IR saved my fingers

[kweiss]

Smelled something hot in the pool equipment /AC compressor area. IR located it and saved my fingers a possible burn. Also might have saved the bank owner a burned down house when you consider this thing was powered by a FP breaker box that was not in the best shape and had a few hot wires of its own - amoung other things.

[David A. Andersen]

Time for a new pump!

I have found with this thermal pattern that the motor windings have become burnt, allowing the windings to short out against themselves and become shorter, increasing amperage and heat.

[Barry Adair]

Kevin,
Nice find and images, realtor's lovin' you!

Everyone,
Just in case you weren't already aware NEVER touch energized rotating equipment! Some parts will be hot enough to burn even in ideal circumstances.

[kweiss]

The pump was actually seized up. I was not even doing a pool inspection, just noticed it.

The client actually told me when we first arrived that "my Realtor is terrible." So I don't think her opinion really matters very much.

This was the same house as the next post with the termites. These two issues are probably the least of the worries. Consider that I did not inspect the pool, for termites, the client already had a structural engineer coming because of the obvious structural defects (the chimney way falling away from the house about a foot at the top and there were cracks you could put your hand through,) and that the gas and water were not turned on - so they were obviously disclaimed and some things were not inspected. And my report was still 54 pages long and I was there for 5 hours.

[David A. Andersen]

Wow! Did they buy the thing (can't call it a house can we)?

[kweiss]

I'll let you know. Surprisingly it was not completely trashed. My biggest concern was actually the moisture issues and potential mold. Just a poor house that started out nice and got neglected.

The structural engineer seemed to think that repair and possibly rebuilding the chimney and some new concrete work in the back would take care of the foundation issues.

My client seemed to be pretty astute. While we did not get into price specifics, he indicated he had plenty of room in the offer price compared to the neighborhood comps to do significant rehab. I hope it works out for him, did my best to inform him of what I found and advise him to seek appropriate expert input on costs.

[David A. Andersen]

Sounds like you did your job! Good job!
It's not your choice, is it? Give them the info they need and they can make the numbers work later.

[kweiss]

Exactly.