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Posted By: Admin Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 02:38 AM
Quote
I love these guy's who flip these houses, always going for the cheapest price. Well this is what you get for the cheapest price! This is in a high $ area in Downtown Philly.

HCE727

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Posted By: leland Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 02:47 AM
WOW! Just wow.. Thats the best I have now.

The wood screw and the SE clips are a very nice touch.
And the NM, avoid tite bends, thats good.
Posted By: KJay Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 04:19 AM
Is that main breaker being fed from the bottom? I guess they can use that SEU on the line [load] side of the disconnect then.

They must be clairvoyant. How else would they have known in advance that the 42-circuit limit was going to be history in 2008?

Looks like they splurged and went for the copper panel bus, and look… another main breaker of equal or greater value for safety, and none of that annoying separating of the neutral and grounding conductors.

I guess, at least they have the GEC at the main disconnect. I mean the first main disconnect.


Like Gomer Pyle used to say…Shazam!!


Remember..."you can do it, with Home Depot"
Posted By: TOOL_5150 Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 08:42 AM
Thats ugly. I have never seen PVC straps used as NM straps. THe sweeping bends are a nice touch as well.

~Matt
Posted By: iwire Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 09:44 AM
Originally Posted by KJay
Is that main breaker being fed from the bottom?


That in itself is not a violation. smile
Posted By: KJay Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 03:01 PM
"That in itself is not a violation."

That wasn’t really the point, but I believe many electrical inspectors would consider it to be a violation if the manufacturer of the listed equipment assembly designated line and load lug position by marking or labeling them.
I would never do this type of hookup on one of my jobs. wink
Posted By: leland Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 03:20 PM
I'ld like to see the origination point of that flex.
Posted By: renosteinke Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 04:36 PM
"I love these guys that flip houses ..."

I could not agree more. The frantic mindset of these poseurs, who fancied themselves real estate mavens, is legend.
They go into the proposition expecting to make a few cosmetic changes in a few days, then turn around and sell within the first month - at a substantial profit.

During the sell, they love to claim all manner of improvements. Hard as it is to believe, they actually make realtors look ethical. mad

Unfortunately, these hustlers are not above playing with the electric. For us, this means we will be finding all manner of silliness (and dangers) as we go to repair their 'upgrades.'
Posted By: sparkyinak Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 06:55 PM
I'm worried that the white wire that is holding the 90° connector together will come undone and fall apart. Hopefully they used solid wire otherwise that would be just dumb crazy
Posted By: Theelectrikid Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 07:01 PM
"Gotta get it done now now now!" These fools are just like tract house builders.

Some looney toon flipped a house in the next section over, claimed "All new electrical wiring throughout!" Me and my folks went to the open house, and I peeked in the attic. What did I see? A lot of 1950s NM headed towards the back bedroom closet (where the panel is in some of the Levittowners.) All the receptacles were three-prong, and passed the three-light test, as the guy had those testers plugged in a few places.

The house never sold, looked like crap anyways, and now his bank owns it.

Ian A.
Posted By: renosteinke Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 09:03 PM
Ian, that's the sort of thing I was indirectly referring to. There are ways to fool those little testers .... and the unscrupulous seller will do so - then present the place as having all new, grounded electrical. There's a word for that: Fraud. Likewise, I have yet to find someone who has used a GFCI breaker in this situation.

The Home Inspector forums were all upset when someone let the cat out of the bag .... these guys had been placing so much faith in those testers. Viewing their forums today, they still focus on what's 'easy to inspect,' and dither over minute details .... rather than take a substantial look at things. Add to that their airs of self importance, and it's almost comical.

That 'service upgrade' has all the hallmarks of a non-permitted DIY / handyman job - and it's ugly, too! laugh
Posted By: junkcollector Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/23/07 09:09 PM
Pretty Hideous. Around here(and most everywhere else), new meter boxes are never installed in the basement- they're usually outside. Is this common for the area?

Seriously, I'd like to see the other end of the flex. How do these hacks do this without the POCO cutting off the power?
Posted By: leland Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/24/07 01:47 AM
---"Unfortunately, these hustlers are not above playing with the electric. For us, this means we will be finding all manner of silliness (and dangers) as we go to repair their 'upgrades.'"---

Could this perhaps have anything to do with the '08 changes? Just a thought. Not that it matters to "Them".


--"I'm worried that the white wire that is holding the 90° connector together will come undone and fall apart. Hopefully they used solid wire otherwise that would be just dumb "---

They can't be that dumb!!! Of course it's solid. Why go thru the trouble of that #12 wood screw.
Posted By: Elviscat Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/24/07 07:54 AM
as much as I dislike the petty nattering of home inspectors, at least if a HI took a look at this it'd probably get a real EC in there to clean this mess up, a lot of the problems here are cosmetic, debatable, or violations dependent on local codes, but there are some genuine safety issues I can see, mainly at that hacked up meter/disco combo.

that panel looks like a Siemens, which is about the cheapest of the cheap, although the screw and the way the verbiage is printed on some of those breakers makes them look like SQD, (which the panel is obviously not)

I just don't like it

-Will
Posted By: Theelectrikid Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/24/07 03:05 PM
Originally Posted by Elviscat
as much as I dislike the petty nattering of home inspectors, at least if a HI took a look at this it'd probably get a real EC in there to clean this mess up, a lot of the problems here are cosmetic, debatable, or violations dependent on local codes, but there are some genuine safety issues I can see, mainly at that hacked up meter/disco combo.


The only things HIs report are asbestos siding and lack of GFCIs on 1950s circuits.

Ian A.
Posted By: Rewired Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/24/07 06:35 PM
Disgusting!
You can tell that is Destroy it Yoursef at its finest there... I can't really tell but it even looks like some of the cables entering the panel at the bottom right just pass through the KO without a connector...

I'd like to see what happens here in Ontario with the implementation of "smartmeters". They record time of use and are remote read BUT also transmit a "loss of supply" signal to the PoCo should the supply to the line side terminals disappear or if the meter is pulled illegally.
Regardless we are still going to be plagued with people that try to do this kind of work themselves and do illegal panel changes HOT!

A.D
Posted By: EV607797 Re: Service in Downtown Philly - 12/24/07 10:46 PM
No doubt that's one of the worst installations that I've ever seen. What stinks is that I am an EC and I've been in the industry since 1974, yet some home inspector comes in gigs me for a 15/15 twin breaker using 14 gauge wire in my shed. Something tells me that the same guy would miss every bit of that installation.
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