Old Electrical Wiring Maintenance and Retrofit

Rating:
Summary: A mixed review from Fine Homebuilding magazine
Review: The author is obviously knowledgeable and does a good job of transferring his experience to paper, [but the book has problems]. As I paged through the "Familiarizing Yourself with Old Wiring" section, I found myself looking for pictures of old cables so I could familiarize myself with them. There aren't any. And as I looked through the rest of the book, I noticed that this seems to be an overall problem. Instead of pictures of important things such as different types of old cable, the book offers such things as a full-page spread devoted to a permit form. Although I loved the old ads and the photos of ancient receptacles and knife switches, good illustrations are few and far between, and the quality of the photography is absolutely terrible. There is good information on old wiring in here, but you have to hunt to find it. Too often the book digresses into topics that have little or nothing to do with old cable. I found myself wondering why there's a section on photovoltacis and X-10 ultramodern control systems in the book at all. Still, the parts of the book that deal with old cable are great. I liked the book, even with its obvious problems. It's a good, necessary addition to any electrician's library, including mine. But it could have been so much more.--Rex Cauldwell

Rating:
Summary: A mixed review from Fine Homebuilding magazine
Review: The author is obviously knowledgeable and does a good job of transferring his experience to paper, [but the book has problems]. As I paged through the "Familiarizing Yourself with Old Wiring" section, I found myself looking for pictures of old cables so I could familiarize myself with them. There aren't any. And as I looked through the rest of the book, I noticed that this seems to be an overall problem. Instead of pictures of important things such as different types of old cable, the book offers such things as a full-page spread devoted to a permit form. Although I loved the old ads and the photos of ancient receptacles and knife switches, good illustrations are few and far between, and the quality of the photography is absolutely terrible. There is good information on old wiring in here, but you have to hunt to find it. Too often the book digresses into topics that have little or nothing to do with old cable. I found myself wondering why there's a section on photovoltacis and X-10 ultramodern control systems in the book at all. Still, the parts of the book that deal with old cable are great. I liked the book, even with its obvious problems. It's a good, necessary addition to any electrician's library, including mine. But it could have been so much more.--Rex Cauldwell

Rating:
Summary: A "must read" for all residential electricians!
Review: This is an excellent book dealing with the problems faced with old wiring. The content is very helpful for all levels of experience, however, it is extremely valuable for newer electricians or electricians specializing in old wiring. The descriptions of the Carter System, background information and old catalog sheets are worth the price of the book itself. Buy this book, it'll make you money!

Rating:
Summary: A "must read" for all residential electricians!
Review: This is an excellent book dealing with the problems faced with old wiring. The content is very helpful for all levels of experience, however, it is extremely valuable for newer electricians or electricians specializing in old wiring. The descriptions of the Carter System, background information and old catalog sheets are worth the price of the book itself. Buy this book, it'll make you money!