Had a call yesterday in a new subdivision outside Birmingham where the homeowner supplied a 200 amp panel from a big box store. Took me extra time because the bus bars weren't lining up right and the knockouts were thinner than what I'm used to. He stood there watching and said "it's all the same, right?" No, it's not the same. Has anyone else dealt with cheap homeowner-supplied gear that just makes the job harder?
I was swapping out a fan in a master bedroom around 3pm and forgot to double check the switch was off and got a jolt that threw my arm back so hard I hit the ladder and had to sit on the floor for ten minutes before I could finish the job - anyone else had a close call from a simple brain fart like that?
Was swapping out a main panel in a house built in 1958 in Akron last Wednesday. Had everything wired up neat and was about to button it up when the homeowner's dad, an old electrician from back in the day, walked in. He pointed at my grounding electrode connection and said I didn't clean the rust off the rod enough before clamping down. Told me a bad connection there could make the whole ground useless in a surge. So I spent 15 minutes grinding it down to bare metal and re-clamped it. Has anyone else had a simple thing like that pointed out by an older guy that actually made a difference?
Had a customer in Austin whose lights kept flickering randomly, turned out the neutral was shared between two different circuits but the splice was buried behind drywall nobody wanted to open. Anyone else run into hidden neutral problems that took way longer than they should have?
Was grabbing some 12/2 at Platt yesterday and this younger guy pointed to a pile of old steel 4 squares we were recycling and said it was "vintage electrical stuff." Made me laugh but also got me thinking about how much has changed. I still use those for everything in basements and garages, but probably 70% of new construction I walk into is using those plastic nail-on boxes now. They're faster but man I miss the feel of a good mud ring on a steel box. Anyone else notice the supply houses barely stock deep steel boxes anymore?
I was doing a full kitchen rewire in a house built in 1972 last Tuesday. The customer kept hovering over my shoulder telling me to staple every 6 inches even though I was in open stud bays. I explained that modern code allows securement within 12 inches of boxes and every 4 feet after that. He pulled up some YouTube video from some guy in 2015 and pointed at the screen. I finally stopped, looked at him, and said "do you want me to finish this job or follow some random person's old video?" He backed off after that. Has anyone else dealt with a homeowner who thinks they know the code better than you?
Tbh I was on a job last week swapping out an old panel in a warehouse outside Columbus and this kid fresh out of trade school watched me tighten a locknut. He goes "you know you have to scrape the paint off the box threads for a solid ground path right?" I thought he was messing with me but he pulled a file out of his bag and showed me. I have literally never done that in a decade of service work. I always just cranked it tight and assumed the threads cut through. We tested a few of my old installs with a meter and sure enough some had resistance. Now I feel like an idiot but hey I learned something instead of burning down a building.
I was reading through the 2023 NEC code book at my local supply house and found out that nearly 40% of house fires starting in bedrooms are linked to older wiring that isn't AFCI protected. I always knew arc faults were a thing but that number felt way higher than I expected. Has anyone else run into homeowners pushing back on the extra cost for these breakers even after hearing stats like that?
Was on a job out near Oakville last week and spent 20 minutes trying to get a good reading on a ground rod. Turned out the clamp was full of rust and crud right where it contacts the rod. Wiped it clean and got 15 ohms no problem. Anyone else ever fight a bad connection from a dirty clamp?
I was doing a service upgrade in an old house in Denver last month and thought my conduit runs looked pretty clean. This older guy watching me said my 90s were tighter than a corkscrew and it threw his whole day off. Anyone else ever get roasted by a homeowner who clearly knew more than you expected?
I was working a lighting retrofit at a warehouse off I-94 and used a no-name tester from Amazon. It beeped saying the circuit was dead, but when I touched the wires it arced bad and blew the tester apart. Got lucky I was wearing my 1000v gloves. Anyone else had a cheap meter fail on them in a commercial setting?
I was doing a trim out at the Camden Lofts in Austin last month and found every single switch leg was wire nutted together without any marrettes being properly torqued. The whole unit had intermittent flickering and two arc faults that took me three trips to diagnose because I kept looking for bad breakers first. How do you handle guys who rush through rough-in work and leave a mess behind?
Was troubleshooting a tripping GFCI in a Denver basement remodel, checked every junction box for 3 hours before realizing the homeowner's new sump pump had a cracked cord dripping water right onto the receptacle. Anybody else waste a full day on something this obvious?
I was grabbing some 12/2 yesterday and this older sparky was telling the counter guy he's been doing full new construction jobs with nothing but Wago lever nuts for the last 2 years. No wire nuts at all, not even for pigtails. He said it saves him like 20 minutes per box and he's never had a callback. I've always used wire nuts on my own jobs but I'm starting to wonder if I'm just being stubborn. Anyone else made the full switch or stuck in the old ways too?
I always ran 14/3 between the switches like everyone else, but I was using the white wire as a hot without marking it. My journeyman caught me on a job in Portland and showed me the code rule about re-identifying the neutral. Now I wrap it with black tape every time. How do you guys handle that white wire in switch loops?
Last Tuesday I swapped out a 40 year old panel in a house near downtown Phoenix. The guy watched me for two hours and asked what each breaker did. He took notes on his phone while I pointed at the old cloth wiring. I told him he should just call a guy next time, but he said he wanted to understand his own house. Has anyone else had customers that get way too into the details?
I had to replace a GFCI outlet in my own house near the kitchen sink. Thought it would be a quick 20 minute job. But the old box was buried behind tile and the wires were so short I couldn't even get a good grip. Ended up having to chip away tile for 45 minutes just to get some slack on the wire. Has anyone else hit a hidden box that took way longer than it should have?
House out in the suburbs near Denver. Homeowner kept tripping a breaker for their basement lights. I figured it was a bad switch or something simple. Crawled under there with my headlamp and meter, spent almost 2 hours tracing the whole run. Finally found it behind a joist where a rat had gnawed through the outer jacket and nicked the hot wire. Barely visible unless you shined the light at the perfect angle. Anyone else deal with rodent damage way more than you expected?
Got into an argument with my 22 year old helper about bonding a sub-panel last Tuesday. He pulled up the code on his phone and showed me where I've been doing it wrong for 10 years. Anyone else have a young gun straighten them out?
Been doing residential work for 7 years now in Columbus. Last month I counted up my service calls and hit 500 exactly. That number surprised me because I never track that stuff, just show up and fix things. Turns out half of those calls were for people who tried DIY fixes first. Loose neutrals, bad wire nuts, and people putting 20 amp breakers on 14 gauge wire. The worst one was a guy who used speaker wire for a ceiling fan install. I started taking pictures of the worst jobs just to keep myself sane. Anybody else keep a running tally or am I the only weirdo counting call numbers?
I spent 20 minutes on a job in Austin last week drilling into drywall anchors that kept failing. Finally grabbed my stud finder from my car and hit every strap into a stud in under 5 minutes. Has anyone else found weird cross-trade tools that save your back on commercial finish work?
I opened my old leather-bound schedule book this morning and the first entry was from a 200 amp service upgrade back in 2017 on Maple Street, and now I've got call number 1009 written for a trim-out at the same house, and it made me wonder how many times we circle back to the same circuits without even realizing it.
I always thought polarity didn't matter much until I saw 8 lights flickering and two appliances humming weird. Has anyone else seen that kind of damage from reversed neutrals?
I was helping a buddy wire his basement and he kept asking me to add extra runs for future use, all for the price of a pizza. Then an older electrician at the supply house said 'don't work for exposure, work for cash' and it finally clicked with me. Has anyone else had a friend or family member expect you to bend over backward for nothing?