Douglas Hansen

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14 gauge wire can be bent with your fingertips. 12 gauge wire requires the ability to work with tools. As Jim and Jim are saying, unless you have a single (not duplex) receptacle and it is the only receptacle on the circuit, 15-amp receptacles are fine on 20-amp circuits. The feed-through ampacity of 15- and 20-amp receptacles are the same. The purpose of using a 15-amp receptacle is to reject a plug that is suitable only for 20 amps, such as you might find on a portable air conditioner.

Here's what the UPC handbook has to say on the topic: "The clothes washer standpipe is considered an indirect waste receptor, not a fixture tailpiece, and, as such, has specific requirements for its use. The minimum and maximum elevations of the trap and the standpipe allow for flexibility in installation. It is not intended that this array of rough-in and standpipe elevations should result in a total rise above the floor of either 24 or 48 inches (the two possible extremes). The objective is to utilize a combination of these options that will have the clothes washer standpipe terminating at approximately 36 inches above the floor (kitchen countertop height) with a minimum of 24 inches of standpipe. "The intent is to have the clothes washer riser at the flood-level height of the kitchen sink to prevent flooding at the clothes washer standpipe if a stoppage should occur downstream. It is also intended to be high enough to prevent gravity drainage from the clothes washer if roughed in below the water level of the washer. The 24-inch minimum is the height of standpipe required to eliminate the possibility of the clothes washer pumped waste from overflowing the standpipe." Does anyone else find this explanation rather quaint?

Kurt - we are no longer using the "protected pdf" security program for our ebooks. We have been emailing replacements for the Code Check ebooks, and for Electrical Inspection of Existing Dwellings, the large size of the file necessitates transferring it through dropbox. I apologize for not having gotten to everyone yet. I will get you a link to the dropbox file later tonight. Please send an email directly to me at Douglas@Codecheck.com so that I can capture your correct email address and send you a link. We have suspended the "info@codecheck.com" email because of massive spam attacks. Thanks

The following is a description of a new continuing education class for Realtors. I'm sure some of TIJs contributors would be qualified to teach this... New Clock Hour Class: Marijuana and the Practice of Real Estate 4 Clock Hours The implications for real estate are numerous. The conflict between state and federal laws create extra considerations. Real estate brokers should be up-to-date on Washington State laws regarding licensed marijuana-related businesses and ensure policies and practices support these new laws. In this class we will learn the following and more: NWMLS Form 17 regarding the cultivation of marijuana Red flags of a possible marijuana grow house Considerations for homeowner associations regarding marijuana Property management and Section 8 Housing issues HUD?s Fair Housing interpretations regarding marijuana for medical use Banking and lending concerns How to document income for qualification and funds for down payment when your client is involved with a licensed marijuana-related business. Is your client high? Consent and liability issues Is your home inspector obligated to disclose signs of a former grow house?

Allan Lewis took that photo a long time ago - it was scanned from a print made from film. We are so sick and tired of racoons - they tear up everything around here.

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Kareem's first book is no longer listed on Amazon. It was about Anatolian carpets, a topic on which he is an expert. He has written books on several topics, including an autobiographical work, "Giant Steps" - the title being an homage to John Coltrane, whose groundbreaking album of the same name is a favorite of Kareem's. I read his "Black Profiles in Courage" and learned a lot from it, though at times it felt like it was intended for an adolescent audience. He's also written about the time he spent with an Apache tribe, another book about black inventors, and another book called Brothers in Arms, about an African American tank battalion in WWII. Not sure if I will read the Mycroft book - I would love to see Kareem write a book about jazz.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has written a number of books on a wide range of topics, and his first novel will soon be published. It seems that since his early years in the NBA, he has been a Sherlock Holmes buff, and his novel is about Sherlock's brother Mycroft.

We're replacing the water heater with a larger one. Any particular brand we should choose? It will be a gas-fired 50-gallon storage-tank type. Thanks

John, there are situations where it is OK to have a cooktop served by a tap of 12 gauge wire protected only by a 50-amp breaker. NEC 210.19(A)(3) Exception 1 allows this when you have a large conductor (usually 6 AWG) from the breaker to a junction box under the range, and smaller tap conductors going to a range and a wall mounted oven. The tap conductors need only match the nameplate rating of the appliance, be rated at least 20 amps, and be as short as practical. The 50-amp breaker will still protect the conductors in a short circuit, and they are protected against overload by being capable of supplying the rating of the range. Of course, if you saw 12 gauge wires directly connected to the 50-amp breaker, that would indeed be scary.

In our jurisdiction, when we have a recessed panel in a one-hour wall we will "five side" the panel, i.e., create a box with 5/8" gypsum that is securely supported in addition to the 5/8" gypsum on the opposite side of the wall. We also typically firecaulk the wiring penetrations. We are not familiar with panels having any fire rating.

In recent years building codes have become much less restrictive about fire-resistance ratings in corridors. We use fire sprinklers now a lot more than passive protection. If the building inspector passed it, then apparently they didn't see any issue about the rating of the assemblies. It sounds to me like you are way late in the game for a question like this to arise. Were the locations of the panels shown on the approved plans? If so, I take it that only the building department reviewed the plans, not the fire department. If you have an approved plan, I would attempt to get the fire department to look at it. You might also try to get the fire department to discuss it with the building department. That's often not an easy task. Good luck

Looked at an Eaton 200-amp Meter/Main panel today, and the bus is coated with a thin layer of paint. It is not the "silver flash-plating" that Eaton describes in their catalog or that I see on most panels. Everything else about it seemed to look like any other Eaton panel, including the UL listing. Has anyone else seen something like this? Thanks Click to Enlarge 49.02 KB

I'm agreeing with the folks who don't see a problem here. The NEC only requires that the smallest conductor of the circuit meet the minimum size based on the breaker. It considers what is there, not what some future worker might assume. I've done several re-wiring jobs where we have replaced 12 or 14 gauge wire with home runs of 10 to reduce voltage drop. The first outlet on the circuit will have 10 coming from the panel, and 12 or 14 going to the other outlets in the room.

Somehow this brings to mind a favorite Jerry McCarthy quote as follows: The word "No" is a complete sentence.

I don't see how the two things are related. The breaker still limits the current to its rating - it doesn't care how many paths the current takes.

I once saw a small commercial building with four suites, each of which had stablok panels of the same age as yours, and which had no service disconnects at all. There were meters on the exterior, with no mains, and I was able to trace it and confirm that there was nothing between the meters and the individual panels. Bizarre - sounds like you found the same thing.

The idea that bonding is necessary at hydromassage tub motors has always been a solution in search of a problem.

I find these "Real Read" codes on NFPA's site to be more of a teaser than a workable product. They aren't searchable, and the need to scroll one page at a time is a chore that will soon send you to their store to buy a fully downloadable pdf. The settings they use on the pdfs that they sell are a great improvement, and I find it well worth the money to have a fully functional version of the book. For years, they were not customizable, and now they are. If you have a full version of Acrobat, you can make your own notes, add bookmarks and links, and do all sorts of things with it.

Jim - one of the limitations of the internet is that you can't always see when Kurt has his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek. I think this is one of them.

Marc - I think you missed the part where he said "detached building." Every building with a panel requires a disconnect at that building in accordance with 225.32. The rule essentially mirrors the rule for service conductors.

It is piped to open air. Being able to dissipate a propane leak to open atmosphere is the whole purpose of the rule. At my house, the duct is 16 inches by 14 inches and terminates on the building exterior. It prevents the possibility of an explosive concentration of LP in the basement. FWIW, ours is the largest such duct I have ever seen. Usually they are around 6 inches or so in diameter. About 25 years ago, here in Marin County, someone succeeded in blowing up a house by turning on a propane bottle in the crawlspace with a lit candle on the mudsill. The propane filled the crawlspace and reached the candle. While the fire department called it arson, some folks referred to it as a rather creative divorce settlement.

Because LP is heavier than air, you have to imagine it collecting in an invisible pool in the same places it would accumulate if it were water. California's mechanical code has an amendment requiring that LP gas storage and appliances not be arranged in such a way that gas can accumulate around them. In our basement, there is a large pan beneath the propane-fueled furnace. A duct from the pan goes to an exterior vent. Fortunately, it is a daylight basement and there was a way to run the duct with continuous downhill slope. I have seen some instances where a hole need to be bored from the basement to a downhill location, and others where it was just impractical to have a propane furnace in a basement. Here is California's code text: "303.8.1 Liquefied Petroleum Gas Appliances. [HCD 1 & HCD 2] Liquefied petroleum gas-burning appliances shall not be installed in a pit, basement, or similar location where heavier-than-air gas might collect. Appliances so fueled shall not be installed in an above-grade under-floor space or basement unless such location is provided with an approved means for removal of unburned gas."

The best city - any time of year - would of course be San Francisco.