We recently inherited a house and are in the process of fixing up a house so it can be sold. We knew a few light switches weren't working so I started to try and track it down. Some lights were always on, some lights wouldn't come on. This is an old low-voltage system by Touch-Plate.
Finally found the problem in a closet in the basement. View at your own risk. These pictures could cause you to go blind or cause insanity.
Randy
Sorry, I finger farted my previous post. Heres the part of the post that I didn't get typed.
Caution: these pictures could make weak people faint.
Randy
I can't help ya .. but umm .. cut the red wire? Or call an electrician.
Wow, I'm impressed.
However, you must realize that if anyone sees that, they will call the utilities company and have them shut off your utilities.
Just be careful.
Would love to call an electrician. But would the average electrician have knowledge on this kind of system ?
Fortunatly that rat's nest of wires only controls the light switches in the house. Everything else is standard wiring.
Randy
I was thinking it was just sad. Funny might work also.
Randy
I'm careful enough to know that I'm over my head and won't touch a thing in that mess again. I tried. It wasn't pretty.
As the house is sitting empty, I might just flip the breakers on that mess. I actually found the breakers for it. Nice clean normal wiring at the breaker box.
Would that mess of wiring be normal for a house built around 1960 ? Thats just the wiring for the light switches.
Randy
It wouldn't be common or typical, but that is about the time low-voltage switching for residences made it's debut.
Fortunately, it never caught on. If the problem is that lights do not respond to the switches, check the switches first. Remove them and use a jumper to "fool" the relay to open or close. If that doesn't work, you know the problem is with that light's relay. Those relays are readily available and they do wear out.
As complicated as that mess looks, it's all really very simple, it's just that there's a LOT of simple things going on in one place that makes it difficult to understand.
You have my sympathy. We recently sold our 1964-ish house in NJ with a low-voltage system in it.
We found an electrician who works on this type of system by calling around to the various electricians in the area. If the manufacturer is still in existence, you might be able to get the names of local electricians who work on their systems from them.
Besides relays going bad, another problem we had was with switches that stuck. There is a flat switch that has a tendency to "hang" one of the corners when pressed in, and this caused the whole system to lock in its current state (some lights on, some off). The fix was easy - go around pressing switches until you find the one that's stuck and press it again to release the hung-up corner. And then replace the switch with a different type!
One thing I miss: Some of the lights were wired up to be controlled by five or six different switches, and there was a master control panel in one bedroom that was hooked to nearly every light in the house.
Good luck!
FurPaw
Looks pretty common to me. At least you have a panel. I have a friend that they just put the relays in the attic willy nilly and it IS an bear to understand.
Low voltage starts out at the transformer and then goes to the switches. As you close the switch you close the coil and then the 120v power is turned on.
Get an VOM meter and start out at panel. Do you have voltage on both sides of the transformer. Then try with a jumper wire to from the transformer to the relay that is not functioning. If it changes state then your problem is out at the switch. You do not need both a hot and a negative at the switches. I usually wire up the coils to the positive side of the transformer and switch the negative side. I have gotten over 1000 feet doing this.
To bad you so far away. I would like a challenge like this.
Hope it's a one-story house with open ceilings in the basement. If I was touring the open house and saw that mess, I'd run away screaming. You won't like this, but my recommendation is to NOT pound money down a rathole trying to fix that rat's nest. From the more recent-looking wirenuts, several others have already tried. Bite the bullet, and pay an electrician to rip out all that low voltage mess, and either replace it with a modern low-voltage system, or (probably cheaper) snake new wires to all the switch locations, and replace with conventional wiring.
aem sends...
..me too!
..maybe relay failure followed closely by onset of arc ignited Fire is your main worry??
..smart move.
normal, if you bought it off the likes of nicksanspamATece.villanova.edu I can see the humidity has been a problem as well,, not that Nick would concur :-/
I see U R looking for a Sparky, second smart move :- ). Knowledge would not be the problem (I would hope),, the fortitude and patience, not to mention the acceptance of any protracted Risk, would be - for a Sparky of substance.
Did the last man in come out alive?
Thanks for sharing that,, I can use some of the info in my work,,anon of course.
cheers
BTZ
We have the same system in our house, and that photo looks very familiar. We did find an electrician who is familiar with the low voltage system. I would specifically suggest that you find someone who was working as an electrician in the 60s, the apparent heydey of these monstrosities.
Yes, it is easy to fix this once you realize what the problem is. The first time it happens and you don't know that there is a stuck switch is enough to drive you batty. It happened here only a few weeks after we moved into this house, and we absolutely panicked. Now when it happens (not a lot, but maybe a couple times a year) we know what to do.
I do like this feature. We have two master panels in our house: one in the master bedroom and one in the kitchen, it is handy to walk in from outside and be able to switch on most all the lights in the house.
My father inlaw was the original builder and only owner of the house. He was originally a plumber but belonged to this group of good old boys from all the various trades. The electrition that did the install was part of that group. But he died years ago. In fact, I think the entire group of good old boys has long since passed away. But their sons are still around and have their own group. I'm going to contact a few of them today and see if they know of anyone.
Randy
Been thru all the above trouble shooting. Got nothing. I think it's either a couple of loose wires yet to be found or a couple of bad relays. Got a bunch of extra relays and switches.
Randy
Manufactuar doesn't have a list of electritions that work on their stuff. To bad, that would have made it much easier. They suggested I go to a electrical supply house and see if they know of anyone. Could do that.
I pressed every danged switch in the house. And it's a big house and lots of switches. None were sticking.
Randy
It's about time you took a vacation !! It will be a challange. I think at least 1 bundle of the wires in that mess goes to the whole house intercom system. I don't think that works either and don't even care. If I can figure out what wires those are and get them bundled up and out of the way, things might not look so bad.
What does SQLlit stand for ?
Randy
3 stories plus finished basement. We are going to sell the house but not with the wiring like that. I wouldn't do that to anyone.
Randy
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