Electrical Panels – Home Inspector Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough County
Like everything else electrical panels have a life span and do not last forever.
When your panel is 25 to 30 years old it is about the time to start considering replacing any existing electrical panels. They may start to have issues like breakers tripping or some time breakers not tripping when they should. They can start to make unusual noises like a buzzing noise, lights may start to flicker or you could start to get a burning smell. Electricity issues can be dangerous due to its shock factor and potential electrocution but it also can result in fire.
You start to have electrical issues where you need to call out an electrician to handle it because it is unclear as to what the problem is but something electrical is just not working. The problem may continue to repeat until the panel is replaced.
There are a number of manufacturers of electrical panels that have a reputation for potential safety issues and an electrician is going to recommend that any of these panels be replaced. They include the following: Federal Pacific, Zinsco, Sylvania, Challenger. This would also include Fusamatic, Pushmatic or Bulldog and fuse boxes which are just antiquated. They tend not to trip when they should which results in excess heat on wires and are therefore a potential fire hazard.
Other things that can be unsafe with electrical is old cloth insulated wires, aluminum single strand wiring and tapping 2 wires into one breaker. When wires are connected to other wires often times they will be seen without a junction box. This is often seen in places like an attic and whenever wires are connected they should be connected within a junction box.
Another thing that can be done by a non-professional electrician is to put wires into breakers that are the wrong size for the breaker they serve. Breaker size has to match the size of wire that are meant for that breaker. What can happen is you have a smaller wire size than that particular breaker is meant to have. When this is done this puts too much electricity into a too small wire and it can overheat. Having too large a wire for a breaker is not a problem but too small is.
In an electrical panel we often find that the original screws have been replaced with screws that have pointed ends. This may not seem like much of a problem but when screwed into the panel if it hits a wire the point can go through the plastic insulation, create a short and spark. It has happened to me more than once.
Electrical issues should be dealt with by a licensed qualified electrician. Doing home inspections it is not unusual to see handyman or home owner electrical work and it is just not standard. Wires are backwards which leads to what are called reverse polarity outlets where the outlet may work but it can result in shorts or damage to equipment. You would not know it however just by looking at the outlet. It has to be tested. In a properly wired outlet, electricity shuts off when an appliance is turned off but with a reverse polarity outlet power can keep running through the appliance 24/7. Finding these outlets in an inspection is just a clue that there may be other nonstandard electrical wiring in the home.
Being a home inspector and 4 point inspector in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties here in Florida, the above are the kind of things that are looked for during a home inspection.
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