Top Document: Electrical Wiring FAQ (Part 2 of 2) Previous Document: I'm buying a house! What should I do? Next Document: Where do I buy stuff? See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge In the years since Edison "invented" electricity, several different wiring "styles" have come and gone. When you buy an older home you may encounter some of this stuff. This section describes the old methods, and some of their idiosyncrasies. The oldest wiring system you're likely to encounter is called "knob and tube" (K&T). It is made up of individual conductors with a cloth insulation. The wires are run along side structural members (eg: joists or studs) using ceramic stand-offs (knobs). Wire is run through structural members using ceramic tubes. Connections were made by twisting the wire together, soldering, and wrapping with tape. Since the hot and neutral were run separately, the wiring tends to be rather confusing. A neutral often runs down the centre of each room, with "taps" off to each fixture. The hot wire tended to run from one fixture to the next. In some cases K&T isn't colour-coded, so the neutral is often the same colour as the hot wires. You'll see K&T in homes built as late as the 40's. Comments on K&T: - the people installing K&T were pretty paranoid about electricity, so the workmanship tends to be pretty good. - The wire, insulation and insulators tend to stand up very well. Most K&T I've seen, for example, is in quite good condition. - No grounding. Grounding is usually difficult to install. - boxes are small. Receptacle replacement (particularly with GFCI) can be difficult. No bushing on boxes either, so wiring changes need special attention to box entry. - Sometimes the neutral isn't balanced very well between separately hot circuits, so it is sometimes possible to overload the neutral without exceeding the fusing on any circuit. - In DC days it was common to fuse both sides, and no harm was done. In fact, it was probably a Good Thing. The practise apparently carried over to K&T where you may find fused neutrals. This is a very bad thing. - Building code does not usually permit insulation in walls or ceilings that contains K&T. Some jurisdictions will allow it under some circumstances (eg: engineer's certificate). - Connection to existing K&T from new circuits can be tricky. Consult your inspector. - Modern wiring practice requires considerably more outlets to be installed than K&T systems did. Since K&T tends to be in pretty decent condition it generally isn't necessary to replace it simply because it's K&T. What you should watch out for is renovations that have interfered with it and be cautious about circuit loading. In many cases it's perfectly reasonable to leave existing K&T alone, and add new fixtures on new circuits using modern techniques. After K&T, they invented multi-conductor cable. The first type you will see is roughly a cloth and varnish insulation. It looks much like the romex cable of the last decade or two. This stuff was used in the 40's and 50's. Again, no grounding conductor. It was installed much like modern wiring. Its major drawback is that this type of insulation embrittles. We've seen whole systems where the insulation would fracture and fall off at a touch. BX cable of the same vintage has similar problems. It is possible for the hot conductor to short out to the cable jacket. Since the jacket is rusted, it no longer presents a low resistance return path for the current flow, but rather more acts like a resistance heater. In extreme cases the cable jacket will become red hot without blowing the fuse or circuit breaker. The best thing to do with old style BX is to replace it with modern cable whenever it's encountered and there's any hint of the sheath rusting. This stuff is very fragile, and becomes rather hazardous if the wires become bare. This wiring should be left untouched as much as possible - whenever an opportunity arises, replace it. A simple receptacle or switch replacement can turn into a several hour long frustrating fight with electrical tape or heat-shrink tubing. After this wiring technique, the more modern romex was invented. It's almost a asphalt impregnated cloth. Often a bit sticky. This stuff stands up reasonably well and doesn't present a hazard and is reasonably easy to work with. It does not need to be replaced - it should be considered as safe as the "modern" stuff - thermoplastic insulation wire. Just don't abuse it too much. User Contributions:Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic:Top Document: Electrical Wiring FAQ (Part 2 of 2) Previous Document: I'm buying a house! What should I do? Next Document: Where do I buy stuff? Part1 - Part2 - Single Page [ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ] Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
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I bought a new receptacle and installed the same. I still have no power I suspect there could be a bigger problem,this is aluminum wiring.
I've killed the breaker and call an electrician but am curious as to what happened.P.s. there is a dimmer switch on the same circuit.
I have multiple switches to lights. Ran 12/2 and 14/3 into switch box and inspector wrote correction needed.
What should I have done instead?
thank you
dennis
Ex: 15 amp-14awg. 12awg-20amp only rule for thumb other factors such as continuous load,heating and others if you do not know the safe NEC rules then please call a qualified journeyman Electrician better be safe