Old wiring devices

[maxhifi]

I like old wiring. My house is from 1962, and has a 100A service. Many of the houses from this era have 60A services, which insurance requires upgraded. So I'm lucky I get to keep my old wiring for now. I've found a few butcher jobs over the years. but not too many. The last one was the dryer receptacle. I removed it to tap into the 230V, so I could use 230V in the garage - discovered there was no junction box, just an outlet mounted directly to the plywood wall of the laundry room. The original octagonal junction box looked like it had been removed when the original dryer was replaced with one requiring a plug and socket.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by maxhifi

I like old wiring. My house is from 1962, and has a 100A service. Many of the houses from this era have 60A services, which insurance requires upgraded. So I'm lucky I get to keep my old wiring for now. I've found a few butcher jobs over the years. but not too many. The last one was the dryer receptacle. I removed it to tap into the 230V, so I could use 230V in the garage - discovered there was no junction box, just an outlet mounted directly to the plywood wall of the laundry room. The original octagonal junction box looked like it had been removed when the original dryer was replaced with one requiring a plug and socket.

The 100A ruling came into effect with the 1959 NEC. Regarding the dryer recepticle, the tombstone style 30 & 50A recepticle didn't require a junction box. The back part of the recepticle had a KO on the back or bottom for direct entry of the cable or BX. Also the code allowed the use of the neutral as the equipment ground. The 2008 code prohibits this practice.

[maxhifi]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

The 100A ruling came into effect with the 1959 NEC. Regarding the dryer recepticle, the tombstone style 30 & 50A recepticle didn't require a junction box. The back part of the recepticle had a KO on the back or bottom for direct entry of the cable or BX. Also the code allowed the use of the neutral as the equipment ground. The 2008 code prohibits this practice.

* I should mention I'm in Canada. CEC is a bit different than NEC, but they seem to get more similar with each revision. NAFTA, etc. We had 60A services into the early 60s (air conditioning very rare and not needed in most houses here - honestly 60A would probably still be enough for my house)

Also, even the original 1962 dryer feed has a separate neutral - we've always had 4 prong dryer plugs. The outlet is bakelite on a metal plate, and needs a 4 5/16th square box.