I just did my first fee paid inspection today. I was hoping you more learned inspectors could give me a hand with these three items. 1) When I pulled off the cover off of this water “meter” I saw these wires, they don’t appear to have anything to do with the grounding. What are they? 2)The other pictures seem to be the result of a small fire (but from the copper water pipe!?) The water “meter” wiring was on the other side of this. 3) Also, Is it proper for the garage door opener to be wired with extension cords?
Absolutely not on the garage door opener. The opener mechanism is engineered to operate on a three wire system and the extension cords are two wires. The opener is not properly grounded.
It may work O.K. for a while, even a long while, but one day the owner will have to explain to the fire department…
Hi Greg,
The “…small fire” that you mentioned on the copper pipes is probably from soldering the pipes with a torch, and not using any kind of heat shield
to protect the wood.
Thats my 2 cents worth, as I’ve soldered several hundred copper pipe joints in the last 15 years, and have since learned to back the couplings with a heat shield to prevent burning down the house, before the solder will run into the joints.
Nice photos by the way…What megapixel camera are you using ?
I do not think That is the water meter, I think you have found the garden ,lawn sprinkler system they are usually a Plastic Green box near the garden . This is usually 24 volts and is not part of a Home Inspection .
Garage door as told is incorrect . Should have its own receptacle for door only.
Glad for you and you have come to the correct place for questions read these posts there is more information then you can absorb here in the next 6 months . Come back often and ask ask ask .
Roy Cooke … Royshomeinspection.com
That is not the water meter. It is an irrigation system. Typically only irrigation guys do this work. I know of no electricians who get involved with this wiring.
It is ALL low voltage as far as I can see here and all I have ever seen in these boxes.
See the multi-conductor cable entering the box in the lower right of pic one and lower center of pic two.
What Steve said. That was unprofessional pipe sweating. Not a fire.
No. There should have been a proper grounded receptacle installed in the garage ceiling.
Thank you all very much for answering my questions!! I have become a big fan of this message board. It seems like a great place to learn a lot of things.
What Jay, Steve, Roy, Peter Parker, and Dale said.
Also, if you do find wires at the water meter, it likely is an electronic meter reading system. It does away with yet one more job, that of the water meter reader.
