How can I fix this coating on the kitchen sink? Just moved into this house. The coating on the sink is coming off. I think maybe the sink has been painted, but I am not sure. It is particularly bad around the drain where a larger piece has chopped away and it is lifting all around it. In other places there are small chips. The bottom of the basin looks worn and permanently dirty. Does anyone have any ideas about what the coating is or what could be done to fix it and/or make it look better and last longer?

Thank you!

Looks like a repaint. (Those are popular in the real estate world, because they look good for a couple of weeks.)

Since it's failing, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was a crummy job and will probably continue to get worse.

Three choices:

live with it
painstakingly strip and paint again. (Professional recommended... good ones use epoxy paints/equipment that aren't really DIY. A good job will last reasonably well, though not forever.)
new sink, though this often turns into a quagmire of new faucets, plumbing, counter, cabinets, flooring, paint, windows...


how to remove these screws without taking a huge chunk of wall with them I'm not sure what these screws are called so I'm not sure what to search for.

On mobile having trouble tagging, so feel free to edit.

Below are pictures of the screw in its deployed and non deployed state

Basically it's a wide head screw that screws into the wall in a non stud area, and a normal screw is screwed into that. The screw in question (that goes into the wall) has a "flap" or piece/hinge that deployed in the wall to balance the weight I'm assuming.

I can't figure out how to get them out of the wall when the hinge is deployed. Any ideas?
I'll try to upload a picture of I can

I believe you are describing an "expansion wall anchor". Here is what the manufacturer states:

  Primarily used in drywall, the hollow wall anchor is a medium duty fastener. Once the body of the anchor is installed, the screw can be removed and items can be changed without disrupting the anchor. The tip has a drive point to pierce drywall easily.

Here is a picture.

The only way to remove any expanding or toggle-type anchor (with minimal damage) from the wall is to push the anchor into the wall hollow and spackle the opening.


Can I use a 30 amp disconnect for a 20 amp circuit? I need a 20 amp disconnect for an air to water heat pump.  I can only find 30 and 60 amp disconnects.  Would it be OK to use the 30?

For the disconnecting means at the equipment, yes

A 30A "air conditioner disconnect" box will work for this job, since it a sufficient current rating for the circuit and switches all ungrounded conductors.  (One theoretically could use a 20A two-pole/DPST lightswitch for this, even, but that's likely to be more expensive than a 30A A/C disconnect box.)


Hot and neutral terminals are switched in a outlet I am wiring a 30A-125V locking plug for an industrial toaster, however the outlet in the wall has the neutral and hot terminals switched, can I swap the terminals in the plug?

First of all, you should never modify a plug by "switching terminals". So step 1: put the plug back to the original configuration. The problem here is seems to be in the receptacle, so fix the receptacle.

You didn't say what type of receptacle you have; there are three types of 30A twist-lock receptacles:

Your statement about switching the terminals "and now it fits" seems to imply though that you maybe have the wrong receptacle? If neutral/ground were swapped, it would still physically fit, it just may not actually work (though chances are most things still would work, but there are safety reasons not to have neutral and hot backwards).

There are many types of NEMA receptacles:

If you have the wrong one, you need to install the correct one. For the most part, there are two considerations in switching:

The L14-* receptacles are combined 120/240V, so have 3 wires plus ground. You could cap off one and switch to a 2-wire receptacle, but you obviously can't go the other way without running a new wire.
Moving to a same or lower-rated (amps) receptacle is okay, but moving to a higher-rated one may not be: it likely requires a larger gauge wire to be run.

If you want more assistance, tell us what actual receptacle and plug you have (take pictures, if needed), tell us the wiring is, what the circuit breaker is rated for and if it's a 1- or 2-pole, and anything else that may be relevant.


Correct Single pole switch orientation I had two old switches I replaced and purchased some new eaton switches from Lowe’s. I installed them similar to the older switches where the ground was on the bottom right. Come to find out the ground should have been in the top left hence the reason when pushed in the top means off (assuming hot wire in is on the bottom). Is there any reason in particular newer switches have the ground up top left and any reason I should switch it to this if I already have it setup to be bottom right?

General convention is "Up" is on and "Down" is off. However, for a 3-way switch, "light is on" is on and "light is off" is off, and people manage to live with that every day.
I would recommend that you install your standard toggle switch with the lettering readable from the normal, human, upright position. However, as noted in the case of the 3-way switch, people can function when the toggle isn't in the "normal" position, so there's probably little danger and only minor confusion if you install the switch in the "Down" is on position.
Also, it doesn't matter for a simple toggle which wire (power supply vs load) is attached to which screw. Think of the switch as another piece of wire completing the circuit - it doesn't matter which end is "closer" to the power source and which is "closer" to the load, does it? That's all a switch really is - another piece of wire helping to complete the circuit, it's just that this particular piece of wire makes it easy and safe to break the circuit and turn off the flow of power.


Two Three Way Switches w 14/2 I have an existing three way switch hooked up already, it works fine. I would like to add another three way switch by connecting another switch to the existing three way switch. Can this be done with 14/2 romex between the two switches?

Most commonly, in a two switch setup, line power comes to the first switch then goes to the second switch and then to the fixture.

In this setup, you need a three wire cable between the two 3-way switches (we don't count the green or bare ground wire when describing cable). Two of the wires are travelers (alternately serving as the hot line) and the third is the neutral. The hot wire from the line cable in is attached to the common on the first 3-way switch. The neutral from the line in cable is attached to the neutral in the cable to the second switch. At the second switch, the travelers go to the traveler terminals and the hot wire to the fixture cable is attached to the common. The neutral from the traveler cable is attached directly (not through the switch) to the neutral of the fixture cable.

If the second 3-way switch is not between the first switch and the fixture (because there is already a neutral at the fixture), you need at least three wires to the remote switch, two travelers and a return hot line to the fixture. In addition, code now requires a neutral at each switch, so you should have four wire to a remote 3-way (the neutral reserved for devices that may need it in the future).


A spark from a power strip recently made the electricity go out is it safe to turn it back on? About a week ago my daughter plugged up her iPod to a power strip that was plugged into an outlet in her bedroom, she said she placed the iPod onto the power strip and let it sit there while she plugged it up, then it made a spark, and the electricity in her room went out. The iPod was burned on one side from the spark.  So my question is, could it of happened just because she placed the iPod onto the power strip  or could it be a bad power strip or is it the outlet? I haven't turned the power back on in her room because I'm afraid of a fire, but if its just the power strip then I could easily replace that. I can't afford to call an electrician right now and would like to be able to get her back in her room with out worrying about a fire. (Update) 8/5/14 Since I posted this, my daughter told me the power strip was only plugged half way into the wall when this happended, I also just noticed the outlet looks like its been burned, The power strip looks  normal. The iPod  still works and we are still using the same charger in a different outlet. Thanks.

I would suspect your daughters iPod charging port has shorted. It is not uncommon, and a known issue with late model 4-5 phones and pods, but heavily denied by Apple. While her room's circuit is off, unplug the iPod and power strip. Then turn the circuit on and test it out with something that is known to work well, a lamp, or if you want something to pull some current, try a blow-dryer. If everything works well, try the power strip with a lamp or something else. Finally, since your ipod is already scorched from shorting, get it replaced under warranty, or not if water was the cause of the shorting (good chance of this, ask your daughter.).

Source: verizon wireless forums(iPhones and iPods are very similar) and http://www.yourgadgetguide.net/my-iphone-5-caught-fire-why-apple/


Water pump that can shut down if no water from supplier Presently we are suffering water supply crisis in which there is not enough water supply for the population so water supply has to be turned on or off by the supplier.

What kind of water pump that can shut itself off if there is no water? Usually for normal water pump, it still pumps even if no water is flowing.

(note: I'll be using pressure tank, not storage tank so there is no float. One can't put it inside the pressure tank itself. So I need something that can detect water flow not by level.)

The HC6000 can turn on an outlet at a certain water level and turn off the outlet at a certain water level.  Attach an AC pump and this is an example of a pump that can turn off when the water level is too low.

https://www.amazon.com/HC6000-Hi-Lo-Controller-Float-Switch/dp/B006AU4L4U/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=hc6000&qid=1554961547&s=gateway&sr=8-1


Found mismatched breaker and wiring while replacing kitchen outlet in older house I have a few experiences wiring outlets and lighting but still am a novice.

We have a 1941 2BR house in the US. A duplex outlet had chipped plastic on one of the outlets where the ground prong inserts. I wanted to replace this outlet, but discovered some old wiring that is not to code today. I am looking for an improvement on the situation, knowing in 2-3 years we will do a complete remodel in the kitchen with a professional.

The outlet to be replaced is currently in parallel with a hard wired garbage disposal and a 9.6 Amp dishwasher plugged into an outlet tucked behind it. All this wiring is 14 guage NM, except one stretch from the junction to the outlet is 12.  This 14 gauge wiring also includes the connection from the panel to the junction, as well as the hardwired garbage disposal.

The circuit is on a 20AMP tandem breaker and shares the other switch with the outlet serving the washing machine. The washing machine wiring is not labeled, but could very well be 14 guage as well. Also, I realized we have an old refrigerator on the washing machine outlet as well.  The panel is 100amp.

Before realizing the wire issues, I planned to put a 20amp CGFI outlet in parallel with the disposal, then feed the dishwasher outlet off the CGFI outlet. While the outlet is not on the countertop (it's on the side of a lower cabinet), I thought it'd be good to get the dishwasher outlet protected. However, is there even enough room for an outlet, dishwasher and disposal on one circuit? Should I just remove that cabinet outlet?

Also with the 14 guage wiring,  I am not sure what to do. Use a 15amp cabinet outlet until the remodel in a few years? Re-wire from the panel to the kitchen w 12-2? Rewire all wiring in that circuit to 12-2? Rewire washing machine too? Separate the tandem breaker?

Thanks in advance

Edit: Is this panel overloaded? I'm counting 130 on left and 165 on right. Shouldn't it be below 200 total?

Edit2: The washer was wired with 12 gauge, so I moved the 14 gauge wire to the new 15amp breaker.

The number of spots open waa actually only the bottom 4 on the left. The top two were where the main power came in.

For newbies like me, the Cuttler-Hammer boxes were bought by Eaton, so I bought a breaker by Eaton labeled CH for under $9.

The dryer wiring is definitely bigger than the 30amp wiring, which is definitely bigger than the 12gauge. It looks stranded, but I didn't look too closely. As for the dryer needing lower amp breaker, that is to be determined.

I'd add a new 12AWG homerun from the panel to the junction box

What I'd do here is put a new 12/2 homerun in from the existing 20A breaker on the circuit to the junction box where the 14 and 12AWG wires are split, then connect the wires in the junction box by size as well as color (12AWG black to 12AWG black, 12AWG white to 12AWG white, 14AWG black to 14AWG black, and 14AWG white to 14AWG white), save for the grounds which all connect together.

At that point, you can take the existing 14/2 homerun off the existing 20A breaker in the panel and land it on a new 15A breaker fitted in one of the open slots on the bottom left -- Eaton CH breakers are widely carried by big-box stores and supply houses across North America.  (If you need to splice some extra 14AWG onto the end of the homerun to make it reach, go ahead and do so with a wirenut -- splicing in a panel is safe and Code-compliant, even though some ignorami misinterpret the Code that covers this to say otherwise.)

You can then fit a 20A GFCI to the 12AWG (20A) circuit to protect the dishwasher and receptacle.


3 way switch four wires In my garage (the other end of the 3 way switch) had four yellow 14 copper gauge wires used to connect this three way switch. Updating switch.  When I tested the wires with a Klein clamp meter it appeared that only one of the wires is truly a traveler (no voltage) however it appears that the other three have voltage (20-120).  I tried to spread the wires apart to make sure that there was no interference. I also used a no contact device which showed power on all three. I always thought that it doesn't matter which gold brass travelers go to and the load goes to the black on the switch. Again what do you suggest about the switch having four wires on a three way switch)
All go to one same circuit breaker. What am I doing wrong with these four wires? The house 3 way has only three wires. How can I identify the other traveler wire? I tried to wire it the way they had it originally which I think was wrong. Why did they put a fourth wire in there anyhow?

It looks like the yellow one going to the 3-terminal Wago is the common from the nearby switch, and is supplying switched hot to the lights in the left and right conduit.

The other two yellows going into 2-terminal Wagos are travelers.  The center conduit brings those, and also neutral, which is the return for the light, and two unrelated oranges that look like an unrelated switch loop.

Someone might send a memo to this electrician reminding him all those different colors of THHN wire are on his truck for a reason.  Using the same color for common/switched-hot and travelers is kinda confusing.


Is this insulation in my HVAC installed correctly? Inside my HVAC (past the horse hair filter) is a large gap before the air hits the radiator. The inside of this area appears to be lined with some kind of fiberglass insulation.
I asked maintenance why it looked the way that it did; I thought it was mold at first but was told that it's just dirty. It does appear dry and I agree that it's probably just dirty.
I'm also concerned that the fiberglass material looks like its deteriorating and the fact that its locates past the filter where it can get sucked up and into the ductwork.
My questions are: is this the right kind of insulation for this purpose and does it need to be replaced?
It looks like a very old unit but I can't find any indication of when it was installed.

I don’t like internal insulation for several reasons the first is because if not foil faced it holds dust and can be a home for mold.
With that said it looks ok to me fiberglass and rock wool will not be affected by moisture (degraded other than reducing the insulation value).
Looking at the photo a very neat job was done on the outside blanket. the inside looks ok but it is hard to tell the orientation I would never insulate the bottom of the air handler with an AC coil in there but it’s hard to tell although it looks like it is attached not flopping around so other than my personal preference not to insulate inside ducts it is probably fine from what I see.


Architect drawing home addition by hand I am planning to expand master bedroom and hired an architect to draw the plan. What I learnt is that he drew diagram by hand and not using CAD. He is an old guy. But I am wondering if I should be concerned now? Given this age, everything has to be exactly accurate and submit as CAD diagram for the city permit. Does it matter?

I have worked in construction in Indianapolis, and this is my experience:

Hand drawn drawings will not be rejected by the permit authority.
I drew my own plans for the update to my home:  Hand drawn, in pencil.

Hand drawn drawings will be more scrutinized by the permit authority.

When submitting the plans, I had to be ready to answer more questions than usual.  I have submitted plans that were drawn by engineers for commercial construction (yes, some hand drawn!), and they were received and stamped in seconds.  For my plans, the receiving person looked at the drawings and did not see an engineer stamp.  At that point, they asked if I had a general contractor, to which I answered that I was overseeing the construction directly.

They asked about greenway requirements (amount of grass compared to building/concrete covered area) to which I pointed to the water drainage page.
They asked about whether there was an increase in water drainage to the city to which I pointed to the fact that the house footprint didn't change.
They asked about where the spoils (dirt being excavated) would go, and how that would change drainage and I explained that all spoils were moving off-site to a commercial greenhouse nearby.
They asked about the new footers under the house; how they stick out four inches toward a neighbors yard where the setback distance was already too close (according to current standards) and claimed that I needed to change that.  I stated that current setback fulfilled what was required by regulation because the current setback was grandfathered in, and that they should look at the eave of the house to see that the building line was the eave line, not the wall line, so the four inches of footer would still be under eave.

This went on for 15 minutes.

All-in-all, I had construction know-how to answer these questions and in the end they had no grounds to reject it.  I just warn that in some areas you may have to be ready to defend hand-drawn plans that are not engineer signed.


Bulbs for Round Kitchen Fixture Containing a Ballast I cannot seem to find bulbs for this fixture.  It is a 6 in. round recessed fixture intended for a single HID or fluorescent bulb, which was installed by the previous owner.
It contains a fluorescent bulb, but the bulb has no useful markings as to the manufacturer.
Attached is a photo of the label from within the fixture that contains additional details.
--Additional Info, based on comments--
Thanks for the quick response.  As I understand it A19, PAR38, and BR40 refer to the size and shape of the bulb--not the type and size of the base.  For example, an A19 or an A21 bulb usually have an E26 base (i.e., the part that goes into the socket).  The socket of this fixture accepts an E26 base.
I interpreted the label to mean that only HID and Fluorescent bulbs should be used with this fixture, and using a CFL or incandescent bulb would not be OK.  The existing fluorescent bulb is a 3 in round globe with an E26 base; it is labelled as a self-ballasted bulb.
Any suggestions for a replacement bulb are appreciated.

The lightolier 1105 reflector fits multiple housings, if you have a ballasted fixture like a 1101F18U, 1100AICMFT, or more recently an 1101LED you need to check the label on the rough in portion of the fixture to find what lamps are compatible with the ballast/driver.
You should be able to pull the reflector down out of the ceiling and see the junction box that is part of the fixture. If the fixture has a ballast it will be mounted to a cover of that j-box. Here is a picture of a similar fixture with a white ballast attached.
Having found a self ballasted lamp in the fixture I would guess the housing is non-ballasted such as one of the models listed on the label you shown. The shapes and sizes of lamps shown are the types of lamps that they have tested in the fixture that won't damage the fixture and will operate the over temperature sensor if it has one. I'm sure due to the sheer number and styles of retail self ballasted lamps that the globe you have was never tested in that fixture.


Freezer not working; only makes quiet sound An old (probably 30-50 years) chest freezer is not working. When plugged in it makes a constant, very quiet sound and does not change temperature.
How could I tell what's wrong with it?  Is it likely to be possible to repair it?
Some pics of the compressor compartment:

Repair (by a licensed refrigeration technician) might be possible, but is highly unlikely to be practical or cost-effective .vs. replacement with a modern and probably far more efficient unit.
For one thing, the R12 refrigerant that your unit uses is now absurdly expensive.


Installing 3 Gang Smart Switch I am installing 3 Kasa Tp link smart switches in one box. After installing, two fixtures work and one fixture just blinks on and off constantly. Original installation had a dimmer on this switch with only two black lines coming out of the dimmer. I swapped a kasa smart dimmer and a regular smart switch and they both have that blinking problem while the other two switches work fine.
I will attach a very rudimentary drawing lol. Since originally the line going to the dining room light didn’t have a neutral I just tied in with the neutral line on the other lines.
Thank you everyone for any help.

You can't do that
The dining room, and kitchen, circuits are old-school switch loops.  They only bring always-hot and switched-hot to the box.
You are poaching neutral from a different cable potentially on a different circuit or even different phase.  Can't do it.
You can't attach the smart-switch wires to anything except wires in that same cable.  All related wires must be in the same cable or conduit, NEC 300.3.  There are several reasons, but one relates to the current imbalance it causes, resulting in EMFs not canceling each other out as they normally would.
That means you will need to either go with a different smart switch, or use a smart module up at the lamp itself if power enters there.
As far as the blinking problem, it might be tangled up in this, but it might also be a problem of the light or bulb not being dimmer-ready. Try swapping an old-school incandescent in there and see if that fixes it; if so it's the bulb.


Can narrower inside of gate valve reduce pressure by losses? I notice a ppr 3/4" gate valve has narrower inside compared to a 3/4" bronze gate valve which has wider inside. I guess the pressure inside the bronze gate is stronger? I wonder why would they make the ppr gate valve smaller inside.

The white one has the following inside it
!

The bronze valve will offer a lower pressure drop to the flow of water as the path has fewer changes of direction or changes in diameter.
The diagram for the plastic valve shows a 90 degree change in direction, then the flow is constricted through an orifice, then a further 90 degree change of direction.
Using the plastic valve when the flow rate and therefore velocity is low won’t be too serious like a low flow drip feed watering system but if the flow rate needs to be higher, shower or filling a bath then the losses may well cause an issue.


Fixing a sink with multiple problems I am interested in fixing the sink below, which has at least two problems:

(1) the hot water handle leaks when the tap is turned on, from somewhere in the circled region,

(2) no water flows when the cold water tap is turned on - somewhere the supply is completely blocked.

The supply lines underneath the sink are made of a clear plastic material.  I noticed that the cold water supply line is severely discolored, and wonder if this is related to problem (2).  See the second image, right supply line.  These lines originate at saddle valves in an adjacent room, and there are no other valves in between.

In an effort to investigate, I took out the screws from both of the handles, but was unsure of how to remove the handles from there.  There is not enough room (because of the sink and the drain stopper control) to turn the handles 360 degrees, so perhaps they lift off?

Following the solution to airlock problem described here, I tried running the hot water while sealing the faucet with my thumb.  This only caused the hot water handle to leak more vigorously.

How can I go about fixing this sink?  My highest priority is to get the cold tap working.

First thing is close the saddle valves you mention in the other room. The cold on IS on right? Maybe someone shut if off because it was leaking? Open the faucets to relieve pressure and leave them partially open to facilitate unscrewing the shafts once the handles are removed.

The handles should pull straight up once the screws are removed. If they do not come off relatively easily try prying them up with a big screwdriver and some kind of fulcrum. If they still don't budge they are likely very corroded onto the knurled shaft. In that case try soaking them in CLR, a readily available cleaning solution for removing calcium, lime and rust. It's a mild acid solution. If they still don't come off you may have to replace the whole assembly. I just went thru this with my old shower faucets. I couldn't even get them off with a gear puller and ended up destroying the handles just to get the assembly out of the wall. In your case I actually would recommend replacing the assembly anyway as they're relatively cheap and the newer cartridge style faucets work much better and require less maintenance. But if you want to persist....

Once you get the handles off remove the bonnet (big nut and you circled) and you should be able to unscrew the knurled shaft and washers in the direction that you would tun on the faucet. You should also find either graphite 'packing" or maybe some other kind of replaceable rubber seal in the bonnet. The graphite packing string can be found at a good hardware store, (i.e. NOT a big box retailer) and if it's a real good hardware store there will even be an old guy there who can tell you how to repack the faucet. There should be instructions on the package too. Also replace the rubber washers to seal in the off position.

Looks like some pretty hard water from the looks of that cold supply. First thing I'd do is disassemble the cold faucet and slowly and carefully crack the shutoff open on the cold supply and see if you're getting water thru that plastic supply. It will obviously come out thru the whole left when unscrewing the shaft so go easy. If no water then you have a blockage somewhere further back and you'll have to go backwards thru connections until you find a blockage. If you do get water there and still none once the faucet is reassembled then there's a blockage somewhere within the faucet and again just replacing the whole assembly would be the easiest solution.


How do I update two 2-wire switches housed in a single box? Both switches are combination switch and PILOT light I have a very OLD wiring so it isn't clear how to install my new switch per the provided wiring diagram.

I have 2 COMBINATION SWITCHES, each has a switch and a pilot light on them housed in a single junction box.  The old switches are brown, I want to replace them with white switches.

The old switches were wired with 3 wires, black, white, plain copper. I don't know that the plain cooper was to a ground screw or not. In the old switch the copper wire was attached to a screw that WAS NOT GREEN but was a single screw on the right side of the old switch.

I don't know how the old switch compares to the new switch. I only know that the old switch was wired with the black and white wire on the top/bottom of the two screws on the left side of the switch and the plain copper wire was wired to the one screw on the right side of the switch.

I wired the 1st new replacement switch as follows:

Black Wire to Brass Screw on switch
White Wire to Silver Screw on switch
Plain Copper Wire to Black Screw

I replaced the first old switch as above in 1, 2, 3 with the new switch.  Turned on power, switch worked as expected (pilot shows on when the switch is on, pilot off when switch off).

Then I replace the 2nd switch exactly at the first and it tripped the circuit breaker.

How do I wire using the 3 existing wires (Black, White, Copper) to the new 2nd switch in order without causing the circuit breaker to trip when it is used?

It sounds like the old switches were hooked up using the bare copper grounding conductor as a grounded (neutral) conductor.  This is NOT the proper way to wire this switch. To wire the new switches properly, you'll have to install an additional wire between the switch and the load.
It sounds like you have a situation like this...

But what you need, is something like this...

About the Device
The device you're trying to install has 5 screw terminals. On one side it has 2 COMMON terminals, which are likely either black or brass in color.  This side also contains the GROUNDING terminal, which is likely green and located kind of off by itself.
On the other side of the device, there are two screw terminals. The first is the LOAD terminal, and is likely brass in color. The other terminal is the GROUNDED (neutral) terminal, and is probably silver in color.
COMMON
The COMMON terminals are used to supply power to the device.  It's typical for only one of the terminals to be connected, but possible that both can be used.
GROUNDING
The GROUNDING terminal is used to connect the device to the equipment grounding system.
LOAD
The LOAD terminal is used to supply power from the switch, to the light or other load that is being controlled by the switch.
GROUNDED
The GROUNDED terminal is used to complete the circuit so the pilot light can be illuminated.
Internally, the switch looks something like this...


How to install crown molding to ceiling only I live near a bog. Our house heaves in the winter - BAD. We get large horizontal cracks along ceiling. We thought of ceiling molding to cover it but continue to read "nail to wall studs". Well that will only pull the molding away from the ceiling during the heaving.

I would like to nail to just the ceiling and have the molding "float" along the wall (this worked in a tiny bathroom but we used 1 3/4 poly trim - really lightweight and it has worked beautifully). I do not want this thin molding in the rest of the house. We love the 3 1/4. BUT nervous to spend that kind of money on something that won't hold up.

Any suggestions to fastening to just the ceiling that will give a durable hold???

There's no reason that you can't fasten crown molding to ceiling joists... except that they'll probably only be present along half your walls. Unless you happen to have a hip roof design, the other half will run parallel to the joists and you probably won't have backing. In that case, trim screws with hollow-wall anchors may work, or nails backed up with project adhesive.

It's also possible that you have a narrow ceiling backer at the corner (denoted below with #), to which you could fasten a larger backer (denoted with *). It might have the same angle that your crown molding does on the back. You'd then fasten your crown to that.

##_________
|*/ /
|/ /
| /
|/
|


Shower hot water not getting hot enough I left my house unattended for a number of months.  Before leaving, I turned off the water to the house and drained the lines.  This was during the winter.  Anyway, now that I am home, I notice my downstairs (basement) shower does not get hot enough.  It gets warm but at its most hot, it is not as hot as it use to be.  The rest of the house is fine.  The other shower, sinks, etc. all heat up. I took photos of the parts as well as the pipes.  Can anyone give any suggestions on how to fix this?  I am not sure if this unit has a scald preventor on it.  I tried adjusting the inner white collar but that does not seem to help.  Or do I need to adjust the screws in the photo of the valve?  Any suggestions would be great.

If you are experiencing low volume from  hot water in this valve and have not changed any of the mixing settings from when it worked properly I would suspect a partial blockage in the hot water supply line.

Carefully remove the cartridge from the valve body and look for debris. While cartridge is removed turn the water supply on a bit to flush out possible debris. Reassemble and test for normal operation. Good news your valve body has shut off screws for hot and cold water on it!

A valve repair video that shows a very similar type valve is found here


How can I shorten ABS pipe to move a drain trap? What’s the right way to shorten an abs pipe. I’d like to move my basement  sink over 3 inches to make room for a wall.
Should I simply cut a chunk out of the Horizontal pipe and join the ends with a coupler ?
See attachment.
Thanks!

Why do you need a coupler?
I would undo the u bend outlet, shorten and re tighten.


what are my options when it comes to updating my recessed lighting? i want to start by saying thank you for the few that helped answer my question yesterday.

to make a long story short....i am a fairly new homeowner and unfortunately did not have a father who was much of a fixer upper growing up. so when it comes to home repairs and doing things around the house i am very inexperienced.

i am trying to start off by doing small simple projects to help boost my confidence around the house. so over the weekend when I looked up at the ceiling in my living room i decided that i wanted to replace the faded white trim for the recessed lights. so after doing some browsing i found these:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kichler-Baffle-Recessed-Light-Trim-Fits-Housing-Diameter-6-in/1000257661

they are really nice and not that expensive. so i went to lowes and picked one up along with some GE LED BR30 bulbs. i wanted to buy just one to make sure it fit and looked nice. but upon reading the sticker on the trim it said MAX 9W BR30 LED. so i exchanged the bulbs for a lower wattage.

i went home and put up the trim and it fit beautifully. such a simple change gives the ceiling some new life! but as i was putting in the trim i noticed a sticker on the housing unit. it's a HALO 7T housing unit. no where do I see the trim i purchased on that sticker. as matter of fact it says to use only HALO trim. in addition...i don't see any mention of LED bulbs on that sticker either.

so am I overthinking this here? is it that big of a deal?
what about the LED bulbs? can they go into this unit? i have read some conflicting articles online as far as LED bulbs in incandescent housing.

i just don't want to create a fire hazard, that's my real concern. maybe my questions are silly but again, i'm new to this and want to be 100% sure. thanks so much

R is for reflector and 30 is how many eighths of an inch wide they are... 3-3/4 inches in this case. BR is for bulged reflector. PAR is for parabolic aluminized reflector.

I agree with all the other comments regarding code and UL. Halo says use halo trims. Of course they do. And technically you should use Halo trims, but I would use another brand in my own home if it was convenient and or priced right. It is just a beauty ring.

They sell BR3O led lamps from 8 to 12 watt so stay with 9 watt maximum like they state on the label and sleep easy. I have 45 years experience in this work and this is 100% safe.


How can I diagnose the cause of my washing machine shocking me? Australian 240v power supply.

Worked fine without incident for 5 years. One day I plugged washing machine into a plug adapter with no ground connection between the washing machine plug and the power outlet. (so it just has live and neutral connections). I received what felt like a 100 to 240v shock from the metal drum of the washing machine.

Putting my proximity voltage detector within 40cm of the unit resulted in it beeping (it usually needs to be within 1cm to detect anything.)

My question is: does this mean that the washing machine drum was always energized, and the only thing saving me from being shocked was that the ground wire was safely attracting the current away from me when I touched the machine?
Does this mean that the only possibility is that somewhere inside the machine a live wire is touching the metal exterior of the machine? or could it be another possibility?

My multimeter results:
From ground on plug to washing machine drum is infinite to 120,000 ohms resistance (changes when drum rotates). To other parts of the metal chassis it shows 83 ohms resistance. These parts still cause the proximity detector to light up.
The live, neutral on plug to drum and chassis show infinite resistance.

The live, neutral and ground prongs on the plug all show infinite resistance to each other.

My voltage testing screwdriver lights up when touched to the drum, chassis and internal ground wiring.

All other readings are infinite/blank, including voltage and current readings from drum and chassis while they are energized.

I don't understand how I can get shocks from the drum and chassis and they can set my proximity voltage alarm off, but no readings come through the multimeter. Is it because I can only rest the probes on the metal drum and the resistance is too high in my multimeter and the current is happier to flow through the chassis?

Note: the machine does not have to be turned on for the proximity meter to detect voltage in the drum.

Thanks

Putting  my proximity voltage detector within 40cm of the unit resulted in it  beeping (it usually needs to be within 1cm to detect anything.)

This usually means hot/neutral is reversed. There might be nothing wrong with the washer. Call an electrician first. And ground that outlet! Your machine's electronics will thank you.

(FWIW I use a non-contact voltage detector daily for diagnosing home appliances.)


How do I connect my AAL06 dimmer for single pole? I just purchased a few of these AAL06 dimmers.
The instructions manual says @easy: connect black to black, green to green, and anything else to white, my situation is very different... here is the wiring diagram.
Note that in picture 1, the lower black cable has power and not the top one, when lights are off.

Can someone tell me which cable to wire to where ? This is just for single pole.
Thank you so much in advance
Patrick

This really is as easy as the instructions make it out to be

First, turn the breaker off.  You'll want to do this one wire at a time though, so don't undo the switch completely straight away.

The bottom black wire is your always-hot coming in, and gets nutted to the black wire on the dimmer after it's removed from the switch.  The top black wire is the switched hot going to the lamp, and gets nutted to to the red wire on the dimmer after it has its turn at floating free.  The yellow (interconnect) and white (neutral) wires on the dimmer get nutted in with the existing neutral wires (as specified by the instructions for a single pole installation), and the green ground wire on the dimmer gets nutted in with the existing bare wires.

Button it all up, turn the breaker on, and enjoy your new dimmer!


Does Age of Home need to be considered when encapsulating crawl space? I have had my crawl space encapsulated.  It has made a big difference in the air quality inside the home (80 years old).  However, I am now seeing cracks throughout my home in the walls closer to the top half of the walls and also on my fireplace brick.  It has been approximately two - three months since having the encapsulation done.  My concern is the cracks seen in my fireplace - the walls I can fix but the fireplace is pretty much a 'fixture'.  Is the age of my home so old that the encapsulation is doing more damage then good? Do I need to be concerned, especially with the fireplace now having a 'Z' crack going on?  Also, when will the 'cracking' stop...lol.  I appreciate all those who can help me with these questions.  Asking someone in the 'foundation' business around where I live brings all kinds of 'issues' that may or may not be true issues.  Thanks!

Encapsulated? I assume you had rigid insulation boards added to the interior side of the foundation walls. If there were foundation vents, did you have them sealed? If not, water could blow in and get trapped between the inside of the foundation wall and the new rigid insulation. It could then freeze and expand. I doubt if it could "move" the foundation wall, unless it could run down and get under the footing. (Some footings are "L" shaped not "T" shaped.) Water may have blown in the crawl space in the past, but it was dried out with the crawl space vents.

By the way, we always design walls so that the bricks are stronger than the mortar. That way, when the wall settles, the mortar cracks, not the bricks. The mortar can be repointed (scraped back a bit and refilled with mortar.)


Why won't a 5/8" compression fitting with a ferrule integrated in the nut fit onto 1/2” copper pipe? I bought a coupling to transition from a brass 1/2” FIP (female iron pipe) to 1/2” copper pipe. The only compression fittings that the store had did not have the traditional independent ferrule that I am accustomed to. Instead, it had a long sleeve inside for use inside plastic pipe, and a compression ring integrated into the nut. The exact part can be seen here.

I had thought that I could simply not use the insert that fits inside plastic tubing, since the specs say this fitting can be used on copper, but this compression ring that is integrated into the nut will not fit into 1/2" copper pipe. The copper pipe has an outside diameter of almost exactly 5/8”, but the inside diameter of the compression ring is only .57 (9/16”).

There is no way that this will go on, and this fitting obviously won't work, but I don't understand why it is sized the way it is. Neither Lowe's nor Home Depot stock the more traditional 5/8 compression fitting that I would expect. I could imagine that the spec could be wrong in mentioning copper, and that this could be designed for plastic only, but even so, how would any 5/8 OD tube or pipe ever fit through this thing with the integrated ferrule ID of .57? Why is it even called a 5/8?

Pipe and tube are measured differently.
pipe is measured by inside diameter and tubing is measured by outside diameter. Depending on the fitting you may have the wrong one. I had a heck of a time remembering this when I went through my HVAC training as plumbing and electrical are normally pipe and hvac is normally tubing, back then the web was not as helpful as it is today for a full explanation and the 1/8” differences I believe that is your problem , look up pipe verses tubing measurements.


What can I put on these bricks that are sticking up to get them flush again? The house I just moved into has bricks laid in a pattern of stright columns the bricks are sitting tight but 1 inch is sticking up. Everyone stubs their toe on them. The area is about 7 feet long and about 5 feet wide. Everywhere else around the house the bricks are flush with the ground. What can I put on these bricks that are sticking up to get them flush again?

Use a dead blow hammer and see if you can pound it into the ground further, or pull the high ones out and dig out the underlayment that is preventing it from sitting flush.


What size conductor do I need to bond water and gas piping? What is minimum size ground do I need for a 200 amp panel? I need to bond the hot and cold in the water heater and already have a ground rod in the ground. I also need to bond the water and gas.

According to National Electrical Code, the water piping must be bonded to the service equipment enclosure, the grounded conductor at the service (service "neutral"), the grounding electrode conductor (where large enough), or directly to one or more of the grounding electrodes. The bonding jumper is to be sized using Table 250.66. For 200 ampere service, you'll probably be using 4 AWG copper or 2 AWG aluminum.

For gas piping, you can bond it to the same things as mentioned for water piping. However, the sizing of the jumper comes from Table 250.122, and is based on the size of the circuit that is likely to energize the piping.

For example:

If you had a gas furnace that was fed by a 15 ampere circuit, the jumper could be 14 AWG copper or 12 AWG aluminum.  Since the furnace circuit is the most likely to energize the piping, you'll size the jumper based on the ungrounded conductor feeding that circuit. This is a somewhat controversial topic, as some believe the jumper should be larger.

  National Electrical Code 2014

  Chapter 2 Wiring and Protection

  Article 250 Grounding and Bonding

  250.104 Bonding of Piping Systems and Exposed Structural
  Steel.

  A) Metal Water Piping. The metal water piping system
  shall be bonded as required in (A)(1), (A)(2), or (A)(3) of
  this section. The bonding jumper(s) shall be installed in
  accordance with 250.64(A), (B), and (E). The points of
  attachment of the bonding jumper(s) shall be accessible.

  (1) General. Metal water piping system(s) installed in or
  attached to a building or structure shall be bonded to the
  service equipment enclosure, the grounded conductor at the
  service, the grounding electrode conductor where of sufficient
  size, or to the one or more grounding electrodes used.
  The bonding jumper(s) shall be sized in accordance with
  Table 250.66 except as permitted in 250.104(A)(2) and
  (A)(3).

  (B) Other Metal Piping. Where installed in or attached to
  a building or structure, a metal piping system(s), including
  gas piping, that is likely to become energized shall be
  bonded to the service equipment enclosure, the grounded
  conductor at the service, the grounding electrode conductor
  where of sufficient size, or the one or more grounding electrodes
  used. The bonding jumper(s) shall be sized in accordance
  with 250.122, using the rating of the circuit that is
  likely to energize the piping system(s). The equipment
  grounding conductor for the circuit that is likely to energize
  the piping shall be permitted to serve as the bonding means.
  The points of attachment of the bonding jumper(s) shall be
  accessible.

NOTES:
 - If this is a multifamily dwelling, the sizing might be a bit different.


Is it ok to have a french drain right against a house? My landscaper is suggesting installing a french drain right against the foundation to collect and drain water (I originally proposed just grading and possibly adding pond liner) but he thinks water will collect under it anyways.

Is there a risk this will have more water sitting against the foundation or is this common enough?

Placing the french drain against the building's foundation wall is common and the correct way to remove moisture from around the structure. Remember, the moisture will be removed down to the "flow line" of the perf pipe. Here, we encapsulate the perf pipe in an envelope of drainrock and place it a few (6") inches below what we're protecting, (I.e.: 6" below basement slab, etc.)

If you move the perf pipe (and encapsulated drainrock) away from the foundation wall, then that allows moisture to lay AGAINST the wall and potentially leak through the foundation wall.


How can I handle carpenter ants? Last year, my wife and I purchased a house just south of Houston (Stafford, TX exactly). A couple of months into occupancy, we discovered that we had a problem with some Camponotus vicinus (Brown Carpenter Ant), and quickly got rid of them through the use of some boric acid and various other pesticides that were labeled for use against carpenter ants.

The thing about Camponotus vicinus is that they typically don't hit this far south and west, but I was able to confirm that's what they were by various sources around the internet.

Before you question on whether it's ants or termites, I can guarantee you that it's ants due to the piles of frass that they were leaving in a couple of places in the bathrooms, and I was able to grab a few and compare them to the ant/termite identification sheets found nearly everywhere.

But now we're starting to see swarmers of a different type of carpenter ant. These have the characteristics of Camponotus pennsylvanicus (Pennsylvania Carpenter Ant), but again, they don't really pose a threat to this part of the US. (See below)

I have removed the dead and rotting trees from my property, but I still need to trim some back. I also need to replace my soffits and facia boards on nearly the entire house to rid of that rotten wood, and I need to caulk around various pipes and such around the house.

I'm not terribly concerned about structural damage, but there's a lot of accessory damage that these things have and could do, and I want to make sure that's put to a stop.

My question(s) ultimately are as follows, though:

Is there some other black or brown carpenter ant that would strike southeastern Texas?
What is the most effective means of stopping swarmers of this sort?
Are there any other tattle tale signs that I need to be looking for with these wretched things?

EDIT

I just got home from work a bit ago and caught a swarm in the master bathroom. Among this swarm were 3 or 4 queens and several other swarmers. The queens were about 5/8" in length, where the swarmers were all 3/8" or shorter.

I've ruled out Camponotus pennsylvanicus based on the appearance of the queens. Their head and thorax are brown, and their abdomen is a banded brownish black. They only have one pair of wings and these protrude from their thorax. They are single-noded, which leans more towards Camponotus vicinus again.

Once I get the pictures off my camera, I'll post them here for further identification.

EDIT 2

 I was able to get of one of the queens.

Ants, and particularly carpenter ants, in wooded areas with plentiful food will be ubiquitous. If your property is sufficiently wooded it's likely that there are multiple colonies.

Carpenter ants are crafty, too. They are also hardier against poisons and pickier with baiting than other ants. When we had a problem with them I asked a few entomologists I know about their control. Their recommendation was that you must use multiple poison bait types. Carpenter ants will take protein (granules) or sugar (gel) baits based on their mood and the needs of the colony. You should supply both, regularly, around areas they frequent and around your home.

Look for products featuring Abamectin such as Advance Carpenter Ant Bait (that's "advance", not "advanced")

In sugar/gel baits look for products featuring Fipronil such as MaxForce Carpenter Ant Bait Gel

These products worked very well for me after vigilant application for a few weeks.


Can I fix my leaking downspout without taking it apart? I have a downspout leading to a large rain barrel that leaks from one or more of the joints.

Instructions I can find on the internet suggest either taking it apart and re-assembling with new sealant, or scraping out the old sealant and putting in new, which may amount to the same thing given the access I have around the joints.

I'd prefer to fix the leaks without taking it apart. Is this possible? For example, is there some kind of tape or wrap I could apply?

It's in the back yard, so appearance is mostly irrelevant.

Photo of the situation. Notes:

I'll do the repair once it warms up and dries out.
The leaks are present in warm weather too.

Downspouts aren't sealed because gravity prevents much water from coming back up through the lapped connections. So if that's happening something's usually plugged.

In this case, it's because of the ice blockage. If you were to seal the system you'd just move the "leak" to the gutter, and your icicles would form there instead because the entire pipe would be full of ice.

Eliminate the ice plug at the bottom and be happy.


How can I fix a Moen faucet that is still leaking after replacing cartridge? I had a leaky Moen faucet (Moen 4600) so I removed the old cartridge and replaced it with a new brass replacement cartridge (model 1200.) Since replacing the cartridge I now have a leak from the valve stem, that leaks faster the more I open the valve. It appears to be coming from the outside collar of the cartridge. Here is a video of the leak so you can see exactly what I am talking about:

Video of the leaky faucet

Is this caused by a poor fitting cartridge / o-ring or is it possibly due to wear on the faucet itself? What can I do to stop this leak?

I contacted Moen directly with this same question and they let me know that they recommended a model 1225 replacement cartridge instead (that's what I get for trusting the guy at the hardware store to look up the matching part for me). Technically either one will work but apparently the plastic 1225 offers a tighter fit than the brass (and more expensive) 1220.

Moen also recommended cleaning out the inside of the valve with an old toothbrush or bottle brush and then flushing thoroughly before installing the new cartridge.

I will update this once I know if the new cartridge resolves my leak.

Update:
After the installation of the model 1225 cartridge, the faucet works without any leaks from the stem. With the addition of a new knob the whole fixture is working better than new.

The moral of the story here is, when in doubt, try to contact the vendor (and post your results!)


Best fix for failing built-in storage cabinet base? So I have these built-in cabinets (particle board) that are probably 15 years old. They looked fine maybe 3 days ago. Yesterday I noticed fractures and cracks forming in the base on one side of a row of cabinets. There's a similar crack developing on another cabinet but it's not as bad. The large crack in the image has doubled in width in just 12 hours. I'm guessing that it's due to water damage from a nearby pet water bowl. Have never seen any thing more than 2 table spoons of water on the floor and that was rare. The bright splotches are because paint was added over the years. It blends to the naked eye.
I have a lot of canned food in this cabinet (not visible in images) but that's been true for years. Looks like weight is causing the fractures but I know the piece of wood on the side (with the huge crack) shouldn't even be load bearing. I had to take it out and put it back 2 years ago and there was no weight on it. There are support feet under the cabinets. The other strange thing is that I have similar cabinets in an uninsulated garage that show zero issues.
Do you think the cabinet is in danger of collapsing or is it just an optical illusion?
What's the best way to fix this? I don't want to do a fix that will quickly fail either.

I would say the best solution is one that gets the particle board monstrosities out of the house, but you probably want a best that's less extreme.
If this is just a trim board preventing stuff from rolling under the cabinet, replacing it with a trim board less subject to falling apart at any hint of moisture would be better. Vinyl trim boards would be arguably "most durable" in that sense, but painted solid wood (not particle board) will likely be fine if the water exposure is not extreme, and will be less expensive than vinyl trim (mostly intended for outdoor use) in my experience.


How do I repair plantation shutters The staple or brad that connects the control bar to several of the shutters have come off.  Some of them are completely lost.  How do I repair this?

I used to own and run a Blind business.  Living in Florida, a majority of our volume were shutters.  I would suggest getting a staple that is slightly longer than the one that came out  and then pushing the new one in.

I would protect the lever with a towel and then use a wide wrench, like a plumbers wrench, to squeeze the staple in.  Another option which would probably be easier would be to use the same size staple that fell out and use a two-part epoxy to set them in the holes.  You may have to get a small syringe to inject the mix into the tiny holes before inserting the staple.


Is 94 cubic feet/hour of natural gas a heavy load? Is natural gas fuel consumption of 94 cubic ft/hr a high or low consumption? (How does it compare to a stove, oven or clothes dryer?)

I am trying to figure out if I can run a small standby generator off my existing NG hardware. I have an ANSI meter #250.

One cubic foot of gas contains approximately 1,000 BTUs of heat, so 94 cubic feet of gas per hour = 94,000 BTUs per hour. That's about as much as a large gas furnace might draw, three times a typical gas clothes dryer, and twice a typical gas range with everything lit. One burner might be 9,000 BTUs.

If you need to ask the internet for help with this type of calculation, you really should not be performing natural gas work yourself. Don't blow yourself up. If you live in NYC, as your name suggests, doing so is highly illegal and puts other people in danger as well.


How to connect a 220v gfci that has no neutral coming from the load On a boat dock with a220v boat lift I have pulled 2 hots and a ground as that’s all that is required to operate the lift motor. My Bldg dept is requiring a GFCI 220 breaker. I assume the pigtail will go to the neutral bar in the panel but what do I do to connect to the GFCI?

Connect the hots to the GFCI. Since there is no neutral on the circuit, there cannot be any current on the non-existent neutral non-wire, and any imbalance will be between the hot legs. Not connecting the neutral wire to the GFCI is only a problem if there IS a neutral wire to not connect...


Is American Cherry wood flooring durable enough for a kitchen and living room? We are wanting to replace the carpet in our living/dining room and the vinyl flooring in our kitchen with solid hardwood floor. It's about 500 square foot on a heated crawl space floor. We like the look of Mirage's American Cherry (It's on Mirage's spring sale), but we are concerned with how soft it is. We don't have any pets and we don't wear shoes in the house.

I am worried about how much it will wear out in say 5-10 years of average usage from daily living. I am also considering Santos Mahogany, but it is almost 50% more than the American Cherry right now.

Cherry is definitely not a real soft wood, and not as hard as oak, but a fine choice. It has been popular for flooring and cabinets for quite some time. I looked at the link for the brand you are considering. This brand, as well as many others, come with a fantastic pre-finish that really helps protect the wood with minimal maintenance. I would not hesitate in using it for your application. As with any wood flooring in an area subject to accidental water spills, be sure to pick up any spills quickly and not let it sit.


Where is my power going? We just got an overly large (several hundred dollars over normal) electric bill from the city.

Being a bit of a diy I picked up an ammeter to to track down the reason. None of my circuits are clocking in over 2 amps in normal usage. I tried powering up everything in the house including all of the major appliances.

I only came up with a total of 22 amps, absolute max draw. US standard 110V.

I did the math but I wasn't able to crack our normal $150 / month (calculated out using the local kilowatt hour pricing).

What the heck is going on? Anything more for me to do before calling the electrician?

Edit:

The meter box is mounted to the side of the house, under a overhang.

When I used the ammeter I was working off the main hot line from the meter when I powered everything up.

I did see the other diy post.

We do have central air, howeverit was a lot cooler last month vs the same time last year. The usage shouldnt have spiked, at least that much.

The price per killowatt hour is comperable to last year as well.

We generally clock in at around 1200 to 1800 kilowatt hours. Last month was a bit over 2800.

We already tried (unsuccessfully) to lodge a complaint with the electric company.

The odd thing is the variance -$150 one month and near $1000 the next, with no noticible change in utilization patterns.

Are you sure your numbers are right? You say your kWh usage has about doubled, but your bill has increased 6x.

Anyway some utilities only do an actually meter read ever 2 or 3 months, then they estimate the bill for the other months. That can lead to extremely high bills if they've been underestimating and then they finally do an actual read and bill you for the extra that you've used. In theory the company is supposed to track your usage over time and get a good estimate but in my experience they can be wildly inaccurate. Your bill will tell you if the meter read is actual or estimated. Also note that some utilities increase rates in the summer when demand is high, so you may be suffering more if they just switched over to the summer rates.

If the problem is not just odd billing practices, you will need to dig a little deeper.

To help you narrow things down a little more, I would try to keep a log of your meter. E.g. try to write it down every day, or even twice a day to find out if your electric usage is constantly high or is intermittent. (Note that reading an old-fashioned dial meter is a little counter-intuitive, since each dial spins in opposite directions. See How to Read Your Electric Meter).

If you're really using 1000+ kWh extra each month, that's an average extra draw of 1.4 kW, which is pretty large. You should be able to see the meter spinning very quickly. Try shutting off circuits one by one to see what will slow the meter.


What are the elements of this apartment map? I was wondering what the elements from this map indicated with an arrow are?

The apartment has no kitchen, and it is supposed to be unfurnished, but some elements are there (like a fridge?).

Yes, They are proposed appliances. not the same symbols we use here in the USA however. the arrow at the bottom is an egress window.


How can I remove a MEPLA cabinet door hinge that has no exposed screws? Below is an image of the hinge I need to replace. Just can not figure out how to remove it from the door side?

Remove the two screws on the cabinet side, press down the tiny tab pictured at top right above, then twist the hinge to left (CCW) to unlock the hinge from the door.  There should be a plastic plate underneath held by 4 screws.


What is used to seal around glass in fireplace doors? The glass in my fireplace doors have felt-like strips layered in between the glass and the metal framing of the doors. I recently had to have a piece of glass replaced and they lost the strips. Now when the air conditioner unit is running it pulls air in from chimney causing the house to smell like smoke.

What is the material used to seal the glass so I can correct this problem?

The usual material is fiberglass rope or woven fiberglass tape.

For sealing glass, the rope fits in a groove, the tape is used between a flat surface and the glass with additional pieces under the clips to cushion their grip on the window glass.

The dark stuff is impregnated with graphite to prevent it sticking to the opposite surface (door seal).

Rutland is one brand with a broad selection of sizes and types.


Will canola oil have any adverse effects on silicone? So I needed to fill in a rather slab like shape with silicone. All I had at the time was aquarium silicone that came in a tube so I could just make squiggly lines. I didn't like it so I put on a glove and tried to smooth it out but it just stuck to the glove like crazy.

Then I lubed the glove with some canola oil and then we were in business! The silicone became very workable when it wasn't sticking to my hand so I went ahead and filled a corner too and I could mold the silicone into the right shape really nicely.

Anyway, its supposedly curing now and due to the thickness I'd estimate it to take at least 2 days. I realize that I probably mixed some of the oil right into the silicone too (not much, maybe 1% max by volume). Has anybody done something similar? How do you think it would affect the silicone? If it takes longer to cure.. whatever.

What I don't want though is fractures in the silicone mass caused by the oil separating it. Due to the way I was shaping it, this might be the case if canola is effective at preventing it from bonding with itself. Would that be the case?

I doubt it would be a serious issue unless you really mixed in the canola. However, if it does become a problem next time use plain water. Water in the air is actually the catalyst that drys silicone, construction workers will take a cup of water and dip their finger in it to smooth silicone on things like bathtub installations so that the silicone won't stick to their bare finger.


Kitchen Sink P Trap Installation Advice My question is where to install a P trap on this configuration (Disposal is directly over the drain pipe). We are on conventional foundation, so is installing P trap under the house an option? We went from a double sink to a single deeper sink and there was only 6 inches of clearance so I took a chance with no P trap....bad idea. Sewer gas now coming in regularly.  Any help with details and illustrations from a plumber would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Max

You're going to have to put a trap in there somewhere.  If there's enough space in the cabinet, you could do something similar to this...

NOTE:: All horizontal pipe sloped at 1/4" per foot.*

If not, and you have access to the plumbing below. You could reroute the plumbing, so the it comes up the back wall instead.


should door locks and deadlocks be keyed the same Should door locks and deadlocks be keyed the same. Is there any advantage or disadvantage (besides having more then one key) in having them keyed different?

The big disadvantage is having to keep two keys with you instead of just one.  If you lose your keys (or someone steals them) both keys are compromised so there's not an advantage to having two different keys in that case.

The only advantage I can see is if you frequently need to let other people into your house.  You could hide the door knob key or give it to the third party, and on the day when they need access leave the deadbolt unlocked.  That way the door is still locked and the third party only has access when you allow them to.  Any other time the deadbolt will be locked so even if someone finds the hidden key they can't use it.

It's a bit contrived, but using the two keys as a "double lockout" type scenario is the only advantage I can come up with.


Replacing hot/cold water faucets for washer The faucets in the garage for my parents washer are leaking and I want to replace them.  The first issue is that I had no idea what this type of faucet is called.  I looked around the home depot website but didn't really find what i was looking for.

Does anyone know what type of faucets these are?  Can i just replace them with any kind of faucet?

Also, when i replace them I'm assuming i need to turn off the water at the front of house right?  Anything else I need to be careful about?

thanks!

A spigot valve would be what you are looking for. You would need to remove the old valve from the pipe coming out of the wall to confirm the connection size. Washing machine hoses have the same connectors as garden hoses. Yes, turn off the whole house water since there don't appear to be shutoff valves before these valves. The main thing to worry about is to try not to damage those pipes.


how do I build a 7 to 9 inch high water dam? how do I build a 7 to 9 inch high water dam? In wet weather, water gets into my house. I need to create a berm of earth that will be grass covered, and it should also have a water barrier to keep the soil from washing away. How can I build such a dam? It will be about 40 feet long.

If you need help with gardening-related tasks, you probably want to ask on Gardening & Landscaping Stack Exchange.

The answer to your question is to not build a dam, but instead prevent this scenario from occurring.  Probably the biggest issue I can think of with a dam is water on the wrong side of it - you've essentially built a mini-pool against your foundation and this will just make the problem worse.

Grading

The ground surface around your house should be sloped away from the foundation. If this is not the case, you can build as large of a dam as you want and water will eventually find its way in.  If you go look at a new development, you will see that all of the lots slope towards each other and in the middle there is low point that serves as a drainage path that will lead towards the street in order to direct rainwater away.

Runoff Management

There are a couple things you can do here.  The first and probably most important is to make sure that your gutters are free of debris and properly collect water from your roof.  When it rains, is there a sheet of water pouring down from your roof? This is a sure sign that your gutters are blocked. Assuming your gutters are not blocked, you need to identify where they discharge water to.  In older homes, the gutter downspouts might be hooked directly to a storm sewer, but in newer areas they will usually discharge water on your property.  You should ensure that they discharge water far enough way from your foundation. If they do not, you can add an extension to satisfy this.  This also relates to grading as I discussed above.

If this alone does not solve the problem you might consider a drainage cannel to direct the water away from your house. This might be as simple as a gravel-filled trench, or a bit more elaborate with  an embedded drain tile (pipe with holes in it), wrapped with landscaping fabric (to keep dirt and debris out) that is in a gravel filled ditch.  A gravel-only ditch might eventually clog up from roots and debris.  Of course you need to ensure that the slope of this ditch is away from your foundation.

A ditch will probably be required if you have either highly compacted soil or soil with a high clay content that doesn't readily absorb water.  If water pools on your lot with light rain, this might be the case.


Do I need to caulk the walls and around tub of my shower all at the same time? I caulked two sides of my tub surround last night and waited a day to caulk the long wall, is this ok or was i supposed to caulk all sides and corners at the same time to ensure there is no leakage?

In a perfect world you would want to but you don't have to.  The silicone is mainly bonding to the materials around the gap, which is generally your tub and walls.  It doesn't matter in that case at all.

The only point that matters is the silicone connectivity between your silicone and old silicone.  This is a very small connection.  On GE's website you can read that silicone does indeed bond with dried silicone.  It however says that bond is not as good as what you would get with two wet bonds - obviously.  But still works.  If your silicone was not all the way dry probably even better for you.

I wouldn't worry about it.  Silicone bonds well and lasts a while.  Maybe just keep an eye out for the area that you connected on.  But really no big deal at all.


Twisted Wall Studs In Tub Surround I have a new tub that is being installed and then I'm going to tile the tub surround. The problem is that several of the wall studs are either broken, bowed, or twisted pretty bad. What's the best way to go about this to get a nice flat wall to tile onto. The other side of that far wall is also my kitchen (with cabinets, and appliances and stuff) so I'm really hoping that the answer is not to take off all the drywall and put in new studs.

The two studs in the middle here are the ones that are twisted pretty bad

Looking at the picture it appears that the twisted studs are all shy of the front edge of the bottom plate.  If none of the studs are proud / protruding into the space, you could just add new studs/nailing edges as attachment points.

I don't see the value of shiming the plates out 1" and adjusting things.  If the studs are protruding into the space, I'd just rip them back with a circ saw and again add some extra studs for nailing edges that are nice and flat.

You have some electrical so I'd probably go 2x4 on flat to avoid having to adjust the ele where the 14/2 is interfering.


Removing Steel Basement Windows My basement has the original steel (I think) framed windows in place from 1962, when it was built. I've removed windows in block before, at my previous house, but this one does not seem as clear. As you will see in the pictures, above the window there horizontal metal surface that appears to be attached to the window. It appears to be approximately 4-5" wide, and appears on both sides of the glass. The vertical part of the frame is approximately in the middle. I'm not sure if it truly is a part of the window, or something else, like a beam. It appears to be one piece with the frame

Essentially, my question is two fold. First, does this window somehow provided structural integrity to the block wall? Two, how should I start removing it - simply chip away the mortar on the perimeter?

Note: The window pane tilts in, and was removed for these pictures. Also, there is some white quarter round a previous owner had in place to pinch plexiglass in front of the window, trying to seal it. It's unrelated to the window itself.

Edit: Some details on the house... built 1962. Brick veneer. Block foundation wall.

I have removed these before. A cut at the bottom bar, which is not anchored into the sill the way the sides and head is. When cut, the 2 bottom corners can draw in, allowing the flanges on the sides to begin to withdraw from the groove they are mudded into. You may want to nick the upper inside corners to make it easier to bend inwards. They might even snap there for you too. If they only bend in at the bottom, that will still have the lower corners raised above the bottom masonry sill by a few inches. With that the head that is keyed in at the top can be tapped down to release it, one corner at a time.


In a house fire, how hot does the foundation have to get before it too has to be replaced? Not long after the Oakland Hills fire in the early 90's I was talking with a homeowner. I ignorantly said that at least he can still rebuild on the same foundation. He said that at about 2,000°F the rebar in the foundation gets hot enough to expand, leaving voids in the foundation when it cools, and at over 2,500°F all the water gets cooked out of the foundation, leaving you with a pile of concrete dust that looks like a foundation. In either case the foundation has to be replaced. The extreme temperatures created from the burning eucalyptus trees were supposedly responsible for those temperatures.My question is twofold:

Are the temperatures cited more or less correct?
Are these temperatures encountered in a non-wildfire environment where the only fuel is the structure's flammable materials?

It seems like rebar would get hot enough to expand well below 2,000°F.

The information is incorrect, the temperature at which concrete becomes unsafe for re-use is significantly lower, 570 degrees F actually. The 'telltale" sign is if concrete that was not charred from nearby combustibles turns a pinkish hue. That color change is due to chemical changes in the iron-containing compounds in the aggregates used in making concrete reacting with the Portland cement that is binding them together. Once it turns pink, it is unusable. The fracture mechanics are permanently changed and it will crumble under stress. That has nothing to do with the rebar inside.

Even IF it is not noticeable damaged, you may not be able to re-use it, or want to. After a fire where the rest of the house is completely destroyed or had to be demolished, when you go to try to re-use a foundation, the Building Permit code requirements will be "reset" to the current codes, you are not longer "grandfathered" into the code requirements from when it was originally built. But since it already exists, the inspectors cannot see HOW it was made. So they will require an Engineering Report from a licensed Civil PE certifying that the foundation meets or exceeds the current building Code requirements. To get that report from anyone other than a scam artist, the PE will require core testing, wherein a company comes out and drills cores from your foundation and takes them to a testing lab to test the strength. In addition, they may require a survey / map of the foundation for rebar locations (done with a metal detector). By the time you get done with all of that, it can be so expensive that tearing out the old foundation and replacing it will be less expensive.


Should We Put our Washer and Dryer Outside? We have very limited space in our home for a washer & dryer. We are thinking about putting them outside. We have an outdoor patio where 3 sides are part of the structure (the house). There is also a roof which is part of the house. The fourth side is open. The cement is a step up, elevated from the rest of the patio. We live in Southern California, in the high desert near Mojave. The winters get as low as 20 degrees and the summers up to 115 degrees. We have a lot of wind and some rainfall but not a lot. When it rains, it rains hard. Also the yard is mostly dirt so the dirt blows around a lot. Would this work? Would we still need the air vent? Should we wrap the gas line, wires, etc. What about putting them on a platform, off the ground?

When I was stationed in Panama our gov't quarters included the washer and dryer outside. The term eludes me now, but our quarters we're raised so that the driveway went under the domicile. The washer/dryer sat on a cement driveway under the quarters, exposed to the Panamanian elements.
Lint collection consisted of a plastic box that attached to your exhaust hose. The lint and exhaust went through the box and the lint was caught by wire mesh.
We actually bought the washer/dryer combo from the gov't after three years of our use. Contractors told us at the time the combo was at least ten years old. I paid $10 for both.
Then I sold them again three years later.
So, to your question, I'd say yes.
Good luck!


Programming Travel on LiftMaster Gone Wrong I've been having intermittent problems with my garage door opener either reopening after closing (fully) or opening after partial closing. I could force it closed by holding down the button. This only happened occasionally. The indicator lights had the "up" light flash four times then then "down" once, and the suggestion seemed to be to reset the travel. When I tried to do this, the garage door stops very quickly on the "down" setting and now everything is now 100 times worse --- the door won't go down more than a foot and then stops, since the new "bottomed out" setting is completely wrong. Attempts to do it again get stuck in exactly the same place.

Please refer to above image.

The "top" adjustment is for the UP (open) travel limit switch for the door...
To lengthen the up travel, ( more "up" ) turn the slotted screw adjustment to the right. To shorten the up travel, turn the slotted screw adjustment the left.

The "bottom" adjustment is for the DOWN (close) travel limit switch for the door...
To lengthen the down travel, ( more "down" ) turn the slotted screw adjustment to the left. To shorten the down travel, turn the slotted screw adjustment to the right.

Hope this helps you,


Can I tile over a horizontal band of tiles in my shower? The grout in the bottom half of this shower was going bad so I removed all of the grout below the horizontal band and re-grouted.

The horizontal band appears to be water tight but it's a hot mess.  The small tiles are extremely uneven and poorly aligned.  Many of the gaps are extremely small.  In many places, they have gone over the grout with what appears to be a grey epoxy.

My first plan was to clean it up and then apply a "Grout Renew" product on the lines.  I tried that tonight and ran into major issues.  The grout renew would not stick to any areas that have been covered in the grey material. Because the gaps are so small, trying to scrape it out would take forever (and if I did succeed at that, I'd just be tempted to regrout...)

I'm now thinking that maybe I can just tile over the horizontal band of tiles with a row of subway tiles in a different color.  It will mean that this row of tiles sticks out further than the rest of the wall.

Is that an option?  Has anyone seen that done before?

I would not try to tile over the band of small tiles for several reasons. You said they were tight and what ever the gray material is your grout renew won't stick so that would be a problem with any new tile also. If you add a layer and it sticks you Now have a ledge that can hold water even if a grout filet was placed on the top edge there would be more of a chance of water getting trapped and the soap scrum that would collect would always be a pain. Last it would not look right, you would be better off carefully removing the band and replacing with the subway tiles you wanted to put on top.


Why did my installer install 1/4 round corners like this and how can I fix it? We had a guy come by to finish some previous tile work we had done. The morning of finishing the tile, he called and said he couldn't get the grout to stick along the edges, and it was just going under the baseboards and not setting up. He suggested we instead install 1/4 round to cover the edges.

I was fine with this, but the corners look... not right?

Considering these pieces are cut, do I have any options to fix this without buying more 1/4 round?

That's the worst job I've ever seen at installing quarter round. As others have said, your installer was incredibly lazy.

There are several different techniques that could be used for terminating the corner rounds in both the corners and at the ends.

A simple 45° miter is the simplest for both inside and outside corners. If you want to get fancy, you can cope one of the pieces. Both of these joints look identical when they're installed.

(Image Source)

For the bare ends that stop at a non-corner location, you can do either a mitered return, or just miter the outside edge at 45° and let it angle up against the wall/cabinets.

(Image Source)

As for your questions about fixing the quarter round without buying new, you can probably get away with doing so for your cabinets, but not on the inside corners. For the cabinets, it will look a lot more natural if you miter the ends so they taper back up against the cabinet.

For the corners, you could buy a short length  (12-24" or so) and splice it by cutting back the existing quarter round a slightly smaller distance. Then miter or cope the new piece appropriately.


How can I reduce the heat loss through floor? I really don't know how is named this material in English but I have to prevent heat lost through it. I assume that it is named mosaic, but I might be very wrong.

Ideally I'll like to have the floor heated by a hydronic system. Do you have any idea about what materials to use and which added to the solution doesn't result in a too height floor?

PS: mine looks like mosaic tiles from this link. It is definitely polished and made of cement and small stones.

Not sure if this should be a comment or an answer. You will need something on top of the concrete but under the radiant tubing to reflect the heat upward. They do make a metal coated wood for that purpose that has channels already routed out for the tubing. It will ad to the height of your new finished floor.

I assume your concrete is on top of earth or soil and no way to get under it. ( my forth floor condo has a two inch concrete floor so i could in theory put something under it.) You will not be able to stop the concrete from absorbing some heat but once the concrete has heated up it will act like a big heat sink and radiant that heat back out. that said it might be that the reflective material on top of the concrete would prevent the concrete heat sink from radiating upwards.


Why is neutral wire connected to the right side of a plug? Why can't the neutral and live wires be exchanged when wiring a plug?

There are two fundamental requirements for safety unless the design of a device guarantees that no electrified portions will have a path to ground other than via the neutral:

The hot wire needs to be fused unless the wire can pass 20 amps continuously.
If the hot wire is disconnected, the neutral wire must be disconnected as well.

If a device didn't have a fuse on the hot wire, nothing would control the over-current in the event something shorted to ground.  If the device fused both sides and--under a different failure condition--the neutral-side fuse blew before the hot fuse, the device could appear to be inert while its innards were all connected to the hot wire.

There are two says a device could be constructed to be safe without a polarized plug:

Design it so that there is no plausible accidental current path anywhere except between the hot and neutral (whichever is which).
Use a double-pole fuse which will open both sides under an over-current condition.  While it's possible to construct fuses in such a fashion, such designs are much more complicated and expensive than fuses that merely need to open the wire carrying the excess current.

Using polarized plugs is often easier than doing either of the above.


Piping in basement slab I've got these three pipes in my basement slab.  Cast iron, 4 inches in diameter.  One on the left is 15 inches from the wall, the middle is 2 and the rift one is 12.   So what are these?  Drain pipes for a future bathroom?

Yes, most likely a rough-in for a future bathroom. Based on the distances from the walls, the leftmost one is for a shower, middle is for a sink, and right would be a toilet.


Electrical engineering background, can I do electrical work on my house OK Folks, some introduction. I wasn't born in the US, I come from the underdeveloped world, where due to lack of resources it was usual to have a pair of bare wires acting as a light switch (seriously!) and there was no such thing as formal codes, NM-B wires, GFCI outlets and so forth. However, I studied electrical engineering early in my career (now I'm a software engineer), I am pretty familiar with US electrical codes (although not so involved in deep details, don't have time to read the full NEC book...).

The question is:

Can I do electrical work in my own house? I'm planning to install some lights in the attic, and I know for sure that I am not going to cause a fire hazard. I know how to install junction and switch boxes, run NM-B wiring, ground everything properly, following hot/neutral color codes, secure wires with staples, and so forth. I plan to run power out from an existing outlet in the existing circuit that powers that outlet and the typical attic light bulb. I plan to add 3 or 4 more lights and a new switch.

Am I supposed to ask for an electrical permit? If so, let's say that I don't ask for a permit and do the work? What problems could this imply if anyway, nobody knows what's inside my attic?

Just trying to save some bucks, since I feel pretty hesitant to hire an electrician and spend 100+ bucks for doing something so trivial to me. I would feel like an idiot, throwing away money, when I have seen poor electrical work done by supposedly "licensed contractors". Any ideas?

Contact your local building department, and ask them if this would require a permit, and if you can do the work yourself. That's the only way to know for sure, as different areas have different rules.

You'll likely have to pay a small fee for the permit, and have the work inspected at different stages of the job (or maybe only once it's done).  Most areas let homeowners do the work, as long as it's inspected.

If you do unpermitted work in your home, and something does happen. Your insurance claim could be denied, and/or you could be held personally liable for injuries and damages to others and their property.


Can't get threaded connector all the way into shower faucet. Do they need to go all the way? We're installing a small corner shower in one of our washrooms, and I'm having an issue with the threaded inlet/outlet connections on the faucet.

I'm using Sharkbite, and bought some threaded-on-one-side/Sharkbite-on-the-other straight connectors for attaching everything to the faucet. The problem is I can only get them to thread about 2/3 of the way into any of the four spots on the faucet. I've tried with a wrench and they just refuse to go any farther than that.

The faucet set is Glacier Bay, which I've since found out is a pretty crap brand, so maybe that's the problem. Alternatively, maybe the threads on the Sharkbite connectors are too big, but I have a hard time believing that.

Is it a problem if the connectors don't go 100% of the way in?

I should point out, that for at least a few weeks, the wall behind the shower will be wide open, so I could try just threading the connectors as far as they'll go and keep a close eye on the situation.

It may not be necessary to see all the threads "disappear" for the two ends to be fully engaged and tightened.

You could measure each end (male and female) to determine if they are substantially different to determine if the shorter of the two is fully engaged.

After you cover the male end threads with a couple winds of Teflon tape and thread them together very snug, (be careful not to over tighten) the important thing is that the connection does not leak.  If you don't leak, you are all set, regardless if any threads on one side (feed line or faucet) are showing.


House and shop on separate meters, will water line between the 2 be a problem? Since my utility pole is halfway between my house and pole building (shop),  there is a meter at each service entry. My (house and shop) panels are grounded properly with ground rods and subpanels are also properly grounded (with neutrals NOT bonded/attached to the ground bar). I've just read here about the possibility of a problem if metal pipe or shielded cabling were to connect between the two structures. What precautions should I take, if any?

If you don't have any piping or cabling between them, don't worry.

If you are planning to run coax, use a ground isolator designed for your type of CATV or satellite system. Your cable co might even be able to provide one which is guaranteed to work with your service.

Ethernet is already ground isolated thanks to transformer coupling so it's not ground referenced. It's part of the spec and was there from the start to specifically address concerns like yours. There is shielded Ethernet cable which is uncommon but should be avoided and most likely unnecessary.

Piping will be tricky. You are going to need what is called a dielectric union or other galvanic isolation device. Then bond the pipe on both sides of the union for lightning and grounding safety. The bond should not jump the union but rater establish ground at their respective building locations. This applies if your piping is metal. So if permitted by local code, run plastic pipe and problem avoided. Gas piping can also be plastic if permitted.

And lastly, use lightning arrestors on both sides of your ethernet and coax wiring at each building end. Bond them strait to a solid ground or their own properly installed ground rod.


Can you have 2 circuits in one box? Can fixtures in a single box be powered from 2 different circuits? I' planning on installing a 5-gang box with 3 light switches and 2 receptacles.
The lights and receptacles would be on different circuits. Further, the lights will be on a 15amp non-afci circuit, using 14-2 cable and the receptacles will be on a 20am afci circuit using 12-2 wire.
I plan on keeping the neutral and grounds (and obviously hots) for the 2 different circuits in the box separate.
Is there anything that would not permit this in the code (I couldn't find anything)?

Yes, you can -- just mind the box fill and labeling, and make sure to keep your neutrals separated!
A five gang box composed from gangable, 2¾" deep boxes as you describe provides 70in³ of fill (14in³/gang as per the Steel City catalog).    You are bringing 4 14/3, 3 14/2, and 2 12/2 cables into the box, in addition to mounting five devices in it, three of which are connected to 14AWG wire and the other two connected to 12AWG wire.
This means that we are using 72¾in³ of fill; 36in³ for the 18 14AWG wires, 9in³ for the 4 12AWG wires, another 9in³ for the two receptacles, 12in³ for the lighting controls, and finally 6¾in³ for equipment grounding, as per the 2020 NEC rule that requires an extra equipment grounding allowance for every four additional ground wires past the initial allowance's worth.  This is just a hair over what your box supplies, and would be legal under the 2017 NEC fill rules as the fill for the additional grounding wires is what pushes it over the top, but doesn't account for any cableclamps internal to the box. As a result, I would go with a 3½" deep box if you are sticking with the field-gangable boxes, or order in a factory-fabricated 5 gang box that is taller and thus provides more fill volume if you'd rather go that route.
You'll also want a consistent way of labeling your wires so that you can tell the various circuits involved here apart; crossing your streams could lead to false AFCI trips, overloaded neutrals, and other such badness.  Thankfully, premade wire labeling booklets are available for this job, and make this relatively simple; all you have to do is come up with a consistent scheme for using them.
Finally, even if you don't use the wire labels, you must keep your neutrals on the two circuits separate for the reasons mentioned above. However, you also must join all the equipment grounding wires involved together and pigtail them off to the box and to the receptacles (unless they are self-grounding that is).  (Think of how this'd turn out if you were wiring this in Chicago, where you'd have to use metal conduit instead of cables.)  In fact, you could use a divider in your box between the three lighting controls and the two receptacle devices; you'd then need grounding pigtails in both compartments, but it would make it much easier to keep your circuits apart.


Drawbacks of Bonding Earth & neutral in Industrial sub panels Bonding of Earth and neutral in machine subpanels will causes problem, but I want to know how it would affect PLC & VFD, etc.

The machine has 2 panels one for heaters (uneven load in each phase) another has VFD (250 kW) for the motor. since the last 4 months continuously facing a problem with drive most of the time control board failed without any error replaced with new VFD but no improvement. Also found some liquid from boards maybe electrolyte.

While checking found both panel earth & neutral & bonded together. I removed the bonding but want to make sure it was the root cause of all the time drive failure.

Don't remove earth-neutral bonding unless you are sure both neutral and earth have genuine, quality separate paths back to the main panel.

Dirt is not a genuine, quality path.  So if the only path back is via dirt using grounding rods at each panel, you need to hardwire a ground wire.  Ground rods are for returning lightning, not human-made current.

However, earth-neutral bonding elsewhere than the main panel creates a serious safety issue that might also damage equipment.  If there is trouble in the shared neutral-ground, there can be extraordinary voltages on both neutral (which may hurt equipment) and ground (which may hurt people).

So yes, a neutral break could cause voltages as high as the opposite phase voltage. So if your service is 240/416V wye, you could see 416V between neutral and hot.  You could also see voltage as high as 176V between "things which should be grounded" and genuine earth.