Posts Tagged ‘wiring problem’

Christmas Fatalities

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

The last few days , I have been working in various stores around the DFW area. The stores are a  big box store that sells home improvement etc. They have an orange Depot sign on the front of their stores.

 

I spend time at each of these stores to help the sales staff in the electrical dept. This will in turn help me generate sales with the work we do outside the store.

 

Two – three times per hour, a customer will come to the electrical dept and ask where he/she can find the double ended (male end ) electrical cord.  We explain to the customer that this is a very dangerous situation and you should not attempt to reverse the electrical hookups from your house to the Christmas lights.

Most people swear that they bought one last year at Lowes and we should have this cord on the shelf. ( We call this cord , a Suicide Cord)  We explain to them that only bad things and fire and possibly death would occur if you make one of these cords and use it.

They don’t listen. They shake their head and mutter something about stupid employees and say they are now going to Lowes.  I don’t know what to say, except; I hope you have good insurance.

Jeffries electric has great residential electric repairs and commercial electric repairs. We install 200 amp panels and replace federal breaker panels. We install landscape lights and recessed lights. We fix electrical plugs and electrical switches and 3 way switches. we are your Denton electrician, Coppell electrician, lewisville electrician, highland village electrician, Frisco electrician, Plano electrician, corinth electrician. We fix gfci plugs and repair breakers. We install whole house surge protector. Licensed electrician and insured electrician. Add phone outlets. We repair landscape lights. We fix light switches. Install ground rod. Electric repair work should be performed by a licensed electrician. Be safe and turn off the breaker first.

 

Portable Heaters and fire damage

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

Portable Heaters – Cold Weather is here    (thanks Jim Simmons for this original article and sharing it with everyone)

 

 Portable heaters (any heater that plugs into an outlet) are wonderful things. They can keep us warm and increase our comfort, but they can also be dangerous. More than 25,000 residential fires, and 300 deaths are associated with the use of portable space heaters every year. (Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission). As an electrical contractor, one of our jobs is to repair wiring in homes and businesses that have been damaged. In many instances in the winter months we find wiring that has been damaged by overloading it with portable heaters. Most homes have electrical wiring for outlets and lights that is rated at 15 amps. A standard 15 amp general circuit will have a combination of 10 – 20 lights and outlets which will serve TV’s, lights, computers, exhaust fans and similar items. A typical portable heater uses 1500 watts or 12.5 amps (the heater nameplate has this information). When you connect a portable heater rated at 12.5 amps to a circuit that is designed to handle 15 amps maximum, the problem is easy to see. You can easily overload the typical electrical wiring in your home if a few lights, TV’s, computers or other electrical appliances are turned on at the same time that you are running a portable heater.

This little device has caused more fires in homes than playing with matches

Do you like to gamble?

Companies like; Ednepure, Heat Surge, Amish Heaters, and many others spend a lot of money to convince you that you can save money with their heaters. The truth is all portable heaters basically work the same and can save you money. But the savings come from heating a smaller area, not the heater itself.

You should always use the original heating system that was installed in your home. If it is not working properly, get it repaired. If it is not efficient have it replaced.

Remember portable heaters should never be used as permanent heat sources unless they are connected to a dedicated circuit (an outlet with nothing else on the circuit). They can, and in many cases will cause damage to your electrical system and will possibly cause a fire. If you are using portable heaters to heat your home – please stop! Be safe! Don’t cause a fire!

Jeffries electric has great residential electric repairs and commercial electric repairs. We install 200 amp panels and replace federal breaker panels. We install landscape lights and recessed lights. We fix electrical plugs and electrical switches and 3 way switches. we are your Denton electrician, Coppell electrician, lewisville electrician, highland village electrician, Frisco electrician, Plano electrician, corinth electrician. We fix gfci plugs and repair breakers. We install whole house surge protector. Licensed electrician and insured electrician. Add phone outlets. We repair landscape lights. We fix light switches. Install ground rod. Electric repair work should be performed by a licensed electrician. Be safe and turn off the breaker first. Please be careful this holiday season. Ladders injure as many people as do auto accidents. Always use a gfci outlet for outdoor lighting. If your cords are damaged or frayed, please replace them with new outdoor cords.

Fires in the HOME

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

 

An estimated 253,500 fires in one- and two-family residential buildings occur each year in the United States. The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has released new data on homes and the causes of fires. Here is the link to see these reports.

http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/media/press/2010releases/072910a.shtm

Homes over 40 years old seem to be most at risk. Seems that damage to the wiring or code issues make the older homes more at risk.

Jeffries electric has great residential electric repairs and commercial electric repairs. We install 200 amp panels and replace federal breaker panels. We install landscape lights and recessed lights. We fix electrical plugs and electrical switches and 3 way switches. we are your Denton electrician, Coppell electrician, lewisville electrician, highland village electrician, Frisco electrician, Plano electrician, corinth electrician. We fix gfci plugs and repair breakers. We install whole house surge protector. Licensed electrician and insured electrician. Add phone outlets. We repair landscape lights. We fix light switches. Install ground rod. Electric repair work should be performed by a licensed electrician. Be safe and turn off the breaker first.

fire and ice

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

What a spring! So far I have seen fire (in west Texas) and ice. Alone , either one of these events would not be unusual in North Texas, but give me a break. When is it going to turn hot and stay hot?

I am not totally off my rocker. I don’t like it hot. I like when my electricians are all busy working . The real  hot weather will cause many electrical systems to fail. There in lies my smile. But my customers that did not listen are not smiling. Along with a nasty wake up call from the fire dept or if at home, you may experience a power outage and smell smoke.

Sometimes a smoke detector will alert you when there is a failure in your wiring system. None of these things are pleasant and most of them will cost a lot more to fix once the go past the repair stage and things have to be rebuilt and replaced.

Here are some of the thing you may experience.

  • Unscheduled Power Outages
  • Damaged or destroyed electrical equipment.
  • Associated area burnt or smoke damage to the entire structure.
  • Emergency fees required by local authorities for after hour inspections.
  • Overtime pay to electrical contractors.
  • Insurance companies may not pay to upgrade your equipment as required by the local code authority.

 

Some of the repairs I have mentioned time and time again to my commercial customers will cause a black out or power failure. I don’t like to work all night, but if you are out of power you are out of business. When we work these all night jobs, my technicians get overtime pay.

Had I made my point and effectively communicated how your breaker could fail or the wire may burn, you would not have these problems not. We could have scheduled a time to work on the problem and I dare say the price would be less expensive. Especially if you factor in the overtime pay and the after hours inspection fees from the City Inspector.

Now , lets talk about your house. Have you had flickering lights or have you had breakers trip with no apparent problem?   Did you call your electrician to check out the panel and service all the breakers? When is the last time you had your A/C unit checked?

You may be next. When the summer is hottest and the A/C is working the hardest, your fridge and freezer are working against you. They generate or displace heat and your A/C unit has to remove it from the house. If you still use the same old 100 year old style of Edison based bulbs, you are generating a lot of heat as you turn on your lights.

The power company loves you. You have a dark colored roof that soaks up the heat. You have 20 yr old windows that let out the cool air. What a time to own stock in an electric utility!

There are ways to save energy and keep guys like me from coming to your house in the middle of a dark night. Call us during the day and we can evaluate your electrical system. Please.

Jeffries electric has great residential electric repairs and commercial electric repairs. We install 200 amp panels and replace federal breaker panels. We install landscape lights and recessed lights. We fix electrical plugs and electrical switches and 3 way switches. we are your Denton electrician, Coppell electrician, lewisville electrician, highland village electrician, Frisco electrician, Plano electrician, corinth electrician. We fix gfci plugs and repair breakers. We install whole house surge protector. Licensed electrician and insured electrician. Add phone outlets. We repair landscape lights. We fix light switches. Install ground rod. Electric repair work should be performed by a licensed electrician. Be safe and turn off the breaker first.

Prolonged heat and Damage

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

When you see electrical outlets that have turned black and are melted and charred, what do you think? Was this mis- use or an inferior product? Did the appliance cord fail and cause the wall plug to burn?

overheated and burned

Use the correct outlet

 This outlet along with the others were all installed for the counter top in a new kitchen. Instead of using a 20 amp heavy duty outlet, the electrician saved a few dollars and installed a residential grade 15 amp outlet. The results were a chain reaction failure in this commercial kitchen. The cook just moved to the next outlet each time the plug failed.

Wrong outlets

too much heat builtup for too long

 The breaker did not trip because the current never exceeded 20 amps. But, the load on each 15 amp outlet caused an overheating condition and the loss of the device and the loss of sales when the kitchen could not operate. This usually happens at lunch time.