ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Violation Photo Forum Mobile Home Violations

(submitted by Joe Tedesco)

Aha!! The Duct-tape king lives on! (AKA The Homeowner!) The GE outlet in the first pic which, at least here, is a Wal-Mart, Target, or Grocery Store buy... Some people just never learn until they reach ignition!

-Randy

Yeah, Randy but they did tape their wirenuts!

LoL Dave, I guess if I were to try & look on the bright side, It looks like the bare ground wires are at least twisted together in a couple places also!

The thing I'm really curious about is what the devil are those duct-taped block looking things on a couple of the NM's?? There's one leaning on that piece of either SO cord or 6/3NM that loops under the trailer...

-Randy

Randy those are an approved and listed plug together connector for nm wire. I have seen and connected them on several modular manufactured homes...(not mobile home any more home owner took offense at the term mobile home) they are usually located in a junction box with correcponding numbers onthe wire ends where the 2 halves of the home meet in the attic area usually in a closet. we have some repair connectors that are similar that are rated for in wall use , though ive never tried it,dont trust them, and they are very spendy. the duct tape is not required for the connection that is the high level of craftsmanship from the repair person doing this workin the second picture
edited for clearity and psellinng

[This message has been edited by sparkystudent (edited 07-25-2004).]

Mobile home,factory built home,or manufactured home, a trailer by any other name is still a trailer. They still have the same goofy wiring,plumbing.........

Those connectors strongly resemble one we use in low voltage DC. For forklifts, their larger cousins are available in 300 amp versions. The ones in the picture look to be about the same as the 40A ones I use on RV power converters.

A "proper" factory built modular home is not a trailer home, but generalyl designed and built to be installed for one place (usually on a foundation or slab, and at that with a full utility services, and you would be hard pressed to tell one from a built in place home).

A "mobile home" is just a subsetof manufactured home that is designed and built to be moved possibly to other sites..

I guess those blocks are better than some of the trailers I've seen where the 2nd half simply cord & plug connects to an outside outlet! (before in-use covers were around! ) I find the weirdest stuff on these things... & it all seems to be cut-rate, cheap as you can find it things!

-Randy

I still say it is just a trailer.

Then you have not seen the factory built modular home type that is not a trailer.

See Prefab tour , for the specifics of the no trailer type m,odulat home. Nothe the move the modules around on a specially built flatbed.

Edit: I realize the photo above may be form a "trailer" type modular home.

[This message has been edited by classicsat (edited 07-28-2004).]

I have the narrow view if it came on site on wheels its a "trailer" .

The comment is not meant in a nasty way,they have their place in giving people affordable housing,I just do not like working on them,but life is full of things that one does not want to do.

[This message has been edited by NORCAL (edited 07-29-2004).]

[EDITED] Snipped for insensitivity [/EDITED]

[This message has been edited by Sir Arcsalot (edited 07-28-2004).]

on a more serious note,
would a crawl space fit the "readily accessable" requirement if all those connections between the two halves were correctly boxed ????

I live in one of these things. I looked in the crawlspace while the cable guy was fixing our cable. The Main service wire is on the ground, pieces of 1973 romex on the ground, we found a soaked piece of No. 10 Dryer NM cable behind the busted tub line, an Air Conditioner feeder on the ground, a cloth insulated heat tape wire, PVC electrical boxes so small you can't even fit an outlet's pigtail wire in, one 15amp lighting circuit feeding most of the house, and my favorite, a piece of 14 gauge extension cord feeding my light. The thing is, the ext. cord is unprotected, inside an fininshed room. Outside the wall, and in a furnace room!! More interesting features, a plug used to plug the service cord into the meter, along with a 20 amp duplex receptacle, old as heck, non GFCI protected, not even any covers for the unused outlets! There is one spare service outlet, uncovered, ready for the neighbors' grandkids' fingers. (OUCH!!) Luckily the newer trailers are wired in the frame, correctly, safely, like regular houses, mostly, even though they still use the old obsolete "plug-in" meters. Only two of these electrical hazards have been replaced with non-hazards. We live in an "Pay-a-lot, don't-get-a-lot" trailer park. We do have some stuff like the picture.

Sorry for the second post but... A receptacle within 6 feet of a water source, (a.k.a water heater,) at least install a GFCI!! Also, I do believe seeing somewhere that all crawlspace, basement, underground and water prone areas require GFCIs...

I was just gonna mention about the recept being so close to a water source. Scarey. Who did this work, uncle Billy-Joe?

I've got to agree with NORCAL. A trailer is a trailer. See how well the "modular homes" did in the recent hurricanes.

kid,
There's no requirement around a water heater for GFCI protection. It's not a water source until it leaks. A 50 Amp receptacle and cord are a common and Code compliant way of connecting "trailer houses".

I lived in one that had aluminum Romex as the wiring method, and I never did really sleep well knowing that it was there...S

As much as I bad mouth "trailers"they do have their place as more reasonably priced homes.

Near me is an area that was listed by Guiness as the "worlds' largest trailer park."
Most trailer fires seem to either be somehow associated with either the waster heater, or back rent.
We also have major areas of "manufacturered housing." Ultimately, if you break the house into small enough components, we all live in a house that was "brought in on a trailer." The major difference between a 'trailer' and a 'manufacturered home' is that a trailer can be moved; the other, once assembled, is there to stay. Would you call those high-rise buildings made of pre-fab parts "trailers?"

Another issue is whether or not a "mobile home" is "real estate." Unless certain steps are taken (setting it on a footing, etc.), the trailer is not subject to permits, inspections, etc., as is a "normal" home.

Whatever the faults are in the installation of 'trailers,' let's not forget the barely adequate practices often found in today's stick-built 'McMansions." Add to that the presence of box stores, and the willingness of the homeowner to attempt anything, and we have a lot of people setting themselves up for a fall. At least the pictured installation appeared to have been left alone since the dat it was installed.

Ya' mean all of those trailers just sitting there on cinderblocks and constantly moved don't need permits! I'm moving there! (NOT!)

I agree with norcal.. trailers are the pits to work on.. and will not work on them..call the other guy

Thank's Electure, I was just repeating what the community construction workers told me, they also told me, "Scram!"