Another Question for electricians...

[ultrarunner]

Somehow, they've managed to fight fires all these years without a switch to turn off the power from the outside. Now, all of a sudden, it's essential.

It’s like so many code changes… Ive lived in knob and tube, no ground, no GFCI, no Arc Fault and no circuit breaker homes and survived and the value of the home went from the 50k I paid in the 1980’s to 500k when I sold it… heck… still had the original 1920 high leg stove and single pane double hung windows… all brought back to as new condition.

I get a kick out of home inspector reports on older homes… page after page of non conforming features when viewed through today’s code.

Very few grandfathered elements are in fact banned and in my city banned items include wood sinks and gas lighting…

Nothing about non tempered glass making the door now banned or two prong outlets forcing replacement or a lead bend toilet connection…

 

[Oaktree]

Are Meters Locked down with steel ring and keyed lock typical where you are.

The days of just a lead seal or snap plastic seal have been superseded with armor.

Not around here, or at least not when I upgraded my service in the late 00s. Just the little snap seal you could cut with a pair of dykes.

 

[Runner]

Having a required exterior disconnect isnt deep state conspiracy.

If everyone thought it was a great idea, it wouldn't have taken 20 years to get it into the code.

 

[old and tired]

...I will update this as needed... Especially if we pop a breaker...

Well, did a load of laundry just now and tripped 3 breakers. When I got down to the panel, the water pump was at max pressure (just kicked off).

EDIT: second load, tripped 4 breakers.

Outdoor flood lights are hanging tight, not tripping any breakers.

So going to buy 3 breakers (to start off with) and re-route the water pump wires to out the bottom of the breaker box the next time I'm up here. Heading home now (last thing we do is laundry so found the problem at the end of the trip).

 

[not2old]

That’s the one and they have been around for decades… and not always made overseas.

Last inspection I had to install safety fuses that will not accept a larger size fuse…

I have seen homes where every circuit had a 30 amp fuse where most should have had 15 amp.

I've seen a lot of that plus a few with pennies behind a blown glass fuse.

 

[not2old]

Mom and dad's last house was a self build in 1947 by an electrician who worked in a local saw mill. It was wired with loomex but had all the ground wires clipped off as it entered the junction box. Never had any problems with anything except a new fluorescent light added to the kitchen. I managed to solder an extension to the ground at the box and the panel to solve the problem. Don't know why this worked but it was suggested by one of my teachers. Stove and dryer were hard wired in those days but I can't remember if they were grounded or not.

 

[grsthegreat]

Mom and dad's last house was a self build in 1947 by an electrician who worked in a local saw mill. It was wired with loomex but had all the ground wires clipped off as it entered the junction box. Never had any problems with anything except a new fluorescent light added to the kitchen. I managed to solder an extension to the ground at the box and the panel to solve the problem. Don't know why this worked but it was suggested by one of my teachers. Stove and dryer were hard wired in those days but I can't remember if they were grounded or not.

Actually, back in the day they considered the gas pipe to work as a ground. Imagine the thinking involved there. What could go wrong with a gas pipe completing the path to ground.

 

[ponytug]

Actually, back in the day they considered the gas pipe to work as a ground. Imagine the thinking involved there. What could go wrong with a gas pipe completing the path to ground.

I can't speak for elsewhere, but it is still required in some jurisdictions that the gas pipe be bonded to the water pipes at the water heater, e.g. here. In another section of the code, the underground portion of the gas pipe is required to be wrapped in anticorrosion tape, or be plastic.

Talk about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing...

All the best,

Peter

 

[grsthegreat]

Idaho codes did away with bonding water and gas requirements, but make up install exterior bonding posts incase someone wants to bond things like phone, gas, etc. very odd

I think the rational for it is the fact that nowdays gas and water are mostly supplied by plastic piping to structure. They suggest that the physical connection between indoor gas pipe and a grounded furnace is enough to bond whatever metal there is. Most houses nowdays are plumbed in pex pipe

 

[ultrarunner]

I can't speak for elsewhere, but it is still required in some jurisdictions that the gas pipe be bonded to the water pipes at the water heater, e.g. here. In another section of the code, the underground portion of the gas pipe is required to be wrapped in anticorrosion tape, or be plastic.

Talk about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing...

All the best,

Peter

My last service upgrades still required bonding hot, cold, gas plus drive a ground rod…

Homes here in the late 50’s have a individual 14 gauge bare copper strung point to point looped under a nail securing the metal junction box and then on to the next…

Guessing it was when metal Junction Box grounding rolled out?

I added a ground pigtail from the box to new grounded receptacle when mom got the new refrigerator… tested ok.

The 15 amp outlet circuits all use stab back receptacles and the outlets wired in series…

Higher end 1958 subdivision with hundreds of 2400 square feet split level homes…