Track Lighting Install it wrong and Fire or Electrocution is possible

Go into any home center and you will find a isle with track lighting in it.
There are hundreds of styles and brands all designed as task lighting to light up objects. Neat stuff but it can all be deadly when not installed properly.
several years back I told a home re-modeler to pound salt and never call me again to do work for him when he asked me to cut a track lights 8 foot metal track to 6 foot instead of buying a 2 ft and 4 ft track and using a proper splicer. Why ? because unless a track is specifically designed to be cut to length you can in fact put your home in danger of a fire or getting electrocuted 
because when the end fitting is installed it is designed to fit secure and smooth
if the track is cut it can leave a bur which can damage the end feed and allow the hot metal contact to make contact with the metal track resulting in shock and or fire. You should always use proper end or mid feed fittings designed for the specific track and use a proper connectors and box when connecting the
feed wires and make sure it is grounded.
 the other problem from fire can result if  improper wire size to amount of fixtures being used overloads the wiring and heats the track and a fire is a result. check the charts use only the amount of recommended fixtures and proper wattage bulbs. Or disaster will be the end result.this also goes for the fixtures only use fixtures which are designed for the specific track and if damaged replace them. follow manufacturers and electrical code rules or end up losing your home or your life the choice is yours.

Water and Oil do not mix and that goes for Industrial Equipment as well

The old saying Oil and Water do not mix is very true and that comes with some
Expensive lessons for one of my industrial customers when they recently tried to run water thru a pump and preheat-er unit at there plant. The equipment is normally used to heat up and transport oil  thru the plant but they had a large amount of water they needed to preheat and they figured well if the unit heats oil it should also heat water. Wrong the end result is a damaged pump and heating coils which you can see in picture is cracked in half and since this operates at 480 volts Ac 3 phase it could have been deadly decision as well.
If the operator had not properly grounded the portable unit before running it.
Good thing for him he did ground it and fuses blew before he was electrocuted or unit exploded.
Now no where on this heating unit or pump does it say do not run with water in it . Which I fault the manufacturer for it should be clearly stated on both pieces oil transfer only.
Plant personnel are not trained engineers who design equipment  and they never gave it a second thought to contact the manufacturer to see if it was OK . common thinking of most people it should do both. So this hazard needs to be marked.
The problem of running water thru units made for oil only is that with the pump the oil as it runs thru the pump keeps the pump lubricated. there are no external bearings etc you would normally lube like you do on big water pumps. same way for the fin heater the fins are designed to operate at a certain temperature and certain volume of oil passing them  water does not pass heat efficiently as oil there by the units failed early.
Do they make such units that can do both? absolutely but they have to be specifically designed to do both. Which these units where not.

Exit Sign and Alarm System back up batteries a Total Complete Scam

OK so you have installed your required Exit signs and Emergency Lights and alarm systems
to meet code only to get bent over and screwed every couple years when it comes times to replace the rechargeable back up batteries  which can run from $3.00 all the way up to $85.00 a piece  why so much?

Good question because it is a total scam when it comes acquiring the batteries and getting a company to service them.

especially when it comes to the smaller lithium batteries you see in picture on left.

While some exit and emergency lights use either a common 6 or 12 volt 4-10 amp sealed lead acid  battery which cost $9.95 - 49.95 when it comes to the batteries that same $9.95 battery bought wholesale can run as high as $34.95
depending where you buy it. even at wholesale level the batteries can be 3 times more one place to the other.

And when it comes time to buy them from a DYI type Home center or specialty battery place the sky is the limit on price.

But what  makes things even worse is those small lithium battery packs  which no one wants to stalk and you end up having to try to find on line  and or order thru a specialty place like Batteries Plus.

The small top left battery can be found from $2.75 each to $14.95 each on line  and that's before shipping
which can add another $20.00 and since businesses know you must have these battery's they also know they can screw you on the price. I have seen bills from company's who charge as much as $129.00 dollars to come out and change one battery in an alarm system  which costs the company $12.95

Talk about  the perfect scam with lists of complicit company s ready to rip you off you have found it.
Before you buy or order a back up battery do your home work. because pricing is all over the map.
also if a battery seems too cheap it usually is as I pointed out the scam being pulled with the Ultra-tech batteries being sold dirt cheap to dealers and only lasting 2 years instead of 5-8   and they end up damaging the systems as well.

The Unseen Consquences of Scams on the Elderly

At one time there was a beautiful old wooden 2 story house that stood on this property . that was before it fell into disrepair and was stripped of its aluminum  siding and copper pipes and destroyed by vandals.
The house belong to some people in my Neighborhood The mother ,father and 2 older sons lived there at one time . The father was a  Retired steel worker and WWI veteran  and both sons served in WWII  .

Both sons worked for the government one a mailman Lenny  was a mailman but also a very ingenious inventor of items who had several successful patents besides ones he got ripped off on. He made it big time with a toilet stopper which helped stop toilet leaks . But the money he made would all be lost in a Nigerian Scam.  It all started shortly after his brother Melvin died of a heart attack and father Ruby died shortly after His son then his mother had a severe stroke. Besides the money he made on patents he also had the money from 2 Life Insurance policy's  some where around $700,000.00 we estimate.
But Lenny with all his smarts was not smart about his money. He lost it several different ways.
He invested in the Pequia Silver Mine in Eastern Pa. and lost money . He gave $50,000.00 to a man who was going to open a nursing home and take care of his mom and took the money and ran with it. He invested in an old school in Homestead  Pa. they where going to turn into a trade school and it went in the shiter as well. He paid $10,000 for new concrete side walks and steps and they took out the concrete and never came back.
Then one day thru the mail  in early 80's he receives a letter from Nigeria from a government  official who is trying to get  millions in dollars money out of Nigeria  and Lenny would become rich by helping get the money out of the country. He fell for it hook line and sinker.By this time he had become a hoarder and recluse after his mother died  and the home fell into disrepair .He would come and get diner off my parents occasionally but he stunk so badly from not washing he slowly wore out the invite from my parents and everyone else who knew him. All the while talking about this scheme to get all this money. Finally one day while stopping to visit my parents I see 2 guys standing on Lenny's porch a few doors up the street and around corner from my parents. I stop and ask who they are as Lenny was usually not coming to the door any more . It ends up there detectives from Pittsburgh Police Dept. neighbors where worried about Lenny and that he was being scammed. The police come and talk to Lenny several times but he keeps sending the schemers money who insist the police are wrong and trying to rip him off. He insists he got a personnel call from president of Nigeria. and he was going to get his pay day all the while the house filing with junk and falling apart . Then one day his friend Bob  comes over and gets my dad . Lenny had fallen and broke his hip Bob needed help convincing Lenny to go to the hospital after trying for several days. My dad calls 911 and medics arrive it takes them 20 minutes to find and rescue Lenny in his house full of junk to get him to VA Hospital. It is finally after he is on his death bed he realizes he has been ripped off after a local TV reporter talks to him and shows him all the people who had been ripped off by these same scammers.
Lenny would never come home he died of heart failure at the Va. There were 4 different mortgages taken out on the home to pay these scammers  off . No single bank wanted to take charge the home sat several years finally a contractor took on the task of cleaning the home and it took 9 -30 yard dumpsters to clean everything out. There was rumors of treasure in the house because
all the collector plates and coins and everything else his parents and brother had collected and since they had been thru the depression that they may have hidden money in the house. But it  had been sold and sent to the scammers as well.  All the contractors found was rubbish and receipts for items sold. Finally the home was demolished it had fallen into such disrepair and had become a fire hazard . The home is gone as are all the memory's and its now a city lot.There where some distant cousins but they could not get thru to Lenny either
so they lost contact with him as well.
An entire family and its legacy destroyed over greed and stupidity.  The scammers laughing all the way to the bank.
Lenny is just one of the many who fall prey to these criminals who are so convincing they ensnare and poison everything they touch. Even Lenny's friend a real estate agent got ensnared by them as well.
There is no convincing people they have been scammed until they loose everything these criminals are so god. That's why criminal codes and efforts are needed to be strengthened to stop this most personnel of crimes.

The reason I am in the Fire Alarm Business is because of a tragedy

The reason I am driven with the passion with protecting lives happened during the winter of 1966  as you can read in the AP article at left  .I was in the second grade at St Basil's School in Carrick 29th ward of Pittsburgh Pa. 
With a class mate  who  I was friends with in class Ronnie Schiller we where both 7 yrs old at the time except one Monday morning Ronnie was not there neither where his brother and 2 sisters they all died in a tragic Christmas time fire
in there home on Westmont Ave.
The fire started in a bedroom and as it spread Ronnie's dad pushed his pregnant mom from an attic bedroom window to escape the flames and as Ronnie and his dad and siblings tried to get down the stairway to escape they all died. I remember that morning when I came down to breakfast  on  December 16, 1966 and my mother was  almost crying it was on the news my friend was dead. there was nothing that could be done. That night at dinner my dad came home from the steel mill and we discussed what happened and we went thru a fire drill what we would do if there was a fire. In our case my 2 younger brothers and me  would go out our front windows and stay on the ledge so fireman could rescue us if we had to jump it was only one story so we could make it. I went to bed every night as a small child after that  praying to the lord to keep me and my family safe from fire and he always has. Back then we did not have grief councilors it was not even discussed in school the teachers and nuns never discussed it ever it was like it never happened. There where also no smoke detectors back then for homes either It was not until I was in my teens when a smoke detector was available and I still have one of them I show when I give talks on fire services and issues we face. I also keep in my truck battery smoke detectors I paid for and put in peoples homes when they can not afford them.  Google recently went and imaged many newspapers across the country and I was finally able to find info on my friend and the fire. unfortunately not in a local papers of the time as they where not yet copied when Google stopped the imaging program.Because a couple papers got shitty with them. Thank you ass hole news papers who stopped this really great service.  I also found out a few years ago thru my mom when
we where doing family research because of my stage 4 colon cancer which I am currently in remission I might never have been born My maternal grandmother  and her sister where almost victims of a fire in the Denny Apartment's   they rented  On Penn Ave back in 30's but luckily both where able to escape.I hope thru research to find that article as well. and share it with you.
So if you wonder where I get what it takes to still work part time and fight off cancer you now know..
and if your into historical research check out goggles newspapers archive .May we all sleep safely tonight and never go thru such a tragic situation.

Once again some one trys advertising with out permission

If you want to advertise your services fine and dandy do not do it on my blog in comments section or it will be removed contact me by email and I will take a look at it like I did with blog below  and post for you.
Otherwise you are not welcome here. I do not want to have to block comments till I approve but i will be forced to if this keeps up.