TLDR: If you have to go onto a canibis site, to ask an electrical wiring/load type question; then you would be WAY better off to hire a certified electrician to ask. Otherwise, you could end up in prison.... (This is talking home wiring. Not led strip/balast type questions.)
Yeah I have seen some shit in my time. Just recently a buddy of mine had me look at his ceiling fan. Apparently someone wanted a switch for the fan and the light but all they had was 14-2 wire going to the ceiling fixture, so what did they do? They used the fucking ground conductor as the neutral to the fixture and made the neutral a switch leg for the fan. smh. Make it worse it was a federal pacific switch panel, lucky the damn breaker even worked. Honestly not the first time I have seen some "handyman" pull that trick, probably won't be the last. He ended up having to pull a permit as a home owner so we could have his meter pulled and upgrade his panel, have it inspected and meter stabbed. His home inspector didn't even notice that federal pacific panel when he bought the home, shame on the home inspector (most of them miss stuff but thats a big one)
I have seen so many unsafe grow installations that it makes me wonder how more don't burn down. Even seen one dude using speaker wire to run AC power in his grow cab, saying well it's 14 gauge and it's a 15 amp circuit. No regards for the insulation rating or the fact the receptacles he was wiring aren't rated for stranded wire, when you looked at the terminals half the strands were just pushed out from under the screw. smh worst work possible. I have seen tuna cans used as junction boxes with EMT and coffee cans used to house outdoor lighting. The best is when someone is trying to run a new feed and they drill or cut a water line. Plumbers and electricians rarely get along lol. This house im living in had an arc fault breaker in the master bedroom that kept tripping whenever something was plugged or unplugged in one receptacle. I was checking the receptacle for lose connections and I found that when the contractor was doing the exterior finish they ran a screw in through the cable right as it entered the junction box. I had to run a new line down from the attic and make an appropriate junction up there and put in an old work box for the receptacle. So even the pros fuck up and the inspector missed it. Good thing for arc fault I suppose. Major hassle to do without fucking up the drywall.
So if you aren't skilled with electrical it's best to leave it to the pros. You don't know what you don't know.
Damn I really rambled on.
No, you didn't ramble on at all. I actually enjoyed reading it. Seriously!
All I've mainly done is electrical and electronics systems. Aircraft, semi trucks and automobiles, commercial and residential electrical. As a profession for over 30 years. It's obvious to me that you have for many years too. You know your shit. I have not seen you one single time, pass out any incorrect information.
Like you, I've seen some pretty wild stuff. My last one had no grounds to the outlets (or lights) in the master bedroom and office, of a 45 year old house. Turns out, someone in the past had gone into the attic crawlspace, chopped the main feed wire for those areas, and wire nutted in an extension cord, that ran over to their new attic fan. No J box. No Romex. Didn't even bother to hook the grounds back up. They also pulled power off the same circuit, to run to a sump pump in the crawl space under the house. Non-GFCI outlet that it was plugged into, without a dedicated circuit; and again, no ground present. This outlet was under the waterline that you could see, before the sump was even installed. Sump goes out. Water reaches outlet. POW! Not good....
Here's the catch- the previous owner did not disclose the previous electrical work done, at the time of the sale. SO, (around here) had that place caught fire, and someone had died; that previous owner could be looking at some serious prison time.
Much respect to you Renfro. I do cringe every time you give home wiring advice to people around here though. All the external stuff- cobs/leds/ballasts- the shit you plug in is totally good and safe. It's that home electrical that worries me. Know what I'm saying?....
BTW- Great thread Dradden! Honestly. I'm not knocking anything you've said- just trying to give another point of view.
Now who the hell is rambling??? Lol
