List of items to check on inspection

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sfav8r

Senior Member
Greetings,

Does anyone know of a good source for putting together a comprehensive list of things to look for on a residential power quality inspection?

The purpose is to be consistent and thorough. The reason for the tests vary. It might be a tenant who is convinced that the landlords old wiring is making their computer crash, a homeowner who is convince that the POCO is delivering sub-standard power, etc.

A rough idea might be something like this:

1) Service Entrance
Wire size/condition
Condition of service equipment
System grounding

2) Wiring
Age/type of wiring
Quality of original installation
Apparent addition/changes to original
installation

3) Over fusing, inappropriate bulb sizes, etc

4) Power quality measurements. Guidelines, length of measurement.

Hopefully, this shows the general idea.

Thanks

[ July 25, 2005, 12:53 AM: Message edited by: sfav8r ]
 

charlie tuna

Senior Member
Location
Florida
Re: List of items to check on inspection

8r,
some of your comments are in line and others are not in my opinion. i have only been asked to do a handfull of home inspections during my contracting days. these were started at the main service panel being very critical of the grounding system and main connections including the meter socket. i feel you can get a very good idea of what has transpired over the years while inspecting the main service panel or panels. the age of wiring methods means nothing as long as it is wired within the requirement of the code at the time.

power quality problems must be addressed as to what the actual problem is by following the owners explaination of the situation. you must have the proof that the power company's supplied power is at fault to get their attention. this would require a certified data recorder print out. the quality of the workmenship may be poor but if it's up to code little can be said.
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
Re: List of items to check on inspection

I gather this is some kind of inspection you need to make on existing installations.

I would be inclined to create a form to document what is actually there - what kind of service, type and size of service equipment, type of wiring, etc.

Just getting this information into one place can be very helpful in troubleshooting down the road.

once I got that down, it might make sense to do some voltage measurements at the service and various pl;aces down stream. to be usefull, it would need to be done both unloaded and loaded. for a residential setting, it would be helpful to load one line and not the other and take measurements.

the problem i see with what you are asking for is that the cost of doing it may not be economical.
 
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