Need Help: Old wiring in an old house

tryrrthg

My wife and I are buying our first home. The house is 80 years old and most of the wiring is still knob and tube style. Should I be concerned about plugging my electronics into these outlets since there is no ground present? Should I use a surge protector, cheater plug, something else? Or not use my stereo at all until the outlets are rewired? Is there anything I should be concerned about until I can get the outlets rewired?

Anyone else have experience with an older home and electronics?

Any info would be greatly appreciated! I don't think I can live without my stereo for a few months!

Thanks!

disneyjoe7

I would think that today's stuff, need better wiring. You will need to update all that wiring, in the future.

I think that you don' t have the $ to do the day you buy that house. So the only thing I can say is to so a "Large UPS" 800va or better. I don't think it would provide the protection it was designed for but I think it would be safe to plug everything in to it.
So I could sleep at night, using an UPS.

I do this right now and my house is 8yrs old.

gidrah

I recently moved into an old house (over 100 yrs old) and my electricity sucks. The wiring has been updated, but it's noisy as hell. I thought I had a bad preamp then found the problem to remain to matter what I used. I need to get some electrical stuff done anyways and hopefully this will solve the problem.

I would think that you should be okay, but you might want to look into a rewire. You could always run a separate ground just for your audio gear.

faster100

Ah, same concerns i had... we live in a 40's house and it had knob and tube, we lived here for 4+ years before we had it re-wired after a main pole in the breaker box burnt in half, it was fine but nerve racking to say the least haveing old cloth covered wireing in the walls and no ground... Now we have no problems... its a small house and a local company did the job for around $5000.00

and now its good as new, so i would say use it, actually the old knob and tube is usually 12 awg and 20 amps... newer wire is 14 guage standard and pulls 15 amps.. so in essense the older is better when its in good shape.. our house though, the wire was crumbleing when you touched it.. so be careful and get it rewired asap!!!

tryrrthg

Thanks for the help guys!

Should I use a surge protector for sure? I can't be buying anything too expensive. A decent surge protector would be about all I could get cleared from the wife.

I plan on getting the house rewired, it will just be a slow process. The good news is that some of the ground work for new wire has been laid. The kitchen and the upstairs bathroom both have new wiring so I have the basement and the attic to use as the nerve center for rewiring the rest. The other good news is we have two electricians in the family so we should be able to get it done pretty cheap! I can't wait to have my own man cave!

Thanks again guys! Any other suggestions would be great!

nemos2

I am not sure that a surge protector would do you any good. If the outlets do not have a ground prong, then there is no where for the "surge" to go, and it stays in the loop with your gear. Most surge protectors work by partially routing the "surge" or extra current to the ground prong, so......... I would get the room that you want to plug your gear into rewired asap. Just my $ 0.02

disneyjoe7

Originally posted by tryrrthg
Should I use a surge protector for sure? I can't be buying anything too expensive. A decent surge protector would be about all I could get cleared from the wife.

An UPS will have the surge protector also, so go that way. An UPS will give you better protector for lightening, just my $.02

I did this for my TiVo with a hard-drive it likes to see AC all the time. But this UPS is big enough to do all I do, all if it.

Tour2ma

Originally posted by tryrrthg
The house is 80 years old and most of the wiring is still knob and tube style.

Tube? Do you mean fuses?

nemos2,
Never thought about it before, but I can't recall seeing any two prong surge protectors.

tryrrthg,
Basement in the picture? If yes, running a dedicated 20 amp line to your HT/ audio room might be fairly easy depending on your fuse box location vs. the room.

If you can't kill the main power coming in, having an electrician install a small breaker box might not run too much. Then you could take it from there.

tryrrthg

Originally posted by Tour2ma
Tube? Do you mean fuses?

tryrrthg,
Basement in the picture? If yes, running a dedicated 20 amp line to your HT/ audio room might be fairly easy depending on your fuse box location vs. the room.

This is knob and tube style wiring The basement does have a breaker box so it has been updated, there are no fuses anymore. I'm hoping it should just be a matter of running new wire to all the other outlets, since newer wire with ground has been run to the kitchen and bathroom.

An UPS will have the surge protector also

What is a UPS?

Thanks again guys!

disneyjoe7

Sorry, computer slogan.


Hope this helps explain.

http://www.jetcafe.org/~npc/doc/ups-faq.html#0206


Also I would recommend APC American Power Conversion brand.

These can be found in any BB CC or office store, just buy a large one 800va or larger. I'm using a 1200va right now, it's an old APC and I just replaced the batteries in it.

Notorious

The worst wiring isn't in 40s homes, it's in 70s homes. Back in the 70s there was a copper shortage for a brief period so it became economical to use steel-aluminum alloys in wire. Only problem is that **** gets *brittle* when it's old and thus prone to breakage...

disneyjoe7

Well true that Aluminum wire caused problems. But older knot & tube wiring is H$!! also, just try to run some of today's appliances on that stuff. You better own some stock in the fuse company people.

But a least Tryrrthg is buying a house that has some updating in this house. New electrical box, new wiring to kitchen & baths. So at least he & his wife can run the hair drier, toaster oven, and the microwave at the same time without blowing the MAIN fuse. And yes I remember growing up in a OLD house and then they would say stuff like it's got 60amp service 110v ac. (NOT 220v ac)

This stuff was designed for lights and lights only. Ok small radio & a small black & white television. One of each if you were RICH.

gacole2000

I too have had to deal with old wire. If it has an updated breaker box, as you said, look and see if you have any open slots. If so connect on to your old wire (the wonders of duct tape) and pull some new 12/3 to the box. Add a new 20 amp breaker and you are good to go.

Or: add up the wattage on one of the newer runs (I would stay away from the kitchen), divide by 108.5. That will tell you your ampage. If you have some headroom, you may be able to add a junction box and tie into this circuit. This is what I had to do (full panel).

Good luck and keep us posted- Greg

tryrrthg

Thanks again for the info everyone.

I don't know how much poking around I'll be doing. Luckily we have two electricians in the family and they should be able to help us out! I just hope it doesn't take months for them to make it for a visit. I'm sure I can do it myself after someone shows me the proper way to do things.

Thanks again!

Notorious

Originally posted by tryrrthg
I'm sure I can do it myself after someone shows me the proper way to do things.

Yeah you can, and you'll save a lot of money that way. There are some *really* good how-to books on the subject - I don't remember which ones are good cuz I haven't read any in years and years - but I wired most of the upstairs of my Uncle's house back in 7th grade and it all passed inspection. My suggestion is go to the library just check out 10-12 books on the subject and skim through them until you find one you like. Voila, DIY electrical.

tryrrthg

Originally posted by Notorious
My suggestion is go to the library just check out 10-12 books on the subject and skim through them until you find one you like. Voila, DIY electrical.

Well good thing my wife works at the library! That way I don't even have to set foot in the building!

disneyjoe7

Well Tryrrthg,

You have relatives that do electrical work (Sweet). You not sure how to do that work your self, but reading a book or 2 would help. Your wife works at a library, MAN you're Golden

BTW can you buy me a lotto ticket? A man this lucky must have GOOD Luck.

Enjoy your first house.

Originally posted by tryrrthg
Well good thing my wife works at the library! That way I don't even have to set foot in the building!

tryrrthg

Originally posted by disneyjoe7
Well Tryrrthg,

You have relatives that do electrical work (Sweet). You not sure how to do that work your self, but reading a book or 2 would help. Your wife works at a library, MAN you're Golden

I've got an uncle who owns a roofing company too! But hopefully we won't be needing his services for the next 15 years!

Originally posted by disneyjoe7
BTW can you buy me a lotto ticket? A man this lucky must have GOOD Luck.

Enjoy your first house.

Thanks we'll try as long as we don't run into too many problems!

Good luck? I don't even know what that is any more. you wouldn't believe the last year and a half I've had! It seems to be turning around though! I think a lotto win would help a bit!

disneyjoe7

Roofer umm.

After you close PM me I can tell you some stories...

Originally posted by tryrrthg
I've got an uncle who owns a roofing company too! But hopefully we won't be needing his services for the next 15 years!


Thanks we'll try as long as we don't run into too many problems!

Good luck? I don't even know what that is any more. you wouldn't believe the last year and a half I've had! It seems to be turning around though! I think a lotto win would help a bit!