@obarrett Said:
One, there was actually only one wire feeding this outlet. The wire on the left side of the receptacle was connected to nothing.
Not Quite...
The wire broke when the electrician pulled the outlet and wire out of the box.
Electrical copper wire in the old days was Hard Draw. Repeated bending of a sharp bent wire and straightening out the wire then bending the wire again could/will cause the wire to break at the sharp bend point. The more the sharp bend is bent the harder and brittle the wire gets.
The original wiring method used was not kind to the hard drawn copper wire. The wires were sharply bent 90 degrees coming out of the hole of the wire clamp. From the git go, not good. Even a sharper bend over 90 degrees when the original two wire outlet was made up on the two wires and pushed back into the shallow box.
At least one new outlet was installed to the box. Every time the wire was straightened an re-bent it got harder, more brittle.That’s what hard drawn wire does. The second outlet change may have cause a stress crack in the wire at the sharp bend. When the electrician pulled the outlet and wire out of the box it broke.
It takes two to tangle. It take both, the Hot and Neutral, to make the Light Bulb light.
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What is Hard-Drawn Copper Wire?
Hard-drawn copper is bare copper wire that hasn’t had heat applied to it after it has completed the drawing process through the dies. The more times the wire is pulled through a die, the more “work hardened” it becomes. After a certain point, the wire becomes brittle and could break due to stress.
@obarrett Said:
In the second photo you can see a metal plate; the building super removed that. Behind that was a metal cylinder, inside it was the wire. He pulled it up a few inches and cut it away to reveal a second wire.
That is steel armored BX cable. about 3/8 inch in diameter.
He pulled it up a few inches and cut it away to reveal a second wire. So my understanding is that the neutral wire was lost down in this metal cylinder. He then insulated both wires by wrapping them individually in electrical tape and then rewired the outlet with these wires.
So my understanding is that the neutral wire was lost down in this metal cylinder.
No... Your photo(s) clearly show the end of the broken wire. I could see the end of the broken copper wire. The break was at the sharp 90 degree plus bend.
He probably was able to pull a few inches of the BX armored cable out of the box and cut off the armor off enough exposing enough of the neutral wire.
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The receptacle is mounted in metal conduit as you predicted, which I presume is grounded.
Flexible BX steel armored cable. The steel armor of the BX cable back when the building was built and wired was not designed, manufactured, for use as an EGC. Nor were the BX box connectors. You may or not read continuity on the steel armored cable but that doesn’t say what its fault current conductivity is. Treat any grounded outlet in the apartment like there is not an EGC.
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It’s clear to me that the building is wired illegally and that the management has no desire to rectify it
It was wired to code when it was built.
New York City pretty much writes their own Electrical Code. Going from memory they start with NEC but they delete what ever the want. Re-write what ever they want. Add what ever they want. My understanding Romex, NM, sheathed cable is not allowed any where in the NYC Limits.
I have to consider how to handle this to minimize the risk to myself and other residents.
Was you able to find out the manufacturer of the electrical panel? Good chance the branch circuit wiring in the building is original. Yours is... More than likely so is the electrical panels. Get the manufacturers name if you can.
It may not be worth the Fight... If you do not feel safe living there now you might want to start looking for another apartment. Just a guess, the Landlord will let you break the lease. He probably doesn't want a fight either. Though he probably has more money and government connections than you have.
Jim
