Knob and Tubing

[flyingron]

Yes it does but that article only addresses insulation over K&T not the use of or connection to or alteration.

That's completely untrue. It covers all sorts of aspects about permitted uses, supporting, clearances, method of interconnect, etc....

I should point out, I wasn't disagreeing with Mark47 other than the fact that the code didn't have a K&T article. I too, like Mark have all my experience mostly in commercial structures (first for the Army, then for a major state University system). But I owned an older house that still had some K&T in it, so I do have some direct experience.

The problem with K&T is that if you can see it, you can easily inspect it to make sure it is safe. It's the stuff you can't see, which may have illegal splices, or be surrounded by later installed blown in insulation or whatever, that causes problems. Of course, if you can see it to inspect, it's also pretty easy to just replace it at that point, so it's a bit of a catch-22.

[Mark47n]

That's completely untrue. It covers all sorts of aspects about permitted uses, supporting, clearances, method of interconnect, etc....

I should point out, I wasn't disagreeing with Mark47 other than the fact that the code didn't have a K&T article. I too, like Mark have all my experience mostly in commercial structures (first for the Army, then for a major state University system). But I owned an older house that still had some K&T in it, so I do have some direct experience.

The problem with K&T is that if you can see it, you can easily inspect it to make sure it is safe. It's the stuff you can't see, which may have illegal splices, or be surrounded by later installed blown in insulation or whatever, that causes problems. Of course, if you can see it to inspect, it's also pretty easy to just replace it at that point, so it's a bit of a catch-22.

If you can see it then it would be appropriate to replace it.

This still doesn't invalidate my advice. I admit, I didn't have a current NEC in my kitchen when I wrote my response but knob and tube is a wiring method that has been made obsolete and is considered unacceptable by some jurisdictions, insurance, and mortgage companies. Add to that my statements about dangerously overloaded circuits, no effective ground path and improper fuse sizing and you can end up with a real problem.

If you want to question my qualifications based on my ignorance of Art.394 that's fine, it doesn't bother me, the last time I spent any time in residential was in 1998. I escaped the world of commercial construction when I headed out to Amundsen-Scott Station at the Geographic South Pole in Antarctica to build the new station in 2001-2003 and then into industrial special projects when I returned to the States. Last I checked it was still my name on my Master Electrician license.

[flyingron]

Like I said, I don't disagree with your post other than the introductory comment that the NEC doesn't address NEC. I suspect you'll find my comments not inconsistent with the first response I gave to the poster in the early part of this thread.

[Mark47n]

Like I said, I don't disagree with your post other than the introductory comment that the NEC doesn't address NEC. I suspect you'll find my comments not inconsistent with the first response I gave to the poster in the early part of this thread.

Fair enough.

These days I find myself dealing with a lot of Nuclear Navy children (they are children) in my industry and I've become a bit touchy. It's a battle to get them to realize not only that I know what I'm talking about but that I may even know more than them even though I wasn't in the Navy. I went Army Infantry because I figured, at that age, that if I was going to join I may as well get to jump out of plane and blow stuff up.