so no sparks can escape. Disposals especially need this as the kitchen cabinet is one that is often entered, and it is a space with the potential for water to get onto an electrical connection. Many times I have looked under a disposal only to find the electrical connection … (8 comments)
improper electrical installation: Removing Insulation To Install New Light Fixtures Causes This
- 07/30/16 07:54 PM
Removing insulation to install new light fixtures causes this. There were a lot of new electrical installations in this house, all done unprofessionally and the wiring was inappropriate. The old, single kitchen light was recently replaced with newer, chic halogen lights. Three to be exact. All were wired unprofessionally. The insulation had been removed around each fixture to install it. Bare drywall could be seen around each one. These three spots without insulation took up a large portion of the kitchen ceiling, which comprised a lot of surface area, about 25 square feet. They add up to more than 5% of the kitchen ceiling area. Remember the 5% rule … (7 comments)
improper electrical installation: A Sure Sign It Was A Flipper
- 06/01/16 07:44 PM
When I pulled up to this house I saw a sure sign it was a Flipper. I could see new vinyl siding on the lower half of the front. The upper half of the front was the original aluminum siding, painted to look like the lower half. You can see both siding materials in this photo. The other thing I could see (and all this from the car before even getting out) was that the light fixtures were improperly mounted. Can you see what's wrong here? There was an electrical junction box already on the wall, left when the house was built. Most houses have … (10 comments)
improper electrical installation: Where Duct Tape And Electrical Panel Boxes Meet
- 05/30/16 07:09 PM
Sometimes you have to look carefully to see where duct tape and electrical panel boxes meet. First glance you might not notice it! When I first opened the panel box door, both of them actually, I didn't see this either. Then, before I took the cover off, I saw them. Two covers were different, each indicated with a yellow arrow. There was another smaller one in the other box. Perfectly placed, exactly the right color. Touching one I felt the familiar stickiness of, of, DUCT TAPE! Well, you kind of knew that was coming. And why not? Duct tape has the perfect width for the job! Everyone knows duct … (13 comments)
improper electrical installation: Homeowner Wiring Gone Wild!
- 12/02/15 08:13 PM
Homeowner wiring gone wild! No, it's not a video sold on late-night TV ads. It's a disposal. Do you see the red circle? That is where the wire is supposed to go into the unit. The wire should be secured with a connector clamp. Connector clamps look like the above image. They come with every electrical appliance! There was one in the box along with this disposal! The connector clamp not only holds a wire in place, but also intends to wrap around the insulation so the individual wires inside the protective rubber wrapping are not exposed to danger. See how the wires are exposed above? See how the … (12 comments)
improper electrical installation: Improper Electrical Installation - Unprotected Wiring
- 02/04/15 07:28 PM
The title says it all, improper electrical installation - unprotected wiring. Romex wiring, where there is a protective sheathing around various wires that do different things, needs to be installed right. If held with staples, for example, they should not be hammered in too far. If the wiring enters a junction box, it should be clamped. Things like that. Another consideration is how the wiring is cut in order to service an appliance. The clamp should be onto the sheathing, with the wiring separated inside a junction box to connect to what it needs to connect to. Here is the attic … (27 comments)
improper electrical installation: When GFI Receptacles Do More Than They Are Supposed To Do
- 09/20/14 07:42 PM
I often find other electrical problems when GFI receptacles do more than they are supposed to do. Why would that be? Because an improperly-wired GFI receptacle indicates unprofessional work. And in houses that have been substantially remodeled, there is usually unprofessional work. UNPROFESSIONAL WORK IN ONE PLACE WILL IS THE TIP OFF TO UNPROFESSIONAL WORK ELSEWHERE. AND IF WIRING, OR PLUMBING, OR SOMETHING ELSE THAT I CAN SEE IS A PROBLEM, I ESPECIALLY WORRY ABOUT WHAT I CAN'T SEE.
Like Uncle Martin on the TV show "My Favorite Martian" (my favorite TV show in fourth grade), I have antenna that … (25 comments)
improper electrical installation: The Land Of Ladder Lights
- 08/08/14 09:07 PM
I've never been there before, but now I can say I have been to the land of ladder lights. Ladder lights, you say? What is a ladder light? In yesterday's post I wrote of having run across some inept and dangerous wiring in an electric panel box. There was a circuit in there wired entirely backwards, which said it serviced the "Attic." I called those two backwards wires Wynken and Blynken. There is a 19th-century children bedtime poem called "Wynken, Blynken and Nod." While it's a metaphor for going to sleep, it speaks of three children who sail into the sky in … (25 comments)
improper electrical installation: Remodeling One KNOWS Is Unsafe Without Looking Much Further
- 08/07/14 09:33 PM
Seeing this I knew we were dealing with remodeling one KNOWS is unsafe without looking much further. Seeing a few new-looking breakers in the panel box I was anxious to remove the cover to look inside. But one of the older circuit breakers was wired up with this wire. It enters the box like any other wire. It's what it does later that is so, um, creative. Notice that the white (neutral) wire goes straight up? Weirdly, it goes directly into a breaker newly labeled "1". On the cover it says that breaker services the attic. Neutral wires do not, (um, well, … (58 comments)
improper electrical installation: Receptacle Boxes "Shall Be Flush With The Finished Surface"
- 06/24/14 08:59 PM
The IRC code says that receptacle boxes "shall be flush with the finished surface." Receptacle boxes installed post facto to the construction of the house are often incorrectly done. There are many reasons for that - possible damage to the box or receptacle, looseness developing over time, the escape of a spark - many reasons. Who knows the history here. This is new phone/cable/internet equipment installed near the electrical panel box. Was the receptacle installed to accommodate that equipment, or did the equipment installers cut the paneling to accommodate the receptacle box to plug in their equipment? I would bet on the … (35 comments)
Disposal connector clamps and cover plates.
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