Thumb and Hammer Blog

Back in March, I posted about an electrical situation I had just discovered– a junction box that was in an awkward place with a confusing mess of wires and connections that were not even close to conforming with the electrical code. Well, I finally dealt with the mess and it’s a good thing I did, considering it was yet another overloaded circuit.

More electrical mess.

Remember this picture?  Absolutely none of these wires had been touched since we moved in. This junction box was exactly as the previous owner had left it.

This box was on the same circuit as the living room and, big surprise, the circuit was overloaded.

Here is what was on the circuit:

4 living room plugs
2 wall sconces in the front entrance hall
1 overhead light in front hall
2 outside lights at front door
1 plug in the kitchen (the one that ended up being buried in the built-in pantry)
From this junction point there was a wire that went to another junction with the ends taped off.
The previous owner added a plug behind the bar in the basement and the chiller unit that ran off of the pipes for the hot water heat.  The plug for the chiller was completely inaccessible, being directly behind the unit and built into a cabinet.  That plug also supplied a power bar that the full size refrigerator was plugged into.  And there was another wire that I believe went to the built in entertainment center that I disconnected and capped last year.  Both the fridge and the chiller should have been on separate circuits, and in fact it is questionable whether 15 amps was sufficient for the chiller.

Oh… and there was another wire going outside under the front porch that went to not one, but two junction boxes. Two wires came out of the second junction box– one went under ground straight out front (no idea where) and the other, which was actually an extension cord, was exposed on the surface under the wood porch to the addition where it was then buried.  I did a bit of digging and it appears to then go under the addition, but I am not certain.

ONE CIRCUIT!

Aluminum wire to nowhere

In the course of investigating the circuit, I discovered aluminum wire spliced to copper in one of the plug boxes.  It is rather difficult to explain just how the electricity traveled through a maze of wires between a couple of junction boxes in the basement, but this copper to aluminum connection was indeed live.  The scary thing is that I have no idea where the aluminum wire goes from that point.  No matter now.  I have made sense of the maze in the basement and that connection is no longer live.  Still, it would be nice to know where the aluminum wire goes….

I feel much safer now

I am now satisfied that all the electrical issues in the old part of the house have now been addressed. The living room circuit is now safe, although I will eventually install all new plugs and wire so that everything is properly grounded.   The device boxes are the old style with the clamps on the outside that would require damaging the wall to access them and any staples holding the wire.  Maybe in the fall.  Not right now.

Safer for the plumber, too.

The main reason I took care of the wiring now was so the plumber would feel safe working in the basement.  I know that if I was running pipes in the vicinity of some of the wiring I just cleaned up, I would probably refuse to do the job.