Broken wires or frequent disruptions are something we often face in our daily life. Some of them cause a minor short circuit, while others end in a serious fire.
Dangerous electrical wiring complications in the home can be unnoticed for years. The problems remain undiscovered unless a proper residential inspection is conducted.
Many factors cause electrical wiring problems, which include run-down walls, damage, pest invasion, etc. All of them are known as environmental hazards. You will be surprised that even theft can cause tremendous electrical wiring complications. However, any of these problems can lead to serious short circuits or explosions, which may burn down the whole house and will cause some irreparable damage to any household.
Safeguarding The Fuse Box
One of the common electrical instruments used before was fuse boxes. However, people prefer to use circuit breaker panels more these days. The performance of the circuit breaker panels is okay until you install fuses with higher amperage rather than wires. This may overheat the wires, cause damage to their protective segregation, or increase the risk of fire hazards.
If you try to replace the offending fuse with the right amperage, the danger will remain the same as the seclusion of the wire is already ruined. The damaged circuit must be rewired immediately to solve such problems.
Higher Wattage In The Lamps
A common problem found in many households is known as overlamping. The problem mainly occurs due to higher wattage in a fixture of a light bulb than its actual capacity. Due to this problem, the risk of arcing increases among the wires. One of the main causes of electrical fires is the sparks that run through the air from one wire to another. Furthermore, the damage will remain the same in the socket and wires whether the bulb is removed or not.
However, you should use 60-watt bulbs or smaller ones to fix any older or unnoticed fixtures.
Open Junction Boxes
If you notice frayed wiring in the Weatherhead is making a short during the cable movement, it means there is a problem with the wiring. If you are not familiar with the word Weatherhead, it means the fitting outside your house from where overhead cables from the power line enter into the indoor area. The result of such damage can be fatal. Besides the irritation, frayed wiring may create an arc and end in a fire explosion in the worst-case scenario.
To fix unraveled wiring, you should communicate with the electric utility. They often replace the Weatherhead even without any cost. If you notice any fault on your own, you can use electrical tape to prevent the problem temporarily. If you are australia and thinking to buy it online, try nashua tape a renowned gaffer tape to effectively hide audio-visual cabling and protect it from being trampled upon, excessive heat, and moisture.
Fewer Outlets Than Required
Wiring problems also arise when you depend more on additional cables and power boards. The consequences of such problems are less severe when you have connected additional heavy-duty cables, which have to be a minimum of 14-gauge thick. If you have less idea about the gauge number, you should know the number is decided on the basis of the thickness of the cables. The lowest gauge number will be given to the thickest wire.
It may cause a serious fire hazard if the dinky extension cord starts to burn, and the burden gets too heavy than its capacity. To prevent and minimize such electrical risks, cables have to be placed accordingly. The task is not very critical. Electricians will cost you excess money to do such an easy job. To save your money, you can do the job by following our simple guideline- First, make a shaft in the ceiling or walls and then snake the cables into it. If you get the task done by an electrician, he may patch the holes for you. However, some of them also leave the patch for the homeowners if they are not paid to patch the shafts.
Absence of GFCIs
Wet areas of the house are more likely to create a deadly shock all of a sudden due to faulty or torn wires. Such areas may include space around the sink of your kitchen, baths, garden area, etc. To prevent electrical accidents, especially for those areas, you should install ground-fault circuit interrupters or GFCIs in the house. This device is capable of shutting down circuits only in 4 milliseconds, which may save you or any of your family members from a deadly shock.
If you have old receptacles in your house, you should replace them with GFCIs. You don’t need an electrician to do the job; you can replace them on your own.
Over-Occupied Panel
Another problem that occurs most commonly is over-wired panels. The problem arises when the panel is stuffed with more circuits than its capacity. As a result, extra single-pole breakers are placed more instead of tandem breakers in a single slot. When you buy a panel, you will notice a label with it, which will indicate the highest capacity of the circuits that the panel is capable of.
Usually, the problem will not cause any serious accidents to your living place. Though, it can become a serious issue when you sell the house to someone and an inspector tests the panel on his own. However, you should not mess things up for such a small problem. Rather you can buy a larger model panel, and you should replace the existing one with it.
Go For Aluminum Wiring Rather Than Using Any Cheap Wires
During the 1960s and ‘70s, most of the electricians used a cheap type of cable instead of copper wires. However, such wirings are not considered safe anymore, and you also should not use them in your house for the wirings.
Such wiring can cause aluminum corrodes when they connect with copper, and the connections become loose ultimately. This incident may end up in horrific fires and arcing.
However, to avoid such accidents, you should install a dielectric wire nut certified for aluminum wiring. Such nuts contain a special grease that prevents corrosion during preserving conductivity. Before wiring with a dielectric wire nut, you should check if the switches and receptacles have AL-compatible on them or not.
Loosen Wires
With new switches and receptacles, the wires in the back tend to lose more easily compared to those tied up throughout the screw terminals. When the wires are loose, they mostly create a receptacle or switch to collapse. However, it is also capable of starting a fire in the worst-case scenario.
To deal with such problems, you should look for backstabbed connections. The process can be done by detaching the receptacle or switch from the outlet box. Do not forget, if there is a single backstabbed, there is a high possibility that there are more. So, you should untie the cables and connect them to the proper screw terminals on the receptacle. No matter how small a gadget or machine is, if it starts to malfunction or break down, you should find an electrician to repair it immediately. However, some of them can be fixed easily, and you can replace them on your own. You should store some of the basic electronic tools in your house to deal with any sudden emergency. Though if anything seems difficult or unmanageable at any level, do not think twice before hiring a professional electrician.
