ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Violation Photo Forum Grandparents' house II

Weatherhead on SE cable, must've run out of tapcons here, and no the wires aren't touching the board there, at least not on calm days:


Next two pics: Two different clamps used on NM cable, but I can't tell which one is right/wrong.


Here's the other pic (nice razor-edged cover too.)


Nice support (or lack there of) on that NM.


This pic looks innocent, a plain keyed fixture with a CFL and thermostat transformer. But, it's suffered from the Bob Villa state of mind (as I heard on here), meaning "as longs as it's live, you can tap off of it." The NM on the left goes to a dishwasher in the kitchen, off this lighting circuit which serves the basement and dining/living rooms.


Here's where the cable goes up to the dishwasher, nice support! (Who wants to guess who installed this? Answer at the end of the post.)


Here's the panel, with one KO missing. The GFCI breaker serves a former outdoor receptacle, which is now in a porch.


Finally, an old phone jack:


Oh, and who installed the dishwasher? The same uncle/plumber that "installed" this light!

Ian A.

Nice Finds Ian! I don't think its too bad compared to some of the stuff I have seen both posted on here and out in the field! Those "twin" connectors, I am pretty sure the one on the top is listed for use on NM, and I have used them for that purpose with no problems or "defects".. The second picture of a similar connector appears to be one thats just older and of slightly different design..
Question for you though, in that last picture of the "phone jack": in the upper left corner of that window or whatever the pink curtan is covering, I see 2 NM cables, one that goes through the sill plate and one that does the "funky free-air 45" and disapears through that opening... Are those for an outdoor receptacle? Oh ya that black cable I see there too I take it thats a co-ax? Just wondering..

A.D

Believe it or not, there's a pantry behind that curtain, which sits under the front porch, read: concrete slab. (The lower joists are in the living room, the higher ones are the walkway to the front door.) I have no clue why they did it, or how they did it, but that house is a 1980s modular so who knows. The 2 NMs go to a pullchain light, one from the panel and one that goes off to feed the 3way chain and rest of lighting in that area of the house. (Including that dishwasher.)

10-4 on the coax BTW, and thanks for the explanation on the NM connectors.

Ian A.

"10-4 on the coax BTW"
So is it 10/4 or coax? :p
Sorry
I couldnt resist

I'm gonna hazard a guess, but is that ETTCO branded NM? I seen alot of it around my old town in FL.

Interesting type 40 phone jack. Someplace around here I seen an adaptor for converting the type 40 jack over to an RJ11 jack.

Radio Shack used to sell an adaptor that converted the 4-prong telephone jack to an RJ11 jack. I bet some RadioShacks still have them in stock.

Every store (Radio Shack, Walmart, Shop and Save...) in the Pittsburgh area sells them.

Cliff, it is Ettco NM.

IanR: LOL!

Ian A.

Guessed as much, seen it before, recognized the bright pink markings. lol

I still stock plenty of the 4-prong jacks and adapters, primarily for sale to collectors. They were phased out in 1973 in Pennsylvania, and in most other Bell territories. Modular jacks came into play as the norm in 1974. Most independent telcos followed suit almost immediately.

The fact that the phone jack is round indicates that it was made by Western Electric (Bell) so I'd venture to guess that the house is older than '80s vintage. Of course, with the quality of the installation, it could also be a case of "Yankee thrift" where grandpa ripped it out of another house and reinstalled it. That certainly would be a first.

Ettco cable..."Ettcoflex".....I sure ran plenty of that for sure in the 70's and 80's. It wasn't bad stuff at all.

http://www.suttleonline.com/trad_jacks_sfcmount.html#nonmodular



As an enthusiast of older telephone equipment I like the old four-prong jacks over the modular. Just as I prefer the traditional 1/4-inch jacks we used to use here (an extension of the normal switchboard type) over our current modular style connectors.