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Cliff Rohrabacher
09-07-2008, 8:08 PM
So the EEEktikal inspektor was at the place to see ifn' da EEliktsian knewd wot he was doin.

My electrician is a meticulous fellow.

He put little loops at each bend where wire came through a 2*4 and burned a corner. Looks cool. I asked him about it he said it was so that later on if you need a little more give in the line for whatever reason it'd be there.

The inspector said it was required by code ( it is not in my area). Biting my tongue I asked as innocently as I could "Umm maybe they were concerned that the electrons might not be able to take the corner?"


The answer: "Yes."

I bit that tongue harder and said not a word.

David Freed
09-07-2008, 8:25 PM
Well, them electrons are going mighty fast; and it is a sharp corner.

David G Baker
09-07-2008, 8:37 PM
I didn't have any idea that the loop on a corner was code but I have been doing it for years because on many occasions when I have changed out a receptacle or fixture that someone else wired I would have to jury rig a way to get a little extra wire to add the new item due to tightly stretched wire. I also leave a little play or slack where wire goes into a junction box for the same reason.

Jim O'Dell
09-07-2008, 8:38 PM
I thot dat's wat the insulashun wus fer...to kept them electron thingys from strayin. :D Jim.

Jim Becker
09-08-2008, 7:47 AM
The electrician is a wise person...the biggest mistake many weekend warriors make is to not leave any slack. (like me when I did the kitchen which now makes fixing a fixture that's gone bad much more difficult...:rolleyes:)

The inspector, well...tongue biting is definitely indicated...:o

Cliff Rohrabacher
09-08-2008, 8:36 AM
The inspector, well...tongue biting is definitely indicated...:o

It is a mystery to me how some one that moronic could even get a job let alone one of such seeming importance.

It got even worse.

After spouting about electrons flying off the wire ( no mention of inverse Braumstreling effect) he took off after the architects drawings.

I told him that the architect had nothing to do with the interior and that anything on the drawing to that effect was merely an affectation. Which is all true.

The idiot inspector assured me that the architect was in fact entirely responsible for the interior that I had absolutely no say in any of it and that part of the inspector's job was to protect me, making sure that I got what was on the drawing. That he's watching my back.

And I'm thinking: Does God have a special place in heaven for people this galactically stupid?
Or is it the other guy who maybe has a special place?

Kevin Arceneaux
09-08-2008, 9:04 AM
In some society's, idiots are worshiped.

Belinda Barfield
09-08-2008, 9:15 AM
Since we moved into our new facility 18 months ago we have had various "electrical" problems. We've had to replace the ballast in every fluorescent fixture, most within the first six months of occupancy. The bathroom exhaust fan/light combo light no longer works, and the fan makes a wierd, high pitched whine if it runs for more than five minutes. Our postage meter does this strange on/off cycle thing completely randomly. The list goes on and on.

I have been blaming the clueless electrician who did the wiring . . . but now I understand. Our buidling is infected with randomly straying, multiplying electrons. Either than, or we're having mulitple pileups on turn three from the ones that can't make the turn! :p

Cliff, thanks to yor enspektor I now understand our problem.

Justin Leiwig
09-08-2008, 9:27 AM
Not sure of your location, but some of the smaller townships around here the inspector could be anyone from the mayors brother/son to the trashman.

I can guarantee that inspector who came out to to inspect my shed didn't have an ounce of sense when he took his tape measure to the footing holes to make sure they were 3 feet deep. His tape measure only read 33" until I asked him if he measured from the bottom of the hole or the top of the rock that was sitting at the bottom. Wouldn't you just know it that when he moved his tape measure off that rock sure enough they were exactly at 36" deep!

Jim Becker
09-08-2008, 9:42 AM
This guy's name isn't Frank, is it? He "sounds" familiar...LOL

John Schreiber
09-08-2008, 10:16 AM
. . . Does God have a special place in heaven for people this galactically stupid? . . .
Perhaps that special place is the inspections office. :rolleyes::D:(

No, I don't really believe that. I'm sure there are many many wonderful and skilled inspectors, it's just that people who check up on other people for a living don't seem to be the best people for that job.

Kinda like politicians. Anyone who would want the job should be excluded from applying.

Cliff Rohrabacher
09-08-2008, 12:49 PM
it's just that people who check up on other people for a living don't seem to be the best people for that job.

Kind of like the class tattle-tale who would leap out of her seat Thrusting an arm into the air and look imploringly at the teacher when ever there was a call for a hall monitor.

Yah the kind that is quick to take on the task of plucking the mote from his neighbor's eye.

There are two kinds of power in the world

1.) The power to impose yourself on others

2.) The power to be let alone.

I'll take #2 any day

Rich Engelhardt
09-09-2008, 6:16 AM
Hello,
Those that can, do.
Those that can't, teach.

Those that don't know, inspect.
Those that don't care, have meetings.
:D

Lee DeRaud
09-09-2008, 11:49 AM
And I'm thinking: Does God have a special place in heaven for people this galactically stupid?Probably has him booked into the room next to Lois Lane.

Greg Peterson
09-09-2008, 12:00 PM
Well, there is a phenomenon at play here. One or two bad inspectors is not an indictment of the lot.

I guess the pervading attitude is that we generally have incompetent inspectors charged with watching out for dishonest/incompetent tradesmen.

The inspector I had for my tankless water heater and main water line was a stickler for code, down to the correct color for the tracer line (blue). I had used some left over green 14 gauge wire as the tracer line for the PEX water main. He signed off on the permit but said I needed to use blue tracer line.

After doing a fair amount of hand shoveling in my yard (25 yards and counting), I've come across a few things that I would not have expected. If I came across a green wire that was buried in my yard I would assume it was somehow related to electrical. So while the blue wire request seemed trivial, thirty or forty years from now someone else may appreciate having the correct color coded tracer wire.

John Schreiber
09-09-2008, 12:15 PM
I guess the pervading attitude is that we generally have incompetent inspectors charged with watching out for dishonest/incompetent tradesmen.
An excellent point. While there are many quality tradesmen, there are also many in the trades who leave all kinds of abominations behind them. Think of what would happen to construction standards if inspectors weren't there.

Inspectors also have to walk the fine line between enforcing important factors and meaningless technicalities, and sometimes instead of Joe Homeowner, it's a powerful contractor breathing down their neck. I'm sure many default to enforcing every point even if it's meaningless just to avoid gray areas.