Re: Is it worth updating the electrical system?
- From: mm <NOPSAMmm2005@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 18:13:07 -0400
On Tue, 20 Jun 2006 11:26:02 GMT, "Charlie S."
<charliestam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"John Grabowski" <jgrabows1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
When the electrician comes ask him to check the wire sizes inside the fuse
box on the 30 and 20 amp fuses. It has been my experience that smaller
fuses get replaced with larger ones to avoid the nuisance of them blowing
from overloads.
This is probably what happened. I remember growing up in the house when I
was younger and the fuses would blow out a lot.
Well that's a bad sign, if nothing changed and now it doesn't blow
fuses, and I was going to ask if there were any chance your parents
upgraded when you weren't looking. But below you say you think they
did.
If that has been the case than you should consider having
some additional circuits installed. If you have an ungrounded system with
a
fuse box, it is probably over fifty years old.
I"m not sure. I think the box was replaced about 40 years ago??? I'm not
sure. The whole upstairs is on one circuit.
This in itself doesn't mean the house is overloaded. It depends how
much you run at any one time upstairs. I had a whole 6-room, 3-bath
apartment that ran on one 20 amp fuse, uncluding a pretty big
refrierator, a washing machine, and a small room air conditioner. I
would blow that fuse maybe once or twice a year, and I think it was
when the fridge was starting and the AC was starting too, or maybe
when one was running and the other was starting. The apartment came
with a slo-blo fuse, and I continued to use that. That's meant to
keep the fuse from blowing when the fridge is starting.
The apartment didn't have a clothes dryer, an electric stove, or any
computers.
I think the most important thing is to find out what gauge the wire is
that comes from each fuse, especially the 30amp fuses.
Second most important thing would be to find out if the boxes the
outlets are in are grounded. You probably have 2-wire BX cable. BX
means that there is a coil of metal wrapped around the two wires and
that coil is supposed to be grounded at the fuse box end, then clampd
to each of the junction boxes. So iiuc it is equivalent to the third
wire in cable that has no metal covering. The metal coil grounds the
box, and if the box is grounded then the metal bracket of the outlet
(receptacle) is grounded and so is the hole in the very center that is
used to attach the wall plate. That's why they have those 3 to 3
prong adaptors with the pigtail or the metal tab, that gets attached
under the center screw.
What I don't know is if it would be legal to put a 3-prong outlet in
such a box, attaching the green grounding screw of the outlet to the
box, if the box is grounded with BX cable. Someone here knows.
As to turning off the computer during lightening, that's what we did
to save the tv in the 50's, but now they have surge protectors that
probably work better even than turning off, because a voltage induced
by lightening can jump the space in an on/off switch. Also a lot of
computers are ruined through the phone line, especially if the phone
lines are on poles. (Mine is underground for the first 200 yards from
my house, but on poles after that.) Remember that DSL comes in on the
phone line too, although maybe DSL modems have surge suppressors???
Another thing that occurs to me is that maybe stereo stuff has gotten
more expensive (I don't buy any.) but computers have gotten cheaper,
and losing one may not be such a big problem. More important is to
back up everything on the computer that doesn't change, and
periodically back up everything that does change. This will protect
you from lightning, hard-drive failure, and burglars, not just
lightning.
OTOH the price of refrigerators has gone up. I had a friend who I
think lost two fancy telephones, a fancy microwave, and her
refrigerator in one lightning storm. Am I wrong about fridges?
Because surely they cost more than a home computer.
The power of lightning is amazing, and it only has to hit a tree
nearby. OTOH, I think unplugging would still work, better than
turning it off or a surge suppressor. But of course you're not going
to unplug all the time, at least when you're not even home. Does
homeowners insurance cover lightning damage to computers and fridges?
That seems like the last resort.
.
- References:
- Is it worth updating the electrical system?
- From: Charlie S.
- Re: Is it worth updating the electrical system?
- From: John Grabowski
- Re: Is it worth updating the electrical system?
- From: Charlie S.
- Is it worth updating the electrical system?
- Prev by Date: Re: Swamp Cooler Problem (periodic shutoff)
- Next by Date: AIR CONDITIONER CIRCUIT BREAKER
- Previous by thread: Re: Is it worth updating the electrical system?
- Next by thread: Re: Is it worth updating the electrical system?
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
Loading
