AC inductive effect

[tangent]

Sure, any of an infinite number of things could cause a serious problem.

I'm not advocating perfection, nor do i worship the ground beneath a copy of the nec.
It's about understanding relative risks, classifying hazards, and mitigating risks.

Going out of town in leaving a building with shitty electrical, unplug some stuff and turn off some breakers.
Live there, make sure your fire extinguishers work and everyone can escape via the windows, smoke detectors work, sleep with doors closed, etc.
Run 10-3 in a buried conduit with ethernet, use a GFCI breaker or run fiber optic for a couple hundred more or just run a second conduit.

Little things inexpensive things can create big hazards. Things like: Shitty backstab outlets, not tightening screws or lugs enough, driving in wire staples until they damage the romex, accidentally nicking the wire when you strip it cutting half way through it, ignoring a hazard that keeps tripping a GFCI and just resetting it constantly, shitty neutral connections. In the case of older homes, sometimes the wiring insulation just starts to break down

 

[tangent]

Definitely a serious issue with the older back stabbing outlets. The newer style uses an internal clamp within the body of outlet. Sadly, because of the same experience from others like you not very many people use this new and improved feature.

Which has been in place for more than a decade . . .

In the USA you can still buy receptacles with the older style of backstab at the store. You mostly see the clamp style on things like GFCI outlets.

 

[Teken]

In the USA you can still buy receptacles with the older style of backstab at the store. You mostly see the clamp style on things like GFCI outlets.

Very sad to hear as this as was in the case of TonyR is a contributor of in wall fires. I can't say I've laid eyes on any such beast at any of the large box stores for a decade. Than again, I can see that being the case in different regions where there isn't much turn over in stock.

The real problem of allowing such old technology to still be purchased is the obvious hazards. Along with the fact it biases people in thinking any other (New Tech) is the same when it isn't! This was and has been seen with GFCI's as we all know the first, second generation of these devices consumed more standby power while false tripping!

The biggest problem I have with the NEC / CEC is sometimes the code pushes stupid to a whole new level! I don't recall which State it was but instead of mandating GFCI's be installed in wet / damp areas. It was mandated to be on everything including things like fridge / freezer / sump etc?!?

How many people have lost hundreds to thousands of dollars of food and basements due to a false tripping GFCI???

Absolutely makes no sense to me to see a GFCI on a fridge / freezer / sump . . .

While in the other extreme when the AFCI's first came out we saw the exact same issues of false tripping or impact to those of us using powerline technology. I see great value in the AFCI but like any new tech it must be field proven and that takes - Time . . .

Time is the victor as it has always been . . .

Time, equates to history and through history we can look back at the data and know how something performed / didn't! I don't want to be anyone's guinea pig as it relates to the buildings electrical super structure. Regardless, we in Canada are lucky because the Government is slow ass in ever doing anything meaningful! By the time AFCI's were code the technology was already in its 2nd / 3rd iteration and like the GFCI the vast majority of problems were solved.

I've never had or seen a AFCI in Canada ever false trip . . .

 

[tigerwillow1]

Leviton 15 Amp Residential Grade Grounding Duplex Outlet, White R52-05320-00W

 

[sebastiantombs]

I never liked those plug and play outlets and have no respect for any, supposedly, professional electrician that used or uses them. To me "professionals" like that are trunk slammers. How they got UL/NEC approval for such a crappy method of making a minimal connection beats me.

The new version, with the back insertion and clamp method are really good though and do provide sufficient contact area to provide good, long term, low resistance/impedance connections.

 

[Teken]

Leviton 15 Amp Residential Grade Grounding Duplex Outlet, White R52-05320-00W
View attachment 132889

Too funny 65 in stock at $0.84 cents a piece before any taxes . . .

 

[tangent]

I had to relocate a kitchen island last year and made a shocking discovery. Whatever clown wired the outlets at construction stripped about 3" off of the HOT and NEUTRAL wires and carefully stuffed the receptacle and bare wire into ungrounded metal boxes.

The worst electrical hackery I've ever stumbled on was a diy fuse box upgrade by the previous owner of a different property. In the process they'd somehow cut / damaged more than half the strands of neutral in the aluminum in the SER cable from the service lateral and tried add on to what was left of the neutral by connecting two wires with a ground rod clamp. The ground rod connection was also so bad it may as well have not been there. The SER cable was melting.

Now code often calls for combination AFCI/GFCI breakers.

 

[Teken]

I had to relocate a kitchen island last year and made a shocking discovery. Whatever clown wired the outlets at construction stripped about 3" off of the HOT and NEUTRAL wires and carefully stuffed the receptacle and bare wire into ungrounded metal boxes.

The worst electrical hackery I've ever stumbled on was a diy fuse box upgrade by the previous owner. In the process they'd somehow cut / damaged more than half the strands of neutral in the aluminum in the SER cable from the service lateral and tried add on to what was left of the neutral by connecting two wires with a ground rod clamp. The ground rod connection was also so bad it may as well have not been there. The SER cable was melting.

Now code often calls for combination AFCI/GFCI breakers.

Yes, the Internet is riddled with endless examples of DIY installs to so called professionals. At one part of the spectrum you could give Joe Public a little pass in doing something wrong - just a little. But, given its so easy to look up information, call the inspector, buy a copy of the NEC / CEC.

That gets harder as the information is readily available never mind you could just hire it out!

Than, on the other side of the spectrum you see so called Professionals even called Master Electricians even worse Red Seal certified?!?!

What do we see???

Workmanship that is so out of compliance or just ugly in terms of the final installation!

 

[looney2ns]

In my first new house, built-in 1976 I discovered the lovely back stab outlets, but I was lucky, my discovery was because some of the outlets stopped working after 3 yrs in the house.

I helped a BIL do some minor electrical work in a preowned upper scale home he purchased. Things like, replacing switch's and outlets that were the wrong color. I found 4 outlets in the house that you could turn the clamping screws a good 2-3 full turns to be properly tightened. I found three places in junctions boxes that wire had been spliced by simply twisting the wires two or three turns around each other, then wrapped with scotch cellophane tape, the type used to wrap presents. The tape fell apart when disturbed.

My sons first house, he called one day and said something smelled hot in his basement, went to investigate. Found two runs of lamp cord above the suspended ceiling, each powering a circuit with 6 75watt incandescent pot lights. Also found more cellophane tape on connections.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I found the stab wiring here when I started putting in the X10 system. All the key outlets and switches have been replaced and I'm slowly working my way through the unused ones as well since they are on the same circuits in many cases. It's a royal PITA because of furniture being in the way now, but it has to be done. The J boxes at least had wire nuts, but most of the connections I've found weren't twisted. I think I've gotten all of those already.

 

[tangent]

I found three places in junctions boxes that wire had been spliced by simply twisting the wires two or three turns around each other, then wrapped with scotch cellophane tape, the type used to wrap presents.

Never seen scotch tape before, but I have seen the old twist and tape. They at least used electrical tape, but didn't bother to use junction boxes on the coach lights. I've also found melting wire nuts on junction boxes buried in a wall (circuit with mix of 12 and 14 awg wire).

I have done an aluminum foil, dental floss and chewing gum temporary splice on car wiring before.