Wierd electrical problem:(

[bob haller]

My best friend lives in a home near 100 years old with K&T wiring. and a lifetime of all sorts of modified wiring

He had some copper water lines devlop pinhole leaks so he paid to have it replaced. The homes ground lines were disconnected.

He had a couple fans running which overheated, and burned out. plumber got sparks when replacing the ground lines. and reconnecting copper pipe

my buddy is 85 and does not want to get his home rewired.

he said it was bad sparks,

so a unbanced 240 volt system? copper water lines touching K&T wires in walls with the insulation worn out...

I stressed safety, he says whatevers wrong must of been bad forever......

i will print all comments and give it to him..

its wierd old people ignore many things like wiring, but he went nuts about some pin hole leaks

thanks in advance for all your comments

incidently he has main 60 amp fuse box, but has all his K&T on 30 amp fuses so they dont burn out as often.....

my interest in this? bill is my best friend and i dated his daughter forever, sadly she refused to marry me, the entire family are friends I dont want to see anyone die..........

[bob haller]

a related question since the water lines appear to be carrying current.....

will a clamp on amp meter give accurate results if its put on a water line?

[gfretwell]

Yes the clamp should read right and the idea that he has a loose neutral in the panel or from there to the street is a good guess. Check the panel first, then use your volt meter to check that both phase to neutrals are the same (~120v). If it is not a problem in the panel, call the PoCo. It could be in the meter base or the drop.

[Stormin Mormon]

and i dated his daughter forever, sadly she refused to marry me, the entire family are friends I dont want to see anyone die..........

As technology improves (knob and tube gives way to Romex), it's some times hard to let go of the old ways.

From what you describe, the old wiring is rather dangerous. From where I sit, it's an easy call to reccomend to replace all the knob and tube with Romex, and put in a circuit breaker box. Of course, I don't have to pull all the wire and put in all the sockets, panel, etc.

In the meantime, please buy him three smoke detectors, with lithium batteries that last five years. Please ask his permission for you to install them so they actually do get installed.

Also suggest he meet with his insurance agent, and be sure knob and tube wiring is insured by his fire policy.

[Col. Edmund J. Burke]

"bob haller" ........................got BOrked.

Bob? Why do you rough draft yer poast using a word program first, that is before you poast is, little feller? I know 'cause it's all double spaced, like a black woman's two front teeth.

[Ralph Mowery]

Sounds like he has a bad connection or no connection to the neutral wire some where either at his main fuse box or between the fuse box and the power line transformer.

There should be no no current on the water pipes. Yes, you can use a clamp on ampmeter to check the current on the pipes. Make sure you have several

120 volt devices turned on when running this test. If any current over a couple of milliamps shows up there is a wireing problem. Either with the wires or something that is connected to the wiring.

[Col. Edmund J. Burke]

"bob haller" ........................got BOrked.

Bob? Why do you rough draft yer poast using a word program first, that is before you poast is, little feller? I know 'cause it's all double spaced, like a black woman's two front teeth.

Who the f*ck said that?

[micky]

Measure the voltage where they were plugged in and see if it is more than 117. It could just be that the fans failed on their own.

I am not an electrician, but I don't think it needs rewiring, only repairing the one place where there is a problem. Repairmen, not just electricians, often think it is easier, and more profitable, to redo a whole system than to repair it, esp. when finding a problem can be difficulult. I don't know if this is difficult or not.

Real electricians might have all kinds of new tools which would make finding the problem a lot quicker? Or not. If they have nothing special and are just going to look for problems, you might be able to do that just as well. Make sure you know what all to look for before you start, or you'll have to look over all the same places agains.

Maybe.

Maybe for years if not forever.

Are you going to print that out too? PIn hole leaks will get bigger, and even if they don't, they are already leaks. Wiring problems which probably did exist for a long time only caused a problem during the plumbing repair.

That's good of you.

[John G]

lifetime of all sorts of modified wiring

replaced. The homes ground lines were disconnected.

t sparks when replacing the ground lines. and reconnecting copper pipe

alls with the insulation worn out...

ut some pin hole leaks

es so they dont burn out as often.....

ver, sadly she refused to marry me, the entire family are friends I dont wa nt to see anyone die..........

It sounds as though there is a problem with the main neutral connection, an d as a result the water pipe ground was carrying the return current back t o the transformer. Problem could be at the transformer or at the weatherhe ad, meter socket, or in the main panel. Call the power company to check th eir end.

Having 30 amp fuses may prevent them from burning out, but they could actua lly be contributing to the burning down of the house. It's time to spend s ome serious coin and get this place electrically upgraded. If the owner do esn't, the heirs will have to in order to sell.

John Grabowski

[bob haller]

a lifetime of all sorts of modified wiring

it replaced. The homes ground lines were disconnected.

got sparks when replacing the ground lines. and reconnecting copper pipe

walls with the insulation worn out...

bout some pin hole leaks

uses so they dont burn out as often.....

rever, sadly she refused to marry me, the entire family are friends I dont want to see anyone die..........

and as a result the water pipe ground was carrying the return current back to the transformer. Problem could be at the transformer or at the weather head, meter socket, or in the main panel. Call the power company to check their end.

ually be contributing to the burning down of the house. It's time to spend some serious coin and get this place electrically upgraded. If the owner doesn't, the heirs will have to in order to sell.

thanks for all the comments, monday morning i will get this all together, a nd take it to my friend.

interestingly in the last year the power company replaced all the transform ers and lines in the area, so perhaps its something at their end.....

interestingly the owner / my friend is a retired electronics instructor who in his earlier years designed power transformers for allis chalmers in pit tsburgh, he graduated from carnegie tech, now known as carnegie mellon univ ersity. he converted both of his vehicles to run on CNG back at the time o f the first oil crisis 1972, designed and built a 14 foot bladed windmill i n his yard, he built everything himsef using his machine shop, which includ es a foundry, south bend engine lathe, milling machine, presses shapers etc . heck he even manufactured wood lathes for awhile. the natural gas compres sor was bought surplus out of a WW2 battle ship, it runs at 1500 pounds, bi ll even designed and built 2 water well drilling machines, one rotary and o ne impact. he still uses the water for his yard today.....

he is probably the smartes person i have ever known...

but on the K&T he is conviced its safer than modern wiring......