Remember when we had to actually trace wires instead of just scanning them?

Honestly, I was in a 1970s split-level in Akron last month, and the old cloth wiring in the attic was a mess. I cut into what I thought was a dead line for a new bathroom fan, and it sparked because it was still live from a weird junction. Tbh, I had to shut off the main, pull out my old toner and probe, and spent nearly two hours mapping it out by hand. Anyone else still run into this with really old homes?

3 comments

3 Comments

lunakim1mo ago

But honestly, I love that kind of puzzle work, makes you think.

oscarw831mo ago

That "weird junction" problem is classic. I found one last year behind drywall in a 1950s cape, a junction box with no cover just buried there. The hot was feeding three different rooms on separate breakers. My scanner showed nothing on the wall, so I had to do the old school tone and trace for every single branch. It's a full day's work they never budget for.

lunakim19d ago

Three separate rooms on different breakers from one hidden box? That's the kind of stuff that makes me wonder what the original electrician was thinking (or not thinking). I had a similar one in a 1950s ranch last year where a single buried junction was feeding the entire upstairs half of the house. Took me two full days of tone and trace and a lot of cussing under my breath. Never fails that the budget always gets blown on the fun surprises.