[Elecraft] [KX3] OT: AC wiring, grounds

[Jim Brown]

On Tue,9/20/2016 9:24 AM, Alan wrote:
> I recently have been having extensive electrical renovation done on my 
> early 60s era house.  We found wires spliced in the middle of a wall 
> (3 different places), wrong wire sizes, a dead bat in the main meter 
> panel, and my favorite:  a 220V circuit with each phase on a separate 
> single breaker, which weren't even the same amperage!  :=) 

On Tue,9/20/2016 12:51 PM, Edward R Cole wrote:
> My previous house was a homestead house built in 1955. 

The house I owned in Chicago was built before 1900 (after the great 
Chicago fire).  It was a "2-flat" with an undeveloped attic. When I 
bought it, it had knob and tube wiring, and pipe for gas lights, some of 
which was still active (connected to gas lines). Other gas lines were 
used to carry wiring to overhead lighting.

I hired electricians to bring the wiring up to code, installing a lot of 
EMT (steel thin-wall conduit), with separate conduit systems for power 
and low voltage wiring.

The house I bought in W6 had multiple wiring errors, some quite serious. 
I found only one bad outlet, but grounding for the main electrical 
service was a nightmare. "Ground" for the service entrance was a #14 
wire running 40-50 ft to a hose outlet, which was connected by PVC pipe 
to the water system. In other words, no ground at all. There's a 
detached garage with a "mother-in-law" apartment that is fed from the 
house. 240VAC with neutral and ground were carried to a panel in that 
building. A #14 bare copper ran up from the panel to the attic, across 
the building, then down to a ground rod, with the cable zig-zagging down 
the wall to tuck closely into a window frame and seams in the siding. 
I'd guess this wire was at least 60 ft long.  That was the only ground. 
In that second building, 240V was fed to a well and to appliances; 120V 
convenience outlets were wired between one leg of 240 (good) and ground 
(BAD!). BTW -- NONE of these problems were noted by the "inspector" we 
hired before buying the house.

It's worth studying my power and grounding tutorials, then carefully 
poking around your home. http://k9yc.com/GroundingAndAudio.pdf

73, Jim K9YC