Kyle Kubs

I'm no expert on this kind of roofing at all but, from what I can see the boot is not on a seam but on a rib... Single panels have several ribs, I would define a seam as where two panels join. But then again I could be wrong.

I have to disagree. Water is not compressible. If the tank is full of water,when the pump kicks on and tries to fill the tank, there will be a measurable head pressure on the discharge side of the pump. That pressure meeting the brick wall of incompressible fluid is going to instantly build, trip the pressure switch and cut off the pump. The instant the pump cuts off the head pressure no longer being part of the equation and the water in the tank not having been compressed, will not push back so the low pressure is immediately tripped and the pump kicks in again. Next time you have one doing this, open the Schrader valve at the top of the tank, does it spit water every time the pump kicks in or bleed air? Now if the pump is running continuously with the faucets closed, you would be correct. If it were completely waterlogged & the pump running continuously with the faucet open, then the instant you closed the faucet it would shut off the pump at high pressure. I have never found this to be the case.

I think you have that backwards. If the tank is waterlogged the pressure would hit high & low pressures, one immediately after the other, causing the pump to cycle on and off continuously about every second (shortcycling). If the pump stays on continuously while the water is running it just isn't gaining any ground against the water usage. Maybe nothing, maybe worn impeller or undersized pump.

Yes Ok, I guess I should have elaborated. Any pictures of the uncovered sections in the basement?

Hey Chad, Interesting receptacles. Looks like an older wire mould. but doesn't seem appropriate to 1950's... (I don't have a ton of experience with these) Are you saying that using a tester with the probes on the two outside slots would give you 220v? Were you able to see the feed side of this circuit in the basement or elsewhere? Just wondering if it was a cable assembly or separated conductors.

I'm with Jim all the way on this. I spent a large part of my childhood rewinding and rebuilding electric motors with my Father who had a small part time business in the basement. The rest of the time he worked for General Electric building and installing generators in Nuclear, Hydroelectric and other generating plants around the world. Motor surges will not cause nuisance trips on GFCI protected circuits. The surge is a very momentary draw of excess current which is transfered right back through the neutral, so even though there is a surge, it is balanced on both sides of the circuit. This is easy enough to confirm with a pair of Amp meters at the panel. For a nuisance trip to occur there has to be an imbalance. Like when a hair dryer turns current into heat, more coming in on the hot line then going back on the Neutral, surges don't do this. Even a hair dryer takes several seconds or more, sometimes minutes, to cause a GFCI to trip, most surges last 1-3 seconds at most. Again put an ampmeter on the line and see for yourself. You seam to be hung up (pun intended) on the garage door thing... First as all have said, several times, you should be checking the function of the springs and the ability for them to support the door without the opener. For one this makes it safe to operate the door the good old fashioned way, by hand. I always show my clients how to do this as I demonstrate the doors proper or improper balance. Second if the springs are balanced properly the opener is not working hard at all, its not "lifting" the door, it's just moving a perfectly balanced door in it's tracks and hence with very little effort on it's part, there should not even be any significant surge, which again, is not going to cause a nuisance trip in the first place. The washing machine thing is very likely with the windings as Jim said or possibly with some very poor wiring practices on the builder part, such as back wiring causing an imbalance (maybe) or an incorrect multi-wire circuit feeding the washer.

Take a look at the exhaust termination also - Make sure it is not clogged or restricted with anything. And like the others said. Get someone qualified to look at it overall.

So what of this 40amp. breaker with #8 Alum. wire now that we know it is not an A/C circuit?

I'm guessing the disagreement is over the Alum. circuit... Mike, the wire size for 40amp. with Alum. is #6 (over-current protection is guided by the 60 degree C column regardless of the insulation rating - See table 4-1 in Hansens book). If this is an A/C unit it may still be ok per the data plate but what I see is a four conductor cable... there is a bare ground and the insulated wire with the white stripe on the neutral side. This would be more common to an electric oven or a small sub panel which would mean it is overfused. Of course I am going against Jim here which makes me leery... Just in case, I'm on a special diet and not allowed to include crow in my meals, so be nice. The only other thing I can think of is the fact that the wires are all bunched together. Really nice craftsmanship but discouraged due to heat de-rating. I've never called this and likely never will. What would be the problem with an uninsulated neutral? It's a Service Entrance Cable... No issue there. So are we going to find out what the beef is or what?

What is the other end of that wire connected to in the box? Could be a nail through it somewhere or it could be clipped instead of connected at a splice someplace. Or as Phillip said may not be connected in the panel. Occasionally I get an open ground reading because the fit in the receptacle is very loose and if you push the tester plug to one side you get contact. The ground it there, the receptacle should be replaced.

From yesterdays inspection. I've seen panels get a little over-spray before but this is a step above. Looks like it was during initial construction back in 1965. They must have had the panel wide open while painting contractors were spraying the house. Even got the sub panel too. I pulled several breakers and the bus underneath was coated also. The house has changed hands several times over the years and this has never been taken care of. Interesting main panel. Probably only the second split bus I've ever seen from Cutler-Hammer. The hot bus has little nipples sticking out that the breakers clip onto. Anyone know when they discontinued this design? (Post checked for spelling & grammatical errors, read, reread and proofread.)[^] Download Attachment: Panel_1.jpg 160.33 KB Download Attachment: Panel_1_Close.jpg 174.08 KB Download Attachment: Panel_1_Lugs.jpg 174.12 KB Download Attachment: Panel_Sub.jpg 172.94 KB

Kurt, Speaking of fabricating. About 20 years ago I worked in an exhibit shop that built a life size mock up of NASA's proposed space station and the space shuttle for a Space Science museum there in Chicago. Every seen it? Is it still there?

I'm no authority on this type of architecture but I used to do a lot of fabrication. The first thing my mind goes to is that the pipe is just an easy & convenient was to make a perfectly round and straight center for the flower that also turns out to be a good way to mount it... Shootin in the dark, so don't quote me.

It's just straight forward creosote buildup. Normal byproduct of burning wood. Could be a lot of use, or like I said throttling down an oversized fire by having the combustion air inlet mostly closed (it smokes more than it burns). Open the door to the stove, if it looks glossy like someone painted it with wet tar then that is what is happening. Just means it will need to be cleaned more often. Also, if the user is burning wood that is not well seasoned, the excess moisture in the wood condenses in the flu. Burning soft, resinous woods like pine and such. Fine for starting a fire but not what you want to use for fuel as it doesn't burn as hot as hardwoods. Was the flu pipe a listed and insulated flu pipe (double wall with and insulating ceramic like material between)? - Cold flu pipe = condensing flu gases & creosote buildup.

Thats not so bad - Mine gets worse with just a few months use. Of course I do use it 24/7 during the winter, as my primary heating. I am assuming this is a wood burning stove? You get that kind of build up from them when it's very oversized or just not really cold out and you need to throttle the burn down and smolder the fire. Also that is right where the smoke meets the cold air and the unburned combustion gases & moisture will condense. Best to build smaller, hotter fires to avoid that.

Good timing here. I have an update to the house fire in Rutherford that resulted in a fatality just before Thanksgiving. (If you just want the icing, skip straight to the last link...) Originally the South Bergenite, which is the primary local paper for all of lower Bergen County, delivered free to every household in its service area, published this story about the fire. Download Attachment: FaultyWiringBlamed.pdf 99.4 KB Having a bit more information on this then they did I found this a little irritating. So I found the article on their web site and wrote the following comment to the article. Download Attachment: Bergenite_Comment.pdf 189 KB So, maybe I struck a cord with someone, or maybe it was in the works anyway but the following follow up article was published on the front page this past week. It's not a clear and straight condemnation of FPE, but having the Fire Marshal's from several towns in the area all puting it in this perspective is a good thing. And the Rutherford Fire Marshal finally comes out and blames the panel for two recent fires in the town. Download Attachment: Fire_marshal_warning.pdf 101.74 KB

Pool chemicals (Chlorine) as well as hair salon chemicals are also likely culprits that may have been stored there at one time.

I found out today that Ms. Helen Meyers died of her injuries a few days ago. It's very sad, especially since it was so avoidable. With that unfortunate bit of information I did get a copy of the Twp. fire investigation report. It's fairly lame actually. Gives the cause of fire only as an unspecified short circuit arc. Due to the severity of the damage and loss of life the County Arson squad was called in to participate in the investigation and will have a separate report. Don't know if it will say anything more but I will get a copy of it within the next week.

Just an update: I am still working on getting into the home, the fire marshal says he has no problem bringing me in but we're being hung up by the insurance company... Of course. The official word is that it was a failure of an overloaded breaker in an FPE panel. I'm still waiting for the official report. The local paper of course wrote a totally lame article about this blaming the fire on "faulty wiring"... I'm still pushing on this but it may take a little more time.

Unfortunately at 89 years old, with 3rd degree burns, it remains to be seen if she continues to survive both the pain and the onslaught to her immune system. The cop that went in after her said it was a surreal scene, like she was was being protected by an angel, because she was surrounded by flame all around her but like she was standing inside of a protected sphere... Hopefully that angel will stay with her a while longer. My brother is going to talk to the fire marshal and is pretty sure he will take me in. Probably on Monday or Tuesday. I intend to get pictures if I can. I drove by today and took a look at the outside. Little round can for a meter socket, definitely an old service.

Last evening (Nov. 29th), in Rutherford NJ, an 89 year old woman was rescued from her burning house with 3rd degree burns to her lower extremities. Initial reports were that it was an electrical fire. Initial investigation looks to be an overloaded circuit and a breaker that did not trip. I'm told from sources within that it was an FPE panel. As this is my home town and my brother is on the fire dept there I am going to see if I can get a closer look at things and maybe a copy of the final report from the fire investigator. I'll follow up in a few days. The house, an older balloon framed colonial, apparently went up very quickly and was a total loss. Fortunatly no one died.

Thanks. I'm always forgetting about the library section. Didn't even think to look there.

Hey Mike, Good article. Always a hotly debated topic around my area. I was looking to see if there was a .pdf file I could download from their website but the link does not work. Thanks again, as always, for taking the time & energy to make this stuff available to the rest of us.

? Would not a cheap pair of polarized sun glassess do the same thing? Forgive my ignorance, in the NJ version of the IRC, Chapter: energy efficiency - Deleted.

Pressure oscillation test... Is that like the day after you ate too many burrito's? Around here if there is no antibackflow on the water main then it is open... I would guess if it is to determine a need for an expansion tank it would involve putting a shrader valve on the system somewhere and adding pressure to see if it backs down on it's own or not. Note: This is a completely half ass GUESS, and I should not be confused in any way with someone who is even remotely educated in this area.