Electrical System Problems

It is truly surprising to me when I do a home inspection without any electrical deficiencies. New construction, older homes, it does not seem to matter. I usually find at least one electrical problem in almost all of my home inspections. Following is a list of some of the most popular ones that are found. First is my favorite, the GFCI outlet does not trip when tested. The rest are in no particular order. Double tapped electrical circuits in the electrical panel, improper wire size, improperly sized circuit breakers, improper fuse size, reverse polarity, open grounds just to name a few. Most of the above problems can be avoided. The home owner needs to know what the potential problems may be so they can ask the right questions of installers that do work at their house. If you choose to work on electrical yourself it would be imperative that you had all the proper information. I will go over the above problems and their solutions.

Anyone living in a newer house, less than 20 years old, has probably had an experience with Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter type of outlet. This is the type of outlet that is safer to use around water because it shorts out at very small amounts of current leakage. This outlet compares the amps through the hot wire versus the amps exiting through the neutral wire. A regular outlet does not detect this. You can keep the outlets in good shape by hitting the test button every 3 months. This helps keep the mechanism from fusing. A tester could also be bought in any hardware store for as little as five dollars.

Reverse polarities and open grounds are usually the result of do it yourselfers. Reverse polarity refers to the direction that the electricity is flowing. Simply put the wires are connected backwards. Remember just because it is a simple mistake to correct does not mean that it is not dangerous. In the worse case scenario it is possible for some appliances to have their housings become live in the event of a malfunction. The rule for reverse polarities is black wire attaches to the brass screw while the white wire attaches to the silver screw. Open grounds refers to the fact that any electricity that is lost in the system should flow safely into the ground. This is usually accomplished by adding a grounding wire that is connected to a grounding post or a buried water pipe. Houses built before 1960 generally have no grounded plugs. As people upgrade their houses they generally added grounded plugs. Adding a grounding plug to an ungrounded system does not create a safe outlet. An electrician should be used to install grounding wires. Depending on how the house was originally wired it could be quite complicated and or expensive to correct. When is doubt, use a licensed professional.

Improper sizing are the rest of the problems I encounter on a regular basis. Generally this happens when more than one professional is doing work according to a plan. When an electrician is wiring a new house they are following a wiring guide from blueprints. The guide may call for a dedicated 30 amp circuit breaker for the AC line. Now if the AC unit used calls for a 20 amp maximum circuit breaker, then a mismatch takes place. A simple typo in the wiring guide can happen. The AC installer will probably not check the amp size of the circuit breaker. This is generally how this type of problem persists in new construction. Also, when you replace your old appliances with newer more efficient ones, they may have less power needs. This happens with AC units all the time. An old 3 ton unit would usually need a 35 amp max circuit, while a brand new 3 ton AC unit may only have a 30 amp max circuit. The installer needs to check the electrical needs of new equipment against the actual electrical service in the house.

Double tapped circuits are my next favorite deficiency. It seems that everyone breaks this rule. I often get calls from sellers saying they had an electrician to the work in their house so the double tapped circuit should be ok. This is just not the case. A circuit is meant to protect from over current from one branch wire that is capable of a certain amp load. For instance a wire that is capable of safely carrying 20 amps will be connected to a 20 amp circuit breaker or fuse. In the event there is an over current the breaker will shut off. When two such wires are connected you run the risk of supplying so much electricity that the breaker of fuse cannot react and an electrical fire is the result. It really happens but it can. This may be the reason this rule is broken with such regularity.

Lastly, for all those homeowners that are using fuses. I often find 30 amp fuses screwed into a 20 amp slot. I understand how this happens. If you do not have the proper fuse on hand please go to the hardware store and buy the proper size. As above an electrical fire can start.

For the above reasons I recommend that a homeowner has their electrical system checked after renovations and new added appliances. It is better to fix problems as they occur then to wait until you sell your house. I would also recommend a complete home inspection every five years as you may become comfortable with safety problems around your house.