Any electricians on here?

[Kurdawg]

Sorry for the long read.

So thought I would do a little work on the house this morning to get us 1 step closer to moving back in, then relax this afternoon with the wife and kid for Father’s Day. Figured I would install a few ceiling fans. I know the wiring in my house is old and not exactly hooked up per the new code but I’ve never had issues figuring it out before. But what I found today threw me for a huge loop!

So let me say my whole house is ran off of 8 30amp breakers and 2 load centers for the A/C and stove.

So the fan I went to work on is controlled by a switch. The box has a live wire in it even though the switch is disconnected figured it was a runner. Also found out that live wire is on a different breaker that the breaker the switches are on. The switch box controls the fan and a hallway light. The black and white wire coming in we’re both hot. Ok figured that was the feed for the 2 switches so I hook the switches up first. Fan wires still disconnected completely. Turn breaker back on and flip 1 of the switches and boom blow a breaker and 1 of the old school 60 amp fuses in the main box. So fix that and unhook the switches to figure out what’s wrong here. So I check the box for the light in the hallway the 2 black wires are heat shrinked together they are hot. But also the 2 white wires not connected together are hot. So all 4 wires in that box are hot. I cut the black wires apart and that kills all electricity to the switch and the 2 white wires in the light switch box.

Does any of this make sense to anyone? The other ceiling fan I hooked up had a runner for the light over the sink and on a switch but everything good on it. But checking everything today I did find that the switch in the bathroom for the light disconnects the neutral not the hot side.

I’m ready to hire some help and replace everything the correct way.

[Pstraw]

We think alike in the pull everything out and start over with enough circuits to accommodate everything. Also for future reference be sure to label what is on each circuit. Takes the guesswork out.. Be safe.

[125Dad]

OK lets start here you don't have any 20 are 15 amp breakers?

To me I doubt anyone is going to be able to answer your question with out being there to start tracing wires out.

I think your should hire someone.

[Walding1989]

you need to hire a electrician.

[CabezaBlanca]

Sorry for the long read.

So thought I would do a little work on the house this morning to get us 1 step closer to moving back in, then relax this afternoon with the wife and kid for Father’s Day. Figured I would install a few ceiling fans. I know the wiring in my house is old and not exactly hooked up per the new code but I’ve never had issues figuring it out before. But what I found today threw me for a huge loop!

So let me say my whole house is ran off of 8 30amp breakers and 2 load centers for the A/C and stove.

So the fan I went to work on is controlled by a switch. The box has a live wire in it even though the switch is disconnected figured it was a runner. Also found out that live wire is on a different breaker that the breaker the switches are on. The switch box controls the fan and a hallway light. The black and white wire coming in we’re both hot. Ok figured that was the feed for the 2 switches so I hook the switches up first. Fan wires still disconnected completely. Turn breaker back on and flip 1 of the switches and boom blow a breaker and 1 of the old school 60 amp fuses in the main box. So fix that and unhook the switches to figure out what’s wrong here. So I check the box for the light in the hallway the 2 black wires are heat shrinked together they are hot. But also the 2 white wires not connected together are hot. So all 4 wires in that box are hot. I cut the black wires apart and that kills all electricity to the switch and the 2 white wires in the light switch box.

Does any of this make sense to anyone? The other ceiling fan I hooked up had a runner for the light over the sink and on a switch but everything good on it. But checking everything today I did find that the switch in the bathroom for the light disconnects the neutral not the hot side.

I’m ready to hire some help and replace everything the correct way.

That's wrong in so many ways.

[Kurdawg]

That's wrong in so many ways.

I know.

[Kurdawg]

OK lets start here you don't have any 20 are 15 amp breakers?

To me I doubt anyone is going to be able to answer your question with out being there to start tracing wires out.

I think your should hire someone.

Nope, that’s why I’m about to shut everything off and start from new, new wires breaker box etc.

[125Dad]

Nope, that’s why I’m about to shut everything off and start from new, new wires breaker box etc.

I think that is your best bet.

[meltingfeather]

Turn breaker back on and flip 1 of the switches and boom blow a breaker and 1 of the old school 60 amp fuses in the main box.

What are you using to determine if a wire is hot or not?
Sounds like they used white wires as conductors for switches... pretty common. What you should do in that circumstance is wrap the wire with a band of black tape so you always know it is a conductor and not a neutral.
I can't follow your whole set-up from this post, but what it sounds like here is that you either grounded (via neutral) one of your circuits or possibly closed a 220V path between the two 120V legs in your panel. There are two hot buses in a single-phase panel and if you connect them it goes boom.

[TeamAmerica]

You could possibly do some DIY troubleshooting, but i would start by relocating any hot wires not associated with that fixture/box into a separate junction box (even if only accessible from the attic). this will keep you a bit safer for future work and might give you a start on unraveling the mess. as others pointed out, using a neutral wire as a switch wire is not forbidden, but each end ought to be "black taped" so you know what you are dealing with.

sounds like you know that 30 amp breakers are likely too big for the majority of wiring in your house (and probably most of the items running on those circuits). kinda asking for a fire!

[meltingfeather]

But checking everything today I did find that the switch in the bathroom for the light disconnects the neutral not the hot side.

Doesn't matter where the circuit is interrupted by the switch. This may give you some info about how the whole house is wired.

I’m ready to hire some help and replace everything the correct way.

Sounds like a good idea.

[kae006]

FLASH_OUTDOORS is an electrician in the Houston area and great to deal with

[kruppa24]

Some of the old houses used to switch the neutral instead of the hot.

[Kurdawg]

You could possibly do some DIY troubleshooting, but i would start by relocating any hot wires not associated with that fixture/box into a separate junction box (even if only accessible from the attic). this will keep you a bit safer for future work and might give you a start on unraveling the mess. as others pointed out, using a neutral wire as a switch wire is not forbidden, but each end ought to be "black taped" so you know what you are dealing with.

sounds like you know that 30 amp breakers are likely too big for the majority of wiring in your house (and probably most of the items running on those circuits). kinda asking for a fire!

Ya I’ve found some of the switches disconnect on neutral some disconnect on the hot side. That’s why I’m ready to just replace everything. Also when I got in attic I found some other issues with the wiring that I did not like at all.