PSA: Found a live 240v line in a ceiling drop at a dentist office in Phoenix last Tuesday

I was fishing a new coax through a drop ceiling and my fish tape hit something that sparked. Turns out someone ran romex loose across the ceiling tiles without any conduit. Has anyone else ran into sketchy electrical like this on a job and how do you handle it?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenix8459h agoTop Commenter

Man I had a buddy who was pulling cable in an old medical building near Tucson and he found a junction box just sitting loose on top of a ceiling tile with no cover on it. Wires were just hanging out twisted together with electrical tape that was all dried up and crumbling. He said he called the building super and the guy just shrugged and said it had been like that for years and nobody ever got shocked yet. He ended up just taking pictures and walking off the job because nobody wanted to deal with it.

john_hunt215h ago

That's a serious safety hazard and honestly, it's more common than people realize in older commercial buildings. The real issue nobody talks about is what happens after you find it - most office managers will just push to cover it back up and move on because they don't want to pay an electrician. I'd recommend taking photos and writing down the exact location and date, then emailing the building owner directly with a polite note saying you couldn't finish your work safely. That way it's documented and you're covered if something goes wrong later.