Uuug! Customer said previous homeowner was an engineer.
My father was an aerospace engineer with masters degrees in physics and electrical engineering. And a licensed electrician that did commercial work. When I was going through the house getting it ready to sell after he passed away… well, this would be better than some of the stuff I found. I believe one of his favorite sayings was: “It’s only 120 volts; what’s it gonna do?” I can only hope that he did better quality stuff for his customers.
Never buy a mechanics car or an electrician/plumbers house.
Knowing exactly what you can get away with is a dangerous thing.
Cuz it doesnt apply to other yous.
I just don’t get how people do this tho. I bought a house in September and I started swapping out the living room devices. Not one single device was grounded. Ended up going through the whole entire house and made sure everything was grounded. One of the 3 way terminals was melted and the wire came right out when I pulled it out.
ITS STORY TIME
Helping a buddy now on a reno a 170+yr old log cabin, from what we gather, there's 3 add-ons to the main house structure, an "outdoor kitchen" (with an additional 2d floor with a VERY CREEPY.. nursary? Clown/circus wallpaper. Very early 1920's ish vibe to it's "last" update, what would have been its own solo room then encapsulated along with its external stairs enclosed to make a woodroom/inside entrance.. but it was done in the 20's with the "outdoor kitchen" getting a "modern" facade (to hide things) update sometime in the 30's.. sometime in the 50's, they got power. Knot and tube. But power. a step up from the treatment the barns got..
Then a "modern" power upgrade sometime in the "late 60's" (60A pony panels EVERYWHERE, 240v bare wires running 300m via original poles STILL)
Then.. the 80's rolls around, in comes our landlords dad. (It's the family farm, they've always lived there) SO.. MUCH CHEATING ON THINGS TO HIDE IT WITH VINYL SIDING..
The 3rd and last of the rooms was 100% Bob Villa'd into existence but your "this old Homer" used 14/2 and spliced into both knot and tube, 12/2 tar-paper and leather embedded in plaster, ungrounded EVERYTHING....
insulation gloves, hammer and more importantly, insulated "Demo-grade 300A Fuseblade" (big ass knife to cut mains FAST) required, but it's been a leaning experience in past leaning experiences.
Sheesh cmon was expecting a decent story instead of rambling on about additions.
Where’s the tl;dr mr ITS STORY TIME?
Sorry, Long winded rambles about mix and match wiring over centuries is the best I got for that place that I can speak of (in public)
Mechanics cars are fine. It’s the cars mechanics sell that are a problem. :p
Nope, the problem on your own stuff is, that you know how far you can push things out without it getting too unsafe.
Electrician here. Everything at customers houses done to code, whatever is safe and practical is done at home.
Yeah, had this in my old company, when skilled professionals get creative, you get really, really messy cabinets, from wild bushes of cable, over unmarked breakers to randomly hanging wagos you find everything... As there's of course no documentation, I made myself a breaker finder aka a Schuko-plug with a 2.5mm² bridge and I always let it in the socket as nobody cared about the tape over the breaker and the cabinet was at the other side of the building.
I was a mechanic for 9-10 years. You don’t think our shit has the check engine light on?? Let me put it this way “a chef worked 10 hours in a hot ass kitchen, getting swamp ass for hours, last thing they want to do when they get home is cook”
I say this to my girl when she ask about doing lights and stuff at the house. Some days I do it. Some days I don’t want to electrical anymore.
Cue obligatory drum rimshot! 🥁
Words to live by.
Buddy of mine is a mechanic, his car looks nice on the outside, inside it's a Frankensteined hell beast assembled of its near cousins and kept together with self tapping screws and electrical tape.
Where we you when I bought my house off the TWO plumbing inspector 2 years ago 😭😭😭
Or a contractors house for that matter.
A construction or landscaping work truck should be avoided like the plague. Its been ridden hard and put away wet.
Not just sparkies and turdherders. Any tradesman's house. I'm a GC and wouldn't buy another GC's own house without talking to him. We know all the tricks get away with it not being to code.
Honestly I wouldn't buy a house that has anything installed since 1985 because I would be paying more for stuff I'm just going to throw out. I buy a location and a solid foundation the rest is moving or getting tossed.
I’m going to create a Winchester house of Caseta and radiora3 slaves and sell it heheheh
I would prefer a mechanics vehicle. Anyone who buys my vehicles are extremely lucky and in for a long life and great ride unfortunately you’re right about that and many simply don’t have the time. They cut corners and do dumb stuff like pad slapping. I left the automotive industry because of a lack of training and went to light heavy equipment, mechanized equipment. They train us nonstop in this field.
My stepfather's favorite line was always "120 only kills pussies"
Me and 120 both brother
How’s his heart condition?
Heart is good, he did have a spout of ass cancer tho. He worked industrial
Well, whatever he was doing with those wires is none of our business.
One of the old guys that works for me checks if it's on by touching it. SMH.
had an electrical engineer happily verify that, yes, it was he who "made the circuit work" and buried wirenutted splice (not even a box) inside the wall during a bathroom reno we did. Nice.
“What are you gonna do, electrocute me?”
-quote from man electrocuted
Did he work for Boeing? That would explain a lot
No, but I can’t imagine his attitude was unique in the industry.
I work in aerospace on an engineering team. Now I’m not officially an engineer myself as I don’t have a degree, but my job title is manufacturing engineer technician. So I do a decent amount of engineering work. Making fixtures, writing work instructions, troubleshooting parts that fail test, you get the idea. If I could tell you how many times people complain about the lead engineer I work directly with who has a masters degree, Id be writing a goddamn novel. He is not alone. There are quite a few individuals on my team who are astoundingly lazy and are just bad engineers in general. It’s the same in any industry. Some people just do not give a fuck and just want to collect the highest paycheck for the most minimal amount of work.
He probably was so conscientious with his work that by the time he got to doing things for himself he was out of patience and just threw things together.
Could be and why not give him the benefit of doubt. Thank you for your charitable take.
User deleted comment
2d
Dad used to say “you’re not a real electrician if you don’t get zapped a couple of times a week.” I’d say “you can’t be real bright if you’re getting zapped every week.”
That’s assuming the engineer did his own electrical work….
"only an engineer can make it barely work."
I am an engineer, I make sure that I follow the code all the time, this is just lazy ass shit here.
Engineered to fail would you say?
Well.... it works.... kinda, but it is dangerous.
That's what I said Friday to a friend wanting to do some slightly sketchy stuff with his rental.
Bro what are you on that this is laziness? This is incompetence at its finest and a clear reason why being an engineer doesnt make you an electrician. Laziness is not tightening a wire nut. This is took effort to do it this shitty.
That being said ive seen licenced electricians do shit like this so having a license makes you qualified by name.
My man was a boy scout back in the day. He was trying to flex his knot tying badge when he put this together.
But it was still less effort than going to the store, or even digging around in the garage. And then it was dealt with.
I'm an engineer blah blah blah blah
😂😂😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂😂😂👏😂👏😂👏😂😂😂🤣
Nice , every engineer in construction lol
What kind of construction do you work in? Engineers are hired to create change orders, not working products.
With an engineer, it always looks good on paper , but in a practical application, it's always a fucking mess. To be a good engineer , go to the field and spend some time. Get out from behind the desk.youi will get a lot more respect and an idea of how to really apply your skill in the field.
You are probably in the United States. Across the pond they call what we call journeyman engineers
Edit to say honestly this entire thread checks out in America too though. I love all the American engineers crying about things most of us do professionally as a hobby and wondering why they are getting so much hate.
Yes, I'm in the United States. A journeyman and a master are the field titles. Project Manager do change orders. Engineers design, and sometimes, are a pain in the ass
Oh I’m also in the United States which is why I said what we call journeyman they call engineers. Idk why. But their engineers are the boots on the ground I’m not sure what they call electrical engineers, structural engineers or the lot
The full saying is: “Any idiot can build a bridge that stands, but it takes an engineer to build a bridge that barely stands.”
Occam's Razor, the simplest solution is the most correct
Regular people and even some electricians do perfectly fine at making things that barely work.
When I worked for facilities at a university, the most hacky electrical work was found in and around the offices and labs of the electrical engineering professors.
So yeah... This tracks.
I have never seen a ‘Western Union ‘ made with stranded wires before.
Back when I was new apprentice I was helping a guy pull panel feeders when 1 conductor ended up 15’ short. He said don’t do this and proceeded to make a western union with the wires and a cover it up with 10 layers of regular electrical tape.
For a ground ok but man that'll suck to troubleshoot
I was told the unofficial company motto was “we don’t do it the right way, or the wrong way but the —————— (company name ) way”.
I saw all sorts of things at that company. Boss was a tool and so were most of his employees. The worst part is he has expanded his business since then.
You ever seen an engineer do physical work?
I'm an electrical engineer. Mostly I have designed things that are built in factories (circuit boards). However, I had a boss once who had been a mining engineer before he was my boss. That is a very hands on job. As far as this post goes, I would never wire something that way. That is nuts. If I need to do some electrical work myself, I spend hours if not days online trying to make sure I am doing it right (per the code). The EE course of studies is not designed to make you into an electrician. EEs are no more qualified to be electricians than anybody else. I guess we do usually understand calculations for power and power factor and all that stuff. Volts, amps, ohms, Watts, VA, kWh etc. That is about it.
Speaking the truth. I'm an EE who just bought a house and needed a lot of electrical work done. I assessed the situation myself, called in an electrician to get his opinion, did some research, and ultimately let the electrician do most of the work. I rewired the panel to add tandems where single pole breakers were double-tapped, and that's about it. He put in a new meter pan, replaced the SEU line before and after the panel, and some other stuff.
I'll talk RF/microwave engineering, Maxwell's equations, and EM simulations all day, but do I trust myself to do more than some simple wiring? Not at all, I'll call the person who knows how to do these things safely.
I don't know why everyone have such a low opinion of engineers, I am a licensed electrical engineer who goes to site and make sure the electricians did the work right, I spend tons of time on site, and when I do my own work, I make sure it is 100% up to code.
I think it's just like anything else. Some engineers are better at their job than others. Some are good with their hands and others are better in an office.
It's the same way with electricians. Some are better in leadership positions and some are more valuable working with their tools.
I've worked with licensed journeymen who don't fully understand why you bond the grounded conductor at one location only. I've heard the phrase "it doesn't matter, it all goes back to the same place" more times than I'm comfortable with. I even had a city inspector say it to me once
Well I don't, if I have pedestrians touching my cabinets, if they are no fiberglass, then they're grounded, bonding of neutral is once, but grounding of my systems is allover the system, each pole and each cabinet grounded.
Sorry, i was using the NEC term "grounded conductor" which (in USA) is commonly known as "neutral" but is not always technically a neutral.
I think you may be confusing "grounding conductor" (which is your equipment ground) with "grounded conductor" (neutral)
Don't ask me why the nec chose such potentially confusing terminology
Well, then that makes you a 🦄
We have 5 engineers at my job. 2 chemical, 2 mechanical, 1 electrical.
I have yet to see them do anything except be in the office for 7.5 hours out of the day and maybe, MAYBE out on the floor looking at stuff for a few minutes here and there.
They're always working on "projects".
This has been the case at pretty much every job I've worked at except for one, where we had ourselves a 🦄 engineer like yourself.
You do understand that design “projects” is what they are there to do, not build things on the floor? You’re good at building and have the experience knowledge and skills to do that, they are designers and, depending on your industry, are ultimately legally responsible for the work, including your work, so they spend their time running numbers, documenting their work, and verifying that it was built in accordance with the design.
I work in construction though so not sure if your shop is significantly different from that.
First of all, the problem is that I haven't seen a single legitimate "project" accomplished by an engineer, except for 2 that I have worked with in my career.
Second, the only time they'll come down and chat with us and pick our brains on what we think is going on or things we need to change, machines that need some redesigning or improvements, processes that need altering, whatever the case may be, only AFTER one of our lines took a hit with significant downtime. Even though we try to tell them we should look into doing X Y and Z for this major issue that we keep having, nothing ever gets done about it. Just more talking in fucking circles.
It's super frustrating. The real G's are the PLC techs and millwrights/electricians. They actually put their heads together and get shit done.
Engineers are super booksmart and know theory really well, but when it comes down to it, 99% of them jump in with absolutely no field experience and think they know everything.
Engineer here who worked in the field before. The confusion happens when the engineers know what's the best solution but also know it won't be approved by management (money or logistics). The techs get upset and call them dumb because they can clearly see the better option. Trust me, the engineer saw it, too. Having said that. There are dumb people out there on both sides. You may have had bad experiences, that's okay. But you're talking exactly like some of the technicians I work with. They think we're in the office doing nothing all day. "It took him weeks to draw those lines in the drawing. What a lazy ass."
it’s from working with a lot of them
Gotta say, I've worked on dozens of engineers' homes over the years and as a rule they do some of the most "creative" work I come across. The problem is that many engineers are intelligent enough to make things work, are confident that they can figure it out, and therefore try it, but don't necessarily have the technical and trade knowledge to do it right, or safely.
Pretty shit grammar for a well educated engineer. Also, what license are you referring to, P.eng? Weird way to put it.
A real electrical engineer would know that electrical work is one of the few things that can only legally be worked on by a licensed tradesman or an apprentice working under one. No chance you're doing your own permitted electrical work on any legitimate job site in Europe or North America. Baloney engineers that wanna cosplay construction can fuck all the way off back to their cubicles.
Yah I didn't work in EU, but I work in NA, and I worked in several other countries, I do traffic signals, and a lot of tradesmen do their work wrong or half way, so I have to double check after them to make sure the client gets what he paid for, and make sure nobody dies because of two opposing directions of traffic signaled togather.
FFS why are you bashing someone's grammar
U mad bro?
Pretty shit grammar for a well educated engineer.
Dude half of engineers can't even spell the word "engineer." But there's autocorrect now.
Theory doesn't translate well to physically doing things, very true.
My dad's the electrician, I worked with him on jobs starting in middle school like during the summers. And continued to work with him throughout high schools and college. He wanted me to learn how to do the work and earn money.
Got my degree EE and later a Masters in EE. I rewired my entire last house myself, and oh boy did I find lots of homeowner BS from the last guy. And I'd argue when working on my dad's house I'm better at following the code than my dad is. Since it's his place lots of stuff 'works' and is 'fine'. It's aggravating.
I'm an electrical engineer, designing building power systems. I'm personal friends with many of the electricians that have implemented my designs over the past 20 years. Our friendships are build on mutual respect.
I wire houses with permits and inspections, and I replace panels with permits and inspections. I always talk with the inspector ahead of time, which goes well since I always know how NFPA 70 and 70E will apply. I work on boats, motor homes, vehicles, classic cars, off road vehicles, etc. and that work includes engines, suspensions, interiors, and a lot of wiring. I run live sound and build sound systems for live music. I also teach classes to adults in evenings, teach summer classes to kids, and I take speaking opportunities when possible. I stay busy, and a lot of it is physical.
That said, most EEs wouldn't know a hammer from linemans pliers...
But seriously, engineers, like anyone else, can choose their personal hobbies. Some are fantastic woodworker, some build cars, some build houses, some do nothing.
And most engineers have no idea how to wire a 3-way light switch.
Electrical engineer? Because I could see some Mechie doing this kind of work.
Mech-E here, lurking in this thread..yes I would... but I would at least wrap that thing with a shit ton of electrical tape...
This is just a shitty old way of splicing. You’ll see it in old houses a lot, usually wrapped in something like hockey tape.
Engineering house fires maybe...
He engineered some bullshit right there
Pretengineer.
For some reason I believe that, I e had to deal with engineers in my field of work, and most of the time, they come up with $#!@ thatay look good on paper, but won't work in reality
Custodial Engineer
I mean, that isn’t current work. Was the owner an engineer in the 70s?
It has the necessary twists, what’s the problem?!
I worked on a house where the previous owner was an engineer (an airplane engineer, I’m pretty sure). The stuff I found in that house was insane. Makes me wonder what’s going on in airplanes…
I’m not even dealing with it and I’m mad
Looks about right
In mongolia ,We call these type of people “can doers”.
He was probably an Imagineer
Nice connection of the insulation.
Why is it so many brilliant people are so fucking stupid?
Never trust an electrician with no eyebrows.
Yup thats definitely an engineers work
He engineered a hack job. Or as most would say, he ghetto rigged it.
Personally I'm a Electrical Engineer who became one after being an Electrician and seeing something like this makes me mad. I have the personal take that nobody should be allowed to become an Engineer if they at least don't know how to do the manual part and how much it takes. This will allow avoiding so much rework, less headache for everyone involved and most importantly less money thrown out of the window with the added bonus of your house not burning to the ground or someone not getting electrocuted.
I know that I'm more of an exception than the rule in my area but when you work with people who don't get it beyond making a design and usually these are the people that cut corners for someone in management. This is the result of educational system going after money and people not evolving after breaking into a profession. The end result is decreasing product quality for higher price and big companies are mostly to blame because they need barely educated people who are easier to control.
Must have been the train driving kind.
He was something alright
Not an Electrical engineer for sure. Nowadays they are thowing the name Engineee to everything.
Although, I would not surprise me as most of the new engineers does not have hands on experience. Noticed lately a lot of the student believe the industry is top notch and using the latest technology in every place, those are the funniest to see when they realize how old the industry is in multiple places
Par for the course.
Nice story, always like a twist in the tail…
Yeah he was
Looks like an engineer doing field work.
Engineers are some of the worst clients. They know enough how to make it work, but nothing about keeping it safe. And as you fix the original issue you always uncover more that are too much to ignore.
And they won't let you just fix it. They will have to tell you how they are an engineer at least 3 times. And they know what they are doing, there was never a problem before. And they insist that their way is better for some obscure reason.
Engineer of disaster
https://youtu.be/rp8hvyjZWHs?feature=shared This belongs here
Choo choo
An engineer of NIGHTMARES
Well, he did engineer the shit out of that!!!
Aren't they all are At least that what I thought
Tbh, my professional works are highly professional and up to or ever surpass the standards, but when it comes to my own house, I always do the bare minimum.
Sooooo, he drove trains?
Never said he wasn’t a redneck engineer
That’s the same thing (with same results) my mother in law told me as I was replacing her light switch, what a joke
Let's be honest, when working on your own home do you adhere to code? Probably not
Well , he had a train set and a cool hat….
Then I'm a rocket scientist.
Like a guy who drives a train you mean?
I would guess this person was either a chemical or civil engineer.
That's almost as bad as a truck driver's work.
Engineer of chaos!
Classic.
He did such a beautiful job he couldn’t bring himself to cover it up with tacky looking electrical tape
“WeLl It WoRkS RiGhT?!?!”
I did some electrical troubleshooting and found a faulty sold state relay. Owner of business comes to me and tells me he knows I'm wrong because he's a physicist...I wasn't...
Well he didn't say electrical engineer, did he?
Yup, that’s a load bearing cable
Sanitation pickup engineer ?
My house was owned by a maintenance electrician for 56 years. The things I’ve found are incredible. Wires tied around a bolt and nut (HEAVILY taped up). My basement bathroom had 14awg running everywhere and then to get the fan light to work he took 10awg romex and made a 3’ loop in the wall. Flying taps everywhere. It’s fun.
Was it still working? Then it was engineered just fine.
No. that's why I had the good fortune to fix it.
Civil engineer
I live in an area with a lot of engineers. They're the worst.
yeah, steam.
Must have been the kind of engineer who drives a train
Engineers are often the most arrogant motherfuckers out there. They must be able to do anything because they’re very smart!
I’m an engineer too. The software variety
Looks engineered
Looks like it checks out
Yes. Engineer of death
Yeah that would explain alot. Engineers are thinkers, not do-ers as much as they think they are.
99 percent of engineers and architects are incompetent
This gives me the heebie jeebies.
Engineer just means dumbass who thinks he knows everything
That tracks...
This makes me feel better about the work I've done at my house
These comments are wild. Half the people shitting on all engineers because they're probably salty they're not one, and the other half is engineers defending engineers and being like, "I would never do this."
There are dumbasses everywhere. Dumbass engineers, dumbass electricias, or just regular old dumbasses.
What kind of engineer?
Choo Choo Charlie was an engineer also.
I’m an electrical engineer with a masters degree. Twisting together some Romex is literally the most incredible thing. Like you take two wires and make them one wire. It amazing.
I don’t know how you guys do it. Truly wondrous.
Well at least he didn't solder them.
Combat engineer maybe
I mean... The copper is touching the other copper so it made the thing work right? 🤣
Sanitation Engineer.
He was an engineer, he drove the little train Around at the State zoo so yes technically an engineer.
Not sure what that's all about but sure is ugly
So this is how those indoor fireworks strings work at the Arena Football games.
He was an engineer. A civil engineer! Ha.
Looks about right for an engineer
A sanitation engineer
Engineer and electrician are two different things.
Some of the dumbest fuck faces I've ever met or worked with were engineers, but without fail, all engineers are arrogant and overconfident. It's adorable.
Guy was a civil engineer!
Wow! Looks similar to a house I was going to buy from an electrician, only to have the house inspected and all of the new electrical work done outside was not to code and used indoor outlets and light fixtures for outdoors. I passed on buying the house.
Sure engineer from where India?
There are a few types of engineers: I'm going to do this the proper way and make it perfect, it's not perfect but it meets all the requirements, and I know the bare minimum required to make this work...
You lived in a church?
pyro-engineer
As a fellow engineer this is how I connect PEX to copper.
I'm sure it looked good in the CAD drawing...
🤣🤣🤣
No no... This checks out..
Engineers build complex shit by day.. and hold up cabinets with tape by night..
They are like gremlins.. except with glasses and clipboards.. ugh and surfboards.. wtf do engineers also ways have some sort of board on a mount..
to draw images to communicate concepts visually usually.
You forgot dawn dish soap
Picture checks out. Lol “In theory this will work”
I’ve met engineers that didn’t know veal was beef. Some of them are educated idiots
Veal is beef wtf?
Baby beef
baby back
As long as they aren't idiots in the field they've been educated in I guess. I've known some pretty great electricals, but you'd think they were idiots if you saw them try to cook a meal.
Civil engineers do REALLY great electrical. Or maybe Environmental engineer? Ocean engineer? Train engineer? Actually train engineer would probably do it right!
I'm an EE and while I would never claim to be able to do what an electrician does, Im definitely competent enough to wire in outlets and lights and splice connections together. No wagos here. Wire nuts only and I always fucking pretwist.
That shows you're not great at electrical as an engineer. Most wirenuts say pre twist optional and if you're not carefully pre twisting will make a short wire in a bundle.
Can you wire a 3 way from scratch? If not stay away from your house for all our sakes.
Yes optional as in you can choose to pre-twist or not pre-twist. I'd ask why you might want to pre-twist, but you don't come across as the type to have critical thinking skills. Can YOU wire a 3 way from scratch? Think I'd rather trust my house in my hands vs. yours fucktard.
I have 3 states journey cards with separate testing requirements and all take critical thinking skills. Stay on your computer and away from the house that's why engineers get crap on here. We complain about EEs silly specs anyway where there's constant misunderstanding of how grounding and bonding is accomplished or even it's function in an electrical system.
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