Knob and tube wiring (and a delinquent electrician) killed a friend of mine. It was wired AROUND the main breaker under a crawl space. He lay in the mud and snipped a live wire with uninsulated pliars, after shutting off the main breaker. Probably had one last thought as the juice ran through his heart: Who every wired this house was a %^&$^&%^$&*&%^ son of a $*^%*&^$*&*#^. Knob and tube burns down a lot of houses too. Insulation wasn't so good on the wires, a rat or a conductive box laid across it in the attic, maybe some moisture, is all it takes. -----Original Message----- From: Robert M. McClure To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU Date: Monday, September 27, 1999 9:51 AM Subject: Re: Knob and Tube wiring >At 09:49 PM 9/26/99 -0700, Dave Bell wrote: >>> For the record, knob and tube was considered obsolete before WWII. >> >>Perhaps, but my home, originally built circa 1952 (in California) was >>straight knob and tube. With much remodelling over the last 30 years, I >>have exactly one interior wall between two bedrooms, with a k&t run in it. >>The rubber insulated wires go straight up the wall into the attic, and >>into a steel junction box, where they are wire-nutted to Romex. >> >>Dave >> >Just picked up my copy of the National Electrical Code Handbook (1981 Ed) >which has (Article 324) the following: > >324-1. Definition. Concealed knob-and-tube wiring is a wiring method using >knobs, tubes, and flexible nonmetallic tubing for the protection and support >of single insulated conductors concealed in hollow spaces of walls and >ceilings of buildings. > >and > >324-3. Uses Permitted. Concealed knob-and-tube wiring shall be permitted to >be used only for extensions of existing installations and elsewhere only by >special permission under the following conditions: > > (1) In the hollow spaces of walls and ceilings. > (2) In unfinished attic and roof spaces as provided in Section 324-11. > > >I was not able to find any reference to WHEN knob-and-tube wiring became >"deprecated" (in modern jargon).