Knob & Tube with Splices

During almost every remodeling project Levco does, especially in Boise’s historic North End, we encounter Knob & Tube Wiring. It was the craze back in the late 1800′s to the early 1900′s, it was relatively safe ( compared to kerosene or gas lamps) and it was cheaper to install than the armored cable alternative.

Knobs are the porcelain insulators that are nailed in and keep the wires from touching. Tubes are the porcelain insulators that were stuck in holes that the wires would run through.

Danger occurred when splices were done improperly because poor connections caused heat and heat caused fires. Other problems included a fused neutral conductor and the ease for homeowners to add larger fuses when they continuously popped. Heat was dissipated through open air and truly the wires should have breathing room. Overloaded circuits are not uncommon in older homes because there were no previous requirements for the number of outlets.

Proper Junction Box

Knob & Tube was a system where single wires, a hot and a neutral, were run to each outlet and switch. When a wire came close to or was required to go through a wood member, it would also be attached to or go through a porcelain insulator. Splicing was done anywhere. The insulation was carved back, the new wire was wrapped tightly and ideally soldered, and then covered with electrical tape, which,in those days, was different and called friction tape.

The truth is that if your home has Knob & Tube wiring, and it still works well you are doing OK. With age, the insulation around the wires becomes brittle and is often disturbed during renovations. Aggravation occurs when a wiring problem crops up because the connections could be anywhere.

Rough Electrical

Take a complicated three way switch, for instance, with connections of other wires anywhere in line and power allowed to come from different circuits. You can see how solving a problem could be a nightmare.

These days all connections must be made in an accessible electrical box.

What is missing from knob & tube wiring is the ground wire which is an added safety element that has been an added feature to the code. There have been lots of upgrades in electricity delivery since those early days of electrifying homes.

Since the end of World War II, electrical gadgets have become common. These days we have far more electrical conveniences (necessities) in the home, which  requires more circuits, at least 4 in a modern kitchen.

At Levco, we only use licensed electricians to provide our electrical work.

Andy the Electrician

Most electricians are fluent in the old time wiring techniques. The ones we use  specialize in remodeling and don’t mind the intricacies of adding to an existing system or in some cases ripping out the old stuff back to where it is safe and going from there.

Like anything difficult, it takes a special subcontractor who has a passion for remodeling. If your wiring requires updating during the course of a remodeling project, you can rest assured, Levco will take care of any problems and upgrades your electrical system may need. Our motto is to “do as much as necessary yet as little as possible” to make you home safe and functional for years to come.

Disclaimer: Some of these images came from the WEB. If they are yours, and you object to them being used, please claim them and I will gladly remove and replace them at once.

Typical Residential Panel

I realized this issue after a friend called. He had just purchased a remodeled home, and was concerned that his electrical panel was mislabeled. This turns out to be a fairly common problem.

What happens is that over the years, our electrical needs change and or problems occur, and an electrician is called to either upgrade or replace a faulty breaker.

The electrical paned is opened up and the circuit breakers a rearranged to fit better. Unfortunately, the step that is frequently skipped is relabeling the panel correctly.

Years ago, we had half of the gadgets that we have now. Rather than enlarging the panel box itself automatically, a first step is to get breakers that are 1/2 size. Once a panel is full you must upgrade to a larger service which in turn mandates a larger upgraded panel.

When Levco evaluates  a kitchen remodeling project, we look for ways to avoid upgrading the service or enlarging the panel to save cost, but it is often it is inevitable.

On a recent whole house project, we eliminated an electric water heater and an electric stove as well as an electric furnace.  This allowed a full panel box to have 8 free spaces.

Kitchens require at least 4 separate 110 circuits, and one 220 stove circuit. That doesn’t account for a lighting circuit. There are requirements for GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter)  as well as AFCI (Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter). These take up much of the freed up space.

Typical Fused Panel

So why is it important to know what fuse or breaker controls which part of your home’s electricity. Well surely safety is one reason. Say you want to replace a bathroom fan and it’s switch. It would make sense to turn off  the breaker that controls it. But say you flip the wrong one. This could make you an electrocution patient in the Emergency Room. (If you’re lucky)

The Trick:

So here is the trick to labeling them correctly yourself. Having two people to do this makes sense and will cut down on the running around. Cell phones are a time saver if you are out of ear shot. It should take less than an hour, and you may even have fun.

First, find the electrical panel. There may be several other panels called sub panels as well, so locate them too. If at any time this seems frightening, stop and get an electrician to help. I don’t want anyone to put themselves in danger. Open the hinged cover. you should not see any wires. If you do then either there is either not protective cover plate, or you have gotten into the panel too far.

Half Size Breakers

Make a drawing of your panel, y0u will notice that each breaker is numbered next to the corresponding breaker. (Some are fairly faint). Then turn everything on in your house, (except for your computer). Have someone then flip one breaker at a time off. Identify what that breaker controls in each area of the home logically. You can turn the breaker back on and go to the next area. Take a small electrical fixture like a lamp with you and plug it into the outlets and see which ones are controlled as well.

Hint: Usually the outlets that are controlled are in the same general region as the lights that are effected but you never know.

Single

Numbers also appear on the ends of the breakers themselves. These refer to the number of AMPS that can go through them prior to popping. There are very specific rules about size of wires and the number of amps they correspond with. Fiddling with changing out breakers to solve a popping problem is not recommended.

Electricity Can Be Dangerous

Once you have operated each breaker or unscrewed each fuse and have a good map of your electrical panel, use mail labels to transfer your information. Place the appropriate label next to each breaker (or on the panel cover if there is not room) each breaker, and viola, you’re done.

Example of good labels are to the point, and in large enough lettering to scan in a hurry.

• Front room north wall outlets.
• Guest bath.

220 Breaker

You may find breakers that do nothing. You will find  breakers that are tied together. These are 220 volt breakers and need to be operated together.

Common 220 electrical fixtures

• Water heater
• Your spa
• Your electric stove

When it comes to working on electrical components, I always recommend double checking. If, for instance, you want to replace a weak outlet, be sure the power is off for certain by using a tester or plugging something in before you get behind the cover plate.

Disclaimer: Some of these images came from the WEB. If they are yours, and you object to them being used, please claim them and I will gladly remove them at once.

Looks Like This

At Levco we normally repair other peoples problems and rarely have time or give much thought to care for our own problems. Here is a situation that happened to me recently that probably happens often to others.

My wife noticed that the refrigerator side seemed a bit warm and the freezer side was definitely not freezing.  I suppose a thermometer would have been a more scientific method of determining a problem, but I digress. The first thing I hear is ” I turned the refrigerator up because it isn’t cold enough to freeze everything”

This caught my attention because of an old Flying Pie Pizza story about the Oven Moron. When the oven wasn’t able to keep up with the volume, someone would always suggest we turn the oven up to a higher temperature. The joke is, once it is on… there is no more on, ergo the “Oven Moron”. My wife was now the “Refrigerator Moron”

Flying Pie

Our GE refrigerator is a 15 years old side by side, frost free unit that has been trouble free. Rather than call for the appliance repair man I attempted to diagnose and repair the problem myself, after all what did I have to loose. This is a big ticket item that deserves some troubleshooting, if I failed I would have to call the repairman anyway. My suspicions were two fold.

First, I recall that I had not done my usual spring cleaning in a few years that includes a cleaning of the grills beneath the unit. This is from the dust that accumulates there because the fan is constantly drawing air across the coils. This is also a good place to recover crayons, refrigerator magnets and cereal.

Second, was that a door had been left open of either side as we were full to the brim with extra food for a celebration which can cause massive frosting internally decreasing air flow over the cold coils.

The Details

Right away I removed the bottom grill and saw the obstructed fins, Ah Ha I found the problem.  With the help of a vacuum, a long thin brush and some compressed air I was able to remove enough debris to let the machine breath again. (I inadvertently got dust all over the kitchen too.) Much of the heat generated in the cooling process is dissipated below in the fins. I assumed that once cleaned, the freezer would easily freeze water. After emptying the freezer to a backup unit, I set the glass of water on a shelf in the freezer and went to bed. The following morning the same darn glass of water was there in it’s liquid state.

Frost on the Coils

The plan B for this operation was to defrost. Frost is usually melted off during a defrost cycle. However if a door is left open, for example, so much frost can build up that the defrost cycle is not able to deal with it.

I placed a fan in front of the fridge and got warm indoor air pouring onto the freezer walls and the water began to roll off quickly. I mopped it up to avoid overfilling the evaporation tray that lives below the unit. The ice seemed thick and I realized that there was  a back panel that could be removed from the inside of the freezer. After removing 11 screws the panel was off and some of the shelve brackets and the panel was out, exposing a solid wall of ice over the cooling coils. After an hour and a half the job was done. I put the food back once I could verify that the freezer could make ice cubes.

Oldie but Goodie

Viola!! problems solved, no food lost. The machine was back running smoothly and doing all those cooling duties we normally ask of it without thinking twice. It dawned on me that appliances have a huge appetite for energy and those that are not operating at peak performance are even worse. Think about what progress this appliance has made in the last 50 years.

So, in review, cooling for the entire unit occurs on the freezer side and those fins must remain free of ice to function. Heat is exchanged beneath the unit and those fins must remain free of dust and debris too. This is worth calendaring especially if you do other things like swapping out air filters every 6 months. Although not the case on my unit, many refrigerators have built in water filers that could be changed on a similar frequency depending on it’s use.

We are back in business and operating far more efficiently than before. Temperatures have stabilized and the ice tray is full up again. I realized that every time I walk past the fridge I pay a little more attention. I can now notice periods of total silence now that the fan motor and compressor are getting a break from time to time. for more reading on the subject .

As a post script…The darn temperature started to creep up two weeks out. Upon taking the unit apart I was disappointed to discover that it had frosted up again. Since I placed a thermometer inside the box, I noticed the problem before we lost any food. I discovered that the defrosters were bad, so after forking out $80.00 the new units (always replace both at the same time) were installed we are in chillin’ again FFN ” Forever For Now”. Sorry family if I falsely accused you of leaving the doors ajar.

2009 IRC

As of January 1st 2011 Boise City along with all of the other jurisdictions that adopt building codes, followed the states lead and adopted parts of the 2009 IRC international Residential Building Code. The last code was the 2006 IRC which was implemented in the same year. Plumbers use their own code 2003 UPC and electricians use their own code 2008 UEC, there are fire codes, mechanical codes, and energy codes to navigate as well. Thankfully the inspectors in this city are fantastic. As long as it is clear that they are not the enemy, they do a great job of mentoring. Why they all don’t use the same one is a bit of a mystery to me, that is another story.

Us remodelers got spared most of the changes the new construction companies are subjected to, many of which involve mechanical things like ducting and proper sizing oh HVAC systems. In fact the HVAC contractors were pretty worried about all of the things they have to be responsible for. It includes blower door testing for new homes. Seems the government wants us to have much more energy efficient homes. You can read all of the updates here or see the Boise City website for updated documents and requirements.

Areas that effect Levco include framing upgrades and lots about trusses. Including Carbon Monoxide detectors outside of bedrooms along with smoke detectors. Thankfully there are some good dual acting units on the market now. All in all I am seeing some strong progress in the insulation division as well as mandating energy efficiency as well as eliminating heat loss through shabby workmanship.

Boise City also requires us to install egress size windows when possible whenever changing out windows in bedrooms. This includes above ground applications.

Oldies but goodies

As far as plumbing is concerned I discovered something that bares a mention. I was under the mistaken belief that toilets that are the old high water 3GPF (Gallons Per Flush) usage were outlawed. “RONG” sort of. They are outlawed to be manufactured so they are essentially no longer available. This means you can’t install them in new residents… If you pull one out however, and relocate it or want to reinstall it… you are allowed to reuse it. The question that comes to mind is why you would want to n light of the water savings provided by the newer technology.

The truth is the the 1.6 GPF ones are working fantastically now and they are perfecting even more water conscious ones that work well. Initially they had problems clearing the tank and there was concern that there was not enough water flowing to keep material headed towards the sewage treatment plants. Turns out that was a myth. I just saw a .8 GPF toilet for sale at the supply house. Don’t forget the dual flushers, we just installed some that use .8 GPF for liquids and 1.6 GPF for solids and the report is that they can handle the business.

Special thanks to Perry E Paine for helping with this post

Plans Examiner II
Planning & Development Services
208/395-7858
208/384-3801
TDD/TTY 800/377-3529

Andy in full demo mode

This is the point in the project where framing is essentially done. Levco has the done a considerable amount of demolition to give access to the walls and ceiling. During the demolition we found that this home did not have the capacity for running the modern appliances so temporary fixes over the years especially in the kitchen, made for unsafe conditions.  Andy removed all of the electricity from the building to start fresh.   Now that we have a roof over our heads and a temporary power pole to run the work equipment. Andy from Brite Electric designed the switchology to work with the owners needs. Several unforeseen small issues cropped up but were resolved on paper

Sub panel

which is always less expensive. We decided to do a very clean installation of underground wiring in conduit to avoid overhead eyesores. The meter base was located on the garage and trench to a sub panel on the home. Cable was separated by a foot and placed in the same trench by Jim at Cable One Of all of the steps
I like this one because essentially all of the creatures comforts of a home are run off of electricity so it is very important to get it right the first time. I also like the fact that we are going to get to cover the walls soon to get some spacial sense of what the rooms will feel like.