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List of Problems List of Top Five Hazards
The grounding system at a building provides an easy path for electricity to flow to earth should a problem, such as a short circuit occur. Allowing current to flow to earth through the ground system helps assure that a circuit breaker will trip or fuse will blow should a problem occur. Should an electrical fault occur where no ground path is present, the electrical potential is just sitting there waiting for a person to come along, touch some component of the system, and by accidentally providing a path to earth through their body, receive a burn or potentially fatal shock. Lack of GFCI plugs A GFCI is a device intended to prevent electrical shock. A GFCI will not necessarily detect the type of electrical arcing that can cause a fire. The GFCI is designed to protect people from severe or fatal electric shocks. The GFCI also can protect against some electrical fires by detecting arcing and other faults to ground but cannot detect hazardous across-the-line arcing faults that can cause fires. NEC 210.8 (Nation Electric Code) is the code section pertaining to GFCI's. These GFCI requirements are intended to address residential electrical wiring using 15A or 20A 120V electrical receptacles and circuits. All bath receptacles have to have GFCI-protection, and at least one must be within 3 feet of the outside edge of each basin [210.52(D)]. The bathroom receptacle circuit cannot provide power to other outlets elsewhere in the house [210.11(C)(3)] - something that is commonly found in older homes. Outside electrical outlets that are GFCI protected are required, at least one for a single family dwelling. 210.52(E). All outside electrical receptacles must be GFCI protected, even those receptacles found under the roof eaves and typically used for holiday lighting. Breaker and Wire Size Incompatibility Wire gauge must not be undersized compared to the amperage a breaker is capable of. This could lead to overheating or failure of the wire, possibly creating fire and shock hazards. The list below shows the minimum wire size required to be provided for a fuse or circuit breaker according to NEC 240:
As modern homes use more appliances and more electricity than folks did even twenty years ago, if the number of circuits in a home has not been increased it's likely that the home's electrical circuits are overloaded. With new technology such as big screen TVs and computers people tend to overuse a circuit by using plug strips with more items than the circuit was designed for. Too often in an older home, especially one using a fuse panel, occupants are tempted to simply screw in a higher-amperage fuse to stop fuses from 'blowing". Over-fusing is dangerous: it risks setting the building on fire. Be sure that the amperage rating of your fuses or circuit breakers matches the wiring of each circuit. Open/Exposed Wire Splices The proper way of making safe, secure splices is to make a good mechanical and electrical joint-that is, strong enough not to pull apart and tight enough so there is no loss of voltage. As this is tricky work, a continuous run of new wire is always better than any splice. Splices in electrical wire that carries electrical current in a building (such as for lights or electrical outlets) must be completed using an approved mechanical connector and must be enclosed in an approved junction box which itself is secured to the structure and accessible. Lack of Junction boxes creates a fire and shock hazard. In addition, the NEC and other electrical codes specify lots of precise details describing the number of wires of various sizes that can be enclosed in junction boxes of various sizes, where these boxes must be located, how they can be covered, etc. Others - According to NFPA
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