Has to be wrong and wrong, right?

[Stephen Lagueux]

Duplex, one 200 amp service entrance, the other 100 amp.

Both service disconect bonded together. That can't be right, right?

Oh by the way, yes on the 3rd and 4th pic. those are hanging live wires. I almost craped my pants when I saw that.

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[John Kogel]

That appears to be a neutral conductor that he has spliced onto. The splice, even if it was allowed, needs to be in a service panel. It's a shock hazard as is.

It is wrong for the hots to come from one location, probably the meter, and the neutral to come from somewhere else. The black conductor needs to be marked with white paint or tape.

My guess would be that the house was originally one unit and the second panel was added without a proper permit.

Not satisfied with that faulty arrangement, somebody decided to splice in a 240 v tap and then left live conductors dangling??? Stephen, is there a lot of inbreeding in your town? You seem to get more that your share of crap like that. Any grow-op evidence?

[Stephen Lagueux]

yeah, looks like I get them all. You're right, it used to be one house where someone added an appartment to it. There was some sort of home made ventilation device connected to the chimney in the basement. I think we can say there was horticulture activity in there.

[Stephen Lagueux]

Actually, what looks like a spliced neutral conductor is actually the grounding electrode conductor. That so called electrician must have bonded the 2 disconects together thinking that this would provide proper grounding to the second system. By doing so, he merged a 200 amp service to a 100 amp. making this a very dengerous situation imo.

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[gpdewitt]

Looks like the owner is trying to electrocute the inspector to avoid a bad report?

Too many reportable items to list here, mostly life threatening.

[John Kogel]

Thanks, Stephen. I called that added black cable a neutral because it has to act like one for the the 100 amp panel. There is no other neutral conductor visible there.

I have no beef with fused disconnects, so I would tell my clients that the 200 amp side might not need repair at all, but the added disconnect needs immediate repair for safety.

Folks, use your voltage sniffer before touching the panel cover. I should make that a habit, too. []

[Stephen Lagueux]

Folks, use your voltage sniffer before touching the panel cover. I should make that a habit, too. []

Yes indeed, had many close calls and I made it part of my ritual.