Electrical Systems

<Tower of Power- This electric service mast is toe nailed directly to the shingles and it's pulling away from the house. One good ice buildup on the main cable suppling power to the home and it may come down. Wouldn't want to be standing under the power lines just then.

Outdoor splice > These main conductors are not well protected and could short out in heavy rain.

VStressed out- The left photo the electric service drop has pulled away from the house and is starting to bend the service conduit.  The main conductors could snap under much more stress and cause additional damage or injury.  In the right photo the main conductors were reachable from the second floor window, which is considered a safety hazard.

VToo close for comfort- Main conductors should be further away from the roof in these two conditions.  A power surge from lightning can cause the conductors to arc onto the combustible roof.  The right photo shows multiple high power lines suppling power to many homes within inches of a new garage.

VMismatched- The left photo shows one leg of the houses main power is protected by a 50 amp buss fuse and the other a 60 amp buss fuse.  When the 50 amp fuse trips off, only one leg will have power and could damage some appliances in the house.   The right photo shows an improper tap to one of the main lugs (the left one - under the red buss fuse).  Not only could double tapping the main lugs cause connections & wires to overheat, the imbalanced system could damage appliances.  If this left leg trips off often, someone might be tempted to put a larger buss fuse on the left side, cause additional problems.

<A hot time in the old house tonight!-

A sure sign the wire is getting a little warm, melted insulation.  A electrican is needed with his voltage meter to locate the problem.

>Geepers, lots of extra power needed from these main conductors.  Notice most of the melting is on the neutral side.

<This one may be kinda hard for you to see.  All breakers and fuses should only have one wire to it.  Two wires can overheat the connection and is called a "double tap".  In the top right hand corner is a bonafide triple tap, but there were more than this one triple tap at this house.  In the center of the photo is several double taps.

Double tapped> Double tapping means that two wires are feeding to the same breaker, which can over heat the connection, although uncommon.  This rare photo shows two wires (orange and black) feeding to the same breaker marked with a green dot (our designation that it is a double tapped breaker).  The orange wire is charred.

<The Ole Switcheroo- I love these old switches, stylisticly that is.  The old push button, turn knob, and these older toggle switches look nice, but they have been known to short out and in some cases cause a fire.  You can still preserve the old home look with new replica switches made to look like the originals, but much safer. 

Shocking experience>

A common concern we find in homes are electrical recepticles (outlets) that are missing a cover plate. This one is also broken and has exposed conductors.  A child could get hurt here. 

<Oh, that bites!- Don't know if this photo does anything for you, but it does me.  In over 12 years being an inspector I don't remember seeing anything like this. Sure the opening is too large for the box and not lined up well, and the box is too far recessed, but note the left receptcal, it has a plug in it with live wires protruding.  I placed my voltage proximiter near it and it was live, just waiting for some unsuspecting home inspector to touch it. :-)  Not this time..... :-)

V Lamp cord paloza- Below left, a very couragious person has nailed up some lights in the little slot between the two wires on some lamp cord, all the way around the closet door.  Photo right shows undersized lamp cord wire suppling power to other outlets.  Wonder what would happen if the vacuum sweeper got a hold of the lamp cord.

V Unprotected wires and splices-  These wires should be protected better so that if they are nicked they won't shock someone.  All splices should be contained in a code approved electrical junction box.

Open for all to see, right?>

Also sorta common are open junction boxes.  These can be a fire and injury concern.  This box has some wiring done outside the box, so even if a cover was placed over it, it would pinch the outside wire and could shock someone.

<I'm hosed-

Here our happy homeowner decided to save $1.47 on a junction box and use a rubber hose he had lying around for a junction box.

The Apprentice>

Maybe the electician apprentice had too many Wheaties just before he was pulling the wire, or maybe it was a can of spinich for Poppi the sailor.  The stripped romex wire sheathing is stripped, and as I gently moved the wire, I saw some copper wiring under the red insulated conductor.  Best to make some repairs.

<Olde Woody- A rare find

This is one you're not going to see every day, in fact I've only seen three of these in the past twelve years.  A wood panel box.  Yes it was code at the time (after all wood is not a conductor!), but alas somewhat of a fire concern.  Some knob and tube wiring mixed in with armored cable and fuses.  Nothing to hold back the wires in the box either if anyone pulled on the wires. 

Honey Do Do >

"Honey, could you bring me that extension cord again for my mixer?"  "I'll to better than that Baby, I'm gonna wire you up your own electic outlet".  However, this is not the best way to extend power around the house. Considered a fire and safety hazard.

<Disposer wires exposed-  A very common concern we find is disposal wires under stress, exposed, hot wired with out a ground, etc.  A pretty easy fix for an electrician, about 15 minutes of work usually.

>Now how is this attic fan supposed to work?  It needs some power.  I'll just get me some power from this attic light.  That's what these two holes are for, power, right?

V Hang in there baby!- This photo speaks for itself.   VIn a Pinch-Sometimes a short isn't hard to see.

VGetting Alittle Overextended? - The left photo was intended as a dedicated outlet for the sump pump.  When I manually engaged the sump pump the breaker tripped off.  Guess that's why dehumidifiers and chest freezers are not supposed to be plugged into the sump pump receptacle.  The photo on the right also resulted in tripping off the breaker, often.  So, the homeowner just boosted up the breaker until it stopped tripping off.  I found a 30 amp breaker on 14 gauge wire (which is intended for just 15 amps). The wires were hot when I inspected them in the panel box.  Note the new paint job around the extension bar. 

V Wet Willey-  What would happen if the sump pump discharge pipe started squirting out water, as they often do?  In the left photo, this plumbing pipe was so close to the electric box that it's cover could not be closed.  The right photo shows the water heaters temperature pressure relief (TPR) valve pointed straight into the electric box 30" away.  My I'd hate to be near that when it pops off.

Hot shower! > This light was inches from the shower head, (which you can just see through the clear shower curtain in the upper right corner of the photo). We've found switches, junction boxes, wire splices and even a electric panel box in a shower area.

All the the issues above are repairable.  Although it may not have effected our clients buying decision, all our clients really appreciated just knowing about these concerns.  We realize you have a choice in home inspectors, we hope you make a wise choice in hiring Home Check America.  Because your peace of mind matters.