Inspecting a 1910 house that’s been renovated plenty of times. Came across a sub panel box that was being used as a junction box. Inside the box the splices went from three-wire romex to two-wire romex without a ground. I’ve never seen this before. The ground wires from one side of the connection were bonded to the panel box. Has anyone else encountered anything like this? Is it “ok”? I wouldn’t think it would be as it seems as though you would lose the ground. Am I wrong on this? Any insight would be appreciated.
Nothing wrong with what they’ve done (with the exception of running the 3-wire cables through a single squeeze connector) to extend the 2-wire without ground NM cables. I don’t think that I have even seen 2-wire no egc NM cable with a PVC jacket.
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It’s common practice in my area, (MN), particularly in century homes when they get converted from Knob & Tube. My area also requires 25 feet from the new panel be upgraded, so these “Splice Boxes” are perfect to strip the old K&T hardware from to avoid needing to fit a new box in somewhere, (often in Lath and Plaster walls)!
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Thanks for the info. Again, I’ve never seen it in this type of configuration. Appreciate the quick response!
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Being that it’s now a J box, I would recommend that they secure the door so that it can’t be opened without the use of a tool.
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What are the “line” side wires direction and what is the “load” side wires direction? I’ve honestly see it running both ways. I know weird.
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Hey Larry, I presume the line side is on the bottom, since the main panel is on the same level, and the load side was feeding the upstairs branch circuits. However, I’ve been wrong before. In this type of situation, just looking at the panel, how would I be able to tell the difference?
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Kevin, the door was secured until I used my utility knife to cut away the paint. Guess they’ll need to put on another coat. Thanks for the recommendation.
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I‘ve had receptacles with open grounds and some with bootleg grounds. It made me look further and I loosened a wire nut or two.
Just as Jeffrey said. This is very common in our areas of Minnesota. Not sure the standards where you are. But yes, I always recommend they be properly secured shut from accidental opening. 9/10 times they’re screwed shut, just like a junction box.
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It’s odd, the open grounds were on the main level and the grounded receptacles were upstairs. I pulled plates on the upstairs expecting to find bootlegs but didn’t see any.
metal conduit that is bonded somewhere possibly that is enough to show on your tester, or that junction box is bonded to the main panel and what we’re seeing from bottom vs. top may just be what we’re seeing. I’ve seen weirder. Meaning it could loop somewhere, etc.
That’s funny and common, but to be clear, paint is not an approved fastener for the cover.
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Also the cover is not required to be screwed shut.
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Haha!! Thanks Lon, you started my day with a laugh.
I was wondering about that. I’ve never heard of that requirement. It’s just a junction box, shouldn’t be any exposed conductors in there.