Anyone good with residential electrical wiring?

[StarTech]

LoL... My water heater is wired with just a white and a black. Both are hot. It's not even grounded.

Someone was just being cheap. should have been 12/3 w ground. (4500 watt elements). But even here in my trailer they use 12/2 with ground. The electrician was suppose to wrap the wire wire with red tape and provide a safety ground. No need for a neutral on a true 240 application.

 

[Rivets]

PT, not only was someone cheap, they are stupid and putting everyone in that building in risk. I’ve reported guys like that, especially if it is a rental and I’ve got a friend living there.

 

[bertsmobile1]

They made it illegal for home owners down here to do their own wiring
When you sell a property there is a manditory electrical safety check which is usually done by old semi- retired sparkies or those recovering from an injury
When we got ours done he said "you did a really nice job on the wiring"
Thinking he was trying to trap me I responded with "what makes you think I touched it "
HE replied it was the only hose all year he had seen that was wired correctly , the wire saddles were all less than the maximum permissible spacing , there were proper excess loops at every switch & fixed fitting , the wires all followed the timbers in place of being stretched in strait lines to reduce the amount of wire needed and there were 6 power circuits all with 2 fewer outlets on them than the maximum allowable 8 .
The rewire happened when we fitted the ceiling fan
When I loosened the wires they snapped back into the ceiling and so I had to crawl up into the cavity
All of the wires were stretched so tight you could have played them like a violin
The water was the same , all done with thin wall capillary tube not proper water pipe so all of that had to be redone as well .

 

[StarTech]

And boy I hate those lazy man outlets where you just push the wires in.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I refuse to use the back wired push in devices. Seen too many burned up. I only use the ones that clamp a straight wire under a plate and screw. Too lazy to wrap wires around screws anymore.

 

[Rivets]

When I built my home I had the contractor have the electrician remove all push in receptacles and I checked before I paid my last payment. Electrician wasn’t happy because his buddy wrote off the inspection, but I wouldn’t accept it. I don’t know what his problem was as I told the contractor that I wouldn’t accept certain short cuts before we signed the contract and he told me the electrician had been told beforehand.

 

[PTmowerMech]

PT, not only was someone cheap, they are stupid and putting everyone in that building in risk. I’ve reported guys like that, especially if it is a rental and I’ve got a friend living there.

But that's the thing, there really is no danger. Current that's contained, is still contained. Regardless of how it's routed or the color of the coating.
The only danger that comes into play is having too much on one circuit. There was an issue with that just prior to me moving in. That was because more appliances were being added to the kitchen. So they ran 3 separate circuits.

If by some chance I'm allowed to buy this house, I will be redoing most the wiring. And adding some new wall plugs. This house is 50yrs old, and built by local folks who knew what they were doing. Even if no one else did. There's been no shorts or fire hazards. (regardless of what some building inspector says about it).

Funny thing, people around here who have about the same size house are paying about $50 to $150 more per month for electricity than I am. And all their stuff is at least 20yrs newer than mine.
If it ain't broke, I say don't fix it.

 

[PTmowerMech]

When I built my home I had the contractor have the electrician remove all push in receptacles and I checked before I paid my last payment. Electrician wasn’t happy because his buddy wrote off the inspection, but I wouldn’t accept it. I don’t know what his problem was as I told the contractor that I wouldn’t accept certain short cuts before we signed the contract and he told me the electrician had been told beforehand.

Yeah I don't trust those push in receptacles either. They don't make enough contact. It only takes a second to make a 3/4 loop in the wire and fasten it with the screw.

 

[PTmowerMech]

And boy I hate those lazy man outlets where you just push the wires in.

I think those should only be used for circuits that only have LED's lights. The wall plugs where someone is going to be pulling a lot of juice through, is only asking for trouble.

 

[Rivets]

Sorry PT, there really is a danger. Codes or rules are put there mainly for the repair man or woman. Just like in the small engine business we have to make assumptions that things are done a certain way. Repair personnel are killed or injured everyday because someone failed to follow the rules.