# Ubelieveable example of how stupid some people can be with electricity!



## guest (Feb 21, 2009)

Found this video on YouTube....please note that the gentleman in the video IS NOT the person I was referring to as stupid...the stupid one is whoever did this "wiring" job. The list of Code violations on this one is long...and the family renting this place is very lucky. 






I hope he filed complaints with the appropriate agencies over this incident.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

mxslick said:


> ...........and the family renting this place is very lucky.
> 
> 
> 
> I hope he filed complaints with the appropriate agencies over this incident.


If they're renting, this should have been addressed BEFORE the lease was signed.

Is that little cord actually powering the upstairs, or did it cause the fuse/breaker to open that supplies the upstairs?

If he felt it was an issue and had brought it up to the landlord, many states have laws allowing tenants to withhold rent until safety issues are addressed.


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## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

looks like a lot of the jobs I have repaired after a fire.


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## guest (Feb 21, 2009)

480sparky said:


> If they're renting, this should have been addressed BEFORE the lease was signed.
> 
> _*Is that little cord actually powering the upstairs*_, or did it cause the fuse/breaker to open that supplies the upstairs?
> 
> If he felt it was an issue and had brought it up to the landlord, many states have laws allowing tenants to withhold rent until safety issues are addressed.


That cord was powering the entire upstairs.....including the window shaker in one of the bedrooms. 

He was very lucky that all that burned was the end cap and that small part of the wall. 

Anyone want to bet that the entire upstairs wiring is also zip cord?


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

mxslick said:


> That cord was powering the entire upstairs.....including the window shaker in one of the bedrooms.
> 
> He was very lucky that all that burned was the end cap and that small part of the wall.
> 
> Anyone want to bet that the entire upstairs wiring is also zip cord?



And you know this how? Did you look at the property, or are you just going by what the guy says on the video?

It's bad enough we accept anything posted on the internet as facts. Now we are to accept with blind faith some home-made video?

For all we know, that zip cord burned through, and tripped the fuse/breaker... _which just happens to be the same circuit feeding the upstairs._



Fact is, you don't know.


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## papaotis (Jun 8, 2013)

but just in case, i wouldnt stand under those fans!


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## drspec (Sep 29, 2012)

papaotis said:


> but just in case, i wouldnt stand under those fans!


 
I was thinking the same thing when I saw the video. :laughing:


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## guest (Feb 21, 2009)

480sparky said:


> And you know this how? Did you look at the property, or are you just going by what the guy says on the video?
> 
> It's bad enough we accept anything posted on the internet as facts. Now we are to accept with blind faith some home-made video?
> 
> ...



Jesus, since when did you become BBQ? 

All you have to do is follow the wire to figure it out.....and use a bit of common sense. It would not be beyond possibility for someone to do something just like this. 

And for that matter, how do YOU know what happened? Were _*you*_ there? Did you do the installation or the fire damage repair? 

You argument goes both ways sir. 

Sorry if this thread pissed in your kibble.


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## FastFokker (Sep 18, 2012)

Probably worked for a decade or two like that.

Amazing how easy electrical work is.. the hard part is doing an installation that will stand the test of time.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

mxslick said:


> Jesus, since when did you become BBQ?
> 
> All you have to do is follow the wire to figure it out.....and use a bit of common sense. It would not be beyond possibility for someone to do something just like this...........



Yes.. it's possible. But that video doesn't snow squat. It wouldn't stand 2 seconds in a courtroom.



mxslick said:


> ....And for that matter, how do YOU know what happened? Were _*you*_ there? Did you do the installation or the fire damage repair?
> 
> You argument goes both ways sir.
> 
> Sorry if this thread pissed in your kibble.


I never claimed to know what really happened, nor how it's all wired. However, there's some here who think they DO know, based solely on a home movie.


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

if it wasnt for the homeowners, we wouldnt have as much work. let them burn their houses down... its just more work for us. stop complaining and start cashing in.


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## retiredsparktech (Mar 8, 2011)

mxslick said:


> That cord was powering the entire upstairs.....including the window shaker in one of the bedrooms.
> 
> He was very lucky that all that burned was the end cap and that small part of the wall.
> 
> Anyone want to bet that the entire upstairs wiring is also zip cord?


A typical slum-lord rental unit. Wall paneling, drop ceiling and paint slopped on the woodwork.
I believe that the ceiling outlets and wall switches are probably part of the original wiring. I wonder how the ceiling fans were hung and wired, because of the use T bar ceiling panels. :whistling2:


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## ampman (Apr 2, 2009)

that has landlord written all over it ,all he will do is buy some more zip cord and replace


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## PetrosA (Feb 18, 2012)

480sparky said:


> And you know this how? Did you look at the property, or are you just going by what the guy says on the video?
> 
> It's bad enough we accept anything posted on the internet as facts. Now we are to accept with blind faith some home-made video?
> 
> ...


There are some indications in the video that it is, in fact, that cord powering the second floor - the lamp is plugged into the receptacle and working, so power exists to that circuit; there is blackened heat marring on the plate above where the cord was plugged in which suggests that either the (spliced?) cord was heating up or that the attachment cap, adapter, receptacle or all three were heating up from the load.

Whatever's going on here definitely needs to be looked into and repaired. I don't think anyone would have noticed this before renting, so not sure how you think this should have been addressed at that time? What options the renters have is dependent on what the local laws are regarding rental properties. Those can be all over the place with regards to safety inspections


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## retiredsparktech (Mar 8, 2011)

PetrosA said:


> There are some indications in the video that it is, in fact, that cord powering the second floor - the lamp is plugged into the receptacle and working, so power exists to that circuit; there is blackened heat marring on the plate above where the cord was plugged in which suggests that either the (spliced?) cord was heating up or that the attachment cap, adapter, receptacle or all three were heating up from the load.
> 
> As I stated in a few other threads, I grew up in one of the oldest sections in Milwaukee.
> Many of those old homes were built in the years, 1850-1900, so they weren't wired originally.
> ...


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## PetrosA (Feb 18, 2012)

retiredsparktech said:


> As I stated in a few other threads, I grew up in one of the oldest sections in Milwaukee.
> Many of those old homes were built in the years, 1850-1900, so they weren't wired originally.
> When they were wired, many of them didn't have receptacles in the bedrooms and maybe only one in the kitchen and living room. I was in many of them, where extension cords were run all over. It's amazing that a lot of fires weren't electrically related. Children playing with fire or careless use of smoking materials was usually the cause.
> BTW, didn't the renters smell the plastic burning for the overheating devices.


I've worked in a lot of houses that age too. It can be hard to figure out sometimes if that smell is 150 year old wood, dust and rodent carcasses heating up in the summertime or if it's the funk from some dirty tenants. It could also get masked by the stench of the leaking oil line, 1/4 inch layer of rancid grease on the kitchen walls, or 50 year old carpets.

I saw a lot of older houses where there were receptacles extended using a twisted pair type cable and surface mounted duplex or triplex outlets, but those wires were at least 14 gauge. I've rarely seen lamp cord extending outlets in houses unless it was a permanently mounted extension cord running just a few feet. The house in that video is crazy unsafe and the landlord needs to address that.


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