Need an electrician?

Flems · Mar 7, 2012

Heres a shot from Mexico. I found it odd they just stripped all the wiring and left these open junctions.

As always any C&Cs are welcome

Enjoy!

tirediron · Mar 7, 2012

Potential, but I'm not sure that it quite works; I would prefer to see a slightly wider perspective so that we could see the complete meter bases, and perhaps dial back the contrast just a bit.

SCraig · Mar 7, 2012

They strip the wiring because they can sell the copper. Sad but true

480sparky · Mar 7, 2012

Looks like it's been abandoned for quite a while.

Frequency · Mar 7, 2012

i really like the pattern, the blue and the yellow ...and the story

Nod · Mar 7, 2012

Those are abandoned boxes, no threat there but I love the way people wire things in Mexico. In a park I saw a vendor with his cart hooked up to the street light, he had opened the inspection cover and just tapped into the wires. In another instance, a cafe owner, tapped into a meter socket on the outside of his place and ran the wires up the wall and through the doorway, he had cut out a corner of the door so it wouldn't pinch the wires. I spent 30 years as an electrician and I've seen some unbelievable work. I really like that shot BTW, the colors are great !

480sparky · Mar 7, 2012

FWIW, they're field fabricated meters for a 120/208 3-phase service.

Skaperen · Mar 8, 2012

In Mexico it's usually 127/220.

Derrel · Mar 8, 2012

Good job on a nice, symmetrical composition. I like the formal balance, as well as the color scheme, and overall the feeling of old and abandoned electric meters.

jonathon94 · Mar 8, 2012

480sparky said:
FWIW, they're field fabricated meters for a 120/208 3-phase service.

I figured I'd see you in this post lol

-Please ignore typos I'm currently on my phone-

Flems · Mar 8, 2012

Nod said:
Those are abandoned boxes, no threat there but I love the way people wire things in Mexico. In a park I saw a vendor with his cart hooked up to the street light, he had opened the inspection cover and just tapped into the wires. In another instance, a cafe owner, tapped into a meter socket on the outside of his place and ran the wires up the wall and through the doorway, he had cut out a corner of the door so it wouldn't pinch the wires. I spent 30 years as an electrician and I've seen some unbelievable work. I really like that shot BTW, the colors are great !

I figured they were safe, but I'd still keep my hands out

. I do mostly low-voltage work here at home, but I can still pick out a messy/botched electrical job when I see one. Even walking the streets in Playa del Carmen and Isla Mujeres I was able to pick out a handful of "pleasantries".

Thanks to everyone else for the input

.

tirediron · Mar 8, 2012

480sparky said:
FWIW, they're field fabricated meters for a 120/208 3-phase service.

You sure? Those look like standard, residental 30amp meter bases to me...

480sparky · Mar 8, 2012

tirediron said:
You sure? Those look like standard, residental 30amp meter bases to me...

There's a 5th jaw on the left, in the middle. They're still wired to the neutral lug. The sockets are for single-phase feeds to apartments, but the main service is 3-phase.

Firemike · Mar 9, 2012

Nod said:
Those are abandoned boxes, no threat there but I love the way people wire things in Mexico. In a park I saw a vendor with his cart hooked up to the street light, he had opened the inspection cover and just tapped into the wires. In another instance, a cafe owner, tapped into a meter socket on the outside of his place and ran the wires up the wall and through the doorway, he had cut out a corner of the door so it wouldn't pinch the wires. I spent 30 years as an electrician and I've seen some unbelievable work. I really like that shot BTW, the colors are great !

I was in Cancun last December and was shocked (no pun intended) at the lack of any electrical codes in some areas. We were in shops downtown that had Romex going into a coverless panel on a wall easily reached by a child, double and triple tapped at breakers or fuses, and stapled to the walls, around and over displays, hung across pipes and beams, open splices, etc. Many of the florescent fixtures had the ballasts screwed to the wall or ceiling next to the fixture and the wires running through a slot cut in the metal side of the fixture.

Was on Isla Mujeres and downtown saw several instances where exterior light fixtures were connected to whatever using lamp cord stapled to the siding of the building. Some of the more "modern" installations actually used wire nuts at the open splices, most were just twisted taped... Amazing there are not more fires...