What is this wire

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

New owner of ground floor condo. The condos are older (built around 2007). There is a random grey wire that is plugged into my patio power outlet. HOA/property management don't know what it is. They even had an electrician come out and he had no clue what it was. It goes from my patio up the hallway side of the building behind a gutter and terminates who knows where. We can't see where it ends and the electrician didn't have a boom lift on hand to really dig in. I know it's not much to go on but does anyone have any idea what this might be?

• Probably NOT internet because it doesn't appear to connect to any of the cable/internet boxes

• NOT Heat tape as there is a separate heat tape cord going into the gutter

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

DavidR
7 years ago
I guess it could be some previous owner's hacked-up Christmas light power supply. Could be almost anything, really.

But what it's for is kind of academic. It's a major code violation -- NM (probably) cable used instead of flexible cord, not even properly weatherproof, unprotected from physical damage, a temporary cord used as an apparently permanent installation, and some more I've probably missed.

Whatever it was supposed to do, it's unsafe. Just leave it unplugged. Maybe even cut the plug off too short to reach the receptacle, so nobody can plug it in again. If it did anything important, you'll soon know, and can then have a proper receptacle installed by an electrician to serve that purpose safely.
weedmeister
7 years ago
No wonder my lights went out!
Related Professionals
Birmingham General Contractors · Palm Bay General Contractors · Mount Vernon General Contractors · Great Bend General Contractors · Rocky Mount General Contractors · Augusta General Contractors · Tuscaloosa Home Remodeling · Tulsa Home Remodeling · Florence Home Remodeling · Grand Forks Home Remodeling · Altoona Home Remodeling · Williston Home Remodeling · North Platte Home Remodeling · Forrest City Bathroom Remodelers · Bronx Bathroom Remodelers
Ron Natalie
7 years ago
A cord wouldn't be legal like that either. You can't run cord age through walls. My gues would have been some crude hack to run power to an outside portable generator.