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Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grogan14
Oh, and don't let anyone scare you too much - inside that panel looks exactly like how 95% of 'em look, and the basement of many older homes look just like your's.
95% of panel boards have receptacles wired in them?! You must be working in a different place than the residential electricians I know (with 20+ years expierence).
Acutally, other than the receptable, the panel doesn't look too bad. I've seen many that are far worse.
If it were me, I'd probably be pulling out a lot of the mess of wires and home running a few new circuits. You have a little room in your panel for this. And frankly, there are a few too many junction boxes for my comfort. Hubby (the residential electrican) might not agree with me, but he's not here right now so I'm just basing my opinion on 5 years working in consumer safety (with residential electric as one area of focus).
That said, I really agree with those saying to hire someone. You have such a nice house, you want the electrical done right. An electrician will be able to trace this out probably faster than a DIY-er, and will bring it up to code.
95% of panel boards have receptacles wired in them?! You must be working in a different place than the residential electricians I know (with 20+ years expierence).
Other than that receptacle, yes, that has been my "expierence" in my 20+ years as a self-employed residential electrical contractor (if someone's giving out medals for that, sign me up!). I work for myself, so can take the time to do a much better job, but that certainly is pretty much what the panel looks like with the cover off, in the average home. 'Course, I get $80/hr., and the average journeyman around here gets $25, so what can you expect. There's nothing unsafe looking about his panel - it just isn't exactly pretty. That plug is no big deal, but I can see how it might scare the average urbanite/desk jockey or insurance agent. Surely he's just got it there temporarily.
I'm just so terribly impressed. I suppose since my gal is in law enforcement, that should qualify me to make traffic stops and such. Jeez, trying to help folks out just doesn't seem to be worth it, with the way some are on these boards. Everybody trying to one-up ya, and the negative comments. People that seem to add their "2-cents" in just about everywhere, to add to their post count. Petty. Silly.
Other than that receptacle, yes, that has been my "expierence" in my 20+ years as a self-employed residential electrical contractor (if someone's giving out medals for that, sign me up!). I work for myself, so can take the time to do a much better job, but that certainly is pretty much what the panel looks like with the cover off, in the average home. 'Course, I get $80/hr., and the average journeyman around here gets $25, so what can you expect. There's nothing unsafe looking about his panel - it just isn't exactly pretty. That plug is no big deal, but I can see how it might scare the average urbanite/desk jockey or insurance agent. Surely he's just got it there temporarily.
I'm just so terribly impressed. I suppose since my gal is in law enforcement, that should qualify me to make traffic stops and such. Jeez, trying to help folks out just doesn't seem to be worth it, with the way some are on these boards. Everybody trying to one-up ya, and the negative comments. People that seem to add their "2-cents" in just about everywhere, to add to their post count. Petty. Silly.
Good luck, Alabama
Acually I have no outside plug to plug my electric fence into............so I put it there and ran the wire through and existing hole in the wall!
Since you have a small fuse panel upstairs, I'd suspect there still is "Knob and tube" wiring in service.
The next time the your problem lights go out run out and check the meter. If the wheel is spinning rapidly that is a good indication of a short, means you need qualified electrician yesterday.
I'm not a electrician, but have had a few older homes. If I'm wrong about the meter/short will one of electricians onboard correct me?
Don't delay getting fixed at any rate, your homeowners insurance coverage could be at stake.
OK...........No more problems! It seems the previous homeowner tapped into the junction to power a few hanging lights in the basement(7 to be exact). They had 9 wires twisted together and a wire nut slipped over the end with only electrical tape holding the wire nut on! I simply removed the wires to the lights and put the wire nuts back on the leads that I acually needed! I'm sure the wires were not making good contact at all. It turns out that the dryer had nothing to do with my problem except that it sits right over that box. I guess when I turned it on the wires would vibrate and make contact causing the upstairs lights to come on! Below are pictures of the lights and my handy work(temporary at best).................
Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
1,501 posts, read 11,750,050 times
Reputation: 1135
Glad you got it fixed Historic Bessemer!
Quote:
Acually I have no outside plug to plug my electric fence into............so I put it there and ran the wire through and existing hole in the wall!
Perhaps Grogan14 doesn't agree with me, but I would still recommend fixing that. Maybe I am just an "average urbanite/desk jockey", but I also like to follow code. Put it on a circuit with a breaker, then you can put a panel cover back on your panel.
Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
1,501 posts, read 11,750,050 times
Reputation: 1135
too late to edit my post, but I want to correct myself about the receptacle not being on a breaker. It is But I did show it to DH, who said "at least its resting on the neutral side, not the hot side " He does suggest just putting it in a box right next to (outside) the panel. We then got into a discussion about GFIs for an electric fence. For an outdoor/basement/garage receptacle, you should have GFIs, but since its an electric fence, we weren't sure if the transformer will expect it to be on a GFI and account for that or if it should be a non-gfi receptcle.
"We then got into a discussion about GFIs for an electric fence. For an outdoor/basement/garage receptacle, you should have GFIs, but since its an electric fence, we weren't sure if the transformer will expect it to be on a GFI and account for that or if it should be a non-gfi receptcle."
Gotta love it. An electric fence that doesn't give a shock. Actually, I think the unit would have an isolated output, with one side grounded and the other going to the fence wire. If properly isolated, the GFI wouldn't make any difference. However, in HBs house, maybe it would turn on the tv.
Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
1,501 posts, read 11,750,050 times
Reputation: 1135
LOL Yeah, that was the debate. The GFI would prevent the shock, but the point of an electric fence is to shock. hmmmm OTOH, its a very low voltage, so it has a transformer in there. Something we haven't encountered. Invisible fences, yes, but never wired up an electric fence, and a quick glance through the code book (NEC 2002) didn't tell me the answer. But, I didn't look too terribly hard either.
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I suppose since my gal is in law enforcement, that should qualify me to make traffic stops and such. Jeez, trying to help folks out just doesn't seem to be worth it, with the way some are on these boards. Everybody trying to one-up ya, and the negative comments. People that seem to add their "2-cents" in just about everywhere, to add to their post count. Petty. Silly.
" He does suggest just putting it in a box right next to (outside) the panel. We then got into a discussion about GFIs for an electric fence. For an outdoor/basement/garage receptacle, you should have GFIs, but since its an electric fence, we weren't sure if the transformer will expect it to be on a GFI and account for that or if it should be a non-gfi receptcle.
Actually, I think the unit would have an isolated output, with one side grounded and the other going to the fence wire. If properly isolated, the GFI wouldn't make any difference. However, in HBs house, maybe it would turn on the tv. 
