A friend recently bought a nearby house, and I am helping them with some electrical work. The place is a mess. So far, here's what I've found:
1. The panel is one of the questionable Federal Pacific ones - my understanding is that the breakers don't reliably trip when they should.
2. It looks like the whole thing is wired with multi-wire branch circuits (MWBC), since the single-pole breakers alternate between red and black wires. The breakers are all distinct - no handle ties.
3. I can't tell for sure how they wired it though, because the sheaths are removed before they enter the load center cabinet. All the conductors come in from the crawlspace through a 2" L-shaped PVC nipple, so I guess they removed the sheath so it would all fit.
4. Trying to replace a ceiling luminaire, I found that I had to turn off two breakers to de-energize it. In other words, two circuits enter the luminaire and are tied together there; so the two circuits form a "ring". It's not clear if this luminaire is the place where the circuits were inappropriately joined, maybe there's another place where there are meant to be two circuits (perhaps a multi-gang switch box) and it's actually there that the mistake was made. However, I can find literally no other fixture of any kind that is driven by these circuits. It's like they brought two home-runs into this luminaire, tied 'em together and to the fixture, and that's it.
5. They tapped off a 3-way switch circuit to add an outlet - so the outlet is driven by a traveler and neutral. So if the switch in the other room is in the wrong position, then the outlet is dead. And ... wait for it ... the outlet is for the propane tankless water heater.
6. There is a luminaire controlled by two 3-way switches, which doesn't work right - BOTH switches must be in the correct position to turn it on. Diving into it. it appears they were trying to switch neutral with one of the switches; the other switch connects hot to one of two wires, which is perfectly normal, except it's not a 3-wire cable, so there is no neutral.
7. Looking into another switch box, one of the cables has the neutral clipped off right at the sheath.
8. An attic luminaire is controlled by a switch in a downstairs hallway; the attic in entered through a loft (so you have to go down a ladder to turn the light on and off).
9. A ceiling fan was hung from a non-fan rated box.
10. A luminaire was connected by simply poking the wires into the attic and tying them to romex - not in a box, not using wire nuts, not using electrical tape - using masking tape.
11. An extension cord was repaired, and the three conductors were scrambled. Not just hot and neutral swapped either ...
I imagine #10 and #11 were done by the previous owner (who, FWIW, was a Command Sergeant Major of the Green Berets), but the other things seem like they were probably done by the OG (or original electrician).
Anyhow, I just wanted to memorialize my experience, and to vent and perhaps gain a little sympathy
Or advice. I think saying "you need to have the house re-wired" is a non-starter. I've fixed #9, #10, and #11, I will fix #4, #5, and #8 as best I can, and try to forget the rest.
1. The panel is one of the questionable Federal Pacific ones - my understanding is that the breakers don't reliably trip when they should.
2. It looks like the whole thing is wired with multi-wire branch circuits (MWBC), since the single-pole breakers alternate between red and black wires. The breakers are all distinct - no handle ties.
3. I can't tell for sure how they wired it though, because the sheaths are removed before they enter the load center cabinet. All the conductors come in from the crawlspace through a 2" L-shaped PVC nipple, so I guess they removed the sheath so it would all fit.
4. Trying to replace a ceiling luminaire, I found that I had to turn off two breakers to de-energize it. In other words, two circuits enter the luminaire and are tied together there; so the two circuits form a "ring". It's not clear if this luminaire is the place where the circuits were inappropriately joined, maybe there's another place where there are meant to be two circuits (perhaps a multi-gang switch box) and it's actually there that the mistake was made. However, I can find literally no other fixture of any kind that is driven by these circuits. It's like they brought two home-runs into this luminaire, tied 'em together and to the fixture, and that's it.
5. They tapped off a 3-way switch circuit to add an outlet - so the outlet is driven by a traveler and neutral. So if the switch in the other room is in the wrong position, then the outlet is dead. And ... wait for it ... the outlet is for the propane tankless water heater.
6. There is a luminaire controlled by two 3-way switches, which doesn't work right - BOTH switches must be in the correct position to turn it on. Diving into it. it appears they were trying to switch neutral with one of the switches; the other switch connects hot to one of two wires, which is perfectly normal, except it's not a 3-wire cable, so there is no neutral.
7. Looking into another switch box, one of the cables has the neutral clipped off right at the sheath.
8. An attic luminaire is controlled by a switch in a downstairs hallway; the attic in entered through a loft (so you have to go down a ladder to turn the light on and off).
9. A ceiling fan was hung from a non-fan rated box.
10. A luminaire was connected by simply poking the wires into the attic and tying them to romex - not in a box, not using wire nuts, not using electrical tape - using masking tape.
11. An extension cord was repaired, and the three conductors were scrambled. Not just hot and neutral swapped either ...
I imagine #10 and #11 were done by the previous owner (who, FWIW, was a Command Sergeant Major of the Green Berets), but the other things seem like they were probably done by the OG (or original electrician).
Anyhow, I just wanted to memorialize my experience, and to vent and perhaps gain a little sympathy
Or advice. I think saying "you need to have the house re-wired" is a non-starter. I've fixed #9, #10, and #11, I will fix #4, #5, and #8 as best I can, and try to forget the rest.
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