random(thoughts)

Edison came out and moved my power. Just took a little more work on my end and we are back to where we started…

Now I just have to start rewiring the rest of the house.

I failed the electrical inspection, mainly because I forgot to run a ground to cold water. I also forgot to label the breaker that is running back to the existing sub panel, and the inspector wanted more tape on the neutral wire coming out of the weather head. No big deal. Just more tape. But what got me was the requirement that I bond to hot water and gas…

I can kinda understand the bonding to hot water. I say kinda because the hot water system does not go into the ground, but is part of the water supply system. I don’t understand the bonding to a gas line. It seems a little dangerous on one hand - potentially passing current to a pipe that carries a flammable gas - but on the other hand, it seems redundant because the gas line is already buried in earth.

I googled and found a few things that talk about bonding to the gas line, some say never to bond to the gas line, some say that you must bond to the gas line. I suppose I’ll have to acquire a copy of the 2005 NEC Handbook and read what they say.

Rewind to August 3rd, we had a little bit of a problem with our electrical. OK, it was more than a little problem. An air conditioner was left on in the bedroom and forgotten, an air conditioner was turned on in the living room. The net result was a blown fuse on the mains, a fuse that was in a socket with a tamper-proof adapter. The adapter shorted out and since it can’t easily be replaced, I had to install a new service and panel. I made a quick adjustment and we got power back to most of the house, only the lights in the kitchen, back bedroom and hallway remain dark, and a couple of outlets in the kitchen and the back bedroom.
That required me to contact Southern California Edison, since I know better than to try to swing a live service myself. Edison requires a city inspection before they will move service, so I had to get a permit.

Fast forward to August 13th, I finished the panel install and ran circuits back to the old panel so that we can have power again. This morning, I called in for the inspection. I expect that we will get our inspection tomorrow. Then I can have Edison swing the service. Then we can have all our lights and outlets back.

At some point in the near future I can start rewiring the house back to the new panel and get rid of all the glass fuses!