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Solving a Wiring Mess?

Posted by Cliff on from the cleaning-up-the-rat's-nest dept.

FueledByRamen asks: "While trying to run a new power line for a large Sun mass-storage cabinet (located nowhere near a 220 outlet of course), I had the misfortune of needing to pop the lid on my main power distribution panel (previously opened in the late 80s). The whole thing is a rats nest and probably a fire hazard - old-style wiring with broken-down cloth/plastic insulation strewn everywhere, and the utility's incoming power cables have some sort of junction in them that's the size of a 1-liter bottle (on each wire) and is covered in layers of electrical tape. Even (gently) putting the panel back on jiggled something important, and there was a nasty cracking noise and half the breakers blew (all breakers in one of the 2 columns). I've worked with mains voltage in the past (wiring new rooms, installing lighting), but nothing on this scale, both in terms of complexity and potential for death. How do you industrious Slashdot readers go about fixing a mess like this (on a tight budget, no less) without getting a mains-induced glimpse at the great beyond?"

5 of 769 comments (clear)

  1. Obvious answer? by Icepick_ · · Score: 5, Redundant

    Hire an electrician.

  2. How many times.... by BlindThePoodle · · Score: 0, Redundant

    ...over would you like to be dead.

    Dead, deader, deadest. Most dead.

    Dead.

    Hire someone.

  3. I always call by big-giant-head · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Cowboy Neal High Voltage Electrical Service.....

    Seriously Call someone, saving a couple of grand is'nt worth it if you end up dead in the process.

    --

    So Long and Thanks for all the Fish.
  4. If you have to ask ... by bradm · · Score: 0, Redundant
    Please listen to the parent. Your question demonstrates that you do not have the required experience. Also, if the incoming mains
    are the size implied by your description, you will not have access to the correct parts to work in this box.


    A hint: Nobody, and especially no professional would do work on the infeed side of a box like that with the power still on. Sliding in a new circuit into a clean space hot, sure, but revamping a box that apparently has already had an incident, no way.


    This post typed with my left hand in my back pocket.

  5. Re:4 words. by JWW · · Score: 3, Redundant

    You know reading this thread I really wish the moderators would... QUIT MODERATING THE CORRECT ANSWER AS REDUNDANT!!!

    This guy is out of his mind to try and do this himself. Hire the professional. If you do this yourself, the tools you would need to buy to do it safely are going to cost a fortune anyway. If you don't buy the right tools, there's no way you will do it safely.