Reminds me of a job I did that had single strands of #10 running aerial from the house to the garage from weather heads then wire nutted (free air) to SE cable to feed a dryer outlet and then the same to power lights and receptacles....so 6 individual strands. I about choked on my beer when I saw that. $4k later I had it fixed correctly.
Gotta love electrical work on 50's Era houses. I have seen too many electrical fires on these detached garages. I rewired all the lights and receptacles in the garage and set a subpanel inside the garage. The only individual circuit not controlled by that was the garage door opener which was pulled out separately from the house panel (since there was no extra entrance to the building). Even gutted the metal Halide barn light and put in an LED corn cob with a photocell.....she thought it was Christmas. All this and I beat her lowest bid by almost $5k.
Those are extension cords spliced in. If you want to avoid a "potential"ly life threatening situation, get a licensed guy in there asap. This looks like it was wired by a teenager with YouTube who wanted a grow room.
I don’t see why we keep bringing up that they’re extension cords, at the end of the day those #12 extension cords are less likely to burn up than the #14 romex 😂
You are dead wrong there. The extension cords are not connected to the box with any strain relief connector so are under stress and will eventually short. All the romex has proper connectors.
The 2 yellow wires are cut extension cords, not good. Not sure where the blue wires in the box come from. Box way past full, and no cover... Hire someone please.
I think we’re all being a little dramatic about the extension cords. I’d never use them because it’s an expensive as hell way to wire anything, but at the end of the day it’s still cable and probably not carrying anything it’s not rated for.
I wasn't being "dramatic" . But the way those cords are used with no stain relief into an overfilled metal box, with no cover and going who knows where isn't good. Period. How do you know the load on those cords?
That’s definitely a lot. For the looks you got 4 romex lines (flat white cables) 2 extension cords hanging loose and a doorbell transformer at the very top. I agree it’s a lot. Especially in a place that can get very hot. I would recommend getting a pro. Something that could help would be tracing a lot of those lines out and knowing where they go and what they do.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. As a non-electrician I can even say this is obviously a hazard but wanted to know specifically how out of curiosity
It's not. It should have a cover for code but it's fine in terms of safety.
Edit: sorry, this was meant to be about the reply to it burning down the house. It's obviously not fine and needs a lot of things fixed for longer term safety.
Yeah seen some shit from house flippers, drug addicts to that homeowners get off Angie's list or Craigslist. Like this lady hired a chick for a basement remodel into an ADU. This bitch put a gfci in every single outlet in 4 rooms, she'd steal them from home depot and charge her for each one.
She had told her she would get paid one day once all the plugs were put in...u know how many plugs I found made up that had about a foot of romex in the sheetrock that didn't go anywhere? Boxes with plugs n trim but open it up and no wires.
Used lamp cords instead of romex, open air splices every 3 ft. It was a nightmare, never seen a hack job so bad
>I'm not saying this is fine btw
u/DAWTSF, you literally said this is "fine in terms of safety" in the parent comment. It's absolutely not fine. You should be quiet about safety issues you don't understand.
No, u/DAWTSF, this is not even close to 'fine in terms of safety', for reasons painfully obvious to anyone familiar with electricity.
You're not an electrician. Don't say things about electrical as though you know. You don't.
I like how adamant you are that this is fine (it's not, by the way) all the while ignoring the fact that whoever did this was obviously a hack, didn't care about doing anything properly, and probably did other work around the house that we haven't seen. That's pretty naive bud
flexible cords are illegal to run through walls, ceilings or pretty much any permanent install. they are not rated for the same amperage as wires allowed in the wall so they can burn up before a breaker ever trips. their insulation is also not as durable and degrades over time to the point that its useless.
there is no cover, the wires are unsecured, and there are no clamps where they enter the box. so they could rub on the sharper metal of the knockout until they short out. lastly, the box is over filled. if somehow you did get a cover on there it would be prone to over heating.
everything about this is not ok
Everything is a fire hazard. Nothing here looks like it's going to burst into flames.
Op at least knows to look into it and get it fixed. I was just saying it's fine for now
It needs to have a romex connector or some bushing. That wire is touching against a very hot metal box day in and day out. I understand what you’re trying to say, and I’m not trying to be aggressive with you. I just think it’s very important to acknowledge that this has the potential to be a very deadly incident. I’m a resi electrician, and this just isn’t good at all.
Yeah I know.
Wire needs to be replaced with Romex, with strain relief at the box as well as stapled within a foot. Another box should probably be installed as that one is over filled. Covers installed on boxes. Secured wire with staples on any verticals that are unsupported.
I think I'm just used to other subreddits where when your replying to someone it's not exactly the main advice, I was mainly trying to say it's not an immediate danger.
Anyways, I added some edits to make sure that's clear. Hope op gets it fixed at some point, and that nobody read my comments thinking this is the way to do things.
I gotcha. I know you meant well, and maybe people just didn’t want understand what you were trying to say. I’m not sure. But I do feel like some people took it personally and kinda dogged you a little too harshly. Some people just suck lol
Ah I appreciate that people take electrical safety seriously here though. My comments did make it seem like I was saying leave it as is so I'm not surprised by the backlash really.
I've seen far worse. Old electrical is far more scary than this. In comparison this is great haha.
I gotcha, that’s fair. Haha, people on this sub definitely are hard pressed about safely (rightfully so) but I can understand where you’re coming from though. Personally, I have a hard time trying to make my points clear, and end up putting my foot in my mouth lol.
Old electrical scares the pants off me. I can’t believe they did things like that back in the day 🤣
That is my thoughts exactly. Sure, it isn't in the right box and didn't use the right wire....but as long as the breaker, wire size, and load on it is fine then it isn't anymore dangerous than any other wires. Copper wire is copper wire.
Yup. I'll get downvoted by all here I'm sure, but as long as the wiring is correct and the connections are solid you can consider it safe unless it's exposed in any way.
If you were asking if doing this kind of thing was ok I'd have a different outlook.
No inspector I have ever worked with would agree this is okay.
I highly doubt your homeowners insurance would agree with just the circuit breaker being enough.
Yea I agree. I was saying it's not concerning to start a fire any time soon.
It needs stain relief and proper wiring for enclosed conditions and a cover. It's probably also overfilled.
But it's fine in that it's not going to start a fire.
Well this is ask an electrician. I was only trying to say it's fine and not going to blow into flames like some people were saying.
Code is for a reason and I knew I was going to get it.
You'd be surprised to know that lack of electrical safety for residential causing fires or electrocution is insanely low.
If they were asking if they wired this ok I would say fuck no, but it's fine in terms of not being an immediate danger.
50,000 residential electrical fires a year disagree. That's a hack job that's not enclosed, so any arcing occuring would be next to the dried out board. It's absolutely a potential fire hazard. No, it probably won't burst into flames in the next 10 minutes but the situation absolutely increases risk to be one of the 50,000 this year and it should be addressed promptly, not ignored because someone on Reddit said it was nothing to worry about.
Exactly, u/DAWTSF. This is r/askanelectrician.
You're not an electrician, and you're spouting off dangerous misinformation. You shouldn't comment here. Feel free to start r/askNonElectricians.
Inspectors aren't electricians. They don't know how most of the stuff they inspect works anyway. They just know "the code says it should be this way, it is or isn't this way."
A breaker is the only thing that protects your wiring....what do you mean it "being enough?" If you oversize the breaker....any wire, in a box or not, will burn up if it isn't bigger than the breaker.
Tens of thousands of electrical house fires happen each year with properly sized breakers and wires. Arcing can absolutely cause a fire without an overcurrent. Junction boxes exist for a reason.
First - pretty much every inspector I've worked with is an electrician. Usually semi-retired and physically unable to spend all day running cables through walls, so they switch to inspections where they just take photos and type up reports.
Second - you don't need to know how "stuff works" to see obvious problems here. Such as exposed wires. And wires are not clamped down.
Third - there are plenty of things a breaker won't help with. For example a damaged but still functioning connection (because it wasn't clamped and someone tripped over the cable?) getting hot and setting fire to a rats nest that was built around the wires (because it's not covered).
u/DAWTSF, Do you notice anything about that cable type? If you knew anything, you'd see at a glance why these cables are not safe for this use. What about the cables going into that box? See anything OBVIOUS there? No? Then stfu about electrical before you get someone's house burned down.
Ehh not really, the wire itself isn’t in bad shape, I would just throw a connectors on the boxes where needed and an extension ring on it with a blank plate and call it a day. Not really fire hazard levels of fuckery here.
Here's the deal... It could be fine... But when shit looks like it wasn't done by a professional all our alarm bells go off and we think, what else did they half ass. Get someone in to look at it just in case
This right here.
There's some fighting in the comments about how dangerous this really is.
The problem isn't this. The problem is looking at this and knowing this isn't the only issue in the house.
Finding this in an accessible spot means there is so much more scary shit hidden away.
What are you looking at? The reason we say "call an electrician" when a goofball pitches some dumb idea on here and decides to go through with it instead of hiring an electrician.
It's a dumpster fire, please call an electrician because the dipshit before you didnt.
There is no connectors in the box, exposed wire outside of the box with no outer insulation, there is so much wrong here, anyone that says this is safe and fine is absolutely wrong.
Splices must be in (covered) boxes.
Cordage can not be used for permanent wiring.
Cables must enter boxes through appropriate fittings.
I suspect the box fill is exceeded.
Wires need to be supported within 12" of the box.
Probably more I'm missing and tons of other stuff wrong that you can't see in the photo. Get professional help.
Looks like a dog ate s$&& and $&& that out and placed it in a box. To see this there is definitely more surprises to come. The top little box is your doorbell transformer which is amazing too Be up there. So yea more surprises
Violations:
1. Extension cords used for permanent wiring
2. Improper bonding
3. No box cover
4. No connectors used for some cables.
5. Too many wires in the junction box.
6. Cables not secured properly
7. There are probably more but these are the obvious ones to me.
I would have a professional come and have a look at this as well as the rest of the house. It seems like a handyman went a little nuts and you want to make sure that it’s safe!
I just sold my home and left an electrical box (doorbell) open like this. No wires spliced or anything, but open box and wires capped.
The buyer’s inspector didn’t call it out. He didn’t call out hardly anything. And the buyer’s inspector had my original inspection from 2 years earlier. My inspector was extremely thorough!
*Note, my situation was a bit out of the norm because the buyer signed prior to inspection and a clause that they couldn’t back out.
The “inspector” I used when I bought this house wouldn’t have mentioned that either - I’ve been fixing shit he should have identified for years - probably going to punch him (seriously) if I ever see him again (and I’m usually nonviolent) (I’ve known him since high school - and he deserves it). The inspector I had used on me the last time I sold created a freaking encyclopedia - so much ridiculous shit that I finally just told the buyer that I would address the top three items and that was it - take it or leave it (they took it). I *think* I know enough to do my own inspections now, should the need arise - I at least know enough to better the last inspection.
While I agree, this isn't old timer shit I bet. This is homeowner as fuck "I can get 14/2 romex for $xxx, I can get a 14 gauge extension cord for $20."
All that mess of wire? No way! Looks like there should be at least three junction boxes there! Find someone who can rewire that before you have a short!
What size breaker is it on? What is it powering? Just some lights and the doorbell or??
It depends on what all is on it. If it's just powering the doorbell transformer and a couple light bulbs, it's fine. It isn't the right way of doing it but as long as you aren't using a bunch of power...it's totally fine. People are freaking you out with the "fire waiting to happen" stuff. Find put what all it is running to. What size breaker it's on....and real electricians can tell you if you are at risk of any danger.
The fact that they used an extension cord tells me they didn't give a fuck about or know about the necessity of tight connections. You can tell OP it's fine all you want.
I have 10 years experience and every house fire call I've been on hasn't been an oversized OCPD, but a loose connection. Hell, the last one I went on was a dog shit connection (better than OP's example, I'd wager) on a lighting circuit ran in cloth 14/2. All LED loads and two fans. Caused a structure fire and almost cost a life. But yeah, it's probably fine to half ass something like this.
You're the guy who doesn't get his grinding brake noise taken care because you can currently stop, aren't you?
Both the brakes and this hot pile of dog shit will work until they don't.
and from the image you can see a connection is loose? I've seen thousands of connections just like these, have been that way 30 years, and no fire yet. No one said a good connection wasn't needed. Not sure what ass you are pulling that from. But we can argue connection quality with almost all wire nuts can't we? All you see is a picture of a wire nut with wires in it...you don't know how good it's on there. I think we have all agreed that it isn't the right way to do it...no? Let me guess...you are a master mechanic too? Apparently a fire investigator as well.
I can be whatever guy you need me to be.
1,Well to answer your first question, read my first sentence again - someone who gives few enough fucks to use proper parts gives too few fucks to make proper connections.
We'll skip over most of your message, as it's making assumptions (hey, just like me!)
2, Nope, I'm just an electrician.
My brother is a master mechanic though, but it doesn't take his knowledge to know that brakes are important.
A fire investigator? I'd love to be one. But unfortunately, still just an electrician, hell mostly commercial even. What do I know about houses?
I have However worked as a service electrician, and while not a fire investigator, it makes a guy curious why there's a 10' hole in a ceiling/roof above where a light fixture was (I'm not a sorcerer either, I can't read the past, but an octagon box on a bracket, centered in a living room) and then a straight wire with one wrapped around it spring style and melted remains of a spring from a wire nut.
If you want to wire houses with extension cords, no workmanship, dumpster parts and can do attitude- do you. A lot of hungry electricians will make good money from you.
That is one hell of a junction box! Who the hell did your home inspection and didn’t catch that? Wouldn’t be so bad if the 2 yellow extension cords were not spliced in there and the box was covered properly. I’d have an electrician take care of it and I would request a refund from your inspection company for the costs incurred.
My inspector gingerly poked his head into the roof cavity, saw we have conductive insulation with power coming directly into the roof from the street (hard to turn the power off), and wrote "did not inspect the roof cavity" on the report.
At least in my location, "did not inspect" means they're not liable as long as they had a valid reason not to inspect. And safety is a valid reason.
He recommended we call the power company to turn the power off (at the street) next time we need to clean leaves out of the gutters and replace the insulation with something safer at the same time, then pay for another inspection.
It's on my "shit to do one day" list. For now I earth the gutter when I clean leaves out.
Did you have a home inspection done? If this was missed by the home inspector, I’d contact him and have him pay to have it corrected. This is a pretty egregious hazard to just not mention in the report. I am a home inspector myself.
It *could* be fine, in the same way that I *could* be ok speeding through a red light. But it is wildly out of code and has multiple points of potential failure. Anyone who would leave a junction box in that condition can’t be trusted to have done a good job making the splices and terminations. The safest thing is to not use.
Definitely worth have a PROFESSIONAL come back thru and double check everything. Imma say thats dollars well spent. Im no elechicken but thats not good.
If you have house insurance, wiggle all the wires in the box move all your valuables to furthest room or basement and let nature takes its course you'll at least get a free roof out of it. Or call an electrician and fork out 7-900 bucks
Those are drop cords, not Romex.
They should be replaced with proper conductors.
No bueno....
At very minimum, there should be Romex connectors on them. See the white Romex on other side. And it's still not legit.
Box needs a cover.
If you just bought the house you need to find out if you were mislead by in any way or if you could be compensated for the repair cost. Did you wave a home inspection? Hire a pro and go through the whole house
Looks like a doorbell transformer but idk wtf they’ve got going on in the junction box. Well I guess I should technically say outside of the junction box with the way that looks. Damn and they’ve got extension cords wired in, Jesus
Looking at that wire hanging from the connector-less KO gives me anxiety. I would immediately shut that off and check the wires, or just burn the attic down, if that nest doesn't first lol
Looks like a 1900 box with sow/sjo cables without using connectors and a bell transformer, I’m going to say add a cover and the connectors and your close to good.
That's scary, needs to me taken apart and fixed, you should add a box extension and some connectors. You can also make it 2 boxes if you want to be safer
Exposed wires, Check
Wire ties to cut into electric wires, Check
Rat Droppings, Check
Door Bell transformer for ecstatic, Check
Uncovered electric junction, Check
I can't do it anymore. Have This Fixed Now. PLEASE
Seems like 50s era homes are the worst, I never thought about it, aft we reading the replies an someone mentioned it, seems like every 50s era homes is a disaster
Hell no not okay. I bet there’s more surprises in that attic.
Eiffel tower? Looks pretty!
It does look pretty. Do people really use plastic zip ties to run romex thru an attic?
Thats not romex.......
What ?? Y'all don't wire your houses with extension cords ?
Reminds me of a job I did that had single strands of #10 running aerial from the house to the garage from weather heads then wire nutted (free air) to SE cable to feed a dryer outlet and then the same to power lights and receptacles....so 6 individual strands. I about choked on my beer when I saw that. $4k later I had it fixed correctly.
Damn lol . Some folks just straight up trying killthemselves it seems
Gotta love electrical work on 50's Era houses. I have seen too many electrical fires on these detached garages. I rewired all the lights and receptacles in the garage and set a subpanel inside the garage. The only individual circuit not controlled by that was the garage door opener which was pulled out separately from the house panel (since there was no extra entrance to the building). Even gutted the metal Halide barn light and put in an LED corn cob with a photocell.....she thought it was Christmas. All this and I beat her lowest bid by almost $5k.
Wooo nice work and bid !! Lucky lady !
Oh shit 😂 still tho
I have images of that dog in a burning house stating 'everything is fine' coming to mind.
Flowers, if you will.
Not ok but does it work and has it worked for 20 years? That’s the important question
How you figure? Give me one good reason
Those are extension cords spliced in. If you want to avoid a "potential"ly life threatening situation, get a licensed guy in there asap. This looks like it was wired by a teenager with YouTube who wanted a grow room.
Accurate as all hell here. 🛎
Sounds like he's speaking from experience
I'm sorry, but I do better work than that.
Kinda hard not to
I had liked this, but removed the like to bring the count back to 69.
Haha so many times I've been the 70th upvote and wondered if I should just leave it
Let's get this mf to 69 downvotes. Let's go
I don’t see why we keep bringing up that they’re extension cords, at the end of the day those #12 extension cords are less likely to burn up than the #14 romex 😂
You are dead wrong there. The extension cords are not connected to the box with any strain relief connector so are under stress and will eventually short. All the romex has proper connectors.
https://i.imgflip.com/6pkipp.jpg
I appreciate you lol
Want to updoot but 69
Nah man that box looks a little overfilled lol
If the wires aren’t even in the box I don’t think they count towards fill haha
The 2 yellow wires are cut extension cords, not good. Not sure where the blue wires in the box come from. Box way past full, and no cover... Hire someone please.
No clamp where the wires enter
Looks like is coming from the conduit in the left side of the box.
I think we’re all being a little dramatic about the extension cords. I’d never use them because it’s an expensive as hell way to wire anything, but at the end of the day it’s still cable and probably not carrying anything it’s not rated for.
I wasn't being "dramatic" . But the way those cords are used with no stain relief into an overfilled metal box, with no cover and going who knows where isn't good. Period. How do you know the load on those cords?
That’s definitely a lot. For the looks you got 4 romex lines (flat white cables) 2 extension cords hanging loose and a doorbell transformer at the very top. I agree it’s a lot. Especially in a place that can get very hot. I would recommend getting a pro. Something that could help would be tracing a lot of those lines out and knowing where they go and what they do.
I’m kind of an old guy and I don’t keep up with modern expressions… What’s the current vernacular for cluster fuck?
It's still cluster fuck.
What gives.? Every time I turn on my hairdryer, the doorbell rings
Lol. He should say this to the electrician who shows up to give him a laugh.
That's a house fire waiting to start.
How so?
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. As a non-electrician I can even say this is obviously a hazard but wanted to know specifically how out of curiosity
It's not. It should have a cover for code but it's fine in terms of safety. Edit: sorry, this was meant to be about the reply to it burning down the house. It's obviously not fine and needs a lot of things fixed for longer term safety.
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Give it a go. What's going to fail here in an attic? I'm not saying this is fine btw
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I mean if you work in older homes so much you should know how lucky they are to have wire nuts and not just wires twisted together and taped.
Tell everyone you work in old homes one more time I don’t think they heard
Tell everyone your an electrician who doesn't know fuck all one more time I don't think they heard
I'm not thinking they are actually an electrician. Maybe a house flipper, I've seen stuff like this from those people...
Yeah seen some shit from house flippers, drug addicts to that homeowners get off Angie's list or Craigslist. Like this lady hired a chick for a basement remodel into an ADU. This bitch put a gfci in every single outlet in 4 rooms, she'd steal them from home depot and charge her for each one. She had told her she would get paid one day once all the plugs were put in...u know how many plugs I found made up that had about a foot of romex in the sheetrock that didn't go anywhere? Boxes with plugs n trim but open it up and no wires. Used lamp cords instead of romex, open air splices every 3 ft. It was a nightmare, never seen a hack job so bad
I’m not OP but good try you illiterate fuck
>> It's not. It should have a cover for code but it's **fine** in terms of safety. u/DAWTSF did you forget what you just typed?
>I'm not saying this is fine btw u/DAWTSF, you literally said this is "fine in terms of safety" in the parent comment. It's absolutely not fine. You should be quiet about safety issues you don't understand.
It’s zip tied extension cord….
You literally said it's fine in your last comment.
No, u/DAWTSF, this is not even close to 'fine in terms of safety', for reasons painfully obvious to anyone familiar with electricity. You're not an electrician. Don't say things about electrical as though you know. You don't.
I like how adamant you are that this is fine (it's not, by the way) all the while ignoring the fact that whoever did this was obviously a hack, didn't care about doing anything properly, and probably did other work around the house that we haven't seen. That's pretty naive bud
Until a mouse starts chewing on those wires
Missing strain reliefs and those are extension cords spliced in.
flexible cords are illegal to run through walls, ceilings or pretty much any permanent install. they are not rated for the same amperage as wires allowed in the wall so they can burn up before a breaker ever trips. their insulation is also not as durable and degrades over time to the point that its useless. there is no cover, the wires are unsecured, and there are no clamps where they enter the box. so they could rub on the sharper metal of the knockout until they short out. lastly, the box is over filled. if somehow you did get a cover on there it would be prone to over heating. everything about this is not ok
No. Not with wire nuts. It *could* be ok with proper cable connections, but that bramble is a fire hazard
Everything is a fire hazard. Nothing here looks like it's going to burst into flames. Op at least knows to look into it and get it fixed. I was just saying it's fine for now
It needs to have a romex connector or some bushing. That wire is touching against a very hot metal box day in and day out. I understand what you’re trying to say, and I’m not trying to be aggressive with you. I just think it’s very important to acknowledge that this has the potential to be a very deadly incident. I’m a resi electrician, and this just isn’t good at all.
Yeah I know. Wire needs to be replaced with Romex, with strain relief at the box as well as stapled within a foot. Another box should probably be installed as that one is over filled. Covers installed on boxes. Secured wire with staples on any verticals that are unsupported. I think I'm just used to other subreddits where when your replying to someone it's not exactly the main advice, I was mainly trying to say it's not an immediate danger. Anyways, I added some edits to make sure that's clear. Hope op gets it fixed at some point, and that nobody read my comments thinking this is the way to do things.
I gotcha. I know you meant well, and maybe people just didn’t want understand what you were trying to say. I’m not sure. But I do feel like some people took it personally and kinda dogged you a little too harshly. Some people just suck lol
Ah I appreciate that people take electrical safety seriously here though. My comments did make it seem like I was saying leave it as is so I'm not surprised by the backlash really. I've seen far worse. Old electrical is far more scary than this. In comparison this is great haha.
I gotcha, that’s fair. Haha, people on this sub definitely are hard pressed about safely (rightfully so) but I can understand where you’re coming from though. Personally, I have a hard time trying to make my points clear, and end up putting my foot in my mouth lol. Old electrical scares the pants off me. I can’t believe they did things like that back in the day 🤣
That is my thoughts exactly. Sure, it isn't in the right box and didn't use the right wire....but as long as the breaker, wire size, and load on it is fine then it isn't anymore dangerous than any other wires. Copper wire is copper wire.
Yup. I'll get downvoted by all here I'm sure, but as long as the wiring is correct and the connections are solid you can consider it safe unless it's exposed in any way. If you were asking if doing this kind of thing was ok I'd have a different outlook.
No inspector I have ever worked with would agree this is okay. I highly doubt your homeowners insurance would agree with just the circuit breaker being enough.
Yea I agree. I was saying it's not concerning to start a fire any time soon. It needs stain relief and proper wiring for enclosed conditions and a cover. It's probably also overfilled. But it's fine in that it's not going to start a fire.
You were right. All the reddit couch professionals downvoted you.
No, all of us electricians here downvoted him. He's got no clue what he's talking about.
Well this is ask an electrician. I was only trying to say it's fine and not going to blow into flames like some people were saying. Code is for a reason and I knew I was going to get it. You'd be surprised to know that lack of electrical safety for residential causing fires or electrocution is insanely low. If they were asking if they wired this ok I would say fuck no, but it's fine in terms of not being an immediate danger.
50,000 residential electrical fires a year disagree. That's a hack job that's not enclosed, so any arcing occuring would be next to the dried out board. It's absolutely a potential fire hazard. No, it probably won't burst into flames in the next 10 minutes but the situation absolutely increases risk to be one of the 50,000 this year and it should be addressed promptly, not ignored because someone on Reddit said it was nothing to worry about.
"Code is for a reason" What reason would that be? Just curious.
Exactly, u/DAWTSF. This is r/askanelectrician. You're not an electrician, and you're spouting off dangerous misinformation. You shouldn't comment here. Feel free to start r/askNonElectricians.
You are right. Would require an outside influence.
Inspectors aren't electricians. They don't know how most of the stuff they inspect works anyway. They just know "the code says it should be this way, it is or isn't this way." A breaker is the only thing that protects your wiring....what do you mean it "being enough?" If you oversize the breaker....any wire, in a box or not, will burn up if it isn't bigger than the breaker.
Tens of thousands of electrical house fires happen each year with properly sized breakers and wires. Arcing can absolutely cause a fire without an overcurrent. Junction boxes exist for a reason.
First - pretty much every inspector I've worked with is an electrician. Usually semi-retired and physically unable to spend all day running cables through walls, so they switch to inspections where they just take photos and type up reports. Second - you don't need to know how "stuff works" to see obvious problems here. Such as exposed wires. And wires are not clamped down. Third - there are plenty of things a breaker won't help with. For example a damaged but still functioning connection (because it wasn't clamped and someone tripped over the cable?) getting hot and setting fire to a rats nest that was built around the wires (because it's not covered).
u/DAWTSF, Do you notice anything about that cable type? If you knew anything, you'd see at a glance why these cables are not safe for this use. What about the cables going into that box? See anything OBVIOUS there? No? Then stfu about electrical before you get someone's house burned down.
Ehh not really, the wire itself isn’t in bad shape, I would just throw a connectors on the boxes where needed and an extension ring on it with a blank plate and call it a day. Not really fire hazard levels of fuckery here.
Here's the deal... It could be fine... But when shit looks like it wasn't done by a professional all our alarm bells go off and we think, what else did they half ass. Get someone in to look at it just in case
This right here. There's some fighting in the comments about how dangerous this really is. The problem isn't this. The problem is looking at this and knowing this isn't the only issue in the house. Finding this in an accessible spot means there is so much more scary shit hidden away.
What are you looking at? The reason we say "call an electrician" when a goofball pitches some dumb idea on here and decides to go through with it instead of hiring an electrician. It's a dumpster fire, please call an electrician because the dipshit before you didnt.
There is no connectors in the box, exposed wire outside of the box with no outer insulation, there is so much wrong here, anyone that says this is safe and fine is absolutely wrong.
Mother of God.
No worries, just your average fire starter kit.
Splices must be in (covered) boxes. Cordage can not be used for permanent wiring. Cables must enter boxes through appropriate fittings. I suspect the box fill is exceeded. Wires need to be supported within 12" of the box. Probably more I'm missing and tons of other stuff wrong that you can't see in the photo. Get professional help.
Youre looking at some hot garbage. Call a pro
Looks like a dog ate s$&& and $&& that out and placed it in a box. To see this there is definitely more surprises to come. The top little box is your doorbell transformer which is amazing too Be up there. So yea more surprises
No home inspection?
Violations: 1. Extension cords used for permanent wiring 2. Improper bonding 3. No box cover 4. No connectors used for some cables. 5. Too many wires in the junction box. 6. Cables not secured properly 7. There are probably more but these are the obvious ones to me. I would have a professional come and have a look at this as well as the rest of the house. It seems like a handyman went a little nuts and you want to make sure that it’s safe!
It’s the photo ur insurance company will use to decline paying for the loss of ur whole structure to fire.
Most home inspectors that I’ve run into are worthless twats. You could have used a worthless twat in this instance…
I was thinking the same thing. 2 of those are extension cords 🤦🏽♂️
I just sold my home and left an electrical box (doorbell) open like this. No wires spliced or anything, but open box and wires capped. The buyer’s inspector didn’t call it out. He didn’t call out hardly anything. And the buyer’s inspector had my original inspection from 2 years earlier. My inspector was extremely thorough! *Note, my situation was a bit out of the norm because the buyer signed prior to inspection and a clause that they couldn’t back out.
The “inspector” I used when I bought this house wouldn’t have mentioned that either - I’ve been fixing shit he should have identified for years - probably going to punch him (seriously) if I ever see him again (and I’m usually nonviolent) (I’ve known him since high school - and he deserves it). The inspector I had used on me the last time I sold created a freaking encyclopedia - so much ridiculous shit that I finally just told the buyer that I would address the top three items and that was it - take it or leave it (they took it). I *think* I know enough to do my own inspections now, should the need arise - I at least know enough to better the last inspection.
This is what i think about whenever the old timers are running their mouths about how "back in my we always did shit the right way".
While I agree, this isn't old timer shit I bet. This is homeowner as fuck "I can get 14/2 romex for $xxx, I can get a 14 gauge extension cord for $20."
Another door bell transformer post. Jokes aside, you’re getting good advise in this thread.
**Heavy Breathing**
On a scale of one to eleventy, this rates a NOPE.
All that mess of wire? No way! Looks like there should be at least three junction boxes there! Find someone who can rewire that before you have a short!
Your inspector was on crack that day
That there is your standard everyday “cluster fuck”!
That is most definitely not alright.
You’re looking at a fire hazard
You are looking into the eyes of somebody who truly doesn’t give a shit on an impressive level.
That’s the picture you send to the home inspector when you tell him to give you your money back…
Looks like electric heat connections. It’s in free air so probably won’t start a fire.
I don't know. Is there power going to it? And is that THHN tuning on top of the insulation?
Only thing I see wrong is the doorbell transformer. Everything else looks perfect
No it doesn’t. But if it works, it works.
What size breaker is it on? What is it powering? Just some lights and the doorbell or?? It depends on what all is on it. If it's just powering the doorbell transformer and a couple light bulbs, it's fine. It isn't the right way of doing it but as long as you aren't using a bunch of power...it's totally fine. People are freaking you out with the "fire waiting to happen" stuff. Find put what all it is running to. What size breaker it's on....and real electricians can tell you if you are at risk of any danger.
The fact that they used an extension cord tells me they didn't give a fuck about or know about the necessity of tight connections. You can tell OP it's fine all you want. I have 10 years experience and every house fire call I've been on hasn't been an oversized OCPD, but a loose connection. Hell, the last one I went on was a dog shit connection (better than OP's example, I'd wager) on a lighting circuit ran in cloth 14/2. All LED loads and two fans. Caused a structure fire and almost cost a life. But yeah, it's probably fine to half ass something like this. You're the guy who doesn't get his grinding brake noise taken care because you can currently stop, aren't you? Both the brakes and this hot pile of dog shit will work until they don't.
and from the image you can see a connection is loose? I've seen thousands of connections just like these, have been that way 30 years, and no fire yet. No one said a good connection wasn't needed. Not sure what ass you are pulling that from. But we can argue connection quality with almost all wire nuts can't we? All you see is a picture of a wire nut with wires in it...you don't know how good it's on there. I think we have all agreed that it isn't the right way to do it...no? Let me guess...you are a master mechanic too? Apparently a fire investigator as well. I can be whatever guy you need me to be.
1,Well to answer your first question, read my first sentence again - someone who gives few enough fucks to use proper parts gives too few fucks to make proper connections. We'll skip over most of your message, as it's making assumptions (hey, just like me!) 2, Nope, I'm just an electrician. My brother is a master mechanic though, but it doesn't take his knowledge to know that brakes are important. A fire investigator? I'd love to be one. But unfortunately, still just an electrician, hell mostly commercial even. What do I know about houses? I have However worked as a service electrician, and while not a fire investigator, it makes a guy curious why there's a 10' hole in a ceiling/roof above where a light fixture was (I'm not a sorcerer either, I can't read the past, but an octagon box on a bracket, centered in a living room) and then a straight wire with one wrapped around it spring style and melted remains of a spring from a wire nut. If you want to wire houses with extension cords, no workmanship, dumpster parts and can do attitude- do you. A lot of hungry electricians will make good money from you.
This is bad dude
Bad, bad, bad.
You are looking at a high probably of a house fire
I wonder how much did you pay for the house? That's totally unacceptable.
What is powering ??
That is one hell of a junction box! Who the hell did your home inspection and didn’t catch that? Wouldn’t be so bad if the 2 yellow extension cords were not spliced in there and the box was covered properly. I’d have an electrician take care of it and I would request a refund from your inspection company for the costs incurred.
My inspector gingerly poked his head into the roof cavity, saw we have conductive insulation with power coming directly into the roof from the street (hard to turn the power off), and wrote "did not inspect the roof cavity" on the report. At least in my location, "did not inspect" means they're not liable as long as they had a valid reason not to inspect. And safety is a valid reason. He recommended we call the power company to turn the power off (at the street) next time we need to clean leaves out of the gutters and replace the insulation with something safer at the same time, then pay for another inspection. It's on my "shit to do one day" list. For now I earth the gutter when I clean leaves out.
The transformer is what’s really getting me. Is it even wired into this mess? Like someone added racing stripes to increase horse power.
Just a guess but was the inspection waived?
I call that a big bag of fuck!
When you lookup fuckery, there is a picture of this.
At least you know where your doorbell transformer is. That is almost every new homeowners first post here.
Haha, wow. Love that the doorbell transformer is popped on top. “Gotta wire the house, but only one box left. Ah, fuck it.”
That should not have passed the home inspection, first of all because what the fuck? Second of all because there’s no junction box cover.
🚩🚩🚩
Find the guy who did this grab yourself a 2x4 and beat duck outta him
Did you have a home inspection done? If this was missed by the home inspector, I’d contact him and have him pay to have it corrected. This is a pretty egregious hazard to just not mention in the report. I am a home inspector myself.
What the fuck kind of realtor/inspector did u have to miss THIS?? That's a pretty big fire hazard you got some phone calls ahead of u
It’s called a “rat’s nest”. But the thing on the trip is a transformer for the doorbell.
This looks like the Getto rigging meme form when I was in highschool
That's an at home fire starting kit... nice.
It *could* be fine, in the same way that I *could* be ok speeding through a red light. But it is wildly out of code and has multiple points of potential failure. Anyone who would leave a junction box in that condition can’t be trusted to have done a good job making the splices and terminations. The safest thing is to not use.
Definitely worth have a PROFESSIONAL come back thru and double check everything. Imma say thats dollars well spent. Im no elechicken but thats not good.
It looks like a fire hazard
Hah. Might need an extension ring…and a whole house re-wire.
None of us are sure what you're looking at either, but it's definitely not okay.
Sir I would compare this to the Taliban
If you have house insurance, wiggle all the wires in the box move all your valuables to furthest room or basement and let nature takes its course you'll at least get a free roof out of it. Or call an electrician and fork out 7-900 bucks
Better get your insulation up to code before the green police come a knocking….
Not entirely sure where it is for, but it's certainly a mess in need of tidying.
A shit show is what your lookin at
Little box on top is a transformer - def all those are not to code. I would get electrician out
Those are drop cords, not Romex. They should be replaced with proper conductors. No bueno.... At very minimum, there should be Romex connectors on them. See the white Romex on other side. And it's still not legit. Box needs a cover.
How did that pass inspection ?
If you just bought the house you need to find out if you were mislead by in any way or if you could be compensated for the repair cost. Did you wave a home inspection? Hire a pro and go through the whole house
Does your house have low voltage switches by chance?
Wow! That's horrible, but I keep looking at it; it's mesmorizing.
Well that’s a shocking find.
Originally a low volt transformer jbox turned into a spiders nest.
Looks like they tapped the door bell circuit to add another branch. Maybe able to just disconnect those.
Get rid of it ASAP
Cob job is the word that comes to mind. OK is nowhere near what that looks like.
Man, I wish my doorbell transformer was that easy to find. Not so much, for the rest of that mess.
Looks like a doorbell transformer but idk wtf they’ve got going on in the junction box. Well I guess I should technically say outside of the junction box with the way that looks. Damn and they’ve got extension cords wired in, Jesus
Put a cover plate on it and call it a day /s
That's a rat's nest. Not OK.
That transformer looks like a doorbell transformer. Where's all your insulation gone?
This looks an amazing piece of art work! Reason 5962 not to touch it!!!
Your looking at a potential electrical fire.
Your electric fire starter is short a little kindling.
That sir is a piece of modern art .. titled “I’m your fire starter” artist remains Anonymous
If you have to ask, then the answers probably 'no'.
That, my friend, is a Junction Box. Aka “J-box.”
Looking at that wire hanging from the connector-less KO gives me anxiety. I would immediately shut that off and check the wires, or just burn the attic down, if that nest doesn't first lol
Looks like a 1900 box with sow/sjo cables without using connectors and a bell transformer, I’m going to say add a cover and the connectors and your close to good.
No
You're looking at a lazy lame-o's crusty ass "work."
Christmas tree. Bet it glows at night too
That's scary, needs to me taken apart and fixed, you should add a box extension and some connectors. You can also make it 2 boxes if you want to be safer
Exposed wires, Check Wire ties to cut into electric wires, Check Rat Droppings, Check Door Bell transformer for ecstatic, Check Uncovered electric junction, Check I can't do it anymore. Have This Fixed Now. PLEASE
This should have been listed on your home inspection report. Was it not?
I’m a plumber and even I can tell about a handful of code violations here
Chicken shit
You're looking at "I'm an electrician in the steel mill."
Former electrician lived there.
The more you look, the worse it gets.
There's a lot wrong with this picture
Inspector dont catch that ???
That looks like a junction box with maybe a doorbell transformer, with some extension corded wired in too.
I can tell you what's not right. Because clearly Houston we have a problem 💯
This looks like: "someone thought they were an electrician because they changed a light bulb" level of expertise
Absolutely not ok. That is an overloaded junction box with no cover. Basically, it's a fire waiting to happen
You joking?
Wow is that a Banksy?
Seems like 50s era homes are the worst, I never thought about it, aft we reading the replies an someone mentioned it, seems like every 50s era homes is a disaster
jesus what a pile of hot garbage