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Ignorant people

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2001 10:36 pm
by NascarFool
Ignorant people make me so MAD . My wifes grandmother lost her house to a fire over the July 4th weekend.(She is 96 and fiesty as hell) The insurance was used to get a "modular home". (Fancy name for a friggin' mobile home) Well, it was just delivered and set up this week. The plumbing and main electric were done by an IDIOT . The wife went up to visit for a few days. She called me and said the furnace didn't work. She asked what "five flashes" were for. (circuit board failure codes)On that furnace it means the polarity is backwards on the 120 volt line. She couldn't find the 120 going into the furnace, so I told her to go to the breaker box and open it. She turned off the furnace breaker first. (smart woman) She found the neutral, hot and ground for the furnace and asked what to do. I told her to switch the black and white wires around. So she made her cousin switch them. (Like I said, smart woman) :D He got a "buzz" from the NEUTRAL side of the breaker box. Me being 5+ hours away, diagnosed that the above mentioned IDIOT wired the house wrong. I determined that he has the main hot line connected to one side of the main, the second hot leg is connected to the neutral buss bar and the neutral coming in from the pole is wired to the other "supposed to be hot" side of the main breaker. After switching the lines to the furnace, it fired right up. Now the problem is, her electric dryer is wired to 120v not 220v. Man, that guy just pisses me off ! He is the same old fart that screwed me on repairing a heating system about 11 years ago. When he screwed me, I decided to go to HVAC school. (Now you all know why I am an HVAC Tech, it's funny what a "good screwing" will do to you.) :D

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2001 11:17 pm
by Slugbait
Aggravating story. Sorry to hear about. But you left out one important detail...






































Did she get a double-wide?

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2001 11:24 pm
by NascarFool
Yep, it's a double wide. :D

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2001 11:35 pm
by renovation
the bitch about those things is anything in the unit that is - comes with it can not be inspected by a local inspector becouse they are cover under a federal goverment inspection :(
if it has anything like the foundation,sewer and wire feed running to the house or a build on site garage the local inspectors can check !(that part of it only thy can not walk into the house it self and check anything else :( )

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2001 12:22 am
by NascarFool
Well, it was the power feed coming in. He hooked it up wrong. I have to install an A/C in the spring for her. I just might have to pay the guy a visit.

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2001 8:06 am
by d_b
Geez, what a friggin moron. It's hard to beleive that a guy like that is still in business. :( If the moron switched the wires like he did, wouldn't the ground be all fubared and a risk of electrocution be possible?

I have a friend you got one of them dar double wides a few years ago. The company that built it didn't strap anything down and by the time it was delivered the washer and dryer were thru the walls. The frig had taken out a third of the custom cherry cabinets he had ordered. Plus the jerks forgot to install one of the heating ducts to part of the house.

I had another friend who did the final inspection/repairs on modulars. He quit after a few months because he was doing more work than the guys building them.

Hope you get grannies problem straightened out. :)

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2001 8:55 pm
by Koo Koo Mouse
My Grandma just turned 94 and is still pretty fiesty too! :)

But speaking of idiots, My boss comes to mind. He 63 and has 30 years expirience in maintenance. (He says) I sure ain't seen it.

The other day hes putting a 220v plug on a piece of equipment that we moved in. (it had nothing on the cord end) Without even checking the amp draw or the capacity of the recepticle he plans on using he gabs any old plug that looked right. Luckily I caught him and told him he can't use a 20 amp plug on a machine that draws 36 amps and started taking the plug off. Then I notice he's got the ground (green wire) wired to a HOT on the plug. If we would have plugged er in, the entire all metal machine would have been live! Cute huh?

Another:
Hes into a control box and diciecds to make a change to some contactors so when one pulls in the other will too. He removes the wire that feeds the second contactor and jumpers the first to the second which is fine. In looking at his work and see a bare ended wire laying at the bottom of the box. I ask him why. He says thats the old wire that fed the second contactor. I say "Its still hot ya know if conditions are met" He says it isn't because its not connected.. I dared him to touch it and he wouldn't.. "Hmmm maybe your right..."

Theres more.. A lot more. I could write a novel..

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2001 10:50 pm
by d_b
Funny how many stupid people are in the maintance biusiness. Where I work we have alot of lighted piers with 110 volt service running to the metal light poles. These poles are attached to the pier and anchored in the bottom of the lake. One of our brilliant electricians, who was doing some work on one of the light poles, wired the hot to the ground screw. I was walking by the pole later in the day and noticed a bunch of little fish circling the pole. I decided to try and grab one and got my ass lit up.

Ain't nothing worse than being on the recieving end of a fiesty granny :D

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2001 10:37 am
by poop
Dear GOD! That's it. If I ever build a house, I am wiring it myself.

I am not an electrician, but I apparantly know more than some who claim to be.

Re: Ignorant people

Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2001 6:23 pm
by Bilirubin
Originally posted by NascarFool
Man, that guy just pisses me off ! He is the same old fart that screwed me on repairing a heating system about 11 years ago.
The question that immediately "races" (sorry Nascarfool ;) ) is how this guy is working for you again after the first screwing... :P
:B