Main line going to house not in conduit


  #1  
Old 07-29-16, 01:52 PM
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Main line going to house not in conduit

I've been helping my fiance fix up her house, for the last 3 years (the place was destroyed). I'm working outside and the way the electrical is "rigged up" seems wrong to me - I'm a good dry waller and a reasonable plumber, but know very little about wiring a house. The line coming from the road enters a pipe on one end of the house (at the roof), comes down the side of the house, and the pipe stops about 5-feet above the ground. The wire then wends around to the back of the house and was tacked up to some skirting (which is rotting) with some small pieces of aluminum - looks like the made some straps by just cutting some pieces of aluminum siding. The skirting needs to be replaced so, today, I removed the straps. But I cannot believe that this wire should not be in conduit. Is this a legal/safe setup (see photos):

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  #2  
Old 07-29-16, 02:24 PM
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There should be a cable going directly in to the meter socket. I'm not seeing that. Give us another shot but straight on of the area below but with the box on the right open and any interior cover removed so we can see the wiring. Show us where that cable comes from (whats on the other end of the cable).

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So us what is above your first picture. What is that conduit going into?

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Last edited by ray2047; 07-29-16 at 09:16 PM. Reason: Remove unneeded comment.
  #3  
Old 07-29-16, 04:48 PM
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Been gone for awhile......is this what you mean?Name:  bottom.jpg
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Old 07-29-16, 05:02 PM
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Got a whole lot of issues to deal with.
All that cable and wiring is a total mess.
No way should that wood be that close to grade.
Not sure what that white stuff is that was used behind that deck but it's going to nothing but cause rot sticking out like that.
A deck on grade like that is going to fail every time!
2 X's are not direct ground contact rated and there's no air flow under the deck to dry it out.
One of the many interesting things is that male plug sticking out of the wall.
A hacks idea on a generator hook up?
 

Last edited by joecaption; 07-29-16 at 06:11 PM.
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Old 07-29-16, 05:32 PM
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You're going to have to wait for the pros. I have never seen a meter setup like that.
 
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Old 07-29-16, 06:11 PM
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What you have is Type SE cable sleeved through a rigid conduit mast. That cable is fine without conduit as long as it is not subject to physical damage. Physical damage is entirely subjective, but I would say that close to the ground it might be. I don't know how it looked prior to removing the straps.

I am not sure why there are smaller cables in the meter socket.
 
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Old 07-29-16, 06:14 PM
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Not sure what to do

Yeah - I couldn't believe this mess when I really took a look. When I got here the house was full of mold, plumbing barely worked, etc. - it's been a long haul. I've done some electrical work and - hell - I can't figure out this mess! I may just reattach the damned thing and cross my fingers. I think it would cost thousands to put this thing together, correctly. As far as the "white stuff" it's called Quickwall - made by QuickCrete - and it will be covered up, mostly by dirt - it's "concrete meets bondo" (concrete with fiberglass) for making a slab look better.....and doing various other projects. It doesn't look great, but I was covering up this:Name:  41.jpg
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Old 07-29-16, 06:18 PM
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Thanks.....that's one good thing.
 
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Old 07-29-16, 06:29 PM
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I am not an expert either but if you have a friend who is an electrician I certainly would have the electrician look at it as it looks like some amateur work was done. I used to be a landlord and during that time I would ask electricians a good deal of questions. I also asked about our own house too as I wanted to learn more about electricity. During that time the electricians while they worked would talk about other houses too. So I learned a bit about spotting amateur work done by others.
 
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Old 07-29-16, 06:54 PM
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Pros, why does the SE go into the box next to the meter not the meter socket?
 
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Old 07-29-16, 08:04 PM
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I have never seen anything quite like that.

That would probably be red tagged in an instant here in NJ. If I didn't know any better I'd say that work was homeowner done. The service should have come down from the drop.... into the meter and then into a disconnect before meandering around the house.

I've never seen the POCO go thru a disconnect and then to the meter. That looks like someone did the work and a meter reader sealed it on one of his rounds.

I like the other utilities connected their grounding wire to a probably ungrounded conduit.

This is the type of pic we were looking for.... big and from straight on to the equipment.
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Old 07-29-16, 09:14 PM
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Hey-ho I do believe I see a suicide cord.

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We need this picture shot straight on. We need to see the opning in the box next to the meter clearly.
 
  #13  
Old 07-30-16, 12:58 AM
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This house is totally crazy - it's in Michigan, and it was built in 3 pieces, by 3 different owners. It was a small, cinder block house and then someone added a second story (without bothering to remove the existing roof, by the way - figured that out when I moved a stairwell and found a pitched roof between floors). Then, somebody else added a garage and family room. The electrical is completely cobbled together. There's a breaker box for most everything, and a fuse box in the laundry room for the water heater. There's one line coming into the house, from this box, that *I think* goes to the the water heater, only. The sheath covering those wires has worn away and - though you can't see it in this pic - the wires are, now, only covered by some cloth which is also wearing away, slowly. The cord you see hanging is something - I admit - a buddy of mine helped me rig up to power the house from a generator when the power goes out...which it does, here, about a dozen times a year. It plugs into my generator and powers the breaker box. The whole thing is a recipe for disaster, I know. I can post some better pics in the morning - woke up in the middle of the night, here.
 
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Old 07-30-16, 04:17 AM
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The cord you see hanging is something - I admit - a buddy of mine helped me rig up to power the house from a generator when the power goes out.
Illegal and dangerous. Do not let your friend ever help you do any more electrical. Brush against it and you could be dead. Use it for a generator with out a proper disconnect or interlock and someone else is dead. It needs to be removed immediately.
 
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Old 07-30-16, 08:20 AM
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Suicide rope!! hahaha

That's just an insane looking situation
 
 

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