The attached photo is of the Electrical Distribution Panel within my home. The Panel is located in my garage and fully enclosed within a Semens electrical box. The panel appears to be free of defects. The legend is fully filled out and legible. Notice the 50 amp breakers (120V each) supplying the stove are connected on a 240V circuit. Both 120V conductors are tied together by a handle tie to ensure if one of the circuit trip due to over-current conditions, both conductors are turned off for safety reasons. Also note in the picture a GFCI within the garage. If properly installed, all electrical outlets in the garage downstream of this GFCI outlet should be protected which meets NEC requirements.
Saving money by getting a ceiling fan.
Half your electric bill goes toward heating or cooling your home. You can greatly reduuce the amount of energry you use by installing ceiling fans. Ceilings fans will help circulate the air in your home and greatly reduce the amount of energy used to cool your home.
These overhead service entrance conductors don’t have a loop to prevent water from going into the gooseneck. The points of connection are improperly insulated. The service mast is not clamped to the structure within 12 inches of the meter box.
Aluminum wire was used for residential house wiring between 1965 and 1973. Used for almost a decade before inherent problems (weaknesses) were discovered. After the wiring was in place for a period of time, loose connections would develop which eventually led to this type of wiring to be discontinued. Copper became the standard after that period. The most common way to fix Aluminum wired housing is by using a qualified electrician to either rewire the home completely with copper wire (expensive), or use copalum crimps were all outlets/connections exist.
Reading about making historic homes more energy efficient, I learned that often they are more energy efficient than some newer homes do to the fact that back before that had heaters and air conditioners, they relied more heavily on the home to do those things. And now when making them more energy efficient, often simple retrofits are needed such as weather stripping and more insulation.
This Home I inspected a few weeks ago had a sprinkler system installed as well as a dedicated circuit for the controls. The circuit was installed in the garage where a GFCI was required and not present as well as there was no clamp to secure the wire at the panel or the outlet box. In this photo you can see where the wire has started to show signs of damage even though it has not cut through to the conductors. I recommended that a qualified licensed electrician review and repair/replace as needed prior to the end of the option period.
In this essay I learned that an “AFCI tester” is not a true tester and doesn’t create a true arc fault but instead uses a wave generator to “trick” the breaker. This method of testing does not always produce an accurate result as the breaker may not trip. This doesn’t mean the AFCI is bad. The only positive results will come from the “test” button on the breaker. I was considering one of these tools for my bag but I believe I will wait and do some more research on the “testers”.
Hi,
Here is a little essay on a tool used for How to perform residential electrical inspections course. I have had a GFCI receptacle tripping every now and then. I bought a GFCI receptacle tester and decided to see what might be wrong. I plugged the tester into the outlet I thought was suspect and sure enough it lit up red and told me there was a bad ground. Power off I Pulled the receptacle and tightened the ground, Retested and got the green light. As an inspector we will not go any further than the test of the GFCI , but if we find one receptacle with a problem there will most likely be others on that same branch circuit with a problem down stream of the GFCI. Recommend an Electrical Contractor fix the issue.
I choose articles from the library that deal with Arc fault and Ground fault protectors. I learned the distinguish between AFCI devices from Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) devices.
Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs)
GFCIs detect ground faults, which occur when current leaks from a hot (ungrounded) conductor to a grounded object as a result of a short-circuit. The best example of this that I have heard, is when someone drops a hair dryer into a sink full on water. When the person proceeds to retrieve the hair dryer and completes a circuit through their body, causing a serious electrical shock. The fact the GFCI device trip’s fast when detecting the completion to ground, prevent the person from getting seriously shocked.
I have seen Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) devices typically installed in wet areas, in particular bathrooms. Several times I have seen GFCI installed in the garage that then feed the bathroom circuits. It is now required by code to install GFCIs in kitchen areas. As part of all of my kitchen remodels I now install a GFCI circuit. Not every outlet has to be a actual GFCI plug. One GFCI is installed at the start of the circuit to protect any downstream plugs.
Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs)
AFCIs on the other hand prevent personal injury and property damage due to structure fires. AFCIs are designed to detect small arcs of electricity before they have a chance to lead to a structure fire. You can look at AFCIs as a way to internally (inside outlet boxes, and branch wiring) protect your home.
AFCIs are available as circuit breakers for installation in the electrical distribution panel. AFCIs branch circuits supplying outlets installed in family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, parlors, libraries, dens, sun rooms, recreation rooms, closets, hallways, or similar rooms.
First we can test each GFICs and AFCIs by tripping and then resetting the device. Also with AFCIs it is important to go beyond the actual device (typically install in the service panel) and use a AFCI Testers on the branch circuit that it supplies.
Our job as in inspector is to test and report any failed found in GFICs and AFCIs branch circuits and refrain from quoting exact code in our reports. We should not get into situations where we quote code and therefore become responsible for code violations. We should report failures and allow a certified electrician professional to make the final analysis and fix the problems found.
Hi,
Just a little info on Surge Protectors for the residential electrical course. Can be called surge suppressors or transient- voltage surge suppressors. What they do is short any excess voltage above a safe limit to ground. Most of the time you will see these in a home in the form of a power strip with built in UL- listed surge protection label attached used for sensative electronic equipment. These need to be rated for the intended use and will fail after repeated surges so they should be well made and replaced now and then. These will not work in a receptacle without a ground wire like 2 conductor receptacles in older homes. You should look for a rating of 600 Joules or more in protection. Word of caution many power strips do not have this protection so be sure to review the UL label.
I chose to inspect the main electrical panel at my home for this assignment. I made sure that there was no corrosion on any wires, that the screws used did not have sharp points to damage electrical wiring. I also checked to see if there had been any wire taps, damaged breakers, and that everything was properly labeled. Everything was in good working order with no defects to be reported.
For my research topic I read about design basics for residential homes. I learned that there are many different materials that can be used for the structural components of the home, namely wood framing, masonry, log cabin styles, as well as metal framing. There are different benefits and negatives of using each technique, along with guidelines that must be followed in the construction of said homes.
Just finished taking the course. The pictures that I have posted are in my home. In two of the bath rooms we do not have GFCI outlets and they are by the sinks with water. I checked the panel and found I have one breaker that is for the outlets. It is not a GFIC breaker either. Not sure how this was not caught by the builder. I will have them on the phone Monday to see what they want to do about this issue. Other than that bundle I see no other issues. On the panel picture the breaker for the bathroom is on the left bottom. Just a standard breaker???
Afternoon all. Just finished reading Electrical Safety article. This is something I should give to the person next door. He was out using an electric grass trimmer and cut the cord. Now you would think he would unplug the cord first.NO sir he did not. He also picked up the coed and was in his wet grass. I could not help my self but I gave him a copy of the article and a few hints about on how to check out his house with out shock. It proved to me that safety is not something everybody thinks about till something goes wrong. Safety does not go away and should always be used.
I recently performed an inspection of an electrical panel in a residence. It was located in the garage storage room. The panel was clearly labeled and properly secured to the wall. Contained within were the proper amount of arc faults for the number of bedrooms in the residence. However, it appeared to be missing the antioxidant paste. Everything else in the panel was acceptable. [ATTACH]
GFCI’s measure the imbalance of current between the ungrounded, hot leg, and the grounded neutral. They are designed to protect the people against an electric shock.
AFCI’s, Arc-fault circuit interrupters, are a particular type of electrical breaker that can detect electrical arcs in the wiring. Once detected it will respond by tripping that breaker.
AFCI indicators are hand held devices that can be used to test AFCI’s. They work by creating a similar waveform pattern produced by an actual arc fault, which should cause an AFCI to trip.
Testing an arc fault with an indicator is different than pushing the test button on the circuit breaker. Pushing the test button on an AFCI breaker is not as effective as using an AFCI indicator because it cannot test for arc faults within individual portions of the branch circuit.
These indicators are larger and more expensive than GFCI testers, and their effectiveness is questionable. Therefore, they are not as commonly used as GFCI testers.
To use an AFCI indicator an inspector inserts it into a receptacle and follows the menu to produce the correct electric current. If the AFCI tester loses power then the circuit has tripped. It must be reset at the electrical panel. If the inspector encounters a problem with the AFCI breaker then it is recommended that a qualified electrician be called.
This is a picture of knob and tube wiring I found during and inspection. To me it looked like it was still in use because the wire went over to a junction box. It is very easily distinguishable because of the white isolators the wire attaches to. The isolators are made of ceramic and are used to act as a barrier between the wire and the stud. Knob and tube is very dangerous and must be removed if found by a licensed electrician.
I read an article on inspecting an electrical service panel. There are many things to look for but first and probably the most important thing to consider is safety. Right from the start you must be cautious when removing the panel cover. Many different things can happen in that process. you never know whats hiding behind that cover. Could be a mouse that was electrocuted or something as simple as the wrong screws in the cover. All panel screws have blunted tips so if one hit a wire it wouldn’t penetrate the insulation easily. That one reason why it’s a good idea to test the panel box before you attempt to open it. Another thing to check prior to opening the panel is for condensation or any wetness on the panel box. Also look for rust as a sign of previous areas that were wet.
