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Furnace quit working during home inspection
Comments (32)"If you know what the exact issue your HI found is then post it here. Many of us have libraries of NEC editions going back many revisions, and other just remember when the changes occurred. Someone can tell you when the NEC changed, and if the actual 'finding' is anything to be concerned about." Brickeyee, this is what the HI put on the inspection report: ELECTRICAL: Get second opinion from electrician or check internet sites for older STAB-LOK Federal Pacific breaker panels. PANEL OR PANELS double lugging / melted insulation / missing plugs / sloppy wiring / rusted or rusting / did not open due to obstruction panel painted or sealed shut / should label all circuits /over fused or should decrees fuse or breaker size FORMCHECKBOX neutral and ground bonded in sub panel GROUNDING consider adding ground rod for additional safety and for double grounding or improving the grounding system FORMCHECKBOX ground missing at water meter or pressure reducer / loose ground wire / ground wire to small Today's standards suggest double ground to the main panel. The first ground wire should be connected to the metallic cold water pipe with a ground jumper or bond cable at the water meter The second ground wire should go to a ground rod imbedded in soil. Have electrician verify and certify all grounding conductors. Electrical not determined or evaluated in: walls, drop ceilings, closed panels, concrete, soil, behind outlet or switch plates. OUTLETS AND SWITCHES consider installing GFCI'S / open grounds / reverse polarity's / loose / painted / missing cover OTHER VISUAL CONDITIONS improper splicing / wire not in conduit or through joists / some sloppy installation dangerous or exposed wire / some lights out or not working light bulbs or damaged / some abandoned or unknown / some not energized / extension cords used / loose conduit / dangling or exposed wires / sloppy above drop ceiling Triple or double lugging exists in panels Undersized wire used for double/triple lugging" I googled "STAB-LOK Federal Pacific breaker panels" and was NOT glad to read the following: FIRES WAITING TO HAPPEN - Federal Pacific Electric Panels: Fires Waiting to Happen, Debate Waiting to Be Ended What is the FPE Stab-Lok Failure Rate and How Much Worse Is It Than Other Equipment? FPE Stab-Lok or Federal Pacific Electric Stab-lok circuit breakers can fail to trip at an alarming rate. In the original testing, at a modest overload (135% of rating) switches that had never been touched (never mechanically switched) were energized on both poles. These failed 25% of the time, followed by a lockup that meant the switch would never trip in the future at any overload. Once these switches had been flipped on and off (mechanically energized), failures increased to 36%! Worse, when individual poles on these switches were energized under the same conditions, 51% of the "virgin" switches failed, and for switches that had been mechanically energized, a whopping 65% of them failed!" A link that might be useful: inspectapedia.com/fpe/fpe.htm...See MorePack rat husband -- enable or resist?
Comments (51)When I first read the original post I was firmly in the make the move camp. After reading all the thoughtful posts I'm not so sure. After reading all this, I realize I have been surrounded by hoarders all my life. I had never really thought about that. My parents in law were both hoarders. She hoarded because she grew up very poor. He was a trader and auction nut and couldn't pass up a bargain. I wasn't involved in any of the clean up after they died so I wasn't affected. My sister in law died of ALS last year and when she was moved to a nursing home a few months before her death she was worried about what was going to happen to her stuff. Her kids had cleaned up after her many times through the years and threw stuff away and it never changed her hoarding tendencies a bit. I had another sister in law who hoarded and when my brother died I'm ashamed to say, I went in with her permission and cleaned out her house. I knew nothing about hoarding at that time and enjoyed every minute of it. Later, when I saw how wrenching the clean up was for her and how emotionally invested she was in every plastic cup and scrap of paper I felt just terrible. She was mentally ill for as long as I knew her but functioned well, held a job and had multiple degrees. Still I suspect the cleanup of her house was just as hard on her as the death of her husband. She kept me at arms lengh for the few years she lived after that and I had to read about her death in the newspaper. She talked to me on the phone but never allowed me near her house again. Later, when a hoarding neighbor had to move and couldn't throw a thing away I helped her pack every piece of cardboard and paper sack without comment. I said plenty about the hoard of cats she had and told her they stunk and I could smell them from the street. She'd laugh and say "but they are so cute". LOL My advice is to do what YOU think is best. You've listened to all our advice and only you know what is best for your situation. If I were in your situation I would get a house of my own and live in peace. I wouldn't get a divorce and I'd stay on friendly terms with the husband. Easy for me to say, huh? On another note, I have a grandson living with me who is twenty one but can't function in the world. He has tourettes syndrome but I'm not sure if that is responsible for his problems or not. Just wanted to say, I relate to those of you with similar kids and rejoice to hear the success stories. This post was edited by peaceofmind on Wed, May 7, 14 at 20:47...See MoreOne bedroom too hot at night
Comments (5)"Opening the bedroom door to let cool air from the hallway into the room would help, but people don't want to sleep with their bedroom door open" Air must have a free path from vent back to unit unless there's a return in every room. In a small room,cutting 2" off bottom of door,installing a luvered vent in door or leaving door open are common ways of allowing air to circulate. I don't know who"people"is but if they can't leave door open a couple of nights to see if restricted return flow is the problem,let them sleep hot....See MoreICAT LEDs vs fire-rated covers for recessed lights
Comments (1)Along with doing custom audio/video, we also do a lot of remote controlled lighting projects which require us to swap out fixtures from time to time. We have electricians on staff and may be able to offer some solutions. Typically Non-IC housings are designed to handle higher wattage bulbs and cannot come in contact with insulation. However, they can be installed in an insulated ceiling as long as the insulation does not come in direct contact with the housing - this distance is typically 3" between the housing and insulation. With standard batting type insulation this is easily accomplished, with blown-in insulation - a little more effort is required. If you choose to keep the cans in place, you can retrofit them with LED recessed trims. These are sealed units (LED light & trim are molded together) that will fit flush to the housing - and along with a weather-proof gasket, will prevent drafts coming in from the attic/ceiling. The cost range for a 6" Halo Light is approx. $29 ea. Home Depot has CE contractor packs (5"-6") trims for $34 a four (4) pack. The 65W LED equivalent draws about 8 Watts. The low wattage will not generate much heat if in fact the insulation does come into direct contact with the housing - coupled with the fact that recessed cans are equipped with a thermal cut-off switch - so if the temp gets to hot, they will shut down. Insulation in general is also fire-retardant so there is protection there as well. A second option is to remove the lights/cans altogether and use Lithonia Wafer LED lights. They are LED recessed lights that do not require any type of housing and are easily retrofitted into the same size opening. It is a sealed unit that can be used in any IC, Non-IC or wet location. A little more costly at approx. $35 ea. We have been using these lights for quite some time with great feed-back. If you're staying in your home for long while it's worth the investment. Your house is not that old, so I'm wondering how the wrong cans got installed in the first place? As always, our disclaimer - check with your local municipality for your specific code requirements. Good luck Frank P - Square Peg A/V LED Retrofit below (tail screws into existing bulb socket)... Lithonia Wafer LED below (direct replacement)......See MoreKswl
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