Originally Posted By: brian winkle
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OK here’s one for you to think about. I just returned from an older home that had just been sold, the new owners were preparing for move in. There were lots of signs of amateur wiring from several eras. I was called there to disconnect a cooling unit so the roofers could remove the unit.
The new owners also wanted me to look at some work they needed done inside. In the laundry there was a 3 wire dryer recep surface mounted in a metal box with a metal wall plate. As a habit, I always hold my volt tick up to any metal before I touch it. This one lit up 2 inches away. The wiggy read 240 between one leg and the metal plate, 120 between the plate and the water pipe. The 10/3 romex (no ground) had been forced into an old BX connector and was consequently nicked.
The point is, this house had just undergone a home inspection and it was not found. So I am not trying to tell anyone how to do their job, but rather offer this up as a possible suggestion that all exposed metal parts should be checked for voltage when dealing with ungrounded wiring. This could include boxes, conduits, faceplates, screws on plastic faceplates, sub panel covers and metal appliances. Like I said, this is a habit with me, the volt tick is in my shirt pocket all day and it only takes a second.
I only offer this as a suggestion, the consequenses of this fault could have been deadly, and it would have been so easy to detect. It would especially be in order when there is obvious non proffessional wiring present.
Brian