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I recently moved into an old building in a somewhat shady part of town and we are having problems with the electrical wiring. The apartment is the 3rd floor and has 4 bedrooms.

We have three air conditioners in 3 different bedrooms and other various odds and ends. We blow fuses routinely trying to run our gadgets. There are 4 fuses four our entire apartment, 2 in the basement and 2 in the second floor hallway. They are all 30 amp.

Whenever an appliance turns on, the lights dim significantly and the TV's picture shrinks.

I recently bought an uninterupptible power supply for my computer to hopefully alleviate random problems I have been having that I think are related to frequent brownouts. There is a light lit that says there is a building wiring fault.

I mentioned the fact that I think our multitude of symptoms could be a problem and the landlord basically gave me the run around, avoiding the question. After arguing with him for awhile I basically got him to admit that the building needed to be upgraded but he said he wouldn't do it because it will cost him too much money. The new owner is the nephew of the prior owner who spoke hardly any english and has "cobbed" our house up repeatedly including installing drop ceilings to cover holes in the ceiling.

I called the local power company and their representive came and checked our service and he said that there is indeed a problem and the fact that we have 30 amp fuses on the second floor indicates a band-aid has been used to correct a problem. The previous owner was present when the power company representative said there was a problem and we needed to get an electrician in here and he said that he would not call an electrician because it cost too much money. Needless to say the power company guy was none too happy and said he was going to to report the building to code enforcement. The new owner says the building will pass and there is nothing we can do about it.

This situation is clearly not acceptable and I worry about burning up in my sleep. Should I call the local code enforcement? Is the owner required to upgrade the building or at least fix it so I don't see a building wiring fault on my UPS? He mentioned being protected by a "grandfather" clause... any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob