I honestly don’t see a reason why it would hurt if there’s nothing wired to the breaker. And it feels safer than leaving the contacts exposed since the metal cover is open on those slots. But I’m not sure if that’s the proper way.

As for the wire, I think it’s more so quality control. If it’s new and you bought it then you know it’s high quality and if it doesn’t work you can warranty your own work, but you can’t warranty old equipment. But this is another one where I can’t see the harm in using it if I am replacing a short strand of wire and it is the right length. Like I said, it’s type NM cable so it seems to be equivalent to modern romex wire, just a different brand.

Ya, there is asbestos in the house. It is wrapped around the HVAC in the basement. We were told to get it removed now because it’s not yet a health hazard so I’m working on getting that done. It’s still in good condition and it’s not dangerous until it starts to flake away. But the insulation is newer from a remodel when the last owner turned it into a duplex. So within the last 10 years I am pretty sure

12/2 is what I bought for the basement lights I’m working on. Everything I read said that was the appropriate wire to use so I never even co sidered #14

I knew it had glass in it but I wasn’t sure if that’s all it was made of. That and the paper backing just made me want to be cautious. But I do know how to handle insulation from tearing a room off my grandparents house a few years ago.

This is thankfully not knob and tube. The house is old enough for it though. Going in the attic you can see where the wires used to run

I’ve been through 6 electricians and 3 general contractors. Probably more but I can’t keep those numbers straight. They all show up to give a quote then never actually do the work. I’m tired of it.

That being said, the insulation just feels flammable to me. It’s clearly marked otherwise but the paper backing and stuff just made me want to double check

Ya, I know I need to jump the ground when wiring to power cable for the dryer. I was going to do 10/3 since I had the money for it, but lowes and Home Depot were both sold out when I went to pick it up. Whirlpool told me 10/2 would work so I just went with that in the effort of saving time. New dryer is delivered Tuesday so I want the wiring done before then. The 30a double pole breaker was easy though. Probably the least questionable part of this process

I just finished running the new wire. I really lucked out. My step dad has a 50’ fishing tape and a 10’ endoscope that I was able to borrow. I got a new 10/2 wire pushed through fine. I called whirlpool for the specifications and they said the dryer needs 30 amps and will work with 10/2 or 10/3 wire. I was gonna go for the 10/3 but both lowes and Home Depot were sold out so I went with the 10/2. Got a 25’ roll and it used most of it. Maybe a foot of slack

The insulation protects the stuff outside the wire from catching fire. The wires get hot while carrying a load. Neutrals always carry a load once the hot is powered on. Grounds only carry when something goes wrong such as a power surge. They carry excess electricity the neutral can’t handle and usually significantly less so they don’t get as hot. There’s no reason not to insulate a ground, and it arguably is safer, but the amount safer is noticeably less considering the extra cost. For a ground to get hot enough to catch something on fire several other safety measures would need to fail. In that regard it’s not necessary.

They are right. I was wrong. But the wire is getting replaced regardless. My step dad does a good bit of electrical work and said he doesn’t trust an aluminum ground on a 240v outlet

Snaking wire without a guide for that distance is extremely tough. The normal way to swap out wire would be to tie the new wire to the end of the old and the pull the other end of the old. Since you can’t pull the old (it’s stapled and secured) you can’t pull the new through behind it.

To your edit, it should be 2 hots and a neutral is my understanding. Hots deliver electric and neutrals complete the circuit back to the back. In newer wiring the 4th is the ground but a 240v 3 wire has no ground. However, if it is a neutral it should be sheathed and individually insulated.

That being said, I’m not an electrician and most of this is just what I’ve learned from replacing outlets and rerunning 120v wire in this house. If an electrician wants to tell me I’m wrong I’m all ears

It does look bad and I plan to replace it regardless. I’m more so wondering if it needs replaced now. Wire is expensive and replacing this will be pretty extensive as I would need to tear out horse hair plaster to unstaple it from the studs. I’m not 100% on if it’s stapled or not but it’s tough to move and the other wires I replaced were stapled down so we had to tear open the plaster and run them that way. This would be going from 2nd story to basement through kitchen behind the sink so it’s not a quick job. If it needs replaced now I’m gonna need to cancel the whole weekend

We’ve had a couple funny ones where I work. I provision users in our call centers phone system.

afriend@company.com is the most innocent one I’ve come across. Emails are only internal for us so no one really says anything since customers don’t see them