This is why you don't hire a novice to do work!

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lisagauss

Bronze
Feb 16, 2011
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Ok, so first off, this is the 4th time I had to "open" this bathroom up. The previous 3 times was because of ****ty plumbing work. This time around, I felt a specific area of the floor was heating up. I automatically thought to myself: "well, if i had other plumbing issues with the cold water line; its got to be the hot water line this time leaking" So I called my "maestro" and we started to investigate. We discovered that there was no hot water line broken and that instead there are an electrical issue. Seems as if the "electrician" pulled spliced wire through the PVC pipe. The eletrical tape used must have slipped off and the "hot" wire with the neutral wire were making contact. This caused the tiles to heat up. A piece of the pipe burned off. I took a few pictures. The first one shows the pipe when we first uncovered the floor. The second picture shows that the wires are "live". The last picture shows the work completed.

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THIS IS WHAT WE SAW WHEN HE BROKE OPEN THE FLOOR. WE DIDN'T BREAK OPEN THE PIPE, IT WAS LIKE THAT. AS YOU CAN SEE THE PIPE IS BURNED BECAUSE OF THE SHORT CIRCUIT. I KNOW THAT THE "ELECTRICIAN" BASICALLY PULLED SPLICED WIRE THROUGH THE PIPE CAUSE WIRE SIMPLY DOESN'T TEAR LIKE THAT.

Uq2TzsRl.jpg

I TOOK MY VOLT METER TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE WIRES WERE LIVE; AND INDEED THEY ARE. MEASURING 110V.

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THE MAESTRO BASICALLY SPLICED THE WIRES TOGETHER, PLACED A WIRE CONNECTOR ON THEM AND COVERED THE OPEN PART OF THE PVC WITH A 3/4" PIECE OF PVC PIPE (NOT PICTURED).

Well, there you have it. Probably the "electrician" was using old wires which he spliced together to reach from box to box. I consider myself lucky that 1) My family or I didn't get electrocuted while walking on the bathroom floor, and 2) the wires didn't catch fire and spread. It's shameful and this is why we have a National Electrical Code in the US.
 
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bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
7,375
163
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The so called "fix" the maestro did isn't the best way to repair the problem. A short piece of PVC tubing, two couplings, and install new wire from box to box.
 
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bigbird

Gold
May 1, 2005
7,375
163
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Sorry, forgot to mention. Who is to say there aren't a few other badly spliced connections in that same piece of PVC?
 
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skynet

Bronze
Aug 25, 2013
1,238
0
0
Sorry bro...

If that PVC is still in one piece throughout, I would pull that wire out and snake a total new one back in just in case there is burn/shortage in other areas...However, you can just check the continuity with an OHM meter too..What a mess...
 
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Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
Talking about a bad job. I have two bathrooms opened right now, both are diagonally above the terrace. Since we bought this house water was leaking through the roof on the terrace, just where the wooden roof of te terrace joins with the concrete shelter roof of the house. Had the shelter roof sealed, no succes. Then my neighbor said he and most if all the other houses had the same problem and it seems when the houses were built the plumber used old / damaged PVC and in some cases didn't use solvent cement to join tubes. I had all PVC water pipes replaced by PE tubes. They finished doing that last week Thursday. Finally yesterday it was the first day in two years no water was falling from the roof.

Bought new tiles today for both messed up bath rooms and next week some guy will install them. I just hope he will know what he will need to do. I'll have to sit next to him and check what he's doing, but I don't know either. Just hope all will be fine after spending 70,000 pesos in tiles.
 
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dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
i cannot say i understand this electricity thing but getting electrocuted while wiping your wet hairy ass seems like a sad way to go. not that a shaved and bleached bung exit would make it better. just one of those things that would not look well on a tombstone. guess there is a reason why it says enigmatically "died tragically". there will come the day when RIP will stand right next to ROLF.
 
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arrugala

Bronze
Nov 7, 2010
967
2
0
YOU MUST oversee ALWAYS IN THE DR ,EXCEPTIONS ONLY ,when you are using someone with many references that you have checked out , or had good people you know well refer him . UNFORTUNATELY the OP HAS NOT finished the job correctly ,as the whole line should have been removed !! .Many times cost is the only criteria for a worker ( ie cheapest piping,wrong size pvc pipes when installing for pools resulting in Major problems and costs in the future ) , Same with car repairs so often , same problem using CHEAP lawyers , many times create 10 times the challenge you have , so you Must find the time to get good people !ASK ASK ASK. those you know who have lived here for years that you have confidence in .. Now hawk that wire out and do it right !Please !
 
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the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
83
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newuser said:
Agreed!!!!!!!

Also, if the wires heated up enough to burn the PVC pipe and warm the tile floor they probably were pulling a high enough current that a properly installed circuit breaker would have tripped the circuit. You may want to have your "maestro" check it out.
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what kind of circuit breaker stays closed at zero ohms?
 
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lisagauss

Bronze
Feb 16, 2011
721
0
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bigbird said:
The so called "fix" the maestro did isn't the best way to repair the problem. A short piece of PVC tubing, two couplings, and install new wire from box to box.
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Yeah this is something that I know had to be done, however, when we pulled on the wire, it seemed as if it was "stuck" somewhere. So instead I just decided to splice the wires using a wire connector which should hold it tight. This isn't the first time I encountered spliced wire in my house. Also, this short was costing me with EDENorte; going to compare bills to see if there was a drop.
 
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the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
83
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newuser said:
I am not sure if the question was for me or not. If it was, I didn't mention anything about 0 ohms and don't understand the question. If the question was for me, can you refrase the question?
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zero ohms is a dead short. the circuit breaker should trip long before that, or you could burn the building down.
 
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the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
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newuser, ever seen a situation where a music system goes dead, and, after a few minutes, it starts up again? that is overload protection. if a power amplifier tries to play a speaker that is something like 2 ohms, then it will overheat, because it starts trying to swing more amperes than it can. overload protection shuts it down, and the telltale is how hot it gets. that is the same thing here. if there is a dead short, the circuit breaker should have tripped. obviously, it was not rigged properly.
 
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the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
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newuser said:
OK, now I understand. That was exactly my point. The original poster said "the hot wire with the neutral wire were making contact" and a properly installed breaker would have tripped (opened). That's why I suggested she have it checked out. Something doesn't seem right with the circuit.
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getting electrical work done here is a crap shoot. if you ever have a guy do electrical work on your car, which includes changing blown fuses, you better get out the handbook and check the amperage rating that should be in that part of the circuit. to some of these guys, a fuse is a fuse is a fuse.
 
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Makinater

New member
May 4, 2013
156
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Rattus_Rattus said:
This is why you have to SIT and watch them work. From the workers come, and until they go.

Hope you manage to fix these frustrating problems.
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This is why one has to PAY people that actually know what they do, instead of a local handyman that is an "expert" at everything from plomer?a to gardening, welding, interior decorations and brain surgery. I hope that there are some decent companies out there that can actually live up to a European construction standard, since I want to remodel our whole house. But I still haven't found any ...
 
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the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
83
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Makinater said:
This is why one has to PAY people that actually know what they do, instead of a local handyman that is an "expert" at everything from plomer?a to gardening, welding, interior decorations and brain surgery. I hope that there are some decent companies out there that can actually live up to a European construction standard, since I want to remodel our whole house. But I still haven't found any ...
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i little tip for you. if you ask a Dominican for directions, and he has no idea how you get there, he would rather sent you to the moon than admit he does not know. i do not know the sociology of the reason why it works like that, but it is what it is. therefore, your best friend is serious due diligence, because most guys know most things here. they admit it themselves.
 
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Makinater

New member
May 4, 2013
156
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I should add that everyone that are familiar with such a company, is free to PM me about it. Will be needing a complete bath room remodeling, concrete painting (and application of a smoother material to paint on, although any constructor that suggest normal yeso/plaster will be thrown out from our balcony), a new wall segment where there is now a window, new entrance doors (sound proof and next to hermetically sealed), new windows (double or triple glazing, preferably made out of PVC), several inside doors, a double pane glass door, and some other details.

Appreciate any help we can get, although we are not in a hurry. Prefer to find skilled workers instead of paying for some shi**y work over and over again.
 
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Makinater

New member
May 4, 2013
156
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0
the gorgon said:
i little tip for you. if you ask a Dominican for directions, and he has no idea how you get there, he would rather sent you to the moon than admit he does not know. i do not know the sociology of the reason why it works like that, but it is what it is. therefore, your best friend is serious due diligence, because most guys know most things here. they admit it themselves.
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I agree with the part that most people here seems to think that they know everything. But I can't say that your observation on directions stand up to my observations. I can't count the number of times that people have told me that they have no idea on how to get to the place I am looking for. That doesn't mean that I haven't encountered people that have lied just to avoid appearing ignorant. But it is, in my experience, more rare than the opposite.

I should add, however, that I have been moving around mostly in la capital and mostly downtown (Gazcue, G?mez, Duarte, Lincoln, Betancourt, La Feria, you name it). And in Zona Oriental I know my way around, so there I don't have to ask. Got no clue as to how it is in other parts of the country though ...
 
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the gorgon

Platinum
Sep 16, 2010
33,997
83
0
Makinater said:
I agree with the part that most people here seems to think that they know everything. But I can't say that your observation on directions stand up to my observations. I can't count the number of times that people have told me that they have no idea on how to get to the place I am looking for. That doesn't mean that I haven't encountered people that have lied just to avoid appearing ignorant. But it is, in my experience, more rare than the opposite.

I should add, however, that I have been moving around mostly in la capital and mostly downtown (Gazcue, G?mez, Duarte, Lincoln, Betancourt, La Feria, you name it). And in Zona Oriental I know my way around, so there I don't have to ask. Got no clue as to how it is in other parts of the country though ...
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i posted this before, but i will do it again, in case you missed it. i have a pair of Grado headphones that dropped a channel. i got a replacement driver from a relative in Canada, and decided to rebuild the thing. i could not figure out how to get it open, so i called John Grado in Brooklyn, NY, and asked him how it is done. he told me to hold a hair drier about six inches from the side, for 15 minutes. that would melt the glue that holds it together. then, you can just pull it apart. i took it to a "tecnico" to do the job, and explained to him how to open it up.

well, genius went and fetched a flat head screwdriver. he told me that he was going to use it to open the can. i told him that the manufacturer does not recommend that, because you will split the thing apart.

his response was; 'those guys do not know what they are talking about".

yes, a guy in a six by six room in POP knows more about a device than the guy whose uncle designed it.
 
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