Electricians find dangerous wiring left by unlicensed cheap fixes
13 posts across 6 communities in the last 60 days; 54% from r/electricians.
“A little story, so like I said in the title we were called for an arcing sound behind a GFCI in a master bathroom. We took the box off and we could find anything but we smelled a strong burning smell and a lot of smoke. We decided to turn all the breakers on the panel and the…”
“Legitimately have no idea how we’re supposed to implement this change. Obviously change the disconnect but like my supply house hasn’t shown that they have anything of these sorts of things. Anyone have a product I can visually see so I can ask around locally about it? Are these…”
“FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a a huge fire danger. Aluminium wiring is bad too. The biggest issue is the increase in insurance premiums from both of these.”
Electricians are grappling with code compliance (disconnect clearance), safety concerns (faulty wiring, fire hazards), and the need for ongoing training and licensing. There's a sense of frustration around outdated practices and evolving regulations.
SOURCES (25)
“A little story, so like I said in the title we were called for an arcing sound behind a GFCI in a master bathroom. We took the box off and we could find anything but we smelled a strong burning smell and a lot of…”
“Family member just sent this to me. I’ve had a capacitor explode before, but it didn’t create a fire! They are starting to field quotes now. I don’t believe any work has been done in this area in a long time. My first thought was something started arcing, but I’m a novice with this stuff. submitted by /u/RandomUsername-82 [link] [comments]”
“Kitchen sink sockets with no GFCI. Hoses going under are connected to sink and dishwasher. Is this worth contacting the landlord? submitted by /u/Long-Preparation2267 [link] [comments]”
“Legitimately have no idea how we’re supposed to implement this change. Obviously change the disconnect but like my supply house hasn’t shown that they have anything of these sorts of things. Anyone have a product I can visually see so I can ask around locally about it? Are these just for the outlets that were supposed to have within 5ft of our Units ( I know laughable right) I really don’t know and am just trying to stay educated a bit. submitted by /u/OhioIsRed [link] [comment”
“Got a customer whose house took a lightning hit, or a close one, hard to say. Multiple appliances are dead and he says some of the GFCIs are visibly burned up. He wants me to go through the outlets and GFCI breakers. The charred stuff is easy, it gets replaced. What I'm more interested in is the stuff that still works but shouldn't be trusted. Also, this is an obvious surge arrestor install. From what I can tell they work pretty well. UPDATE: I added some pics. Yes that trench was not do”
“Found this glass fuse breaker panel as is no cover. Behind a kitchen cabinet in a house I'm flipping. I set this Pic to the previous owner and said some deity loves you. It only gets worse the more you look at it. Yes its Live. Whomever did this needs a pipe bender hard reboot. An yes I'm home running every circuit from the 1st receptacle or switch back to the main breaker panel. submitted by /u/Doc_Hoss18D [link] [comments]”
“Replaced this spicy boy today. Home owner was trying to do his own basement remodel, and melted his gfci outlet in the third floor master bathroom. submitted by /u/supermassblackhole [link] [comments]”
“He claimed the outlets were making his circular saw act weird. So I drove over to figure out more. When I got there he showed me how plugging it into some outlets made it work faster, and in others it would slow down. Tested the outlets and half were 160v and the others were 80v. Pretty weird how consistent it was too. 240 on the range but sure enough single phase was 160/80v to ground. At that point I opened the panel and checked the breaker, same. Then the feeder conductors. 240/(160/80)v. Ver”
“The insulation is below modern stardards. There is no ground. The wire becomes brittle near lights that had incandescent light bulbs. The junctions are open air. I've replaced it in many homes.”
“FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a a huge fire danger. Aluminium wiring is bad too. The biggest issue is the increase in insurance premiums from both of these.”
“The outlet itself isn’t GFCI because it’s looped off another one in my kitchen. Code here allows for it to be down circuit of a GFCI as far as I know. And I did test/reset the GFCI outlet it’s ran off of. It is working as intended. But to an answer your question, yes. I have a surge protector plugged into that outlet which has power and my dishwasher is also plugged into it and is currently running.”
“Hey all! Journeyman electrician here. Dealt with probably the oddest thing ive seen today. A 277v lighting curcuit in a school. Lights werent turning on in a classroom (luckily still summer vacation), so I shut the normal circuit off so I could look into it. The moment I did that, the contactor (an emergency transfer) the circuit is on started rapidly opening and closing and the lights were flickering. I tested voltage and as youd expect with rapid opening and closing, the voltage was all over t”
“So had a call for a dishwasher missing a breaker....it was actually just tripped. However I noticed this gem when I removed the panel cover. I can't count how many times I've saved this apt complex from burning down. submitted by /u/Tilley881 [link] [comments]”
“My buddy just bought his first house and I recommend to him to change the steel grounding clamp with a copper or brass one before it corroded the copper even more and lead to a pinhole or worse. They had a company come in put a new clamp on that looks either steel or galv and left the old one on and said it was fine. Any thoughts? submitted by /u/ramzathesquire [link] [comments]”
“Our kitchen outlet fried our coffee maker this morning. Is there anyway to know if it was the outlet’s fault or the appliance’s fault? Really scared me because it could’ve started a fire. Thankfully it didn’t and we are all safe but kind of freaked out. Any advice? submitted by /u/Mysterious-Fish-4239 [link] [comments]”
“Removed this years ago. It was on a 2 pole 60 amp breaker, one 12/2 for each pole. The post with a GFCI wired with multiple small wires reminded me of this. Edit: I'm ashamed by these terrible out of focus pictures... submitted by /u/zachell1991 [link] [comments]”
“Residential household, issue where on one circuit, some (not all) receptacles and lights suddenly stopped working. Plug tester says the hot and ground was reversed somewhere. Multimeter says floating neutral somewhere. I stick the tester into this receptacle and suddenly the power comes back on, going back out upon removal, reporting correct wiring. Low and behold, the laziest work I've ever witnessed. Had a look at some other receptacles, THEY ARE ALL WIRED LIKE THIS. The only thing this el”
“Got shocked brushing my hand up against a rollout switch yesterday. It was super weird so I got my meter and was reading 115v!! It took me a minute to figure out why and I finally found this. Whoever tf did this needs a beat down. This ridiculous bs is going to kill somebody or burn a house down. For context, the black and yellow wires are for the fan and the blue and brown are the low voltage wires. You see the issue? I was extremely upset when I found this. submitted by /u/Crafty-G”
“Spent the better half of an hour wiring and organizing this 3 way in a bathroom since everyone seems to be questioning the code compliance NEC Article 334.30 dictates that Nonmetallic-Sheathed Cable (Romex) must be securely fastened and supported at intervals not exceeding 4.5 feet and within 12 inches of every box, cabinet, or fitting. Cables must be supported by approved staples, cable ties, or straps that do not damage the cable. submitted by /u/No_Sound1992 [link] [comments”
“C/S they were getting shocked by their kitchen sink. Turns out the fridge plug on some old 2 wire Romex was also feeding the GFCI in the bathroom. Some mouth breathing knuckle dragger decided to tie the ground to the neutral in the fridge box, which tricked the tester. Ended up abandoning the old 2 wire and ran new circuits to the fridge and bathroom. submitted by /u/commander_wombat [link] [comments]”
“If you think it’s there solely for heat produced by lightbulbs, I have nothing for you. It’s fire rated insulation that covers the exposed holes into a stud bay so it takes longer to spread and destroy the entire building. It’s not there for the lightbulbs unless they magically catch on fire. It’s there for fire safety. The lightbulbs you used don’t fucking matter.”
“Hey all, 2 year apprentice here and I’ve got plenty of tips and tricks to pick up still, but I’ve gotten so pissed off at this style of fixture that I need any kind of help in this situation specifically. Since I started I have ALWAYS hated those flush mount ceiling fixtures with the insulation on the back and you have to somehow weave your mounting screws through that insulation into tiny little holes in the fixtures so you can get your thumb screws on them and mount the fixture. Well, today I”
“Photos are from my best friend’s home. She and her husband experienced a scare when the GFCI receptacle caught fire. It’s right under their sink. The small fire was months ago and yesterday she texted me she’s concerned about how her husband (with the supposed approval of a…..plumber…?) rigged it up. I am a woman and not at all an expert but something doesn’t sit well with me about tape and caulking on this area. Any thoughts appreciated. I had her turn off the breaker to that particular area &#”
“Craziest troubleshoot I’ve ever been involved with. I’ve been in an electrician for 18 years on my own company and hold a master license in New York State got a call that a pool was popping and making sounds and giving a slight shock while being touched. Turns out the entire deck was electrified, including the railing and barbecue that was on the deck, as well as the pool itself and the exterior door handle. The house has solar and a backup generator. All secondary power sources were turned off”
“Has anyone run into issues with 6-inch Halo recessed cans burning up the lamp socket? I got called out to a customer's home because one recessed light stopped working and had tripped the breaker. When I pulled the BR30 LED bulb (60W equivalent), I found the socket was badly burned. I checked a couple of the other cans nearby and didn't find anything unusual, so I replaced the can and moved on. A few months later, I got called back to the same house for a similar issue. This time I starte”