Sunday, July 25, 2010
Endless tales of woe from amateur wiring...
It seems to never end.
Tale after tale of problems and near disaster!
I just received this inquiry from a lady who lost her home 10 years ago [purportedly to an electrical fire]
It sounds like she is ready to have another!
http://www.wilberelectrical.com/FAQ.asp
Question:
i had a house fire in 2000 from a faulty electrical outlet in my daughters room. was told that there was too much plugged in to the outlet. fireman explained that in most of the older holmes they needed to be updated to the new specs which most are not and with a lot of the neww electronics out now its a fire waiting to happen because too much is plugged into the outlets. im guessing my hme is about 50 to 60ys old. ex-husband hired a contractor, wound up firiring him and decided he wanted to finished the work. he had some guy who said he was a electrician come in to do the wiring. when i finally moved back in almost after 2 years, the wiring of the house was still not complete. i have a 3 bedroom ranch style home, bath and half. my light in the hallway was not working. in my spare bedroom and part of the living room the plug in outlets along the side and front were not working. the dryer that i had placed in the garage was not properly hooked up and i had to unplug it because it was shocking me everytime i touched the doorhandle. have not used it since. in my daughters bedroom if i plugged something in the outlet along the front wall and plugged something in my bedroom along the back wall it would trip some of the outlets in my bedroom and this happen for a while until i just stop using the plug. one early morning around two or three, my fire alarms went off and would not shut off. there was nothing burning, i wind up calling the fire department they checked all outlets for hotpots came up with nothing and wind up having to disconnect 3 of the units because new standard have a alarm in all the bedrooms. my ex-husband back in 2009 came and rewired the socket in my daughters room. i was in my daughters room friday using my laptop, plugged the charger in another socket in her room, went to sleep, woke up the next morning smelt a funny odor, but i thought it was coming from outside because i had the windows up, around noonish when i was cleaning up the odor got stronger, still thinking it was coming from outside, i just happen for whatever reason to look at the charger battery that was plugged in and it was red hot and when i pulled the bed out the way discovered that it was just simmering and if i would have left out to go do something it could have very well possibly started anothe fire. well i panicked and found a pop sickle stick to try and disconnet the wires as not to stick my fingers there, i know this probably wasnt smart either, but it worked and it wind up knocking everything out in my bedroom. i tried to reset it at the breaker box but it did not come back on, so i left it alone. i already know because i was having all these other issues that this house is not properly wireand i also know that most electricians do not like going behind someoneelse. i honestly dont believe they brought my home up too code and have too much stuff on one circuit. am i looking at a whole house rewiring project? and what are the cost of something like this?
Answer:
Sympathies for your misfortune. I am glad everyone is OK.
It was kind of the fireman to advise you that the fire was caused because there was too much plugged into the outlet. I am sure he is a very nice man and meant well.
A properly installed electrical system of whatever age, if properly maintained, cannot, under normal conditions, have "too much plugged into the outlet." The reason for this is that the outlet is designed and intended to carry the full available circuit current, with limited exceptions. One such would be where the home has knob and tube wiring, in which case there may be devices rated for fifteen amps on a circuit protected with a twenty-amp circuit protective device. The other would be in the case of a twenty-amp circuit with multiple outlets, whereby it is allowed to install fifteen-amp devices at the outlets. In the event of a single outlet on a twenty-amp circuit, the device would be required to be rated for twenty amps.
It is possible that your advisor meant that connected components had effectively reduced the protection provided by the device rating by using extension devices rated for less current and used to connect multiple appliances, lamps, etc., thereby overloading the extension cord. It is imperative to always utilize a circuit extension that meets or exceeds either circuit capacity or the load connected to it.
"Up to Code" is a misnomer, in that a building's systems are installed according to the most recent version of standards [NEC is a three-year cycle] adopted by the local "authority having jurisdiction." Many municipalities continue to enforce older codes, rather than adopt the newest published codes. For example, the current 2008 National Electrical Code [NFPA 70] was only just implemented in Philadelphia in 2010. Up until this time, the city had enforced the last previous version from 2005. I have encountered instances in other locations in which 10 year old versions are being enforced.
If fifty years old, your house was built according to the locally adopted NEC code from 1957 or 1954. If pre-war [WW2] it may have had knob and tube wiring.
In any case, since the whole place was rewired since 2000, it probably should have been wired according to the 1996 or 1999 NEC, whichever was adopted in your area. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like the work was done professionally, nothing against your ex.
I don't know for sure that your house needs to be rewired.
I think you should hire a competent electrician to inspect your wiring.
Call your local municipal office. Ask if permits and inspections are required for electrical work. Get two lists from them, licensed electricians and electrical inspection agencies [unless the town inspects themselves]. Call the inspection agencies and find out if they are members of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors. Are they licensed and insured? [You don't want a home inspector.] Tell them you are looking for an electrical inspector.
When you get to talk to the inspectors, tell them you need a good electrician. Tell them you know they inspect for electricians and you want to know who they would call to work on their own house. Explain that you understand that they will be inspecting any work this electrician does, since they are recommending him because they know his work because they inspect him now.
The battery had nothing to do with your house wiring. The other problems you need to have someone look at.
Let me know how it works out, or if you need more help.
Tale after tale of problems and near disaster!
I just received this inquiry from a lady who lost her home 10 years ago [purportedly to an electrical fire]
It sounds like she is ready to have another!
http://www.wilberelectrical.com/FAQ.asp
Question:
i had a house fire in 2000 from a faulty electrical outlet in my daughters room. was told that there was too much plugged in to the outlet. fireman explained that in most of the older holmes they needed to be updated to the new specs which most are not and with a lot of the neww electronics out now its a fire waiting to happen because too much is plugged into the outlets. im guessing my hme is about 50 to 60ys old. ex-husband hired a contractor, wound up firiring him and decided he wanted to finished the work. he had some guy who said he was a electrician come in to do the wiring. when i finally moved back in almost after 2 years, the wiring of the house was still not complete. i have a 3 bedroom ranch style home, bath and half. my light in the hallway was not working. in my spare bedroom and part of the living room the plug in outlets along the side and front were not working. the dryer that i had placed in the garage was not properly hooked up and i had to unplug it because it was shocking me everytime i touched the doorhandle. have not used it since. in my daughters bedroom if i plugged something in the outlet along the front wall and plugged something in my bedroom along the back wall it would trip some of the outlets in my bedroom and this happen for a while until i just stop using the plug. one early morning around two or three, my fire alarms went off and would not shut off. there was nothing burning, i wind up calling the fire department they checked all outlets for hotpots came up with nothing and wind up having to disconnect 3 of the units because new standard have a alarm in all the bedrooms. my ex-husband back in 2009 came and rewired the socket in my daughters room. i was in my daughters room friday using my laptop, plugged the charger in another socket in her room, went to sleep, woke up the next morning smelt a funny odor, but i thought it was coming from outside because i had the windows up, around noonish when i was cleaning up the odor got stronger, still thinking it was coming from outside, i just happen for whatever reason to look at the charger battery that was plugged in and it was red hot and when i pulled the bed out the way discovered that it was just simmering and if i would have left out to go do something it could have very well possibly started anothe fire. well i panicked and found a pop sickle stick to try and disconnet the wires as not to stick my fingers there, i know this probably wasnt smart either, but it worked and it wind up knocking everything out in my bedroom. i tried to reset it at the breaker box but it did not come back on, so i left it alone. i already know because i was having all these other issues that this house is not properly wireand i also know that most electricians do not like going behind someoneelse. i honestly dont believe they brought my home up too code and have too much stuff on one circuit. am i looking at a whole house rewiring project? and what are the cost of something like this?
Answer:
Sympathies for your misfortune. I am glad everyone is OK.
It was kind of the fireman to advise you that the fire was caused because there was too much plugged into the outlet. I am sure he is a very nice man and meant well.
A properly installed electrical system of whatever age, if properly maintained, cannot, under normal conditions, have "too much plugged into the outlet." The reason for this is that the outlet is designed and intended to carry the full available circuit current, with limited exceptions. One such would be where the home has knob and tube wiring, in which case there may be devices rated for fifteen amps on a circuit protected with a twenty-amp circuit protective device. The other would be in the case of a twenty-amp circuit with multiple outlets, whereby it is allowed to install fifteen-amp devices at the outlets. In the event of a single outlet on a twenty-amp circuit, the device would be required to be rated for twenty amps.
It is possible that your advisor meant that connected components had effectively reduced the protection provided by the device rating by using extension devices rated for less current and used to connect multiple appliances, lamps, etc., thereby overloading the extension cord. It is imperative to always utilize a circuit extension that meets or exceeds either circuit capacity or the load connected to it.
"Up to Code" is a misnomer, in that a building's systems are installed according to the most recent version of standards [NEC is a three-year cycle] adopted by the local "authority having jurisdiction." Many municipalities continue to enforce older codes, rather than adopt the newest published codes. For example, the current 2008 National Electrical Code [NFPA 70] was only just implemented in Philadelphia in 2010. Up until this time, the city had enforced the last previous version from 2005. I have encountered instances in other locations in which 10 year old versions are being enforced.
If fifty years old, your house was built according to the locally adopted NEC code from 1957 or 1954. If pre-war [WW2] it may have had knob and tube wiring.
In any case, since the whole place was rewired since 2000, it probably should have been wired according to the 1996 or 1999 NEC, whichever was adopted in your area. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like the work was done professionally, nothing against your ex.
I don't know for sure that your house needs to be rewired.
I think you should hire a competent electrician to inspect your wiring.
Call your local municipal office. Ask if permits and inspections are required for electrical work. Get two lists from them, licensed electricians and electrical inspection agencies [unless the town inspects themselves]. Call the inspection agencies and find out if they are members of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors. Are they licensed and insured? [You don't want a home inspector.] Tell them you are looking for an electrical inspector.
When you get to talk to the inspectors, tell them you need a good electrician. Tell them you know they inspect for electricians and you want to know who they would call to work on their own house. Explain that you understand that they will be inspecting any work this electrician does, since they are recommending him because they know his work because they inspect him now.
The battery had nothing to do with your house wiring. The other problems you need to have someone look at.
Let me know how it works out, or if you need more help.
# posted by Bob @ 5:37 PM 
