Main Electrical at my house question

[sjmiller]

You can do things right - or take a chance

Let me preface this with - if you take a chance and burn down the house, insurance will not cover the loss. Even though I now I could have done the work myself - I hired a licensed electrician to upgrade my service & install a subpanel. I ran the wiring from the sub panel to the outlets.

SJMiller

[Fishy Jim]

I don't think burning down the house is a likely scenario given todays construction practices. After all, we're not using aluminum wire anymore.

http://www.inspect-ny.com/aluminum/aluminum.htm#alhaz

ALL electrical modifications short of replacing a single component with a similar component (considered a minor repair) require a permit and subsequent inspections. If you're doing something wrong, the inspector will make you correct it. If it's outright dangerous, they'll make you remove it on the spot.

The real danger in working with electrical is sudden death. You need to be safe and not work with hot circuits.

When you wired up that sub panel, I hope you had it inspected.

[Wacko Welder]

It is possible . . .

You may want to investigate this. I worked as an insurance adjuster for years and can tell you the following.

These statements below may or may not apply to you and your locale.

1. You are out of code compliance

2. You may have a battle on your hands should your home burn as a result of anything your fire department considers "electrical related".

As the above have told you . . UPGRADE IMMEDIATELY!!!!

Now the good news, check your insurance policy.. you may have code coverage. A simple inspection from your local building inspection could force you to upgrade and if you have coverage for this, your home owners will pay for it. If you do not have the coverage, add it wait 6 months and invite your friendly building inspector . . .

Any questions, PM me . . .

[Sberry]

How is it he is out of code compliance?

[Wacko Welder]

If you read

How is it he is out of code compliance?

If you read my post it says "may or may not" . . . But in general if you contact your local building permit office they will tell you if you are or are not. In most areas of the country they tend to enforce upgrade anytime you get a permit.

Should you do a DIY upgrade that is evident such as a breaker sub based sub-panel off of that antiquated fuse panel, it will be obvious. The only way to do that and CYA is with a licensed electrician and a permit if required.

What I do know is that once you have acknowledged that you are aware of a possible "risk" and your insurer can confirm that fact, it may present a problem should you have a claim as a result of an "electrical" malfunction.

All it takes is opinion of a local firefighter as to the cause of a fire.

As to compliance, please tell me where in this country you can get a permit for new work and that fused panel will pass.

[Wacko Welder]

This is from TN Fire Marshall

0780-2-2-.03 RETROACTIVE ENFORCEMENT. Any existing building which conformed to the standards
legally effective at the time of its construction shall not be subject to the standards adopted by reference in rule
0780-2-2-.01, unless the nonconformity of the building to such standards poses a serious life safety hazard.
However, any construction as defined in rule 0780-2-3-.01 undertaken after the effective date of this chapter shall be
in compliance with the standards adopted by reference in rule 0780-2-2-.01.
Authority: T.C.A.. §§53-2413, 68-102-113, 68-120-102, and Chapter 857, Public Acts of 1982. Administrative
History: Original rule filed July 27, 1982; effective August 26, 1982. Amendment filed June 12, 2001; effective
August 26, 2001.

[tonyrico]

oh wow,
I have a similar situation, but not with fuses. I do have an upgraded panel, but my home is so small. My house is almost 90 years old and all of the innards are heart pine. Any small fire would quickly encompass my home in a matter of minutes.
In my earlier posts I inquired about running certain units from an 5,500 watt generator I have. It was my only power for 6 weeks after Hurricane Katrina.
yes, I agree with everyone that you have a situation that you need to address with urgency, but consider running a welding unit from a generator or getting a self contained unit and keep it completely off of your house circuitry. If nothing else it gives you tremendous portability.
tonyrico

[Ls2cam]

oh wow,
I have a similar situation, but not with fuses. I do have an upgraded panel, but my home is so small. My house is almost 90 years old and all of the innards are heart pine. Any small fire would quickly encompass my home in a matter of minutes.
In my earlier posts I inquired about running certain units from an 5,500 watt generator I have. It was my only power for 6 weeks after Hurricane Katrina.
yes, I agree with everyone that you have a situation that you need to address with urgency, but consider running a welding unit from a generator or getting a self contained unit and keep it completely off of your house circuitry. If nothing else it gives you tremendous portability.
tonyrico

I second to this message..I have been thinking to buy Millermatic 252 ASAP. I would use rental generator when I need. I will talk with electrical lic about my house's electrical panel TRW..I think so, I will replace all those old wires out and put new wires when I get off long weeks from work...
THANKS bunch to all of MILLER WELDS ...

[Lucky]

I used to be an electrician, and I can agree with all of the rest of the guys. You need to get that upgraded ASAP, that is a severe safety issue.

Those price quotes sound about right. You might as well have the Elec. company check the rest of your house out as well.

[migman69]

i agree with homeowners insurance but with the high rates who can afford it my mother in law said on our other house she was paying 900 bucks every three months for it she had to drop the coverage and go with basic fire because it was just to costly id love to have home owners insurance on both of my houses if i could afford it. but maybe the prices are lower now than they were back then.

[storts]

Jim

I haven't actually run the numbers other than adding up my 24K in receipts for the whole project - but I figure I'm right around 1200 in wire alone. With 23 circuits in the shop alone, I think that's about right.

Meter socket was mandated by the power co. as a "HD bypass box." The little prick in scheduling didn't even know what it was, other than thats what I had to provide. I asked him what model number was accepted and he couldn't tell me... 4 or 5 prongs? No clue! Well, that was an extra hundred in the hole for nothing - could've got one for 60 bucks if it didn't need the 5th prong. New digital meter they gave me still only has 4 prongs. The new socket does have lots of room to work in - like I'll ever have to run wires though it again. Conduit is mandatory between the two boxes here. I had to have the socket and main panel inspected before the mains could be connected to my new service. Well, the inspector was running late and my lineman hooked me up anyway. No problems, the inspector arrived prior to him leaving and got it all signed off. I ended up running my house on a temp line run along the house for a couple months as I built the rest of the shop. I had to relocate the lines to make room to raise the trusses. The original wires were 2' above my walls.

The other thing to watch for is meter height above grade. I put mine up so my panel was about the right height to be directly in front of me on the wall, but I still had to mount it upside down (mains on the bottom) because the meter had to be no higher than 6'. Mines 6'5 and the tech who set up the new meter mentioned he had co-workers who would refuse to service it (not my fault their original meter croaked from the lineman pulling it off under load). So be careful of what you do differently on the outside. I didn't think anyone would notice another 6", but I was wrong.

I asked the guy if he needed a bench to stand on. He declined.

As for the mast height - it has to be 13' above any deck or landscaping here. I put mine 3' above the roof because of a large oak tree the lines pass through. I didn't want any growth issues, and we ended up trimming a lot of branches when the lines were relocated as it was. Mid span at the far end of the shop is roughly 15' above grade, but I have 23" of drop over the 35' foundation. Before we put the level on it to erect the forms, all of us thought my back yard was flat. So flat it needed another 5 yards of concrete over the bid.

Oh, and jack - here's the pot I piss in:

Good looking pot!,Going with any type of crane,,I should be in whinin 2 weeks,then the overhead crane!!!!!I should have close to 16.5 ft to the hook!+ or _ a couple of inches,,and a Pole barn,is non taxable in Ct,Probably the only thing that isnt!!!!,But if I hade a foundation,then its taxable,But because Poles are in the ground,NO!:confused

Looks good enjoy!,Jack,Ps,They also gave me a home owners for a 400 amp service,which is mandatory, They have to let you,so it wasnt the goodness out of the electric co

[Fishy Jim]

I have two hundred amps at the shop panel. The house could be on its own 200A panel off the service connection, but there's really no need - it would just be money pissed away in copper and boxes that add nothing to functionality. Gas water heater, gas dryer, gas furnace; the house just doesn't need more than 100A so that's what I ran the wire for.

Pole barns suck IMO. I wouldn't build one to work in. Maybe to store stuff that doesn't get used.

Property taxes are pretty low here. The shop might add another $400 onto what we already pay, but I have 7 more years before they re-assess us.

What hurts businesses here is commercial space taxes. I just bought a bunch of stuff from a hardware store owner who's closing up because his property taxes went up another grand up to $9500 a year on 3400sf and that's in a strip mall. Based on that alone, my shop will be free long before I even start paying taxes on it.

So Jack, are you not getting aunties money or what? I'm still waiting for my summons.

[storts]

Jim

Got ya guys goood!!!!!!!!!!!Probate is treating me well,Ill pm you with the details,,Jim,a Pole barn in my eyes,is nothing more than your shop!!!!Trusses,,and the inside will look like this,,Got to find it! But the same as your garage shop, there still wood! Found it,and there will be all J channel on cieling,so the stuffing doesnt fall out of the Bird!,,And all metal on out side,and roof,and nice little sitting area,couple of swinging seats!

So what with the cranes,there most i took from the old shop,But still a Pain to put up!!!!!!!Gotta have them!

[Ls2cam]

Will do replace

Good news, I already get Lic. Electrical guys, wuld charge around $1,500 to do replace the power panel (200 AMP), add two 60 amps in garage and everything check on wires inside include outlets/receplactes.
They would do at my house after next year (Jan 2008). They have many booked on other jobs right now.

Thanks a bunch to all of you Miller Welds.
Merry X- Mas ~N~ Happy Holidays

[Fishy Jim]

Except my walls are only 8" thick and have an R28 rating, and my ceiling has R60.

I hate the exterior look of steel next to a house. Might as well park a mobile home next to it and leave the wheels exposed. They cheapen everything around them. Your timber framed house will lose value if you butt that ugly shack up next to it.

As for my crane - I'm gonna make a run over to 3M (former employer) and see what they have surplus in beams. If they don't have anything, I'll be buying new. I've got a day or so left on the sheetrock and it'll be time to mud.

Got us good, how? I want an apology or a summons.