Pics for the electrical guys

Some home owners really should not do their own wiring.
I found this mess inside a cupboard under a counter top stove.
It was hard wired in, and the stove wiring was about 18 inches
too short, so they spliced in this wire to make it reach the 220V line.
Not in a junction box, just twisted the wires together and taped them.
The wiring coming from the stove itself is like new, so I'm sure they
put in a section of old wire they had just laying around.



On the other end of this wire was this connector connecting it to the 220V
cable coming in. Again, not in any type of box, just taped up.
Notice the extra little black wire? The connections to the 220V line also
had two 110V circuits connected into it.
One between each side of the 220V line and neutral.
Ground not connected at all.
Be safe out there!

So, whats the problem, isnt that a good way to wire, theres no NEC violations are there???

LOL LOL

Nice pics by the way

John T (with tongue in cheek)

It's OT just the homeowners... the "pros" can behave badly, as well!

My house was built in 1981 and we've been in it for about 12 years, The previous owner had electric baseboards installed (by a licensed electrician) and set up for off-peak heating to supplement the oil-fired hot water heating system, which required snaking some wiring through various walls, etc..

Recently, I snaked some TV co-ox and ethernet cable to several rooms.

As I drilled through one wall, I felt a sickening grab and pull and pretty much knew I had snagged a wire. Cut it in two, actually.

Turned out to be the wire between a wall switch and some ceiling "pot lights" that were not "on" at the time.

I devised a plan to access the wire at both sides of the break and get it into boxes to properly splice it. I cut the wire and the damaged piece didn't want to pull out of the wall. When it finally came out, it was wrapped in a big wad of tape!

Turns out there was a wire to an electric baseboard nearby and when the pros had installed it they hit the wire within a foot of where I did and simply taped it up and stuffed it buck into the wall! I'm GUESSING the young guy on the team didn't want to 'fess up to the damage and suffer the boss's wrath so he taped it and hid his mistake!

Here's a picture of the wire with the outer wad of tape removed...

<img src = "http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/27Grainfield/Stuff/Wire_zps2dd8ae48.jpg">

"theres no NEC violations are there?"

This whole house is a violation.
It is a family member's house, so I've had to work on it a few times.
220V well pump was wired with 14/2 NM-B buried 6 inches under ground.
Metal junction box under the jacuzzi tub with so many wires ran into
it that they couldn't use any strain reliefs. Just ran the wires through
the knockouts. They couldn't get the cover on the box either.
Previous owner relocated the breaker box. Into the bathroom.
The list goes on.
Hopefully we can at least make it safe if not rewire the whole thing.

Obviously whoever taught them to wire a house also taught my dad how to wire.
He was a truly fine craftsman when it came to cabinetry and furniture.
But absolutely dangerous with wiring...

Ben

As a retired electrician of forty years, some of the stories! I think the worse one was a " kitchen ( including microwave) wired with 2 conductor (zip # 16 gage) lamp cord. You just cannot believe how bad it was. In another house the fuse box was "in" the bathtub! My friend just today told me about a sub panel in the attic. Now that is real convenient.
Lots of stories. joe

My first thought was that you must be near me but when I saw the crimp I realized you weren"t. Locals would have twisted the wires and friction taped them.

I"ve seen stuff done here Id never even thought of before! Houses built without foundations, wired with 2 circuits of mine wire for the whole house - it"s an adventure!

I think there"s 3 counties int he state that have building codes even now.

I'm finding wiring here in North Central Iowa is
also kinda scary. Seen quite a few of those duplex
outlets you clip on to a NMS cable then a lamp cord
is plugged into it and heads into the wall going to
who knows where

back when i got this house i had to rewire it, i found one outlet just screwed into the wall, when i pulled it out it had a BROWN EXTENTION CORD atached to it, it ran up the wall and then they took the main wire that ran from one breaker box to a add on box across the house, slit it and just looped the brown extention cord through the main wire and black taped it,

also found several wires ran into the add on box without a romex connector, just stuck down,

We recently got a call from our home insurance supplier. Some dame asked if our house has knob and tube wiring! I told her-the house was built in 1940, not 1840. SHEESH! How old do they think we are??