Tom Henry's REST EASY ElectricalSafety Reinspection

The quality of American life depends upon the safety and effectivenessof electrical application and inspection......

Tom Henry's REST EASY Electrical Safety Reinspection

7449 Citrus Ave.Winter Park, FL 32792(407) 671-0020

For more information and an estimate call today

Tom

Henry's

Electrical Safety Inspection7449 C

itrus Ave.

Winter P

ark, FL

32792

YOU CAN STOP THE FIRE BEFORE IT STARTS!

READ THE BOOKS THEELECTRICIAN'S READ

•Certified Chief Electrical Inspector Building Officials of Florida•Certified Chief Electrical Inspector Southern Building Code Congress•Former Electrical Inspector Walt Disney World-EPCOT•Registered Electrical Contractor State of Florida•Licensed Master Electrician•Member National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)•Member International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI)•Owner of Code Electrical Classes Inc. Winter Park, FL•Certified Vocational Instructor State of Florida•Instructor of over 22,000 Electricians•Author of Electrical Inspection Workbook•Author of over 50 Electrical books•Legal consultant involving Electrical fires and deaths•Over 56 years experience in the Electrical field•Electrical construction editor for the "Informer" newsletter•President of Tom Henry's "Learn to be an electrician" program withover 1600 enrolled from all 50 states and several foreign countries

Tom Henry

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REST EASY Electrical inspections

E - ExamA - AllS - SystemsY- Yearly

R - ReliableE - ElectricalS - SafetyT - Testing

Safety of life and preservation of property are two of the mostimportant factors in the electrical inspection.

We strive to ensure that our customers, our friendsand our families do not experience the worst that electricity has tooffer.

Fire is something that youdefinitely don't want to happen toyou, and it's something that couldeasily happen.

Some homes fires have started from people smoking, chil-dren playing with matches, lightning, but recently a fire started in anelderly couple’s older home at 2 pm in the afternoon. There were nochildren there to play with fire, the elderly couple did not smoke, itwas a bright day with sunshine and no lightning in the area.

Then how could a fire start? A neighbor ran to the house andscreamed to get out now! The elderly lady ran outside from the flam-ing house but her husband who was bed ridden remained in his bed-room. Their grandson who lived next door attempted to go into thehouse but the flaming fire made it impossible. He then ran to the sideof the house to his grandfather’s bedroom window but again the bed-room was indulged in flames. He could only holler to his grandfa-ther, I love you grandpa.

A loss of life in a fire is the worst accident one could possiblyhave. I have seen older couples who have lived in the same house forover forty years escape from a burning house and watch the flamesburn up all their personal valuables, photos, and the memories fromyears gone by.

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What is troubling me today is we require an electrical inspec-tion of a new home which has brand new wiring and electrical de-vices but most of the electrical fires are from older homes.

Aging of electrical wiring and equipment results from ther-mal cycling, the heating and cooling from the on and off cyclingover the years. The loosing of the receptacle blades from the usageover the years. The rodents chewing on the wiring in the attic. Themisuse of extension cords. The homeowner or friend (do-it-yourselfmentality) going to the hardware store to purchase the electrical itemsto install a new circuit, receptacle, ceiling fan, etc.

When I was young and installing electrical wiring you wentto an electrical supply store to purchase electrical equipment andyou had to verify your qualifications as an electrician before theywould sell it to you. Years ago the hardware store only sold fuses.

It’s a different world today. The appliances that have beenadded to the home makes wiring installed 20 years ago out of date.Not only the service entrance but updating the branch circuits to ac-commodate the hair dryers (12 amps) electric floor heaters (15 amps)installing Arc-Fault circuit breakers, Tamper-resistant receptacles, thelist goes on and on.

The lights in the home should not go dimmer when an appli-ance is turned on. There are warning signs the homeowner needs torecognize:

Look, listen, smell, and feel are methods you can use to de-tect troubles and guide you to the problem. You can look at electricalequipment and see a black or darkened area that spells trouble. Some-times if you listen carefully, you can hear the arcing of a loose con-nection or the chattering of a relay. You sometimes can smell burningor smoldering insulation from a distance, and you can touch certainequipment and feel they are excessively hot and trouble is brewing. Iwas taught, "you can see a lot by looking."

Today some banks and real estate companies are requiring ahome inspection before the loan is approved or the final sale is closed.

When making this home inspection one must remember, atermite, a roof leak, a plumbing leak, crack in the foundation, out ofdate windows, etc. has not started a fire. But, electricity has startedfires that cause property damage, personal injury and death.

We shouldn’t wait for a resale to inspect an older home. If thehome is 20 years or older it should be a high priority to do it now, forthe reasons I have mentioned.

A house fire at 1,100°F, is the average, three times theignition temperature of documents, money and photos. Then you havethe water damage from fire hoses to put it out. The homeowner mostlikely has fire insurance but it won’t replace your lost house deed,insurance policies, last will, irreplaceable photos, computer back-ups, etc. Every list is different.

When you inquire about the cost of an electrical inspectionask yourself how can you replace your valuables or loved ones.

Smoke alarms, fire extinguishers and escape ladders are allexamples of emergency equipment used in homes to take action whena fire occurs. We need to stop the fire before it starts with a

proper electrical inspection by a qualified inspector load

testing the circuits for defective wiring and loose connec-

tions the #1 cause of fires in a home! TIME TO WAKE UP!!

There is no protection against the high-resistance, loose con-nections creating ohmic heat and glow faults in the walls and attics.No practical circuit breaker could detect such a fault as there is nomeasurable characteristic that any circuit breaker could employ todistinguish a glow fault from the normal operation of a branch cir-cuit.

The problem with the “unseen” wiring in the walls and theattic where the rodents have been chewing, you can’t see the wir-ing.

Experienced investigators uniformly cite high-resistanceconnections as the most common electrical cause of fires. Looseconnections, such as an untightened screw in a terminal, heat up andexpand when energized.

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Electricity has been a permanent feature in residential occu-pancies for over 100 years, and it was known to be a cause of firessince the earliest days of its use. I have personally spent many hourssifting through debris after a fire, and I have witnessed homeownerswho experienced an electrical fire firsthand in their homes.

It has been estimated that 90% of electrical failures occur atconnections. How many of those connections would never have failedif properly tightened in the first place?

The importance of properly torquing a connection cannot bestressed enough. Many fires have started due to the heat build up inan improperly terminated electrical conductor. The property owner isnot knowledgeable in the electrical practices and depends on theelectrician to install a safe electrical system. But did they torque it?

When torque is applied to a threaded fastener, it produces aclamping force that holds the components together. Too much force,and the fastener will break or the material may be damaged. Notenough, and the assembly will not be held together properly. Bycontrolling the amount of torque, the clamping or holding force iscontrolled.

What is disturbing to me is in the real world the NationalElectrical Code section 110.3(B) is not enforced on the torquingof connections. There's even a label inside the load center with theinch-pound torque specifications required. On some smaller equip-ment, the recommended torque is printed on the box containing theequipment. If the manufacturers recommendations are not available,the UL torque values available in UL publication number 486 shouldbe used.

The solution is the load test with thecircuit analyzer for voltage drop, as the looseconnection in the circuit will show a drop involtage which can be detected with the im-portant load test.

A nine year boy awakens to a fire in the upstairs of a house, the boy ranto his parents bedroom and woke them. The blaze started in anelectrical outlet and flared up through the walls and into the attic.

THE FOLLOWING ARE FROMNEWSPAPERS INVOLVING

ELECTRICAL FIRES, TRAGICDEATHS, INJURIES AND COSTLY

PROPERTY DAMAGE!

Read the following pages of actualelectrical fires and electrocutions and howthey were caused. They could have beenprevented with proper Electrical SAFETYInspections. Don't become a statistic in yourlocal newspaper!

A short circuit was blamed for a fire that caused extensive damage toa home. The fire is thought to have started when a combinationelectric coffee pot, clock-radio short circuited. Damage to the housewas estimated at $45,000.

Arson investigators say the cause of a house fire that claimed four livesappeared to be accidental and electrical. The blaze apparently startedat an electrical outlet behind a couch and raced up the side of the housebetween the studs, rapidly engulfing the home in smoke and flames.

A short circuit in an electric blanket was the cause of a fire that injuredan elderly occupant of an apartment building and caused evacuation ofthe building.

A 25 year old man was electrocuted when he touched live wires whiledoing electrical work at his home.

20 A man was found dead in his home by police and apparently died ofelectrocution. Police said he was found between his kitchen and livingroom holding an extension cord connected to his refrigerator.

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An electrical short in a fuse box has been determined as the cause of anearly morning fire in a residence.

Four occupants of a home scrambled out of their house early in themorning after one of them smelled smoke coming from the basement.The cause of the blaze is unknown, but noted when firefighters enteredthe basement they found arcing current around an electrical box.

Popping noises startled a man and he discovered the outside wall of hishouse ablaze. A short in the breaker box was blamed for the fire. Noappliances were running when the blaze ignited.

A house fire started by a faulty electrical cord destroyed a farm home.The house's interior was gutted beyond repair.

Flames that ripped through the roof of a residence early in the morningdestroyed a kitchen but spared the lives of two residents. Firefighterstook nearly two hours to extinguish the blaze. Inspectors believe the firestarted in the wiring of a kitchen exhaust fan.

Fire that is believed to have started in the kitchen destroyed a home. TheFire Chief said the one and one-half story home was gutted. The rooffell in. He said the fire appeared to have started at a spot in the kitchenwhere an electric range was located.

A house fire caused about $30,000 worth of damage, said the FireChief. The fire started in the kitchen and burned upward into an upstairsbedroom and under the roof. The fire is believed to have started whenfuses in the kitchen overheated and ignited. Larger 30 amp fuses wereused in place of the required 15 amp fuses. The Fire Chief said the largerfuses allowed too much electrical current to be carried on the smallerwires.

A 5-year old boy was pulled from the garage of a burning home by aneighbor who noticed thick black smoke across the street and fearedsomeone was trapped inside. The cause of the fire was a short in alamp. Estimated damage was $60,000.

A couple was left homeless and three firemen were injured after anearly morning fire destroyed a residence. Fire officials believe a faultywire connection of a refrigerator kept in the garage caused the blaze.

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The old knob and tube electrical wiring used in decades past ignited theplaster frame of a home causing an estimated $100,000 damage. Twoelectrical conductors shorted out in the ceiling above the kitchen inthe home built in 1912.

A fire started in a home when arcing wires on the first floor ignited aninterior wall. Damage was $35,000.

A man died when he apparently was electrocuted by an electric drillhe was using. His electric drill was lying on top of him and his chest wasseverely burned. He was electrocuted when the drill shorted out.

A short circuit caused a fire that destroyed a house and left a father andtwo children homeless. The fire started near an outlet in the kitchen-dining area and spread quickly.

The only survivor of a fire that claimed the lives of three peopleremained in critical condition. The fire victim was pulled from hisparent's burning mobile home by his grandfather. The State FireMarshall said that a fire started in a power strip located in the livingroom of the home. He said the panel had several extension cordsplugged into it and had apparently overheated. The mobile home wasgutted by the fire.

A house fire that was started from an electric ceiling fan caused $3000damage.

An 8-year old girl was accidentally electrocuted at her home when shetouched a faulty floor lamp while wearing a damp bathing suit. Thefatal shock occurred when the girl's hips touched the metal baseboard,sending 120 volts of electricity through her body. The lamp had a shortin it.

A short in an electrical wire entering a fuse box was blamed for a firein a one story wood framed home.

A shorted-out electric clock is believed responsible for a smolderingmattress fire that killed a woman and her grandson.

A fire broke out in a home early in the morning causing considerabledamage. The fire was caused by an electrical short which was believedto have originated in a ceiling light and fan. The fire spread rapidly andquickly engulfed the bedroom and a front corner room in flames.

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A man was electrocuted after he backed into a water pipe under abathroom sink while holding an electric drill.

A man was pronounced dead at the hospital this morning after beingelectrocuted in his home. He was electrocuted while operating asander in his bathroom.

A Father's Day fire at a two-story home was probably caused by anelectric blanket that malfunctioned, a fire investigator said. The familywas out of town for a family reunion when the fire erupted on a bed inthe northeast corner of the house. Damage is estimated at $125,000.Family members told investigators that an electric blanket on a bed wasturned off but was plugged into an electrical outlet.

A faulty electrical wall receptacle in a downstairs bedroom causedthe fire which destroyed a home, city fire officials determined. Damageis estimated at $60,000.

An electrical fire at a home caused an estimated $5000 damageaccording to the fire department. When the firemen arrived they founda light switch smoking. They cut the power off, removed the wall andfound a short circuit in the light switch.

A 21-year old man was pronounced dead at the hospital after anelectrical accident at his home while he was shooting pool in thebasement. The victim received an electric charge when he touched afluorescent fixture. He was barefoot and the floor was damp. The lighthad a fault.

A plumbing contractor was accidentally electrocuted while working inthe basement of a vacant house soon to be rented. The investigator saidthe contractor was pumping water from the basement with an electricalsump pump when the accident occurred. He was holding the pump heapparently had been fixing.

An autopsy conducted on a man who died in his shower over theweekend revealed he was electrocuted. The man was electrocuted inthe shower after a washing machine in the house shorted outcausing electrical currents to travel through the water pipes. Policeofficers said they were called to the home at 7am after his wife heardhim scream shortly after stepping into the shower.

A 5-year old boy was accidentally electrocuted when he touched apipe under a mobile home. The pipe was electrified because of a shortin a water cooler motor.

Wiring, switches, receptacles, and outlets

Light fixtures, lamps,light bulbs and signs Cords and plugs

Circuit breakers& fuses

Meters

Transformers

Electrical equipment involvement in a residential fire

LOOSE CONNECTIONS

•You are always invited to visit us at the Code Electrical Campus a2 1/2 acre educational facility next to the Goldenrod Post Office at7449 Citrus Ave. We also have completed our "Green Home" withsolar, wind turbine, GEO thermal, etc. energy.

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LOAD TESTER

A Must Instrument for Every Electrical Inspection

Until recently, routine load tests have been impractical becausethey were time consuming, required a couple of devices and instruments,interrupted the circuits use and on deficient circuits, could be unsafe toperform. However, easy-to-use, safe and cost-effective plug-in testers thatperform a series of basic tests under a 15 ampere load are now available. Inlittle more time than it takes an electrician to test whether a circuit is live,the load tester is plugged into a receptacle which places a full load on thecircuit for a fraction of a second. The microprocessor system measures theline voltage under no load and then under a 15 ampere load and calculatesthe impedance of the total circuit and displays it as a % voltage drop. Theimpedance (resistance) of the entire circuit includes the receptacle, the build-ing wiring, the panel box, the meter - all the way to the transformer on theutility pole. If there is a high resistance in any connection in that cir-cuit due to a bad splice or loose connection, or because of a dam-aged conductor, its condition will be revealed in this test.

Based on NFPA data, surveys and investigations more than600,000 fires occurred every year in residential and non-residentialbuildings. As many as 25,000 of those fires were caused every yearby high resistance connections in electrical distribution systems - inthe form of poor connections, bad splices, and damaged conductors.The high resistance conditions that caused these fires could have beenidentified as hazards with a load test. The load test reveals highresistance connections and splices in branch circuits that other-wise would go undetected because they are hidden - in the recep-tacle, wall or panel box.

After using this test for eight months, the Home BuildersResearch Center stated "Because the SureTest is able to quickly andsafely apply a full load test to the circuit, we can test all circuits ina house for hidden, sometimes deadly, flaws within minutes".

SureTest circuit analyzers were sent to electrical inspectorsin 250 municipalities throughout the U.S. for a 30-60 day evalua-tion, resulting in an overwhelming acceptance of the load test. Morethan 90% of the inspectors who evaluated the hand-held loadtesters, purchased them after the evaluation period, and indi-cated their intention to integrate the load test into their inspec-tion procedures.

If the connection of a branch circuit conductor to an applianceor receptacle is loose, severe overheating may occur at the point ofconnection. Extreme heating can result, damaging the equipment ordevice and in extreme cases, damaging surrounding materials. Despiteextensive heat and progressive deterioration, the current level remainsnormal, there is no "overcurrent," and the circuit breaker is notactivated. Consequently, the best protection is careful, professionalinstallation, and periodic inspections of susceptible connection points.

Although GFCIs do provide improved safety, research hasindicated that a small but significant percentage of GFCIs, particu-larly older ones, do not interrupt faults when evaluated in the fieldseveral years after installation. GFCIs contain electronics, much likecomputers. They can be subject to damage from power surges (Or-lando, Florida is the lightning capital of the U.S.) and other sourcesthat can go unnoticed.

As a result, UL has added certification requirements to en-sure that UL Listed GFCIs are more resistant to adverse field condi-tions.

Seven revisions to the UL requirements for GFCIs have beenadopted as certification requirements, which became effective Janu-ary 1, 2003.

Installed GFCIs should be tested MONTHLY as identifiedin the manufacturer’s operating instructions, to promote proper op-eration of these devices.

NEMA released the results of a study that found as many as12% of GFCIs were non-operational in some parts of the country.

When was the last time you tested your GFCI? Your response,“Was I suppose to test it?”

How important is the proper conductorsize and proper termination methods? Very! Manyso called "nuisance" openings of overcurrent pro-tective devices or device failures can be tracedto these root causes.

Improper electrical connections can result in fire or otherdamage to property and can cause injury or death.

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•Aluminum service entrance conductors connectionswill be retorqued as aluminum will creep (loosen) overthe years often causing an open-neutral condition.

•Check circuit breakers for proper wire size for theprescribed amperage.

•Connections in the load center will be checked for thecorrect connections. One wire per breaker terminal.

•GFCIs and AFCIs are tested for proper operationunder a fault condition.

•Contact pressure and polarity of receptacles will betested.

•The resistance to ground will be tested for ohmsresistance for a path for lightning to follow.

Tom Henry's REST EASY Electrical Safety Reinspection

A complete safety electrical inspection of your home. Athorough examination of the electrical system starting at the serviceentrance.

•Receptacles are tested for correct grounding.

•Infrared testing for hot spots.

•All receptacles are checked for the required groundingpin.

•The 2008 National Electrical Code requires tamper-resistant receptacles to prevent children from insertingobjects.

•Wiring and connections will be inspected for damageand Code violations.

CAUTION is reserved for association with hazard that could causeminor or moderate injury or equipment damage.

WARNING is also associated with a hazard that could cause death orserious permanent injury, but has a low probability doing so.

DANGER implies a hazard that has a high probability causing deathor serious permanent injury, if not avoided.

If a problem is found a handwritten notice to have seriousconditions to be corrected immediately will be issued.

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INFRARED

GFCI & AFCI

ANALYZER

An electrical safety inspection and testing requires thousandsof $$ worth of the proper electrical equipment.

TORQUE

SCREWDRIVER

RECEPTACLE

CONTACT PRESSURE

TESTER

MASTER ELECTRICIAN

TORQUE TOOLS

CIRCUIT ANALYZER

FOR LOOSE CONNECTIONS

THE #1 CAUSE OF FIRES!

SOLAR PANEL

INSPECTION

CAMERA

Don't let your electrical system reach this point!

Electrical faults are responsible for a substantial number ofresidential structure fires that result in almost $1 billion in personallosses, thousands of injuries and hundreds of deaths each year.

Circuit breakers are intended to protect wiring, permanentlyinstalled conductors and certain extension and power supply cords,from high temperatures caused by current in excess of the rating of theconductors. While "conductor" protection is the key element inelectrical system safety, there are potentially dangerous conditionsthat do not involve overcurrent. Circuit breakers do not provideprotection against these conditions. The following are importantexamples:•Electric shock•Low-level line faults•Low-level ground faults•Voltage surges•Overheating

One must first understand there are requirements to

protect the conductors and appliances and also protection re-

quired for people.

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ELECTRICAL CHECK LIST

Service drop clearance [ ]Service entrance mast (condition) [ ]Service entrance conductors (condition) [ ]Grounding electrode connection [ ]Lightning arrestor (condition) [ ]Service size 100 amp minimum [ ]

SERVICE

LOAD CENTER

Number of overcurrent devices [ ]Conductor connections [ ]Proper sizing [ ]Correct bonding [ ]Clearances [ ]

Location (meet spacing requirements) [ ]GFCI & AFCI requirements met [ ]Contact pressure [ ]Polarity and grounding [ ]•120v circuits load tested for loose wiring [ ]

RECEPTACLES

CORDS

Condition [ ]

CEILING

Correct wattage of bulbs [ ]Minimum height of ceiling fans [ ]Condition and operation of smoke detectors [ ]

WE DIDN'T INVENT ELECTRICAL INSPECTION.... WE PERFECTED IT.

The electrical inspection will ensure thatyour home has met the National Electrical Code.

We also inspect Solar PV systemswhich the manufacturer requires anannual inspection to maintain thewarranty.

Call for an estimate cost for the inspection.The price will mainly depend on the size of the ofthe home.

Go online and check out our site: www.code-electrical.com

For more information and an estimate call today

407-671-0020