That Monday where every panel I opened had a hidden mess

Last week I had a service call at a house built in 1987 over on Maple Ave. The owner said the breaker kept tripping. I opened the panel and found about 6 circuits doubled up on one breaker plus some old aluminum wiring that was never properly pigtailed. Took me like 4 hours to sort it all out safe. Anyone else run into a panel that just keeps giving you problems?

2 comments

2 Comments

coran6320d ago

That Maple Ave house sounds like half the 80s builds I've seen around here. Actually reminds me of a bigger pattern I've noticed, it's like every time I fix one thing in an older house, something else pops up that was done half-assed years ago. It's like these places have layers of bad decisions just waiting to be uncovered, almost like an archaeological dig of electrical nightmares. The aluminum wiring thing is so common in that era, people just thought it was fine until the fires started happening. Really makes you wonder what else is hiding behind the walls that we just haven't found yet.

torres.leo19d ago

Ngl, that archaeological dig comparison is spot on. I swear half the houses from the 80s feel like they were wired by someone who just passed the test and figured "good enough." You fix the aluminum pigtails, then you find out the ground wire is just wrapped around the pipe, not actually grounded. Then you look closer and see a junction box that's buried behind drywall with wire nuts that are barely tight. It's like every fix reveals another hidden shortcut someone took to save 20 bucks. Honestly, by the time you're done, you've basically rewired the whole damn place anyway.