Hi everyone This idiot HVAC installer hooked up transformer disconnect line for the duct detector with the normal brown 18/2 low voltage cable on the 230vac side of the transformer instead of the 24vac side and caused a major flashover when i went to hook in the duct detector he did this on all 4 roof units and when the building inspector called and demanded an answer the guy gives him i thought it was suppose to be that way. Needless to say this crack head and his outfit will not be doing any more installs in that community any more. and is getting back charged for all the damage he caused. I know there are idiots out there but i seem to find more of them than anyone else. Is it just me or are HVAC companys hiring nothing but crack heads lately to do there work. This is not the first time this contractor got into trouble on this job.
It's not just HVAC guys. I heard a great one yesterday...
I was investigating some intercom issues at a gas station, and I called the guy who originally installed them. Apparently all the wiring for the pump intercoms run up through the canopy, which the electrical contractor knew full well (including their locations) when he grabbed a Sawzall and started cutting out holes in the soffit for the lights. Sliced right through the camera wires, AC conduits...
Because companies are hiring illegals to "run wires from here to there"...not learn a trade. In a few years there won't be anyone qualified except a dying bunch of old farts like us.
Im afraid youre statement has a lot of truth to it in next 10 years the trades will be seeing a 50% reduction in its workforce as older tradesman start retiring. already there are big problems getting trade posistions filled in many parts of the country.
Where I am there are hardly any young bucks working in contruction trade like there used to be, mostly young Mexicans working as cheap help. Not many summer college kids swinging hammers or pulling romex when the Mexicans are getting those jobs now, and few will stay on to actually learn why they are running 12ga instead of 14 from here to there.
Do you really believe that all the bad electrical work you run across was done by illegal aliens? I've seen plenty of bad alarm installations done by US citizens.
Interestingly, we just had our pool and lanai (Florida speak for "enclosed patio") redone. The GC on the job used several different companies to do the work. There was a Mexican team that did the new stone finish inside the pool, an American group that did the plumbing, another American who did the electrical work and a Brazilian outfit that laid the paver stones.
The American plumbers screwed up several times, cutting a 2-inch return feed from the filtration system and dumping several thousand gallons of water into my gardens. They allowed yard dirt to get into the lines and have yet to come back to fix a misconnected fitting in the spa.
The American electrician couldn't figure out how to connect all three pool lights (they're on two separate transformers) to the pool automation system. I had to diagram it for him before he could understand it. He also failed to run cables to the attic as agreed so that I can connect the pool automation system to my ELK M1 Gold home automation controller.
The Mexicans did an excellent job though they left one small rough spot in the bottom of the pool. In all fairness, even I didn't notice it until after they had gone. They're coming back next week with a diver to smooth out that area.
The Brazilian outfit did a magnificent job on the pavers. They carefully cut each stone to make an exact fit against the complex curves of the bull nose edging surrounding the pool. Every brick is perfectly smooth against the next -- no high spots in over 2,200 square feet of pavers.
In my experience about 90% of all electricians do decent to excellent work. I guess it's about 70% of alarm installers. The rest are, well... monkeys.
RLB = US citizen RLB = One time alarm installer RLB stands back and admires his work RLB = Self proclaimed expert
hey hey hey, we have all heard about your installs
an American group that did the plumbing, another American who did the
Just how many times can one screw up cutting a two inch PVC pipe?
Your are so full of bullshit. Water seeks its own level, in case you missed that lesson in school. Unless the pump was running, to lose "thousands" of gallons of water, the cut on the return line would have to have been far below your gardens and ground level, which the return lines are not all that deep. You may get that lie past the winter bound Canadians, but not another pool owner. Thousands of gallons of water, for those of you that don't have pools, would be about a third of the water in the pool. Didn't happen, Robert.
which would simply blow out into the pool and be filtered as the pool cycled. Not big deal unless your are a clueless homeowner that can't clean his own filter.
Then they won't pass inspection, that is if there is a permit.
Of couse you did.
As agreed or part of the contract. If you tried to get the laborer to do it on the side, he probably didn't do it so that he wouldn't get in trouble with his boss. You should have offered him more than a hamburger.
More BS. That is not how they do it. And you didn't notice it through the curing time? It wasn't until the water was back in the pool until you and/ or they noticed it? Riiighhttt!
Now why doesn't this suprise me?
on the pavers. They carefully
As a consumer, why would anyone expect any less, regardless if the workers were Brazilian, Chinese, Russian or American? Now if you went for "cheap" then I can understand why you are suprised you actually got a good job.
You have experience with "all" electricians?
So, you have gone from "primates" that you so often defended your comment on the basis that people didn't understand that we are all primates, to "monkeys". Time will always bring out ones true colors. However Robert, the project sounds wonderful. Since you are such a camera buff, why don't you post some pictures of the new pool area to include the gardens. Oh, and while you are at it, why don't you include some pics of the Elk panel so we can all see what a panel wired by an expert should look like. I am sure you didn't do the attic work so I hope the people you had do that were licensed and if they weren't then they worked directly for you, so I hope you supplied the required Workers Comp insurance. Click file RLB/DBPR, save. And by the way, you should check to see if the GC pulled permits to do the work because they don't seem to show up under your address. Maybe just an oversight. :o] Need some help bumping this along, thanks in advance!
Agreed. I just don't agree that illegal aliens contribute much of the pigment in the picture, especially when it comes to quality workmanship. Many immigrants are as skilled as many American workers. Like so many other things, there's no correlation between quality of work and country of origin.
Except when they are doing electrical work and come from a country that barely has electricity. You obiviously haven't traveled much outside the country to see what quality work, of all trades, there is out there. They are good a furnishing bodies. When they need people, every brother, sister, aunt, uncle and cousin are standing in line. They are willing to work and work hard but don't try and sell everyone on their level of expertise. Many never got past grade school before they had to go to work and next to nil have had any type of formal training at all. What they have learned was OJT and believe me, after visiting most areas in western hemisphere and all but the middle and far east, in the rest of the world, I can tell you first hand, they didn't have much to learn from. So...what other bASS ackward opinions do you have for us?
I've seen electrical work done in Brazil. It was umm, interesting. Our condo is on the fifth level (technically they call it the third floor) of a cement building. There are no places to run new wires. We had a couple of through-wall air conditioners installed this year. The electrician took out a hammer and a star drill and proceeded to rout a channel in the wall for his new conduit. I never saw someone strike such a perfectly straight line with a star drill before.
One major difference is that building codes seem only to be enforced retroactively. If you build it wrong no one says anything unless someone gets hurt. Then they come after you. Another difference is grounding. It's virtually nonexistent on structures older than ten years though most new buildings have bonded ground systems.
Most structures are poured concrete or cement block. Needless to say, the security system market is mostly wireless.
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