Here are some pictures of a common problem in Philadelphia homes. This electrical cable has out-lived its designed life span. The loose silver wires on the outside of the cable are called the grounding wires or neutral wires. If you look closely you will see that about half of the wires have rotted away. The neutral wire is the pathway electricity takes to get back to it's source. It is just like the drain in your plumbing system. If this pathway is broken(clogged) electricity will act in a similar way to water going down a clogged drain. It backs up, destroyed electrical equipment (say goodbye to that new TV) and can even cause a fire. Draining spent electricity from a house is so important that most homes are designed with at least three grounding pathways. The one pictured is the most important, but electricians also ground to the water main coming into the house and install grounding rods into the earth.
Here are some pictures of a common problem in Philadelphia homes. This electrical cable has out-lived its designed life span. The loose silver wires on the outside of the cable are called the grounding wires or neutral wires. If you look closely you will see that about half of the wires have rotted away. The neutral wire is the pathway electricity takes to get back to it's source. It is just like the drain in your plumbing system. If this pathway is broken(clogged) electricity will act in a similar way to water going down a clogged drain. It backs up, destroyed electrical equipment (say goodbye to that new TV) and can even cause a fire. Draining spent electricity from a house is so important that most homes are designed with at least three grounding pathways. The one pictured is the most important, but electricians also ground to the water main coming into the house and install grounding rods into the earth.
That is so outrageous but it happens every day. Good pictures of a terrible problem.
ReplyDeleteSadly not too many people or building admins are attentive!
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