And we got the dishwasher to wash decently.
Getting into the receptacle box for the switch for the fan revealed 1950’s era cloth-covered house wire, one coming up, one going sideways, 3-4 wires welded to make one hot, various white wires going in various directions, ie, the basement lights AND this AND Jane’s room lights are all on this circuit. That—didn’t take us an hour and a half: what did—it was a 1950’s receptacle box, metal, nailed from the inside to a stud, so it couldn’t be pulled out. Nailed-from-inside gave us the clue that it could be dismantled, but evidently it had been installed from the hallway side, with all screws holding wires in place facing the back of the box, which had been assembled around it. We found a couple of critical screws and got the box apart, then had to cope with the new box, from Carlon—with these stupid push-in apertures that were too small for the wire bundles to fit through safely. It took us an hour and a half to get the first box apart, thirty minutes at least to decide to chisel out some of these stupid tabs so the wire bundles would go in, and then—ta-da! install the guts to the ceiling fan. Give Broan this much: the wiring for the device is light, fits in a corner, has a plugin—and the quite heavy fan-works has a plug and fits snugly when you push it into place.
Now we have to work over another of these original sockets. We went out for waffles (bad us!) and came back cold and falling over, and slept until noon.
The good news is that Dr. Shane got my lower back straightened out, and I’m much better.
I had the fun of replacing a blown fuse last night, which had taken two of of three of my heaters, despite that they’re plugged into different rooms. I learned the dining room and living room and half the kitchen are all on one fuse. How fun.
We have had record heat (near 60f) for a few days here in January, which is a big help for me. However, the lack of any snow is going to make the spring planting and growing (we are a farming area) really bad unless we get something in February and March. While I appreciate not freezing, I really dont’ want to see a drought.
I have not been to your site for quite a while. Now that I am here, I suddenly find myself double-checking every word choice, and just plain in awe that I am leaving a comment for CJ Cherryh. You may have guessed that I am a fan.
Old houses have their unique personalities, and along with those, their unique little problem–sometimes not so little! Glad you got that one straightened out.
Enjoyed reading your good news at the end of your post. Kudos to Dr. Shane.
I will stop back soon.
Welcome back! We’re having our typical adventures, but we learn as we go!
We just have breakers—ah, the fun of replaceable fuses.
Our bathroom lights came: we had to have 2 with the 2 mirrors—and our insurance agent, who had no joy for us with the insurance company, had a guy he recommends who does tile cheaper than having a tile company cut into the deal, so we’re saving a little there. From a bathroom with a hole in the wall (for a year) we’re about to produce something really beautiful. We’re through with the attic work, and we have now to order the tile. The kitchen floor is lying down a bit more (don’t envision huge catch-your-toe type curls, just thickening of the board around the edges, kind of like veneered humps here an there)—and that can wait a year. But we’ll have a beautiful bathroom. 😉 It’s a little bathroom—1950’s house—so there’s not much area involved—so we’re going more for little Japanese-themed jewel box rather than Roman spa… and we’ve begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve accumulated pieces over the whole of a year, from shower curtains to decorated tile, to sink, to faucet—Overstock does have interesting building items, if eclectic. And we’ll provide pix, or Jane will, of the adventure.
I did feel for Jane in attic. I did that task in summer and dripped 3 pounds of sweat down the hole in the ceiling on my helper, bless her heart, she stayed with me.
Your circuit story reminded my of the 100 year old farm house I lived in for a while. We ended up rewiring and replumbing the whole house. One night, I woke to hear water running and went to the basement to investigate. I stepped over the thresh hold into ankle deep water. Four feet to my left was the open fuse box with a snarl of bare wires. I quickly stepped back. Tip: When checking on running water in the night, a: put some clothes on, b: put glasses on, c: turn the lights on.
Lol—so glad you didn’t end up in the soup!
Breakers? Gosh – how high-tech. It wasn’t until 2001 that RCDs became mandated by regulations here. Rather odd considering that our domestic circuits are 13 amp. I still haven’t got round to replacing my cartridges yet. They almost never pop and I still have plenty of fuse wire left.
One time they did pop though was my fault. I was putting up some coat hooks and when I got my drill I was pleased to see a socket within easy reach. It was right below where I was putting the hooks. In fact as it turned out it was in a direct line immediately below one of the screw holes :O.
I moved out of that house a while back but I left it with a slightly ugly junction box on the wall. They were concrete walls so I wasn’t going to try and recable them 😀
Living in the US west of the Mississippi — nothing’s much older than 1850. In fact, many major cities are no older than about 1870-85, which was apparently one heckuva dry spell, because there were city fires—Chicago burned down (legendarily the fault of Mrs. O’Leary’s cow), Seattle burned down, with no cow to blame, Spokane burned down…and of course in 1906 San Francisco had an earthquake and either blew up or burned down, as they were blowing up buildings trying to stop the fires… and they weren’t the only cities with major damage. Though I think it was also the prevalence of gas lamps and gas lines that were coming into use. Mr Edison’s bulbs were safer, over all, than gaslamps.
I recall 3 or 4 years ago when you and Jane first bought the house, you were commenting on how nice the wiring in the breaker box looked, that it was all right angles and had apparently been put in by an electrician with aesthetics. Now you are discovering the ugly truth behind the pretty front panel?
The upper floor is the ugly part. The basement is immaculate. 😉