[BC] Worst 'engineering' ever seen

[WFIFeng@aol.com]

In a message dated 04/11/2007 07:50:02 AM Eastern Daylight Time, sid at wrko.com 
writes:

> The new CE and I took pictures and had a meeting with the GM, who
>  quickly authorized us to spend whatever we needed to clean up that fire
>  trap.  Afterwards, we plugged all the cube-taps and extension cords
>  together and presented them to her as a trophy.

LOL! That's incredible!

I discovered something similar to that, here, when we went to install our 
brand new Gates 5 box. 

As we were emptying-out decades of accumulated *junk* in the TX room (this 
wasn't junque, this was literally *junk*) we discovered something quite 
literally *shocking*... a *live* 220 cable, with exposed wires coming out of th
e end, 
wrapped in "friction tape"! (Not even electrical tape, we're talking that 
black cloth/tar stuff!) It had been *buried* under empty pain cans, rusty old 
chassis, etc, probably for *decades*! It wouldn't have taken much (especially a
s 
we were "digging") to have dislodged that tape, and created quite the 4'th of 
July show! Thankfully, it didn't.

Later, when the Electrician was there, ready to run the feed for the new box, 
he opened up the breaker panel and literally took a step back. He said, "It 
is a miracle that this place hasn't caught fire!" So, repairing and re-dressing
 
that nightmare became part of the TX install, also.

Downstairs, in our former air studio, I discovered some similar 
nightmares-in-hiding... someone had apparently re-used some salvaged power cord
s to provide 
power to an outlet under the console! When I moved it, the insulation 
literally crumbled in my hands! It was a miracle that I didn't get a shock, *an
d* 
that the wires didn't short! I promptly went upstairs and killed the breaker. 
Then I went to the nearby Home Depot and bought some proper AC wiring cable, an
d 
looked for any more of this kind of "cheapskate engineering". Sure enough... 
several other outlets installed in the cabinetry had been wired with zip cord! 
It's insulation, while quite stiff, wasn't crumbling, but it wasn't far from 
it, either! :/

It's all now done properly. :)

Willie...









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