Beautiful pic of shoddy electrical work

[Mokume]

As others have said, a fire waiting to happen. Not sure what the codes are in VA but in Calif you get arrested for doing work like that.

Kudos to CA building code regs for that!

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[JesseS]

Kudos to CA building code regs for that!

You have no idea!! My wife is a building permit technician for the city, so I can't get away with anything

 

[Mokume]

You have no idea!! My wife is a building permit technician for the city, so I can't get away with anything

People who do that sort of "work" have absolutely no scruples or moral conscious at all, makes you wonder how well they sleep, let alone look themselves in the mirror!!!

 

[TJC]

I watched the first season of silo. Not too bad. But I can see where ti could go south very quickly.

 

[Fawnbuster]

Just discovered what is looks like some dangerous electrical work. I realize accessing the side knockouts is practically impossible given the framed in wood work, and access through the top is difficult, but is this even remotely up to code? This is the front of my electric service panel.

I wonder how many times that has arced

 

[TJC]

Ever get bit by 480? I did, and lived to tell the tale.

Took several years to fully heal, (still itches occasionally as nerves re-connect) and I have a scar today. But I lived, and the hand still works.

Impressive! It takes times for those nerves to calm down and reconnect. Had nerves damaged during surgery on my big toe joint. Took 3 years for the fire to go out in my toe.

 

[TJC]

I used to, until the time my wife flipped the switch on the chandelier I had taken down to clean. Lit me up good. Dropped the chandelier into a million pieces.

In high school I worked as an electricians helper in South Florida. The customer had added an addition to his home and had electrical "gremlins" (his words). We arrived and my boss flipped all the breakers off in the panel to the new addition. I went up an 8' aluminum step ladder outside to wire up a flood light that had yet to be connected. As soon as I received the all clear I went up the ladder.

It had been raining and water was dripping on my head, just enough to annoy me. I got out my knife and cut through the green ground wire (it wasn't bare). When I hit the copper wire I felt the jolt and found myself resting on the rose bush I had straddled with the ladder.

I got up bruised and shaken, set the ladder up and checked the wiring for voltages. then reported what had happened, There is power on the ground line! The black and white were dead.

We pulled the panel cover and found the owner had wired that green ground to an existing circuit breaker that serviced another existing room! His panel was full so he ganged up two circuits on one breaker. He figured he didn't use both rooms at the same time so what would be the harm. That idiot could have killed me!

From then own, we pulled the panel cover to check for inconsistencies before beginning to correct incomplete work. I also used my VOM consistently on any wire to check for current before I touched them.

I never trust wiring colors any longer. Black, white, red, green, bare... I check them all with my meter before touching them;

 

[TJC]

Ever get bit by 480? I did, and lived to tell the tale.

Took several years to fully heal, (still itches occasionally as nerves re-connect) and I have a scar today. But I lived, and the hand still works.

I have endured 220V, but never 480v. For me no pain initially, but joint pain within an hour or so. It air gapped me! Went up my arm, down my should joint, then down my right side to my feet. Had my left hand in my pocket for safety. 95%+ humidity, and I was wet with sweat - a great conductor!

 

[Rinn69]

Ever get bit by 480? I did, and lived to tell the tale.

Welding with wet gloves is a bad idea.....

Back in 1986-87, I went through the welding program at the local technical school. It was winter, and we had a good snow storm the day before. So, what does one do with wet snow that packs really nice.....have a snowball fight !! But my hands got cold, so I grabbed my welding gloves and soldiered on. 5 minutes later, come back inside, turn on the Lincoln "torpedo" welder...the old school kind, that used a built in generator as the power for welding. They ran on 480 3-phase to power the generator. I grabbed my welding hood, picked up my stinger, put a rod in it, grabbed the positioning pole with my left hand, flipped down my hood, and struck an arc........POW !!!!!
The kick I felt caused me to take an unintended step backwards and I dropped the welding stinger, and my heart was going really really fast, and I was shaking. I walked past the instructor and into the break room. He came in and said "it ain't break time, get yer ass back out there". I told him what had happened and his tone changed immediately to "are you OK ??" "Are you hurt anywhere ??" I had to sit there for about 30 minutes and wait for my heart rate to slow down.

I don't know how much current went through me, but I do know I never want that to happen again.

 

[got3fords]

I wonder how many times that has arced

At least twice. I am glad all contractors involved did not hesitate to correct their errors.

 

[FunInTheSun]

In high school I worked as an electricians helper in South Florida. The customer has added an addition to his home and had electrical "gremlins" (his words). We arrived and my boss flipped all the breakers off in the panel to the new addition. I went up an 8' aluminum step ladder outside to wire up a flood light that had yet to be connected. As soon as I received the all clear I went up the ladder.

It had been raining and water was dripping on my head, just enough to annoy me. I got out my knife and cut through the green ground wire (it wasn't bare). When I hit the copper wire I felt the jolt and found myself resting on the rose bush I had straddled with the ladder.

I got up bruised and shaken, set the ladder up and checked the wiring for voltages. then reported what had happened, There is power on the ground line! The black and white were dead.

We pulled the panel cover and found the owner had wired that green ground to an existing circuit breaker that serviced another existing room! His panel was full so he ganged up two circuits on one breaker. He figured he didn't use both rooms at the same time so what would be the harm. That idiot could have killed me!

From then own, we pulled the panel cover to check for inconsistencies before beginning to correct incomplete work. I also used my VOM consistently on any wire to check for current before I touched them.

I never trust wiring colors any longer. Black, white, red, green, bare... I check them all with my meter before touching them;

South Florida is like living on a pirate ship that never leaves port.

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