Private Career and Trade Schools Most are nothing more than a Government RIP OFF

Be an Electrician , Welder etc etc in 18 months the commercials tout WRONG
the Big Secret no one wants to talk about is the vast majority of for profit career and Trade schools are nothing but a big rip off. They fill young guys and gals heads full of mush how there a trained and certified professional when they come out of school and there going to make all this fantastic money.
The truth they get you ready for an entry level job and even that is not even true some times your training is completely worthless.
How do I know this because I once taught for a short period at one of these for profit schools and left after being totally and completely disgusted with all the lies and poor training going on.
I saw many cases where students where excepted that never should have been and this worthless schooling costs big bucks as much as $30,000.00 or more to go to these schools. There is no way these loans will ever be repaid and now the Federal government is going ofter several schools here in Pittsburgh.
Then there's the instructors who for the most part are individuals who have been kicked out or otherwise forced out of the trade because there work skills where very poor or they where just plain lazy . One of my customers a large welding fabricator recently hired one of these so called welding instructors for his plant thinking he would get an excellent welder WRONG his welding skills are so bad he works as a helper laborer in the plant , and this guy was teaching others how to weld.
The truth is if you really want to learn a trade you need to go to a trade school run by a school district or community college where you will get the basics and then go to work as a helper till you learn what you need to become a journeyman with your skills this takes up to 5 years not 18 months there is so much that must be learned including how to think on your feet and good mechanical and fitting skills,
I am not saying all for profit schools are bad but way too many are out of all the 100 plus schools that are for profit here in Pittsburgh there are less than a dozen I would even recommend going to.
Go to a community college where the fees are much less and affordable and you get better instruction and a better chance of getting an entry level job or apply as a laborer some where and work your way up under a well trained journeyman.

DO NOT GET RIPPED OFF BY A WORTHLESS FOR PROFIT SCHOOL

Changing Phone service could have been disasterous for this business owner

A customer of mine a very high end restaurant in Butler county
recently decided to change there phone service from a hardwired phone service provided by Consolidated to Armstrong cable digital IP service. and it could have been disastrous as unknown to the owner and the cable installer the Fire Alarm was not properly wired back into the new phone service instead when they walked in this morning the Fire and burglar alarm panels where in trouble because they had not sent in the daily test which is required by NFPA 72 fire code.
This restaurant experienced over $3000,000.00 in damaged last winter when a valve was bypassed on a sprinkler system which should have been tampered and was not and luckily the burg system caught the leak and triggered getting the police and owner there . But this might bit have been the case this time as both alarms had no phone service. Now as a back up on Fire and burglar alarm systems that are high risk I always install outside sounding devices and strobes to get attention should the phone lines go out and alarm not transmit and this has saved my customers several times over the years but there is always a delay getting a response from time the alarm goes off to some one hearing the alarm and notifying 911.
so once again as a precaution I will be installing a cellular back up system on these alarms as a back up precaution .I always encourage customers to install cellular back up but it costs extra and I understand when they do not want to do it but as you can see it can be a very valuable service and prevent needless tragedy and heart ache. In one case a previous customer of mine switched phone service said nothing and then had a process line freeze up and cause over a million dollar loss in productivity.

There needs to be a law mandated that cable and phone company's be required to notify alarm company's when phone service is changed to prevent these problems as I have already had customers over the years change phone service not tell me and fires and flooding due to broken pipes etc has caused major issues with major dollar damages. all because people are trying to save a buck.

40 years later a Phone Call from a Bully

That was surprising last night when I got a phone call from some one who bullied me back when I went to St. Basil s Grade school in the 60's.
He was calling to apologize for having done it and was worried it had hurt me all those years ago.
Well I forgave him and told him how it actually made me a better and stronger individual as I will not put up with it when I see it on a job site.
He explained he was bullied and in return since he could pick on me that's why he did it.
You have to remember I was very skinny and sick as a child but grew into a 6' 2" -225 LB individual so yea many of those bully's had lots to worry about if they ever unfortunately crossed my path and several paid for it the hard way just like they bullied me. Some just got the shit kicked out of them etc. wasn't so funny for them after they where on the reciving end of it.

Like me he also has fought and is winning his battle with cancer and I explained to him how many old ghosts and skeletons have come out of the closet when I got the cancer and he said that's part of what prompted his calling me. He has mellowed out and become a man and confronted his old ghosts . Its a shame it took this long to learn just how precise life is as it can be here one day and gone the next . But I wish him well and he finally have peace in his life because so many I grew up with did not either dead by there own hand , in Prison ,addicted or just living a horribly miserable and tragic life. We learn by our mistakes and I have made more than my share and if I have offended any one it was not intentional . May we all learn , love and lead
good lives and be able to handle the speed bumps we encounter. It makes you a better human being. It starts by treating your fellow man the way you want to be treated.

Note: Since writing this article My younger brother tells me he has gotten several of these calls over the years when he did further research why it is some times because an individual is going thru one of numerous 12 step programs for an addiction. How ever after 40 years I find this not the case .

This is no way to wire a building

Yes once again an Excellent Job by the so called " Fire Alarm Experts in Pittsburgh"
It was back in the  early 80's when the Downtown Pittsburgh  Investment Building experienced a fire on the 12th floor  of a 21 story building and it made all the papers and TV news how the system failed to operate.
How when Office workers tried to activate pull stations they fell out of the wall and no signal came on.
How my late neighbor a City Fire Lieutenant Tom Davis carried a wheel chair bound worker down 15 floors
on his back. Luckily the building was well built with lots of concrete and steel and fire never got out of the Violin Repair shop but smoke got everywhere. Yes it was a very bad day in deed after a complete investigation it was found that even thou the city required metal encasement on all fire wiring only 3 of the floors where so encased the 3 floors the inspector looked at and all of the trunk wires etc where run down a utility shaft attached to a length of Bull Rope .
Although the Guys where cited for not doing the work properly . The reason the fire alarm did not work properly is because a maintenance man reset the fire panel from a previous false alarm and the Edwards 5700 Panel had a slide switch which did not fully slide back to its proper position and the panel did not give any indication it was not functioning properly . Needless to say after that they always had a technician to do it. I took over servicing the panel for a new owner and when they started the process to go to court over the system not working properly it was found there was problems all around including the city approving a wiring schematic that showed the wrong wiring connection
for the bells using 3 trunk lines and it was also claimed the individual who sold the owner the system parts from Edwards had stolen them from Edwards. Needless to say it was a mess and after this fire the city started to crack down on permits and inspections which they where doing a good job as till a few years ago and it is again now sliding as they have only 3 inspectors for the whole city and some Inspectors do there job exceptionally well while others do not and it is just going to be a matter of time till once again we have another tragedy. Luckily no one got seriously injured in this early 80's fire but it is going to be just a matter of time till something does go wrong in a city which I now here techs saying is going to turn into hooter ville .

Smart Emergency Lights they let you know when the back up battery needs serviced

You see them in almost every commercial building back up emergency lighting units whose 2 lights come on and light the way for you to find your way out if the power goes out . but how many when the power goes out how many actually work?
Well up to 50% or more do not . Why? because there is a
a sealed lead acid battery which must be replaced every 3-5 years and they are suppose to be tested at least annually in some cases monthly but it never gets done and the 45 minutes of emergency light your suppose to have is not there and your stuck in a dark building not fun .
How many times when I have opened up and checked emergency lights I still find the original battery's in them just last week I found one which had never been changed from 1984 as it was hiding in a ceiling in a restaurant which called me after there lights went out and most did not work. Well one way to avoid this is with new Smart Packs which warn when theirs a problem with the system but at 2-3 times the cost of a standard unit you can be sure there not a big seller .
That's why it takes vigilance to make sure there tested and even set up for a service to come in and do them when they check the fire extinguishers which many places have started to do.
Yet you would be surprised how many buildings in Pa. I can walk into including day cares , personnel care homes etc and no emergency lights or lighted exit signs. But that's the way it is when local fire and building officials do not inspect properly . But then again this is Pa. do what ever you feel like. I just found a Head start Program in Armstrong county where they some times have night party's and sessions and no exit lights and no emergency lights and a steep pair of steps from 2nd to first floor. The director gives me the bull shit this is an existing structure.
yes for an office not a day care the new laws must be followed.Will see if they do or not now that every one has been put on notice.

Standard CFL Bulbs can not be used with Dimmers

One of my customers called me the other day her dual dimming switch (top) for her lighted paddle fan stopped working. I stopped by and took a look and you could see the dimmer switch was slightly melted. So I went to the supply house and got a new dimmer at $42.00 since it was special dual dimmer compared to standard dimmer (bottom ) and put the new dimmer in and notice the fan works fine but the lights do not dim?
I take one of the bulbs out and instantly know what the problem is. The bulb is a Compact Fluorescent Bulb CFL made to look like an incandescent bulb and 99% of the compact fluorescent bulbs can not be used with dimmers in fact it can lead to a fire if continued to be used constantly this also goes for regular straight florescent bulbs as well which require a special dimmer.
If you have a dimmer switch you must buy a fluorescent CFL which can be dimmed and it must be compatible with the dimmer you are using. Of course they cost 2-3 times what a regular CFL runs as well.
But if you want to dim a fluorescent the dimmer and bulb much be matched properly or you risk a fire. So needless to say my customer had a discussion with here husband when he got home because he has put the CFL bulbs all over the house to save money.
So your saying to your self should they not warn on the dimmer or bulb package not to use fluorescent bulbs? Well some do some do not and the ones that do the writing is very small and hard to read.
So once again a perfect storm caused by energy saving devices with packaging not well thought out. to warn against a fire danger. but then again what do you expect from manufacturers overseas.

New line of Electrical Safety Gloves

From time to time I get asked to evaluate a new alarm or electrical product , in fact I do beta testing for several company's who want an honest tradesman's opinion on there product.

The latest company to ask me is Magid Glove & Safety manufacturing Company LLC located in Chicago Illinois
I have used there Work/Welding gloves at various plants I work at where the plant has provided them and they have always been hard working so I knew I was not going to be disappointed when I was asked to look over and evaluate a new line of electrical Rubber Insulating Gloves known as there " Magid A.R.C. " Line and I have found them to fit ,flex and wear extremely well .
First off the gloves are much more flexible than normal Class I gloves. which allow you to work up to 7500 volts I work up to 480 volts so these gloves might be overkill but when your working on industrial voltage or changing an electrical service tap you want all the protection available to you.
The problem always thou with these gloves is flexibility while trying to perform a operation like connecting a nut and bolt together. The entire protective glove system properly worn includes a first layer of a cotton type glove to absorb sweat then the rubber gloves and finally a over set of leather gloves to prevent the rubber gloves from being torn.
Needless to say with 3 layers on its difficult to due a task so any extra flexibility is important and that's where Magid A.R.C. Gloves deliver. So many times I have put rubber gloves on and found there is just no flexibility to them this was not the case with the Arc Gloves I was easily able to put together a nut and bolt with washers on a Industrial Buss with no problems. After 2 months of using the gloves on projects several times a week there just as flexible as the day I received them as you can see in the picture on left .I had the gloves blown up with air and tested as well and no signs of holes or tears or other deterioration which can be detrimental to your health.
I have showed them around and let other electricians try them as well and they agree on the flexibility of these gloves compared to what there currently using and the gloves are very competitively priced as well. and they come in half sizes.
If your going into protective gloves for the first time or need to replace your current set take the time to check out the Magid A.R.C. rubber insulating gloves

www.magidglove.com

The Dangers we all face on Holiday weekends

Holidays and Long Weekends

The dangers our country faces every time we take time off to celebrate?

Its time to turn off all the lights. Lock the doors and gates and take off for the long Holiday Weekend. Be it Memorial Day, Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Many places close up and enjoy the time off and places which must be staffed like Hospitals ,Police depts. TV Stations Etc . Are running with very limited staff and this is where the problems can begin.

Many businesses now rely on technology to warn if something goes wrong to notify on call personnel to problems and with such reliance on technology we are leaving our selves very vulnerable to not only things that can go wrong naturally like broken water pipes and accidental fires .But we leave our selves open to major criminal activity and possible terrorist attack.

Take for instance the local AM/FM radio station at one time some one had to be always on duty to make sure the station was running properly and to make sure any emergency weather or other messages where gotten out to the public. Today many stations are fully automated no one is on site and if you needed to get a emergency evacuation message out to the public due to a accidental release of dangerous chemicals you could not do it.

This even goes for many Low power TV stations which are fully automated and with so many people on MP 3- Ipods – XM /Sirrius radio etc. Cable TV or satellite dishes getting there attention is almost impossible.
Many communities in addition have shut off there fire depts. emergency sirens and dismantled them as well to. One possibility to get the message out is to have the local National Weather Service office send out a signal which activates emergency weather and disaster radios but many Responders do not know you can do this and not everyone has one of these radios. Even if your successful in getting the message to the weather service and they activate the emergency signal tones at the fully automated radio and TV stations your depending on the technology at the station to pick up the message and retransmit it ,some times it gets thru some times it does not as the recent nation wide test on November 14^th proved .Even the manned stations have to have some one who is paying attention to retransmit as well and many times they can miss the signal if they are busy handling another problem, and a signal can be delayed for several minutes before it gets out.

But let’s talk about what caused the release of the dangerous chemicals’ in the first place.

Many company’s have eliminated there weekend Guard and maintenance staff and instead are relying on automation systems and alarms to take there place again some are installed properly and work well some do not and even if an alarm system picks up the signal getting the signal from the plant to the people who need to respond is another problem, since many plants to save money use internet based phone lines to get signals out and these phone lines unlike traditional phone lines are them selves very vulnerable to not working when needed becuse they must be powered from both ends unlike traditional phone lines.

So that simple power failure in your community has now turned into a disaster because everyone is trying to save a buck.

Of course having guards and maintenance staff in place is not a 100% guarantee there will not be problems but at least some one is on site to react and make sure proper people are contacted even if they have to get in a vehicle and drive down to where they can notify emergency personnel. That is if emergency personnel are at there stations. Many communities no longer staff there police/fire stations after 5pm and 911 centers handle all the emergency traffic. Many smaller communities do not have local police on after 5pm or weekends either leaving the emergencies up to state police and sheriff depts. that have very large territories to cover with 2-3 officers for an entire county. Some times only 1 officer available during a shift.

Then the other problems faced on holiday’s weekends is getting hold of people on the “on-call” call list especially on the weekend in Pa and other big hunting states have there opening of Buck Deer season where an entire work staff could be gone for the weekend and no reaching any one.

This is why weekends are so dangerous too many places in this country do not think out there emergency and back up plans and this is why we are seeing bigger problems as preventive and predictive maintenance programs are cut or abandoned.

Yes technology is a wonderful thing when it works but when it does not all hell can and does go wrong. It is not just weekends but any time after 5pm in this country.

Yes we all need a break to relax but before we do relax there needs to be some serious due diligence to make sure if things go wrong when we take off do not get out of hand.

If this article has made you uneasy it should because I am one of those people who are On-Call on the weekends and I get to see all the things that can and do go wrong.

I am very worried as more and more automation technology is being brought on line and there is no human interaction. Technology is a good thing but it can come back and bite when not handled properly.

When is Ceora going to get a new roof when is Pa. going to get off its ass and crack down on bad contractors

My Friend Ceora who Lives in Erie County and is on Disability and needed a new roof for her trailer was able to get a USDA backed loan for $30,000.00
to replace it she found a local contractor who was suppose to be insured and registered with Pa. and USDA supposedly checked him out and while his initial work was good he changed from a wood and shingle roof to a metal roof which was fine if it was put in properly but it never was and now going on the 2nd winter Ceora is dealing with federal and state agency's who are worthless toothless tigers who will not take the bull by the horn and get this smack off of a contractor to fix the roof properly by putting down proper wood underlayment and using proper screws to secure and seal the metal.
I have been trying to help her out because she has water pouring into the trailer due to ice buildup since theirs not proper insulation and roof underlayment . She becomes a virtual captive in her trailer due to all the ice.,as the roof sweats and drops water by the bucket load onto here ceilings etc. no senior citizen should be going thru this. especially one who has gone thru stage IV cancer .

First off I find out this contractors does not appear on the registered list for Pa. his name shows up no where. then USDA says they can not help other than to scare him they have no enforcement powers attorney generals office is useless and local building inspector says he did not sign off on that part of the work. needless to say the 3rd party inspector is going to loose his license to inspect after this as Ceora has prepared a formal complaint against him and is going to go after his insurance carrier. Local newspaper called and looked into a possible story on this clown contractor but it has gone no further and once again Ceora will be in a wet leaking trailer and freezing cold because all the air leaks. Once again Pennsylvania at its finest.
When you really do need help Pa. government is toothless. and thousands of Senior Citizens are getting ripped off year round by bad contractors who just laugh at what little state and criminal rules there are.

Bad install comes back to haunt 30+ years laters

I had one of my customers who owns a swimming pool sales store call me this summer to tell me the lights where blinking in the store occasionally and at one time they thought they heard a buzzing sound like bees ?
I immediately drove up to the store worried there was some thing more to this story and there was after checking inside and not finding any problems I went outside to check the main service and found a hole burnt thru the trough box for the electrical service. I immediately called Lawrence county 911 and told them the situation I had and the got hold of Penn Power for me and sent a Fire unit to stand by till the service could be safely shut down Lawrence county 911 is an excellent service compared to my home county of Allegheny where I could fill this blog full with horror story's. A Penn Power Trouble Shooter was on scene in 30 minutes and shut down the service which also shut down a vacant buildings power next to us and we opened the trough and found that the split bolt knuckle had been rubbing up against the Auxiliary Gutter as it is some times called and that the proper splicing layers of rubber , plastic and friction tape had not been installed and that excess pressure was being put on the lid. We re-taped and layered all the connections then shifted the wires around and had power back on in an hour. taking the pressure off the wires. This is not the first time I have had Penn Power there previously a fender washer used to secure the main panel to the wall came loose and past the screw holding it and it made contact with the main power lug. How ever installed this service at was once a used car lot and who ever inspected it from Mid Atlantic inspections never did there job and as a result my customer has now had several major and expensive service calls due to people not doing there jobs. Thank god has not had a fire as a result of there negligence. Plus remember this is Pennsylvania a state with no Electricians license any one can be an electrician outside the major city's that require you to be registered and that's no guarantee your going to get any better work. It is definitely buyer beware in Pa. when it comes to hiring a contractor.

The fire experts in Pittsburgh never due this correctly

Small plug in type transformers

Is Un acceptable in

Commercial Fire Systems without protection?

And other bad AC Power Practices

Many of the modern Combination Commercial Fire and Burglary Systems available on the market today I.e. Napco, Radionics /Bosch , DSC, Morse/Optex etc. come with a small plug in transformer which is designed for use only when the panel is being used for Burglary Only.

To use that same transformer to power the panel when it is being used for Commercial

Fire service it has to be No # 1 sized correctly for the load expected to be drawn thru it. And no # 2 it has to be UL commercial Listed and No # 3 it has to be physically protected from damage and the wire from it to the panel as well.

To meet the physical Protection requirements of a commercial system using a plug in transformer there is a special steel enclosure kit, which is to be purchased separately

Which is vented and totally covers the transformer and outlet , as you can see in the picture a proper transformer set up with one open on left and one closed on right

I was actually shocked to see this out of 98% of all combos I see done wrong this panel was done correctly

A piece of electrical conduit is then attached from the transformer enclosure to the combo panel there by protecting the power to the panel. Rarely have I ever seen this protective kit used were it was required. Ademco got around this problem by supplying the proper

Sized transformer and enclosure. With there panels. Which I still see being put in wrong.

It comes back directly on the backs of those AHJ’s who refuse to take seriously the Fire alarm Inspections they are doing. And refuse to get there training upgraded.

The AC power supply to a life safety system is one of the pieces to a total fire System

Additionally the circuit supplying the outlet the transformer is plugged into is to be dedicated just for that outlet and the breaker is to be marked with a red marking to prevent it being accidently shut off and the breaker panel is to be clearly marked which breaker supply’s the Fire panel this also goes for direct wired Fire panels.

Plus in the Fire panel it is to be noted which breaker is supplying it.

This brings up another dangerous situation I have been finding, involving the AC power coming into new fire panels which are replacing older AC only bell and pull station panels. Typically the installer pulls the old panel out puts the new panel in place and gets his AC power from the old switch or breaker supplying the old AC system which is

Acceptable, but they then hook up a 14# gauge wire to the 30 amp fuse or breaker which is an overload situation and fire or accident waiting to happen ,when they should have changed the fuse to 15 amps. In the old days they took the AC power supplying Fire Panels and pulled it directly from the services main lugs this is still legal today but all NEC rules have to be followed , which they are not most of the time.

We keep coming back to the same question who is training who.

The Fire Alarm experts in Pittsburgh prove there no communicators

Yes once again the so called" Fire Alarm experts In Pittsburgh "
show there technical brilliance to get around a problem of a older Silent Knight 5207 Fire Panel not communicating over Digital phone lines.

I found this out when a customer of mine who demolishes buildings called me the other day to make sure all the power and other energy was off in a restaurant which was to be torn down so it was safe for his workers to cut out piping etc.
While I was there he said there was a Fire panel in the back could I use it for parts I said sure I have plenty of SK panels out there always good to have a extra board as they no longer make the 5207 as it has been replaced with the 5208 .
Well I get ready to start removing it and look to take the 2 required phone lines off the panel except there not there Ok whats going in instead I find the fire panel has been wired into a Honeywell Vista 15 P Burglar Alarm panel which is not listed to be used as a Commercial fire communicator. Note the resistors across the relay terminals on the 5207 in the picture. So I am scratching my head why did they do this as I called the local Fire Marshal to let him know what was going on if the Fire experts did it here they have done it other places in town.
Well as I am waiting for him to arrive I notice they had Comcast Xfinity digital phone service
which was then switched to Verizon FIOS digital phone service and then I had my answer you see because the so called technicians the experts hire tell people they can not use FIOS on a fire alarm because it will not transmit which is total bull shit I never have a problem with it. We had the same Bull shit problem with them at my wife's church for over a month they could not get the panel to communicate correctly on a phone line with DSL service on it and all it took was a $20 special filter to correct it. Some thing the experts told me they did not know existed. Of course they still program panels to dial rotary dial which most phone lines no longer understand and keeps panels from communicating as well but the people who program for the experts never pay attention and just program in rotary and then wonder why a panel will not dial consistently
So this is why they wired the fire alarm to the burglar alarm because the Vista 15P has Contact ID which will work on FIOS so this is how they got around it when all they had to do is program the panel to either SIA or SK4/2 not BFSK 4/2 there usually programmed to and it normally goes over FIOS no problem when it is wired in correctly something the experts just can not seem to get working.
Once again these G-uys prove there worth.The other way they could have handled this was put a 5128 communicator board in the panel which does contact Id and problem would be solved. But since the experts will not properly train there people on Phone communications you instead get this mess and nothing but excuses. Once the Fire Marshal arrived I showed him the problem and needless to say he will be making phone calls and watching for this in the future any time he has a system installed by the Fire Alarm experts.

Now in theory you hook a fire alarm to a burg panel out put yes as long as it is done with permission of AHJ but this is not seen with newer installs it is with old local only fire alarms which did not have dialer built in before modern rules came into effect, and system is voluntary not mandated but this was not the case.This was a mandated reporting system so it must follow NFPA guidelines.

But hey as long as you go around telling everyone your the " fire alarm experts in Pittsburgh" and have a great line of bull shit to back it up everyone believes you that is till they realize they have been burned.

Former customer gambled on friends wiring house and lost

My former customer bet on Las Vegas Electricians and Lost.

One of my former customers who left me when I was diagnosed with colon cancer daughter was building a Custom Home in Washington County and asked if I could Install all the low voltage wiring Burglar, fire, phone cable TV internet etc.

He also asked if I could add a couple receptacles etc. and do the Finnish off work on the rest of the electrical power wiring her friends from Las Vegas ,who are electricians did for her while they were here visiting family. They were up for making some extra money and since my customer has a wholesale account with a local supplier she would be able to save about $4500.00 over the cost of using the builders electrician.Sure I said no problem if these were licensed electricians from Las Vegas the work should be the same except for couple grounding issues we do different here from there. I also told her if her friends needed questions answered as to specific codes for Allegheny Power territory for her friends to call me and I could answer them.

My customer’s friends came in and the 2 of them spent 3 days getting the house wired up and ready for inspection. They never called me as they apparently got their answers from the builder. I got on site to do the extras and get ready to do the low voltage work when just a simple inspection of the wiring I did before I started reveled major electrical code violations. The wiring workmanship to begin with was extremely poor the way they ran the wiring was extremely sloppy then when it came to centering wiring on 2x4 beams it was improperly done plus many other violations would have to be corrected. Before the Electrical inspector was called it took me nearly 2 days to make all the corrections delaying the general contractor. When my friend got hold of these so-called electricians who supposedly wire million dollar homes and casinos to scream at them . They assured me the work they did there was totally acceptable in Las Vegas. They did not see why I red tagged their work. I called the Las Vegas licensing dep’t to find out these 2 jokers have had there permits pulled several times for bad work. They were not surprised by what happened in Pa.

It came out even with the work I did to correct the situation that my customer still came out ahead money wise but had I not caught the problems would the inspector allow it to have pass most probably because the inspector in this area is known for easy inspections.Which is a dam shame.

I have seen several homes in this sub division that never should have been allowed passed and occupied. Homes which over time are guaranteed to have major electrical incidents and could lead to fires. By whichever sucker gets stuck with the home after they have been sold.

Once again this points out why the UCC codes just starting to be enforced will help prevent this nonsense.

There are too many contractors and township and 3^rd Party Inspectors in this state that will install work any way they care to and pass any thing they care to.

The results are staggering when you see the amount of fire deaths and insurance payouts in this state compared to others. Which is why we pay such high insurance rates compared to other areas.

I have had a Fire Chief who reads my articles tell me he does not favor all the inspection stuff, rules etc. It just adds to the cost and is unnecessary. It should be a buyer beware situation. Which is fine but even educated consumers get burned when the person they hire to do the inspection does not do it right.

This is particularly true with high tech items that only the techs installing truly understand. I for one know for a fact in today’s world Buyer Beware is not enough when it comes to hiring some one.

You need to be worried for your childs safety if they attend a Private Pa. School

If you have a child who is in attendance at a Private , Charter or Special or Emotional Needs
School in Pennsylvania you need to do some investigation as to the safety of the school .
As you can see in these pictures in a school in Washington County there are major building code violations which would close a commercial building yet this is an old school being operated for private students which has just once again passed inspection. Notice the blocked exit path way with fold up table and chairs the plastic Styrofoam above the ceiling to block air drafts because the ceiling is being used for environmental air the combustible wood above a ceiling being used as an air scoop and of course all the wrong non plenum wire above the ceilings and of course a Big Integration company here in Pittsburgh who contributes bucks to this program had his guys come in and pull all the correct wiring I had in for a camera system and replace it with the wrong wire when they upgraded it and they wonder why there no longer used on main campus besides the fact they charge big bucks for worthless and hazardously done work. There the goof balls who ran the extension cord wire inside the wall to power a fire alarm booster .Then again why would I expect differently the big Pittsburgh integration company was started by a former Pittsburgh fire alarm expert employee. Then there's a 1920's fire system which was not even operating and only couple of battery smokes protecting the students for fire protection,till I put a very basic fire system in to protect them.
Yes look at all the stuff and debris and materials stored everywhere in back rooms away from prying eyes and before this was a private school it was serving as an Day Care / head start center.

But remember this is Pennsylvania where we allow local fire dept's. do the annual inspections dept's. who in most cases do not have the required training of an experienced code enforcement officer.
Who would have caught all these penetrations thru fire walls and combustible materials. When the old boiler stopped working and was replaced by gas fired units above the ceilings.
a heating system from what I can tell was never inspected or approved by state or any other code agency.
but hey this is Pennsylvania do what you feel like no one will ever inspect or hold you accountable for your actions until its too late and you have lost your child and then its duck and cover your ass.

SO WHATS GOING ON AT YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL ?

WHATS GOING ON AT YOUR CHILD S DAY CARE ?

YOUR LOVED ONES PERSONNEL CARE HOME ?

YOUR LOVED Ones GROUP HOME ?

YOU BETTER FIND OUT BECAUSE THE STATE IS NOT INSPECTING FOR LIFE SAFETY ISSUES IN THESE PLACES AND YOUR LOVED ONES LIVES ARE IN JEOPARDY!!!!

Ignorant Lazy roofers put mall workers at risk

What you see on the left is a set of deck nails which are used to secure the metal sheeting used on a flat roof to the roof beams .

But where I found these busted off ones is disturbing I was working in a mall in beaver county pa.
Installing a camera system and these came falling out of the suspended ceiling and it is a good thing I had my safety glasses on as I could have seriously had my eyes injured because of the negligence of the roofing contractor who worked on the roof and did not clean the ceiling and remove all the screws after what most likely was a re roofing job.
every tile I opened I found screws and I removed them as i found them or after the fell on the floor. Mall maintenance people where there while i was and observed the same problem while replacing water stained tile and where suppose to come and vacuum them all off the ceiling at some point .
this incident with these screws should never have happened if the roofer used good and proper techniques but as you can see the just did not care to.
I am sure the mall will not be using them any more either.

Quick Wire Quick fire instead of quick connect fittings going away there increasing

At left is a typical example of resistance heating caused by wiring inserted into a quick connect device on a Duplex receptacle which allows 14 or 12 gauge wire to be pushed into the back of the receptacle instead of having to be wound around a screw.
In this case in a 15 year old house the wire was not properly installed and as a result you can see the resistance heating which caused the lights to go out and luckily a fire was not a result.
back in the 90's UL and other agency's looked at the problem of these quick wire terminals and instead of redesigning them or banning them made manufacturers design them so only 14 gauge wire could be inserted but this did not solve the problem I see and get just as many calls for problem receptacles.
What they should have done is banned them out right there are side pressure plate receptacles that work just as well but as usual UL and NFPA and every one else bent over and let the home builders continue this poor practice of hurry up and get the plugs wired.
The problem is only getting worse as more products are coming on the market which supposedly do not have the same problems the quick wire receptacles do. I say bull shit it all comes down to who wires it and if its a lazy electrician no matter how well the quick wire is made he will not follow instructions and do it properly.
and as a result we will keep seeing problems with these quick wire connectors.
But for you the consumer you have no choice as long as we keep putting profit over people.
and Home owners keep trying to cut costs by speeding up jobs the quick wire connector will be around.

Another Excellent Job ? By the suposed Fire alarm experts In Pittsburgh

Yes this article to the left I wrote few years back about how the G-uys totally and completely messed up the inside of a church my wife and I belong to.
Is hard to believe yet this mess passed inspection In Pittsburgh at the time when the state was going thru new state wide code changes .
Can you spot all the NFPA Fire NEC Electrical Code violations in them.
Well this is what passes for a fire system in my area. dam shame all that money for this mess.

You have to be a Sick Individual to screw with some one going thru Colon Cancer

last year I posted about people going around claiming I was dead from Colon Cancer . Well it seems the rumors will not go away.
I walked in a business the other day I have not been to in over 2 years and the employees nearly had a cardiac . They heard I had died .
Wow how that hits you when you hear it. But I can believe people when they really thought it happened.I recently had to renew my drivers license and woman doing the photos asked for another ID since I had changed physical features so much from my last license which was taken in 07 When I was going thru Chemo.

Well it has been 4 years since I was diagnosed and still I keep running into things sick Individuals tried and did do to me including making not so kind posts on different internet forums and groups.
The latest group I found my name being used is for Fire Investigators and I had to ask the administrator to remove all of the posts.
Yes friends I trusted to run my business and where here in my home using my computer instead where screwing me the whole time trying to steal my Alarm accounts and spreading rumors. I only have couple hundred accounts but there good high quality commercial and industrial accounts which could kick off significant recurring revenue that's why they want them. But getting them and keeping them is a whole different story.
Then I run into other interesting things on the internet too when I find people using my company name and saying they worked for me as investigators,technicians etc.
funny I'm a sole proprietor.
I do occasionally have people help me but I have not had an employee since 1989 other than a few sub contractors who have worked with me over the years from time to time and they get 99 forms .
Yea I find out all kinds of stuff all the time how people are screwing me and taking work away from me because they resent the fact despite all that has happened to me I still manage to get out few days a week and work in the field I love. Then there are those racist sick individuals who believe I am Jewish by how my last name is spelled . Sorry My grandfather and grandmother came from Ukraine/ Austria where not Jewish and there buried at the Ukraine catholic cemetery. The name misspell which we believe correctly should be Markowich was changed when my grandfather came thru Ellis island shortly before WWI as a young man. In fact I know Jewish individuals who have the - wich on end of there names we always laugh about our grandfathers getting in the wrong line on Ellis Island.

I get phone calls all the time from people who tell me rumors being spread about me etc.
because there are those who are jealous and envious of the fact I have appeared or was mentioned in several alarm and electrical trade magazines and I am such a little nothing company. Hey its no big deal want to apear in a magazine get off your lazy fat ass and write an article or two and submit them and they will gladly use them if there any good. That's all it takes it is called effort and integrity or did the ones defaming me forget that.
Now really what can me and my little company due to an industry that there so afraid of me.
Is it because I try to do the right thing everyday and do a good days work and show pride in my work and try and promote good work ethic if that's what scares them then they really must be sick.

It does not takeTerrorist just an idiot to blow up a Shopping Mall

I was working on a Sunday in a mall to install a camera system while a store was not busy to only walk into the back storage room to smell Propane Gas I get hold of the manager and tell him its propane . He thinks it is sewer gas. I say no it is propane it has a very distant acrid smell to it plus there was a propane tank in the store when I was there yesterday. Well you guessed it the tank from a forklift that was being used outside to load shelves etc into this new store was being stored in the back room so no one could mess with the fork lift was in fact leaking. Luckily it had not yet gotten to explosive levels and I was able to turn it off and take it outside all the while smelling propane all thru the back hall.

Luckily this time no one got hurt but it could have been catastrophic.
First off you are never to store any type of flammable liquid or gas in a mall period. with out very specific permits and rules and special storage facility the person who brought the tank into the storage room could have been charged with a felony criminal charge of Risking a Catastrophe. under Pa. law
2nd what ticked me off the most a mall cop shows up while i am carefully moving the tank outside and opening doors to get fresh air in the store wanting my truck moved . What for its Sunday I was in a loading zone I was legally parked. Well this was enough I had the good little Nazi Ass hole Mall cop call his supervisor to the rear of the store hall and confronted him and his good little Nazi with the fact there all worried about how my truck was parked but never noticed the Propane smell from the tank that was leaking since Saturday or the fact the storerooms hall was blocked etc etc. Well all of a sudden my truck was no longer an issue as a mall management person showed up and was furious with his mall cops he uses and the store manager.
Because yes in deed there could have been a catastrophe and why was a store allowed to store stuff in a hall way and block an exit door.
So as you can see there are plenty of idiots in this world in the retail arena just another reason I choose not to shop in malls and do not feel comfortable in most of them knowing the code violations which often are ignored and the long amount of time it takes to get to an outside exit at most of them upwards of 150 feet or more.When I have trouble walking as it is.

Enviromental Air Cielings a Bad ideal which is a Health and Life safety Issue

About 40 years ago an Architect got the bright idea what if we use the entire ceiling above a suspended ceiling as a return air duct instead of having to install all that metal return air duct.
While it might have saved money initially in the long run it has turned into a public health and life safety disaster .
You can tell these type of ceilings by use of white and silver plastic open egg crate as its known ceiling tiles which allows the return air into the ceiling which is then drawn to a large duct in roof heating cooling unit.
While you save money on the duct metal it also completely changes the codes by which all other piping and electrical work must now be done.

Because of potential acrid smoke that can kill that can be caused by wiring and plastic plumbing pipes in an environmental air ceiling these items can not be used all wiring and pipe must be metal encased or other wise encased with in drywall or the use of very expensive plenum wire must be used and you guessed it after the inspector leaves any thing goes and cileings get filled with all types of wire which are not permitted creating a very dangerous life safety issue of deadly acrid smoke,should a fire break out.
When they built Pittsburgh Mills Mall in Fraser twp Pa. a few years back they used the wrong piping in the ceilings and as a result all the stores in one area just had ceiling grid up till all the correct metal piping was installed. What a night mare for the contractor who misread the plans

Then you have the health issues the ceiling tiles end up with a thick coating of dust on them and when you go to lift them out after a few years its dust everywhere and people end up getting sick from all the dust. What a health mess for any one with asthma.
In short the initial cost savings end up costing way more than any initial savings. especially when you figure in all the increased costs of plenum wire and pipe. actually there is no savings yet they keep insisting on putting in these ceilings knowing all along codes will not be followed and lives will be put at risk but the code making bodies can care less. Which is owful nice of them.

The Fire Alarm Experts In Pittsburgh Strike yet again

I was recently hired to take over two senior citizen apartments Fire alarms after the owners became disgusted with the high prices and poor service from a big mid regional alarm company here in Pittsburgh which goes around calling it self the " Fire Alarm experts in Pittsburgh " Well as we will see once again there any thing but.

Upon opening the Silent Knight 5208 fire Panel an excellent panel by the way. I notice first off it is wired wrong with Romex instead of Armored cable or conduit but the biggest problem where is the ground wire?
One of the single most important items to insure this panel operates properly .
no ground its wrapped back around the connector. not providing the surge and electric shock protection and other functions needed by the panel. When I get into the programming no wonder it was always taking forever for fire dept to get the call only one account phone number entered and panel set to rotary dial and many other features screwed up as well. Then looking at the system why was a smoke detector not put in the storage area corridor if ever there is a place a fire will break out its in the storage corridor in an apartment building.and this also serves as an exit route.
Yes another totally screwed up install by the G-uys but remember there the Fire Alarm experts
When the Fire Marshal came down to check what was done he told me he was glad to get rid of them from these buildings and he could not believe all the stuff i found wrong I needed to correct to get the panel running correctly ,yet there was a stack of yearly papers saying everything was tested and working properly.