In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks for the explanation. I'm figuring that the audible noise will also be electrical noise, given the effort it's taking to start the compressor. Most repeaters point out that certain high load items do cause enough noise to interrupt the signal.... but I'm still questioning the concept of electrons moving being an ME.
I guess I'll monitor if this keeps failing, and maybe I can convince Xfinity to exchange this one puck.
But I'm not going to be changing the wiring anytime soon.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
In fact, in many municipalities, once discovered, it must be removed. It is not legal and a violation of code to have K&T wiring in your home. No grandfathering, no nothing.
To be clear, while it may be banned in some areas of the country, concealed knob and tube wiring is still allowed by article 394 of the NEC, and in fact existing circuits can be extended.
In reply to stuart in mn :
Gotcha. Around here, if a contractor (or an honest homeowner) discovers K&T, they are legally obligated to record it and you then have three options: rip it out and replace, request an inspection to see if it can stay, or um... make a significant donation to the charity of the contractor's choice. Ok, it's not really that apocalyptic. Most contractors pretend like they never saw it.
Outside of the fact knob and tube systems are ungrounded, in principle there's nothing wrong with them (and for that matter, most home appliances these days have two prong plugs anyway). The main problem with them is age - the insulation can get brittle and come off. Also, they were designed so the conductors would pass through empty stud bays. Over the years people would come along and fill those stud bays with insulation, burying the conductors and potentially causing them to run too hot under load.
