John Dirks Jr

Your photo on the INTERNET? That can be scary if you think about it too much. My photo..photoshop...yikes!!!! Cameras everwhere in public...double yikes!!!!....lions and tigers and bears...oh my...

I would be glad to explain. Last week I was at a house that was set up like I explained above. This gas line I described was very rusty. Not just surface rust but deeply pitting and flaking away. This job was one of these walk and talk things with no written report. I pointed it out to the owner and yada yada...bla bla bla. A few days later I was just randomly flipping through my Code Check book. In the "gas piping" section I saw this; Plastic pipe only outdoors and underground 03 IRC [2414.6] Maybe I have mistaken what this means. Does it mean that plastic piping must be used outdoors, or does it mean that plastic piping can only be used outdoors? It is a matter of me interpreting this specific code statement I suppose. However, it is not due to a complete and total lack of knowledge on the matter. I had seen the rusted piping prior, and then this listing in the Code Check book about plastic piping. So perhaps I mis-understood the code language? I was thinking that the outdoor run should be plastic so as to prevent the rust based on my interpretation of [2414.6]. I have not done any searching on this forum about this matter.

Picture this; Consider you have a house that uses natural gas to fuel its furnace. The gas meter is on the outside at the front corner of the property. The furnace is in the utility room at the rear corner on the same side of the property. After the meter there is a black steel gas supply line that travels along the outside wall of the house for about 20 feet before it turns in through the wall to the furnace. What is wrong with this picture?

So you can see nail heads between the tabs without having to lift the row above?

[?][?]John, they're not exposed. And neither are the main lugs, once the cover is on... I thought about that before posting Neal. BTW, where is the cover in the picture? How can you say there is no exposure when you can't see if the knockouts in the cover are done correctly for this setup. I still think there is something not right about the busbars being exposed, cover or not. Another thing, I don't remember seeing so many branch wires exiting a panel in one location like they do in that photo. Can someone explain that?

Ahhh...uncut shingles. Don't also take these same uncut shingles and cut them down into smaller pieces to use as caps?

When I visited the WTC site it was amazing to look up at all the tall buildings around the void. Those building are so tall. Then to imagine that the towers were twice as tall as anything else around them. It was hard to imagine. Even more moving than looking into the void was walking up to the fence, turning and looking back at the faces of all the other people that were there. I have never seen so many faces with stunning looks of disbelief in one place. I probably never will again.

I was wondering what you meant by racking method. I looked at the picture to see if I could figure it out and I think I got it. Is it because every other row is flipped the other way? I see the lack of exposed tabs every other row. Flawed or not, What is the philosophy behind installing them this way?

Is it ok for the unused portions of those busbars to be exposed like they are? I see a white hot that looks like it may not be marked. Make that a few unmarked white hots

My family and I visited NYC in 2004. There is a fence around the WTC site. I found this on one of the poles. Somebody tore matches out of a book to make this. I just thought I would share this in remembrance of September 11 2001. Image Insert: 82.61 KB

It had to be a fault of the dishwasher. Dont tell me every time there is a power outage while someones dishwasher is in mid cycle they get their floor ruined by leaks. I aint buyin it.

I think that if water leaked from the bottom of the dishwasher it is a fault with the equipment, not the last person who ran it. If it leaked while sitting, wouldn't it leak during operation? It probably did leak during operation. Just took a while to seep out to where it could be seen.

Thanks for the info everyone. So its not a matter of identifying the style of the lug. It has only to do with whether the manufacturer lists the breaker as being able to accept 2 wires. Is this correct?

I found my first double tapped breaker lug. I know there is debate over where double tapping is acceptable. Most of the breaker lugs on this Cutler Hammer panel had the square flat washers with notches on both sides of the screw. This indicates that they can accept two wires, correct? The double tapped 20A GFI you see pictured had a different lug. It was more of an encasement type lug where the screw comes down on top of the wires. It looks like the lugs you see on neutral/grounding busbars. The panel listed this breaker as serving the master bathroom. Interestingly enough there was two dead outlets in the master bathroom. I did my best to try and describe the different types of lugs. If someone can provide a better way of identifying or describing styles of lugs, please do. Any opinions on this particular double tap? Sorry about the poor quality photo. I forgot to set the cam on closeup. Image Insert: 142.24 KB

Thanks Darren, these fixtures were hung by one wire that was off center so removing the tile would cause the fuxture to swing lop sided. So they were at least partially being supported by the tile.

What is the proper way to secure fixtures in drop ceilings? In a basement bathroom I found an exhaust fan and a fairly big pot light fixture that were very loose when I reached up to touch them. I lifted an adjacent panel to have a peek up there and they were suspended by a single thin steel wire. This method didn't look right to me. Whats the best way to do it? Any codes regarding this issue?

For the sake of conversation, what if they were too close to each other and both facing down, besides the potential to draw products of combustion back into the intake, what are other implications? I havn't heard the term freezing yet. What do you mean by that?

Shouldn't this exhaust/intake be facing opposite directions of each other? They are about 18 inches away from each other. Also, that gas line you see in the pic was really rusty and the meter was outside on the wall right at the end of the driveway. Nothing to protect the meter from damage by a vehicle. The AC unit in the picture had a core that was so dirty you could not even see the finns. I could have wrote a book on this place. Rotting fascia covered with aluminum. You know the story. Image Insert: 189.59 KB

Sorry about the confusion. I said SE cable since it was that size that is typically used for that. It was 4/0 aluminum feeder then. Sub(not a main, sorry again) on the other wall with 125a breaker feeding the junction box in the picture. Yes it was powering multiple units. I was mainly concerned about the splices and the lack of a separate breaker for each feed. For instance. That was #4 or #3 at best copper wire(the smaller wire in the photo). The only breaker up line from this point is a 125a which is too large for #3 or 4 copper. So yes, this picture shows this box being used as a junction for splices between a single 4/0 al and the two smaller feeds. Now, shouldnt this junction be converted to a sub with a correct size breaker for each of the smaller feeds? This box was mounted directly on the air handler in the utility room. There was another air handler in a crawl at the other end of the property. See the blue collar in the box where the wires go in? That is a conduit that passes directly through the center of the air handler. This job was a short version walk through. One hour of verbal information was the only intent. I spent too much time on the exterior since it was in bad shape. My time was already exhausted by the time I got to this area so I did not go to any extent to trace exactly where every wire went. I just thought this setup didnt look quite right. I know I am stumbling, I admit it. You can bet I will get back up run every time. Thanks for correcting me, or at least attempting to.

The house had a major addition put on in 91 where additional HVAC equipment was added. I found this was done to wire it up. First of all there was a second SE cable and I am not sure where it came from. It went into a main shut off panel with a 125A breaker that was being used as a sub panel for the added HVAC. SE cable came back out of this shut off and went across the room overhead to a second main shut off panel that was being used as a junction box to splice the SE cable to the feed line for the added HVAC. That wiring went into conduit into the air handler. I suppose it traveled through duct work to the other unit. You can see in the picture the cover I am holding up. There was no breaker in this panel so the hole was open. You can see the SE spliced to the feed and wrapped with electrical tape. That smaller feed wire is being protected by a 125A breaker which is too big for that wire, not to mention the splices. All messed up.... Image Insert: 131.74 KB

How do you like this TPR extension? It changes from copper to plastic then turns uphill and discharges in the corner ceiling above the washer and dryer. The water heater is about 10' away down the wall. Nice huh? Image Insert: 138 KB

On a job yesterday I found this supply line under one of the bathroom sinks. The house originally had PB throughout. The customer said it all had been replaced. All of the other lines I could see were CPVC that changed to braided steel before attaching to fixtures. I didnt know that PB came in this size. It is about 7/16" dia. Just to be sure before I finalize my comment to them, Is this PB? Image Insert: 125.78 KB

Take a close look at the foundation too and check for movement in the structure. Stucco doesn't handle movement very well. It may have been cracking up due to movement. Wood siding would be more forgiving to the movement so maybe it was put up cover the inevitable cracking of the stucco that would continue as a result of movement.

They started changing over in the early 60's. My house was built in 62 and was done as a grounded 3 prong system.

Brian, In your area I bet the cost of living is measurably cheaper that in many other areas of the country. Put that together with the fact that we are in the midst of the massive baby boomer retirement. Many of these people failed to save enough for retirement and need to find places where the cost of living is cheaper. This benefits areas like yours I bet. Having said that, how about we all move down to your neck of the woods and start marketing?[:-idea]