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Joined: Dec 2009
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This is the electrical equipment in the basement of an apartment building I actually used to live. It wasn't as bad when I lived there. The building has been sold and changed 3-4 times since then, and is currently unoccupied and condemned.
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,335
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Welcome to the forum! Thanks for the pics. Not much phases me much anymore. Onlt thing that amases me that its still works and no one hase been killed by it.
"Live Awesome!" - Kevin Carosa
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Joined: Mar 2007
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The fact that it's condemned would suggest that the electrical is not the only thing that has been mutilated.
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Joined: Dec 2009
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A lot of the buildings around here have been condemned, many due to design flaws rather than maintenance issues. Lack of adequate fire escape seems to be a common trend. We have way more apartment buildings than people to fill them, so any given street in our "sea of apartments" will have 2-3 condemned buildings.
The two just down the road from me are actually being renovated now, and the monster 18-unit one I've had my eyes on (biggest residential building in my small town) has been purchased, I have no idea what they plan to do with it.
When I lived in this building, my entire apartment, except for one outlet, was on a single fuse. All of the original wiring was knob&tube, but someone had redone the interior and spliced NM to it in the ceilings to drop to the receptacles. In order to achieve section 8 approval, outlets needed to be grounded, or at least pass testing with one of those three-LED plug-in testers, which someone discovered they could achieve by tying ground to neutral...
... well, whoever did the drops in my kitchen got hot and neutral reversed, so my microwave oven was "grounded" to hot... Imagine my surprise when I slid it across the counter to clean under it and it contacted the kitchen sink...
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Joined: Dec 2001
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Now combine grounds tied to neutral with a California 4-way and a receptacle between one of the 3-ways and the 4-way and you have Germany's most dangerous wiring contraption ever (depending on the position of the 3-ways the ground is tied either to the hot or neutral). Side note. unfortunately this kind of grounding (without California switching of course) was up to code and very common until 1973 in the West and 1990 in Eastern Germany.
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Joined: Jan 2011
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Hasn't anyone noticed the fpe?
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Joined: Sep 2002
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Hasn't anyone noticed the fpe? The FPE gear is fusible so the issues you are thinking of are not there.
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 64
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I'm still wondering about quality issues.
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,335
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In that set up, a FPE issue is least of it's problems
"Live Awesome!" - Kevin Carosa
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 64
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A simple soloution would be a match. Salvage the copper, first!
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Joined: Apr 2002
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PAteen:
Just an FYI, FPE fused equipment 'never' had any issues that I am aware of. Back in my younger days, around here (NJ) FPE was 'the brand'. Adding to that, I am not aware of any issues they had with the 'bolt-in' type CBs, nor anything other that the 'Stab-loc'.
I love the phone calls from homeowners who are selling, and call me to ask "the home inspector said we MUST replace our cb panel, because it is a fire hazzard" usually adding "he said it is CODE required". That is BULL.
John
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Joined: Jan 2011
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We got that same bull with a house that my parents were looking at, with a fpe and trumbull fuse panel. We were going to replace it with 200A 40space QO loadcenter. Rewire it with 12awg and hubbell receptacles.
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Joined: Apr 2005
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Right side wall, left panel, is fulla 30A fuses.
Cliff
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Joined: Feb 2002
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That looks like a lot of services in the town I live next to. The town is very old, so are the buildings and the wiring. The whole town is a fire just waiting to happen. Every time the fire alarm goes off, the fire chief automatically calls out 2-3 towns for back up. He can't let any fire get away from him or he might lose the whole town.
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Posts: 32
Joined: June 2004
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