homnspector

If anybody else out there is as lousy a typist as I am, there is a neat little free program that disables your caps lock key. It has made my life easier. http://www.worldinabox.co.uk/BoldFinger/

Be sure to share this warning found on a State brand water heater with all your clients, especially those with very low IQ.[:-dunce] Image Insert: 53.72 KB

"We want to connect these two types of wires as early as possible in the system and still have them be accessible." Thanks Jim, that makes good sense. Our power company absolutely requires an exterior accessible main disconnect, so there is usually no question about where the service panel is located.

No offense taken. I guess I wasn't clear about my question and am not trying to be confrontational. I'll try to re-state it. "Any panel downstream from the main disconnect is a sub-panel- even if it has its own main breaker - and it must have the grounded conductors (neutrals) and equipment-grounding conductors (grounds) isolated from one another on separate buses without the neutral bus bonded to the panel enclosure. " Understood "if there were a main disconnect at the meter, the pictured panel, regardless of the fact that it has its own disconnect, becomes a sub-panel and is therefore more dangerous because the neutrals and grounds are not isolated from one another." So if I understand this, the bonding of equipment grounds and neutrals is NOT dangerous or hazardous UNLESS there is an upstream disconnect. The existance of the upstream disconnect MAKES it dangerous. (sorry about the caps, I don't know how to do italics) Is this a correct interpretation? ""meter panel." Is that an Arizona thing?" No, I made that up all on my own. I expect they will be using it in the next edition of the NEC. [:-idea]

Jim, thanks for the clarification but this seems darn confusing, I understand the words but not the sense. If the meter panel has a main breaker, it is considered the service panel? If so, how would the system be less safe if there was a main breaker in the meter panel? To try to clarify, if there was a main breaker in the meter panel, does the pictured panel become a sub panel and suddenly become unsafe because the neutrals and grounding conductors are bonded?

I don't see where the panel is grounded at all. Brian, I think you can see the neutral along the bottom of the panel then heading up to the bus. It is uninsulated and looks to be aluminum. Steven raises a good question, is this a branch panel? Do you install a ground or an insulated neutral?

Just like Realtors, 98% makes the other 2% look bad[]

Anybody want to buy a watch................?

Swamp, you do make a good point about calling an HVAC tech. Sort of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't". I inspected a home a few months ago and got a 7 degree split on the A/C, I recommended calling HVAC, they came out and said everything was OK, the system was working fine. Needless to say, I got a call from the pissed homeowner demanding I pay the $65 service call. Funny thing is, it was a company that I had called out a bunch of installation problems on other recent jobs. Its all judgement calls I "gues".

Found this sticker on a water heater today, may shed some light on this or at least provide ammo. Download Attachment: Scalding.jpg 157.44 KB

So now we're to "If it works it's OK?" Ungrounded outlets work just fine, are they OK? I don't know the answer to the AC question, I have run into this myself. It seems there must be some reason 99 percent draw air up through the coils. My gues is it was replaced with the wrong motor. I would recommend an AC guy look at it, I wouldnt want to be stuck with the bill when it failed. You know, the first thing the AC guy would say is " the fan is running the wrong way, didn't the home inspector point that out to you? Anybody with any sense would know that. I would have him pay for this repair."

I'm with Mike, turn the blade over, the air flows the same way.

"They say the home repairs -- the lynchpin of the show -- were actually quick or temporary patch jobs designed to look good on camera." Well, thats a surprize. I've never seen any investor or homeowner do that.

Terry, It sounds like the question is whether it would be OK to install an ungrounded GFCI for protection. I would think it would protect against shocks but should trip every time you touch the fridge (would probably trip every time you plugged in the fridge), so doesn't seem to me to be a practical solution. Besides, it would just piss off the dog.

Nightlight with a timer knob? Quote must be E.A. Poe, either The Black Death or The Telltale Heart.

Man, now we have to start pulling up toilets?

"If I can reach it - and I usually can't - I'll manipulate the stat to turn them on. If I can't, it's no big deal." Same here. I usually state in the report that it is on a thermostatic control and was not operated. I also generally recommend removal if they are installed in the gable vent. They block the air flow when they are not on (most of the summer and all of the winter) and eventually fail.

Is that what they mean by a flush toilet? I have been inspecting in AZ for quite a while and have yet to see condensation on a tank, but I guess it could happen. Installing an offset flange is not too easy, especially if it is a slab foundation.

Looks like it costs $20 to read that article

Way cool! What is the little ratchet deal in the last picture on the left side of the post, is that to keep it from reversing?

Obviously its a hoist for a drawbridge.

Somebody posted this awhile ago. From this, it is week 31 of 1964 "The great majority of gas furnaces that I see are made by Carrier and sold under a variety of brand names - Carrier, Rheem, Bryant and others. These are identified by the first four digits of the serial number by week and year beginning around 1980. Before that, they used the first two digits as the week of the year and a letter to represent the year, beginning with R for 1964 skipping the letter z and ending in 1979 with the letter H."

I would buy one if I thought it could substantially cut the inspection time or if I could charge substantially more. I don't think it would do either. I'm sure it would add to the inspection time. Also may cause a lot of unnecessary cutting into walls, etc. I just see it causing more problems than it solves, even in the best hands. I wonder if you can see clients naked with it? That would keep the realtors away too!

In this case, the supply piping is copper. Only path I could see would be the water.

This has probably been covered before but I can't find it. Does a jetted tub pump need to be bonded if the pump piping is all PVC? Download Attachment: IMGP2696.JPG 47.92 KB