How NOT to Wire a Garage Door Opener

[Pipestone Kid]

The garage looks like it's new, there's no junk in it yet. Fine Homebuilding has had so much stupid stuff right on their covers that my feeling is 'they ought to clean up their own backyard' first.
The wireing wasn't even in yet. Not an excuse to burn it down, but what was an inspector even doing in there?

I think that was an inspector for a potential buyer.

 

[JDgreen227]

I think that was an inspector for a potential buyer.[/QUOT

A few weeks back in "Other Forums" I posted a pic of the horror I found behind my 1949 vintage bathroom medicine cabinet...the prior owner of the house, or someone he hired, spliced into the junction box hidden behind the cabinet. The top wire ran down to a cold water pipe. The splice they added is at the lower left of the box. GRS commented 'that is one ugly picture".

Maybe the person who did the GDO here was the same person who spliced into my medicine cabinet box?

 

[JDgreen227]

Yes, that is FOUR 14/2 wires and one 12/2 crammed into a tiny aluminum box with no wire nuts, just friction tape. I almost had a heart attack when I first saw it.

 

[Mace Canute]

Regarding the "it's an electrical extension cord so it's legal" argument, Article 400 of the National Electric Code specifically forbids the use of extension cords as a substitute for permanent wiring. The U.S. Office of Compliance limits the use of an extension cord for any single application to 90 days. So at best, the homeowner can only use that set-up for 90 days before he has to either wire it to Code or get rid of it all.

 

[CurlyDave]

Once you put a romex staple to hold it in place, it is "permanent" and subject to code.

 

[wvpolekat]

Regarding the "it's an electrical extension cord so it's legal" argument, Article 400 of the National Electric Code specifically forbids the use of extension cords as a substitute for permanent wiring. The U.S. Office of Compliance limits the use of an extension cord for any single application to 90 days. So at best, the homeowner can only use that set-up for 90 days before he has to either wire it to Code or get rid of it all.

It's ok, they unplug it every Sat night. So, it's only used for 6 days.

U.S. Office of Compliance appears to only deal with the workplace, so their standard probably doesn't apply here. From looking at their page, they seem kind of like OSHA. And, I am sure OSHA has something to say about extension cords too.

Is the NEC even "law" in that sense of the word? If I (homeowner) do something that it says I can't, what happens? Obviously, I could fail a inspection if there were one for work being done. Not sure how that is or could be applied to or enforced with homeowners. Who would enforce it? Building inspector? Fire Marshall? SWAT team? Dog Catcher?

I would bet in some form or another, most of us have some violation of the NEC. If it were enforceable against homeowners, I am sure they would have seen it as a revenue stream by now and would at least be trying to enforce it at some level.

And, yes, I am ODD and I do buck the system and question everything like this. Not just being difficult, just me.

 

[Western]

I was waiting to see the the door stay solid and the house roll up!!

 

[crazyal]

Since it has a plug on the end of it in a residence it's a state issue unless the work done was by an electrician that got paid. The owner may be risking life and property for doing what he did and when it comes time to sell the house an inspector will pick up on it a number of states do not inspect single family homes. The biggest thing I noticed was the light socket hanging by the wires.

Around here I've seen worse. I have a friend who has a meter (200 amp service) on a pole and has 300 yards of 4/0 wire that he runs from branch to branch a few feet of the ground so it's not sitting in water so when he brings his camper up to his lakeside land so he can have power without the noise of a generator. The power company looked at it and said "after the meter we don't own or care".

 

[Mace Canute]

Ok, being a Canuck, the U.S. Office of Compliance is something I have never heard of before but it was mentioned in the article I found and I made the mistake of not checking it out. Turns out it has zero bearing on this issue. (Hangs my head and apologizes)

Is the NEC even "law" in that sense of the word? If I (homeowner) do something that it says I can't, what happens? Obviously, I could fail a inspection if there were one for work being done. Not sure how that is or could be applied to or enforced with homeowners. Who would enforce it? Building inspector? Fire Marshall? SWAT team? Dog Catcher?

The NEC in and of itself does not have the force of law but many municipalities/jurisdictions do adopt it en toto for their codes (which then do have the weight of Law); they can add to or drop parts of it also.

Our Canadian Electrical Code mirrors the NEC closely but isn't identical. Here in Saskatchewan, Electrical Inspectors have the final say on what passes Code and what doesn't. If the wiring doesn't meet code, they will write up a "K form" that puts in writing what has to be changed and gives them the time frame in which it has to be done. If it's a safety issue, the Inspector can have it shut down immediately. Enforcement here is done through the utility provider. If Inspections says cut the power off, it's cut off tout de suite. I have seen some try to ignore the K form but in the end they find "resistance is futile" (usually after the lights go out! :laughing and they end up fixing the problem.

I spent 16 of my 35 years with the provincial electrical utility as a District Operator and worked closely with the electrical Inspectors. They were all very reasonable when dealing with people, but some of the bad repeat offenders didn't get any leeway!:laughing:

 

[chew]

I'll just add have fun getting your insurance money if it is found that something like this or wiring you the homeowner did caused a fire.