Today’s horror..

[vtfireman85]

The lady said “I don’t know if this is to code, my dad did it” 

[mmi]

Sure it is "dad code"

Havent looked close yet....? Just got a truck in, headlight brake /reverse work.  The 4 corners are disconnected at bulbs ,and the 75' of 8-12 wire LOOM wiring between is  torn in 2 places.

Suggestions to patch as above??.......need the cable/fiber "repair" guy to stop for a day.

[vtfireman85]

3 hours ago, mmi said:

Sure it is "dad code"

Havent looked close yet....? Just got a truck in, headlight brake /reverse work.  The 4 corners are disconnected at bulbs ,and the 75' of 8-12 wire LOOM wiring between is  torn in 2 places.

Suggestions to patch as above??.......need the cable/fiber "repair" guy to stop for a day.

Scotch loc splices😉

[iowaboy1965]

Well at least he used wire nuts......🤣

[vtfireman85]

15 minutes ago, iowaboy1965 said:

Well at least he used wire nuts......🤣

In some places, I haven’t quite figured out what this is yet. My visit was to assess what the scope of work needed was. 

[iowaboy1965]

Well at least he didn't use duct tape......

[New Englander]

35 minutes ago, vtfireman85 said:

Scotch loc splices

Invention of the Devil! 

[vtfireman85]

10 minutes ago, iowaboy1965 said:

Well at least he didn't use duct tape......

That was last week 🙄

[New Englander]

Speaking of connectors, here is the major reason Lucas became known as the Prince of Darkness, a vast number of the female end of their bullet connectors cracked and led to intermittent connections. Some aftermarket are plated steel not plated spring brass further enhancing the image. The actual components connected by these troublesome items are good quality. I found a good source of replacements.

I don't know what metal these are but the whole block was failed:

  

[New Englander]

8 minutes ago, vtfireman85 said:

That was last week 🙄

Looks like my service panel which at least is an improvement over the burned mess of glass fuses and butt splices that was there when we bought the place. It was the only thing we squawked when we bought the old place. Oh, the outlets were 50/50 polarity. Dad code. 

[int 504]

34 minutes ago, New Englander said:

Speaking of connectors, here is the major reason Lucas became known as the Prince of Darkness, a vast number of the female end of their bullet connectors cracked and led to intermittent connections. Some aftermarket are plated steel not plated spring brass further enhancing the image. The actual components connected by these troublesome items are good quality. I found a good source of replacements.

I don't know what metal these are but the whole block was failed:

  

I would like to know the source of good replacements as I have British bike disease also.

[New Englander]

17 minutes ago, int 504 said:

I would like to know the source of good replacements as I have British bike disease also.

These guys have a nice assortment of bullets and connectors in their components section. The bullet come in different wire sizes in both crimp and solder. I recommend crimp as solder connections are more susceptible to fatigue failure especially if too much is used and it wicks up the wire. The bullets take a hex crimp tool and theirs is a little pricey They may also have a complete harness for your bike.  

https://www.britishwiring.com/

My hex crimper is like this one. I forget where I got it but is correct and half the price of British Wiring's:

[dewets]

Then folks don´t understand why houses catch fire...

Just sold our house here in Cape Town, South Africa.

For transfer to be processed at the Deeds Office (register of Title Deeds of properties) the following certificates of compliance had to be issued:

Electrical Certificate of Compliance: All electrical outlets, switches, and distribution board is inspected and tested for compliance to latest codes.  Eletrcian must be registerede with the City of Cape Town, else it is invalid.  Sparky came out, checked everything, and found one issue in a light fitting in the ceiling, and a faulty plug socket switch.  Cost to me: Just over R4000.00  (US$225)
Plumbing Certificate of Compliance:  Check that all taps, valves are in 100% working order, and not leaking, etc.  Same story, about US$225.

We also live in an area where borer beetle is an issue, so the guy popped in, checked that ALL the wood used in the roof (trusses, purlins, etc) are free from beetle 'dust', but all timber for construction must have a SABS certification of treatment.  He even checked our antique furniture and all was givien the clear.  For that: US$100..

As there is also a gas cooker installed (propane gas), another CoC.  This was also US$100.

Total: US$650..

This is so that the new owner cannot claim that we sold him a place with defects iro electrical, plumbing, gas installation, and borer beetle infested timber.

Most houses down here are built with bricks, and only the roof construction is wood.
 

[mark60]

we had a guy that wired some of his house using lamp cord outlets,switch's . metal studs. what could go wrong?

[vtfireman85]

1 hour ago, mark60 said:

we had a guy that wired some of his house using lamp cord outlets,switch's . metal studs. what could go wrong?

My great grandmother had a little farm, had sort of a hired man who lived there and he wired the house with lamp cord and cleat receptacles, one circuit, the entire house. It never burned miraculously, but was recently torn down after being bought by a neighbor. 

[Farmall1066]

If you close your eyes, it doesn’t look that bad!!

[OFFTHEFARM]

3 minutes ago, Farmall1066 said:

If you close your eyes, it doesn’t look that bad!!

If you squint its mint!!

[1480x3]

On 7/29/2025 at 5:16 AM, vtfireman85 said:

In some places, I haven’t quite figured out what this is yet. My visit was to assess what the scope of work needed was. 

Additional layer of protection for mice, takes a couple extra days to gnaw through before death. Raises life expectancy.

[Rawleigh99]

I remember the house my grandparents used to rent was wired with extension cords and lamp cord stapled to the baseboard!  Yikes!  maybe that is where I got my neat wiring compulsion from!