How do I repair this tile without removing it How do I repair this bathroom tile without removing it. I have do not have any extra tiles to use.

You don't repair it, you patch it, and don't use the toothpaste. I have seen repairs done with a small bead of caulk. You can rub it in good and then clean up the tile. This looks like hell. You could also use some white or clear acrylic nail polish and carefully go over the cracks. The problem is someone probably cracked that tile by kicking it and it could crack again. The tile might not be supported properly.
I know you said you didn't have any spare tiles but this is a pretty common tile so take some measurements and head out to a tile warehouse and look for a match and fix this right. Also, the grout is missing on the lower left corner and I would think there should be a caulk bead between the wall and floor.


Chirping in Kitchen - Always one minute apart So we've been getting this weird chirping noise in the kitchen. It's always just one chirp, and always a minute apart between chirps when I decided to time it. It first started yesterday in the morning, and then stopped later during the day, and today has started again, continuing on.
We don't have a smoke alarm in the kitchen, I've tried turning off the boiler and fridge, but the chirping carries on, and when I listen to where it's coming from, the sound seems to move.
Any help?

Even though you do not have a smoke alarm in the kitchen I would suggest that you check for low battery condition in all of your smoke alarms in the home. If you have not done so in more than a year the general advice is to replace all the smoke alarm batteries with fresh new ones.

I had the chirp problem at my house and can attest to the fact that it can be difficult to locate the source of the chirp. I believe that the problem is that the chirp sound is one that easily bounces and echos around the house. In addition I have found that the sound duration is so short that our brain has difficulty performing the triangulation that it normally uses to find the source of sounds.


How do I mitigate large outgoing inductive spikes from home appliance? I have an old ultrasonic air humidifier that sends out a big electrical spike every time it turns off, making lights flicker and computer monitors restart. I'm afraid of using it because of the risk of damaging sensitive electronics on the grid, especially since I need to have it on a timer, turning on and off many times a day.

Is there anything I can put in between the air humidifier and the grid preventing the spike from going out? I've been told that regular surge protectors aren't going to work.

You can try a large capacitor at the proper rated voltage, at least 250 if your device operates at 120 volts. Connect it across the line ahead of the device.

The other option is an isolation transformer between the device and the main line which can help absorb spikes.

Good luck!


Adding two rooms in a basement The ceiling height in the basement is 78" (under the 7' requirement for bedrooms).  I asked an inspector if it would be OK to add two rooms with closets and call them storage rooms when listing the house.  The inspector said that would be fine.  I had the rooms framed in with closets and electrical.  The inspector came to look and is now telling me they are intended to be bedrooms and won't sign off.  Does it matter what they look like as long as the house is not listed with bedrooms in the basement?

I was taught that: “If it looks like a hot dog stand, works like a hot dog stand, then it’s a hot dog stand.”
Working hard to trick people into thinking they’re getting 2 free bedrooms in the basement, is not commendable. You know they are not bedrooms, do you think it’s right to have family and friends sleeping in an unsafe room?
You are no better than one of those phone scammers.
Btw, the Code says the required ceiling height of “habitable rooms”is 7’, except in a basement, where it’s 80”. (See ICC R305.1) If the rooms are going to be bedrooms, then they need egress windows and smoke detectors. (Closets do not define what a bedroom is...)
Also, the floor area of each shall be a minimum of 70 square feet with the smallest dimension to be at least 7’ in any direction. (See ICC R304.3)


If I only want to pressurise central heating not hot water should I get a regular boiler or system boiler My boiler has packed in, the heat exchanger has failed and the consensus is that was due to sludge, gunk in the system, also consensus is would be better to pay a bit more and get a new boiler and guarrantee rather than getting it repaired.

My system is a regular open-vented system. The benefits of a sealed pressurized system have been explained to me and my view is I would like the central heating pressurized but not the hot water system.

The reason being I do not want the hot water system pressurized is I am concerned about additional noise from having water pipes all pressurized, and all the extra cost and hassle of having to replace the hot water cylinder.

The reason being I do want the central heating system pressurized is the system seems suspectible to air and sludge, there is a problem getting radiators high up in house working. And it makes sense to me to fill the system once, and having it continually reuse that water for the heating system.

But I am unclear whether it would be better to get a System Boiler or a Regular Boiler with kit for this purpose. System Boiler seems to only be when heating and hot water is pressurized, regular when neither is.

I understand that a regular boiler can be used with a pressurized sealed heating system via use of a external pressure balloon ectera. I am not clear whether you can use System Boiler if you are only going to use it for heating water used in the central heating system and not for directly heating hot water.

I am not sure if you can use a System boiler in a non-pressurized system. i.e if a System boiler is installed, and then we find pipes are too leaky or mains pressure not enough would that then mean System Boiler was no use or could it be used liked a regular Boiler ?

I was in the boiler business for 40 ears and am having a hard time understanding your question. Here in the USA we almost always, install pressurized hot water heating systems. I do not understand the terms you are using, "system boiler' or "regular boiler". You also said that your system is a regular open-vented system. We had systems we call open or vented long before I started in the profession; (the expansion tank was an open and vented tank, mounted at the high point of the system with a drain line that ran to the basement). Sometimes, it is hard to explain what we each see when different countries explain things differently. No offense intended.


How should I position a motion sensor? When planning motion sensor placement for a security system, is it preferable to install it facing windows, or not?

IR motion sensors can be thought of as a low quality camera with only one color, IR. They are constantly comparing the IR levels across a grid to see when there is a quick change in IR levels. When you look at the housing of a sensor, you can see this grid, and unlike that of a digital camera with mega-pixels, these sensors only have a dozen or so measurement points.

Motion directly towards or away from a sensor will show only a small change in IR at the same point. Therefore, you typically want the sensor position to detect motion from side to side. Locate them in places you need higher levels of security, like your home office, or in places a burglar would have to pass, like a stairway or central hallway. You also want them positioned that a pet could not accidentally trigger it, either by aiming high or by placing them in parts of the home that would be closed off.

Also, since these sensors are detecting a change in heat, avoid pointing them towards HVAC vents or other sources of quick temperature change. And avoid pointing them towards windows since IR can pass through glass (though various coating on newer windows should reduce this problem).


AIC rating for residential 100A main breaker I'm having an electrician replace my 2-unit meter main Zinsco panel with a new Siemens WP2211 panel. There will be two 100A breakers for the two units in the complex. The panel lists the following acceptable breakers:
QP, QPH, HQP, HQPH, MP-T, MP-HT. The QP and MP-T have a 10 kA AIC, the QPH has 22 kA and is only about $15 more than the QP. The HQP at 65 kA is three times the price, and presumably overkill.

Given that this is a service entrance, I assume the amount of short circuit current available from the utility is pretty substantial.

Is there a recommended value for residential service entrance breakers? I'm leaning towards the 22 kA QPH.

Thanks

Christian

You'll have two services there.

As you say, according to PG&E, they design their facilities so that 10KA of short-circuit current is not possible for new single family drops. However, being a duplex with 2 meters, I could imagine them supplying twice the capacity.

That would be 20KA.  Since only one service will have a problem at a time, the worst-case assumption is that each service needs to handle that independently.


Well pump will not shut off Recently replaced an inline ball valve and now the well pump will not shut off when up to pressure. Since the valve wad the first from the holding tank i had to drain it. What's the solution to this issue. Any and all help is deeply appreciated

It sounds like you have blocked the pressure going to the pressure switch, if the valve is opened and your pump shuts off you will need to relocate the valve or pressure switch so the pump will shut off.


Line end of this 4-way circuit? Which of these three switches in this 4-way circuit is the line end?  I want to install a dimmer and from what I understand, it should be on the LINE end.

Oh fun: I had to do this when I upgraded to a multi-location dimmer system!

It's not the third picture: that's a four-way switch.

If it's wired correctly, you just have to disconnect the black wire from the "Common" terminal on each of the three-way switches and then use a current detector to see which one is hot: that's your line!

Safest way, and to remove all doubt in case the circuit is wired "unconventionally":

Shut off power to the circuit.
Tag (so you can reconnect the same way) each black wire connecting to the three-way switches.
Disconnect the black wires from the three-way switches.
Restore power to the circuit.
Use current detector to find the hot black.  That's the line source for the circuit!

(If none of those four shows hot, test the red wires still connected to each three-way to find the line source.  And in that case don't recommend whomever wired it the first time ;)


What's the easiest way to trace out existing HVAC ductwork without cutting into the walls I recently bought a multi-story house with a 4 zone HVAC and only one of the zones works (it just heats/cools the entire house as one zone, and the one working zone is for a small foyer which is totally useless).  I basically need to re-map all the zones and move the dampers around to the right places - figure out why the one other working damper doesn't seem to do anything, and add 2 missing dampers to the 2 remaining zones.

At this point, the blueprints seem to differ in some ways from what was actually installed and I'd like to map all the flows so I can know where to install or move the dampers to.  However, I'd like to avoid cutting into the walls where the ductwork is.

Are there any simple tricks I can use to map the ducts from the basement to the respective vents on the upper floors?  I saw a tip about putting scented oils into the ducts in the basement and then following the scent to the vent.  Another one is to use a thermographic camera to see hot/cold vents through the walls.  Do these suggestions work?  What would a professional do?

A thermal camera may be helpful if there are significant duct leaks, but if things are sealed up well, the wall/floor/ceiling surface temperatures shouldn't reveal the duct locations.

Inductive reasoning will carry you far. Think about how the structure is built. Because air ducts are usually large they seldom cross inside floor joists or wall studs. The ducts run parallel to these in the spaces between. Homes are often rectangles and floor joists normally run parallel to the short side of the rectangle. You can confirm with a stud finder or by looking for the nails and screws that hold the drywall on the ceiling (visually by looking at reflected light at a sharp angle if the taping job wasn't top-notch, or use magnets to find the nail and screw heads).

Where ducts must cross floor joists there is almost always a dropped-down ceiling. Look for a room or hall whose ceiling is lower than surrounding ceilings, look for a drywall soffit/box at the ceiling along one wall of a room, etc.

Duct trunks between floors won't fit into a 2x4 wall. Look for missing floor area in the core of the building -- a closet that isn't as wide as the space that surrounds it may have vertical ducts running along one side, for instance.

Rigid ducts could be probed with a semi-rigid tool like an electrical fish tape or push rod/fish rod/glow rod. Remove the register at a duct outlet and feed the rod in until it stops. That's the location of the first sharp bend (unless it's hung up at a joint in the duct -- attach a ping-pong ball, big wad of tape, etc to help the end hop over obstructions like this). Mark the rod and pull it out; use it as a measuring stick to help mark the position. Often this will be the location where a branch meets the trunk.

Finally, you can go for an inside view. There are very small USB and wireless borescopes or endoscopes available at the usual online markets. I have a USB model with a 30 foot cable. I view the camera with an app on my phone while feeding the camera into a space using push rods. You won't be able to get around the bend to follow trunk lines, but you can measure the length of a branch back to an elbow or trunk and visualize bends or turns along the way.


Best/easiest way to install access door to dead space in house I have a roughly 6'x6' dead space on my second floor that was previously used to run exhaust pipes for my gas water heater and gas heater on the ground floor.  This dead space currently has no access, but it would be handy to be able to get in there because it sits right above the breaker box, and I need to run a couple new electrical lines for a new on-demand water heater that will soon be installed.
The only place where building a door would be possible is in a small closet upstairs.  The closet is a bit odd in that it's very short due to being against the roof line.  It's like 4ft high at the most.
Since this will be very rarely used and almost never seen, the emphasis is on simplicity of installation and not looks.  Is it possible to put some kind of door between the studs in the closet?  I am NOT an experienced handyman, so something pre-built and/or simple is highly preferred.

I'd recommend a prehung knee-wall door. A prehung door is already on hinges in a door frame. A small 24 x 48 door would be very manageable. You can buy them online in various sizes. I understand you're not an experienced handyman but a small pre hung door would be a fairly easy installation for you and since the door is hidden , if it's not aesthetically perfect - so what? You've learned something.
First of all you have to determine if it's a load-bearing wall. If it isn't, cutting out one stud and framing in the door would be fairly easy and there are plenty of diy Youtube videos on how to do it. If it is a load bearing wall come back to SE with that as a separate question.


Can a 220V US circuit have more than one 220V outlet, by code? When I move the laundry, I'm considering switching to a gas drier -- but even so it'd be nice to have the 220V drop there for future-proofing.

However, if I'm not using it for the drier, I'd like to have it available in the workshop. Perhaps even if the drier is hooked up to it; I have the house to myself and don't need to do laundry and woodworking simultaneously.

So: Rumor has it that code would only allow one outlet per 220V circuit, to prevent any risk of simultaneous use. Is this true? If so I would need to either delay installing the new drier outlet, or spring for another pair of breakers (meaning more doubles to make room or a secondary box), or both. Or perhaps code would let me use the existing drier run to feed a secondary box, and pull the new drier drop off that? (Wouldn't be a bad thing for the workshop to have its own box anyway, perhaps with lockout or EPO...)

I know, I'm overcomplicating things. Just juggling ideas to see which ones fit.

The code doesn't care if you say you're not going to use stuff at the same time, it assumes you will.

I don't think it would be a code violation to have multiple outlets on a 240 volt circuit (though I could be wrong). The number of outlets is not restricted (at least not that I've seen), based on voltage.

However, the conductors have to be sized for the load, and the overcurrent protection sized to protect the conductors.  So in an existing install, you'll be limited by the size of the conductors that are installed.

My advice would be to remove the dryer receptacle, or run a new circuit for the workshop. If you remove the dryer receptacle, you can extend the circuit to the shop from the junction box.  Then you have the option to go back to a dryer hookup.


Replacing drywall in bathroom Heads up, I’m one of those dreaded DIY-ers :)
I am currently replacing drywall, no tiling, in my full bathroom as previous owners did not have any type of ventilation and very soon after purchase we noticed beginning indications of mold.
I’m noticing on the back wall of the shower enclosure that is installed, the studs are causing the drywall to overhang the enclosure as opposed to being flush with the flange.
The picture shows what I’m looking at. The initial build looks like the installers cut out a section of the studs halfway up but that is only causing more confusion.
Any ideas how I’m supposed to install this back wall?
Thanks in advance!
Hello all,

This is pretty easy.
#1 - you don't use drywall on a tub surround (and if you do you put backer board over it).
#2 - You don't know what the overhang is until you run new board behind the tub since you can't attach to something cut like that.
#3 - You do want an overhang.   There really isn't a "limit" on it although it cannot be so much that it overhangs to actual tub.   Yes it is too much right now but when you install a board that is flat you probably will be fine.
#4 - You have nothing to attach your pieces in the corner.
#5 - You already installed drywall that needs to be taken.
No offense - you are basically doing everything wrong right now.   Clear your head as you haven't made a lot of progress and you get a "do-over".  But you need to take down what you have put up, work out the studs (different question), and then learn how to install a shower.


Do I need a pressure limiting valve? I had my house renovated about 5 years ago and was told at the time that I have high water pressure and may need a pressure limiting valve. Fast forward to now and have one tap (5 years old) that has worn out and whose top literally flies off when the tap is opened too fast. My now 5 year old hot water service overflow value has worn out and is now leaking constantly.

Are these signs that the water pressure is too high. Turning the taps on always gives a lot of water, the shower is never affected by other taps.

Before I replace the tap and HWS value, i'd like to know if I should be installing a pressure limiting valve first.

How do you (or a plumber) test for high water pressure? What should it be?

BTW: none of the pipes knock if that helps.

Checking the pressure
Get yourself a two way hose connector (~$6), and a water pressure gauge that fits 3/4" garden hose thread (GHT) (~$10)

Connect the pressure gauge to one of the legs of the wye connector, and turn the valve for that leg on.  Connect the wye connector to a utility sink tap, or a hose bib.  Turn the valve on the open leg of the wye connector off, and open the valve on the sink/bib.
At this point, the gauge should display the pressure within the plumbing system.
Open and close the valve on the wye connector, then check the gauge again. Do this a couple times, to make sure you're getting a consistent reading.
NOTE: When testing the pressure, you'll want to make sure the water heater is not actively heating the water. If it is, wait for it to finish before checking the pressure.
The International Plumbing Code says that the water pressure should be grater than 40 psi, but less than 60 psi. So you'll be looking for a pressure within that range.  If it's above that, you'll have to take a closer look at the system.
Determine the cause
Depending on when your home was built/remodeled, there may be a check valve installed on the main supply line.  If this is the case (should be with modern homes), then heating water can increase the pressure within the plumbing system.  If there is a check valve installed, you'll want to make sure you have an expansion tank installed near the water heater. You'll also want to check to make sure the expansion tank is in good working order.
If all that checks out, the high pressure is likely due to high supply pressure.  In this case, you'll want to install (or have installed) a pressure regulator on the main supply.
Once installed, you can use the pressure gauge setup from above, to adjust the regulator to the desired pressure.


Black and Decker drill bit set with Kobalt drill? How universal are drills and bit sets? Can I mix and match bit brands with drill brands? For example, would a Black and Decker bit set work with a Kobalt drill? Sorry if it's a stupid question, I'm quite new to all of this. Thanks!

They're universal. That'll work just fine. Drills have chucks with three jaws that clamp down on whatever you stick in them, so they can use round-shank bits and hex bits too.


LED Tape Lights Strobing I have tape lights that have worked perfectly for 6 years. They were wired into a switch and I have no idea if, or how a transformer was used.  They are not on a dimmer. Even you you turn off the switch, the lights will continue to light/blink for a tiny bit.

Dead power supply

LEDs pretty much don't fail.  Power supplies are the achilles' heel of LED lighting, and the primary reason why LEDs fail at all. (#2 being the lead-free [bad idea] solder crystallizing over some number of decades).  Unfortunately people cannot resist making [read: buying] cheap power supplies.

You'll need to find this power supply unit, identify its voltage and current output, and get another one with SAME voltage and SAME OR GREATER current output.

If you want a hand with that, get a phone camera with a flash, and shoot a pic of the label on the thing.  Then you can edit your question to add the photo.


Why can't I get hot water quickly at my vanity sink? Whenever I turn on the hot water, it takes 3-4 min to get hot water at the vanity. It takes 1-2 min. for the shower. I have a gas heater.

Can it be fixed or does it need to be replaced?

If you eventually get hot water, it is more likely due to the flow rate of the sink vs. the flow rate of the shower. This determines how fast the cooled water sitting in the pipes is pushed out before the hot water from the heater reaches the faucet.

In half inch pipe at a typical faucet flow rate of 1.5gpm, it will take 1 minute to clear roughly 18' of pipe. If you have a 3gpm shower head and the same length of pipe it would take half as long. This also assumes that both the shower and sink are being fed by the same size pipe and how the plumbing is routed. If you have a longer pipe run to the sink, it will take longer for hot water from the heater to reach it even at the same flow rate. 3/4" pipe will also take longer at the same flow rate to clear out the same length of pipe (about 12' per minute at 1.5gpm).

As @household Installs pointed out, different types of pipes and different levels of pipe insulation will effect the heat loss of water in the pipes when it isn't flowing.  But you will always have heat loss that will eventually reach ambient temperature, and the amount of time it takes water to move from the heater to the faucet is a constant based on flow rate and capacity.

One solution for the sink would be installing a small on-demand hot water heater underneath and cut down on the amount of water you have to flush from the pipes between the heater and the faucet (and thus time spent doing so).


re-tape when replacing drywall sheet I need to replace a couple of drywall sheets on the ceiling. The ceiling has already been taped and painted, so now I don't know how I can nicely re-tape and re-mud seams between the old sheets and the new one. As seen on the photos attached, old sheets have crumbs and leftovers of the old tape, so if I put new tape over old sheet there will be bulges etc. How can I get around this? What can normally be done in such situations?

Use your drywall knife to scrape out anything loose. If you're familiar with drywall finishing you just treat it like a normal new butt joint and feather the repair to make it appear flat. Usually 12-18 inches onto the finished surface is enough to hide the repair.


snow inside of fridge My refrigerator has started to 'snow' up inside and is freezing some of the food. Why is this? It is in a cabinet with about 1 inch space on top. I have turned the thermometer down from the one set as default. What might be the problem. Is it because it is in a cabinet?

You should look to see if air flow vents around the bottom of the refrigerator are clogged up with dirt and dust bunnies. If so clean that up with a vacuum cleaner. It may be well to remove the unit from the cabinet to clean out the whole area.

Also this problem can be brought on by failure of the air circulation fan in the refrigerator.

Some questions remain:

Is this installation new and you are just experiencing this problem?
In the past has there been successful use of the refrigerator in its current configuration all through a year or more of ambient temperature cycles?
Is this a refrigerator without a freezer compartment?


How can I use bulk electrical wire to make a subfloor heating system? Electrical floor heating kits run US$10 to $15 per square foot, but bulk wire only costs $2.50. With the controller, you're still running under $4 a square foot. I have a construction background, but not electrical. Are there any good books out there that takes a novice through the steps of buying just the parts and making one's own?

Just don't. This is clearly the best answer.

If you really want to cheap out perhaps you could buy a complete kit with just one square foot mat, analyze the wire used, and try to source a designated radiant wire of similar dimension and resistance.  Then fold and spindle that in a similar way to the mat squares.

Remember your fire insurance likely excludes work done in flagrant violation of the building codes.  Use of regular copper wire, while possible, is just not advised.


Care and feeding of a long kitchen drain? My kitchen sink has a garbage disposal, and its drain crosses the entire house within the height of the first floor joists. With 9 1/2" joists, that's at most 7" drop over 23', or a hair over the minimum 1/4" per foot slope. However, I've had clogs in the past, and I'm guessing the slope isn't constant (the basement ceiling is plastered so I can't check).

I've stopped running eggshells and onion peels down the disposal, but I'm still worried about clogs, and I'm thinking that once the drain is blocked it'll be a lot harder to deal with (and a "have to deal with it right now" situation to boot).

Some possibilities:

Buy/rent an auger and clean the drain out every few years
Hire a service to do the same
Fill the sink with hot water and then run the disposal to rapidly drain it and clean things out
Don't worry about it until (and unless) it fails.

What's my best bet?

Depending upon the location of the kitchen sink with the garbage disposal, you could re-pipe the drain to a dump tank with a "macerator pump" or sewage pump. This would reduce the garbage disposal stuff to an almost liquid state, thus reducing the chance for a clog further down the drain. Our worst waste product that always plugged our drains were lettuce leaves or any leaf products. This may not be the answer you are looking for but it would be a solution.


painting glass exterior door grilles? I have some exterior doors with glass that his held in place by a sandwich of plastic(?) grilles.  The grilles have turned yellow and look bad.  What would be the best way to paint these to look and stay white for a while?

If I'm not mistaken you can remove the plastic without disturbing the glass underneath.  Look for capped screw holes all around the rim on the interior side of the door.  Once you have them off you can just spray them with a paint designed for plastics.


What is the mechanism of action of PVA glue? The general wisdom is that wood glue sets harder than the original wood, but experiences and testimonies on this seem to vary.

Two weeks ago, I replaced some worn hinge screws on a heavy interior door. I reused the existing screw holes, applying some PVA glue (Titebond III) to strengthen the threads just in case.

I'm examining these screws now and noting that they are holding fast.

However, the threads themselves, though very solid and secure, are slightly gungy and sticky, with a tough treacly consistency when the screws are removed. The glue seems to have penetrated the surrounding wood, altering the material properties of the pine around the threads.

At two weeks, I had expected the timber to be back to its original consistency.

Bearing that in mind, what is the mechanism of action of PVA glue, and what seems to have happened in my case? Can I expect the pine to return to a hard/dry consistency over time?

The glue isn't curing

Because it has no exposure to air.

Effectively, you haven't applied it, just put it in a different bottle.

The moisture of the stuff is softening the pine wood around it.

You're lucky, too. If it had cured, you would not have gotten that screw out in a million years.  You're really playing with fire on this one.

Leave the screw out for a week, see if that helps.

And if you want to do that in the future, either a) drill it out and glue in a dowel of similar softwood, b) mix a thick slurry out of sawdust and glue, or c) if you suspect wood deterioration, hit it with an epoxy product called Git-Rot, which will soak into the wood.  But in all cases you wait for glue cure before putting any screws back in.  And if you want the glue to cure at a definite, positive rate, use epoxy glues.


Does light fixture itself impact dimmer compatibility or the bulbs? I have read numerous dimmer switch instructions say compatible with led lights and then also led bulbs saying dimmable. So my question is do only the bulb and switch need to be compatible or does the light fixture itself impact compatibility too and should say if dimmable compatible?
I ask this because my ceiling fan currently has older non-led bulbs and I upgraded to LED bulbs. Now I am thinking of adding a LED dimmable switch but I am curious if the fixture itself needs to be dimmable compatible or not.
Also when two devices are not compatible say led bulbs with non led compatible switch then what happens (potential fire or overheating of dimmer?). I have some old dimmers in this house and the led bulbs seem to work fine but I’m sure these are pretty led dimmers so I’m surprised it worked.

Not normally, no.
But ceiling fans, yes.  Because ceiling fans typically insert one of two troublemakers:

A current limiter, to prevent you from over-bulbing the light with 100W incandescent bulbs when they're only approved for 25/40/60W
A "remote control module" so you can use a wireless remote to control fan and light.

Both of them might play badly with LEDs, and both of them may well play badly with dimmers on LED. They were never designed with LED in mind.
And by "LEDs" I mean lightbulb replacement units with LED technology and an Edison screw base, along with an electronic driver to convert 120VAC into DC to run the LED emitters.


Where can I install a house humidifier? I want to install a house humidifier.  Right now I'm thinking of buying an Aprilaire 600.  But my house set up does not look anything like the videos I've seen.  Are the vents behind the insulation?  See picture.  I'm thinking of putting it right above the drain pump.  Would that work?

Yes, the ducts are behind that silver insulation.  Cutting the Aprilaire 600 in above the condensation pump as you suggested would be ideal.


Should I use foam spray insulation in my crawl space? My crawl space has no insulation.  The dirt is wet near one of the walls.  There have been termites in the past.

I'm thinking of insulating the ceiling (between the joists) and the walls with foam spray.  Am I on the right track with this idea?  I hear that fiberglass is not a good idea because it can get affected by the moisture.

There are these products, such as Sealection500, Icynene, etc.  Have people here used them?  What's a good DIY product?  There's foamitgreen.com and they offer the product and kit directly.  I like that they are straight forward about it.  Is that a good product though?  Is the price good?

Edit:

According to http://basementsolutions.blogspot.com/2009/11/do-not-spray-foam-your-crawlspace.html the walls should not be sprayed.  Guess I can use rigid foam for the walls.  Comments on that?  How far down do you put the insulation on the walls?  Down to the footing?

There are some very good spray foams on the market. Most are a two part system and a starter kit runs around $800.00. This would include the hoses, tanks and spray wands and enough material to do several hundred square feet, depending on thickness.  There are foams that are completely water and moisture resistant as well as mold and vermin proof. I sub out most of that type of work, so I don't have the brand names on the tip of my tongue, but you should be able to  investigate various types of foam and equipment appropriate for your application at your local specialty distributor of insulation products.


Best way to split an existing drain pipe I am trying to tie in a new kitchen sink into an existing drain pipe currently servicing a bathroom on the other side of the wall. Here's the conceptual schematic of what I am trying to achieve:

And here's what the situation looks like in reality:

I am trying to figure out if I can avoid dismantling the existing T-Junction going into the bathroom and installing a new one for the kitchen in that 8" length of pipe, right above the existing junction.

Is this possible/good idea? For example, could I cut out most of that pipe and replace it with stuff like this?

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.1-12-in-abs-sanitary-tee-10bag-hub.1000109027.html

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.tubular-drain-connector-15125.1000120040.html

That no-hub coupling says that it works for 1-1/2" or 1-1/4" drain pipe. Does this mean that it can take the existing 1-1/4" drain pipe on one end, and the new 1-1/2" ABS pipe on the other?

It seems that I'd need to fit 2 no-hub couplings and one T-Junction in that 8" length of pipe. Is that likely to work, or is the length insufficient?

EDIT: How much pipe do I need to leave in order for a Fernco coupling to grab it reliably?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

From a code perspective it's hard to say because they vary quite a bit. For specific details about that you could always make an anonymous call to your local municipality. On to practical stuff, you can do what you have proposed. Pipe is measured by the inside diameter That being said your pipe is inch and a half. For the rubber couplings, I always bring a piece of the pipe in with me and physically make sure that it fits. If you can get these Fernco couplings, they work well Always Clean, chamfer and deburr your pipe. If you find 8 inches is not enough space you could always cut further up and just pick up an ABS 45.


Help with fairly basic irrigation system I’m having my backyard dug up and regraded next week in order to install sod and so I figured I’d try and take a stab at designing and maybe installing an irrigation system as the area is not very large. I know there’s a lot here, but any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Here’s what I’ve gathered so far:

I’m in the Massachusetts so I will need to take this into account in terms of winterizing the system. There is generally good drainage and it is mostly sandy although with some areas of clay. We will also have a layer of top soil put in with the sod.

The supply line is 1 1/4” galvanized.

I’m not sure on the water meter size, but I think it’s 5/8” per the below image. I’d call my local water and sewer department, but they have been closed since March due to COVID.

My flow rate is a bit difficult to measure because the spigot is really close to the ground. I tried through a 50 foot 5/8” hose into a 6 gallon container and that took almost exactly 1 minute. Measuring with a 1 gallon bottle direct I got about 7-8 GPM, but it’s difficult to measure with that small of a container.

My pressure seems to come in fairly consistently at about 84 PSI, but my vacuum breaker is slightly leaking. Measuring from another spigot I was getting 90-96 PSI (although it’s much closer to the supply line, but they both stem off from the same line which is a 1/2” pipe, that comes directly out of the water meter, into a 3/8” pipe). I know this is high - I’ll come back to this in my questions at the end.

I believe modern frost free spigots like this should also have backflow prevention so I don’t think I need to install anything additional for that (provided I fix the vacuum breaker or washer or whatever it ends up being)?

I used the Orbitz online design tool to build a layout of my property. I’m not particularly tied to using Orbitz products and am certainly open to suggestions, but I appreciate the ease of use of this tool and them telling me pretty much exactly what to buy.

Here is the layout I’m working with

The red triangle is where the water connection is. There is also an outdoor plug right there. The deeper green area on the right side is hedge where there are mostly hydrangeas. The property will be graded such that the top of the picture will be the lowest point. The property is surrounded by a 5’ fence, trees, the house and a garage so wind is not a significant concern.

For this plan the Orbitz service only allowed me to enter a max supply line size of 1” and PSI of 75. I conservatively went with 7 GPM for flow rate.

Here is the resulting suggestion (I didn’t add a manifold - see questions below)

Questions:

Do I need a pressure regulator? Is there something I can install in-line without requiring plumbing work and also that does not affect my GPM?
Do I need auto-drain valves? I’m guessing these would be installed where the two sprinklers at the top of the plan image are? Maybe it’s just easier to blow out the system with an air compressor before each winter?
How deep should I be burying the system? Is there a trick to making sure it gradually slopes down?
Is there an easy way to tap into the system to also water a couple of potted plants?
Do I need a manifold and do I need the suggested controller? If so it seems like this project gets a bit more complex. I’ve done plenty of electrical work inside my house, but nothing outdoors beyond nest doorbells). I’m guessing I can ditch the controller and go with a more basic water timer like the Netro Pixie. Or maybe it’s not so bad considering I have an easily accessible outdoor outlet? What would I use to connect the spigot to the manifold? Alternatively are there any plug-in smart manifolds with more than one zone that just attach directly to the spigot?
Do I need to install anything additional for backflow prevention?
Anything else I should know or consider?

Usually sprinkler systems are on a second water meter so that they are billed at lower rates than water used in the house. A municipality approved anti-siphon/backflow valve will be required and may cost a couple hundred  dollars. Very likely you will need a diagram for approval and a final inspection when finished. Pick a pipe size and stay with it ; I put in my own system and used both 1/2 and 3/4 pipe . So when I make repairs, I need two sizes of parts, inconvenient.


Best Water-Heater Location Is it OK to install a gas water heater next to a gas dryer and if not what are the cautions? Both will be vented. Thanks

I see no problem with them being located next to one another. They both need to be serviceable and they both need adequate combustion air.  And proper venting for both.


How to fix this bench vise that has a missing handle I have a bench vise that is missing the piece that you grab onto to tighten it up.

Is it possible to replace this part?

Use a long "grade 5" bolt, grind the head round and ease the edges a bit so to use it will be comfortable. Set it in place and run a stop nut on the other end and grind it in the same way. Do not get it too hot from grinding, it may melt the nylon part that keeps the nut in place.

There will be issues while doing this, but to grind the bolt first before placing it in the vise will at least make one part of the job easy to do. The other part, the nut, well....

You will only need to do it once.


Options for cable runs through off-center plates I wan't to do 20 or so Cat6 runs from my office\garage wall up through to the attic then out from there. My issue lies in the construction of the space between floors. The first photo is a photo of a cut hole in the top of the wall, and ceiling on the garage side. There is a third 2x4 sitting on top of the double top plate, however that structure is off-center from the top plate. The second photo is the same hole, with my drill poking through. I drilled in the center of the base plates on the second floor, and this is where it comes out at. Right on the edge of the inter-floor's 2x4 and plywood.

I'm near-certain this is a load bearing wall. You can also see in the first image, a cat3 run, that the builder seemed to have no issue drilling right into the edge of that third top plate.

My original plan was to run conduit but that seems to no longer be an option. So my question is this, would drilling a few smaller holes (13/16in), just off-center of the double top plate and bottom-plate of the second floor (Third photo) violate any codes, or compromise the structural integrity of the house? Would a notch and tie better solution? The notch would necessitate going completely through the third top plate, and i have no idea what's between the plywood and bottom plate of the second floor, shown in photo 2.

As long as you are 1-1/4" away from the edge the holes would meet code.


Can I swap the positions of the toilet and bath tub? We do not like where the toilet and bath tub are now located in the master bathroom. Can I place the toilet where the bath tub drain is now, and install a new bath tub where the toilet currently is? This would also enable us to enlarge the small stand up shower.

It's not going to be easy, but it's possible. The toilet drain pipe is going to be 3", and won't have a trap (since the trap is built into the toilet). The toilet will also only have a cold water supply. The tub drain pipe will likely be 1 1/2", and will have a trap. The tub will obviously have both cold and hot water supplies.

To switch the location of the fixtures, you'll have to reroute the plumbing for each to the new locations. Depending on the current location of the fixtures, existing plumbing, and the amount of access to the plumbing. This job could range anywhere from not so bad, to a complete gut and rebuild.


How can I transition from carpeted stairs to an engineered hardwood floor? I want to replace the carpet in my bed rooms(actually the whole 2nd floor) with engineer hardwood floor. The stair is from 1st floor to 2nd floor which will keep carpet. But I can't imagine how/where I need to do the transition. I don't have any experience, appreciate if anyone can give me some suggestion.

Here is the picture of the current situation:

One potential location is on the last rise on the stairs.  This is depicted below on my crude diagram.  Make the cut of the carpet right under the lip of the top of the 2nd floor.  Use a piece of trim to hide the cut and make it finished.

Other options include:

Create a small carpet landing at the top.
Take the carpet off all the stairs and make the stairs hardwood as
well.

Your second question:

Probably.  When you take the carpet up, see if there is a gap under the baseboard.  if so, see if the hardwood fits in the gap.  If so, you can leave it on.  If not, you should be able to carefully remove the baseboard, install the floor, and the re-attach the existing baseboard pieces when floor is finished.


Is it common to have a fuse box and breaker box? What's going on here? What is commonly done today to modernize this situation? First time I've owned a house with an old fuse panel, but there is also a breaker box. To standardize, I was thinking of hiring an electrician to replace both with a single 100amp breaker box. Would this make sense?

Also, seems like all or at least most of the outlets are non-grounded... so I guess I may want to have all the wiring updated as well?

I guess none of really answered your question if it was common to have both breakers and fuses. I would not say it is common at this time but it is not uncommon for a house that was partially updated to have both. Years ago the code changed and we could no longer have rentals with fuses because of the fuse fire risk if oversized. A friend has quite a few rentals built in the 30's & 40's we did go in and replace the fuse boxes with mostly 100 amp panels on the houses that had gas heat and 150 amp panels with electric heat. These were all or mostly 2 bed 1 bath 900 square foot homes so these panels were close to 2x the size of the original fused mains. Of the 12-15 houses we updated I think 9 or 10 had mixed breakers and fuses, many of his other houses had been fully updated so in this specific case of homes in this era it was approx a 30% chance of a mix.


Air Conditioner Can't Keep up We just rented a condo and our A/C cannot keep up so it will run almost constantly. It can't even keep the temperature constant, it will creep up into the 80s even while running.

I measured the temperature coming out of the registers and it's between 55 and 60 degrees so I think its doing a good enough job cooling. I verified that the blower motor is on its highest speed but without taking the unit apart I can't find out what the horsepower is on the motor.

So my question is, should I ask my landlord to try to put in a bigger blower motor? Or what is the right solution?  Also, is there any temporary fix I can do like adding fans on the return air vents to force air in?

Edit:
Outdoor temperature was 92 with 50% humidity.  The filter was just replaced and the coils were just cleaned. We have a big west facing arched window that I feel might be part of the problem. We also have lofted ceilings in all the rooms (2br2ba)

It does sound like the biggest opponent the AC is facing is the large picture window. I'm guessing it's just not a well insulated and/or not high-e glass and just letting too much heat in.

For starters, close the internal blinds. If that isn't enough, consider some exterior blinds. These aren't terribly expensive and shouldn't be something that the landlord would be against.

There's different options for this. One is roll blinds:

This is likely the most practical commercial solution.

But you can get fancier as well with things such as shutters:

Possibly more expensive (more complicated to install) would be an awning:

Or a window trellis/arbor/pergola:

Before you invest in ANY of those, however, I'd do an experiment and cover the outside of the window for a few days with butcher paper or other large opaque material.

If the AC can keep up just fine with that window covered, then one of the above options is likely the easiest way to solve this problem.

Other things to consider would be:

install ceiling fans. This does two things: one, creates a breeze to lower the perceived temperature and two, helps even out all the air circulation in the house.
check that there are proper returns throughout the house. If there's only one main return, that can make it really hard for the hot air to get recirculated through the AC. Ceiling fans can help with that.
make sure it's been checked out by an AC professional. It could be that it just needs recharging.


How to fix sticky paint The wood in my bathroom is painted with a semi gloss white paint. I have to clean it often and after many cleanings, the paint in the areas cleaned most is sticky. I tried painting a fresh coat of paint on top-still sticky. I am not sure what to do. I tried sanding the paint in those areas and it just rolls off. If I paint with Bin and then a latex will that work?

It sounds like someone has painted latex over an oil-based paint. One way to tell is cut out a small bubble, or scrape some of the top coat away (in an inconspicuous place) to reveal the underlying paint. Take a cloth and put some denatured alcohol on it. Rub the underlying paint for a few seconds and look at the cloth. If the cloth has the same color of paint on it, then it is a latex paint. However, if the cloth has no color on it, then the base coat is an oil paint.

If the base coat is oil, you will need to strip off the top coat. It should be really easy to strip since it isn't adhering anyway (it is rolling off when you sand it). I would suggest going back with oil paint. It is highly effective in damp settings and will last for years. It's also really tough and will stand up to cleanings. However, if you prefer latex you will need to do as you suggested and use a primer between the oil paint and the latex top coat.


My hot water stopped working in one bathroom, what can I try in order to fix it? I have an electric water heater from 2004.  The hot water works in all other areas of my house (kitchen, other bathroom and washing machine).  The sinks and shower in my master bathroom are not producing hot water, only cold water.

If you're getting hot everywhere else, but not in the bath, then the hot water flow has been interrupted.  Check the shutoff valves in your house - the most likely suspect is that someone's turned one off (possibly as a prank).

If all the valves are confirmed open, then the next question is, what kind of water lines do you have?  If you have galvanized pipe, it's known to corrode, so a possible culprit would be a buildup of corrosion in the line to the bathroom to the point where no or almost no water flows.


Why will my toilet not flush after it rains or when ground is wet I live in a house with a septic system.  When the winter/spring rains come, the toilet on the ground level master bedroom does not flush.  We have another toilet on the ground floor that does flush.  We have removed the non-flushing toilet, snaked the line and even installed a newer toilet.  Nothing works until the ground dries out and then it will work fine.  We had the septic tank pumped out, though it does tend to fill with ground water.  What I don't understand is why will the one toilet work when the other will not?  Any suggestions as to what the problem might be?

Septic System?? If so, the system is FULL of water already and needs to drain out from your drain field.
If it is a municipal system, tree roots CAN SWELL TO 40 % or more of their normal size in wet weather, creating a blockage- hence a slower drainage- I'd look into a rooter service if this is the case and if on a Septic System- even pumping the tank will not help as the ground water is the culprit-preventing more water to disperse.  Pumping the tank will only remove liquid & solids in the inlet side- not removing water from the leach/drain field.


What device can I purchase to monitor my electrics long-term? I currently live in a rented property that I suspect was wired up by a cowboy, the outlets are anchored poorly in the walls and the breaker board hums when any high-energy appliances are running. It also appears to be playing havoc with some of my more sensitive equipment, namely my servers and my router. Not enough to have killed any of them yet, but they exhibit erratic behavior they did not show before i lived here, this coupled with flickering lights & humming circuits leads me to believe its dodgy electrics at play.
I noticed on another question on the Stackexchange network (specifically this question) that the original poster had graphed their voltage against time, I think something like this would be perfect to confront my landlord with empirical evidence that something in his property is wrong (and also because I love data and would probably use this in future properties too, and this is a great way to justify the expense to my girlfriend)
I was wondering if its possible to pick up equipment capable of doing this cheaply, and what exactly would I be looking for?
EDIT:
I live in the UK so it needs to be able to tolerate 240V+

lots of different ways to monitor & record voltage, plugin board or usb for your computer sounds like the cheapest way to go to me they are cheezy but work ok to take the measurements you describe, I would tell your land loard he needs to have an electrician tighten the wires in your pannel the humming is a really bad thing and can be the start of arcing that can distroy the ends of the wires and terminals of the breakers, that sounds like where most of the problem may be from your description. here is a very inexpensive unit and there are lots of other options out there. http://www.dataq.com/resources/images/products/starterkits/di145-usb-data-acquisition.jpg


Fuse replacement in Xantrex solar charge controller I have a Xantrex XW-MPPT60-150 solar charge controller. The moment came where I need to replace the fuse that protects the charger. The problem is that I need to replace it with Littlefuse KLKD 1 (600V DC, 1A Fast-acting) or equivalent.

The closest I found is a BOSS ceramic fuse 500V, 2A... and I don't know if I can be sure that this fuse will protect the charge controller in case of over current.

Here's a picture of both fuses, the old one on the left and the wanna-be new one on the right:

Can anyone help with this? It's a bit urgent because I'm off grid and I don't want to harm my system, nor face a short-out.

I'm pretty sure you don't want to substitute that fuse.

First off, the original fuse was rated for 1 A, while the new one is rated for 2 A. You'll have twice the current allowed in your system before the fuse goes.
Second, the power (wattage) permitted to pass through the second fuse is 67% greater than the original fuse would allow.

Grainger has an equivalent fuse for about $12, if you've got a store around where you live or if you can wait for it to ship. Just make sure the physical dimensions match as well.


Would insulating a basement wall with XPS and reflective insulation create a moisture problem? I'm in Massachusetts (ICC 2015 w/ mods) and want to finish my basement walls. I'm thinking about using a combination of 2" XPS, 1x2s horizontal 24" OC, Reflectix (double reflective insulation, here), 1x2s vertical 16" OC and drywall. This should give me R-17 with the XPS (R-10) and R-7 given a 3/4 inch air gap both under and over the Reflectix. Would this be legit? Am I asking for moisture problem with furring between two vapor barriers (XPS and Reflectix)?
Follow-up details:
Basement walls are all below ground and over ten years without water after doing some exterior drainage. There is efflorescence so I assume at least some moisture.
I'm not sure where the frost line is, so certainly higher up the wall the ground behind it is below freezing. Not sure of the wall surface temp itself. The basement is generally quite cold.

A fast and accurate method is to open a wall example on the site
www.ubakus.com
and to add/change layers. Switching from U to R values can be done by clicking on the spanner icon next to the result.
Here is a screenshot from a similar question for a house in Europe.


How to wire light with a switch in the middle of a circuit I am attempting to reinstall a switch in a room in my house. Within the box there are two cables. The cable on the left has a black and white wire. The cable on the right has three wires a black, a white, and a red wire. The way it is currently hooked up is that the red wire is pigtailed off, the white wires are pigtailed together and the black wires are connected to either ends of a single pole switch.

The problem is that this configuration results in the switch controlling both the lights and the outlets in the room. So when the switch is turned off it would remove power to the outlets as well as the overhead light.

After doing a bit or research I think I have a light switch in the middle of a circuit. I think it is probably like the wiring diagram in the following link "Power at switch diagram".

http://www.easy-do-it-yourself-home-improvements.com/light-switch-wiring-diagram.html#switch1

What would be the correct way of installing this switch? Are there any suggestions for how I can figure out how the circuit is connected in my house?

It depends on which side of the switch is the line (power source from the box) and which side is the load (light and outlets).

If the two wire cable is the line and the three wire is the load, you may be able to use the red wire to carry uninterupted power to the outlets. The next question is whether the light or the outlets come next in the circuit, and whether that red wire shows up in their respective boxes.

If the outlet is next and the red wire is also capped in that box, you can use the red to power the outlets while still switching the light. Connect the incoming black line wire, the exiting red wire and add a black pigtail (a short length of wire). Then connect the other end of the pigtail to the switch where the incoming black wire was previousl.

At the outlet box, remove the incoming black wire going to the outlet and replace it with the incoming red wire. Attach the incoming black wire (that is now free) to the black wire going to the light. This may be attached to the far side of the outlet. If so, disconnect it from the outlet first.

If the light is next in line, this will only work if there are both black and red red wires going to the light fixture box. In that case, remove the outgoing black wire (going from the light to the distant outlets) and attach that outgoing black to the incoming red. Leave the incoming black on the light fixture.

If the red wire does not show up in the next connection box, you are out of luck unless you add additional wiring.

In sum, you need two hot wires leaving the switch box, a black one that is switched and a red one that is always hot. You are trying to keep the switched black connected to the light fixture and the unswitched red powering the outlet. (The colors are arbitrary, but since the red is not currently in use, we have designated it always hot).


Replacing chandelier, I have 5 different colours of wires coming out of the ceiling I took a chandelier off and didn't took pic of the wiring. I have 4 cables with red black and green and an extra 2 cables, one with yellow( with green stripe) and black. And one with red and white. When I connect only the red and black the light switch doesn't turn the light off and it stays on all the time.
How should I contact it?

I'm guessing you're in Australia (or NZ), and assuming the original installation was done correctly

the black is is the neutral, the blacks go together and connect to the chandelier Neutral terminal. the red is active, all the reds go together and connect to nothing else, all the green and green-yellow are ground and go together and connect to the body of the chandelier (if it's metal, else nothing)
the white is the power feed, from the switch and connects to the other chandelier terminal power terminal.

If the chandelier has a "loop" terminal you can use that for the reds, if not get the modern version of the screw connector like the one on the green earth wires.
https://www.mitre10.com.au/hpm-connector


Does a GFCI receptacle provide overcurrent protection? Does a GFCI receptacle provide over-current protection? (note that I'm not referring to GFCI circuit breakers as may be found in a service panel, nor to specialty devices such as an inline plug-in GFCI that may offer over-current protection)

I've checked some GFCI datasheets (note, this link opens a PDF) but haven't found any that mention overcurrent protection, or provide trip curves as would be expected in a circuit breaker datasheet.

So, does a GFCI receptacle provide any inherent over-current protection or must it always be used with a circuit breaker for over-current protection?

This question was prompted by this answer where the answer suggests using a GFCI outlet as a circuit breaker. This seems like very big misconception of the protection offered by a GFCI, and is potentially dangerous if it leads someone to think that GFCI outlets are the same as circuit breakers.

A ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) uses a current transformer (CT) (or similar device), to detect slight current imbalances between the ungrounded (hot) and grounded (neutral) conductors that pass through it.

On its own, a GFCI does not offer any purposeful type of overcurrent, nor overload protection.

This blog entry explains a bit about how a GFCI works, if you're interested in a bit more reading.


Angle Stop Valve Behind Toilet Coming Apart When Trying to Unscrew The Nut Connected To It A simple bidet installation got me in a mess. I closed the angle stop valve behind my toilet and removed the flex hose to install 1/2" to 3/8" threaded coupling. Then I connected a 3/8" T-adapter and connected my toilet hose to one end, and a bidet hose to the other. Worked great except for a slow drip between the threads of the stop valve and the coupler, even with 4 layers of Teflon tape. Many re-assemblies later, in an attempt to stop the leak I apparently over-tightened the coupler, and now when I try to loosen it (piece #3 in the picture) piece #2 goes with it, causing water to spurt out between pieces 1 and 2. It happens with the valve fully closed. Turns out the stop valve (a quarter turn valve) is made of 2 pieces threaded into each other, and now I'm disassembling the valve while it's trying to hold back water! I can't just tighten it up again either because the valve/coupler connection still seeps.

Any tricks for binding pieces #1 and #2 together so I can unscrew part #3? Part 2 doesn't have a hex shape to grab with a wrench. Assuming welding them together somehow is not an option since there's water in the pipe.

As for replacing the valve- we're in a condominium which has a cold water shutoff for our unit, but it turns continuously and doesn't shut off the water. I'd probably need to shut off water for all 7 units which requires advanced notice, and confidence. Would like to avoid it if possible.

I'll never over-tighten again and will choose parts with gaskets instead of threads only.

Thanks in advance.

Valve for just my unit. Turns forever, doesn't close.

Valve for whole building. Works fine.

You are correct that trying to repair the stop-valve is a bad idea, and should be replaced.
A reason why your condo shut-off valve is spinning is the thread on the stem has being stripped.  That the part that connects the handle to the stem.  When you turn the handle, you will see that the stem is not turning.
 In my picture, where the Nut is shown,  It could be a nut or screw there to attached the handle to the stem.  You could try and remove the handle to expose more of the stem.  If you can get a clamping plier on the stem, try to and turn slowly clockwise to turn the water off. The stem should be moving in.  This would be a temporary fix to cut the water off.
You will still need a plumber to repair this if the threads are stripped.
If you are able to turn off the water to your condo, then it would be a simple matter of replacing the broken toilet stop-valve with a new valve with the proper fitting, 3/8" outlet, that matches your tee.


Need a small compression rod for stabilizing my dryer Just joined and looking for some help in finding (or building) a small compression rod to stabilize my dryer. I have washer/dryer closet and the dryer sits atop my washer (in classic fashion). However, when the washer goes into a fast spin, the dryer shakes on top a bit and makes some noise. I realized if I could just get some small (say around 3" or 4") compression rods on either side of the dryer (between it and the closet wall), it would really help to stabilize the movement and the sound.

The closest I could find through web searching is 6"curtain rods, which are just too long and too weak. Ideally, I'm looking for something like what I'm showing in the illustration below. Big suction cup like ends would be great but as long as it's a fairly wide, flat surface, it could be anything (plastic, rubber, etc.). Any ideas where I could find something like this or how I could build it?

I would suggest that you get yourself some high density foam material similar to the type used for padding furniture cushions. You can get this material in various thicknesses so you would want to measure the gap from the sides of the dryer and the walls and purchase accordingly. One Example

The idea is to cut the high density padding into a square of say 1.5 or 2.0 feet on a side. Then squeeze that in between the wall and the dryer sides. You will want the material to be under some compression when it is installed. It may be necessary to insert two pads of different thicknesses on top of each other to get the needed space filled up with some compression.

This approach has some decided advantages as follows:

The foam material will act to muffle the sound coupled to the wall. Your idea with point contact will more likely couple sound right into the wall.
The foam pad extends out over a larger area of the dryer sides to provide stability and to reduce the drum head effect that metal appliance walls can create.
The pad spreads the compression load over a large surface of the wall to prevent wall damage. A point type of compression assembly would have to be positioned over a stud to ensure that it does not eventually break into the wall. This would be particularly an issue for the very common drywall material made of paper and plaster material. With the foam that load gets spread across a large area.


Can I install a device transformer in a junction box to keep it behind the wall surface? I'm in Oregon, USA, and trying to figure out a code-compliant way of hiding a wall wart (AC/DC transformer) behind a small device (about 3"x3"; if it matters, the specific device is a smart garage door opener).

My (possibly XY) solution to this problem is to put a 2-gang box in the wall with a high/low voltage divider plate, wire in a snap-in outlet (or similarly small outlet) and mount the outlet in the divider plate, and plug in the wall wart (inside the junction box) to this outlet.  I'll mount my device to a blank 2-gang plate, and run the 5v barrel connector through the blank plate.

However, my spidey senses say that this would be all sorts of a code violation.  But I'm not sure what, if any, violation this would be.  I'm separating high/low voltage with the divider plate, and the only wires I'm running through are the low voltage (5V) wires.  Would this setup be legal under code?

As long as you have the high voltage separated from the low voltage and you do not over fill the box it would be legal as long as it is accessable, I use deep 4 square boxes with a blank cover plate regularly to encase small camera power supplies and I have not had any code issues in Lynn, Benton, or lane counties.


Shower water going under the shower curtain I have a shower over my bath, but due to the shape of the bath the shower curtain does not cover the entire length of the bath, so sometimes water is getting under the curtain and on to the carpet.

Can anyone suggest anything i can do to stop the water getting onto the floor, I've attached a photo to give you an idea of what it looks like

If your shower curtain can reach to the wall of the bath surround, a combination of shower curtain clips:

and splash guards should prevent most of the water from escaping your tub.


Grouting wet outside of showers We've recently installed two new bathrooms.

The showers in both bathrooms seem to have leaks in the exact same places, outside he left corner.

We're in this new house a month and now I'm starting to panic, about this little bit of water after every shower.

Opinions welcome, my plumber returns this week. See attached pics.

So it looks like you have tile all the way down, and a fiberglass pan. Even if the door was caulked properly, it's entirely possible that the water is wicking through the grout.

Make sure the entire door is caulked
Make sure the place where the tile meets the fiberglass is caulked as well

If either of these are not caulked, go buy a siliconized latex caulk and caulk it again yourself (make SURE it's dry first)


Why is there an exposed wire coming out of my wall near my fluorescent light fixture? We are in the process of replacing the ballast in our fluorescent light fixture (after replacing the bulbs, the lighting was still dim, so we figured it was a fault of the ballast). After we disconnected the hot and neutral (black and white) wires from the ballast, we noticed a third, unused wire coming out of the wall. Here is a picture:

Our ballast does not appear to need this wire. What we want to know is:

What is it?
Is it dangerous to leave it exposed like this? It is basically just 'hanging out' behind the fixture; we didn't realize this until just now.
If it IS dangerous, what can we do to make it safe?

This is a ground wire.  No wires should be left exposed hanging out of the wall.  It's not going to spontaneously burn down your house like that, but it could possibly become energized in which case it would pose a risk if someone were to make contact with it.

The fixture should have a grounding nut and that wire should be secured to it. Look for a green colored screw (not guaranteed to be green, but makes finding it simple).

In the event the wire really isn't needed, the wire should be neatly folded up within the electrical box (or the wiring box on the fixture itself).


Existing Ceiling Fan fixture doesn't work - 2 hot wires, 1 neutral all confusion I have a ceiling fan wire set in our home that did not work when we moved in.  It was/is exposed and we never saw a working fixture there.  There are 3 wires.  One black(1), one white(2) and one exposed wire(3) without a sheath.  I had assumed that it was hot, neutral and ground respectively.  But upon testing both wires 1 & 3 are hot.  It goes to a double switch wall plate.  There is only one switch for this particular ceiling light (left).  The second switch has a white wire daisy chained to the first.  The second switch (right) controls 3 things and does work.  The closet light in that bedroom, a hallway linen closet just around the corner and a wall power outlet that only works when the second (right switch) is turned on.

Power only registers at the ceiling fan wiring spot when the left wall switch is turned on.

I've tried about every combination i thought safe in connecting the wires of a new ceiling fan/light but no dice.  The fan/light has blue, black, white and ground wires.  Once i found that two wires coming from the ceiling were hot that it would be one of two things.  White to white, blue to one hot and black to the other hot.  Or white to white and all hot together(?)

Please forgive my ignorance on the subject, stated above is my basic understanding of home wiring.  And there are no other wall switches for these lights.

Any thoughts on what i'm missing?  Attached are pics.  The ceiling pic shows white wire on the left, unsheathed wire middle and black wire on the right.

Yeah, I see what they did now.

First off, they are feeding the right switch from a junction box in the ceiling on the white wire. Then the black wire on the right switch is a switch leg back to the closet, linen, receptacle. So, this all works because the neutral for that is in the junction box in the closet, linen, or receptacle. Wherever it is fed from.

Then they jumpered the hot white wire to the left switch. So, when the left switch is thrown it only energizes the black wire and there is no neutral to the light box. The white wire has been cut off.

The problem here is there is no neutral in the switch box to power the ceiling fan.

The fact that they used three way switches to do this is not a problem since they wired them as single pole switches. They could be easily replaced if you wish but it will not fix your problem.

You would need to get a cable from the feed junction box to the switches that has 3 wires and a ground. So, you would have a hot feed to the both switches, a switched leg to the closet,linen,rec., AND a neutral for the left switch to power the ceiling fan. There are other ways to do this that may be easier but the concept is the same. You need a neutral wire.

Good luck and stay safe!


Increasing Range of Night Vision Cameras Will replacing a regular fluorescent floodlight with and infrared floodlight increase the clarity/range of my night vision cameras? If not, are there other methods to increase clarity/range of my night vision cameras, without replacing said cameras?

Found the following bulb:

http://www.elightbulbs.com/General-600530-TSG-PAR38-IR-175W-E27-240V-RED-PAR38-Reflector-Flood-Spot-Light-Bulb&source=GoogleBaseCSE?gclid=CNf6svCVw8gCFYgYHwodjtgHiQ

Says it's a "Heat Lamp," which sortof threw me. Should that qualification deter me from procuring it? Incandescent bulbs produce heat, what's the difference with infrared bulbs? Isn't that just the tinting of the light itself?

Night vision, the type most sold to the public, relies on some low level lighting to enhance and produce objects. Infra red light does this or any light with a red output (or any red colored lens in front of a standard bulb). The heat lamp spot bulb will allow you to view objects in a larger area(or field of view) and see them brighter, but unless your camera or scope has a lens that can focus you will not be able to see any further than what the lens is set at.


How to size an earth continuity conductor? For the line wires, I just check the maximum load current and select a conductor from the manufacturer datasheet that can support that maximum current.

What about the earth continuity conductor though, how is it sized?

In North America equipment grounding conductors (circuit grounds) can be much smaller than circuit conductors. In fact it's only the first few circuit sizes (up to 30A) that require the EGC to be the same size as the circuit conductors.

In the US, grounding conductors are sized according to the NEC Table 250.122.


replacing a light switch I have a light switch in the laundry room that has two white wires, one black wire.  It had a problem with the switch so I decided to replace it.  I bought a single pole switch, with 2  screws, and put the two white wires on one screw, the black on the other.  The light stayed on and wouldn't switch off.  So I bought another switch that has three screws, just like the old one.  But I couldn't remember which wires went on which side.  So I put the two white wires on the two top screws, the black on the bottom - no current.  I switched the two white wires, but had them still both at the top with the black on the bottom screw - no current.  I don't want to short circuit anything, but would the right answer be to have the black wire by itself on the top screw on the left, and the two white wires on the screws on the right, top and bottom?

Thanks!

Does the light this switch controls have a second switch? Meaning, is it a three way switch? If so, you should have one white, one black, and one red (this one may be white if it was done by someone who did not use appropriate wiring). This would mean that you will have to find some means of making a plan of what wires run where, and then make the necessary connections. If you are not electrical-savvy or are not comfortable working with electricity, call an electrician.

If, on the other hand, this is the only switch for the light, then it is not normal to have two white wires and one black. You should have either two whites and two blacks, or just one white and one black. In case you take a closer look at the wiring in the wall and find four wires, plug one white on each end of the single pole switch, and wire and cap the two black wires together. Make sure your ground is connected.

This leaves you with one last option - your switch controls more than just one light (i.e. light + fan). In that case, you have wiring that does not conform to code ; as far as I know, and please correct me if I am wrong, you can only have one wire on every terminal of a switch. In this case, I suggest once again you call an electrician.


How do I make exposed wood stairs less squeaky? I was wondering if it is possible to make exposed wood stairs less squeaky with a layer of foamy/rubbery material between the stringers/frame and stair treads.  Or is there a different solution?

There are special screws for squeaky wood floors. You drill a small pilot hole, drive in the special screw and the head of it breaks off. The screw pulls the offending pieces together eliminating the squeak. You will want to try to screw into the stringers for the best result. With the head broken off a small hole remains that can be filled. If you have large gaps between the treads and the risers you may want to get some wood glue in the gap prior to installing the screws.


Does my ceiling fan's down rod need extra support? I am planning on installing a ceiling fan with a light kit (about 17-18lbs total), with a 24” down rod and was wondering if the down rod needed to be supported.
It is a new installation and will be installing the proper box, but was concerned about the down rod only...seismic support(?)
Thanks.

Look in the parts for your fan and see what is the longest pipe that comes with the fan. You will probably find two pipes, but even the longer would be much shorter than 24".

Go online or to a "fan store" and get a 24" pipe specifically made for your fan. It will be installed in place of the shorter pipe that comes with the fan and will come painted to match your fan.

How tall is your ceiling? Be prepared to give that measurement to at the fan store and they might advise you to get a different length pipe--either shorter or longer than 24". As a rough guide I would say that a 24" support rod would be about right for a 10' ceiling, depending on how far down your light kit projects and what you preference is.

The wires that come on the fan are much longer than needed for short pipes and are probably long enough for a 24" pipe without having to add extra wire, but you will have to see what the instructions say.

EDIT

The modern cheaper fans (e.g., Hunter) can be installed at the location of a box which formerly held only a light fixture if there is a ceiling joist next to the ceiling box. The fan installation kit has a bracket with long screws which go into the ceiling joist which a box is nailed to.

But if the joist is not adjacent to the ceiling box, then the box may well be a light duty one which is on a light metal bar which would not support any fan. In that case the existing box and bar would have to be removed through the existing hole and a fan box with bar installed (through the existing hole).

EDIT2

For example see Down rods for Hunter fans

EDIT3

Note that if you need to substitute a fan support bar for the existing one, you need one which is designed for retrofit through the existing hole. There are some fan support bars which will only work if there is no drywall in place. These are much cheaper but they cannot be inserted through an existing 3.5" or 4" hole in ceiling drywall whereas the retrofit ones can be.

EDIT4

In case of failure of the primary fan suspension safety cables will provide a backup. Safety cables may be required in seismic zones, and in certain applications such as schools, daycare facilities, nursing homes, etc.
Panasonic info on safety in fan installations

None of the fans I have ever installed, or had installed for me, has a safety cable.


HVAC system that pulls-in cold air from outside? My house has an existing forced-air heating system and I'm looking at getting central AC added in a few weeks' time (indeed, I've booked contractors for estimates next week). An AC system would keep my house cool when it is hot outside.

...but what options are there for cooling a house when it's also cold outside (without running expensive AC)? I don't like having to manually open windows, so I was wondering if there was some kind of additional cooling system which sucks in cool air from outside and blows it through the forced-air ducts, thus cooling down the interior without needing to run AC.

...does such a system exist? Do AC systems do this anyway?

There is an optional add-on part for HVAC systems called an economizer.

  An HVAC economizer is a dampered vent designed to save energy and give the cooling system a break. Sensors within the economizer compare the outdoor temperature and humidity with that inside the building. –Google

When you call for cooling, the unit decides if it needs to run the AC or just open the economizer to pull in outside air.


Electrical sheathing removal for pool light? Can I remove the sheathing from the pool light junction box to the panel, to make it easier to pull through existing conduit?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

You should not be using cable or cord for ANY wiring to and for a pool light, with the exception of wiring that is within a building or structure. An insulated green ground is mandatory. The only exception to this is the cord that comes factory attached to a wet-niche type underwater light (luminaire).

PLEASE read up on the codes involved with pool wiring, it is NOT a place you want to mess around or cut corners!

  680.23 Underwater Luminaires

  This section covers all luminaires installed below the normal water level >of the pool.

  (F) Branch-Circuit Wiring.

  (1) Wiring Methods.

  Branch-circuit wiring on the supply side of enclosures and junction
  boxes connected to conduits run to wet-niche and no-niche luminaires,
  and the field wiring compartments of dry-niche luminaires, shall be
  installed using rigid metal conduit, intermediate metal conduit,
  liquidtight flexible nonmetallic conduit, rigid polyvinyl chloride
  conduit, or reinforced thermosetting resin conduit. Where installed on
  buildings, electrical metallic tubing shall be permitted, and where
  installed within buildings, electrical nonmetallic tubing, Type MC
  cable, electrical metallic tubing, or Type AC cable shall be
  permitted. In all cases, an insulated equipment grounding conductor
  sized in accordance with Table 250.122 but not less than 12 AWG shall
  be required.

  Exception: Where connecting to transformers for pool lights, liquidtight flexible metal conduit shall be permitted. The length
  shall not exceed 1.8 m (6 ft) for any one length or exceed 3.0 m (10
  ft) in total length used.

  (2) Equipment Grounding.

  Other than listed low-voltage luminaires not requiring grounding, all
  through-wall lighting assemblies, wet-niche, dry-niche, or no-niche
  luminaires shall be connected to an insulated copper equipment
  grounding conductor installed with the circuit conductors. The
  equipment grounding conductor shall be installed without joint or
  splice except as permitted in (F)(2)(a) and (F)(2)(b). The equipment
  grounding conductor shall be sized in accordance with Table 250.122
  but shall not be smaller than 12 AWG.

  Exception: An equipment grounding conductor between the wiring chamber of the secondary winding of a transformer and a junction box
  shall be sized in accordance with the overcurrent device in this
  circuit.

  (a)   If more than one underwater luminaire is supplied by the same
  branch circuit, the equipment grounding conductor, installed between
  the junction boxes, transformer enclosures, or other enclosures in the
  supply circuit to wet-niche luminaires, or between the field-wiring
  compartments of dry-niche luminaires, shall be permitted to be
  terminated on grounding terminals.

  (b)   If the underwater luminaire is supplied from a transformer,
  ground-fault circuit interrupter, clock-operated switch, or a manual
  snap switch that is located between the panelboard and a junction box
  connected to the conduit that extends directly to the underwater
  luminaire, the equipment grounding conductor shall be permitted to
  terminate on grounding terminals on the transformer, ground-fault
  circuit interrupter, clock-operated switch enclosure, or an outlet box
  used to enclose a snap switch.


Roofing choice for outdoor sandbox cover I built an outdoor sandbox for the kids that's about 4' x 5' but haven't had the time to put a real roof on it yet. To keep the rain (and the poo of roaming cats) out, we have thus far been using a piece of plastic sheeting held down with a bunch of bricks on the edges, but we have to go out and empty a giant puddle of water from the middle of it after each rainstorm so obviously that's a temporary solution.

I would like to build an extremely simple and inexpensive lid/roof for the box that will last at least a few years. Shingles seem like overkill, but all of the ideas online that don't use shingles seem like they're going to fail as soon as they get wet (ie this guy who just painted an OSB sheet).

What would be a good material for roofing? Can I just tar some plywood? Would painting OSB actually work long-term?

Purchase a 4'x8' sheet of southern yellow pine (SYP) plywood that's been pressure treated for ground contact applications.

Typically that's an ACQ treatment at 0.40 or 0.60 pounds per cubic foot, and SYP because that species of wood accepts and retains treatment extremely well.

"Ground contact" is the highest level of treatment, and I chose it over the lesser "above ground" treatment because it is directly exposed to the elements, and the additional cost should be negligible for just 1 sheet.

You wouldn't even have to paint it, but if you do, use a paint designed/intended for use on treated decks.

The only thing I'd be concerned about is a finding a way to prevent the sheet of plywood from flying away during storms and periods of high wind gusts.

Depending on the thickness you purchase, it will begin to warp as the main failure mode, not decay or rot. To prevent that you may want to build a frame for it by screwing treated SYP 2x4s on the bottom around the perimeter, and maybe one or two running down the middle of it. Make sure the screws are short enough so they don't stick through the other side and poke little fingers when removing the sheet to play.


How should I remove the paint to expose brickwork? My house is Georgian brick (about 1780). A garage was added and the part of the wall attached to the garage was painted white. I want to remove the paint and expose the brickwork. The garage is going to be converted into a conservatory.

The garage is totally empty so I was going to sandblast the wall, but is this the best option?

Speaking to a friend there seems to be variations on sandblasting, such as soda-blasting. What is the most effective method for totally removing paint and that will cause least damage to the brickwork?

The wall is about 4 metres by 3 metres.

Soda blasting usually will not take off paint, does very little damage to sheetrock. Sand blasting would work better with fine sand to cet into the smaller holes. Dont use the larger stuff that looks more like rock chips. The larger size rock will do more damage.
Any time with open sandblasting you should wear a dust mask. With old paint especially prior to 1980 make sure to wear a respirator as there will probably be lead in the paint.


Can I fit an extractor fan in a window? We have a basement flat and we suspect that the bathroom exhaust fans do not go anywhere, which causes a fair bit of damp in the flat which manifests itself as condensation on the windows in the winter.

I'd like to fit an extractor fan, or at least some sort of vent to allow the air to circulate (this should help with the condensation shouldn't it?), but don't want to drill through the wall as there is a damp proof membrane in there.  Can I fit something into the window, and how do I go about cutting a hole in the glass to accommodate it?  I've seen those cat-flaps that are in the windows so I assume it must be able to be done...

Does the window open? Or is it a fixed pane? If it opens (or if you can find one the same size that opens) you could install a window exhaust fan like this one that mounts in the window frame. That way you don't have to mess with cutting a hole in the glass.

Another option would bet to place a dehumidifier in the bathroom.


Shading windows from outside (awnings, shutters, etc) to keep house from overheating in summer The back of my house faces west, and during July and August, the sun hits it directly in the afternoon through evening.  On a warm day, this can cause the house to heat up quite a bit, so I'm making it a project to minimize the heat.  One thing I'm looking at is being able to shade the windows from the sun.  My neighbor uses awnings, but I'm not a big fan of the designs I've seen.  I'm also considering shutters (as I saw on all buildings during a recent trip to Italy), but I'm not sure I'll find anything that suits the house.  I'm also considering some simple roll-down blinds, maybe even something that I only attach during the warmest days.

My question is what are the design considerations I need to take into account for making sure I'm coming up with a solution that minimizes heat? Is anything that blocks/reflects the sun from the window enough?  Are there other things to consider?

[Postscript: I'm also using landscaping to cut down on the heat, but it's going to take a while for some of the trees to grow into effective blocks.]

Update:  Just came across this article, which doesn't go into a lot of depth, but does give a good overview of several options.

Down here in Texas, solar screens are the thing to have. They're simply black mesh panels that install over the outside of the entire window, and in addition to being basic bug and safety screens, they reduce the amount of sunlight coming in to the window. You can still see out very well, so unless this is a big all-glass window wall (in which case I'd use tinting film similar to car windows) it's the thing to use.

Insulating, light-blocking curtains are another way to reduce solar gain. Yes they're inside, but they still work. Only problem is that you can't see through them.


Running ser cable from 200amp main to 100 amp sub panel I'm running ser wire from my 200 amp main box in my garage to a 100amp service box for tankless water heater. I'm running the cable along the top edge of my garage around a corner about 30ft run total. I was wondering how I need to secure this 2-2-2-4 cable along the top of my garage ceiling? I know I ser does not require conduit so can I just wire clamps or what? I was going to secure with wire clamps every 3 ft of run and then cover with some angled crown molding?? Just trying to make sure I won't have to tear down if I ever sell my house. Thanks!

Your support plans are fine; just make sure your feeder breaker is 90A or less
SER cable used for feeder or branch-circuit duty is treated exactly the same as a (rather fat) NM cable for support and installation-technique purposes, albeit without the 60°C working temperature limit on ampacity calculations:

(4) Installation Methods for Branch Circuits and Feeders.
(a) Interior Installations. In addition to the provisions of
this article, Type SE service-entrance cable used for interior
wiring shall comply with the installation requirements of Part II
of Article 334, excluding 334.80.

As a result, since the NEC only requires NM cables to be supported at a 4½' interval:

334.30 Securing and Supporting. Nonmetallic-sheathed cable
shall be supported and secured by staples; cable ties listed and
identified for securement and support; or straps, hangers, or
similar fittings designed and installed so as not to damage the
cable, at intervals not exceeding 1.4 m (4½ ft) and within
300 mm (12 in.) of every cable entry into enclosures such as
outlet boxes, junction boxes, cabinets, or fittings. Flat cables
shall not be stapled on edge.
Sections of cable protected from physical damage by raceway
shall not be required to be secured within the raceway.

Note, though, that while people may say that your 2-2-2-4 SER cable is good for 100A, that's only true when it's feeding an entire dwelling unit (house or aparment); for other applications, like yours, you're limited to the 90A ampacity of a 2AWG Al wire at 75°C by the NEC 110.14(C) termination temperature limits, unless you have an old main panel that isn't marked for 75°C usage, which then limits you to 80A instead.
GO BIG OR GO HOME
Assuming you haven't already acquired the subpanel, there's no reason to skimp on subpanel spaces.  While the heater may only require 4 or 6 slots for its own use, a 24-space or 30-space, 100A or 125A, main lug subpanel isn't that much more expensive than a mini-panel, and will provide valuable expansion room in the future.  This is especially true since the home of the new panel needs to provide a fridge-sized clearspace in front of it as per NEC 110.26(A) so that someone who has to work on the thing while "live" doesn't have to do a contortionist act to get to it.
Note that when you're hooking this panel up, since it's a subpanel (i.e. doesn't have a service disconnect inside it) powered by a feeder, you'll need to pull the green bonding screw out of its home in the panel, or simply not install it to begin with, and make sure that you install and use separate grounding bars to land your grounding wires in the panel if the panel doesn't come with them already fitted.
TORQUE ALL LUGS TO SPEC
Last but not least, you'll want to use an inch-pound torque wrench and/or torque screwdriver when tightening breaker and lug connections.  This is required by 110.14(D) in 2017 and newer editions of the NEC, and is a good idea anyway, lest your electrical system lose you the race!


perimeter wiring LED lights thru pipe fence I have a some used airport taxiway lights, and want to place some around perimeter of 4 acre property on top of existing pipe fence for looks. Want to install about 16 lights total. Will rewire with LED at 7-9 watt range. Can run wiring thru the top rail of the fence. The distance is the problem...can do in two circuits of about 1000ft each, with 8 lights each. So to the experts, I will take any advice i can get. Specifically: will 12/2 wire suffice? Since LEDs come in 110 or 220 should I wire circuit at one or the other and why please? Can I use one good quality timer for both circuits starting at source and dividing there? The idea is low cost lighting of property for aesthetics, so if this will spin my meter like a top may have to rethink...and do not want to spend a ton. I already have a 2000' of 12/2 wire, a heavy duty mechanical timer, power at the meter located where I can divide into two "runs", enough taxi way lights to light an entire airport, and the property already has pipe fence to run wire thru. LED rework of lights is cheap. Soooo...besides the fact that I am nuts, advise please>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Depending entirely on what the LED you insert is, the BEST way to do long runs of LEDs is to put them in series and run the required DC current through the system at whatever voltage that requires (the LED supply will be controlling the current closely in that case, the voltage will be what's needed to run the current.) But that requires that you use LEDs that are "bare" in the sense of having no attached/built in power supply.

If you are using 120/240VAC LEDS (which are low-voltage DC LEDs attached to a power supply which uses 120/240VAC and does the conversion locally) then you will perforce be wiring in parallel at 120/240V.

16 9 watt LEDS, assume pessimistically that they are quoting LED power use and ignoring losses in the power supply, say 80% to be pessimistic about power supply efficiency, comes to about 180 watts, should run 5.5 hours on a kilo-Watt-hour (for your pricing) and draw 0.75A on 240V or 1.5A on 120V. At 12 hours per night (average across the year) and 15 cents a kilowatt hour, about $120/year.

Assuming that your wire is rated for use in conduit/wet locations, likely won't be a problem, though it will obviously be better on 240V (less current for the same power, so less voltage drop.) If you have 12/2 UF wire that will be true, if you have 12/2 NM wire it is absolutely not true, and a code violation. I'm not going to bother sorting out the actual voltage drop from distributed lights (which will be less), but treated as a lump load at the end of the wire, 0.75A at 240V on 1000 feet of 12Ga results in 3% drop, so you would be fine. If dividing into two 8 light circuits, you'll be fine on either voltage.

How much you'll annoy your neighbors (especially if any of them like to look at the stars) is a whole other question.


Can I remove and replace barbed connector in 1/2" drip tube? I have a drip irrigation system with 1/4" tubes connected to the 1/2" main tube via punched-in barbed connectors.  I'm now making some adjustments.

Is it possible to remove and replace these barbed connectors, or will that damage the 1/2" tube?

Thanks!

It is possible.

If the tube is old and brittle than you may crack it.
If you do crack the tube, or you have to cut it, you can buy new inexpensive tubing  and barbed couplers as well.

Heat it up with a hair dryer or hot water and slowly wiggle it back and forth as you pull. Some come apart more easily then others.