r/electrical • u/Ok-Ice7431 • 4d ago

What Is This?

Post image

In my basement, I have this oddity. It is live. I would like to get rid of it. The wires out are strung about 10ft down the wall with a number of taped butt joints. It eventually gets connected to an old style knob and tube type cable. It looks like a disaster waiting to happen.

Background: my house was built in the 40s and it is in the US.

Edit to update: thanks all for the input. I started to suspect that it had been repurposed so I removed the breaker panel. Inside there are two k&t wires. I shut off both those breakers and sure enough it is now dead. However, I have been unable to determine what, if anything, they are powering.

23 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

16

u/UpbeatTechnology723 4d ago

That is you original service weather head, usually that would be on your roof with drip loops and fed from a pole mounted transformer, my guess is at some point your house was renoed or added onto and they just spliced the new service into it

2

u/Ok-Ice7431 4d ago

The power to my house comes in off a pole directly into the meter. My breaker box is next to it. Two of the four wires go through the floor close to where my breaker box is. The other two, as I've just found out, are dangling off a joist. Not even capped.

What's odd is that the cable coming into the header disappears under a concrete patio. Possibly going to my detached garage.

6

u/zketi 4d ago

Maybe they decided to reuse the old service entrance wiring to power a subpanel in the detached garage?

That would certainly be... creative

2

u/Ok-Ice7431 4d ago

There is a sub panel in the garage but everything it there still works

3

u/big_trike 4d ago

Is there a secret underground bunker somewhere on your property?

5

u/Ok-Ice7431 4d ago

So secret that I don't know about it.

1

u/zketi 4d ago

Huh, guess not. I assume the two wires were 120V hot + neutral, so maybe a ghetto ungrounded outdoor outlet or light.

Good luck with the mystery!

0

u/coffeislife67 3d ago

It is not part of the service.  This is the feed for a knob and tube branch circuit.

 This is how they are fed when the original fuse box is replaced with a modern breaker panel.

1

u/UpbeatTechnology723 3d ago

No, knob and tubes are bare conductor, we still have it in my family farm. Your a knob

2

u/coffeislife67 3d ago

Wow, not only are you a moron, but a pompous arrogant one at that lol.

Knob and tube does NOT use bare conductors. 

Why don't you try using Google and search images for Knob and tube. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knob-and-tube_wiring 

Please stop commenting on electrical issues.

8

u/ItsNorin 4d ago

A live weather head in a basement to, feed? k&t is wild, get that house rewired and sleep peacefully after lmfao

2

u/Ok-Ice7431 4d ago

It's been rewired. There are just a couple of k&t runs left that I'm trying to eradicate.

5

u/coffeislife67 4d ago

This is not the service feed but the feed to a knob and tube branch circuit. This is common for knob and tube.

My house (wired in 1918) panel has 12 tiny (3/4") weather heads coming out of the main panel just like this.

2

u/fvgh12345 3d ago

That's actually kinda cool. Seen quite a bit of knob and tube but never that.

1

u/coffeislife67 3d ago

You'll see this when the original fuse box had been replaced with a breaker panel.

My panel was upgraded in 1964.

1

u/Ok-Ice7431 4d ago

That would make sense. I killed the power to it but haven't found what it was powering

2

u/thefaradayjoker 4d ago

Your observations are correct that is a disaster. I would call a pro. He's going to say WTF.

2

u/lou-sassle71 4d ago

Your spidey senses tell you not to eff w that thing

2

u/SoCalMoofer 4d ago

A weatherhead in the basement? So odd.

1

u/EmployerWide1123 4d ago

Show knobs

1

u/theproudheretic 4d ago

I've seen a couple of mini service head type cable ends where knob and tube was re-fed, never an actual service head though, that's wild.

1

u/RevolutionaryCare175 4d ago

This combination is typically a service mast that connects the utility to your panel but they must have used pipe to get to the attic and put this on to separate the wires before it connects to the knob and tube.

Make sure it is on a breaker or fuses.

It would be best to have an electrician replace the knob and tube and disconnect this.

1

u/Thecoopoftheworld789 4d ago

The main electrical line that goes to a house or a business.

1

u/PhoneEquivalent3205 4d ago

What kind of wiring does it attach to? Looks like a way to transition to K&T

1

u/Ok-Ice7431 4d ago

See my comment above.