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Do You Think That This Is Not Safe?

Old knob and tube service?

[This message has been edited by Joe Tedesco (edited 10-02-2005).]

Just as morals, fashion, and technology change, so does our idea of what is acceptable for installation - vis a vis the changes inb the Code.

"Safe" in 1928? Probably.

Safe today? Probably not.

I agree. My next-door neighbor had service that looked pretty much like that.

I don't know very much about fuses, but I seem to recall that they are color-coded. The fact that there is an odd green one suggests that there may be some overfusing going on here.

[This message has been edited by SolarPowered (edited 09-06-2004).]

No I would not call this safe.

How do propose we address items like this?

Inspectors going in private homes and pulling meters?

I've seen a few camps and grange halls in my area with those a base meters & K&T throughout serving original fixtures.

if anything else, i can appreciate the longevity of K&T in New Englands volitale enviroment

is it safe? well, if it was installed to 1928 code (whos gotta book?) and hasn't been altered what grounds (pun intended) would anyone have to intervene?

~S~

It may be old but it looks well done. I'd say it is safer than a lot of stuff that passes for electrical installation today. The simple fact that it is still working 70 years or so later suggests it was a top quality job for its's day.

I copied the picture to see if the meter was 120 or 240. I couldn't read the nameplate but the jpg file name confirmed my suspicions...

The picture shows 2 not 4 circuits, each with a fused neutral. Maybe this is the only case in which a couple of pennies (in the 2nd and 4th from the left) under the fuses would make the circuit safer

jfwayer, I was thinking that too. I hope to hell that the 30 isn't in the neutral with a 15 or 20 in the phase , but I think it is. If US A-Base meters are the same as UK ones, the center 2 conductors would be the neutral with the outer 2 being the phase, if you follow the (suspected) phase, it goes to the 30 .
Although, as others have commented, standards as to what is acceptable change, originally it would have been considered safe, and it is certainly workmanlike. I hope it gets changed and the original equipment preserved

Don't worry; all the fuses are 30-amp units.

Okay, that's a relief then . Anyone for a minor service upgrade?