Hello Art and welcome to forum...I trust you'll enjoy it here, I know I do.

Thanks for sharing the picture with us. I can't imagine how upset I would be to see something like this in my own home, especially knowing the dangers involved with it.

Did you take pistures of the wau you fixed, by any chance?

Aaak! Why did anyone bother with the octagon box and hanger?




[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 02-12-2004).]

Hey Art,
Welcome to ECN and thanks for the Picture!.
That's a shocking thought that something like this was lurking in your own roof.
Few people ever get up into their attics and see what is up there, most would be floored by some of the wiring that I have seen in them.
By the way, is that Rubber Sheathed cable in that picture?.
Also, I take it that there is a rather heavy lighting fixture on the other side of the ceiling?.

I have some pictures almost identical to this. Your previous homeowner/"electrician" may have lived in Illinois.

Well, unless you mount it with wood or sheet metal screws, how else are you gonna hang the fixture?

Saw something similar in that house I was working on, but the old K&T terminated into the box, and BX came out.

Icky Icky Patang! (the Electricians who say NEE!)

Bjarney said:

I see a little stump of white cable going into that box. May be zip cord...may be Romex. Look at the right side, under the knot.

Art, was there any wire INSIDE the box? Not counting the fixture wires.

Hi Art, Welcome!
Was there a fixture on this box, or was it just patched over?

Daves Pictures:

OUCH!

Dave, Good ehhh bad pictures! Somethings telling me overcurrent protection for the pictures you sent was either grossly oversized, non-existant, or manufactured by Federal Pacific! Either way, do you know the cause of this mess? Seeing the hanger bar in the attic pic makes me think this was a ceiling fan location, did a wire short to the side of the metal plate in pic #1? (should be a bushing there)

-Randy

Edicus becus icus cantus spellus!

[This message has been edited by Lostazhell (edited 05-02-2004).]

This was a ceiling fan installation, Randy, a homeowner job, I'm sure. IMO the problem was pulling the short varnished-cambric covered wires into the box. Varnished-cambric is usually OK except in light fixtures where it gets brittle from the heat. I usually go in the attic and cut back to unheated wire, install boxes in the attic, and pull new wire to the ceiling fan. In this case I rewired the second floor with 3 circuits from the basement distribution panel.

I think the overcurrent protection was OK (since I did the service). I use QO because they pop the best, IMO. I think this one did a slow burn under 15 amps until it finally popped.

Dave

P.S. A dictionary near the PC can be useful.

I've been known to start a post, cut and paste into word halfway through, finish, and paste it back.

Randy: "or manufactured by Federal Pacific! " What about Zinsco! Seriously though, both these photos look a wee bit TOO homeownered.

PS: A dictionary ON the PC can also be helpful.
Ian A.

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 08-10-2005).]

Oh...my...GAWD!!!! And this structure hasnt burned down?? Thank gawd you found this, sheesh.

Looks like that white cord might be the only wire entering that box!

Ian A.

Theelectrikid has just coined a new word for the dictionary and that word is "HOME-OWNERED". This word should appear in the dictionary next to the phrase "FIRESTARTER"

With that definition having the following:

"See also FPE and ZINSCO"

ROTFLMBO!

Ian A.

if it's not a DIY project, the electrician that did it should be shot. Not only is the box wrong for the application with the brace bar. The box wasn't fan rated.

From start to finish, this job was a rube goldberg.