Re: What can I replace this latching relay system with?

[Marc_F_Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 30 Jul 2006 10:20:56 GMT, nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston) wrote
in message  <44cc86ac.1035141375@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

>"Steve Wechsler" <swechsler@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>E. Lee Dickinson wrote:
>>> "Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>> news:44cb8321.968697859@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> > Might it be possible to use the low voltage cables between switches
>>> >and the overhead lights as pull wires to snake romex between switches
>>> >and lights?
>>>
>>> Dave, you're reminding me of my least favorite NEC item ever: All the
>>> freeking staples that have to go in on romex, when the wall is opened.
>>
>>Dave has hit the nail (pun intended) on the head.
>>
>>Don't you just hate it when things are done properly?
>
>If "done properly" even the low voltage wires would be in conduit and you
>would have little difficulty. I live in a building built about the same
>time and in the same fashion and nearly everything is in conduit.

But Dave lives in a commercial apartment building, not a private
residence, and different codes and norms apply.

The 3-story 1908-vintage stone Victorian house we owned for years had
nearly all the wire in heavy, threaded conduit/pipe. It used 12-gauge
wires with thick coal-tar insulation. For the day, it was the nec plus
ultra of wiring, not just "done properly". It was a carry-over of a
construction practice that was still in use for gas lighting, but today we
would consider that a wiring job that required two pipe wrenches to be a
it over the top except for ships or nuclear reactor or some such ....

By the 1980's  both the copper and insulation had become brittle. It if
came out of the conduit during remodeling when one pulled, it seemed like
a good idea. If it broke, it was a nightmare. You could be trying to
improve some minor thing and end up with no lights or worse and need to
cut open the plaster lathe and start over all over.

... Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.com