I discovered this on my first day on the job, back in 1971 when I started as Chief Electrical Inspector for the City of Glendale, California.

The service was energized, and the meters were set and sealed! For this one I had to stop (was riding a Harley) and take a closer look? I scratched my head, got back on the bike and continued to the rest of my inspections for that day. We'll discuss them as we travel through my time line as an electrical inspector in Pasadena, CA, and previously as one in New Haven, Connecticut back in the 60's. I promise we'll have some fun! I gotta lot of stories to share with you all.

Since I doubt if the installer was a licensed electrician, were they at least a licensed plumber?

When I completed my inspections, I returned to my office and looked for the electrical permit and found that the installation was approved by a building inspector. I've traveled to Glendale in the past a found that property gone, and a new multistorey building in its place.

Looking forward to the stories from your long career serving the electrical industry. Glad you can share with us!

Back in the 1970's when I was a service electrician, I worked at an aluminum extrusion factory. This was on a reservation just south of Phoenix. This installation still stands out as one for the record book. All of the pipe was plumbing pipe including the elbows. The panel was a NEMA 1 installed outside. The panel was running at 480 volts, but was a 120/208 volt panel with typical residential level breakers. Removing the dead front revealed all white wire along with several 10 and 12 gauge wires placed directly under the main lugs. The feeders were aluminum while the #10 and 12 wire (under the same main lugs) were copper. Finally, the panel was mounted on the side of a large heat treating unit. In the summer, I'd expect that the temperatures could easily reach 180F or higher. Seeing something like this, even on the "res" was surprising.

Hey, man

;

Jim needs to add a "like" button.