Jim Katen

Actually, no. The copper products we use are alloys. Tubing and roofing are different alloys, I'm sure. However, this probably doesn't make much difference to your question. I pretty much agree with everyone else. The roof is exposed to all sorts of contaminants that the stuff inside and under the house never sees. - Jim Katen, Oregon

What guide where you reading? Every one I've seen requires a weather resistant barrier under the vinyl when used on new construction. Even perfectly installed vinyl allows lots of water entry. The cool thing about vinyl, though, is that it also allows that water to dry out rapidly. (Unlike EIFS.) Without a weather barrier, it'll make a mess though. - Jim Katen, Oregon

Sure. Just reach under the fireplace, take out the instructions and turn to the page where it says, "No smoke or soot should be present." Snap a picture of the page. - Jim Katen, Oregon

I can't imagine using my outdoor ladder for indoor tasks in a house I'm inspecting. Maybe it's due to our differing climates, but the feet of my outdoor ladder are in a constant state of repellant filth. If I were to bring that ladder indoor and place in on a white carpet, it would leave indelible marks and I'd be chased out of the house within minutes. How do you guys with LG & Telesteps ladders deal with this? Or do you not have mud in Austin? - Jim Katen, Oregon (As the Inuits have 20 words for "snow," Oregonians have roughly the same number for "mud.")

If you're talking about Firtex tiles, (light brown, fiberous tiles that come painted white on the "show" side and interlock with tongue & groove joints on all sides) I've never heard that they contain asbestos. Most that I see were stapled in place rather than stuck on with mastic (I know this cause some are usually falling off). However pre-1980s mastics were famous for having asbestos in them. Anyway, it's easy enough to have this stuff tested. For $25 your clients can find out for sure. - Jim Katen, Oregon

Like Mike said, it's not the water, it's the contaminants. Ancient theatre lighting systems used to use salt water dimmers. They consisted of cells of salt water into which some poor sot would insert an electrode. If the electrode was only partially submerged, the lights on the circuit would glow dimly. As the electrode was submerged further, the lights grew brighter. Without the salt, they wouldn't have worked at all. This system had one small drawback. As the electrodes sat in the water passing current, the water began to break down into its constituent parts, hydrogen and oxygen. After a time, they would sometimes ignite. The resulting unwanted conflagration tended to detract from the intended drama onstage and so salt water dimmers were abandoned. (Their replacements, resistance dimmers, were almost as bad. But I digress.) I've attached some pictures of an experiment that I played with tonight. The glass contains water from my kitchen tap. The wires are connected to a 30 amp breaker (all I had handy). The multi meter reads zero on the ampere scale and 120 on the volt scale. - Jim Katen, Oregon Download Attachment: Tapwater as Conductor Voltage.JPG 27.73 KB Download Attachment: Tapwater as Conductor Current.JPG 42.78 KB

While I'm sure you've quoted Douglas correctly, the actual NEC reference (at least in the '99 edition) uses the phrase, ". . . no continuous metallic paths bonded to the grounding system in both buildings. . . " Note that it specifies "metallic" and "bonded to the grounding system in both buildings." It seems to me that a PVC water pipe full of water satisfies neither of these criteria. Now, the big question is, did the '02 edition of the NEC change this wording to make the requirement more restrictive. I haven't got an '02 edition, anyone out there have one? [250-32(b)(2)] - Jim Katen, Oregon

If it had six inches clearance in front of it and if the closet ceiling was open to the attic and if the panel in front of it could be removed by taking out a few screws (no matter how inconvenient), then I'd say it was within the margins of an acceptable installation. Early '90s furnaces were generally listed for zero inches of clearance at the sides and rear and for six inches at the front. If the closet is truely open to the attic, that's almost certainly plenty of combustion air. As for the screwed-in-place plywood panel, we see access panels that are screwed in place all the time on whirlpool baths, sewage ejector pumps and, occasionally, water heaters. I don't consider that much of an impediment to access. That said, there's no reason you shouldn't recommend improving the access to this unit. In fact, I believe that's the sort of advice our clients hope we'll give them. Just don't step into a trap by saying that the existing installation is "wrong" because it probably isn't. I'd say something like this: Access to the furnace is difficult. It involves removing CDs, speaker wire and other debris. The disruption necessary to get to this furnace may make you less inclined to have it serviced regularly. 1. Improve access to the furnace. - Jim Katen, Oregon

Depends on the code. The IRC says that there must be a door or panel to allow repair or replacement of the pump. (P2720.1) There's no ready access for servicing or replacement of the whirlpool bath pump. Note that these pumps often require replacement every ten years or so. 1. Provide ready access to the whirlpool bath pump in the ??? bathroom. I'm sure he'll appreciate your thoroughness and candor. - Jim Katen, Oregon

I've built several of those over the years to drive large turntables. The largest was 40 feet in diameter and could move thousands of pounds. Did the carport have a turntable in the floor so that you could drive straight in, then turn the car so it was facing out when you were ready to leave? - Jim Katen, Oregon

On the other hand, if that's the worst stuff going on with a 22 year old unit, I'd say the thing was doing quite well. Hmm. I'm not sure about the 'positive pressure' part. Did they have units with positive pressure in the vent back then? I've certainly never seen one. Seems to me they all had negative pressure in that era. Sorry, Darren, you're wrong. Not all oil-fired units require a barometric damper. Certainly most of them from that time did, but not all. You've got to check the manual. - Jim Katen, Oregon

I'd like to echo everything that Kurt said and add this: Around here, there are just as many problems with hardcoat stucco as there are with EIFS. The problem with both is that the workers who install the stuff don't have the necessary knowledge to do the job properly. One of the most vexing aspects of the dilemma is that they think they know what they're doing. They are, in fact convinced that they are masters of the trade. My best advice to your cousin is to treat Pulte like an enemy in warfare. (And not a particularly honorable one at that.) He should visit the site and take pictures every day. He should hire his own inspector, not just for the stucco, but for the whole job. He should meet and make friends with the local municipal inspectors and make it clear to them that, on this house, he wants Pulte's feet held to the fire of the code till they squeal. I'll bet that the head builder's statement that they "have had no problems . . . for like 6-8 years (with "California stucco")" is a dirty lie and it should be pretty easy to prove. Let him think on that when he's tempted to get timid with them. - Jim Katen, Oregon

The roof performs better in almost every regard when the shakes are installed on skip sheathing. (Or 'spaced slats' as you call them.) That said, most modern shake roofs are ready for replacement after only 15 years anyway. Any difference between plywood and OSB in this application is academic. - Jim Katen, Oregon

I'm not sure why the above scenario wouldn't work, and I'd like a lesson. In my mind, the air from the forced draft rushing past the wye connection at the water heater would create a venturi effect, drawing either air (if the water heater is off ) or exhaust gas from the heater. The way I'm picturing the situation, it'd actually enhance draft at the water heater. The only way this wouldn't work, is if there was so much resistance down stream of the water heater that it was easier for the furnace exhaust to go backwards through the wye and out the draft hood at the water heater. Forced draft equiment has positive pressure in the flue. Natural and "induced draft" equipment have negative pressure in the flue. Dan's comments are correct. I'd only add that it's *best* to vent each appliance separately, even when code allows it to be done otherwise. They all work better that way. - Jim Katen, Oregon

Mark, Sorry for misunderstanding your original post, I'm afraid I answered a question that you didn't ask. It sounds from your description like the system is returning current to the transformer through the earth. As Douglas said, this will produce very unsatisfactory results. (Though out here in the sticks, I once saw a well pump powered with a single wire, using the earth as the return path. It worked, but I'll bet that the motor was not a happy camper.) However, I'll bet that if you look carefully at those factory-installed neutral terminal bars, you'll find a bonding screw somewhere. Seimens panels can be set up exactly the way you describe with a couple of accessory grounding terminal bars. They have a bonding screw at the upper right bar. - Jim Katen, Oregon

I'd say it's all of the above, but just barely. Here's my take on it: When the grounding and neutral conductors in a sub panel are connected to each other, the electricity has a choice of which way it gets back to the main panel. Some of it passes back through the neutral conductors; this is safe, since these wires are insulated and people are unlikely to touch them. Some of it, though, passes back to the main panel through the grounding conductors, energizing every grounded surface and object along the way. These may including the metal jackets of appliances, the outside of metal conduits and, sometimes even metal water pipes. In most cases where this happens, people don’t feel the electricity or get shocked because their bodies are not grounded well enough to entice the electricity to travel through them. However, if someone were to become exceptionally well grounded or, more dangerously, if a grounding conductor were to become disconnected, a great shock hazard would exist. Furthermore, since the returning current is split up among many different paths, the current on any one of them is imbalanced. This means that the magnetic field that it generates won't be fully cancelled out. In some circumstances, this field can get to be quite strong and will interfere with electronic equipment including TV or radio reception. Worse yet, if it's a conduit system, the conduit could heat up due to inductive reactance. In the real world, it rarely causes serious problems. But it's nice to know the whys and wherefores of the stuff we call out. And before anyone asks, regrounding the neutral beyond the main service has been prohibited by the NEC since 1923 according to Douglas. Though, I've heard rumors that the 1917 edition also had the provision. I'm not really certain, my oldest copy is from 1947 and it's clearly prohibited in that one. - Jim Katen, Oregon

Well as I see it, since the coil sizes, fan speeds and compressor speeds are constant, any change in outdoor temperature is going to affect the amount of heat that the refrigerant takes up in the outdoor coil. This change is reflected in the amount of heat that it releases at the indoor coil. Metering devices can help to even out the extremes, but their effect is limited. Some of the really fancy new systems have two stage compressors, variable speed fans outside and variable speed blowers inside. These super-efficient systems can come closer to the ideal you describe. Since I've only seen a handful of them, I really don't know to what extent they can overcome the effect of changing outdoor temperature. I've attached another discussion of using the temperature split to evaluate heat pump performance in the heating mode. It has a slightly different chart, but similar enough that either of them should be useful. I don't know about your prowess as an eating machine, but I was reading over on the "Midwestern Swingers Network Forum," that you're known as a "love machine." - Jim Katen, Oregon Download Attachment: HeatPumpHeating Mode.doc 51.66 KB

It depends on a lot of different factors. First of all, as George said, you’ve got to look at the change in temperature across the indoor coil, not just the output. Next, you have to understand that the expected temperature change will be different depending on the outdoor temperature. Also, if the filter or coil is dirty or if there are restrictions in the ductwork (supply or return) the differential will be artificially high. If you take all that into consideration, then check out the attached chart. I believe I stole it from Jay Walker. It's worked well for me. I'm not sure it'll work as well down near the equator where you live. What George said. Depending on the outdoor temperature and the ambient indoor temperature, 96 could be just fine. If the auxiliary heat light was on, it means that the stat was calling for auxiliary heat, not necessarily that it was actually firing. It also means that you probably had set it for more than two degrees above the indoor ambient temperature. (Doing this automatically brings on the auxiliary.) When you flipped it to "emergency" you told it to stop running the heat pump and only run the heat strips (I'm assuming that this had electric back up and not fossil fuel?). Depending on the stat, there could have been a built-in delay between modes. So you may have been watching the system just cooling down between modes. In general, you don't want to be switching modes while the unit is running. Give it a couple of minutes to rest between modes. Well, I can't speak for George, but really. . . is there a difference? Aren't we all just machines, sinew and blood, bile and breath? Is there not a little of the heat pump in us all? And if so, what is the measure by which we shall be judged? Our "temperature rise" as it were. - Jim Katen, Oregon Download Attachment: Heat Pump Splits.pdf 50.91 KB

Now, just stop right there. Are you suggesting that my sky blue, polyester leisure suit is inappropriate to wear while doing electrical inspections? I've never understood the value of those clunky Wiggy things. Why would I need one if I had a multimeter? Also, what's your recipe for a homemade wire gauge? - Jim Katen, Oregon

Analog UEI. I use it for electric furnaces/heat pump backup strips and on occasion for grounding wires a la Jerry Simon. - Jim Katen, Oregon

Wow! You're way nicer than me. I'd just grab her by the ears, smack her head on the counter and leave her unconscious in the corner till the inspection was over. - Jim Katen, Oregon

On my monitor it looks more like corrosion than burning. BTW, in response to your past findings, I've been clamping ground wires every now & then for the past year or so(has it been that long?) I almost never find anything though occasionally the strangest thing happens. My meter would show a small reading but it would come & go. After puzzling over it for a while I realized that it had to do with the physical orientation of the meter. Have you ever had that happen or should I just start shopping for another meter? - Jim Katen, Oregon

I remember a G-24 from ten years ago that could be flipped upside down, though I don’t think it could’ve gone sideways. With those, while the cabinet could flip, the heat exchanger couldn’t. So, if a tech wanted to do an upside down installation, he had to remove the heat exchanger and re-install it in the field. I recall that there was a label on the furnace explaining this. Do you suppose the new G-40s are the same? Sellers called the gas company whose tech came out with a Cosmo CO detector. He wrote them out a statement on a gas company service sheet that said, “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this furnace.â€

It debuted here about 12-15 years ago. It's now the siding of choice in new construction. Way more Hardiplank goes up than any other single product. I sided my house with it 12 years ago. It's doing fine. I still occasionally pick scraps out of the mud. After running them through my dishwasher they look fine. - Jim Katen, Oregon

I've already got one. My dad's c. 1960s Black & Decker drill with a fault to the case. If you want to feel a little current, it's just the ticket. On a related note, when I was a kid, my neighbors had a refrigerator with a live case. It gave a nasty bite every time you'd touch it. Being the thrifty New Englanders that they were, they solved the problem by installing a nice thick (used) throw rug right in front of the fridge door. It worked great, no more shocks. The interesting part though, was the family dog. He liked getting shocked. (In a kinky sort of way.) He'd lie on the floor to one side of the rug and reach his paws out to touch the fridge. Then he'd just lie there with his eyes rolled back inside his head. As kids, we thought it was hysterical. - Jim in Oregon