120V "phase" testing and 208/240 volts I have two mains lines coming into my detached garage. Is there any way to test if these are on opposite "phases" (I don't know what the correct word is) so that I can use them for 208/240 outlet?

Update: I think poll is the word I am looking for. Not phases.

Placing them on opposite poles is stupid easy but that doesn't help you.

You can't gang two cables to support the same load.  It's not allowed and it probably won't work.

As an aside, it's a little weird to have two parallel cables to the same outbuilding.   This, also, is not allowed unless the circuits are of different voltages or differently controlled (e.g. A switched circuit for a light).  This prohibition may be your salvation: If both cables are /2, their only options are 120V or 240V, so there'd need to be one of each.

So that's the answer, rewire one of the circuits to be a 240V circuit.

If you need to switch a light, then you either use wireless smart switches of some kind, or fit motion sensors, or fit efficient LEDs and just leave them on 24x7.


Wiring new basement lights I'm replacing an old light with an LED.  Old light is pull string so I'm adding a switch.  The light is connected directly to the power box/breaker.  Wiring is in conduit.

So I take the old light out, and wire the new one in.  Can I then run wiring to a wall and place a switch?  Pretty sure I can do this.

How about my next step.....can I then Run some line and have a second light using the same switch?  Or do I have to add a second switch?  So basically what I have is power source, to light, to switch.....to possible 2nd light

Sure you can do that, as long as the total number of outlets on that circuit doesn't exceed the maximum allowed (In Canada we are allowed 12 on a 15A circuit) Since you're adding a light, you will be increasing the number of outlets on that circuit by 1, so you should count all the receptacles (each duplex receptacle counts as 1 outlet even if you're not presently using them) and lights on that circuit.


124V neutral to ground and 65v hot to neutral when circuit is off? I moved in to a new apartment a couple months ago and noticed one of the LED light fixtures never really turned off, there was always a faint glow from it. Today I went to install some smart dimmers inside the fixtures to connect the to my Philips Hue lighting system. Unfortunately I dont have access to the load centers, so I had to just shut off the light fixture at the switch, work carefully and hope for the best. Before running some additional wire in to the fixtures to acommodate the dimmers, I decided to hook up a multimeter and see what was going on since the light never really turned off. To my surprise I read that the hot to neutral voltage was 65 volts, and the neutral to ground voltage was 124 when the circuit was supposedly off! What is going on here?
How it was wired, ground was never connected:

Hot to neutral reading 65 volts with the switch off

Neutral to ground reading 124 volts with the switch off

You used a high-impedance digital voltmeter (DVM), which can pick up induced or capacitively coupled current from nearby wiring. Put a resistor, perhaps 470 kilohms or 1 megohm, across the leads, to effectively "short out" the very low coupled voltage.


Can I put a 6" hole in this ceiling joist? I'm working on my kitchen to add a range hood that goes outside the house. I'm putting the 6" exhaust pipe in my ceiling, between my 1st and 2nd floor, going in the direction of the ceiling joists, as represented by the red arrow in the next picture:

While going this direction however I found 2 boards put together of at least 12 inch height, probably more, in perpendicular direction of the other joists, which marks the end of the inside of the house (Siding would be attached to the other side of the board).
As you can see in the following picture, there are 2 sides in the ceiling:

Side A is inside the house, the blue lines are the studs in the ceiling holding the second floor. Side B is a part that extends a bit out of the house (backyard), there is nothing on top of it, just a small roof on the backyard.
I want to put the exit of my exhaust on this small roof. My question is: Is this, is this a loading bearing joist? Is it safe to put a 6" hole in it (you can see I started it before realizing what I was doing)? What can I do to safely put the exhaust through it?

That joist is carrying something, even if it the weight of the material that make up that part of the house. I would say it is more than that since the new 2X with the framing anchor is attached to it, is telling me it is passing the load from the new 2X onto the one you wish to drill.
Now onto drilling dimensional lumber. Code only allows you to drill a hole that is no larger than 1/3 the total height of the material you plan to drill. 12" material, 4" hole maximum. There are metal brackets available online that will allow larger holes to be drilled.
10-23 edit
If I might add, and it should have been obvious earlier...That doubled joist is actually a beam, not a joist. Those follow a more stringent rule for drilling. I do not know what the largest allowable hole is, short of a 3/4" hole for electrical wiring, but that is all I do know. The mention by the OP about the outside roof and inside the house, that beam is carrying the outside wall above it with possibly the roof portion as well


How can I turn off the power to an outlet if a water alarm is triggered? I'm installing a dishwasher on a second floor, and after having 3x dishwashers leak during their run cycle during my life, I'm understandably hesitant.

I will definitely be installing a water alarm. However, what I'd really like to do is install a water alarm that can shut off power to the dishwasher in case of a leak.

Does such a device exists without me rigging up my own setup using a relay and water alarm combination?

I just recently paired a leak detector with a power relay for an upstairs laundry.

The leak detector has an output contact that is sensed by the power relay.

Floodstop detector, leak sensor and single valve for dishwasher

Furman power relay

I bought an extra sensor (they connect easily in parallel), so that I had one in the pan and one just outside at the base of the wall.

No extra wiring is necessary, except for converting your DW to a plug and outlet, all other wiring is supplied

You don't have to connect the valve if you don't want to, but its extra insurance if a hose leaks.


Best way to fix improperly fitted skirting board? My Mum’s had the cowboys in and they’ve made a complete mess of fitting the skirting boards. On one wall about a third of it isn’t even attached to the wall. I had a hard time finding the stud in the wall but eventually got it using a magnet, marked the spots on the wall where the magnet stuck and followed the line down to the skirting board but when I hammered a nail into the plasterboard just above it and an inch either side it went straight through each time. Seems like there’s nothing to nail it into.

I don’t want to take the whole thing off and risk ruining the plaster and I can’t really spread any adhesive very evenly while it’s against the wall. Do I just squirt and hope? Would expanding foam be good enough to hold it? Here’s a clip to show what I’m dealing with.

There should be a lower plate of the framing that you should be able to nail the skirting board to. See this picture:


Can I attach vinyl siding to a concrete foundation with Tapcons? I have a question about adding vinyl siding to my existing home.  I live in a new home (< 1 year old) with a walkout basement.  The house currently has siding on the first floor stopping at the foundation. This leaves about 500-600 square feet of the poured concrete foundation exposed. My wife and I are considering ways of improving the look of the foundation by adding siding to grade.  We have received a quote from a contractor (who did the original siding) for what I feel is a very reasonable price.

I have a couple concerns about the siding addition.  The concrete foundation is nearly flush with the first floor siding meaning that using furring strips would cause the new siding to stick out.  The contractor proposed using Tapcons to attach the siding directly to the foundation which would allow the siding to line up with the first floor.  This being the only alternative makes sense to me, however I am concerned about 300-400 holes being drilled into the side of my foundation.  I am also concerned that it will be problematic if the siding ever needs replaced. I wanted to get some opinions about whether this was ok to do?  Or whether this cosmetic improvement is not worth any potential problems it could create? I have been unable to find much advice on this subject as most discussions rightly assume furring strips are usable.

I don't see why not, but that is a lot of little holes in the foundation and also lots of work.

You would have to make sure the tapcons are not too tight as well so the vinyl doesn't buckle.

I would do as others have suggested and add some plants/landscaping.


hot water tank corrosion I am getting corrosion on my hot water tank connections that looks like electrolysis. I have a water purification system and it has been tested and working properly. I have a lightning protection ground wire that is connected to the copper piping that leads to the hot water tanks, Can this cause electrolysis?

Yep, that's electrolysis alright. Edwardt is right, you need a Dieletric Union to stop it & it should've been standard practice by whomever chose to do garbage work & guarantee a new water heater very prematurely.

That T & P valve on top might be shot too, which shouldn't be there anyway & was only used as an elbow. If it's from the same guy or firm that did the insulation, then find a new guy or firm...they're absolutely horrible & not even up to hack level work.


what circuit breakers are compatible with eaton gfci , 50 amp, 2 pole breaker? To be precise I have all eaton breakers in my subpanel, and I'd like to replace
this exact breaker: https://www.amazon.com/GFTCB250-Ground-Circuit-Breaker-2-Pole/dp/B01AGLRT9M/
with a gfci breaker built by another manufacturer.
The panel itself seems to give no guidance.
Why am I doing this?  My new electric oven trips this breaker, but a standard breaker works fine.  Massachusetts, however, requires a gfci breaker thanks to NFPA 70, 2020. The manufacturer suggests a different breaker might work fine due to subtle variations in the circuit logic, but has not provided any guidance as to which breakers might be ok, only just try a few.

I doubt you will find one. When looking for acceptable breakers you need breakers to be NRTL (UL, ETL, CSA) recognized, meaning Listed or Classified. Listed are breakers documented in documentation with the panel, Classified are substitute breakers by other manufacturers that have been tested for use in the panels indicated in their documentation. Most manufacturers of breakers don't participate in the Classified process, the exception is Eaton. This chart of Eaton breakers https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us/catalog/electrical-circuit-protection/classified-circuit-breakers.models.html doesn't show any 2-pole gfci breakers, but even if it did I would suspect there is likely little difference between the listed and classified version made by the same manufacturer.
So your only real option for a different breaker would seem to be mounting a small (spa style) disconnect as a subfeed from your main panel.
I would thoroughly check your existing wiring, receptacle, cord, and even the connection in the stove to verify no fault exists between neutral and ground before even considering a different breaker. If you find continuity anywhere between the neutral and ground wires then changing the breaker would be pointless.


Is it normal to smell sewer gas from a plumbing vent? We have a second floor room that is centered on top of the house - but this means that the windows of this second story are ABOVE the plumbing vents from the first floor.  These plumbing vents are a few feet below the windows and perhaps ten feet away, laterally.
On a regular basis, a sewer gas smell comes into the second floor, presumably from these plumbing vents.
This seems like an easy problem to solve - I see some activated charcoal vent caps that are advertised to solve this very problem.  Should be simple.
However, before I just cover over this problem, should I be worried that we're regularly smelling sewer gas from these vents ?  Is that indicative of some deeper plumbing problem ?  Or is it totally normal for some plumbing installs to just burp sewer gas out the vents during normal, day to day operation ?
Thanks.

It is normal for sewage gas to escape from drain vents. That's why they usually vent through the roof, that and unclogging. The vents tie directly into the pipes that lead to the sewers. There are plumbing traps that can cut down on the amount of gas that escapes but some will always escape. The vent cap should help but just make sure they don't seal the vent.


Is it safe to exhaust a portable electric clothes dryer indoors? Is it safe for us to breath in the house if the portable dryer vent blows into the house?

Portable probably means electric, so yes that should be safe in the short term.

You may soon have mold problems and the like from excess moisture, if you keep doing this, but there's no immediate danger from the exhaust, as would be the case with a gas dryer which exhausts combustion products.

You could simply put clothes on hangers and set them to dry - during the winter, they dry fairly quickly just hanging on the shower curtain rod over the tub, without blowing lint around the house.


Can I use weather stripping inside a shower? We are installing a shower base and there is a little gap between the drywall and the shower base. I did some research and the TrimLux from Sealux is perfect for our problem. The only problem is that I can't get it. But I saw a similar profile on a weather stripping. Is it possible to use weather stripping to cover the gap?

Caulking is the standard method for shower/baths. 100% silicone mildew resistant caulking.

I do not think the weather striping is going to eliminate water from wicking up from the bottom.

Is there going to be something installed over the the drywall?


C wire thermostat assistance I am trying to install a new wifi stat. The wiring seems to all be there but apparently not connected correctly. So far I have tried using the green wire from the furnace, the blue and the white from the air handler, each as the C wire, all without luck (doesn't turn on when power is restored at breaker).

Behind the old stat, the upper cable goes to the air handler while the lower cable goes to the furnace. The white, brown, and blue wires in the upper cable were unused in the old stat while the lower cable's green wire was also unused.

In the air handler (a trane twe048c140c0), the brown and blue wires are unused. Do I need to connect either to one of the existing wire nuts?

I'm not sure why the furnace isn't providing 24V either, but possibly because the relay switch is bad? The furnace works fine otherwise.

Here is an image album displaying all wiring that leads to the stat from the air handler and furnace:
https://imgur.com/a/uecMa

Thanks.

EDIT: Solved. There were two white wires hidden in the loops. None of the three spare wires running to the air handler were connected. Connected blue and stat powers on.

I had the same issue. All the instructions i found said connect one of the unused wires to the C terminal on the furnace and to the C terminal on the stat. Problem for me was there was no C terminal. I finally found a thread that was specific to my brand and it said connect the furnace side to the chassis. I had already come to the same conclusion after studying my wiring diagram but had continued looking just to be sure. I Did that and it works fine.


Stainless or aluminum chimney liner We replaced our oil burner with natural gas (not the high efficiency type) and it appears the cooler exhaust is causing heavy condensation near the roof. Chimney company wants to install a stainless liner but I hear aluminum is an option since this is natural gas.  Will aluminum work? Will it last?

I would consider stainless preferable in every way. However, there evidently are UL listed aluminum liners for venting gas appliances. I'd still put stainless in my house (if I had a gas line on my street.)

Stainless has better corrosion resistance, higher temperature tolerance, higher strength, and some decades of experience (in general, not specifically with flexible chimney liners) of having far more fatigue and corrosion failures of aluminum items than stainless steel items.

The only reasons I would normally choose aluminum over stainless don't really apply here - better thermal conductivity and lighter weight.


Repair tiny hole/scratch in copper pipe I discovered a very tiny hole/scratch in a copper pipe in my basement this morning. It looks like the scratch was caused by a screw that was holding up some wood paneling. The hole is in the middle of a run (not at a joint) and drips only once every 5 or 10 seconds. The pipe carries water from the boiler, so ideally the less surgery the better to repair it.

Apologies for the not great image...hopefully you can see the small scratch on the left side along with the water pooling on the pipe in the middle.

I have a plumber coming out this afternoon but this seems like something I should be able to fix myself with a little solder or something else. Any recommendations?

I have not seen patches hold up on copper. What I find best is to cut it at the hole and sweat a coupler on. It must be dry when you do the soldering or it will leak.


Will I be able to use the Unifix tool to repair a floating floor that was glued on the edges? Our engineered floating floor was installed by a contractor who glued the edges. We now have some damaged boards in the center of the kitchen that I would like to replace.
 I have seen the Unifix tool online and it looks pretty easy to use, but I don't know if the boards will separate since they have been glued.
 Does anybody have any experience with this?

It's not fun or easy, but it can be done.  Good answer was provided here How can I replace a board in floating wood floor?:

From the previous answer:

  You'd have to treat it like a hardwood floor t&g repair:
  Run a circular saw down one side, staying away from seam at least the thickness of the tongue, with depth set to board thickness.
  Repeat #1 along the other side.
  Connect the top and bottom cuts across the board, either with a chisel or OMT (Oscillating multi tool).
  Carefully cut into corners to free the 4 border pieces, as necessary. They may just pry out.
  Trim the bottom half of the groove off. (I like to use a table saw and fence). You should be able to wedge it in with the tongue intact, though a small bottom bevel might assist it.
  Sparingly glue along edges of existing tongues and the new board edges and weight it down, as necessary.


What to look for when picking a router? I am in the market to purchase a router for the first time, and I am not really sure what I should be looking for. As a reference, this is for hobby wood working, and the best I know to categorize it as is general usage (a little bit of everything). Not sure if it makes a difference, but I do not currently plan on getting a router table, but plan on getting one (or making one) down the line.

The things I have found while comparing them:

Motor Size
Collet sizes accepted
Dust Collection (not really important to me at the moment, since I do everything outside and just let it go everywhere)
plunge or fix based (not sure how important this one is, as they seem to be interchangeable bases)

Is there anything else I should be comparing?

More routers is always better! But here are things that I would look for when buying a single general-purpose router:

Adjustable speed. Large bits have a larger diameter and thus higher linear speed at the cutting edge, so you want to use a slower RPM to compensate. An adjustable-speed router will be useful in a wider range of applications.
Multiple base options. I have a fixed base mounted upside down in a homemade router table, and a plunge base for freehand routing. They came together in a kit, if I recall. Having at least two bases lets you leave one mounted.
1/4" and 1/2" collets.
Soft-starting motor. This isn't super important and I think a lot of current models have it. Instant-on routers always startle me and jump a little when you turn them on.

I wouldn't worry too much about the horsepower. Stay away from the small "palm routers" if you're looking for something general purpose, but otherwise there's no need (in my mind) to get a monster. 1.5 hp or so should be suitable for general purpose work. Bigger models will let you remove more stock quickly, but unless you're in a commercial setting with a sturdy table I doubt you'll want to push the limits of a large model.


What's the goo on the ground cable in my breaker box? I'm going to be replacing the breaker box in my condo and I'm looking more to the details now. I see that the main service entrance cable ground has some goo where is connected to the ground bar in the breaker box, see picture pls. Is this something normal I should get and apply when I install the new panel? or is it nothing to worry about? Thanks

It looks to be anti-oxidant that's gotten...crusty

Normal practice when terminating aluminum wires (such as the feeder to your condo) is to use an anti-oxidant paste or compound when making the connection -- this is said to keep aluminum oxide from forming between the joint surfaces and causing a high-resistance (read: bad) connection.

What you're seeing is likely an excess of anti-oxidant compound from the original installation, that's simply accumulated crud over the years.  You or your electrician will be cleaning it off and putting new stuff on as part of the installation process for the new panel.


Gaps between granite countertop and plywood base I recently had a 3cm granite countertop installed over a plywood base (approx. 72" x 24").  As is often the case, the plywood thickness varies throughout by 0.010" to 0.050".  Thus, even though the base is quite level in both dimensions, there are random gaps between it and the granite.  I'm concerned about the potential for cracks in the future, esp. if someone puts something heavy on the granite (or climbs up).  My biggest concern is one end of the granite, where the last 12" or so floats over the plywood by 0.010-0.030".  For now I shimmed this area with some thin metal plates.

Of course, this does nothing for any other hidden gaps; eliminating these would probably require a very thin layer of thinset or similar, then bed the granite on top while wet.  After checking various resources, I haven't found anyone who actually does this (other than tile).

This is my first experience with granite.  Am I being overly-concerned, and the granite will likely flex without issue if pressed?  Or is this a common problem that most people ignore & hope for the best?

Thanks!

John

You can support overhangs of granite with braces that are 16 - 20" apart and have lips that are unsupported out to 2-3". Fractions of an inch are irrelevant, unless maybe you are driving a truck on it...


Continuous power between multi-gang boxes with 3 way switches Apologies if this question is answered elsewhere. I couldn't find it specifically.

I'm planning on installing two multi-gang switch boxes, where all of the switched lighting will be on the same branch circuit. Both of the boxes will have a 3 way switch, which in combination will control one set of lights. All other switches in these boxes are single pole switches.

I'm trying to determine the best way to provide power to each of the switch boxes. Considering I need to run travelers between the two boxes, is it permissible to run a 4 conductor cable (2 travelers, 1 hot, and 1 neutral, 1 ground) between the boxes? This allows me to bring power into one box and through to the next box for additional switched wiring.

Thanks, once again, for your help in advance!

Yes, that's fine.  From the box with the supply coming in, You can run a /4 cable between the boxes --

always-hot (e.g. Black)
neutral (must be white) - this works because all loads are on the same circuit
two travelers (red/blue, or red/white-red depending on if it's 12/4 or 12/2/2 cable).

However in this configuration, the onward power to the lamp must come from the other box.

If you want supply and lamp coming into the same box, you would need /5, and at that point, for availability reasons, you are better off using /3 and /2.  The /3 would be entirely dedicated to the spur 3-way, and its white wire would not be neutral.  Onward hot and neutral would be in the /2 cable.

As always, you are better off using colored tape to mark the wires by their purpose instead of being stuck with the default colors of cable, which are to distinguish wires.  The two travelers don't even need to be distinguished, I mark both with yellow tape.

In the /4 or /2/2 configuration, you cannot substitute two /2 cables for the /4.  You will get eddy currents and vibration between the cables if you do: fatigued wires, arcing, trouble.  The wires in a cable are bound tight together for a reason.


Combine Lights on one switch and remove smoke detector from switch Experts,

I've got a weird wiring situation in my kitchen (just bought the house).

"A" (a dimmer) in the picture controls both a light (let's call it light "X") and (wait for it) the smoke detector!

"B" has 2 switches. The bottom controls the garbage disposal, the top controls another light (light "Y").

What I'd like to do is have the switch on "B" that controls light "Y" also control light "X". Then I would simply blank out "A" so that power is always going to the smoke detector.

I have confirmed that both "A" and "B" are on the same circuit.

What is your best advice? Thank you!

Pigtail the wires going to lights A and B together with a short 6" wire, and send that to the pole of your new switch, and supply the other pole with hot from the breaker.

Send the wire going to the garbage disposal to a pole on your other switch, and supply the other pole with hot from the breaker.

Then just send hot from the breaker to the smoke detector.


blower motor only starts after I turn power to it off and back on So I have a brand new inside blower motor and capacitor in my HVAC system. However I am experiencing this undesirable behavior where occasionally it (the blower) won't come on. The rest of the system turns on fine, so the cooling/heating coils get juice pumping through them, but the fan never turns on. Even more odd is that I can get the blower to turn on if I crawl under the house and switch the circuit breakers off and then back on. The next time I turn the AC on then the blower starts along with the rest of the system.

I've checked the wiring at the thermostat and even re-seated all the wires so that doesn't appear to be a problem. I also briefly inspected the green wire connection at the furnace and don't really see anything suspicious.

I have an older system which I don't believe has a float that shuts down the blower if the condensate gets too high... at least I can't find a float anywhere.

The furnace has an OLD humidifier component that I have no idea if it works, but it looks like it's connected up to the furnace wiring. Do that's a factor.

Any ideas what might be the problem? What else can I check or try?

As of 6/24/2017 I am still having this problem. However I did NOT have this problem during mild and cold weather... the fan worked just fine from like October until June. Now it's hot and VERY humid, and especially humid under my house where the blower is located. My impression is that the high humidity appears to be the culprit, causing something to fail.

Often, when the solution is to reboot it... that's an electronic problem. Something like that could be anything from a safety (temperature?) switch to a microchip error on a cpu.

Since you have a brand new motor, the installer should cover the repair, or know more about it. Usually work is warrantied.

Obviously, someone needs to trace the electrical system. If the installer won't do anything (for whatever reason), you still probably want to call an HVAC guy before calling an electrician though, as it may be a problem that they've seen before (especially with motors that have been replaced).


Backwater Valve Access Sleeve Cap Broken... sewer gas smell? Related to this question.

Summary: I have a sewer smell in my condo unit (top floor). Recently a smoke test was done and smoke was coming out, from what appears to be the division wall between my unit and the unit next to me (which also connects to the units below us because it is very close from where the electrical main cables run).

The plomber said it was the wax seal for the toilet that is on top of that area. That wax seal was replaced with no change in the smell.

However, since we made a hole below the toilet I feel a strong air current coming out the division wall. I believe this is a "chimney effect" - basically air from the basement is pushed up to the top of the building (my unit). I am pretty confident of that.

Today I decided to remove a tile that was on the floor in the basement (in the electrical room) and I found a backwater valve access sleeve. That access is maybe 15 inches away from the wall in which all electrical cables run.

That cap is basically completely loose, not only that, the edge of the pipe is all broken/cracked (see photos). For sure that wasn't sealed - if that releases smell, for sure it was leaking.

I just applied like a lot of silicone to it to seal it at least temporarily to see if that's the source of the smell.

My questions:

Is the backwater valve access cap supposed to be tight sealed? Can it release sewer smell?
Is there a risk because I glued (silicone) it to the pipe so it is sealed?

A sewer back water valve should seal tight but needs to be accessible incase they plug up. Silicone should be ok if a bead around the cap, if this valve is close to the plumbing riser it could very well be the source of your bad smell , I would have also sealed nobody wants sewer gas coming in their home. I think you may have found the root cause I was skeptical in the electrical room but not with this find. Good job at tracking it down.


Compression fitting with copper nut and plastic pipe keeps leaking I have a problem with a compression fitting leaking for the water supply of my new humidifier. The connection includes a copper nut and ferrule and plastic tubing. There is a slow drip at the connection that I cannot get to stop. I’m afraid of over tightening. After the first try did the same thing and I DID over tighten, I cut the plastic tube square, used a new ferrule and tried again tightening very slowly. At this point I’m not sure I’d i need to continue tightening or if there’s another problem. Help!

With plastic pipe compression fittings usually come with an insert made of metal or hard plastic.  The compression nut and ferrule (generally plastic for plastic pipe) is placed over the pipe, then the insert is pushed into the end of the pipe.  When the joint is tightened the insert prevents the plastic pipe from collapsing as the ferrule bites in.  Without the insert it is very difficult to make a compression connection in plastic watertight.

See the second question in the FAQ on this page: https://www.plumbingsupply.com/ed-compression.html


How to find this particular hot water heat pump? I have this pump pictured attached to my furnace. I actually have two of them. This one, however, is on a circuit that has been empty for a few years and is now rusted shut and needs replacing. I have a plumber coming to replace it and just took their word at the cost, but then I got to thinking that I should maybe do a quick web search for comparison.

It seems that Grudfos makes a whole lot of these types of pumps. Pexsupply sells quite a few of them:

http://www.pexsupply.com/Grundfos-Pumps-1838000?gclid=COT0xt2Fg6wCFacEQAodSBGHNw

Alas, I really have no idea how to determine which (if any) is a match to the one I have. Can anyone tell if the pump I have matches any on that site? If not, anyone know if the pump I have is still being manufactured and, if so, what it might cost?

If that loop is unused then it would probably be just as easy to replace the pump with another brand that fits the gap. If you can find a local shop that has a new Grundfos or Taco pump that has the same size fittings and gap between them you could swap a new one in. You could easily find one with the same GPM rating.


Window numbering system? I have a garrison colonial house with vinyl tilt-in windows that need cleaning. I'm thinking to take the sashes outside in groups and hose them down, so I need to mark the sashes and frames with some sort of identifiers so I don't mix them up.
Problem: I can come up with a half dozen systems for identifying the windows, but I'm sure a couple of years down the road I'll have forgotten which system I used, confusing the heck out of yours truly.
Is there a standard way to identify a house's windows? Absent that, is there a system that, when you see the identifiers, you can figure out what it means?

Doesn't matter what system you use if you mark the sashes and the frames the same way and your system provides unique numbers/letters/nicknames/Braille encodings for each window.
1,2,3,4,5...
a,b,c,d,e...
000,001,010,011,100...
John, Paul, George, Ringo...
Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe....
I,II,III,IV,V...


What does this double lock do? I saw this recently and wondered:
Why are there two lock cylinders?
How does this work?
Is this how this thing was originally designed?

...and thought someone on this site might have some insights.
The lock was on a closet in a room and building that are generally accessible by the public, which is owned by a civic institution.

Well, the ones inside a bank's vault need Their key and Your Key to open Your safe deposit box. For instance.

Designed that way.

Requires two keys to operate. Normally applied where two separate people hold one key each and need to both be present when the lock is opened.

Depending on design, could also be used so that a primary key is used at the start of working hours and then a secondary key will operate the lock, but only during working hours (the primary key would be run around the building and used to lock the primary lock at closing time.)


What is the appropriate wire gauge for 30A DC? If my project uses 30A DC, what wire gauge should I be using?

The gauge of wire you use depends on:

how much voltage drop is acceptable. You can use a voltage drop calculator to estimate this. Voltage drop depends on the voltage, current, length of wire, and resistance of wire (i.e. the wire gauge, material, construction).
how much heat is acceptable. This depends partly on the specific application, and also the insulation on the wire. Running current through a wire causes some heating due to electrical resistance, and a smaller wire will heat up more. That's not necessarily a problem, unless the heating is excessive and creates a fire or melting risk.

(These two points are really just two ways of looking at the same phenomenon: loss of electric power due to heat. But they often have different ramifications or solutions so I think it is helpful to consider them separately.)

Since you haven't provided any information about the voltage, length of wire involved, application, or insulation, it is not possible to give a reasonable number.

The wiring standards that are used in building construction are based on common assumptions about voltage, acceptable losses, typical temperature ranges, etc.  They may or may not be applicable in your situation.

P.S. - I don't know what project you are working on but make sure it is properly protected from over-current conditions. Most "household" breakers, switches, etc. are not rated for DC. DC fuses are cheap and easy to use... make sure the fuse is always the weakest link in the entire project.


Should I erase pencil marks on primed trim before painting Trim is primed mdf and contains a lot of pencil marks for measurements.  Should I erase the pencil marks before painting over top?  Unprimed mdf same question.
Paint is off white latex.

Pencil marks will not have much effect on paint adhesion, and will not cause stainiong, but they may show through light-coloured paints.
So yeah either do a test to see if they show through, or just erase them.


Can I use a transformer with center tap to convert 240V to 120v? I want to buy a 500W RMS surround system from the US and it is 120VAC.

I'm planning to use a transformer here but I'm not sure what is the size/specs of the transformer to use or will it going to work this way.. I need your expert advice on this matter.. :)

BTW, I visited local store to buy locally available converter but it is only 100Watts and I think it is too way lower of what I actually need.

This is how I'm going to get 120VAC from the transformer.

what you have drawn would work if sized correctly based on voltage.
 However the U.S. power is 60HZ,  I thought you were on 50HZ. The lower frequency may cause issues with the amplifier filter circuits (audible hum or buzz)
I would look into that first , then think about a “step down” transformer 2:1 .
The reason I would point you in that direction is the center tapped system would need at a bare minimum 2X the wattage.
I usually over size transformers by 50% (wattage) to reduce the heat created and extend the transformer life.
The power your unit requires to run is the important thing not the amplification wattage if it is a 500w amp it will take far more run the system than 500W.


Heating pool with excess AC heat Unfortunately our new outdoor AC unit – a usual with a fan and aluminium heat exchanger – does not contain plugs to a water heat exchanger.

That's a pity as the waste heat in summer could be used to heat a pool or perhaps water for showering too.

I found online some commercial setups that plug between the compressor? and heat exchanger, but 1) the AC unit probably does not have easy access to this pipe and 2) the total cost is way too steep (around 10x the pvc pool cost).

I calculated that for a 20 tonne pool a modest AC usage could heat it up around 3° Celsius every day.

The solution must not involve modifying the coolant line as the cost would be too high.

So pretty much that results in spraying or pouring water in the unit on the aluminium blades. Probably not the chlorinated pool water but a normal water that would form some kind of primary circuit which would interface in a heat exchanger with the pool water.

But I have two questions.

How much water the AC unit can safely tolerate. (It should perfectly withstand heavy rains, right?)

Will the water heat up, or rather just evaporate? (Thus not actually heating up the water.) That probably depends on the amount of water sprayed/poured on the system.

You do not want to run water over your coils, this will cause any hard water deposits to build up quickly and even if the aluminum fins are coated to protect from salt air this layer will be destroyed in a short time by flowing water over the coils. I agree with @jimmy fix-it , a separate system would be better. I have several rolls of black drip irrigation tube on the roof of my arena , any roof would work, we had to shut it off for a few days already because when the water temps get into the 80’s it’s not refreshing at. Don’t cut the service life of your expensive condenser & compressor unit short.


How can I fit a pipe inside another pipe? Does anyone here with experience in plumbing or piping know if a 3/4" pipe can fit inside a 1" pipe to the point where you can slide it in and out like a telescope to make an adjustable stand post?

According to this link and if my math is correct, the inner diameter of a 1" SCH 40 pipe is 1.049" and the outer diameter of a 3/4" SCH 40 pipe from the chart is 1.05" which is .001" too big. If I were to go to Home Depot would this difference matter?

Also I have a random question, are "all-purpose" drill bits able to drill through galvanized steel piping and is there a good method for drilling on round surfaces?

The reason I'm doing this is because I'm trying to build a DIY bike repair stand with an adjustable height. It's loosely based off this, but with a "Quik Klamp 3-Way Open Corner 1" (sorry I couldn't post another link) acting as the base-support piece mainly because the whole thing could be disassembled and I'm hoping a bit more solid.

If this is PVC, 3/4' will slip inside 1" Class 200. The class 200 has a thinner wall, so is larger inside.


So Help Please With Driveway Ditch and French Drain I have dug a ditch 4 feet deep along side of my driveway that always flooded and turned to ice in the winter.Then I added about 4 or 5 inchs of new driveway material so no more flooding but my question is this. When it rains the ditch fills to the top at 1 end and over flows will a french drain help me and where will all the water go?

You're going to need an outlet for that water regardless of whether you have a ditch or a french drain (and in your case, I think you are describing not so much a french drain as a "diversion trench").

Digging a very deep ditch, as you have done, is not nearly as effective as digging a very shallow ditch that actually has an outlet of some kind.  Eventually the ditch fills up, as you have seen, and if it is four feet deep, you need to outlet somewhere that is even deeper than four feet.


Why did I feel an electric current when touching my light switch? While reaching behind a desk in my office, I leaned against the wall and felt a pinch on my shoulder. I realized I was leaning on the lower screw of the light switch and thought it had a metal burr or something sticking out. I touched the screw with my hand and felt electric current flow through my hand. I tried it again a few minutes later and felt no current.

I'm going to call an electrician ASAP but was curious, what could be causing this?
My house is 58 years old and the wiring is probably that old as well.

I have had this happen when touching two items that were both grounded, but not bonded properly.  I used to get it when touching any cable tv coax cables in the house.  The cable company hadn't installed a proper ground to the water pipes.  If I touched the cable and anything connected to the electrical ground I would get a tingling feeling.  Sometimes a painful one.

This happens because ground isn't an absolute voltage.  Ground at my electrical panel and ground on the pole the cable company used differ by enough to be felt.  This can be dangerous if there is a big enough difference.

Check that all cables for TV and phone and such are properly grounded.


Replace steel suppost post with wood We moved into a new build house with an un-finished basement. I am going to start finishing/framing the basement and 4 steel support posts that run down the center holding the beam. The main beam is 2 - 2X12. The posts that are attached to these beams have plates on the top and bottom that are 4"x6", so they would stick out past a typical 2X4 wall post. Is the standard procedure with these to take the post out and replace with wood? Or do I trim the plates down to work with a 2x4? All but 1 of these posts will be within a wall, the last one I am hoping can be wrapped in either wood or drywall. Or replaced with a 4x4.

Standard procedure is to cover them, not remove them. Those are structural members and cannot be removed without an engineer designing a replacement which will likely be bigger and more obtrusive.


I have a marble vanity that needs to be trimmed off We need to replace the toilet but the small counter top is in the way. Is there an easier way to cut this piece off without removing the mirror and entire sink top?

That toilet should be able to be removed without disturbing the shelf return on the vanity top. Generally speaking the toilet only needs to lift about two inches to clear the hold down bolts. There is more than enough space below the shelf for that......and just in case it was not you can remove the tank cover to gain an additional 1.5 inches or so.


What is the order of tasks when refitting a bathroom? I need to completely refit my bathroom, including the following tasks:

Replace an old boiler (involves removing an immersion heater from the first floor, adjusting gas supply and changing pipe work)
Strip out and fit new units
Fit a shower (there is currently no shower piping - just a tap attachment in the bath)
Move a radiator
Plaster a damp/rotting wall
Tile the floor and walls
Install new extractor fan
Hang a shower curtain

I have no idea which order to tackle the tasks. Should I tile the floor and walls before fitting units? or do you tile around fitted units?

Appreciate any advice.

The advantage of tiling first are that you don't have to cut as many tiles - just those at the room corners and around pipes. Certain areas will be easier to tile too.

The disadvantage is that you need more tiles. You will also need to make sure that all pipes are in the correct location but not connected. This will mean either having the water turned off or fitting isolation valves (of itself not a bad idea).


Any ideas why my shower pressure suddenly dropped? Our shower used to have great water pressure, as does all the taps/faucets in the house, but recently it just went down to a trickle. Some initial googling suggested it was most likely a blockage in the head or hose, but even without those attached the flow is very weak. I can't access much more than where the hose attaches as it is behind the tiles, but is there anything I can do to figure out the issue and potentially resolve it?

Something could have broken in the shower valve.  Most serviceable parts can be removed without having access to the wall.  Each valve is different, but the normal steps are to remove the handle from the valve and then unscrew the valve core, or remove a clip and pull it out, or unscrew a collar, etc.  You'll have to turn off the water to the house to work on this valve because there's no way to turn off the water just to the shower.

I've had this exact scenario when a damaged rubber washer tore in two and clogged the internal workings of the valve.


How to determine (not estimate) starting amperage of a motor? I want to buy an inverter-generator to run my Trane heating system in case of a power outage.  The Trane is on a 20 amp circuit. The sticker says it needs a minimum of a 15.2 amp circuit.

My question is, how do I determine (not estimate) the surge amperage of the 1 hp blower motor in my Trane heating system?

The inverter generators I have seen have max outputs of 2,000, 3,000, or 4,000 watts.  I am trying to figure out if any of these will run my heating system.  It seems the critical issue is the starting current of the 1 hp motor.

How might I go about measuring the starting current of my heating system?

Update: My HVAC 1 hp fan motor is constantly running- on low if not providing heat and on high if it is providing heat.  Based on that, it seems to me that I need to use the in-rush amperage, since the theoretical calculations are all not relevant to my situation. Thanks.

Measuring the startup load is as easy as using a clamp on meter and turning the air handler on and off.

The startup load will be high for a split second, then drop down to a steady load.

Use Ohms Law to calculate the wattage.

Watts/Voltage = Current

As mentioned in my comment, the invertors peak load is a good indication of the invertors motor starting current.

Edit

To get the most accurate motor startup load readings from your meter, you may need to use one that supports "in-rush" readings.

Meters like the Fluke 374, 375 and 376 support "in-rush" readings.

Edit 2

I did some digging around and found the formula to calculate inrush current.

Take the NEMA assigned letter to your motor, in which case yours is letter B, and plug that into this equation:

  Iinrush=(code letter value X horse power x 1000) /( √3 X Voltage)

You can ignore the square root of 3 if  your voltage source is single phase.

  in-rush = 3.54 x 1HP x 1000 / 120V = 29.5 Amps

Bottom line is your invertor needs a surge rating of at least 4000 Watts

  4000 / 120 = 33 Amps

NEMA Motor Letter Table


Is it a good idea to pass a oven range hood exit duct in the roofs' ventilator? I've just had a oven range hood installed, but now I have to install the ducts for the air to exit my house.
My roof ventilator is pretty much right above where the oven is in my attic (its in quebec, its an unused attic, just for isolation)
So is it a good idea to run the ducts to the roof ventilator for the air exit, or its something that sounds good on paper, but is a terrible idea in practice?
PS: No idea if I'm using the right words since i'm french canadian, and so the terms i'm used to are different.
So here's what I mean by a oven range hood https://www.homedepot.com/b/Appliances-Range-Hoods/N-5yc1vZc3nk (in french we call it a 'hotte de four')
And here is what I mean by a roof ventilator https://www.rona.ca/en/ventilation-maximum-roof-ventilator-12-in-x-12-in-301-12-b-6467005 (mostly heard it referred to as a 'maximum')

Seems like a bad idea. If it is sealed so that only air from the range hood goes through it you have eliminated an attic vent.
If it is just kinda pointed at the attic vent you will be introducing moist greasy air into the attic space.
Also the chance of a kitchen fire getting into the attic greatly increases with any option other than a termination cap designed for and exclusively used for range hood.
Use a smooth hard metal duct to connect the hood to the termination cap.


Installing over stove microwave Can I just hardwire microwave and leave
the connected 2 wires with nuts and the
gound connected in the cabinet resessed
space under bottom of cabinet?  And because the electrician who the owner of our building just paid to rewire the entire place, put all the fuse boxes, for each unit together, mine being 2 places over , outside in another persons back yard who has the gate locked, I hope I can do this hot.

Danger!
Working hot is problematic, especially if you are not a pro.
Rental
A rental is not the same as owning your home. For the same reason the electrician owner had to pay someone else instead of doing it himself, you shouldn't be doing any real electrical work here either.
Use As Designed & Tested
Most current models of over-the-stove microwave ovens (I checked a Whirlpool and GE but have no reason to think others are different) are designed to plug in to a standard outlet. Unless specifically authorized by the manufacturer, replacing with a hardwired connection will likely void the warranty and could lead to other problems.
In addition, if you ever need to repair the oven (and I've actually done that successfully on a similar oven after a thermal overload due to user error (a.k.a., food cooked way too long and caught on fire...)), you would not have an easy way to shut off all power while you work, because you couldn't simply pull the plug.
Proper Installation
No matter who is doing the work, all splices (with certain exceptions) must be inside equipment or junction boxes, not in ordinary cabinets.


Adding a light in the garage I want to add a ceiling light in my garage which already has 3 light bulbs wired. The plastic box and light bulb fixture have no screw or other place for ground. My romex has hot, neutral and ground wires. Should I just tape the ground wire in my new box and let it float (ie. unconnected)?

If you only have hot and neutral in a light fixture a ground wire in a plastic fixture is not required in the latest version of the national electric code 2017 and the preview version I have will not have a change for non conductive luminaries , lighting fixtures for the general public but more than light fixtures is covered. Plastic or non conducive fixture no grounding conductor is required ( the green or bare copper wire is not required even today.!


Repairing electrical outlet fin I broke the tab off my electrical outlet connecting the two hot wires, and then realized that this was unnecessary. Is it a bad idea to solder the brass tab back and still use the outlet?

Into the trash goes this 75 cent outlet

It was wrecked by removing the screws and soldering the tab.

Soldering like that to alter a device is not a proper wiring method and is not safe.  Solder does not conduct as well as copper, and melts much sooner.   Edit: Here's a link that shows solder has 9x the resistance: copper 0.0168, solder 0.145.  As soldered it has no chance of carrying the required current.  Keep the solder in the electronics lab.

If you hadn't also pulled the screws out, I would say just unsolder the tab (you're not allowed to modify devices like this) and put 2 pigtails on the 2 screws.  You join those with a wirenut to the two wires you would have otherwise attached to those two screws.

However since you've also torn the screws out, I would say toss the receptacle in the trash.  They cost 60 cents, or $3 for the really good ones.

Those screws are captive, meaning when they are most of the way out, they get really stiff.  You're supposed to stop turning at that point.  That is a detent designed to keep the screws attached for your installation convenience. Pulling them out damages their threads.  If the receptacle has features like screw-clamp, removing the screws "loses" the clamps and ruins the receptacle.

So now you know in the future: anytime you're loosening a screw and it gets weirdly stiff most of the way out, that is a mechanism trying to keep the screw captured.  Don't do a "gorilla act" on it.


When splicing neutral wires in junction boxes, can I use white electrical tape? In junction box splices, can I use black electrical tape for black wire (hot) and white electrical tape for the white neutral wire?

Many people use black electrical tape or just 1 color of electrical tape in the splices in the junction boxes. However, I just want to know if it is a better practice to match the color of the electrical tape with the color of the wires (e.g.: black electrical tape for black wire splice and white electrical tape for white wire splice).

UPDATE:
I plan to use the NASA-approved soldered "lineman splice" (http://makezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/western-union-or-linemans-splice.jpg). So I would use electrical tape to insulate the exposed wires in that case. So I am just asking if there are any common practices or best practices when it comes to the color of the electrical tape to use to insulate the exposed wires in the junction box.

Thanks!

Tape is not a thing for splices.  You should not be using tape as your primary way to splice, period.  That is illegal, unsafe and will get all your work flagged by the inspector.  Since you say you are in the USA, wire-nuts and splice blocks are readily available and dirt cheap, though you can solder if you really want to.

However, the solder method you want to use is not allowed inside conduit or conduit bodies, and if you do it inside a junction box, you still need to leave 6-8" of tail.  Part of your wire will be a stiff stick, so it'll be hard to stuff into the box.  4-11/16 boxes will help, those are much cheaper at real electrical supply.

Also, as far as taping after the solder -- that is not an afterthought.  It is complicated!  Electrical-grade soldering is serious business, and not least is the fairly complicated taping of insulation, that involves both friction tape and electrical tape.  You'd need to find an olllld timer that worked on K&T to educate you.

Shrink wrap might be a viable approach, but watch out for sharp points that wear and puncture the shrink wrap.  Part of the friction tape's job is to remove all possibility of that.

In any case I wouldn't depend too much on NASA guidance in that most of their vehicles are single use. I would wire the way NASA's facilities department wires their boring old office buildings. Call them up, they'd be gobsmacked that anyone cares about what they do.

That is not to say there's never a reason to use tape.  If you solder, it's an i,portant part of splicing, and you must do hots and neutrals.  Some people also use tape to over-wrap wire nuts to "keep them on", but they need to get better nuts and use the right size!  Older (20 year old) nuts are not nearly as good as today's.  Exception: nuts capping off a single wire need to be taped or they will fall off.

Work must be neat, workmanlike and consistent within your installation.  Nobody ever got fired for using black for everything. However that can make the wiring rather difficult to understand, which is why I own 10 colors of electrical tape.

By "consistent within your installation" I mean that if the previous work used colors a particular way, continue doing that if you are able.  If unable, use what you have, but make it plain you are doing that.

Do not use bad tape simply to get a color.  By "bad" I mean low quality or tape which is not UL/CSA listed for use as electrical tape.


Adding a (stair/baby) gate without facing walls This is a little hard to describe; I've added a diagram to (hopefully) make it easier to understand, but apologies if it doesn't make sense.

I'm looking to add a stair gate at the top of my stairs. The problem I'm having is that the wall on one side of the stairs finished much earlier than the other, and at the end of the top stair, there is only a wall on one side.

It seems that I have two options, either get a tall gate and install it where the walls are parallel, leaving one step to fall, or affix some sort of post to the shorter wall so that I can attach the gate to that. Neither seems particularly ideal and I'm not sure the second is really viable, but am I missing something quite obvious, or is there perhaps a known and advised way of solving this problem?

Any help would be very much appreciated!

They make a variety of gates for just this kind of thing.  They typically have 3 segments with adjustable angles.

For example at Amazon:

That middle segment is the normal gate, but the whole thing can swing/fold if needed.


How to restore power after tripping a surge protection device? What happened

A new electric kettle apparently caused a loss of power in a circuit.  The circuit is one of two 120V/20A lines protected by an Intermatic PanelGuard model IG1240R surge protection device (SPD) at the panel. (This appears to be an older model.  A similar device is described at http://www.intermatic.com/Products/SurgeProtectiveDevices/IG_Series/IG1240RC3.aspx.)  The circuit breaker was not tripped, nor did either of the line monitor lights on the SPD go out (indicating it thinks it is working properly).

The problem

I have been unable to restore power to this circuit.  Of course the kettle was immediately unplugged (and seems to be working properly on a different circuit).  All I can see to do is make sure all connections at the panel are secure and to flip the circuit breaker switches off and back on. I cannot open up the SPD itself and it has no external controls--only its two monitoring lights.  Testing with an ohmmeter at the receptacle shows continuity.  The voltmeter verifies no current at the receptacle, but there is current between the circuit breaker and the SPD.  There is current throughout the other line protected by the SPD.

Additional information

This is the first such loss of power we have experienced in this circuit in the 10 years we have lived here, so presumably it is correctly wired.

There are no receptacle-GFCIs installed on this circuit: just plain 3-prong 2-outlet receptacles.  Each has a little label stating it is GFCI protected and refers to "instructions" at the panel--of which there are none.

The question

This all points to a defective SPD, but am I perhaps missing something?  What does it take to reset one of these things?

The GFCI for the circuit might be in a bathroom. Check the GFCI's in the house as one might be feeding the kitchen (which should be on GFCI)


I would like to replace air gap in my sink with a flat plate, what is that plate called? My sink currently has an air gap that my dishwasher is not connected to. Instead the plumber has the drain line going up and back down as shown in the first image below.

Since it is not being used, I would like to replace the air gap with just a flat plate (I already have a soap dispenser on the other side). What is that plate called? All my searches for air gap cap and variations just find air gap covers, not a flat plate replacement. Thx!

Kitchen Sink Hole Cover

The key is to search (Google is your friend) not based on "air gap" but based on what you are actually covering - a hole in the sink.


vent fan blowing into attic. Good or bad? I have a two story apartment with only one room upstairs and an access to a terrasse (it's kind of a closed mezzanine). I noticed that even when every window in the apartment is open, the room upstairs still feels stuffy. I believe it might be because there is only one window upstairs and it's not even in that room so the air upstairs just doesn't circulate well.

Hence my idea to install a vent/extractor (bathroom style, maybe more silent) blowing air from that room into the attic in order to get some air flowing upstairs. I know it's bad to blow humid air from a bathroom into an attic but this is just a regular room so I wonder if it would be okay (attic is well ventilated, we even asked the contractor to add more vents up there last time they did the roofing).
I would probably only use it in the summer since the point is to ventilate better instead of using the AC. We get cold winters here (Montreal) so I imagine that blowing air in the winter would create condensation which would be bad.

Here is what the apartment looks like.  The orange square is a patio door, green rectangles are roof vents and the red arrow is where I want to put my fan.

what do you guys think? Stupid idea? Anybody has a better idea?

Bathroom fans move a trivial amount of air.  It's enough to exhaust some of the highly humid (or "aromatic") air from a tiny room like a bathroom, and it's low enough for the air to be replaced through general air leakage (and you typically don't run the fan for long).  If all you're trying to do is turn over the room air a little so it doesn't seem stuffy, you will probably want to size it equivalent to what a bathroom fan does in a bathroom.

The general guideline for that sizing is to replace the room air at a rate of 8 times per hour.  For an 8 ft. ceiling, that's 1 CFM per square foot of room.  That's length x width x height / 8 = minimum fan CFM rating.

There are a couple of considerations for condensation.  It isn't a summer issue, but if you put this in, you should design around the possibility that it could be used in the winter.

In the winter, the normal inside air is likely to be a lot more humid than the outside air in Montreal, so excess humidity may condense.  Hopefully, any condensation will be in the form of a cloud, like the moisture from your breath outside, and the air current will dissipate it and/or exhaust it through the roof vents before it collects.

I assume you aren't in a position to install a dedicated roof vent. I would still duct it to the general vicinity of the close-by roof vent, and just secure the end of the duct so that it exhausts near the vent.

The other consideration is something I ran into with my own house in Virginia, and our winter temperatures aren't anywhere as low as Montreal's.  In an unusually cold period, humidity from a bathroom fan condensed at the roof vent (which is metal).  It collected as water, flowed back down the duct, and dripped out of the bathroom fan (a form of Chinese water torture for anyone sitting on the throne).  If you use an insulated duct, you aren't likely to run into that.


Remove switch from switched outlet I have a two 3-way switch switched outlet.

I want to remove both switches and replace both with blanks, thus capping the wires in the box so that the outlet is always on and there is no switch in between.

My house was built in 2001.

United States electrical code.

Using the diagram below... Someone on another site suggested capping the Black/Red/White of Switch A together, and then capping the Black/White/Black of Switch B together to remove both switches but keep outlets powered all the time.

UPDATE:

I capped all three wires (Red/Black/White) of Switch A but left Switch B alone for now. This resulted in the outlet always being on regardless of Switch B's On/Off position.

Tomorrow I will try the same with Switch B, and I assume this will work. Would be nice to have clarification to make sure this is not going to cause a fire.

Take switch B's black wire (black screw) and connect it to the red wire going to the outlet.  All remaining wires connected to switch A and switch B can simply be capped individually as they are now unused.

(edit: this paragraph originally existed to dispute a second answer that has since been deleted) This method of wiring a 3-way uses a 3 conductor cable for common and two travellers to be transported to switch A.   The White between switch A and switch B is not a neutral in this  case.


How do I connect a dryer with a four prong plug to a three prong socket? I've just moved house and my clothes dryer has a four prong plug but on the wall there's a three prong socket. Do adapters exist for this? Or do I need to get a new cord for my dryer? Or is there another solution?

You could replace the cord on the dryer, but you'd have to bond the chassis of the dryer to make that acceptable to current NEC codes (Article 250.140). This can be a safety hazard if done incorrectly, and it may or may not void the warranty on the dryer.
Since your dryer is set up to use a 4 prong receptacle, the optimal solution would be to update the receptacle to a 4 prong (NEMA 14-30R if I remember correctly).  However, this will require you to run new cable to the receptacle, since you'll need a cable with a ground. Depending on the draw of the dryer and the length of the run, you'll either have to pull new 10-3 /w ground or 8-3 /w ground cable.
EDIT:
As @TheEvilGreebo pointed out, you may be able to simply swap out the cord on the dryer for a 3 prong version. Check the manufacturers documentation to verify the procedure, and to make sure your model supports this.
EDIT:
This schematic for an electric dryer might help you understand how the dryer could be wired (depending on make/model/manufacture date).


Why are there only 2 white wires in my celling outlet box for me to install celling fan and light? I am replacing the celling fan/light in my kitchen and when I removed the old one I didn't pay attention as I was unhooking the wires, but when I went to install the new one realized that the only 2 wires I have comming out of my celling are 2 white wires... Now what am I suoposed to hook my black/blue , and my green ground wires to ?

Stop.   Your box is not rated for a fan.

You cannot simply put a fan on that junction box. The vibration will tear it out of the ceiling.

You may be able to resolve it by mounting a purely physical fan mount right next to it, which is fan rated, and using this junction box only to bring electrical (not carry its weight).

Once that's resolved...

Light + fan on one switch

You don't have enough wires to control fan and light separately.  You must join the black and blue wires to each other, and connect them to a point to be determined.

Take ground to the screw in the back left of the junction box.

You have two cables coming into the box with a black and white in each.  One of the cables is the supply power, and black is hot and white is neutral. The other cable is a switch loop, and it is wired with black as always-hot and white as switched-hot.

Pause here and identify which cable is which.  Code requires the switch loop use the white wire for always-hot, it must be marked with tape or paint (on both ends) to designate that it is not a neutral.

Get a non-contact voltage tester and unhook all 4 wires (non-grounds) and turn the power on. One of the 4 wires will be hot, it will be a black, and that cable is supply.  The other cable is switch loop.  Mark the white, and join it to the supply black and push it into the back of the box.   Now the remaining wires will be white and black, and those colors will be valid.

From there it is straightforward; lamp black+blue to black, and lamp white to white.

All singing, all dancing on the wires you have

For this you need smart switch tech, and a module that sits up in the fan rose.  The module connects separately to fan blue and black, power, switch loop, etc.  Then either a companion (matching) smart switch is installed in the switch box, or the switch is wired to control light only and a remote is used for the fan.  The instructions will say how to wire it.


Premium for heatpump inverter technology My understanding is that a variable speed compressor permits greater efficiency and reduce wear & tear.  Assume application is in Florida, not NYC.

Is there a range for the cost premium for such systems?
What is the typical efficiency saving associated with systems?
Do variable speed compressors have higher failure rates than their fixed counterparts?
Is there any other factors that should be considered when choosing whether or not to select inverter technology?

Any lessons learned are always appreciated.

The simplest question can have the most complex answer at times.  I'll try to help.  Variable speed systems have some advantages over single stage or single speed systems.  For Florida I would say the best benefit is that it allows the system to be optimized for dehumidification in cooling.  The fan slows down and the cooling coil gets colder and pulls more moisture from the air.  This adds to comfort as well as reducing the risk of mold growth in the conditioned part of the home.  If any heat pump system is properly sized for cooling it will almost certainly provide all the heat you need without strip heat to supplement.  There is another choice which is 2-stage or 2-speed.  In this case the high speed is reserved for the dog days and the unit will run on low on cooler days and in the evening.  This may be a good choice.  Reputable manufacturers will warranty their compressors for 10 years and I recommend Carrier, Trane and York as top brands.  Be sure you save your purchase documents and register the installation.
The most important thing I can add is that it's true that you get what you pay for.  If you look for the lowest cost you get not only the lowest cost equipment but also a contractor perhaps less trained, less equipped and willing to cut corners that will affect you for years.  It is my belief that when you see bad reviews it is more likely the contractor earning the score and not the equipment.  So I recommend you pick your contractor first and allow them to customize the system to your needs.


Can I connect the grounding conductor to the neutral when installing a remote for a ceiling fan in an ungrounded box? I would like to install an in-wall remote control for a ceiling fan. The remote is wired up with two black wires (in and out) and a ground wire. It controls the fan's functions via wireless signal. Unfortunately, the metal box in which I would like to install the remote is ungrounded and the remote needs a ground connection to work. Can I safely connect the remote's ground wire to neutral to make it work?

NO!
You cannot, for any reason, connect a grounding conductor to a neutral (grounded) conductor anywhere other than in the service equipment.
If you do so, the metal box and any metal connected to the box (including the fan housing) will become a current carrying conductor. This is very bad, and can result in personal injury and/or death.
I doubt the remote requires the grounding conductor to be connected in order to function.
The device's grounding conductor is a safety feature, and should be left unconnected when installing the device in an ungrounded box where there is no separate grounding wire in the feed cable.  However, you'll want to be sure the box is not grounded. Just because there's not a grounding wire in the box, does not mean the box is not grounded. The box could be grounded via conduit, the outer sheath of the cable feeding the box, or some other method.


Cure/dry time for Polyseamseal with little air exposure? What is the cure/dry time for nearly encapsulated Loctite All Purpose Polyseamseal Original Formula (new tube bought at hardware store yesterday)? Does this product dry or cure?  Hope I didn't mess up choosing this product given my application.

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/pss_seal_ap/directions/Loctite-2-in-1-Seal-&-Bond-All-Purpose.htm

Our 10+ year old vinyl floor (or linoleum) was glued down with a butt joint against the tub, except it is short/shy by about 1/16.  The old caulk is almost gone, and the flooring is peeling up a little bit, but lays back down flat with light pressure.

I bought an aluminum trim strip like the middle one here:

except it's not cove, instead it is a quarter-round profile, something like 3/16 or 1/4" radius.

I passed it over my table saw to cut off the unwanted, leaving just the quarter round piece. It is tiny.

Because it is water based and water-resistant, for better or worse I used the polyseamseal to 'glue' it in place.  To keep it clamped in place while curing/drying, I used a half dozen 10' long springy wood sticks to the ceiling corner every 10".

Did the work last night. Looks great today with almost no caulk exposed. Sticks are still in place.  But I'm wondering with little air exposure and only possible minimal exposure to the underlayment (possibly none if the vinyl adhesive was spread all the way to the tub), will it dry/cure? and how long will that take? How long should I leave the sticks in place?

If I chose the wrong product, what product would have used?

Bottom line: the concerns in the comments above have not come forward.  I'd choose Polyseamseal again for this application.

Removed the wood clamping sticks this morning, several hours ago. Aluminum trim strip is solidly held, doesn't budge under pressure, and is not pulling away.  So the answer is that enough Polyseamseal cured/dried in 48 hours to hold it in place.

In hindsight, the adhesive that is closest to the air is also the adhesive with the most leverage, and first to cure/dry.  I ought to have realized this in the first place.  Also, also in hindsight, while there may be only miniscule exposure to air (essentially none), the thickness is similarly miniscule, so proportionality is not lost relative to a caulking application.

I'm on hold with Loctite technical support RE cure/dry. Will update my answer after speaking with them

UPDATE:
Just got off the phone with Loctite.  Product doesn't dry, it cures, but I didn't press for details.  Wish I had.  Better product would have been their PowerGrap Adhesive, which is white and water cleanup.  Said the Polyseamseal is not an adhesive, but I pointed out that their webpage describes it as "FLEXIBLE & DURABLE ADHESIVE CAULK", which was explained as, effectively, a miscommunication between engineering and marketing.


What is the minimum safe gap berween leads on a 240 volt oven bake element? I am replacing the bake element in my oven.

The old element has a  minimum gap of about 1 3/8 inches between the leads. The gap between the leads in the replacement element is about 9/16 inch.
Is this sufficient space between the leads?

I would double check this element, is it possible you received one that's mislabelled?

I haven't worked on a stove in a long time but I was under the impression that the distance between terminals was a critical dimension for a part to fit properly.

The amazon page for the replacement part shows the distance for that part as 1-1/4" which pretty much agrees with your measurement.

Amazon - ERB44X5082

And looking at a GE replacement part on Amazon, that looks like about 1-1/4" too...

Amazon - GE WB44X5082 Bake Element


Should I install an air conditioner pad on existing unit? In budgeting time and money for a house I just purchased, the inspector noted that the central air conditioner is mounted outside without a pad underneath.  The unit is a Carrier 38CKC024330, manufactured in 1999.  The product data I found online lists using a unit riser (a.k.a. pad) as 'Recommended.'

I live in the Midwestern United States, which enjoys high humidity and harsh winters.  I'm not sure how good the drainage is in the area of the unit, but it is mostly sheltered by the eave of the roof.

Given the age of the unit -- both how it may be nearing end of life, and how it has survived this long like this -- is it worth installing a pad underneath?  Are there alternative techniques, say digging out a perimeter around the unit and filling it with gravel?

Most units require a pad when installed . at the age of the unit I would probably not try to put a pad underneath as this may create a leak. In 99 the common refrigerant was R22 and the cost of a recharge if a leak is created may cost close to $1k as r22 is being phased out and local shops in my area charge 100 per pound.gravel around the unit could keep grass or weeds from growing close to the condenser coil but at this age I would not want to move it but want to keep it clean so it will last as long as possible.


How to know if I can use LED ceiling light bulbs? I'm renting a flat and need to replace some light bulbs. The bulbs I need are 12V MR16/GU5.3 bulbs.

How can I tell if I can use LED bulbs as opposed to the halogen ones that are there currently? If something needs to be installed in order to be able to use LED bulbs, is this something that I (as someone with no expertise in this area) can do myself, or would I need to get an electrician for that?

MR means "Multi Reflector"
16 means 16/8ths of an inch wide (2")
GU5.3 means it is a bi-pin connector base where the pins are 5.33mm apart.
12V means it is 12VDC, a very important issue for you when buying replacements.

You can get equivalent LED versions using those same numbers, they should be available from any number of resources, both on-line and brick-and-mortar stores. You would not have to change anything other than the bulb itself because the LED versions will come with a built-in "driver" that will be set up to accept the power that was previously being used by the halogens. Plug and play...

But there is more to your selection than what you posted; you need to match the "beam angle" and the "color temperature". That info should be on the side of your existing halogen bulbs too.


Are there any join charts similar to span charts? Are there any charts indicating what type of joints are stronger than others?  For example, how would one determine which of the following joints is stronger?  Intuitively I'd say longer cuts increases surface area and torque resistance, therefore the peg is a trade-off of less surface area for more shear resistance, but mostly it just secures the beam while the glue dries.  Probably 4-8 screws would be better than the peg.  The block is a poor choice because it eliminates any lateral point of connection making the beam only as strong as the block..there is no opportunity to glue.

But suppose my intuition is wrong!  What table(s) is/are used to gain assurance?

Here are my use cases (post-and-beam screened porch):

EDIT: Thanks to @Michael-Karas I was able to understand that these splices aren't necessary thereby eliminating my concern altogether.  The question still applies for perpendicular splicing but I think those patterns are already well established.

For vertical orientation of PT 4x4 you should simply plan to purchase the timbers that will be used as posts full length. So if you need posts 11' 2" then purchase 12'. If you need 14' 8 1/2" then purchase 16'. In fact if you plan your overlengths right you can use the cutoffs for locations where you will need a short piece such as over the door or for lookout blocks.

There are really no real good strategies to splice a vertical post when you can get the material that you need. Spliced posts just cannot take the same lateral stresses that a non-sliced post can withstand. Plus there is the consideration that making splices is a lot of work.


Could a group of lay volunteers build interior office space to code? I work for a small nonprofit.  We have a building with a large empty 2nd floor (old warehouse).  We'd like to subdivide it into offices, meeting space, etc. but we can't afford to hire a professional.  So we're trying to decide whether volunteers would be capable of this (under the supervision of a volunteer  professional contractor).  We'd still have a professional do the electric and plumbing.  Our city requires things to meet the ICC building code.  Would the type of work necessary to build walls, floors, doors, etc. be possible for a bunch of handy volunteers (teenagers and their parents)?  Or does this work require too much technical skill and training?

You can also do the electrical.  Much of it anyway.

Commercial electrical usually is required to be in conduit, and usually, there's a civil requirement that commercial work be done under the supervision of a real electrician.

You don't need to be an electrician to plan circuits, figure out routes and rough wire lengths, develop a wiring plan and get him to check it over.

You don't need to be an electrician to have all the right parts in all the right places.

EMT conduit is pretty straightforward to lay.  You don't need to be an electrician to lay conduit, since  you're not putting any wires into it.

You also don't need to be an electrician to pre-fish a pulling string through each segment of conduit.

Now the electrician attaches the wires to the pulling string, and that usually tedious job is in his rearview.

Another thing you don't need an electrician for is buying supplies, particularly 11-13 colors of wire.  Electricians are inclined to use a rainbow of colors if they have them, and they always have white, black, green and red.  Buying other colors - brown orange yellow pink blue violet gray (lots of gray) and white-with-red-stripe and white-with-blue-stripe, will allow him to more easily color-code his work for easier maintenance later.


Can I use hot water to transfer heat from a greenhouse into the house? We have a vacation house that has a (south-southeast facing) greenhouse off of one of the bedrooms.  On a sunny day in winter, the greenhouse can easily reach 80F or more.   When we are there, we open the sliding door to the greenhouse in the morning and allow it to heat the room, which is very effective if we remember to close the door when it starts to cool down in the evening.   Since we only use the house part time, I'd like to find a way to recover some of this heat when we're away (and the room thermostat is set to 52F).   I've been considering putting a length of radiant baseboard along the wall above the door (about 8-10' of wall available) where the greenhouse would be the warmest, and then looping it thru a similar length in the room and creating a control circuit that would circulate antifreeze thru the system when the greenhouse temp exceeds the indoor temp by some threshold.   I know the system would need an expansion tank...
Would this scheme capture a meaningful amount of heat?
The home is very well insulated and at a 52F setting, the heat (radiant hot water) doesn't run much -- averaging less than 60 minutes/day of heat calls during Jan-Feb this year, so it seems like a small amount of added heat could make a noticeable difference.

Pumping heat from the greenhouse into the room could be a feasible thing to do. Recall that the amount of heat transferred from one thing to another is proportional to the difference in temperature between the things. You've got four transfers in the proposed system (greenhouse air -> radiator -> water -> radiator -> indoor air) -- it might be a struggle to get good performance from that many transfers with only about 30 degrees F across the whole thing.
Instead, consider exchanging the air directly. Maybe you can conceive some blower door insert to place in the sliding door opening. You can get a damper "off the shelf" disguised as a clothes dryer vent, for instance. Place a damper up high to admit warm air into the room and another down low to admit cool air into the greenhouse. It might prove interesting to see how much heat transfers by thermosyphon alone, ie without any fan forcing the air to circulate.


4' double fluorescent lights fixture I want to mount 4 feet double fluorescent light fixture in my room celling. The celling is made of drywall, my question : is it safe to use drywall anchor in celling which is rated for 75 lbs to mount fixture or whatelse should i use to reinforce to support fixture on drywall celling? Drywall thickness is 3/4 inches.

Drywall anchors are used in vertical walls and the rating is based on a combination of shear load (downward on the screw and anchor) and some tension load outward (based on an assumption of a load close to the wall).

Ceiling mounts are pure tension loads downward and the weak spot is the drywall, not the anchor. A thin diameter of crumbly plaster around the anchor is all that holds them in. Even flared, they form a narrow cone that is easily compromised.

For ceiling mounting, try very hard to find framing members. If that is not possible, use anchors that have significant perpendicular members, such as molly bolts or toggles. I favor strap toggles like these

But I really urge screwing into framing if at all possible.

 Images and links are examples only, not endorsements of products or sources.


Dehumidifying a basement apartment--protable AC Dry Mode or dedicated dehumidifier? We just moved into a newly renovated basement apartment and the humidity level is currently at 80% based on a digital hygrometer made by Acurite, at 11.25pm EST.  Portable AC is off.  Is 77 degree.  It does not feel humid unless it gets up to 85%.  We have a LG portable AC with a dehumidifier mode.  According to the spec, it can extra 5.6 pint of moisture per hour.  Roughly, 120+ pint per day???  It seems like is much more powerful than most dedicated, standalone dehumidifier.  My question is that...which is better to lower my humidity?  Using the dehumidifier mode on my LG AC or getting a dedicated, standalone dehumidifier?
When my LG AC is on, either in the COOL mode or DRY mode, the RH can get down to 60%.  In DRY mode, I just have to empty my 2.5 gallon bucket every 6 hour.  In the COOl mode, I don't need to at all.....
Also, if I have to run a dehumidifier for more than 12 hours a day, which is more energy efficient?

Thanks....well, I went out and bought a Toshiba 50 pint dehumidifier to see which one is more efficient in removing the humidity.  Well, the Toshiba does a better job in removing the humidity but it adds about an extra 4 degree warmer in my basement apartment.  The Toshiba can easily get the humidity down to near 40%, when my LG portable AC couldn't....even running it for more than 8 hours.  The lowest humidity the LG could get down to is around 60% with 73 degree.  The Toshiba can easily maintain the humidity around 50% for the entire night but keeping the indoor temperature around 81 degree.
Personally, I would prefer lower humidity but warmer than higher humidity but cooler.


Mobile Home Feeder Cable for Cabin I plan to install my service drop/meter/main disconnect panel on a post 200' from my cabin, which will have a 100 amp sub panel mounted on the exterior. I am having trouble finding 4 conductor service entry cable rated for underground use (will be running it through schedule 40 conduit).

Would 4/0-4/0-4/0-2/0 aluminum mobile home feeder service entry cable be suitable? The cable is rated for direct burial or in conduit (USE), and the conductor size is more than enough, but the word "mobile home" is giving me pause.

If you're running it through conduit, just buy single strand.  It's cheaper.  e.g. this
And obviously you'd be buying this at a proper electrical supply house, not the bigbox since they probably will not have it, and bigbox is really overpriced anyway.   With wires of these sizes, it is not required to buy white or green wire for ground, you can designate that with tape.

Besides, it'd be murder to pull a 4-wire cable through conduit.  Four single wires will be tough enough!  Might want to bring in a commercial electrician simply for the pull because he has the gear on the truck to do the job easily.


Does cedar turn gray if it's sealed? I'm building a cedar fence and I want it to turn gray, but we also want it to be sealed so it will last longer.  If I seal the cedar, will it age to the gray color?  If not, how can we get a gray cedar fence that will last a reasonable amount of time? This is in Southern California.

If you want the grey natural look anyway, I would not bother sealing it.  Here in Southern California a cedar fence should last a very long time.  The things that seem most likely to damage it (posts rotting out from sprinklers, insect damage) are not going to be helped by sealing, and you will have to redo the sealing frequently to keep it looking nice.


How do I move the strike plate on my bedroom door down by 1 cm? My bedroom door in my apartment won't stay shut. It seems the strike plate is about 1 cm too high. I will need to lower it. If I lower it, I will need to drill 2 new holes. I think if I do so, the holes will be too close together and they might become one hole when I put the screws in the new holes.

Am I wrong about this? Is there a solution I can use?

I used wood filler and match sticks to plug up the old holes. I used a chisel to widen the bolt hole on the bottom as well as carve out an indentation for the plate. Drilled in 2 new holes and put the plate on using the old screws.

The door can finally close properly.


What is the advantage to hiring someone with a license? Recently many out of work handymen have shown up at my door asking if they can do any work. One quoted me on some work, at a much lower price than if I looked in the phone book for a licensed contractor, and I was able to get some references from people I know to confirm they are okay. What is the advantage then of hiring someone with a license? Does that help protect me in case something goes wrong during the work?

It varies from place to place, but in general, there's a few things you can expect from licensed tradespeople.

they've shown a commitment to their business, so have a higher probability of being competent.
they probably have liability insurance (for if they burn your house down) and worker's comp (for if they injure themselves). As a homeowner, you're encouraged to check for proof of both of these things, btw. If an uninsured trade has an accident, it might roll downhill to you or your insurance.
there's a greater likelihood that they'll be around in the future if a warranty concern comes up.
depending on jurisdiction, a licensed trade will be able to give you an enforceable contract.
a licensed trade will be able to pull building permits to ensure that work is done to code.


How come the temperature is sometimes not maintained? First let me come right out and say that I am a software guy and this seems like a hardware problem, so I already feel out of my league. That said, here's the deal:

Background:
I have two-zone "hot air" heating in my home driven by air handlers in my garage which generate heat from propane stored in an underground tank near my driveway. There are two thermostats, both of the new touch-screen type. (I'm pretty sure the thermostats are installed correctly. One was installed professionally, and both respond properly to the fan controls.)

The Problem:
Sometimes, like about 40% to 50% of the time, the temperature in one or both of the zones drops way below the target temperature. This is worse overnight, since I'm not awake to notice it and make a temporary fix. The temporary fix? Simply switching the thermostat off and then on again. When I do that I can hear a "click" and soon after that warm air is blowing from my floor and wall vents.

I guess there is an intermittent failure to communicate between my thermostats and the air handlers. What I don't understand is why, when the temperature is below the target temperature, the thermostats don't resend the "call for heat" signal. The thermostat clearly knows the ambient temperature, as it displays it. Why does it take a "reboot" to resend the signal?  And the larger question, of course: how do I fix it?

If this is indeed two independent systems in one house (as it sounds like it is), the symptom you describe actually sounds like a common furnace problem, and you happen to have both doing it at the same time.

Flame sensor problem (I've had this happen myself)
The flame sensor is a usually L-shaped piece of metal that literally sits in the path of the flames, and detects their presence. It is a safety shut-off feature so if there are no flames, it turns the gas off. It gets dirty over time, and at the beginning will happen only occasionally, and will gradually happen more frequently as it gets dirtier. Cleaning it with some steel wool once a year will usually solve the problem. It is usually connected to the control board using a white high-temperature wire.

Igniter problem
Could be a bad igniter, which will cause the gas not to ignite at all. This could happen intermittently.

Exhaust blocked/backflow
There are sensors to detect when exhaust gas isn't being vented properly, so if your chimney or vent is slow or clogged, it may be causing this sensor to trip and shut off the furnace. This is less likely to be an intermittent problem, but is worth checking out.

In all cases, when there is a problem, the furnace will not try to start again until you cycle the control signal on the thermostat or cycle the power to the furnace itself.


Removing Danish Oil spills We recently recoated our worktop with Danish Oil and noticed later that some oil had dripped down our silver effect washing machine. We have tried soapy water and white spirit but can't remove the stains. Does anyone have any suggestionsfor what we could use? Thanks in advance.

According to woodworking discussions, it looks like any of the "usual suspect" organic solvents should be able to cut this polymerizing oil finish -- turpentine, mineral spirits, paint thinner, naptha.


Can I use post being sunk for a sail shade as corner support for a deck? I'm currently replacing a slightly above ground level deck that rotted.  The deck will fit between the house and a flag stone patio. One edge is tied to the house via a ledger board. I would like to incorporate two 6X6 post into the construction for a sail shade while also using the post for the corner support.   The post will extend 8ft above the deck surface.  My question is can I use those post for the corner support and if so, what is the proper way to attach to the post?

No.  Deck beams must have bearing (direct support underneath).  They can not be supported via side connections.

It looks like from the image that you are trying to support deck beams on the 6x6 post without bearing at the post.  If these are meant to be beams then they must have something under them at the bearing point.  A side through bolted connector for a beam to post connection is not approved for decks.  I assume that the reason is the through bolt connection or wood could degrade under weather and is much safer if it is actually resting directly on a post (still requires connections).

The following guide lays out how to design/size beams for your deck in a prescribed manner.  The joists that span between beams can be connected via hangers and don't require direct bearing (something underneath).  If you vary away from the prescriptions in the guide then you'd need an engineer to approve of your variations.

See figure 9, prohibited post to beam connection.

https://awc.org/pdf/codes-standards/publications/dca/AWC-DCA62015-DeckGuide-1804.pdf

Probably the best thing to do is to upsize to 8x8 undressed (not nominal), then notch the post for direct bearing of a single beam.  I am assuming just a 2 member beam so you'd have to integrate that into the spans of your deck.  The joists that span between this beam and your ledger do not require direct bearing (see figure 8A).  Then to prevent a weak area in the 8x8 I'd get a 2 pieces of 1/4" thick steel 3x the height of your beam so if you have a 2x12 beam then 11.5x3 = 34.5".  I'd take the steel and laminate it on the beam notch side and the non notch side and bolt it together that way any forces from the sail or your railing assuming you are integrating a railing are transferred past the weak spot in the post.

Good luck.


is my lawnmower beyond redemption? My Toro walk-behind lawnmower is around 3years old, and I'm guilty of not having done any sort of maintenance to it. Never an oil change, never anything other than fill it and mow. I do drain fuel at the end of mowing season, so that's one good thing, I suppose.

Last week, I had the lawnmower running fine for around a minute, and mowing grass reasonably well, when it suddenly slowed down (as if the engine was under extreme stress) and stopped. Slowing down and stopping must have taken around 15seconds or so, as far as I can tell.

I tipped it over to the side, and tried cleaning under the deck. Three years' worth of packed grass was removed (nothing really interfered with the blade, though), and I righted the machine back up.

From that point on, the pull cord is stuck. It pulls out maybe 4" or so, and then there's extreme resistance to any sort of further movement. There's no hard stop; just no movement at all. This happens regardless of whether the spark plug is installed or not.

I reviewed the engine oil situation; there's enough, but it's a sick gray-black color, and certainly smells like burnt oil. I'm assuming that's not good.

It looks like the engine is seized, though I hope that's not the case. I can turn the mower over and manually turn the blade, but that takes a whole lot of effort, and there's some sort of swishing (grinding?) noise behind the spark plug opening when I do this.

Is my engine beyond redemption? Is this something that I can fix myself (or get somebody to fix), or should I just go out and buy another (and maintain it better going forward)?

In my estimation (and bear in mind i'm no mechanic) your engine is seized up, and do you really want to spend half your summer rebuilding a mower engine? You have two options:

Take it to a small engine repair shop and get an estimate. Diagnostic services vary but will generally be less than $100. If the cost of repairs is less than a new mower, maybe its worth fixing. If not see point 2.
Hold a tasteful memorial service in the back yard, say some kind words about your late mower, and then buy a new one at your earliest convenience.