Rob Amaral

Today I had a goodie... 4 yr old condo unit, found the subpanel/load center behind a framed print (of course) and carefully removed the deadfront panel cover screws. No problem whatsoever. Made a few obs, then in process of replacing it, I had to line up the cover holes with the enclosure holes and in doing so, I touch the cover to the drywall screw that these folks hung the picture on. Pop! Ground fault... burned itself clear. No CB tripping. Stupid me didn't 'line up' the wood screw with the circuits exiting the top of the enclosure. Movement was just enough to complete the circuit. Deadfront screw I was installing welded itself to the cover and that was that... Of course, it's a CYA brou-ha-ha (who came up with that word anyways?) and I spend almost 20 mins 'putting the fire out' and thanks be to God, I digital-camera every step. Also, the owner's son is an electrician and we got him on the horn and all is A-OK. Moral: "Think" and either wear glasses (I do) or squint (I do that too) when removing OR replacing the deadfront panel screws. (Blunt end screws too...no wires in the way behind them). One of those 'teachable' moments..

Ok on the routine defrag, scan disk, etc. The geek told me that doing that in 'Safe Mode" is a good idea by the way. Anyway, since these 'repairs', ME has worked. I was about to have the engine totally pulled on this bomber. After having had numerous guys from India say in an Indian accent, "...ME is 'sheety' software.....unstable, man...".

Folks: My home PC (ME) was progressively getting more and more clogged with crap and freezing up. I thought I need to dump ME and get XP. I had a computer geek over here and he downloaded a 'spyware' detector (spybot) and found tons of crap in here that was eating this thing up. Since the 'first excorcism' and the subsequent ones, the ME is running like a top. Thanks to a local company called "Geekhousecalls.com"..

Erby: Thanks. I should have thought of the Thomas Register. I'll check it out. I spoke with a local sprinkler guy and he came up with some comments to the effect that ANY glycol-filled system, no matter how good or well-installed the fittings, eventually leaks. Anybody heard of that one? I'm thinking of anti-freeze in a car....Hmmmmmm. He also said that a bunch of cheap mechanical tees ended up in the US from the Middle East somehow... R

Folks: Anybody know of manufacturing problems with leaky 'mechanical tees' in 'wet' (glycol-filled) fire sprinkler systems? Name "National" was found on collar portion of the tee, FM-approved logo also found there. Any ideas? I'm getting stumped on "national" as far as Googling. Help would be appreciated.

I don't use them for AC split, mostly for simple distribution problems. I rely on my eyes for supply-return issues like Kurt mentioned. Be careful in these new shacks with cathedral ceilinged bathrooms, bedrooms. It can be tricky. But for your standard Cape, ranch or colonial or condo, a lot of this is not tricky. It's the 'contemporary' with funky open plans, lack of returns, supplies, that can get you in trouble. I guess the Raytek is really most useful in determining if a grille is a supply or a return. Like I said, a hell of a laser pointer and 'pretty useful' but not 'the end all' if you know what I mean.

I use a Raytek. Good to find if 'heat is getting there' or 'if cool air is coming out' types of things. Hell of a laser pointer as well. I carry analog thermometers for real measurements though...

I remind people to consider the following relative to K&T: -No 'equipment ground wire' present. ('less safe')(have boiler plate about what a ground fault is). -Rubberized cloth insulative jacket is surely starting to get brittle (find some examples, point them out in photos). -Meant to be 'free-standing in air (except where run through tubes...). Point out insulation packed around it... mention that some insulation installers actually will require it be removed prior to installing insulation. (some...not all). -Point that by this time (approximately 100 years) the building has probably had renovations over time which increase chances of ground faults to occur (pipes run in chases, wires fished through spaces, 'stuff' (K&T) in walls and ceilings have higher chance of having been moved out of original intended position. The chances for renovations over time to have damaged insulation is likely higher. -Mention that GFCI receptacles can be installed on K&T, but what if as soon as you do that and you energize the circuit, the GFCI trips? Now you have to find the GF... -Some insurers will not insure a property that has knob and tube wiring. Yep....since 9-11. I also mention the thicker gauge wire, etc. It all leads to considering 'pro-active replacement' in general. I also tell them that others may disagree. I find that in most basements (like the one yesterday in a circa 1840 home) I can find at least one or two defects (in yesterday's case, I found a 'hot' K&T conductor fallen off of its knob, a severed, unterminated, live K&T conductor, K&T running against/on metal pipes and boxes and worn-away insulative jacket with exposed conductor. Rarely do I find a 'pristine' condition installation though in some uninsulated attics, I have found some installations that looked almost as good as the day it was installed (but I didn't 'flex' the jackets...). I have an antique book called "Electrical Railways" that shows how these installations were supposed to be installed at that time. They make good points about proximity to metal, free-standing in air, etc. In the infancy of the electrical distribution system, there were many ground-fault-related fires out there... Now with 'equipment grounds', 'bonding', GFCI, AFCI, the risk of fires due to ground faults and arcing is less. "Less is more" (safe..).