Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Amateur wiring hazard
Save us from unlearned, untrained "Home" schooled arsonists and electrocutioners.
Lately, I have received scads of help requests from FAQ inquirers which reveal that they have undertaken no study of proper wiring practice whatsoever.
Question Subject: Tripping GFI Breaker
Question: I wired a bedroom with 12/2wg on three sockets and 14/2wg on two lights. I used a 20amp GFI breaker in the box. It work great until I put a load on it. I put in a new breaker and it trips under a load . THANK YOU - R
The only possible response was the following:
Answer: -
*
Robert Wilber
Licensed Philadelphia Electrician
Philadelphia License # 3516 - 16765
*
LIFE SAFETY WARNING! [disclaimer]
Electricity is dangerous!
You can be injured or killed!
Improper installations can cause fire, injury and death!
Are you qualified to do this work?
*
National Electrical Code definition, NFPA 70 2005 Article 100 I: Qualified Person. "One who has skills and knowledge related to the construction and operation of the electrical equipment and installations and has received safety training on the hazards involved."
*
You are more likely to be killed by 120 volts than any other voltage [120 volts creates the PERFECT fatal current through the human body's electrical resistance!]
TURN THE POWER OFF WHEN WORKING!
*
LIFE SAFETY WARNING! [disclaimer]
This information is provided for the use of parties as they see fit!
I am not responsible for the application of this information by any party, including those lacking sufficient skill or knowledge to perform these steps safely and any hazard created is the SOLE responsibility of the user.
*
Sorry you are having such great problems.
A legal, safe wiring system can be relied on because it has been installed in accordance with practices and standards developed and defined over the past hundred years through the cooperative efforts of hundreds of thousands of skilled, experienced electrical workers with the combined practical knowledge of MILLIONS of years of installation experience.
... but I don't think there is anything I can do to alleviate the effect of your actions.
The first sentence in your question verifies that the wiring you have installed does not meet these standards.
The product you have created is unsafe and non-functional. And now you ask advice from someone knowledgeable in the subject as to how to mitigate the damage you have wrought.
The only guidance possible is to recommend that:
1] ... you need to learn the rules and practices for installing electrical wiring, then remove the improper segments of your installation and replace them. At this point it may be possible to help you fix your existing problem, if it doesn't just get resolved during the correction process; or
2] ... you need to hire someone knowledgeable in the field to do the same thing.
Lately, I have received scads of help requests from FAQ inquirers which reveal that they have undertaken no study of proper wiring practice whatsoever.
Question Subject: Tripping GFI Breaker
Question: I wired a bedroom with 12/2wg on three sockets and 14/2wg on two lights. I used a 20amp GFI breaker in the box. It work great until I put a load on it. I put in a new breaker and it trips under a load . THANK YOU - R
The only possible response was the following:
Answer: -
*
Robert Wilber
Licensed Philadelphia Electrician
Philadelphia License # 3516 - 16765
*
LIFE SAFETY WARNING! [disclaimer]
Electricity is dangerous!
You can be injured or killed!
Improper installations can cause fire, injury and death!
Are you qualified to do this work?
*
National Electrical Code definition, NFPA 70 2005 Article 100 I: Qualified Person. "One who has skills and knowledge related to the construction and operation of the electrical equipment and installations and has received safety training on the hazards involved."
*
You are more likely to be killed by 120 volts than any other voltage [120 volts creates the PERFECT fatal current through the human body's electrical resistance!]
TURN THE POWER OFF WHEN WORKING!
*
LIFE SAFETY WARNING! [disclaimer]
This information is provided for the use of parties as they see fit!
I am not responsible for the application of this information by any party, including those lacking sufficient skill or knowledge to perform these steps safely and any hazard created is the SOLE responsibility of the user.
*
Sorry you are having such great problems.
A legal, safe wiring system can be relied on because it has been installed in accordance with practices and standards developed and defined over the past hundred years through the cooperative efforts of hundreds of thousands of skilled, experienced electrical workers with the combined practical knowledge of MILLIONS of years of installation experience.
... but I don't think there is anything I can do to alleviate the effect of your actions.
The first sentence in your question verifies that the wiring you have installed does not meet these standards.
The product you have created is unsafe and non-functional. And now you ask advice from someone knowledgeable in the subject as to how to mitigate the damage you have wrought.
The only guidance possible is to recommend that:
1] ... you need to learn the rules and practices for installing electrical wiring, then remove the improper segments of your installation and replace them. At this point it may be possible to help you fix your existing problem, if it doesn't just get resolved during the correction process; or
2] ... you need to hire someone knowledgeable in the field to do the same thing.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Save us from free training at home centers
I just got an e-mail inquiry from someone regarding the purpose of staples.
Some COMPLETE incompetent at a major national home center professed in a free electrical wiring course that one of the purposes for using staples is "that when you staple the wiring to the joists you are not merely securing the wires firmly in place, but the steel staples act as snuffers when there is a bad electrical wire burn. The heat reaches the staple which in turn will melt the sheating and cause the white wire to short with the black, thereby finally cutting off any supply."
This is absolutely not true.!
Please stop teaching this idiocy!
In fact, please stop teaching anything about electrical wiring at all.
Some COMPLETE incompetent at a major national home center professed in a free electrical wiring course that one of the purposes for using staples is "that when you staple the wiring to the joists you are not merely securing the wires firmly in place, but the steel staples act as snuffers when there is a bad electrical wire burn. The heat reaches the staple which in turn will melt the sheating and cause the white wire to short with the black, thereby finally cutting off any supply."
This is absolutely not true.!
Please stop teaching this idiocy!
In fact, please stop teaching anything about electrical wiring at all.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Aluminum wiring problem and repair
This is definitely a professional-level task.
Additionally, there are very limited options in regard to properly dealing with aluminum conductors.
Make sure that whoever performs the modifications is properly certified by the manufacturer of an approved system.
Consumer Product Safety Comm aluminum wiring repair report
Additionally, there are very limited options in regard to properly dealing with aluminum conductors.
Make sure that whoever performs the modifications is properly certified by the manufacturer of an approved system.
Consumer Product Safety Comm aluminum wiring repair report
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Licensing protects homeowners
[From public blog]
We close on our new home at [deleted for privacy] soon and I am looking for a recommendation for an electrician. Does anyone know of a reputable, honest, and fair priced electrician that we can call for a few misc. items around the house?
Thanks,
G.
----------------------------------
When is an electrician an electrician?
---
Hi
I am an electrician.
I am licensed.
Philadelphia electrician website
I encourage you to look for a licensed electrician.
See the Philadelphia L&I site and their list of LICENSED electricians:
Philadelphia L&I
Granted, REAL electricians [as recognized by licensure] cost more, but at least we have had to prove to someone, somewhere that we know something about what we say we can do, and have to carry insurance, and can be found next week ...
Who can you complain to for relief if you break the rules yourself?
Best of luck
Bob Wilber
----------------------------------------
Hey Bob!
I agree.
Today, the consumer cannot become aware of the complex manner about how electricity should be hooked up. Its too complex. And faulty wiring is still a huge cause of house fires and death.
The city itself falls down with their inspection system. The electrical inspectors are not city employees, but are employed by private inspection firms. So there's still lots of corruption and payoffs from job to job.
With today's current building mania the construction inspection itself is nothing more than a rubber stamp of what others have already done. So who holds the line on safe, affordable, electricity?
Its you guys, the union electricians and of course your boss, Johnny Doc.
Thanks for bringing reality to an arena that should never allow public corruption in the first place.
J.
-------------------------------
Sorry to disappoint.
I am NOT a Union electrician.
I WAS many years ago ...
My experience was that you only get IN if you know somebody [or like me, through a series of unusual events] and only work if you're "one of the boys"
None the less, most Union electricians are more or less competent [there is a great training system], though not particularly likely to be efficient or interested in the business' welfare [or the consumer's]. It is a useful system for providing quantities of acceptably skilled technicians on short notice. Period.
The most common expression heard on construction sites [outside of the usual profanity] is "You can't see it from MY house!"
Inspectors are licensed third party agents, who are required to be knowledgeable of the electrical codes and subject to unique licensure. I personally hold an inactive Philadelphia inspector license. They get paid very little for the great responsibility they undertake.
If you think inspectors get paid off, you are living in the wrong century! These people have careers and licenses to protect, and a lot of continual training and education on the line! Visit the Electrical inspectors' association website!
Most electricians who work as private contractors, and that are licensed, are non-union. This is because:
1] They can't get in the Union [most wouldn't want to]
2] They wouldn't be allowed to "work with the tools" [as the expression goes] if they were and they "own" the business
3] They would NEVER get any work if they charged Union rates [keep in mind that the pay and benefits package for a Union electrician is as much or more than most private contractors charge per hour!] People cry about licensed contractor rates, but homeowners would choke if they had to pay the rates needed to pay Union wages!
I am just like most guys with a skill and the ambition to work for myself because I think I can do a better job than the next guy.
It's the American way.
It's God's way.
I provide my skills to others, for a fee, to feed my family.
I agree to provide my services according to certain standards.
I am subject to all sorts of regulation, and submit to it willingly.
It is up to the consumer to make sure the people they use follow the rules.
I just suggest that if a guy won't bother to be licensed, he won't bother to be insured [probably uninsurable in an illegal business anyway]
And he won't worry about doing the job properly [even if he KNOWS how]
Why bother? He has nobody to answer to anyway ...
I admit I want a slice of the pie, even if it isn't as big as Donald Trump's slice!
Isn't that why we work?
We close on our new home at [deleted for privacy] soon and I am looking for a recommendation for an electrician. Does anyone know of a reputable, honest, and fair priced electrician that we can call for a few misc. items around the house?
Thanks,
G.
----------------------------------
When is an electrician an electrician?
---
Hi
I am an electrician.
I am licensed.
Philadelphia electrician website
I encourage you to look for a licensed electrician.
See the Philadelphia L&I site and their list of LICENSED electricians:
Philadelphia L&I
Granted, REAL electricians [as recognized by licensure] cost more, but at least we have had to prove to someone, somewhere that we know something about what we say we can do, and have to carry insurance, and can be found next week ...
Who can you complain to for relief if you break the rules yourself?
Best of luck
Bob Wilber
----------------------------------------
Hey Bob!
I agree.
Today, the consumer cannot become aware of the complex manner about how electricity should be hooked up. Its too complex. And faulty wiring is still a huge cause of house fires and death.
The city itself falls down with their inspection system. The electrical inspectors are not city employees, but are employed by private inspection firms. So there's still lots of corruption and payoffs from job to job.
With today's current building mania the construction inspection itself is nothing more than a rubber stamp of what others have already done. So who holds the line on safe, affordable, electricity?
Its you guys, the union electricians and of course your boss, Johnny Doc.
Thanks for bringing reality to an arena that should never allow public corruption in the first place.
J.
-------------------------------
Sorry to disappoint.
I am NOT a Union electrician.
I WAS many years ago ...
My experience was that you only get IN if you know somebody [or like me, through a series of unusual events] and only work if you're "one of the boys"
None the less, most Union electricians are more or less competent [there is a great training system], though not particularly likely to be efficient or interested in the business' welfare [or the consumer's]. It is a useful system for providing quantities of acceptably skilled technicians on short notice. Period.
The most common expression heard on construction sites [outside of the usual profanity] is "You can't see it from MY house!"
Inspectors are licensed third party agents, who are required to be knowledgeable of the electrical codes and subject to unique licensure. I personally hold an inactive Philadelphia inspector license. They get paid very little for the great responsibility they undertake.
If you think inspectors get paid off, you are living in the wrong century! These people have careers and licenses to protect, and a lot of continual training and education on the line! Visit the Electrical inspectors' association website!
Most electricians who work as private contractors, and that are licensed, are non-union. This is because:
1] They can't get in the Union [most wouldn't want to]
2] They wouldn't be allowed to "work with the tools" [as the expression goes] if they were and they "own" the business
3] They would NEVER get any work if they charged Union rates [keep in mind that the pay and benefits package for a Union electrician is as much or more than most private contractors charge per hour!] People cry about licensed contractor rates, but homeowners would choke if they had to pay the rates needed to pay Union wages!
I am just like most guys with a skill and the ambition to work for myself because I think I can do a better job than the next guy.
It's the American way.
It's God's way.
I provide my skills to others, for a fee, to feed my family.
I agree to provide my services according to certain standards.
I am subject to all sorts of regulation, and submit to it willingly.
It is up to the consumer to make sure the people they use follow the rules.
I just suggest that if a guy won't bother to be licensed, he won't bother to be insured [probably uninsurable in an illegal business anyway]
And he won't worry about doing the job properly [even if he KNOWS how]
Why bother? He has nobody to answer to anyway ...
I admit I want a slice of the pie, even if it isn't as big as Donald Trump's slice!
Isn't that why we work?
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Free electrical help isn't always helpful!
Don't put yourself in Danger!
I am an electrician, working in the Philadelphia area for 30 years.
I answer questions on FAQFarm and contribute to Google answers, among others, including my own FAQ page, Philadelphia electrician answers electrical FAQ!
These sources all have disclaimers attached, and some of the electrical advice I read is absolutely frightening! Even people who claim to be skilled professional electricians often don't know what they are talking about!
Read what is offered in these sources, but check to make sure what they say is right. You are your own ultimate quality control expert. Control the quality of the advice you follow, or risk the consequences!
(LIFE SAFETY WARNING! [disclaimer]
Electricity is dangerous!
You can be injured or killed!
Improper installations can cause fire, injury and death!
I am an electrician, working in the Philadelphia area for 30 years.
I answer questions on FAQFarm and contribute to Google answers, among others, including my own FAQ page, Philadelphia electrician answers electrical FAQ!
These sources all have disclaimers attached, and some of the electrical advice I read is absolutely frightening! Even people who claim to be skilled professional electricians often don't know what they are talking about!
Read what is offered in these sources, but check to make sure what they say is right. You are your own ultimate quality control expert. Control the quality of the advice you follow, or risk the consequences!
(LIFE SAFETY WARNING! [disclaimer]
Electricity is dangerous!
You can be injured or killed!
Improper installations can cause fire, injury and death!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
More: Are your lights "acting funny"
A new customer called because his "lights were acting oddly - getting brighter and dimmer when appliances started or something turned on or off..."
I found that the service had been changed less than a year ago, but the new service neutral was connected to a highly corroded tail from the old service neutral [rather than connected directly to the utility company neutral]. This left the old, highly resistive neutral connection as part of the circuit. Electrical voltage measurements showed fluctuating levels reaching as high as 180 volts.
Fortunately, repairs were made before any damage was caused to appliances and electronic equipment!
I found that the service had been changed less than a year ago, but the new service neutral was connected to a highly corroded tail from the old service neutral [rather than connected directly to the utility company neutral]. This left the old, highly resistive neutral connection as part of the circuit. Electrical voltage measurements showed fluctuating levels reaching as high as 180 volts.
Fortunately, repairs were made before any damage was caused to appliances and electronic equipment!
Friday, March 18, 2005
Stop the Presses! -Knob & Tube wiring outlawed!
Philadelphia electrician hears shocking news.
An inquiry from a new potential customer caused me to make inquiries about the insurability of homes with knob and tube wiring! Absolutely uninsurable say several major insurance companies, including Erie and Nationwide! More to follow in edits and new posts!
An inquiry from a new potential customer caused me to make inquiries about the insurability of homes with knob and tube wiring! Absolutely uninsurable say several major insurance companies, including Erie and Nationwide! More to follow in edits and new posts!
