electrical issues Archives - Charles Buell Consulting LLC

May 12, 2015 by Charles Buell

Good electrical system grounding is worth the price of a couple good beers!

I remember when I was a kid it was common to make some spare change by scavenging the neighborhood for old farm equipment. This old metal could be turned into cash.

Nowadays the opportunities to make some extra cash in this manner seems to be less than it used to be–now we are expected to recycle for free–although there is still a pretty decent market for aluminum and copper scrap.

It is not uncommon, at least here in the city, to see a street person with a shopping card full of beer and pop cans headed for those places that will give them some cash for their haul.

Another common source of copper for these endeavors in recent years has been the pieces of ground wire that runs to the ground rods outside the foundation of the home–or even the wire that runs from the transformer to a ground rod at the utility company pole out at the street.

At a recent inspection I found it curious that on the nearby utility pole there was a warning to anyone interesting in pilfering the ground wire on the pole. This wire grounds the utility company transformer above and is very necessary.

About 10 feet from this pole the wire from the building I was inspecting had been cut where it was supposed to attach to the first ground rod.

The wire that was supposed to run from the first ground rod to the second ground rod had indeed been pilfered.

Because of this possibility, some jurisdictions now require that these exposed ground wires be adequately protected from this kind of terrorism. Of course in new construction where the grounding is connected directly to the rebar in the foundation, this type of pilfering is not possible.

Home inspectors should always be checking for these electrical system grounding components—to at least make sure they are all “visually” in place. Here is another picture from a different inspection that shows where the ground wires have been cut.

By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle

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April 27, 2015 by Charles Buell

It is clear for all to see!

Yup, hidden right there in plain sight.

I see lots of improper wiring while inspecting Seattle properties. Missing junction box covers–even the whole junction box itself being missing, with wires just running wild, are all too common.

A recently discovered missing junction box that was a little jarring–and humorous.

Glass junction "box?" — Glass junction “box?”

While the connections were indeed covered–as is plain to see–it leaves much to be desired.

I am not sure if the glass is half empty, or half full!

By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle

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August 3, 2014 by Charles Buell

Messing with the beast—and thinking outside the box

Electrical defects in homes certainly make up the largest portion of most inspection reports and usually represent the biggest portion of the Summary as well.

Considering that most people are scared to death of electricity, I find it a little curious that there are so many electrical defects in homes. Almost NO homes are free of electrical defects. This would mean that in spite of the purported “fear” of electricity the vast majority of home owners appear willing put their fears aside and mess with the beast.

Complying with the National Electrical Code takes years of training and experience and therefore identifying shortcomings in electrical installations is usually quite easy. They tend to stick out like feathers on a rabbit—you just know they don’t look quite right.

Take this can light installation in an attic at a recent inspection.

This is one of about 15 can lights and they were all wired this way. The purpose of the junction box at the light fixture is to have a place to conceal the electrical connections in a safe place. Why would anyone think it would be OK to NOT use the junction box at all and make up the connections “outside” the box? Now while I suppose this is a version of thinking “outside-the-box,” it would, in this case, be better to think “inside-the-box.”

But I must say that this installer’s basic knowledge of junction boxes themselves was a bit interesting as can be seen in this next photo.

With another roll of tape perhaps we would have a cover installed too.

It truly boggles the mind—and no amount of thinking outside the box is going to help explain it, as the “thinking part” was not to be found.

By Charles Buell, Real Estate Inspections in Seattle

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