Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm

[cduphily]

The gentleman that owns this particular clusterf... errr home also owns a well respected "handyman service" company.

[Michael R. Boyett]

Yikes! "Well respected"? Why? Because he's cheap? You get what you pay for don't you?

This photo is from today's inspection. The completely deteriorated overhead service to the detached garage/utility room was less than 6' above the pathway below and had bare wires showing. When I first saw it I thought, great, someone just left the abandoned wiring in place when they installed a new drop somewhere else. Nope, this was it. When I put my voltage ticker near the wires it sounded off clearly. I moved it over to the gutter and got more indication of voltage. Needless to say I didn't touch the wires or gutters and called for a sparky to look at this immediately!

[cduphily]

Deal killer!!!!!!

Some things/people will never cease to amaze me.

[Greg Fretwell]

I didn't get what #1 was trying to say. The service problem in #2 was pretty obvious

[Bob Elliott]

Same here as I do not know where the voltage reading was coming from.
Finger is pointing to a standard junction box.

[David P. Valley]

Originally Posted by Greg Fretwell

I didn't get what #1 was trying to say. The service problem in #2 was pretty obvious

Thank you Greg.

I thought I was the only one who was scratching my head...

[phinsperger]

I think the red lead is in contact with the water pipe on the left. The black lead is contact with the junction box. Hard to hold two leads and take a photo at the same time.

[Michael Larson]

Paul, that's what I see as well.

Perhaps Chris will return to shed some more light on his concerns.

Greg, what "obvious" issue are you seeing for photo # 2?
I must be missing something this early A.M.

[David P. Valley]

Originally Posted by mlarson

Paul, that's what I see as well.

Perhaps Chris will return to shed some more light on his concerns.

Greg, what "obvious" issue are you seeing for photo # 2?
I must be missing something this early A.M.

He's referring to Michael's post #2, Not Pic #2

[Michael Larson]

Originally Posted by dvalley

He's referring to Michael's post #2, Not Pic #2

I get it.
Communication is an art.

[cduphily]

Originally Posted by phinsperger

I think the red lead is in contact with the water pipe on the left. The black lead is contact with the junction box. Hard to hold two leads and take a photo at the same time.

Paul is correct - junction box was live.

having a second inspector on the job makes it easier to hold the leads and get a good photo

[Bruce M. Graham]

So how much of a shock did you get to bring the meter out or do you use a NACHI Voltage Ticker

[Greg Fretwell]

Live or one is simply floating (not bonded). Either way it is bad. Although digital meters are probably not the best thing to use for testing things like that. If you are really looking for low impedance grounding paths your Suretest and a ground test agapter is a whole lot better. It will not only let you know which one is bad but it will also find a high impedance ground path that might not be capable of operating the branch circuit over current device in a fault condition.

[tdietrich1]

Let me guess about these photos...

In #2, there was shoddy looking work (no staples 12" of the junction box) resulting in the inspector checking for 'hot boxes' with a voltage detector. A positive result cause an anal inspector to pull out a voltage meter to rule out induced/"implied" voltage (as indicated with photo #1).

tom

[cduphily]

Originally Posted by bgraham

So how much of a shock did you get to bring the meter out or do you use a NACHI Voltage Ticker

Actually, the second inspector found this particular issue with his ticker (not the official NACHI ticker)