This home has a lot of lower gauge stranded wire. 10-14 Gauge. The connections are poor.
Q. What are you thoughts on stranded wire for the higher gauge wires? Normally I see from SEC to the 8 gauge as stranded which is OK.
The home also had black iron gas pipe being used as conduit.
Q. Any comments on the gas piping?
There also was an odd type of receptacle for the refrigerator. It tripped liked a GFCI and buzzed when tripped.
Q. Any thoughts on this type of receptacle.
Thanks
I did catch a 40 amp brreaker with 20 amp wire and missing knock out.
Older K & T
No grounding jumper @ main.
Inproper grounding @ garage sub. One wasnt connected. The others when to the box. (This may be OK if conduit is continuous to the main) Q. Wheres the subs grounding bar?
I will attempt to answer a few here…basically anything in conduit 8 AWG or OVER is required to be stranded. Absolutly nothing wrong with stranded wire in my opinion as it is your ONLY real option in larger conductors.
AHH…if GAS piping is being used as electrical conduit…GREAT CALL…and defer this as the pipe was not intended to be used for this purpose.
Ahh…looks like a replacement model GFCI to me…looks like it has a reset on it and test button.
On the 40A breaker on a 20A wire, just be sure it was not in compliance with the nameplate rating on the HVAC system…for example if the nameplate said Max OCPD 40A and Minimum Wire 12 AWG then it would technically be fine according to the NEC…but only you can make that statement knowing if you saw the system labeled as such…if it was a normal branch circuit then yes it is wrong.
Missing KO’s…a given…
If you are refering to the last image…that method of attaching the EGC’s is wrong and should be terminated on a buss properly.
Defer this to the electrical contractor with your list of things they should evaluate.
Improper bonding and so on at the sub-panels ( remote distribution panels )
I had an inspector warn me about the possible rush of black pipe being used as conduit. He had a home owner run conduit, and the inspector recognized it as black pipe. The home owner argued that it was ok, because some fool in an orange apron said so.
I question whether that is “illegal” black pipe. WAY back in the day that type of rigid conduit was extensively used as electrical conduit. I see it all the time.
I personally think it was a standard installation for the day.
I don’t have my 1941 copy of the NEC so I can’t say for sure whether conduit needed to be “listed”.
IMO you can’t simply say because black pipe is not legal today it was not legal “in the day”.
There is certainly no danger.
The only thing you have to be careful about in old homes is the old conduit WAS black. It is painted and not black oxide like black iron (typical gas) pipe. I ran into a lot of it in the Ringling Mansion restoration in Sarasota. The boxes were black too. This was before galvanizing became the norm for corrosion protection and explains some of that language in chapter 300.
I have a 1940 something NEC at home so I will look when I get home, I was basing it on the comment…stated ; Black Iron Gas Piping which irrespective of the date…would not be listed for electrical wiring but no date I believe was given for the time of installation…
See if you can get away with doing that with black gas pipe today speedy…lol…no actually the boxes on the ends look rather new"ish"…
I think Greg’s explanation describes it best.
I just think the boxes and pipe are just still clean after all these years.
I’d put that installation in the 40’s or 50’s.
I will look in the NEC I have dating back then when I get home this evening. Granted he has enough other issues that once the EC gets their he can look at it closer.
The only real difference between plumbing pipe and conduit is the conduit is supposed to be free of burrs that would damage the conductors. Personally I doubt the actual manufacture is all that much different. I bet they all are made the same and just get marked differently but I am not supposed to have an opinion when I am inspecting.
lol…I can hear ya now greg…Yep thats plumbing pipe and well it’s PVC just like electrical conduit…but it’s ok with me because it is all plastic in the end…lol
I actually see the “misuse” of PVC going the other way more often. Folks who build docks and do landscape like RNC better than plumbing PVC for water pipes that will be out in the sun. It does not have the “get brittle and shatter” problem that white PVC has. They do have the problem that some bell end sweeps do not really seal that well so they get the ones that need couplers on both ends.
1940 NEC only lists RMC and EMT basically in regards to conduit as we know it…or as we are speaking specifically.
The RIGID or EMT does not in itself make any reference to a special coating UNTIL you look at Section 300 and the 3019- Coated Material such as zinc,cadmium or enamel INSIDE and OUTSIDE if not made of a corrosion-resistant material.
Not sure about the black coating…but I will stand that IF it is determined it is Black Iron Gas Piping that it should not be used for this purpose…but alas it is already in so…what you gonna DO brother…
