Questions I shouldn't ask

[shereads]

Um...Suppose there is an electrical outlet in a decaying jungle compound, where some of the wiring is vintage (c. 1939). And suppose that you notice, while housecleaning one aftermoon, that a trickle of reddish-brown fluid seems to have leaked from the outlet and dribbled down the wall.

Is that bad? i mean, I'm sure it's not good; in a perfect world, electrical outlets don't bleed.

But is it baad?

 

[minsue]

It can't be good, that's for sure....

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Um...Suppose there is an electrical outlet in a decaying jungle compound, where some of the wiring is vintage (c. 1939). And suppose that you notice, while housecleaning one aftermoon, that a trickle of reddish-brown fluid seems to have leaked from the outlet and dribbled down the wall.

Is that bad? i mean, I'm sure it's not good; in a perfect world, electrical outlets don't bleed.

But is it baad?

Sher,

older outlets generally have a brown plastic filler that surounds the actual working oarts. If you se it bleeding, it probably means the outlet has a short and the heat build up is melting the filler. You'll need a new outlet.

Don't plug anything into it, as you risk a fire.

*HUGS*

 

[shereads]

Sher,

older outlets generally have a brown plastic filler that surounds the actual working oarts. If you se it bleeding, it probably means the outlet has a short and the heat build up is melting the filler. You'll need a new outlet.

Don't plug anything into it, as you risk a fire.

*HUGS*

Thanks, Colly!





Dammit! I knew the word "fire" would work its way into this thread. But so soon?!

 

[cheerful_deviant]

Another posibility is that there is a water leak somewhere in the wall/roof somewhere above the outlet and that the water is being stained by rust or something else before it makes it to the outlet.

Either way, as Colly said, don't use the outlet. Electricity and water don't mix terribly well. Have it checked out by an electrician.

 

[shereads]

Another posibility is that there is a water leak somewhere in the wall/roof somewhere above the outlet and that the water is being stained by rust or something else before it makes it to the outlet.

Either way, as Colly said, don't use the outlet. Electricity and water don't mix terribly well. Have it checked out by an electrician.

Oh, there are water leaks. But I thought that was a dry spot...Maybe the firemen can recommend an electrician, and the electrician will know a reputable roofer who isn't booked up for the next year. And I'll bet the roofer will know someone who can rip up the hardwood floors, which have begun to warp, and find out what's wrong with the subfloor. If the floor guy knows a banker, and the banker has a reliable herion dealer, I'm all set!

 

[TxRad]

Um...Suppose there is an electrical outlet in a decaying jungle compound, where some of the wiring is vintage (c. 1939). And suppose that you notice, while housecleaning one afternoon, that a trickle of reddish-brown fluid seems to have leaked from the outlet and dribbled down the wall.

Is that bad? i mean, I'm sure it's not good; in a perfect world, electrical outlets don't bleed.

But is it baad?

Ok let's see here...

1939 wiring.... A decaying jungle compound...housecleaning....reddish-brown fluid....

1939 wiring consisted of paper or cloth wrapped solid copper wire stretched between glass standoffs for insulation... add in your local jungle compound house hold pests and I'd be surprised if a reddish-brown fluid was all you found when you cleaned house... As for whether it's bad or good depends on if it's smoking or not. If not then no problem, if yes then call the local fire department and wait outside.... Take a few marshmallows and wieners with you as it may be a rather long wait....Oh and if a tentacle or two appear call Colleen as she seems to be our resident expert on those at this point and time...

 

[shereads]

Ok let's see here...

1939 wiring.... A decaying jungle compound...housecleaning....reddish-brown fluid....

1939 wiring consisted of paper or cloth wrapped solid copper wire stretched between glass standoffs for insulation... add in your local jungle compound house hold pests and I'd be surprised if a reddish-brown fluid was all you found when you cleaned house...

Honey, you can't begin to imagine! In older Miami neighborhoods that (a) have lots of trees and (b) accummulate huge piles of fallen limbs and uncollected trash after our various hurricanes, there are mice the size of rats, rats the size of possums, possums the size of raccoons; and raccoons that would as soon hotwire your car as look at you! But I currently have none of the above. How do I know? Because when I moved in here, there were mice in the attic and with no insulation up there, they sounded like ponies galloping across the ceiling at night! A neighbor told me, "Hey, it's the Grove. You're gonna have rodents." No, we're not gonna. Don't ask me to tell you the long, ugly story of how they were made to go away. It would read like a history of Chilean dissenters under Pinochet.

Oh and if a tentacle or two appear call Colleen as she seems to be our resident expert on those at this point and time...

So far, nothing with tentacles has appeared. I did find the exoskeleton of a scorpion the size of a mouse...But that's another poll.

 

[amicus]

Sorry to say, buy you ladies need a man around the house, yeah, I know...shoot me....

amicus

 

[shereads]

Sorry to say, buy you ladies need a man around the house, yeah, I know...shoot me....

amicus

Haha.

Been there, done that. When I've had men around the house, they fell into two categories: (1) insisted on making repairs themselves, but didn't know how; (2) insisted on making repairs themselves, but never got around to it.

I usually ended up having to take care of the problem myself. This way, at least I know that in advance.

 

[TxRad]

Honey, you can't begin to imagine! In older Miami neighborhoods that (a) have lots of trees and (b) accummulate huge piles of fallen limbs and uncollected trash after our various hurricanes, there are mice the size of rats, rats the size of possums, possums the size of raccoons; and raccoons that would as soon hotwire your car as look at you! But I currently have none of the above. How do I know? Because when I moved in here, there were mice in the attic and with no insulation up there, they sounded like ponies galloping across the ceiling at night! A neighbor told me, "Hey, it's the Grove. You're gonna have rodents." No, we're not gonna. Don't ask me to tell you the long, ugly story of how they were made to go away. It would read like a history of Chilean dissenters under Pinochet. So far, nothing with tentacles has appeared. I did find the exoskeleton of a scorpion the size of a mouse...But that's another poll.

Older Miami Neighborhood... nothing else need be said.... Spent some time there once and was glad to get back to my nice safe swamp.....

 

[shereads]

Older Miami Neighborhood... nothing else need be said.... Spent some time there once and was glad to get back to my nice safe swamp.....

I lived in Houston for four years. The flying cockroaches were the size of mice.

 

[TxRad]

I lived in Houston for four years. The flying cockroaches were the size of mice.

I live about 60 miles North of there and our airtraffic controllers won't let them fly this far north.....

Although with the lake being drained the mosquitoes are getting a little out of hand....or rather the size of my hand....

 

[lil_elvis]

Sher,

You missed an option:

I picked a bad place to hide the body

 

[TxRad]

Sher,

You missed an option:

I picked a bad place to hide the body

If they needed killin bad enough there is no bad place to hide the body....

 

[shereads]

the mosquitoes are getting a little out of hand....or rather the size of my hand....

Oh yeah?

Well we have toads the size of dinner plates. Bufo marinarus. They look like Jabba the Hutt, are poisonous to dogs and cats who try to catch them, and eat small animals.

In the Everglades, we have Burmese pythons the size of...well, Burmese pythons.

Gross photo in the newspaper yesterday: an Everglades park ranger found a python that died while trying to digest an alligator.

I'm not making that up.

People who keep pythons as pets: please keep your pythons as pets.

 

[shereads]

Sher,

You missed an option:

I picked a bad place to hide the body

I never hide them in the house during the summer months! Can you imagine the smell?

 

[TxRad]

Yes i saw the Python Photo.... Even my swamps are becoming unsafe.....

People keep introducing exotic specimens into our wildlife environments... Are they really that dumb or just unthinking.... both probably.....

 

[oggbashan]

Fuse or Fuze

If there is a fuse/fuze/circuit breaker that is in the supply to that socket I suggest that you remove that fuze or open the circuit breaker so that there is no supply to that socket.

If you have 1939 wiring I would also suggest checking the rating of all fuzes to make sure that the correct fuze wire has been used. Those fuze wires can protect you from a disaster if a circuit becomes faulty. They may not be as good as modern devices but if they are correctly rated they do work.

Og

 

[TxRad]

If there is a fuse/fuze/circuit breaker that is in the supply to that socket I suggest that you remove that fuze or open the circuit breaker so that there is no supply to that socket.

If you have 1939 wiring I would also suggest checking the rating of all fuzes to make sure that the correct fuze wire has been used. Those fuze wires can protect you from a disaster if a circuit becomes faulty. They may not be as good as modern devices but if they are correctly rated they do work.

Og

Leave the penny's out from behind them also.....

 

[mack_the_knife]

Yeah, I would be afraid of it going hot on you and bursting into flame. Unwire that bad boy at a minimum, but as Ogg suggests, the wiring itself may be wonky and the circuit breaker or fuse is probaby your best option until you can get an electrician to look at it.

 

[mack_the_knife]

Leave the penny's out from behind them also.....

Only old pennies are any good anyways. Those new zinc pennys with copper plating suck.

 

[LadyJeanne]

Haha.

Been there, done that. When I've had men around the house, they fell into two categories: (1) insisted on making repairs themselves, but didn't know how; (2) insisted on making repairs themselves, but never got around to it.

I usually ended up having to take care of the problem myself. This way, at least I know that in advance.

I had (2), with an added bonus: Despite my Declaration of War on the ants invading the pantry through the small uninsulated window, said Man:

- collected all household recycling (and brought some in from the street) only to allow it to accumulate in the recycling bin for weeks, attracting ants

- left half-open bags of Cheetos everywhere, including the bathroom, thereby attracting more ants

 

[yui]

Am I the only one thinking, "Poltergeist?"

 

[shereads]

Leave the penny's out from behind them also.....

I thought the pennies had to be there for the Electricity Fairy.