Any reason this would be acceptable?

This panel was literally installed in the last couple of days and passed inspection by the city inspector. Both service conductors have exactly two strands clipped off. It wasn’t done to make the conductors fit, there’s plenty of room in the lug to fit the whole conductor. I wrote it up as an improper modification of the service conductors.

Is there any reason this would be considered an acceptable modification? If it were just one I would consider it a fluke, but since both have been clipped it was clearly purposeful. Is there some hidden loophole which makes this okay?

Nope not acceptable. Since those conductor would have fit into that lug without modification I would call this hack work. :roll:

sloppy jacket stripping?

How anyone could cut copper strands when stripping a plastic insulation escapes me.

I agree with Robert, total hack.

Thanks for the confirmation.

Fail. Can not trim strands like that.

NO…never a reason to do this. And since it is our wire…shame on them !

More concerned with smaller diameter or sparking ?

No just concerned that no one has a clue what it’s actual ampacity is at this point. The conductors are close enough that I would not think arcing is an issue but again we don’t know now…its uncharted ground at this point…but it is just taking a known product and expected performance and now throwing it out the window.

Will it continue to work…probably yes, when it fails (if it does) don’t call the manufacturer…;)…we wont help the customer at this point…Void…Void…Void!

AGREED…TOTAL HACK !:twisted:

Being a new feed to a 100 amp panel would call out .
If it was at least 30-40 years old must admit I’d leave it alone as compared to all the other issues that might be in the report .
Agree ?

Wrong is wrong, regardless of age.

Not really .
I do 100-125 year old homes every week and calling out every standard would be ridiculous though I agree with your general premise.

Sometimes wrong stands the test of time and as example telling people to go 16 inch gap vs 24 inch gap rafters on a old structure would make us look like idiots.

And when and if it ever is determined to be a cause of a situation they will have a loss of memory that it has been that way for 100 years…they will say the HI should have reported it…in the end always report it…and let the potential buyer determine if they are willing to live with it…but protect yourself and call out what you see…

Bob, this is not sometime that is a result of a standards or code change. This would have been wrong if Edison did it or some hack last week. Please tell me with certainty what the remaining ampacity is on the conductor.

Also in this case I can with 100% confidence tell you that wire is not more than 25 years old…with 100% accuracy…Encore has only been around 25 years;)

IMO the determination on what deficiencies to report should come from what was required at the time that the place was built. For example if you inspect a 1 year old home built with no AFCI protection you call it out. Inspect the same home that’s 25 years old and you don’t call it out.

And what Cameron posted has never been accepted, correct?

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Except for those that need to inspect under TREC guidelines where a log cabin wired by Lincoln would need to be reported as defective as it lacked AFCI protection.

Well now…that word ACCEPTED is a loose cannon. It’s like the term “Approved” as used by an Authority Having Jurisdiction. So I am more than sure “someone” approved that termination…however they did so out of a lack of knowledge while doing so.

So yes, it was obviously approved by SOMEONE…but it should not have been…Ever !