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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,498
T
Member
Here I've got pics of some real steep old wiring from Austria. A tenant told me the old owner of the house (roughly 30 apartments, built around 1905) died in 1983, and from that day NOTHING was done to the house. The daughter lived in NYC and only flew to Austria every few years, lodged at Vienna's most expensive hotel, had the manager drive her around in his Rolls and cashed all rent money.
Note: in Austria if you own an apartment house it's very common to get a property management company that does all the work like taking care of the finances, deciding about smaller repairs and getting rid of tenants who complain of problems in their apartments. I know those management companies both as a tenant and son of a landlord in another place and neither like them. Their main job seems to be to get as much cash as possible out of the house without handing it over to the owner. That usually results in low-quality repairs if any.

This particular manager went belly up with about 50 000 Euro debt, went to jail for two years and now runs the next property management company...

Anyway. The wiring is most likely original in most parts, some stuff was redone in the 50s, some even later, but that's mostly patch work.

The pictures are on Photobucket, because I already uploaded them for another board, if you want feel free to copy them to the ECN server.

I don't know for sure what this is, but I think the main feed from the street comes in at the right top corner and at the bottom you have a cable that goes through the cellar to the riser that feeds all apartments.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

A main fuse box. Pretty neat compared with what you'll see later.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

The HRC fused switch at the left is probably the main fuse as it isn't labeled and there are 100A fuses in it. The one to the right is for a small shop and only has 25A fuses in it. 3 Diazed fuses would have been enough...
The D III fuses above are the main fuses for an apartment and a set of unused fuses. 35A. 3x35A is hefty, even considering the apartment is 200m2.

Those fuses are ahed of the meters and every tenant has got a key to these fuse boxes.

Yikes, what a mess!
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]
Most of the fuses are unused because either the apartments are vacant or two apartments have been connected together. Still, it looks awful, and somebody removed PoCo disconnect stickers.

The meter box for the elevator, dated February 1958.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

Detail of the fuses and switch
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

That's some kind of phone patch panel that seems to run most of the block according to the old labeling.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

To be continued...

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,498
T
Member
That's a scary one. Located in a hallway that leads to the back yard and the trash cans, the door can't be locked any more. The diazed fuses without a cover are live.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

Old lead cables, probably phone.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

Old isolators tell stories of long forgotten wires...
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

One last look back before really going down in the cellar...
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

The basement fuses... conveniently located high above the stairs. Standing on the top step they're well above my head (and I'm 190cm). Fused neutral as always.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

The water piping isn't much better than the electrical. A mix of iron (already rusted again), lead pipe and flexible hose (a recent hack job, joining two pieces of 1/2" pipe with 3/8" hose...)
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

Wooden junction boxes...
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,498
T
Member
Anyone guess what this is?
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

Covers??? Why???
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

What's that cable coming out the bottom of the light???
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

Oh... never mind.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]
That's just the cord of that old desk lamp nailed to the wall.

Clamps?
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

A nice surprise... that's old but perfect.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

I strongly suspect that's the only ground for the entire house (TT system).
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,498
T
Member
Those "spider webs" are probably live...
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

That's definitely live, coneveniently at hand heigth.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

That's got to be one of the worst DIY hack jobs I've ever seen.
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

That one looks awfully solid...
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

Does that tell us anything? *scratch* [Linked Image]
[Linked Image from i17.photobucket.com]

Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 8,443
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