I did a full rewire on a 1940s house in Portland back in 2019, owner wanted everything in metal conduit. Went by last week to help with a new circuit for an EV charger and I could not believe how clean the panel looked compared to some of my newer jobs. The difference was I took my time back then, no rushing, every bend measured out. Has anyone else gone back to an old job years later and seen how your work held up over time?
I was doing a panel swap in an older house last month and the inspector pulled me aside about my ground rods. He said I was using too many clamps and not bonding the rods together right at the top. I had always just put one clamp on each rod and called it good. He showed me how to run a solid #6 between both rods and use a single acorn clamp at the top of each one. Has anyone else run into inspectors who are picky about ground rod bonding methods?
I was rewiring a 1950s house out in Renton last week and couldn't get a clear read on which wire was hot with my tick tracer. Ended up using my old Fluke 87 on continuity mode between each wire and ground, and it saved me from cutting into a live line blind. Has anyone else had luck with this trick on really old stuff, or am I overthinking it?
I was swapping out a Federal Pacific in a house outside Cleveland last month and thought it was smooth sailing until I pulled the old drywall back and there it was, live knob and tube just chilling. Had to call the homeowner and tell them the job just tripled in cost because we had to gut half the basement ceiling to run new wire. Anyone else run into something you weren't expecting from the old days?
I work commercial service in Houston and got tired of playing the guessing game on overloaded circuits in panel rooms. Picked up a basic FLIR model from a supply house last fall for about $300. First week I found a loose breaker on a 200 amp main that was running 30 degrees hotter than the rest. The customer said everything was fine but I showed him the picture and he approved a full panel swap on the spot. Saved me from coming back after hours when it would have failed anyway. That thing has paid for itself at least three times over since then. Has anyone else found a tool that seemed expensive but ended up making you money fast?
Working on a 1950s house out in Oak Park, IL. Had to swap an old Pushmatic panel for a new one. Got in a hurry, thought I killed the main breaker on the meter side but I guess the feed was still hot from the street. Touched a screwdriver to the bus bar and saw a flash that made me jump back three feet. Melted the tip off my Klein. Nobody got hurt but my foreman chewed me out for a solid ten minutes. Now I double check with a tick tracer every time. You guys ever get complacent on a simple swap and almost eat it?
Working on an old Square D load center in a house built in 79. Labeling everything took forever because nothing was documented. Finally realized if I traced the neutrals by their breaker position instead of pulling apart the whole bundle, I cut my time by almost half. Had to redo a few but way faster than untwisting 30 wires. Anyone else got a weird labeling hack that shaved time off a messy job?
I spent 15 years zipping through swap jobs until a homeowner pulled out a plug tester and showed me 5 out of 7 were backwards. Has anyone else had that moment where something so basic got you?
I was wrestling with a stubborn grounding bus bar in a 20 year old panel and one of the screws just wouldn't bite anymore. Remembered that old saying from a guy I worked with in Denver, backed it off a bit, and it held fine. Has anyone else found that trick actually works on old equipment or is it just luck?
I spent 3 hours last Tuesday trying to figure out why the upstairs smoke detector kept chirping, turned out the old wiring was just too long and a simple 6 inch jumper fixed it, has anyone else found a weird fix like that for something simple?
Was reading the fine print on a box of Ideal wire nuts yesterday and it says right there that standard ones aren't rated for wet locations. Been using them outside for years on lighting fixtures and landscape stuff. Gonna swap to silicone-filled ones for outdoor stuff from now on. Anyone else miss this in their code book?
I was rewiring a 1920s schoolhouse near Dayton back in 2018, and the whole place still had live knob and tube hidden in the attic with new insulation packed right on top. Almost got a real shock when I went to pull a junction box because the insulation had baked the wires brittle. Any of you run into hidden old wiring that looked fine but was actually dangerous?
I was working in a 40 year old house in Cleveland last week and kept getting a ground fault reading on the kitchen circuit. Triple checked every outlet and switch, swapped breakers, even pulled out the multimeter. Finally found a backstabbed neutral that had worked itself loose in a ceiling junction box above the drywall. What's the longest you've spent troubleshooting something that had a simple fix?
It was a rough Friday afternoon at a job site near Richmond. We were doing a whole house rewire and I was zipping those screws down fast with my trusty impact driver. He pulled me aside and said I was cracking the plastic tabs on the receptacles. He made me grab his handheld screwdriver for the rest of the day. I was annoyed at first but now I only use a regular drill on low speed for outlets, no more cracked tabs. Has anyone else had a foreman call them out on a small habit like that?
I was running EMT on this old building off Market Street in Philly last Tuesday, and my usual method of measuring and bending each offset separately was taking forever. On a whim, I tried chaining all my bends together on one stick before cutting anything, and it lined up perfect first try on the third floor. Now I’m wondering if that’s a legit speed trick or just dumb luck - has anyone else tried grouping bends on a single conduit run before cutting?
I was running 3/4 EMT in a parking garage near downtown Denver and kept fighting with my offsets. An older guy named Pete who's been in the trade 40 years walks over and says "you're bending too close to the shoe." He showed me to pull back about 2 inches and use a different foot pressure. Saved me at least 20 minutes on the next run and my bends looked way cleaner. Has anyone else picked up a small trick like that from a seasoned guy that just clicks?
I was doing a service call in a 1950s house in Portland last month. A retired electrician was watching me work on his basement lights. He said "real electricians don't trust those plastic connectors." I told him they're UL listed and passed code. He just shook his head and walked off. Has anyone else dealt with old school guys who hate new methods?
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.