Yeah, as inspectors it’s good to call out the standard things like GFI (I personally don’t call out lack of AFI), smoke detectors, ungrounded 3-slot outlets, improper work like junctions in hanging in space, improperly secured wires, etc. But, there is A LOT more to it and some inspectors think they are Superman and know everything. I think it would be hard to find an electrician that holds every code change from 1975 until know in their head and at the ready to report on.
The whole, “safety is not grandfathered” is just an unrealistic and IMO incorrect way of looking at things. Everything is grandfathered. From cars, to safety equipment to tools to houses. If we don’t accept grandfathering, every time a new product hit the market we’d have to immediately round up and throw away all the previous ones.
Yeaaa… it’s a tight spot. But still, I can imagine being a layman inspection consumer…. It would baffle me if an inspector told me “this would be a defect in new construction, but just because this house has been in existence longer, it isn’t considered a problem anymore”… at least when it comes to electric/fire safety
At the risk of beating a dead horse… I’m really not sure which perspective is more reasonable. Code changes are reactive most of the time, right? They only changed because someone got hurt and/or had their house burn down. I personally can’t look past that, it seems.
Do not look past it. Recommend the upgrades as you see fit and tell them why. We all have our standards based on our experience and training.
If I am inspecting an older home, I might be ok with smokes on each floor, another inspector may recommend interconnected systems with smokes in the bedrooms. Is either wrong?
Fuse manufacturers make a “dummy fuse” which is proper fix, a fuse on a grounded conductor is never permitted, it’s in the same category as popping in a piece of copper pipe in place of a fuse.
Doing code enforcement, we did see fused neutrals on some old buildings from the 20’s, and we couldn’t always condemn the wiring to require a new panel, so we would inform the owner to hire an electrician to at minimum, make it overfused so neutral would not blow. usually the electrician would then have the panel changed
Ooh, lovely. And that would asbestos lining right?
I’d approach this differently. What you have there is a fuse panel with no obvious or demonstrated safety defect.
Check that all the screws are tight, check for overfusing, make sure modern heavy loads are on modern circuits, and this box is good to go for another 50-100 years.
Fuses are more reliable than breakers, and nothing in the picture “wears out” other than insulation, and a new panel won’t fix the insulation.
Replacing the fuse box won’t increase safety, it will introduce risk of pinching an old wire or creating a new hazard, not to mention the hazard of spreading asbestos into the home.
The pictured panel does not have fused neutrals: but overfusing is a completely sound solution to the potential hazard. A fused neutral is a hazard ONLY to a person diagnosing a power outage situation. That hazard can be mitigated with a sign reading “ Fused Neutral. Use only 30A neutral fuses. Warning hot line remains hot if neutral fuse blows.” and “ Asbestos lined box.”.
If an insurance company complains, they can sometimes be put off by Type-S fuses, and a verification of inspection by a licensed electrician. That’s all that’s needed in my area to insulate right over the top of knob & tube insulation. The hazard is Edison base fuses, but only because idiots put the wrong fuses in.
Yes the pic was just pulled from internet to make a point.
I was responding to a post where it sounded like the inspector was stating a fused neutral was not something you would see, but yes, I’ve seen a few and I think all were safe. I wrote corrections for over-fusing on more than a few panels, and required s-type but I always made it a point to state it was good to be over-fused on the neutral. I was doing code enforcement and some owners stated their electricians didn’t want to work on the old and stated the electricians wanted to change out due to having a hard time finding the S-type adapters, and would state that S-fuses themselves were more available than the adapters. Thanks for your input, I agree
Fused Neutral. Use only 30A neutral fuses. Warning hot line remains hot if neutral fuse blows.” and “