Two electrical questions: Tripping GFCI, and unlocatable GFCI Question 1: We had a pool installed.  It has been out of service.  I am trying to get it back up and running.  It was installed after the house was built.  There are separate breakers added by the pool installer for the pool equipment.  The pool control panel has a GFCI outlet.  I need to drain the pool.  I have a pump I used a few years back.  I plugged an extension cord into the GFCI outlet, and the pump into the extension cord.  It's an older extension cord.  Initially, there was no power.  I reset the breakers, and tested the GFCI outlet.  Nada.  I have a GFCI tester and a non-contact tester I picked up today.  Both show the outlet as dead.  I was replacing another GFCI outlet.  I picked up a 20a GFCI outlet for the freezer - it was also tripping.  They are on separate circuits.  But I was finally able to reset the GFCI for freezer and it seems ok.  It was a 20A circuit.  So, I used the replacement outlet for that, for the pool panel.  Not sure if 20A is right, just realized - will check tomorrow.  Checked the wiring, non contact, etc, and replacing went well, it's up and running.  But, the submersible pump to drain the pool keeps tripping the gfci.  Bad pump?  Bad extension cord?  (Too short to try without, but I can swap cords), or something else?

2nd question: I had the pump plugged into an outdoor outlet that was gfi protected.  It tripped that GFCI also.  I can't find the outlet to reset it.  I've reset the breakers in the box, no luck.

I have 2 outdoor patio outlets.  Pump was here.  Neither work.
I have 4 I can locate in the garage: the one for the water softener has power.  The one for the garage door opener has power.  A 3rd was... higher amp?  separate circuit when house was built.  Has power.  The 4th doesn't.
I have one by front door.  Small fountain/pump was plugged in.  Doesn't work.

I can't for the life of my find the GFCI to reset that.  Again -- I've reset all the breakers in the house - nada.  So it's the GFCI (I presume).  I reset the 2 kitchen ones, the 2 bathroom ones (master/guest) -- all were fine and didn't resolve issue.

I checked just inside the house, by door to garage.  Not GFCI.

There's enough stuff in garage, perhaps one is lurking, but I tried peeking behind shelving and couldn't find it.  The one wall hard to see/with shelving, is the one that, on the other side, is the pump/fountain/front door.

The garage is on the NW corner of the house.  The house faces W.  The breaker box is on the SxSW side of the house.

So, the front door is closest to the breaker box.  The back patio is probably next, where the 2 outlets are.  The garage is definitely furthest.

There are 3 attic entry ways.  I haven't checked them all.  one in garage, one in master bedroom closet, one in laundry room.

Anyway: any thoughts/feedback on either question appreciated.

Thanks
Neal

Get the freezer off GFCI.  It should not be on a GFCI outlet; it's not that type of load.  It has a metal frame with all the electrical bits in an impossible-to-access location, and you're not likely to drop it in the sink.  Fit a single receptacle off-GFCI, and label it "Freezer only".   Re-task that GFCI to a circuit where protection would be helpful.

There are at least 3 types of GFCI device: GFCI+receptacle combo devices (you know), GFCI+breaker combo devices (which look like breakers with a TEST button), and plain GFCI (which look like a GFCI+receptacle with sockets missing).  All of them can protect a downline load.  I'm glad you know that.  Do not fit GFCI receptacles at locations already protected by GFCI. Do fit "GFCI Protected" stickers at those locations right before the inspector comes.

You're right, the downside to using receptacles/deadfronts to protect downline locations is it can be the devil to find the receptacle! Keep looking; it must be somewhere.  It's also remotely possible that pulling a heavy load on the circuit has made a wire connection at a receptacle fail, typically a backstab connection. Those are very annoying to find.

15A receptacles are internally certified for 20A through-current, so 15A receptacles can be used on 20A circuits.  A 20A GFCI receptacle might just be that.  However, if the 20A GFCI has the "T" shaped neutral like the above pic, then it must not be used on a 15A circuit.

When an appliance trips a GFCI, that means the appliance has a ground fault. That's what GFCIs do. That's their one job.   It's amazing how people are in denial about that.  It's like if you taught them to detect steel with a magnet, and they try their toaster and it sticks, and they're all like "No way, this CAN'T be metal, there MUST be something wrong with my magnet!" And they try 3 more magnets and you're like dude...

That's how people are with GFCI trips.

You've performed due diligence; you tried it on other GFCIs. The answer is conclusive.  The pool pump is a human-safety device (electrical drownings) so a ground fault is 110% unacceptable, and they also have a tendency for ground faults, so it's not a surprise.  You can try a bench overhaul, but most likely into the trash it goes.  For the freezer, it's faulting too and that's common, but no way. We're not throwing away freezers for that, because it's not a threat to anyone and a lot of brand new freezers trip GFCIs. Nature of the beast. Just make sure it's solidly grounded and call it a day.  The inspector won't like it if it's a general-use receptacle; but he's unlikely to flag a dedicated freezer-only receptacle because he knows the score.


How to create nice corners when building a wall with these concrete blocks? In a previous question, Why do many concrete blocks have this strange shape on either end?, I asked about the design of the concrete blocks having an I-shape at the ends.

That explains how to make a strong wall, but how does one go about using these strange-shaped bricks to make a 90 degree corner? Assume the bricks are positions such that the holes point upwards for rebar to be placed, won't that make the strange I-shape visible in the corners?

You purchase corner blocks. Those are stretcher blocks for the middle of the wall, not corner blocks. A masonry supplier will have a variety of different shapes for particular purposes, one of which is corners (both full and half-blocks)
There are also special shapes for door/window openings (sash blocks and lintels), bond beam blocks for horizontal rebar placements, etc.
You might want to search on "CMU construction methods" (CMU is "concrete masonry unit" or the formal name of the concrete block.)


Slope of decking and foundation I'm having decking installed and the boards currently slope towards the house. The underneath of the decking is soil and there is no gutter alongside the house to funnel the water to the drain.

Is something I should bring up with the builder? It is early stages of the build. Only the supporting frame and 4 boards have been placed.

Apologies if this has been asked before, but the builder is due back tomorrow and I'm hoping for a quick answer so I can discuss with him.

UPDATE 1:

In the picture above you can see:

(A) Is resting on top of the paving stones and it appears that this is
causing the slope towards the house. See D.
(B) If A was to drop to be
flush with B, then the decking area would be level and the slope
towards the house would be gone.
(C) This post, as with the other
post, are not in concrete. They are about 2-3 inches into soil and
are held again A with a single nail.
(D) This shows the direction of
the slope towards the house.

You will also notice that the whole area rests on soil.

Yes make sure the earth grade around the entire house is sloped away from the house before and decking of structure is installed.


130 PSI- Irrigation system, water line in house Had irrigation system installed 2 months ago. Due to location of meter and PRV, the POC was after PRV. After done was  told pressure too low even though static pressure was at 63psi, dynamic flow was 45-47psi.  Had plumber change POC before PRV and ran this in 1" PEX from front of basement to rear basement and out to backflow. The house pressure is at 65 but the irrigation line is now 130psi.
Now irrigation guy said will need a pressure reducer at the valve box

My main concern now is that I have a charged line running from front of basement to back of basement that is charged at 130psi.
     How concerned do I need to be?

It will depend the material used, the diameter of the pipe, and the temperature.

What you want to know is what is the maximum working pressure of the material that was used. Most likely it will be higher then 130 psi. Some examples are:

Copper (type L & K)
PVC
CPVC
PEX

Regardless, you will need a PRV. If it was me, I would install the new PRV on the line near the point of connection to the main. Then, adjust the PRV so that you have the desired pressure at the irrigation box.


Fixing squeaking dryer My maytag bravos intelidry dryer model # medx500xwo makes a load squeaking noise. I would like to inspect the rollers but not sure how to access them. This dryer has a toe panel.

Usually you have to take the front off so you can lift the drum out so you can look at the rollers (which seem a very likely cause, or part of the cause, based on my squeaking dryer from last year.) I opted to replace rollers, belt and tension roller, since a kit with all three was not very much more than "just rollers" or "just belt" and less than both separately. Look for a service manual, or sometimes there is a diagram when you find the right parts kit.

This is a video from one parts place (not affilated, but looks like the right model/family and was linked to from that part number.) I Hate Tri-Rings...(discovered those last year when doing mine. Miserable things.)

https://youtu.be/CGbf4_NtBkY

You have to take off the top, the top front, the lower front, the circuit board, the wiring for the door switches, the door... you'll pretty well feel like you are taking the whole thing apart, though that will be a slight exaggeration.


Payne/Carrier furnace pilot problem The furnace blower started running constantly and I noticed there was cold air coming fromm the vents and not heat.  I have a Payne (Carrier) furnace.  The spark gap igniter was not throwing a spark to initiate the pilot.  Wondering if the ingniter has gone bad or if it is not getting the electricity to initiate the spark?  It went from working one day to not working the next.  It's an older furnace.  Is there a way to check if the igniter is getting electricity or should the igniter just be replaced?

If the blower is running nonstop, then there's likely a open limit (probably high limit).

If this is a high efficiency unit, and the draft inducer is running continuously before the unit shuts down (lockout). It's likely a problem with the exhaust piping, or a bad pressure switch.

Without knowing exactly what's happening, it's difficult to explain how to troubleshoot.


Replace Attic Fan Without Going on the Roof I'm attempting to replace the motor of my attic fan. I've disconnected everything else, but I noticed after I removed the nuts on the support bars that I can't pull the fan and motor through the opening because the supports get in the way.

The supports appear to be attached with the kind of bolts that I'm not going to be able to remove without causing irreparable damage.

It's important that I remove the whole assembly as I need to measure the distance between the center of the fan and the motor to ensure when I put it back together, there aren't any collision issues.

The only other alternative I'm seeing is to go on the roof and remove the metal shell on top of the fan so that I can pull it out that way. Is this the normal means of removal or can this be safely removed another way?

When I've replaced motors in the past I replace with the exact part if you went with that approach you shouldn't have to worry about clearances but it would be painful to work within that constrained space.

It doesn't look like this fan is designed for serviceability from the inside but there are a lot of things like that so it doesn't surprise me that you can only remove from the roof.

A couple other thoughts.

It looks like you could pull the whole fan into the attic (minus the exterior wall cap portion).  Depending on how the exterior portion is attached you might be able to somehow secure the exterior portion from falling out and then detach the whole fan assembly from the inside and pull it through.  This might save you a trip onto the roof but you'd still probably need one trip to resecure the wall cap portion.

You could also cut the vertical supports 1/2 way and then scab a new piece of metal that is drilled and bolted to the original overlapping the cut.  This would give you future serviceability.

I am not sure what approach I'd take.  Depends on if you plan to keep the house, your kids will inherit it, how hard the roof access is, your siding details, cost of a full new unit, availability of parts for the current unit.  This won't be the last time the fan motor dies.


How to connect a earth leakage detection GFCI/ELCB? My specifications are as follows:

2 in phase 120V lines
1 Neutral
1 Ground

So, I should use a 240V GFCI, right ?

This is the one I plan to use: Heavy Duty - High Power GFCIs part no- 23250 003-1 GFCI

So, connections would be connecting one 120V line to the line wire on gfci, 2nd line wire to the second line wire on GFCI and neutral to neutral and ground to ground.

IS that correct ? Or, am I going wrong anywhere ?

You should wire it according to the manufacturers documentation.


Installing vinyl siding over concrete foundation walls A while back I tore down a deck and did a bit of landscaping, exposing quite a bit of the concrete foundation of my house. I have vinyl siding above and around this portion of concrete but would like to extend it to cover up the newly exposed concrete portion. The vinyl siding that around the concrete portion that I want to cover up is attached to an OSB board that's attached to the framing of the house. As a result, the OSB protrudes about a half inch farther out than the concrete. In effect, I would need to add a bit of spacing between the concrete and the siding.

My initial thought was to attach whole sheets of 1/2" OSB around the portions I want to add siding to directly to the concrete using concrete anchors. However, as is common with foundation pours, there's vertical protruding "lines" of concrete that results from the gaps between the panels used during a foundation pour. While those can be grinder down, the paneled sections aren't exactly perfectly level with each other, either. I'm also running into the problem of only having a 1/2" of room for driving nails in.

My other thought was to use 2" x 1/2" furring strips with 4" wide strips around the edges, attaching them using concrete screws. Significantly easier to attach than a whole OSB panel. In between the strips the plan would be to add 1/2 XPS foam. The foam is a bit easier to work with to handle the unevenness in the concrete. However, there's still the problem of only having a 1/2" of OSB to work with. Going this route, I'm not sure what the spacing should be between furring strips (couldn't find any online resource that had a recommendation).

It seems like any way I do it, I'll have to be pre-drilling holes into the concrete for whatever anchor I use to attach the siding. If I do pre-drill, what kind of anchors should I be using? Galvanized nails? Concrete screws? And if at the end of the day I'm fastening the siding to the concrete, is there really a need for OSB or can I just use 1/2" XPS foam throughout? I'm guessing I'll need to use some OSB to properly attach flashing and maybe a bottom starter strip but I'm unsure about everything in between.

Thanks

OSB has no business against concrete. Use treated lumber or plywood for furring.

I'd probably go with folding foam board and skip the furring strips. Use concrete screws for anchoring the siding.


What kind of home flooring is this? I came across a home in Westchester County, NY that was built in 1908. The entry, living room and dining room had an unusual flooring that I have never seen before. It is multicolored, rectangular squares that appear as if they are cork but much harder. It doesn't seem likely that the floor is original and may be over hardwood underneath. Anyone ever seen this before, know what it is?

I think this is a patch work of “early vinyl tile” these type of tiles were reenforced with asbestos but the colors look a lot like what used to be available in the 40’s and 50’s from the homes I have worked on.

The photo looks to have a texture in the center but I think there was something on top that caused that.  the light reflecting off the floor from the door is smooth and that is normal. I call them asphalt vinyl because I don’t remember the correct name and they usually have a asphalt like tar for the adhesive that is really horrible to try and clean up.


Low voltage wiring clamp for junction box Are some sort of cable clamps required for low voltage wiring to enter into the electrical panel? I'm looking at the type of system like IotaWatt, which is an energy monitor. The current transformers are all low-voltage. Do I need to run the current transformer wiring in a conduit, and then use the traditional conduit terminations? Or can I simply open a knock-out in the box and run all of the low voltage wiring through that? (seems like I probably can't do that, right?)

You can't use this product in the US.  It is not approved (NEC 110.2).  Unfortunately this guy chose a design approach which was seemingly incompatible with UL approval, and got pinched as a result.
You don't enter a service panel with low voltage wiring.
That's because low voltage wiring is not allowed in the same raceways, gutters or boxes as AC mains wiring.
If every single conductor of the entire low voltage system is contained entirely within class I mains wiring, that is an exception.  Basically if there is a problem and AC mains finds itself on the low voltage system, then everywhere it could possibly go is inside Class I wiring enclosures, so no harm can be done.
Indeed, every product of this type has the smart module, its power supply and the current transformers — all of it - living entirely inside the service panel.   That is the normal approach to this.  The only thing that sticks out of the panel is a waveguide for a WiFi antenna.
The only other exception is if the manufacturer found a way to make that intrinsically safe, and convinced UL of this to their satisfaction.  Indeed, that type of approach is done by the "no neutral" smart switch makers, who bootleg ground with UL approval. They have satisfied UL that no harm could possibly occur.
That is how competitors get UL to let them stick a WiFi antenna out of a knockout.
You don't do anything with this, since it's not UL approved.
The maker talked a big game about UL approval, but choked on actually doing it.  So not approved.  The person got CE approval, but you can find that in the bottom of cereal boxes.  The maker carries on a great deal about how the components are approved, and sells it like the whole thing is approved.  It's not.
It cannot be used in a US installation, unless you can convince your AHJ (local authority) to approve it.  NEC 110.2 requires every piece of electrical equipment be approved by the AHJ.  In practice, AHJs don't want to be running testing labs, so they defer to UL and the other NRTLs.  They can approve other stuff (say you're one stick short on Rigid conduit so you use some Sched 80 black pipe) at their discretion, so it's up to them whether to accept this.
I suspect the biggest hangup with UL listing*  was the system design of mounting the unit outside and then having a bunch of CTs running their cords inside the panel.  That was always a non-starter I suspect, but this person was very inexperienced at building hardware and getting AC mains products through UL listing.  And did not even understand the scope of the process, being blindsided by the next step.
The person openly admits being a "software guy" and not really into the hardware except to get the software done.  That person and everybody else:  we see lots of manufacturers and consumers get caught up by this.
As a result it appears the owner was able to get the module proper "Recognized" as a component (with no CTs attached), but was not able to get it "listed" as a product, because opened the can-of-worms of what to do about the CT problem.  So don't count on that product picking up a UL listing anytime, now or in the future.
Anyway, the person/company is brazenly selling them as components with the admonishment to use the hub with a UL component-recognized power supply, and the company supplies UL component-recognized CTs.
As such, there are NO instructions that have been UL approved.  That creates an interesting 110.3(B) problem since you must follow the UL approved instructions.
It appears many/most users are simply installing the whole kaboodle inside the service panel - module, power brick and all (substituting a power brick with leads rather than a wall-wart with a plug).  Just like every other product of that type installs normally.  I don't know what it provides for a WiFi antenna.
I also suspect most people are doing this under the table without AHJ approval.  I can't recommend that, especially when similar units from UL-approved vendors are readily available.
*(Or equivalent NRTL such as ETL)


How should I anchor a hand railing to sandstone steps? I've got three exterior steps made of natural sandstone. They are 6 ft wide, and 10" thick. I need to anchor a metal handrailing to them. The railing has two feet: 1/4" metal plates with 3/8" holes drilled 10" apart.

I original thought of using cammed anchors for rock climbing, but I'm worried that the force of the cam will crack my stone steps. I then thought of drilling out a hole, filling it with epoxy, and then putting some 3/8" threaded stock into the hole and letting it dry. This would provide studs on which to bolt the stairs.

If epoxy is the way to go, is there a specific product that is recommended?

How is this usually done?

Normally this is done by drilling an oversized hole, filling it with mortar and inserting a threaded anchor. The modern way to do things is to use what is called a "drop in anchor". This is an expanding anchor, kind of like a dry wall anchor. You drill the hole to size, drop in the anchor (tap it in with a hammer actually). When the bolt is screwed in, the anchor expands locking the bolt in place (hopefully). The fit needs to be snug. The mortar solutions will be a lot stronger, but more time consuming because you have to mix mortar and wait for it to set.

One of the problems with using a mortar anchor is simply finding one that matches your bolt. You can use a lag shield anchor as one way around this. Another tricky trick is to use nuts. Thread a whole bunch of nuts onto the screws until you have a solid column of nuts. Make sure the nut at the bottom has a little extra space, even glue an extra nut for extra space. Pour the mortar and then put the whole assembly, railing, bolts, nuts and all in place. Finally tighten the bolts.


What type of insulation should I use if my in-wall oven is heating the surrounding cabinets? We have an in-wall oven that is not properly insulated.  It heats up the surrounding cabinet.  The oven itself has internal insulation in good condition, but it is not strong enough to keep heat inside oven.  Is there some kind of outside wrap we can buy online that would fix this problem?  (we live in Chile, and the local manufacturer will not admit problem, so we need to fix it ourselves)

I would not recommend additional insulating wrap for the unit itself, this could cause it to overheat and malfunction... or even catch on fire. You should be able to find the model and serial #s on a placard inside the door.   Check the manufacturer's minimum clearance requirements, if the cabinets are too close then you have the wrong oven or improperly constructed cabinets.

You may be able to add a layer of 1/4" drywall (or some other insulating layer) to the inside of the cabinet compartments, this would slow down the heat radiating from the unit to the cabinets. But make sure manufacturer required minimum clearances are maintained.


Is garage door insulation beneficial in South Florida? I'm in South Florida and I have a west exposed garage door. The garage door is metal (possibly aluminum). The garage is not air conditioned. There is insulation between the house and the garage. There is no insulation in the garage walls, which are concrete blocks covered with stucco.

Would there be any benefit to adding insulation to my existing garage door?

Seems unlikely, especially as the garage walls aren't insulated (although concrete blocks and stucco will add a lot of thermal mass). If you're worried about the garage getting too hot, then ventilation and white paint are probably your best solutions.


Replace "powered" dimmer switch for old (1950s) house We have an old dimmer switch, single pole, the type with an indicator light internally. It has two black wires, and the green wire is cut off.  The plastic box it's connected to has only two wires, one black, one white.  They are obviously 120 volts, since the switch has a light in it, and I measured it with a circuit tester.  It seems to be described as "electro-mechanical".  The part is a Leviton catalog No. 6631, but the instructions I see for these seem to be different than this device, and show the conventional hookup with 2 pairs of wires.

Do I need a special dimmer switch?  The one I bought wants two sets of black/white wires, and connects to the black ones, with the white ones shorted.

Or do I need to rewire the whole mess?

Edit
I think I might need to rewire if I want anything other than a crappy dimmer; I can't even use a simple switch, because as soon as I turn it on, it might be a short from hot to neutral black to white).

I have no idea how it's connected, actually.  Perhaps I'm just being fooled by measuring stray voltage where there is no real current?

I hope there's someone out there who understands electricity enough to explain it.

What you are looking for is a single-pole, 2-wire dimmer. That's a fairly standard item. An indicator light is a little less common, but not impossible to find.

Since you only have 2 conductors in the switch box, your switch is probably wired like this:


Location of water pressure regulator Is there huge benefits to having the water pressure regulator immediately after the main shutoff in terms of length of pipe?

My main shut off is deep in the recesses of my very low crawl space and I'd rather have access to the pressure regulator in my utility room.  It would still be the first connection after the shutoff but now instead of 20 inches of pipe between shutoff and regulator there would be 20 feet.

Should make no practical difference. I'd also suggest an accessible "secondary" shutoff if your "main" is a pain to get to. When it needs to be shut off NOW, you don't want to be facing a long crawl in a nasty hole before you can get that done. Plumbing in some gauges so you can see where it's set and if it's actually doing its job is also helpful in the long run, IMHO.


How should the green and bare wires be used when installing a new light fixture? I understand the connecting white and black wires. What do I do with a green grounding wire and copper grounding wire that is attached to the light fixture?

So you are removing a light and putting an outlet in?

Simply connect the ground to the ground screw on the plug. It is no different than how you connect the black or white wires.

If you are confused because there are two grounding wires but only one screw, then either use a grounding wire nut or twist the grounds together in such a way that you have one sticking out further then the other. Then you just put the tag end on the grounding screw.


Can I add recessed lights to a ceiling fan, without adding a new switch? I currently have a ceiling fan with a light in my bedroom, that is controlled primarily by a single switch, but the light and the fan are also controlled separately by pull chains on the fan.  What I want to do, if possible, is add some recessed lights to the room, that are connected to the fan switches (ie. the wall switch has to be on, but the pull chain for the fan light has to be on for the recessed lights to be on).  So I want to be able to run the fan with the lights all turned off, as well as the lights with the fan off.  Can I hook canned lights up to be controlled by the fan pull chains?

It is theoretically possible, but there are several problems:

The pull chain switch for the lights has a certain amperage rating and adding the cans might exceed that rating
The fan assembly with switch is likely a UL approved device, and modifying it would likely void that approval, which may run afoul of local code
You would need to run the hot wire for the cans into the fan unit to join it to the hot coming out of the pull chain switch. Or you would need to run a pigtail from that switch to the canopy to meet the wire for the cans. Either case requires disassembly of the fan unit and switch unit.
You may have a space problem fitting another wire and wire connector in the area of the pull chain switch.

Probably could be done, but why not rely on a separate switch on the wall? Or a smart switch with a remote?


Tighten steel wire across several wood posts I have several 4" x4" wood posts, with one single piece of steel wire going through each post.

Something like this:

Is there anything I can use to tighten and secure the wire in each post?

The first and last post will have a regular hook for the wire.

You might use a "barrel strainer" to tighten each horizontal run of wire.

Otherwise you can buy tensioners and "through-collar" kits specifically for cable fencing systems.


Gas logs / how open does flue need to be opened Either vented or non vetoed gas longs. How open does the flue have to be open. I lose a lot of heat the way it is set now Flue is set to wide open. Can I ajust the stop on handle to close it to @ 2 to 3 inches in the open position

You should be able to dampen the flue as you would with a wood fire to slow burn rate. Bring it down slowly and monitor for smoke intrusion. It doesn't take much to maintain a chimney draft--maybe 25% open.

Do keep a carbon monoxide detector in service as a safety precaution.


Found PVC while digging, what is the purpose of the pipe I hit? So I didn't call before I started digging because I was replacing an existing fence and I just made the assumption there would be any issue in moving the post hole a little bit. As luck would have it I hit two different types of pipes when digging the new holes. Any ideas on fixes for this or what this even is?

Not the sprinkler line as when i turned on the sprinklers no leaking occurred. Nothing came leaking out of either one and getting a current clamp tomorrow to see if the black one is electrical.

My best guess is the two pvc are abandoned irrigation given the size and thickness. The black is definitely for a drip system and the wire is most likely low voltage landscape lighting. Keep in mind all any of us can do is tell you what those items were intended For by the mfg. I have seen many a product abused and misused so without testing one cannot be sure. But given the material, location, depth, and proximity odds are very high that one or more of us nailed it. Not quite as good as you did though.


What size equipment grounding conductor is needed for this gate lights circuit? We live in a rural area and I am running a circuit to to our gate for a couple of post lights and maybe a receptacle. The run is 485 feet from the closest panel.  I am installing THHN wire in a 1" diameter PVC conduit.  Due to the low amperage draw of the lights (<5 amps) I can calculated I can get by with #6 THHN. I will install a 15 amp breaker on this dedicated circuit.  My question is can I get by with a #8 ground or should I run a #6 THHN ground as well?

Where the grounding conductors are increased in size (from the minimum) the grounding conductor also needs to be increased in size proportionately per 2014 NEC 250.122. I used the southwire voltage drop calculator. The calculated value needed for a 5 amp draw is #8 copper for 5 amp load at this distance 2.8% voltage drop. The problem with down sizing the conductor in this case would come if the lighting was changed at a later date using more of the available ampacity of the circuit then the conductor would be under sized. 120V @ 12 amps would require a #4 conductor and the #8 would be two small to limit the voltage drop for a short circuit.


Changing two switch to one switch In our guest bath the horizontal light bar has a switch on two different walls. Since we bought the house, one switch has never worked properly, and the hubby thought slapping duct tape over the switch was “fixing it”

I thought I could just remove the switch, cap the wires & put on a solid plate & just use the other switch. BUT once I cut the switch out & capped the wires, I turned the breaker back on to discover that the              other switch doesn’t work now either!!! Is there an easy fix for this???

A video or set of step by step instructions that will either help me connect the one switch that did work back up OR even a way to make sure that both switches work. The problem with the switch I removed was that it never stayed on. It would be in the ON position but the light would either flicker or completely go off AND when this happened unless it was turned to the off position the other switch wouldn’t work either. This is one of my first attempts at electrical DIY ... is this a situation where it’s advisable to just call an electrician??

The switches were probably (almost certainly) wired like this:

This is the method to have two switches operate one light, common for stairs etc When either switch moves to the dotted position, then the light is on. If both switches are in the dotted position then the light is off as it is in the position shown.

What you need to do is to make a connection between two of the wires you capped off then the other switch will work fine. If you connect two and it still does not work then you have to use the third wire with one of the other two.

The original fault sounds like a broken switch anyway.

If you are not sure then it will be an easy job for an electrician either new switch or connect the wires...


Is it okay for an electrical switch to get warm? I installed a FEIT Electric dimmer switch on a circuit that controls 2 overhead lights.

I noticed that, even when not using the dimmer, the toggle portion of the switch is warm to the touch.  Is this okay?

This is the switch:

Here are a few more details:

The circuit includes 2 switches.  The other switch is a standard non-dimmer switch.
The 2 overhead lights each house 3 60W bulbs, for a total of 3*60*2=360W
I think the bulbs in the light fixtures are halogen bulbs
All electric wiring and circuit breakers are less than 15 years old

Short answer, most dimmers do get warm when in use. If the dimmer does not have a mechanical method of turning completely off. Then there is a good chance that you are still getting some electrical flow through the switch and that would mean the dimmer could stay warm. In other words what @Harper said.

The biggest question I would have would be if it was getting excessively hot? I would say somewhere above 30 C (86 F) would seem to be excessive.


Safe to use a 16 amp motor on a 20 amp circuit with a 15 amp outlet? I have a 1.5 hp table saw motor rated at 115v/16amp. My garage has all 20 amp breakers but all outlets are 15 amp. Does the 15 amp outlet present a hazard if the wiring and circuit are all rated at 20 amps?

Just change out the receptacle

I bet your tablesaw has a 5-20 plug on it, which won't fit into a 5-15 receptacle. Since you have a 20A circuit, though, there's nothing wrong with having a 5-20T duplex receptacle on it, or even changing all the receptacles on the circuit to 5-20Ts from 5-15s.  This shouldn't be too tricky a job, as long as you turn off the breaker before you start (of course), change the receptacles one at a time, and note down how things were wired before you start unhooking them.  Also, if the existing receptacle is a 15A GFCI, it'll need to be replaced with a 20A GFCI, not a regular receptacle.


How do I take apart an older model bathroom faucet? I'm trying to take apart a leaky bathroom faucet.  I've isolated the leak to the cold valve, but I cannot figure out how to disassemble the faucet.  I've watched several helpful videos and read through some helpful questions, but I've got an older faucet and they don't apply.  Here's a pic:

So far the things I have tried are:

I've taken the screw out of the top, but that does not seem to loosen anything
I've screwed the short metal rod from the handle back in the side, and used that as leverage to yank and twist, but that doesn't help me pull the top off
I've rotated the tap fully clockwise (the direction that turns the water on) several full turns around, and it does not appear to be loosening
I've screwed the short metal rod from the handle into the tap and used a crowbar to hit the tap upwards, but it does not move up

I don't see any other places/parts/screws I could use to disassemble this.  How do I take this apart?  Thanks.

Edit: I added two more steps I've tried to remove the tap

Remove the screw from the top completely, and then pull straight up on the cold water tap.  It may take some pressure but it will come free.  Under that you should find another cap, screwed on, which will be holding the cold water stem (aka valve stem) in place.


Pressure Cycling and Suspected Ruptured Line We're having a bit of trouble with our well and water pressure, and I'm hoping you all might be willing to help us troubleshoot.

This is a residential home with a well and a tank with a 40/60 pressure switch. The home is around 20 years old, the pressure switch and gauge have been replaced in the past, and I believe the well pump and pressure tank have never been replaced. Tank pressure is at 38 psi. No water is running in the house. The pressure switch engages at around 40 psi, runs for about 12 seconds until it reaches 60 psi, then disengages. Over about 22 seconds, the pressure drops from 60 psi to 40 psi, and the process repeats. This has been happening for a couple of weeks now and would, at times, drop completely to 0 psi, though that hasn't been happening the past few days. Shutting off the water to the house does not change this cycle. (We have been cutting off the pump when water is not in use to reduce load on the pump.)

We have had two people out to troubleshoot the system (that's two opinions, and I guess posting here would be a third). Both folks watched the cycle, shut off the water to the house to rule out anything there, then went out to the well head and listened for water rushing back in. Neither heard anything, so they both concluded that there must be a break in the line between the well and the house. Does that sound right? Should we expect them to do any more troubleshooting (like pulling the pump) before having the line replaced?

The two things that give me pause are the following. I believe I have noticed surprisingly warm water coming from an outdoor spigot, even though the weather is cool here now (though I don't know what that might indicate). And, we haven't noticed any particularly wet spots in the yard, and I guess I'm surprised that the pressure could drop so quickly without leaving such evidence of a rupture.

Finally, we're interested in exploring our options and, of course, reducing cost as much as possible. Are there straightforward ways of locating the line between the well and the house? Would finding the rupture just include looking for wet areas in the yard? If found, is it reasonable to just dig up the area around the rupture and patch it? Failing all of that, if we have a professional run a new line, how much should we expect to pay in Virginia (assuming the well head is about 75 feet from the house)?

We appreciate any thoughts you all might be willing to provide.

Do you have a valve on the line from the well that is before the pressure tank?  If so, try this test.

Wait for the pump to run.  When turns off, shut the valve.  If the pressure tank holds, then the problem is on the well side of that valve.  If it doesn't then you have a big leak in the house plumbing somewhere.  (Imagine a broken line in a crawl space...)

Next check depends on the well hookup.

Most 20 year old houses have a pitless adapter.  Take the cap off the well. Often there is either a iron pipe even with the top of the casing.  Sometimes you will have to bring your own.  The top of the adapter is threaded, I think for 1" ID iron pipe.  You will want sufficient length of pipe to reach to the adapter and also a T connector and a couple of 6" nipples.  Put the T on one end of the pipe,  and the nipples in the side branches.  This prevents dropping the  whole pipe string down the well.

Before you start, but after you have taken the cover off do a cycle of the well.    Listen for water escaping around the pitless adapter.  Listen also for water from a cracked riser pipe.  You may be able to shine a flashlight down the well if you have a really bright one.

Turn off power to the well.

Screw the other end of the T into the pitless adapter.

There will also be a cable, usually about 3/32 or 1/8 This connects to the spring latch on the adapter. Often there is a safety rope too.  This is connected to the pump, and is used to rescue the pump if the riser pipe breaks.  Tie it to something solid.

Drill a hole in a a couple feet of 2x6, corresponding to the outer diameter of the riser pipe.  If you have no clue, drill holes of 1" 1.25" and 1.5"  Make the holes about 4-5 inches apart.  Not critical.  Run the board through a saw so that you now have half holes.  Cut a few scraps of wood.

Get help for this next step.  With the T bar pipe in the adapter, pull the latch, and pull up the pipe until the adapter is above the top of the well.  Put the two half boards on either side of the riser, and attach the scraps to the board with screws.  This will keep the pipe from dropping back into the well.

Open a tap in the house so that the pressure tank is below the cutin pressure.

Now turn on the well.  Water should gush out of the adapter. As soon as you have good flow turn it off.  Should only be a few seconds.  Walkie talkies or cell phones make coordination easier.

Wait a while.  If your pump was cycling on a 30 second round, waiting a minute is lots.

Put your hand firmly over the  opening in the pitless adapter and turn the pump on again. If the water dropped in the well, there will be a slug of air in the riser pipe, you will feel it push against your hand before the water comes out.  1"line runs about 30 feet per gallon of water.  If your well is 100 feet to the top of the water, you will have about 3 seconds of air before the water hits your hand.

If the water is immediate, (only a couple of inches of air in the top of the adapter) then the well is fine.

If there was a slug of air, then the foot valve in the well needs replacing. Or you have a big crack in the riser pipe.  Pull the entire riser string, replace the foot valve or the riser pipe and put everything back together.

If there was no slug of air, then you have a problem between the well and the pressure tank.

Note that a failed gasket between the pitless adapter and its fitting in the casing would also account for this.  Replace the gasket just 'cause.

Edit:

Wow!  This actually helped someone.

If you replace a well pump, and you are using more than residential quantities of water (You have a tap running for more than an hour a day) give thought to a VFD drive pump.  VFD pumps use a 3 phase motor.  The controller box turns residential single phase into 3phase, and also adjusts the frequency.  This allows the pump to  start slowly, which is easier on the pump and on the well.  It can also be set to approach the cutoff pressure slowly, by reducing rpm.  The one I looked at for my well was rated at 10 gpm, but could self throttle down to 1 gpm.  This means that the pump doesn't cycle as often, which keeps the water level in the well bore more constant.  Rising and falling water levels tend to wash sand and mud out of the side walls.


Masonry bits dulling after 3-4 holes I'm using an 18v makita hammer drill with a 3/16" Bosch blue granite turbo concrete bit to drill 2" deep holes into concrete-filled cinder blocks. With a fresh bit, it takes about 15 seconds to drill a hole. By the 4th hole, it slows to a crawl and it takes 2-3 minutes to drill a complete hole. After the 5th hole, the bit is completely shot and I have to get a new bit. I've gone through half a dozen bits now, trying to discover what I'm doing wrong - and I have no idea.

The hammering action of the drill isn't activating, so i'm losing all of the impact potential - I can't really apply any more force than I am already, as the drilling is happening over-head at an awkward angle... Any idea if there's a reason the bits dull so quickly? Is this a better job for an impact drill?

I should also say that I can't notice any visible difference on the tip of the bit - it doesn't look blunted, or marred, which is part of why it's so puzzling. I don't have a means to sharpen it, but just from visual inspection it looks OK

The hammering action of the drill isn't activating

So the bit is overheating due to friction. It is supposed to hammer the material you're drilling into dust then evacuate it, not rub it off through friction.

You have to activate the hammer action.

Pretty much the only use cases for not using the hammer action are when drilling into ceramic tile to avoid breaking it, or drilling into plasterboard or other soft materials where hammering will smash through and make a crater on the other side...

  Is this a better job for an impact drill?

Advantages of cordless hammer drill's are

Light weight.
Convenience, you can drill the hole and drive the screw with the same tool.
It works for a few small holes (like less than 6mm diameter) in easy to drill materials like brick, cinderblock, soft stone (limestone), etc.

Drawbacks: noisy and underpowered, slow/useless on tough materials (hard stone, concrete especially if it contains rebar).

If you want to make lots of holes, or diameters like 10mm and up, or drill into tough stuff, a rotary hammer with SDS+ bits will be a LOT faster.

Don't get an impact driver for drilling, impact drivers are for bolts and tough screws, not for drilling.

  I don't have a means to sharpen it, but just from visual inspection it looks OK

It's tungsten carbide, you can't really sharpen it. Besides, it doesn't need to be really sharp, it's basically a tiny hammer with a blunt point.


Should a metal box be grounded if there's no conduit connected to it? Should the metal box be grounded if no conduit? This is a 240V double 20 Amp breaker for an air compressor. 3 + ground wires to outlet box. Outlet looks standard round but has one hot lead perpendicular to floor & other parallel. Red and black connected to hot. White & ground connected to round like bottom pin with pig tail grounded to metal outlet box.  Outlet box has only romex no metal conduit. Suggestions.

You must never connect neutral to ground!!!

The situation of white and bare connected to the ground pin is a serious problem.  It means your electrical system now has two neutral-ground bonds, and that causes all manner of mischief.

I get it. If you've seen the inside of a main panel, you notice that neutral bar and ground bar are bonded to each other - or often, they are one and the same bar.  This can draw a novice to the conclusion that "neutral is ground".  Neutral is not ground.  That bond is a very particular thing, an equipotential bond, even if you see the lazy approach of using the same bar for both.  (I am no fan of this; I like it when I can clamp an ammeter around the neutral-ground equipotential bond. That is useful for detecting ground faults.)

When an electrical system has two equipotential bonds, it creates a number of fairly serious "gremlins" in the system.

The correct way is to cap off the neutral wire so it touches nothing -- and ideally, do this at both ends.

Don't put 2 wires on a lug

...unless it says you can. I am assuming a NEMA 6-20 receptacle is not listed for 2 wires per lug, least of all a ground lug, since there is almost never a reason to need that.  (remember you are not allowed to use a device to daisy-chain a ground connection; doing so means if you remove the device, you sever ground for downline devices).

Ground to the metal box first

The metal box should always be grounded.  If you need to ground 2 or more wires, then use a pigtail and wire nut.

The receptacle may not need a ground wire

The receptacle has a metal frame or yoke that the screws go through.  If the yoke is clean bare metal, and it is attached to a box that is also clean bare metal, and the mounting screws are run down all the way (giving hard flush metal-metal contact from yoke to box).., with nothing in the way like a screw-capturing square of paper,... then you can ground the receptacle through the yoke.  There is no need for a ground wire.


Is sheathing required under a hybrid concrete tile roof? We have hybrid concrete tile roof that has concrete tiles attached to a dense foam backing.  The roofing was installed about 15 yrs ago.  In looking in the attic, I noticed there is not plywood or other sheathing under the roof tiles, just an underlayment.  Can this type of roofing system be installed without plywood or some decking?

Its odd looking, but the batten support lets the tiles 'notch' into place.  You'll see the same support for clay tiles, also.

Because of the 'hanging' aspect of the tile, most locales only allow tile roofs for pitches between 4/12 and 6/12 (rise over run).  Lower pitches are possible, but then waterproof membranes are required.  In those cases, sheathing support for the membrane would be needed.

You don't mention it, but not using  sheathing is usually only done in warmer climates, where summer heat is the main problem.


The lights seem to dim when we plug anything into the bottom part of the outlet in the kitchen. Wondering why this could be happening? When we plug anything into the bottom plug in on 1 particular outlet in our kitchen the lights seem to dim but this didn't happen when you plug anything into the top or any of the other outlets. Why is this happening?

First possibility, a bad receptacle or bad wiring connections to the receptacle. Deal with that fast -- it burns down houses.

Builders often use the cheap 60-cent receptacles, and they are also fond of using "back stab" connections to those receptacles which are terrible.  Replace with a $4-tier receptacle which has side screws or screw-and-clamp.


wiring a double light switch in bathroom so i attempted  to install a vanity light which i did but as anticipated the wiring is mixed up or wrong. here we have the vanity light, the ceiling lights, the outlet next to the switch, and an outlet behind the wall. unfortunately, everything goes off and on when the lower switch is flipped. the upper switch controls the vanity light but only when the lower switch is in the "on" position. i would love for the outlet behind the wall, the outlet next to the switch and the vanity light to always have power.i can always leave the single switch instead of the double if thats better.can you help? thanks

original post: How can I add a second light to my bathroom circuit?

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First, check out some videos on good wire-on-screw technique.

Look carefully at the wires on the switch and be clear on their position.

Now, flip the switch over.

That should do it!


Laminate floor sliding out of place I learned the hard way not to plank on floating laminate floor when the board my feet were on slid toward the wall.

I fixed it initially by just applying force in the other direction, but now it keeps on slipping out and I keep on slipping it back. It doesn't take much to move it anymore.

Can I fix it with wood glue or something stronger? It slides a good half an inch so there's plenty of space to gunk stuff in there. Otherwise, it is pretty close to the edge of the trim so I could pull that back and try wedging something in to stop it from moving.

What happened is that you broke off the MDF tab that was holding that plank in place. That's why it slides freely now; nothing's mechanically holding it in place anymore. Since the core is MDF, any kind of wood glue should be totally fine to fuse them together, and once glued, those two planks will probably be more strongly held to one another than the other ones that are only mechanically fastened. Once you apply the glue, tape the planks together with masking tape or blue painter's tape to prevent the glue from expanding and pushing them apart.

If you really wanna make sure it never comes loose again, you can get some of the wood wood glue that's specifically made for this use: Titebond!


1/2" Chuck on 3/8" Cordless Drill? I need to use a step bit with a 1/2" shank. I only have drills with 3/8" chucks. Is the arbor size on most drills a standard which would enable me to just replace one of the 3/8" chucks with a 1/2" chuck? Is it really that simple?

You're looking for Jacobs part number 31037, it's a keyless 1/2" chuck for standard 3/8" drills designed specifically for the purpose of converting them. Your 3/8 drill will be fine with a 1/2" chuck, I've got a few than have been converted, 2 air powered, 1 corded/electric and 2 cordless.  Just treat the drill as you normally would, drilling holes larger than 3/8" with a 3/8" drill has never been a problem.

I converted my first cordless drill for the same reason, needed to use an Irwin Unibit with the large shank.


How can I seal the edges of a linoleum floor that possibly contains asbestos? The linoleum floor in my kitchen was installed extremely poorly (long before I started renting the apartment). Many of the edges are curling and in some places, it was not cut to the correct size and they just left the excess curled over. I am concerned that the exposed backing has asbestos in it and was wondering if there is a way that I could seal the exposed backing? I am only going to live there for one more year and I suspect that if I go to the landlord, he will have the floor replaced without taking proper safety measures.

EDIT:
Here are some pictures of the floor edges

You are far more likely to die from worrying about asbestos than from asbestos.

I just finished dealing with the same thing you are.  Where possible, I installed engineered flooring and underlayment over the linoleum.  They look killer! :)
My mother, a retired cyto-technologist, kind of laughed at me about my own asbestos concerns.

http://fumento.com/asbestos/asbest.html


Supporting Ridge Beam Post with LVL? I want to open this span (about 12') and planning to purchase 2 x 10" LVL's which will sit beneath the double top plate that is already there (so our beam will be 12.5" tall x 3.5" thick). There is only roof above (no floor) and it pitches away from the camera in the kitchen. The garage is below and a beam runs parallel to this wall.

I'm wondering about the ridge beam and specifically the double 2x4 post in the wall directly below. I would like to remove that and have my new beam sit on a post about 12" to the right of where that one is. Wanted to get others thoughts on this approach and see if there were concerns about not having a post directly below the ridge beam.

I think you need a structural engineer to sign off your designs before you start cutting structural timbers.  However:

There is no problem in principle in running a suitably sized blue beam to the right of the current post.  What you may need, is a post running from the blue beam directly up to the ridge. This would leave you the completely open space at floor level, but would be visible in the open space above the beam.

Does the existing post run all the way to the roof?  If not, you won't need one in the new scheme.  If it does, you will.


How should I install metal corner trim on this slanted roof? I've about got the metal on this tiny house and I'm having trouble figuring out how to install the corner trim at the top of the roof to make it look finished off. The roof is somewhere between a 3/12 and 4/12 pitch.

I'm just using standard corner trim.

What do I do about the part where the three trim pieces meet at the top?

I tried looking online but considering this is a slanted roof with no overhang in the front I couldn't find any examples to help me out.

If you have any illustrations or anything that would be much appreciated.

Normally you'd have your wall siding overlapped by an overhang.  I don't know what your roof details are but generally the detail would look similar to this foundation outside drip except the top of the drip flashing would then have a membrane on it.  The corner wall flashing would be shy of the drip edge.


Chair felt pads that stay on I've got some Ikea Vilmar chairs that have a sort of swivel base and thin legs, and I'm trying to put some felt pads on the chair, but no matter what I try, I can't get them to stay on. They'll come off once someone moves the chair rather quickly since the legs tend to wobble.

Any suggestions? Would supergluing it on help at all?

I recently gave up on the felt pads when I saw an odd alternative on Amazon:

NancyProtectz Ribbed Furniture Sock

These may not be the least obtrusive furniture feet and might not lend to the modern look or feel of the Ikea chairs, but I've been using them on square, wooden furniture legs for a few months and they do fairly well sliding across 100-year old hardwood floors. None of them have fallen off yet, but they do occasionally need to be "hiked-up".


Why would Super Glue take an hour to harden? I'm used super glue beginning to cure within a minute. I have a batch of tiny single-purpose Super Glue Gel tubes from 3M of unknown age. I want to use them to fix tiny parts to a circuit board. So the blob is exposed to a lot of air as opposed to disappearing between two mated parts. But after an hour it was still unset, and I could wipe most of it off.

Why? Too old? Bad batch? Too big a sample? Wait longer?  Humidity too low?

Relevant portion of instructions: "Hold until set."

(Manually migrated from lifehacks.)

Superglue works best when spread in a thin layer, a "blob" will take longer to harden because a thin skin forms on the surface, slowing the curing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate

  In general, cyanoacrylate is an acrylic resin that rapidly polymerises
  in the presence of water (specifically hydroxide ions), forming long,
  strong chains, joining the bonded surfaces together. Because the
  presence of moisture causes the glue to set, exposure to normal levels
  of humidity in the air causes a thin skin to start to form within
  seconds, which very greatly slows the reaction. Because of this
  cyanoacrylate is applied thinly, to ensure that the reaction proceeds
  rapidly and a strong bond is formed within a reasonable time.

This question over on electronics.stackexchange.com talks about glues used to attach components to PCB's. That's probably a better site to ask any followup questions about the best way to glue components to PCB's.


Why am I getting shocked by a water heater? Background:

I live in Metro Manila, Philippines where the electric distribution company, Meralco, delivers split-phase power to residential buildings. Our old (1980s) Meralco service drop consists only of 2 conductors, both phase conductors, and no neutral conductor. Phase-to-phase voltage is 240V, while phase-to-ground (measured with the help of an existing ground rod) is 120V.

We recently started the construction of a new house and wired it according to the Philippine Electrical Code (PEC). Based on my research, the PEC is very similar to the NEC. That said, the new house uses three-prong receptacles: 2 for the phases and one for ground. The grounding conductor is connected to a ground rod.

Since Meralco still hasn't energized the new house, it is temporarily connected to the old two-wire service drop, leaving the grounding conductor connected to the ground rod only (i.e. no connection to the load-side neutral yet).

Problem:

The heater in question is a Panasonic Shower Heater DH-3JL2P (rated at 3.5 kW). Its terminals are labeled Line (L), Neutral (N), and Ground (G). When I tested this heater initially, I had no idea that Meralco's supply is split-phase, not single phase. So I just operated it under the assumption that the line and neutral conductors are connected correctly at the receptacle (which actually doesn't matter now knowing that the supply is split-phase, i.e. both are line conductors, there's no neutral conductor).

Upon testing, the heater functioned properly as far as heating the water is concerned. However, I felt a significant electric shock when I touched the shower head where the heated water was coming from.

What could cause this shock to happen? I have a couple of ideas on why this happened, but can't really say for sure:

Grounding conductor is disconnected to the load-size neutral (of the transformer).
Heater is expecting a single-phase supply, not split-phase.

I can post a picture of the heater internals later.

Filipino electrical service is a morass.  There is some Euro 230V single leg service, and there is some American style 120/240 split phase service.  And if those services are wired to Euro or USA standard, they'll be as safe.

However, in actual practice, weird things get done in the Philippines.  And  there is a high rate of electrocutions.  This is one of those weird deals.  They are providing you North American style service, but not providing you a neutral.

In the top 2  diagrams, note where ground is bonded in the transformer, which wire that ties to, and how that same wire is bonded to ground in the service panel/consumer unit/breaker box.  Then compare with the third diagram where something "ain't quite right".

The problem is, as you can see, this modified North American scheme gives you no place to bond ground in your panel.  Ground is dangling there.  It's not an isolated system, because the pole grounding pegs ground at the halfway mark.  What do you do with it?  Not this:

Neutral Is Not Ground.

You can't force one of them to be a neutral.  Look what happens if you do.

Earth is a very unreliable conductor. It cannot flow enough current to be a reliable current return, as you may have discovered.  However, under wet conditions, it can -- it can flow so much current to trip a -- Oh wait. Neutrals aren't on circuit breakers!  So it'll just spin your electric meter madly until it heats up wires enough to burn your house down!  Also imagine you have a fence between house and pole, and the fence wires are grounded at the house.  At the pole, they're 120V above ground.

So... reality... You can't tie anything to ground, so you don't have a neutral. Both legs are "hots".  And that means both legs need to have circuit breakers.   Because a fault from either one of them to ground could potentially flow a lot of current in rainy conditions. (in dry conditions it would only electrify your grounds.)

The purposes of equipment safety ground

Grounds provide several important safety functions. Your grounding system is going to struggle to do its job under this setup.

Provide a very high current path back to neutral for a hot-ground fault -- to assure a breaker will trip.  This is a left-handed way of providing ground-fault protection.  In this case, this setup Will Not Do That, and could create a dangerous situation.  Your best bet to resolve this is use active/intelligent 2-pole ground-fault detecting breakers (GFCI aka RCD).
Keep metal appliances at a safe voltage relative to your water pipes etc.  Your in-house earthing system would struggle to do that against a ground fault.
Protect equipment by giving static electricity and lightning a way to get to earth.  Your earthing system can do that.
Ensure your conductors don't float at very high voltage.  This will be handled by the power company's grounding back at the pole.

What to do?

Given the service you have, your only option is to wire it like a NEMA 6 receptacle in the US - two hots, ground, no neutral.

First, you must remove any bonding inside your service panel between ground and any wire.

I would strongly recommend you use a split-phase or 3-phase panel, and wire this connection with a 2-pole breaker, so that both "hots" have overcurrent protection.  Normally you don't need overcurrent protection on a neutral, but you don't have a neutral.

Ideally, the ground is simply a safety shield and the appliance should not connect with it at all.   It's probably not a problem, but you need to consult with the manufacturer and make sure they can be powered with ground in between two hots (NEMA 6 style).

Ground is too weak to effectively assure breaker trip on a hot-ground fault.  So it could sit there running 24x7 with a 10-15 amp ground fault - creating dangerous voltages in unexpected places (like your shower!), spinning your electric meter and running up your bill.  Therefore I would strongly recommend you use a 2-pole ground fault detection breaker (GFCI or RCD).  This would be your only protection against a ground fault in the appliance, since ground-as-high-current-path is not working.

The nuclear option

Sometimes the power company just can't provision a safe, proper service.  In that case, the ultimate defense is to obtain a large service transformer of your own.  Get one with a 240V primary (that goes to the utility) and a 120/240V split phase secondary (this is your main service).  Since a transformer fully isolates the supply, you can configure the phase(s) and grounding as you please, i.e. correctly.

A 120/240 split phase transformer can be jumpered in either North American or Euro standard, with no compromises - exactly as you see in the first diagram.  Which one would work best for you, would be a function of what electrical parts are available at sane prices, and what appliances are available at sane prices.  This does not limit you.  You can easily get 240V from a N.Am. configuration via NEMA 6. You can't get 120V out of a Euro panel, but you could add a parallel panel which gets 120V between neutral and the center tap.


Sub-panel ground and neutral connected to main ground and neutral bar? I want to connect a RV sub panel with a 50a RV receptacle a 20a gfci receptacle totaling 70a. I have 200a overhead wires feeding a metered box with a 200a main breaker. Connected is a 20a double that runs the well pump and then feeds the 200a house breaker box through underground. I will use a 70a double breaker to feed the sub panel. Here are the 2 questions.

The main has the ground and neutral on same bar. Do I connect both the neutral and ground from the sub panel to that same bar? (With the actual sub panel unbounded)
Would the physical location and connection of the panel as shown in picture be ok?

Metered entrance:

RV Panel:

Proposed installation location:

First you don’t add the amperage totals that way.
A single RV has a load requirement by code I think it is article 551 but this is an old code book , 9600va at 240v is the required RV supply for a 50 amp 240v service. A single unit requires 100% . Yes I have had a larger feed on a large RV with dual ac’s , after downsizing I am back o a 30 amp 120v (single ac) on a 30 amp breaker as required by code.
So look at article 551 in the national electric code, would I upsize my feeder with my last big class a yes I did. But not on my small one that I have today after the kids left.


What type of aluminum are squares and 72" straight-edge rulers made of? I love the super-rigidity found in aluminum squares and straight-edge rules.  I've purchased cold rolled steel flat bars that flex far easier.  In fact, when applying force against the thin edge of these aluminum squares and rules, I cannot get them to flex at all.

How do they get the aluminum to be this rigid and strong?  What kind of aluminum is this?  It would be great for a project I am currently working on.

Aluminum is made of aluminum - processed from rocks.  This is actually a great "How It's Made" Episode.  There is very little that really changes with most aluminum that you buy other than size and shape.  I am sure there are slight differences in strength due to tempering processes and coating but this is usually minimal.  If some aluminum is a lot "softer" than others it is probably because it is not pure aluminum.

Steel is an alloy.  There are literally thousands of different steel mixtures.  Depending on how they want the steel to turn out they add (or take out) different minerals - including aluminum sometimes.  Steel is basically a mostly iron alloy and a lot of its properties are subject to the amount of carbon.  I think if the carbon amount hits 2-3% steel becomes very rigid but also is very brittle.  A ruler would not have a high carbon % in the alloy because it would need to be very flexible (relatively).

Steel for the most part is "stronger" than aluminum but it depends on the alloy composition and the tempering process (which has a stronger affect than it does on aluminum).  The strongest steel is much stronger than strongest aluminum.


How to assess the damage to the lawn mower after hitting an iron pipe? I have a Ariens self propelled lawnmower that I happend to hit a iron marker(pipe) with. When the blade hit the pipe, the lawnmower jolted and the engine stopped and I have not been able to start the engine since then.

I took a look and the blade still intact except for a nick on the edge; still has a balanced spin ( meaning it doesn't hit the walls of the mowing case ) when I spin it by hand. It has fresh gas and oil. There are no spills anywhere.

I don't what else to do  or where else to check. Is there anything else i should check before taking it to be repaired? Thanks!

The flywheel key is made to shear when things happen like you described. I had it happen a few times over the years. Pull the top of the motor off, remove the flywheel replace the key, and reassemble.


Add electrical box to existing ceiling As detailed in this question, I had a loose electrical box in my ceiling.

I acquired a Saf-T-Brace, ripped the old box from the ceiling... and then discovered my beam spacing was too narrow for it.

Now I have a hole in the ceiling and I'm not sure how to proceed.

With most brackets, there is an easy-to-find specification for the range of spacing between the joists.  Alas, Saf-T-Brace does not publish one I could find, though Home Depot says it is for 16 to 24 inch joist spacing.

If the joist spacing (gap) is more than about 12 inches, you might be able to shorten the braces to fit, however spacings less than 14.5 inches seem to be a specialty item.

I checked dozens of hardware and electrical suppliers and finally found this one which adapts to 8 to 16 inch spacing:

Platt has a slight presence in your area; alas it likely a 50 mile drive for you to go get—either Fremont or San Rafael.


What size feeder do I need for a basement electrical subpanel? I would like to know what size and type of feeder wire and feeder breaker do I need for my basement subpanel where I am planning to add six 15 Amp circuits, and three 20 Amp circuits. This will be 2' away from the main service panel. It will be for lighting and receptacles for bedrooms, a large living area, and a bathroom. I plan on running a 65" HDTV with sound system and 2 video game consoles; one of the rooms will be an office with a PC and printer. The two bedrooms will each have a 32" TV. The bathroom has only an exhaust fan, shower light and vanity light. There will be no heavy equipment.

National Electrical Code says that for general lighting and receptacle circuits, you can use 3 volt-amperes per square foot to calculate the load. However, the square footage is calculated from the outside dimensions of the floor area. So when calculating the area, don't forget to include the wall thickness.

National Electrical Code 2014
Chapter 2 Wiring and Protection
Article 220 Branch-Circuit Feeder, and Service Calculations
220.82 Dwelling Unit.
(B) General Loads. The general calculated load shall be not less than 100 percent of the first 10 kVA plus 40 percent of the remainder of the following loads:
(1) 33 volt-amperes/m2 or 3 volt-amperes/ft2 for general lighting and general-use receptacles. The floor area for each floor shall be calculated from the outside dimensions of the dwelling unit. The calculated floor area shall not include open porches, garages, or unused or unfinished spaces not adaptable for future use.

Let's say you're going to be servicing a 1300 square foot area with the panel, and it sounds like you're only planning for 120 volt general lighting and receptacle circuits. The load would be calculated as follows:
3 volt-amperes * 1300 sq.ft. = 3900 VA
3900 VA / 120 Volts = 32.5 amperes
In this scenario, you'd be able to use a 40 ampere double pole breaker in the main panel, and 8 AWG copper or 6 AWG aluminum conductors to feed the panel. However, you may want to leave room for future expansion, so the minimum might not be what you're looking for.
You may in fact want to use a 60 ampere double pole breaker, and 6 AWG copper or 4 AWG aluminum conductors. Even though you only need half that capacity, the cost difference might be worth it if you want the option for future expansion.


Switching a 240 volt 3 wire to a 250 v 2wire I want to use my generator to power my welder. It runs off a 250v, 50 amp receptacle in my shop. The generator receptacle is not a 3 prong  as the cord is to my welder. I picked up a receptacle, 250v, 50 amp. When I opened up the housing of the generator I noticed that the one I'm taking out is a 3-wire and the one I'm putting in is a 2-wire.  This outlet also connects 120v and 2 standard outlets as well as a couple circuit breakers. I understand that I need to wire both hots to x and Y and also the ground to the rounded prong. What do I need to do with the neutral wire so that all the other outlets work as well?
Thanks

Do not modify your generator!
You need to make a short adapter cable.
Your generator surely has a NEMA 14-20 or NEMA 14-30 socket.  Identify which one it is (post a pic and we can help).
Your generator surely has a NEMA 6-50 plug, but confirm that (ditto).
So you need an adapter cable with the reverse: a NEMA 14-xx plug and a NEMA 6-yy socket.
You can go online and somebody will sell it to you.  Those generally fall into 2 categories:  Bubba in West Virginia builds them to order out of quality parts from the electrical supply house, or the Chinese make them on their fancy injection molder, but they're rubbish.
Or you can step into Bubba's shoes and build your own, with parts from a proper electricacompetent electrical supply house (NOT big-box), and buy three things:

A NEMA 14-xx plug, with xx matching the size of your generator's socket.
2 feet of #12/3 or #10/3 cordage.  This will be black white green.  The size matches the xx size of your plug: 20=#12 30=#10.
An inline NEMA 6-50 socket made for cordage.

Get em together at a real electrical supply, and the competent clerk will make sure the strain reliefs fit the cordage... do not use scrap Romex for the cordage, it won't fit the screws or the strain relief.  It's only a couple bucks to do a proper job of it and have an adapter that will last.


Why has my water filter made my water less clean? A few years ago I installed a Whirlpool under sink water filtration system that I purchased from Lowes, as part of a kitchen renovation.

I've just replaced the carbon filter again (following the manufacturers procedure (filter model# WHKF-GAC), and once again have noticed that the water coming out looks less drinkable than the water coming from any other tap in the house.  The water coming out after not using the faucet for a bit is white (not a bit cloudy, WHITE), and only slightly clears up after running the tap for a minute.
I've followed the manufacturers instructions, and flushed the system for 5 minutes after the filter replacement (what a waste of water).  But the problem persists, and from previous experience will likely persist for the next week or so.  Is there a way to clear up the water sooner, or do I have to continually waste water flushing the system for a minute or so before drinking?
This has been a problem since the first filter was installed, but the water typically clears up after using the filter for a couple weeks.

Filter Cartridge Replacement Instructions:
NOTE: Before changing cartridge, turn off incoming watersupply. Place a bucket under filter to catch the small amountof water that will run out after housing removal.

Shut off water.
Relieve pressure in housing by pushing red vent button.
Unscrew housing and remove old cartridge. Wash housing thoroughly with mild soap and water.
Insert new cartridge and re-install housing. Be sure cartridge isseated in the housing before tightening onto head.
Use filter wrench to fully seat the cartridge. Tighten to make awater tight seal.
Turn on water. If any leaks appear, tighten housing as needed.
Flush system for five (5) minutes

No filter removes all contaminants.  Carbon is great for improving the taste. The white ones remove large sediment. Activated alumina removes some fluoride among other things. Distilled water will be free of most things but volatile chemicals will make it through. UV light and micropores (ceramic and "nano tubes") will remove most virus bacteria protozoa and cysts. Uv light will kill most if not all of those little nasties if the flow is right.

So the first step would be to go get your unfiltered water tested. Then see what's in it that concerns you then figure out what you need to remove those contaminants. Your filter might not be designed to remove the stuff you have a problem with.


What is this? (1972 house) This was on the wall of a 1972 house.

Although it is a really bad photo , I believe it is a 4 wire phone jack. These were very popular back then you could move a phone room to room at a time when each handset cost extra on the bill. To verify this normally small solid copper wires were connected red, green, yellow black insulation. On higher end homes there may be a 25 pair trunk instead the 2 pair cable , these larger trunk wires were normally used for intercoms.


Thermostat/Furnace Wiring Confirmation Like so many others, I am looking to install a new wifi thermostat with an older furnace.  I've searched across the Internet and I have a pretty good idea of what is needed and why; however, I have a couple of questions and I'm hoping someone out there will recognize my setup and provide some clarification.   Please note that I purchase this house in 2017, so I was not around for the current furnace or thermostat installation.

So, with regard to the photos below:

Why is the "Y wire" connected to the "Y" port on the thermostat, but the "Com" (C) port on the furnace?  Shouldn't it match "Y" <-> "Y"?   (Note:  You can't see it on the photo, but the yellow wire is twisted so that it connects to the "COM" port on the furnace, along with the red and white wires from the other cable.)
I see that there are extra wires that are unused (blue, orange, and brown).  Should I just connect one of those to the "COM" (C) port on the furnace along with the other wire that is there?

So, I guess I'm just wanting to confirm the best/easiest way to create a "C" wire for my new thermostat.   My guess is that I use one of the extra wires that aren't being used and just connect it to the "COM" (C) port on the furnace panel, correct?

Thanks!

From your picture it looks like in reality that the yellow (Y) wire from the fatter thermostat cable connects to the red (R) of the smaller two conductor cable. All I can see is that the white (W) of the smaller cable connects to the COM (C) of the furnace board. (That wire may look yellowed because of age but I suggest that it is actually white).

The yellow (Y) wire from the thermostat is typically the conductor that is energized to call for cooling. From your picture it is almost assured that the two conductor cable goes to your air conditioning compressor unit to cause it to turn on. The return for the current going to the compressor has to return to the 24VAC and that is what is the white wire of the two conductor cable.

The way that compressor control wiring is hooked up looks quite normal.

You should be able to easily use one of the spare wires in the fatter cable to feed a common connection from the furnace back to the thermometer. The blue or black wire is often used for this depending upon what is in the cable bundle.


How do I install an air conditioner on a horizontal sliding double window that has a 51/2 inch gap between the 2 windows? I have a double horizontally sliding window (like a lot of homes in Canada). The windows are about 51/2 inches apart. I want to install a regular 10,000 BTU air conditioner in the window but I don't know how. Can anyone help me?

I assume you mean 5.5in (normally written 5 1/2"). That's too narrow for any window unit. You should get a portable in-room air conditioner, where the machinery sits inside your home and you just have exhaust hoses that need to vent to outside through your window.


Anchoring sail shade to roof rafters I'm trying to figure out the best mounting layout for installing 20x16 sail shade over my patio. My plan is to anchor 2 corners to roof rafters, and 2 other to trees. I'm worried about load from winds, and how would all of this hold up to that. Mostly my concern is that trees would be flexing in the wind. I'm planning to anchor at ~10' off the ground to a 10-15" diameter tree. I don't like to use posts (that would not have this problem) since they would end up in the middle of the grass. The trees are ~35' from the corner of the shade. To install post by the tree, I'd need to bury it 5' deep (for 10' above grade), which would be quite a fit.

So 3 questions I'm trying to address:

How should I go about calculating loads I should be expecting, and what kind of load can my roof take before damage occurs?
As an idea to solving roof damage, would you recommend using some sort of fail-safe mechanism that would break and drop the shade in case winds are too strong before doing damage to a roof? If so, what would that mechanism be, and how to properly size it?
Is there a way to estimate tree trunk flex in strong winds, other than observing when such an event occurs?

It's not really clear what you're asking, but 3/8" stainless eye bolts into your rafters and springs inline with your tree lines should do. The springs should be stout enough that they don't stretch except in severe weather and act as a safety measure for extreme tree movement.


Standard height for kitchen sink drain exit from wall? I am in the process of a kitchen remodel and now have come to the plumbing.  My original kitchen had a 2-bowl sink and my new kitchen will have a 30" wide sink base with a 27" wide single bowl.  There also will be a garbage disposal with the new single bowl.

It is my intention to remove all the in-wall copper pipe and replace it with ABS, and somewhere in my basement I'll switch from ABS back to the original copper with a fernco coupling.  In the wall will be a simple tee that will give me a through-wall flange for the outlet of my garbage disposal.

My question is, how high off the floor should I make my drain?  I'm thinking the lower the better, that gives me more clearance for my garbage disposal, however it needs to at least be high enough that the trap is still above the floor of the base cabinet.  I have no dimensions of the base cabinet, but I'm guessing the floor above the toe-kick is ~4", and I'd need another 8" for the trap to clear, so I was guessing around 12"?

My only research brought me here, however it makes no mention of the garbage disposal and how to plan for that.

12 inches above the floor is really cutting it close. Most cabinets have a kick toe of 6 inches so you'd only have 6 inches to install and work the trap. I'd be looking at 16 to 18 inches above the floor. Good luck.


Sprayed foam sealant into window blind's headrail, immobilizing it. Blinds are also screwed directly into frame. How to remove (has picture) Trying to seal window crevices, I accidentally sprayed into window blinds headrail whose top is exposed. The crevice is so narrow I couldn't see into the top of the headrail, so I forgot it was open.

It's already dried and I can't use my window blinds any more (pull cord is stuck). I can't easily cut out the sealant because there's no room to look inside the blind's head-rail.
Important Note The guys Home Depot sent to install these blinds (decade ago) installed it incorrectly I just discovered. They did not install any brackets to push the blind's headrail into. Instead, they screwed the headrail directly into the window frame. I was young and didn't think anything of it until this problem arisen. In order to unscrew it, I have to access the top of the headrail, covered in foam sealant. I can't get to all the foam sealant because the crevice is too narrow to reach.
The metallic blind head-rail needs to be cut right, to access the screw?

If I understand correctly, you've sprayed expanding foam into the head of your blinds. It has now fully encased all the working mechanism of the blinds - the rods, gears, strings, etc.

You could take the blinds down, remove as many external parts as you can, then with a series of small picks, knives, scoops, etc. dig at the foam for several hours, attempting to get it out of every nook and cranny.

Once you get to pieces like gears, you can attempt to disassemble the mechanism to carefully scrape all the foam off the gears to ensure they'll mesh properly when called upon to turn and not to jam up against a wayward blob of foam.

When you find a pull string, you can attempt to carefully scrape the foam off the string with a putty knife, your fingers/fingernails, or whatever else you can come up with to get the foam out of the threads.

Since, at this particular point in history, many of us find ourselves under involuntary house arrest, you may well have plenty of time to undertake this endeavor and find you have nothing better to do.
If, however, you value your sanity and have better things to do with your time, I'd suggest:

Pitch the blinds
Buy and install a new set
Consider this a lesson learned

It is fairly simple to remove most window blinds, generally just pull it from 2 or 3 clips. It's usually worth doing so for any window-area maintenance to prevent damage to the blinds as repairing them is generally a pain.

Based on updated info provided in a comment on this post:
The OP indicated that these blinds weren't installed properly in the first place. Instead of using the proper clips to mount them, it seems that the head unit was screwed directly into the window frame. In this case, cutting the blinds apart to get to the foam hiding the screws is probably the only way.
Whether using a Sawzall™-type reciprocating saw, an oscillating flush-cutter, or even a manual hacksaw, the logical way would be to slip the blade between the top of the head unit and the window frame, slide it along until it catches, then start sawing to cut through the obstruction (which may be a screw, or just a snug part of the blinds/frame interface).
The drawback to this method is that the blade is very likely to damage the window frame. At a minimum, you'll end up scraping up the finish. Worst case, you may cut into the sash frame itself, and if it's vinyl, you may cut into one of the open pockets inside and really destroy some of the structural integrity of the sash.
If you happen to know roughly where the screws were, it might be reasonable to dig the foam out around this area, then unscrew the mounting screws. In order to prevent damage to the frame/sashes, this may be the only way to safely remove the head.
You might, if you're careful, be able to cut off the front of the head to give you more access to the foam to make it easier to cut it out to get to the screws. If you happen to know "the moron" (OP's words) who installed this, he may be able to give you a rough idea where he put the screws to minimize the amount of foam you'll have to remove.


Should I use a separate system, or extend the existing system to heat a detached garage? We're building an detached post & beam garage, 24 X 24. We have natural gas on the property, and our house is heated by a Dunkirk boiler and hot-water baseboard system that we've been told has the capacity to "heat the whole valley".

We need to run heat to the garage. We will be insulating and sheetrocking the inside of the structure. It will need to be kept at a reasonable temp all the time, perhaps 60 degrees or so. Radiant in-floor heating is out of the question because of up-front costs. We're considering either, 1) running the natural gas line from the far end of the house through the basement and out the other end to the garage, which is about 10 feet from the house, then installing some kind of gas powered heater or furnace; or
2) extending the hot water line from the house to the garage and putting the garage on its own zone.

Any suggestions? The guy who's building the shell of the garage for us said the hot water line would be very expensive because it has to have special insulation. But wouldn't running the gas line be expensive, too? Just looking for ideas on degree of difficulty vs. up-front cost of each option.

Particularly if you have an oversized boiler already, extending the hot water makes more sense.

It's not terribly difficult to insulate it properly - especially for a mere 10 or 15 feet. Use 1" PEX and build an XPS (waterproof styrofoam insulation sheets) box, keeping the lines (supply and return) separated with insulation, polyurethane foam it to fill and seal, done (and done better than buying the absurd products sold with two lines in a 4" tube with not nearly enough insulation around or between them, for stupid high prices.)

This link to a more-specifically heating-related forum may provide some insight.

If you extend the gas line instead, you need another device to burn gas, venting for it, etc.

If you extend the hot water, all you need is radiators/baseboard/etc. and you do NOT have an ignition source or a fuel source in your piano-storage-barn, which may positively impact your insurance (if any) and/or peace of mind.

Here is picture of a (much larger than you need, industrial-style and steam-pipe carrying) bridge at the Wright Brother's Museum

Effectively you should have something that looks like a 15 foot long box, probably 12" square, between the buildings - rather than exposed steel as in the picture, wood or siding/roofing to match your buildings. Or it can simply look like a large metal pipe or duct, which is one way to deal with keeping it dry when not trying to match the roofing/siding. As mentioned WRT the burial depth, a long power outage causing loss of heating in the winter will be more prone to freezing this type of arrangement than one that's well-buried. Personally, I'd bury it, it's not that hard or expensive to do, and it's invisible.


What is the correct technique for calking two adjoining surfaces in a shower? I have an old shower where the base pan and the shower tiles come and meet nearly exactly aligned. There are sections in the shower where the tile has almost no gap and it varies to about 1/16th of an inch. I say this to show that there is no way to simply place the calk directly in the crack and call it a day. What is the proper way to do this? I've looked for examples on technique but nearly every example is at a 90 or near 90 degree angle.

Yes, YouTube is great at showing the easiest of circumstances. What has worked for me is cutting the caulk nozzle straight across instead of at the 45 degree angle they suggest. Cut at the tip for the smallest opening and then press the caulk tube firmly against the tile seam at 90 degrees and start caulking. Move the tube slowly along the seam. If some caulk squirts out don't worry about it, wait until you're done with that section and then clean/smooth the seam with your finger, working more caulk into the seam. It will get easier once you get to the larger gaps. If you can weight the shower pan down you might be able to widen the gap before caulking.


120v on black and white wires I have been troubleshooting this for some time now. Any help would be great!
A friend of mine's wife plugged in a hair dryer and lost power about 2 minutes into it. A few hours later the power was back on.... nobody messed with any breaker or anything.
Now when she turns on the hair dryer the power goes out and no tripped breaker.
I'm reading 120v one neutral to ground and 120v hot to ground. During my troubleshooting I have disconnected the neutral from the bus and energized the circuit to see what I get from neutral to ground. 120v from neutral to ground at the panel.
Just to see I re-landed the neutral to neutral bus to see if it would trip the breaker, no tripped breaker.
Since no breaker tripped I tested ground bus to neutral bus and got 120v. With that being said I opened the breaker and tested neutral to ground and had 0 volts.
So, I pulled all the plugs out and inspected all the wiring and found no issues.
I can't give up till I find this issue and now the power has returned. Can anyone recommend my next step?
I'm almost thinking a staple has made its way through the insulation on the Romex.

When things are plugged in to different outlets in different locations, but are all on the same circuit, from that given protective device ( breaker / fuse ) and a neutral becomes disconnected that neutral will become "hot".

Try seeing how many things you know are plugged in to that circuit if possible and you'll possibly find a few things that aren't working...

Somewhere, either behind some receptacle, or in the panel itself that neutral became disconnected.

Envision the neutral as the return circuit for the hot ( which it is ) Whether it goes through a ceiling light, something plugged in it's still running hot as it travels through the neutral, when it becomes disconnected.


How do I protect a coax cable junction from outside weather? I'm planning to re-arrange some coax cable lines in my house which will effectively require me to connect them to a 4-way splitter.

The wifey would prefer these connections to take place in a discrete location outside of the house. My concern is that issues may arise later from the connections being susceptible to outside weather.

Is there a special enclosure I could put this in to protect it?  Or is the only option to just connect the junction in a dry indoor location (e.g. attic, crawlspace, etc).

Here are some boxes I found. Not only would it keep the connections out of the weather, but a box would dress it up a little and look more professional: