What the hell was the Electrical Code Writers thinking when they made the Color Black to mean two different purposes in DC and AC voltage wiring

I see this all the time where wiring is improperly installed in 120/230 and up electrical systems where some one has put the black wire on where the white wire  should be .

The problem is that in AC or Alternating current wiring like in your home there are 3 wires a black wire known as the hot wire which in the code is called energized conductor and a white wire called a neutral  known in the code as a un-enrgised conductor   and a green ground wire.

But here is the problem in DC wiring known as  Direct Current wiring  you fined a red wire which is positive wire and a black wire which is negative.

So you take some one who is not qualified to do electrical work like a coal mine electrician  or auto mechanic  or others who work with DC and think they can wire there homes and you can quickly see the problem of how wiring gets reversed on devises.  and this can leed to dangerous  situations where some one gets zapped or even electrocuted wen a receptacle or plug is wired backward and there is a wiring fault.

It is back to the same old argument only professionals should be doing work  and just because your an electrician in the  steel mill or coal mine this does not qualify you to do house or structure wiring.
but the wiring colors set up in the code do not help matters.  Why would they do such a thing knowing the potential for individuals not qualified and have a dangerous amount of knowledge about electricity to do something . but as usual no one has any good answers and its always the excuse only professionals should be doing this kind of work.  Fine and dandy but even professionals get mixed up to I see it all the time working with professional electricians they wire fire alarms backwards all the time because black to them means the energized line when it the exact opposite with fire systems.
so even if the pros screw up why would the code bodys allow it to go on?

Would you build a Mausleum / Cemetary next to section 8 apartment complex a scam on those who lost a loved one

When we first moved into Penn Hills  in early 80's in the local  paper there was a full page add for a New Cemetery /Mausoleum  to be built along Hulton Road  next to Plum Creek and a Section 8 apartment complex and Trailer court. Moment I saw the add I thought this has got to be a scam . We  even got phone calls about a 2 for 1 graves  sale. I thought scam all along but many people got taken in as the organizations applied for construction permits and zoning hearings. They even built a mini mausoleum on the site which was never finished and eventually torn down and removed which was suppose to hold those to be interred till main one could be built but . But when they kept dragging there feet getting things done and meeting time lines one of those who needed to have there loved ones buried finally contacted the Pa. Attorney generals office ho closed the whole thing down after it was in fact found to be an elaborate scam.  Today even the one time cross which was erected has been removed and its all grown back in  and driving by you would never know the heart aches this site and the people involved caused.

Total Horse Shit filing suit against those who build Fire Trucks for Hearing Loss

Here we go again another group of Firefighters looking for a Free Payday   alleging the sirens on fire trucks have effected there hearing .

Total Complete horse shit .

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/city-firefighters-sue-over-siren-hearing-loss-684645/

Not to say it is not impossible  but if thats the case why have more firefighters not filed suit including volunteers.
Why have these firefighters only filed against the truck builders and not the city like any other person would yes it all comes down to someone looking for a pay day.

yes sirens ae noisy but many times firefighters have radio headsets on to help minimize the noise or put in earplugs or have there tight nomex fire resistant  hood on to help block the noise which is 5-10 minutes or less most times  couple times a day .This comes no where near what OSHA mandates when protection needs put on .
Most firetrucks also have the sirens in front of truck so main blast is away from you. some have them on the hood so yes you may get some extra noise but enough to damage your ears  maybe if your standing on back of the truck but not these guys there down in the cab . Plus ask your self this Police and Medics are subjected to loud sirens much more than firefighters they run many more calls why have they not filed suit against ambulance and police car makers. yes when you look thru all the details I reject the whole thing  not to say that it could not happen  but highly unlikely unless your with station 17 who runs the most calls in the city. than you could make an argument for it.
Anyways the experts will come in do there measurements etc. and we will see what happens I hope they take this and all cases to court and prove these guys wrong and stop this assault against small truck manufacturers before they can no longer get insurance ad stop making fire trucks.

Why does Penndot make you take a 7 mile Detour instead of a 2 block Detour ?

Here we go again a small bridge on Plum Street in Oakmont needs replaced so instead of Penndot
taking motorists up one block and over Ridge street which parallels plum No Penndot makes you take a 7+ mile detour thru Penn Hills same thing in north hills where 2 bridges are out for the reconstruction of the turnpike one detour is 12 miles vs going 5 miles route to get around it .
 They claim the extra traffic coming thru a residential neighborhood is dangerous and every other excuse  why it has to be detoured this way and its always a bull shit answer. They could allow cars to take the short route add couple extra stop signs to slow down traffic and have the long detour for the hand full of trucks which need it .  So in the mean time if you do not know about the short cut your stuck like every other sucker taking the 7 mile detour in afternoon heavy traffic helping leed to an accident.

Dangerous Grounding issue with suspended cieling light fixtures UL and NFPA refuse to look at

There installed by the hundreds of thousands all over the place there suspended ceiling florescent light fixtures ,and many are installed improperly and  have lost there grounding contact due to improper installation and handling. Which can result in Fires and injury.all too easily because of the way the fixtures are designed.

As you can see in the above picture wiring enters the fixture thru a top removable  cap  and only the black and white wires tie directly to the fixture the ground is only connected to the cap which means if the cap comes loose the ground is no longer made at the fixture
 As you can see in the bottom fixture this cap was not properly fitted and has come loose  there is no ground to the fixture  and if the electronic ballasts fails and shorts to ground the entire ceiling grid can become energized and result in a shock to person working in the ceiling .  Why the ground wire is not directly hard wired to the fixture makes absolutely no sense  but this is the way it has been done for many years by manufacturers and grounding of these fixtures is critical to prevent issues or a shock or fire could result if the ballast which puts out as much as 600 volts goes bad. 
 All I keep hearing is excuses  as to why this issue has not been addressed but after several times now seeing florescent  fixtures ballasts short to ground and either getting shocked while up on a ladder and  also seeing where a fire was ready to start I do not buy any of there arguments that the ground not be better done on these fixtures.

Missing Nuclear Gauges used in construction work it happens more often than you think

You hear this story every couple of years a special gauge used to determine the density of road materials and moisture content of soil goes missing off the back of a construction vehicle. No big deal stuff falls off trucks all the time when not properly secured so what makes this gauge special.
This gauge contains a small amount of radioactive material which if tampered with could cause injury and burns .

To even possess this gauge which is usually only available by lease you must have a special federal license from Nuclear  regulatory Agency so you think contractors would be more careful but there not . It is amazing over the years the stuff I have found which has fallen off trucks I have returned to owners or turned over to police to find  owner when it had no identifying marks such as ladders, tool boxes etc   . People are always in a hurry fail to tie things down properly or fail to properly latch  down a tail gate they go speeding down highway at 75 mph and its gone.  Sometimes with tragic and deadly results when it bounces thru a drivers windshield but no matter its speed up get done and get to the next job and this is how situations like this happen and now it will be months of paper work and interviews etc. because they screwed up.

if you ever run across something like this do not touch it and call 911  so properly trained people can make sure it is safe to picked up and returned to owner.

In this latest case it was safely found and returned 

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/05/15/dep-seeks-publics-help-to-locate-missing-nuclear-gauge/

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/officials-looking-for-missing-nuclear-gauge-near-pa-wva-border-687602/

 

Cellular Back Up units a classic example why you need to hook them direct and not use Dial Capture

Uplink unit utilizing a Line capture card

When it comes to connecting a  3rd party cellular back up unit to a Burglar alarm system like a Uplink unit  It can be done in 2 ways . Direct wired to  panels bell output or thru a technology known as Dial capture.

The draw back to direct attachment is some 3rd party  cell communicators then only send a general burglar or fire signal and individual  zone codes are not sent.  Where as if you use  Dial capture it can send full data from the panel.
Which can be useful when you have a large complex to know exactly what is going on. The problem as one of my clients found out the other day is when you use Dial Capture it may not always trip the cellular unit and send a message when there is an alarm.

The problem my customer a very large food distributor who is adding on a new warehouse section and updating there old section  which I am in the process of installing  a new system and merging his old systems into  the new systems  ran into was when a door set for 24 hour alarm was opened it should have contacted the central station it did not. Unlike if the Uplink communicator was direct tied and a signal would have been sent his original installer installed an Uplink unit with a Dial capture card made by the now closed  Stealth Laboratories.
 The  Dial Capture unit measures voltage and line amperage and when it does not see it takes over the phone line and sends the signal . But the problem is the phone line was not dead it still had voltage and was dialing  but when it made contact the central receiver could not hear the tones. I confirmed this after they got a failure to Communicate trouble at the panels keypad and took a butt set and tried dialing out .
This has always been a problem for  all  Burglar and Fire Alarm System phone line monitors. They only can tell if line has voltage and amperage not if the phone line is actually operable.

Had in this case the Uplink unit been direct wired to the bell output of the panel  the  message would have went out  to central and then a fail to communicate message would have still showed up at keypad that would have required further investigation but at least the message would have gotten out instead it did not.  Luckily the plant was open for business and it was an accidental door opening by a construction person but what if it had been a burglar when they where closed the message never would have gotten out . Needless to say the new system is not designed this way instead I am using the manufacturers  cellular with  internet back up unit which attaches directly to the panel and not using line capture.
To prevent this type of issue from happening.
needless to say this is something which when installing a cell back up unit you must take into consideration and if possible if using line capture also connect the cell unit directly if possible.