Kyle Kubs

240v only with no grounded conductor is extremely common in commercial/industrial work. But then again, your not likely to have Gommer buy the property in five years and start playing electrician. The induction heating thing is what you guys should have picked up on right away. Saw this at a house I inspected recently for a kid, and I mean still dripping wet, kid, that was a little too boisterous about being an engineer. Asked him what kind and he said electrical. So I pointed to this in the basement Click to Enlarge 60.75 KB and waited without saying anything to see what his response would be. He got a bewildered look on his face until I asked "so where do you think the other conductor of that K&T circuit is about now?" - He didn't know what Knob & Tube wiring was... What the hell do they teach in electrical school these days?

"Some sections of pipe were put in backward, and as a result it allowed the hot gases in the chimney to escape all around the joints," he explained. "Also, the clearances appeared to not be far enough, and the wall of the house behind the chimney was wood, versus drywall or brick. That's going to allow the hot gases to come out, in the attic space, and they'll collect and heat up until it heats up the wall (and ignites)." Makes no sense. As usual, I suspect the press got it wrong. -Jim Katen, Oregon Yah, as usual, they're a little short on detail. The reversed joints in the pipe and clearances are obvious signs of amateur work, but hot gases collecting in the attic? Just another report on something that the reporter doesn't understand and won't take the time to research.

Sad story. Even worse, preventable. http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles ... 883248.txt

Cost to buy them is over 3K but I lease mine for $165/month and that includes the lab certification of all the readings. Also, when they need to be recalibrated (required every year) I just trade it in for one that's done and don't pay anything for calibration. No very often, but once in a while, I have somebody tell me while I'm setting up the monitor, that my using not only a CRM but the Femto-Tech specifically, was a deciding factor in choosing me over another inspector.

Not necessarily. As long as it's connected to each pole, it'll work. It doesn't matter which breaker it is. It doesn't matter. It'll still work. It's supposed to be installed on the outside of the box, though. Personally, I prefer the kind that are built into circuit breakers. They're much neater. - JIm Katen, Oregon Man o man, you weren't even logged on when I started typing... My wife distracted me. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it. [:-weepn]

Hey Kevin, Doesn't matter which breaker you connect it to as that is just the way it makes it's ultimate connection to the main bus. The electrician likely chose that breaker as the terminal for it will handle the extra wire (double tap) just like it was another strand in the wire that was already attached to it. It's not a terminal screw on that 40 amp breaker, it's more like a lug, it's meant to handle multistrand wire. Even though it is a split bus, the two sides are connected to each other and if it is going to take a hit, it would likely be on the mains side anyway. On installations I've done in the past where there was plenty of room in the new panel I would wire the surge arrestor to it's own breaker only to have the code inspector come and say "why'd you waste breaker space, you could have just double tapped it to another circuit" Basically, double tapping these, as well as low voltage transformers, is a very accepted practice. I've never wasted my time griping about them. In short, the only thing I would even mention about that installation would be about the device sitting loose inside the panel, it should be installed through a knockout with the bulk of the device on the outside of the panel.

John, You should try the Femto-Tech monitors. They run on one internal battery pack for more than a year. Never have to charge anything or plug anything in, ever, and they are far, far better than the Sun Nuclear's. They take a reading every hour and have a much higher sensitivity.

Bill, as usual you are correct. Using that name I did a search and off course came up with Larry Weingarten's web site where he has one displayed from his personal collection, complete with the burner this one is missing. http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/ ... -tank.html

It's cast. Pretty heavy too.

This was in the attic of the house I looked at today. I'm pretty sure it is a really old water heater, one of those point of use things from way, way, way back. Couldn't find a name on it anywhere. Looks like one of the holes in the top was a flu or at least a place for the exhaust to come out and there is a hole in the bottom of the casting that looks like a burner of some sort used to come through. Gonna have to look through Mr. Weingarten's DVD now and see if he has a working model. Seeing stuff like this is what I love about this job. Download Attachment: DSCN9443.JPG 622.99 KB Download Attachment: DSCN9444.JPG 643.56 KB

That was my first thought.

Oh come on Brandon, it's obviously some type of semi- rigid rubbery plastic gas line material [^]. Ok, so I have no friggin idea. But that sure is one interesting electrical assembly next to it... I really like the little liquidtite nipple and the lamp holder is an especially nice touch.

Just in case there is still a little doubt running through your mind. It is part of the telephone system, or was. Though I was always under the impression it was some sort of filter, to clean up the signal. Definitely not a transformer.

Exactly what I needed. Thanks.

So you know how far it is to the top of the tank when you stick the tank to see how much oil you have.

I'm helping out a friend, overseeing some work she is having done and the guy putting in the drainage systems is going to run all the gutter drains underground to a public storm drain. The house has a really large roof area and he asked me if I know of a calculation to figure the appropriate pipe size to handle the volume of water that will come off it. I told him, I didn't, but I know where to pose the question with a high probability of getting a good answer. Any takers?

I was talking specifically about a corner of Randolph Twp. but Flanders is right next door... Lots of Aluminum wiring all through this area.

There's an area here that was developed back in the 60's that used Transite for the under slab forced air ducting [:-bigeyes That one I called. Of course the homeowner threw a fit. I suggested my client have the house tested for Asbestos contamination and the ducts scoped to see if they were lined with anything or damaged, and to think about getting them sealed or lined. They weren't lined at all but there was no contamination from samples around the house.

Judy, Essentially, what your being told here is, if you car is a defective type that you just found out could up and explode at any time, for no reason at all, you don't put new tires on it. You get rid of the dam thing. I suggest you follow this link and do some reading. Maybe, pay specific attention to the news stories posted by me concerning fires in North Jersey caused by these electrical panels. https://www.inspectorsjournal.com/forum ... IC_ID=6632

I split firewood all the time that has holes/tunnels just like those all through it. I usually find the beetle larvae at some point also, about 1/2" thick & 3" long. They look a lot like the one Mike named. (I had to google it too) The holes from these things are in the lumber before the tree even gets cut down most of the time. I'm certain none the stuff I split for firewood has ever been in the water.

Todays house, a Cape Cod, was oriented east west so the front surface of the roof gets sun all day long. The front slope is free of fungi and the back is all covered with a dark gray algae but no moss. The difference in the conditions of the shingles was dramatic. On the front slope where the sun kills any alga spore, the roof is showing its age but the tab slots were consistent in width, the shingles lay flat and they actually look pretty good although it's definitely time to replace them. On the back slope, the shingles are literally shriveling up. the protective granule coating is sloughing off and the shingles are covered with random cracks. The only difference front to back is the alga. The difference is so dramatic that the realtor thought I must be mistaken and began talking about how they'd have to see what an FHA appraiser says. I told him that they do not need to see what the FHA appraiser says because I'd just told him what the condition of the cover was - there isn't any if, ands or buts about it, the roof is completely shot and should have been replaced years ago. The client "got" it. But it's just a little bit of algae!! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Now given, again, that the algae your seeing may be a completely different animal then what I typically see it almost sounds like the algae may be just one more symptom of those harsher conditions and not the cause. I see the same thing, I'm sure we all do, where one side gets the sun, the other side doesn't and they age very differently. I see roof's all the time that are not bad on one side and shot on the other but the shot side doesn't necessarily have algae staining on it. If it did, again, I would add that to the list of symptoms caused by the exposure difference, not the cause of the severe difference in aging. Now, for clarity, and I may just be interpreting what your saying differently, it sounds like what your talking about has some, physical dimension to it, almost like something you could scrape off a little and show it to someone in your hand? Here, I would call that mildew. What I'm talking about with algae staining is literally, just that, a stain, nothing I could possibly physically separate from the shingle.

This is the original setup from back in the early fifities. The inside is a series of old, original fuse panels. Yes the whole thing is a train wreck, I was just wondering about the item on the gutter.

Anyone ever seen an "insulator" like this before? Talking about the black thing clipped onto the gutter edge. I'm wondering if this is a listed product or just some thing someone put on figuring it would probably work. The SEC is an old Loomex cable that has seen far better days to it should get addressed when this is changed but I hate seeing something that I don't know what it is. Click to Enlarge 82.76 KB Click to Enlarge 26.2 KB

Comp or wood shingle? Here I see that happening with shakes and wood shingle but not with comp. Here, it seems to work for 3 -4 feet and then peters out on a comp roof but will keep the roof clear to the eaves on shakes and wood shingles. I think it's got to do with absorbency; the wood cover absorbs the stuff leaching off the copper or zinc but the comp doesn't - at least not what I've been seeing here. I suppose there can be different varieties of mosses and alga that are adapted to various regions that react differently. If there are, I can't imagine what it takes for a roofing manufacturer to reach an acceptable balance. Still convinced the stuff does damage roof covers. Bill, for the record, I hate roof cleaning companies. If I were King of the Planet, the state would issue home inspectors seasonal hunting licenses and allow them to thin out the roof cleaner herd once a year. Every inspector would have a 2-kill limit. Inspectors would be lauded as heroes for doing a service to humanity. [:-devil] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Sorry, should have been more specific. - My neighbors roof is Asphalt Comp. I've seen it on several others also. I've been wanting to take a picture of my neighbor's roof but I don't know him, he might not take well to me pointing a camera at the back of his house from the the woods in back of mine... Thinking about it, the pic. I posted was pulled from Dan Freidmens web site, I don't even know where it was taken. In regards to that and the Algae causing damage, I'm sure this is an instance where regional factors could easily have a dramatic effect... We have pretty harsh Winters compared to you. Our full year cycle can see temperatures from 115 degrees to -20. We don't have things like your wood destroying fungus' either. Hell you have volcanic gases roaming around your area and coming down in the rain, that alone could account for a hell of a lot of things, including the lime being eaten away from the granule. Out here, that algae is nothing but a stain.

I believe in any case where the lugs do allow 2 conductors, they still have to be the same size, no? You quite obviously have 2 different size conductors There, so it doesn't matter what the lugs are listed for, and as Jim said, doubtful they are listed for two wires anyway in that panel. Typically anything that will allow two wires that are not of the same gauge will in some way resemble a split bolt, having two separated chambers that will adjust in size independently of the other.