Non-Grounded Cloth Romex Wiring - replace or keep ?

[Me]

My home was built in 1948 and has non-grounded cloth romex. The electricity works ok. I do have 5 main breakers]

1. Bedrooms
2. Ceiling lights
3. Laundry Room, Dining Room, Living Room, Kitchen
4. Garage
5. A/C

The panel was upgraded when the a/c came, so I'm sure the wiring has been upgraded. I never have overloaded a circuit and had the breaker snap.

The problem I have is my computer reboots infrequently when the refrigerator cycles, washer hits spin, or when I turn on the dryer. Not often, but enough to know it's an issue. Maybe once every few months.

I'm thinking of added a new circuit for my computers. I was quoted about $500.00 for one line and 3 receptacles. However, I don't want to go cheap and regret later.

I've had 2 electricians say the house wiring is ok, 2 say I should replace everything. One quote was $4,500 for the whole house, the other $6,800. It's a 2BR/ 1 BA 1200 square foot one story house.

Is there any rule of thumb on this type of wiring regarding replacing or does it depend on the wear and tear of the actual wiring itself ? Outside of frying a junction box when my pipes were being done, I haven't had any other issues.

[toller]

You mean you have 5 breakers; you should have one main breaker.

Is the computer on the same circuit as your appliances? If so, you should be tripping the breaker daily. If not, new wiring won't help; though a new circuit might. Services have two legs; is the computer on the same leg as the appliance that are making it reboot? If so, then a new circuit on the other leg will solve your problem. If not (and with only 5 circuits, it can't be on same leg as all the appliance) then your problem is over my head; it shouldn't be happening. I will look forward to seeing what others have to say.

It depends on what he has to go through to get the circuit in. I have put in one where I would have been glad to have paid someone $500 instead of doing myself; but others that took very little time. A UPS would be cheaper.

Odds are a competent electrician (was it a real electrician, or a handyman?) won't tell you are okay unless you are.

Old wiring is really ugly, but unless it has deteriorated, it is sound. Since you have no ground, a bunch of GFCI outlets would be a good idea.

[George E. Cawthon]

There isn't any wear and tear on wires. However, insulation can deteriorate over time. If that hasn't happened, it's still safe, just not up to current code. The cheap solution for your computer is to get a back up and when the voltage drops as your other appliances come on, the battery will take over. Since it is momentary, you don't need much capacity so you should be able to get a pretty cheap unit.

[zxcvbob]

You can get a pretty nice laptop computer for less than $1000. They are pretty much immune to power problems as long as the battery has a little life to it.

My house was built about the same time period, and all the original wiring except the bathroom was ungrounded. The bathroom was grounded to a water pipe. I replaced the service entrance, upgrading it from a 60A fuse box and #6 wires to a 150A breaker panel and #1 wires, but I kept all the original house wiring because it was in good shape. A bedroom or dining room outlet doesn't really need a ground. I did have to tear out and replace some wiring that was added on by a previous owner who did a bad job of it. I put GFCI's in in the kitchen but left them ungrounded (too hard to run a ground wire in the exterior walls without tearing out the cabinets), ran a new grounded circuit for the bathroom, and ran a couple of new 20A circuits here and there, and a new dedicated circuit for an air conditioner. I did run separate ground wires from the main panel to a few of the old outlets so I would have places to plug in grounded vaccuum cleaners, etc.

I'm avoiding answering your questions directly because I don't know how difficult adding wiring to *your* house would be. $500 might be a bargain, or it might be a ripoff. But there is no need to tear out and replace perfectly good old wiring just because it is not grounded except in a few places where there are real shock hazards (laundry room, bathroom, kitchen, unfinished basement, garage.)

Best regards, Bob

[Me]

When the PC reboots, it's on the same circuit as the appliances. Again, it reboots very infrequently. Once every few months. I try and not run the washer and dryer when it's on (but do once a week or so), but I can't control when the refrigerator cycles. Sometimes my pc is not on that circuit and it will never reboot.

I have had one licensed electrician tell me it's ok, another licensed tell me to replace it. The one that told me it's ok was a guy who mainly does commercial that didn't really need the business, the one that told me to replace it looked to be it was his job to sucker in people like me. I need to get some more evals but thought I'd check here for some recommendations.

I may have the verbage wrong, I'm not an electrician. I have one main breaker, and 5 circuits, each addressed below.

I would think if I put a new circuit in running a line into each location I move my computer might be enough for me. It's a desktop pc with a 350 watt power supply.

Hopefully I've made sense!

Craig

[zxcvbob]

What size is the main breaker? At least 100A or 125A? How many empty spaces are left in your breaker box? What brand is the breaker box, and do you know when it was put in?

Bob

[Mikepier]

electricity

refrigerator

$6,800. It's

I also have ungrounded romex. I had a new 200 amp panel installed and I put GFCI circuit breakers in the panel to protect the ungrounded circuits.

[scott_z500]

A UPS for your computer is the easiest and cheapest solution to the rebooting problem.

The reason why some electricians are saying that your house wiring is OK and some are not is that it doesn't meet todays standards and codes and otherwise non-ideal. However, a 1948 house doesn't have to meet today's standards! Inspectors and electricians often conveniently forget that. The ideal situation is a new higher amperage panel with separate circuits for most appliances, lighting on separate circuits from receptacles, and a separate circuit for the bathroom.

If your breakers are real old it might be worth upgrading it because old breakers are not necessarily all that reliable which might explain why your aren't tripping. My breaker box still has some 1962 breakers but I load tested all of them to make sure that they trip on overcurrent and they all did, but the newer ones I put in do trip a little quicker. If you can get new replacement breakers for your existing panel cheap enough that might be a real easy and inexpensive way to make sure that your do trip when they are supposed to.

Another consideration should be the availability and pricing of homeowners insurance with your old, non grounded electrical stuff.

[Travis Jordan]

Here is a simple, low-cost solution to your problem.

[toller]

If all that stuff is on one circuit you are lucky to not be having more problems that just this.

Putting a new circuit in on the leg opposite the appliances should solve your problem. Someone suggested a UPS would be the cheapest solution, and he is correct; but you have way too much on the existing circuit and should add another rather than looking for the cheapest solution.