J Channel Looks Wrongly Installed And How To Fix (Water Leak) I recently moved homes. I am getting a pretty bad leak above a window. I assumed it was the flashing, but before I even got that far I noticed the J Channel looks very wrong (to my amateur eyes).

There is a large gap in this image taken from above. First of all, I wanted to get confirmation this is incorrect. Secondly, if so, what is the best solution?

I checked a few other windows and now I am pretty sure all 20+ of my windows have this gap in the J Channel.

Edit: Below is a picture of the window under the siding. Would the flashing be under the black stuff? Or does this mean there is no flashing? If none, does anyone have a go-to how-to video or it is easy to DIY?

Edit 2: I used a water bottle to dump a few liters of water over the J channel. No leak. I decided to go up to the next weak point, a bathroom vent. I poured 1 liter of water all around it and it leaked! I freed the piece of siding under the vent (see pictures below). The water seems to be going behind the black stuff.

Is there a quick fix to prevent further leakage?
What is a good permanent solution?

EDIT, due to new info: Thank you very much for the further investigation! I assumed too much and should've asked if there were any other siding penetrations above.

Anyway yes, a quick and easy fix is to apply a liberal amount of almond color (whatever comes closest) caulk that's fingered or forced into any gap at just the top and sides...so any water gathered at the bottom can still drip out and breath to evaporate.

Don't fill the back of the vent with caulk. Instead use a Foam Backer Rod or even thick weather-stripping to give the caulk something to seal onto. And still, probably do 2 applications of caulk, to make sure the 3-sides are filled and adequately thick.

A proper permanent fix is at the end, but 2 materials in an optional non-removal of the vent is to either install the Drip Cap mentioned below/initially or a piece of Step-Flashing to the top of the vent, which tucks under the siding. Step-Flashing is much more customizable.

Your vent was installed with the row above as an overhang to keep water out. Unfortunately, this only works with correct J-channel picture frames (just like a window) or J-channeled penetration boxes and not with the entirely wrong vent that protrudes as much as the siding itself and has no top and sides flashing flanges.

However, you're lucky. You can just cut the siding's locking lip out of the row above the vent to get the Drip Cap or Step-Flashing flange behind the siding. You still want a tight Z-shape to your flashing, which is why I think the Step-Flashing will work out best with possibly just household scissors. You'd still caulk the sides as a wind precaution, but the top flashing would really do everything needed.

Finally, the best option is to remove the siding and old vent, which seems to be a 1-piece construction. You want a 2-piece construction that has an installation flange where the vent flaps snap onto and holds the siding to the wall...see Instructions/Assembly here, not Installation Guide here for what I'm saying https://www.homedepot.com/p/Builders-Edge-4-in-Hooded-Vent-117-Bright-White-140116774117/100673014

Further, there are also 1-piece penetration boxes that have seamless J-channel built-in (backed picture frame of J-channel to cut your own hole into for whatever accessory), but only roofing and siding suppliers have those and may not sell to an individual...definitely try online or in person though, if it's what you might want.

=====================================================

I do still think you should do the below. As, water may still be running on top of the "black stuff" and will find its way in, if it hasn't started to already.

You are very correct that it's very wrong. Ideally, you should have a Drip Cap under the top J-channel. But, many installers just use the J-channel itself as the Drip Cap, since it's a little more uniform looking and of course faster and cheaper..."experts" cutting corners (literally in your case) because they know what they can get away with.

However, you can correct the inherited problem fairly easily for each window and door within the siding (I put Drip Cap everywhere possible). By, buying Drip Cap and either installing it correctly and pulling the siding panel free for a complete re-do or by cutting the Drip Cap's back off to just slip it under the J-channel.

Either way means you cut a tab into each end of the Drip Cap's bottom back corner, which is then bent down into the side J-channels to direct water harmlessly away from the top corners. Here's a great video demonstrating the proper process of J-channeling, top piece starts at about 12-min. How To Install J Channel (Vinyl Siding) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmiN3BnOu3w


How do I fix my clogged bathtub drain? I have a trip lever drain in my bathtub. Thought it was the problem, but it's completely out and the tub still won't drain. Any ideas?

I would start with a basic hand operated drain snake. In a tub drain you likely have a hair clog, the snake will grab onto this clog and pull it right out. A very basic snake should be all you need.


gfci outlet to switch for garbage disposal I wanna start by saying I'm learning I'm by no means an electrician.  with that said I would.like to know if I hooked this gfci to switch up correctly for a garbage disposal. the garbage disposal is to be plugged into the gfci and ran by the switch.  I ran a new line to the gfci and hooked that up then ran splice wire from white and connected white from switch and Same for the hot and grounded all to green nut in back of box

I do not think you did it correctly but I will explain.

Connecting the GFCI without a switch all sounded good. But you then put the switch on the white or neutral if I understood your question.

The proper wiring would be the “splice” to the switch if a piece of Romex is on the hot to the outlet , you remove the black line feeding the outlet connect that to the white of the Romex and mark that white at both ends with tape or a sharpie. That reidentified white connects to the switch, then the black in the Romex “splice” connects to the other side of the switch and at the outlet on the hot / line side.

I think you switched the neutral side this is a code violation.
We re-identify the white and have it always hot so someone later doesn’t mistake it for a neutral. But that is the proper code compliant wiring for a switch leg. (+ grounds and while the breaker is off but you know that).


What kind of flooring for crawl space that is easy to move on? what kind of flooring/mat/pad may be used on a section of the floor as a base for storing items and is also slippery enough to be able to glide/push/pull items on top of it?
Edits:
Crawl space floor is concrete, but not flat or level and slopes as one end is taller than the other.
The lowest height of the space is about 32” from floor to bottom of floor truss. Tallest height about 40”.
Open to both permanent and temporary solutions.
Part of the goal is to have the items off the concrete, the other part ease of moving it around in a constrained space.
Items would most likely be boxed or bagged, so a surface that would allow cardboard boxes, plastic bins, or sturdy plastic bags to be moved easily would be great. To put it another way, it’s much harder to lift and carry something standing on my knees, so the ability to push or pull an item easily, without damaging it on the uneven concrete, is desired

For temporary storage of items on a concrete floor in a crawl space, I'd suggest some cedar planks. After building our fence with cedar pickets, we have stacks of 18-24" cedar pickets, and use them any time we need to store items, particularly items that may be susceptible to water damage, on our garage floor.
A single 6' picket could be cut into 3 24" lengths. The lengths could be used individually for smaller items, or they could be ganged together to make a wider platform. IIRC, the pickets were 5-1/2" wide, so two widths would be 11", three would be 16-1/2" wide.
Use a piece of cheap 1x2 at each end to hold the pickets together into a "pallet". This will keep the pieces together and make a handle that will keep the boxes on from being pushed off, as well as being a good handle to pull with.

They're thin at only about 1/2", so they won't take up much of your limited height.
They're naturally rot resistant, so if water seeps through the concrete or you get some minor flooding, they'll still last a long time, and they'll protect the cardboard boxen on top.
They are a bit grippy and may not slide quite as easily as desired, but, with the handle they should push or pull reasonably well.


Installing an electric toe kick heater "old work"-style I'd like to install a toe kick heater under the 48"-wide vanity (in the center) seen in the picture. The electrical wire is in the side wall. Do I run the risk that when I cut the toe kick baseboard open, I will find sufficient structural obstructions that I won't be able to get to the wall?

I suggest you install a junction box in the wall, and hardwire the appropriate gauge wire through the cabinet bottom, to your heater.

The cabinet is made of wood, you can drill through obstacles to thread your wires.

You need to leave enough slack so you can easily pull the heater for maintenance and cleaning. I recommend a metal flex pigtail with individual wires. On a GFCI circuit.

Which amperage is your heater? Internal thermostat or wall mounted switch/thermostat?


Is the wiring in this subpanel correct? Just want to make sure the wiring is correct. I have seen examples of the of the black and red switched in the sub-panel. This is a temporary connection to the subpanel using double 60 amp breaker with 6 gauge wire. New 200 amp service will connect the new box and the old box will come out.

Did I wire this correctly?

If you're in the US, this is NOT correct.
Enclosure not bonded
The bonding strap on the right side of the panel (when looking at the panel), should be moved to the left side. It should be connected to the enclosure using the green screw, and the tab should be connected to one of the grounding bar's terminals.

Double tapped neutral bar
On the neutral bar, only a single conductor can terminate per screw terminal. You've got two wires per terminal, which is not allowed.

Neutral and grounding conductors not separated
In a secondary panel, the grounding conductors and "neutral" conductors must be kept separate.
You should move the grounding conductors, and terminate them at the grounding bar instead.

Neutral and grounding bars not separated
You should also remove the bonding conductor that is connecting the grounding and neutral bars together.  (Thanks @ArchonOSX).

Unprotected wiring
I'm not sure what's going on at the top of the enclosure, but it looks like you've got some conduit work to finish up.

NOTES:

The main panel photo is fuzzy, so I can't tell what size breaker is feeding the second panel. You also didn't mention the size of the conductors between the panels. So I can't say for sure if you used the proper size conductors.
It also looks like you connected the ground to the neutral bar in the main panel, and the neutral to the ground bar.  Not such a big deal, since they're bonded in the main panel.
This answer is based on National Electrical Code 2014.


How can I mix tank and tankless hot water to feed my bathroom? We are doing a master bathroom renovation and are considering adding a tankless hot water heater to supply just that bathroom. Our current 50 gallon hot water tank runs out after about 2.5 consecutive showers. The problem is we are on oil so we're limited to electric tankless water heaters which have limited GPM.
We will be moving our laundry into the master bathroom (there is already a supply line and 240V connection), we'll have a freestanding tub and a shower. I may be overthinking this and the laundry may be able to run on cold water alone (verifying with the manufacturer), but electric hot water heaters are pretty limited and it's unlikely we'd even be able to run the shower and tub at the same time from what I understand.
I'm wondering if there's a way for the on tankless heater to leverage hot water from the tank when it's unable to meet the GPM demands.

Are there any models that can take hot water effectively as a pass-through to augment hot water demands?
Alternatively could we feed the tankless heater into the hot water supply line?
Is there anything like a thermostatic mixing valve (but the opposite) that can use water from a secondary supply line if the main supply line (in this case the tankless heater) falls below a certain temperature?

Do the simple thing ..
The simplest thing is to add more electric-fuel tank for heating and storing water. You'd do a bit of math to figure out how many gallons you want to be able to consume in a window of time and how much recovery time you'll allow for the heaters to come back up to temperature before the next demand cycle hits. With that one can estimate whether it's even possible to get there from where you're at, and if so, how many tank water heaters you should have in service.
.. or else engineer a solution
You can save a little space and energy by using an electric instant heater to supplement the hot water stored in the tank. You're going off the well-beaten path, though, so a bit of design (aka engineering) will be necessary. Like any custom design, you may find that the design parameters weren't quite right and the solution requires a bit of in-field adjustment.
Following is just one approach of many. This approach focuses on minimizing the load the master bath shower places on the tank heater. It assumes a plumbing topology in which the tank heater continues to directly feed all hot water consumers except the master bath shower. The master bath shower would be fed by the outlet of a tankless electric heater; the tankless heater is fed by a mixing valve; the mixing valve is fed from the tank heater and cold water.

Figure out what is the hottest temperature you'll require at the master bath shower and how many GPM will be needed.
Look at the electric instant water heater's data sheet; find its temperature rise graph. Determine how many degrees temperature rise the heater can provide at the GPM selected in step 1.
Subtract the temperature rise of step 2 from the target water temperature of step 1. This is the required input temperature at the tankless heater.
Adjust the mixing valve so that its output temperature is equal to or greater than the input temperature found in step 3.

This arrangement balances two goals:

provide more water (GPM) at the target temperature than what the tankless heater could do on its own
use the tankless heater to truly supplement or extend the runtime of what the tank heater could sustain on its own


Stacking drywall sheets in the bed of a smaller pickup I will be installing drywall in an out of state property and will be picking up from HomeDepot. I am planning out the trip and wondering how many sheets of drywall will be carried per load.
The truck I will rent is the "Standard Pickup" from Enterprise that says Nissan Frontier or similar.  Looking at the specs of that truck we have

44.4"  "Cargo Bed Width between Wheelhousings"
61.4"   "Cargo Bed Widthat Floor"

https://www.caranddriver.com/nissan/frontier/specs

Given drywall dimensions of 48" x 96" I'm presuming from those dimensions that we could lay the drywall  not quite flat (since it's 48" vs 44.4" wheelbase) and just under three feet would dangle over the hatch in the back.  Note that I am only driving about 8 miles so I can go slower/more carefully.
Any idea how many drywall sheets would stack that way?  They are 1/2 inch each but then the hanging out back would likely limit the safe number.   I am bringing truck straps to help out.
Note: this question is more aptly about hauling and delivery than drywall but I do not have the reputation to add new tags.

Most small trucks have indentations or molded rails at the same level as the wheel arches which accept crosswise two-by lumber for just this purpose.

image source
If yours doesn't, three simple platforms comprising said crosswise two-by and some legs should do fine.
 ___________________________________________
|___________________________________________|
| |                                       | |
| |                                       | |
| |                                       | |
|_|                                       |_|

I owned a classic 'Yota during some of the years I was a home builder. This worked well. You can't put 40 sheets in a small truck anyway, so the platforms don't need to be very robust. I even carried a modern snowmobile on mine.


Can I add two motion lights to an existing circuit? Can I use an exsisting line that feeds an outlet, and can I cut that line from the attic and use a junction box to feed power to new lights. I will be placing the ligts about 30 feet from each other.

Lazy Way

Most likely the answer will be yes. Most circuits have at least a little bit of head room on them and if you plan on removing the current receptacle you will be reducing the potential load.

You could also put in some compact florescent bulbs to reduce your overall power usage on that circuit, but I would still recommend making sure you have enough head room on your breaker even if someone puts in more powerful bulbs.

There is a good chance you will never have a problem, but if you want to make sure everything is fine, read on.

Proper Way

You would need to start out by figuring what else is on the breaker. The simplest way to do this is to flip on all of the lights in the house, then turn off the breaker. Walk around to see what turned off and make a note of what all turned off. You will also need to check the outlets. You can buy an outlet tester, or you can just take anything that plugs in, like a radio or a lamp, and walk around to every outlet to see which ones are no longer on. Count the number of outlets that you see.

Basically what you are looking to do is add up the max current that you expect the circuit would ever need. So for lights, look to see what the max wattage bulb you can place in the socket. You can find out the current it pulls by using current = power / voltage. Then for outlets think about what all could be running at once on it, vacuum? tv? etc. Add all of those up, then just make sure you are still under the current rating for your breaker.

This question, Is there an average number of outlets that are wired off of one circuit breaker? , talks a little bit about how many outlets you can reasonably place on a single circuit.


How to get rid of cockroaches using natural products? They come from open junction box on kitchen wall, and they spotted around fridge. Recently been seeing one or two in bedrooms. I think its because I sprayed Raid in the kitchen. This been going around for a month or more now. The type looks to be german cockroaches. Where I live there arnt known brand pest control products to use, and the ones that are available dont always list their ingredients. So what natural everyday things I can find that can kill them once and for all? I put generic bait around the fridge, but I still see them now in other places. To stop them from getting into bedrooms, i spray Raid on the floor.

I have had great luck with boric acid based products for ants and roaches and just about any bug.  It's inexpensive, effective, and relatively safe.  It's easy to dust in the cracks and crevasses and gaps and spaces where they hide.

Diatomaceous earth is another alternative that I have heard is just as safe and effective, but boric acid has worked so well I haven't bothered to try it.


What are expansion joint requirements for magnesium oxide wallboards? I was asked to get some information concerning installing magnesium oxide wallboards. It's a material I just got to know and never worked with, so I want to learn what are requirements for installing these, specifically:

Do I need to make special expansion joints, and - if so - what material is best for to fill the gap?
If expansion joints are not needed - if I fix several of these with some kind of glue (or other compund) so they will form a larger surface - do I need to make some expansion joints then?

My question is about indoor-related works as these wallboards are seens as a substitute to drywall. Any related info (e.g. install manuals) greatly appreciated.

I need answers from hands-on experienced DIY-ers best. These wallboards aren't popular where I live, so I try my luck here, in DIY SE :)

The best place to go for this sort of question is the manufacturer.  I deal with National Gypsum, USG, and others ALL THE TIME for questions like this.  Typically, the manufacturers web site will have all the design criteria you could ever want - if they don't, I would look for another manufacturer who took the time to make that information available.  These guys are generally very willing to help as a seccusful installation always looks good for them.  Give them a call.


How do I repair a large area at side & bottom of external door My dog chewed completed through the bottom and opening side of our back door.  It is like she has created a pet door for a very small pet.  It is approx. 15cm x 15cm.  As a temporary measure to stop rodents & the like getting in I screwed a thin piece of timber on the inside.  The door is a filled door not hollow (except where the dog chewed??)

The only really practical solution here is to replace the door. If the dog has also chewed up the door framing in addition to the door then replacement of the door jamb and trimming is also in task list.

After the replacements are in place make sure you address what has led the dog to do this. It is my experience that the animal is probably exhibiting this behavior because they are bored or have been confined to a small area behind the door where the chewing is taking place.


How do I fix my seemingly improperly ground outdoor lighting circuit that trips my RCD when it rains? This is for a UK wiring issue, but I suppose the issues here are universal.

Every since I bought my home, my outdoor garden lighting circuit trips the RCD when it rains.  After multiple expensive visits from 2 different electricians, without success and before I spent money on rewiring the whole thing, I decided to look at this myself first.  Bear with me, I have a basic understanding of circuits and DIY enthusiast, but not electrician.

Quick overview of the outdoor wiring.   Armoured cable goes from the house to summerhouse into breaker box with RCD and circuits for summerhouse interior lighting and sockets , one circuit for outdoor lighting, and one circuit for outdoor pond pump.  Its definitely the outdoor lighting circuit tripping the RCD when it rains. The RCD never trips when that circuit is OFF.

Worrying thing #1 I noticed is that the pond pump circuit and outdoor lighting go through the same 4 core flex cable going outside. Black and Blue for the lighting,  Brown and Gray for the pump.  There is no earth connection between the earth terminals in the breaker box and the outdoor circuits. That didn't seem right or safe to me, how are my metal encased outdoor lights grounded?

OK, so I followed that 4 core flex cable to the first IP67 junction box from which many connection spur off to the pond pump and lighting.  I wanted to see how the ground wires where connected.

Worrying thing #2: the ground wires from the lighting and pond pump where all connected to a hole in the back of the junction box into the wooden fencing. My outdoor lights with metal casings and pond pump are grounded by my wooden fence. I'm no expert but wooden fences seem like a poor choice grounding.

See the ground wire going through a drilled hole into the wood fence:

It's not even a conductor right?  Unless it's wet and soggy by rain,  then it becomes slightly more conducting, which brings me to Worrying Thing #3, my fence lights up my volt pen from about 1 foot away from the junction box:

OK, so I have an electrified wooden fence,  which means that something live in my outdoor connections is touching the ground, which is "fine" in dry conditions, but as the fence gets wetter it conducts more and more until it trips the RCD.  Am I correct?

It seems to me that whoever wired this couldn't be bothered to have a dedicated 3 core wire for the lighting circuit and one for the pond circuit, connecting them to the fancy ground terminals in the breaker box, and avoid frying small mammals like my kids.  Am I correct?

In terms of fixing this,  what should I do?  It seems the right fix would be to get rid of the shared 4 core flex wire and get me two dedicated 3 core flex wire coming from the breaker box , one for each of the two outdoor circuits , so I can ground both circuits to the terminals in the breaker box. Having that in place, I will test the ground connections for voltage and if they still light up my volt tester, I will disconnect parts of the outdoor lighting circuit to try and isolate where the issue is. Does that sound right, so far?

Also those metal duct clamps on the pictures,  they are not grounded either.  You can get special metal grounding plates for these IP67 boxes for these type of metal connectors, to which you can attach a grounding wire using a screw. I quite like the ducts, but does anyone know if these ducting clamps exist in plastic? Sounds better to me if they exist.
Should I get a bigger junction box? It seems unsafe to have so many wires in there.

Should I be suing those 2 electricians (I'm not), that supposed to check the whole wiring , but at best came up with saying I have a couple of dodgy light fittings needing replacing , or am I making a fuss about nothing?

Rest assured, I will have work I do certified.

After a bit more research, I understand that since the supply wire into the junction box is SWA steel armoured cable, I can use the armour as ground for the whole circuit.  Just need to check it is properly terminated in the breaker box so its earthed on that side , and also properly terminated in the junction box with an earthing plate I need to buy. I can then connect all the ground wires to the earthing plate and we should be good, no extra cable.

I'm buying a bigger junction box that comes with earthing plates to terminate the SWA cable. I'll come back to this thread when all the components arrive and it's installed with some nice pictures.


How do I lower the water level in a toilet bowl TMI Warning
We have a round toilet bowl in our apartment (building constructed around 1960).
An older man has difficulty cleaning himself because water level is high.
How would one lower the water level to cover just the draining point. See pictures below for water level and toilet structure.

Usually water level is determined by the height of the siphon bottom. Any liquid higher than that will drain to sewer line. That's not adjustable on a toilet, as it's in the shape of the porcelain tubing cast into the stool. You should be able to kludge things to a lower lever by adding a piece of flexible tubing which goes drops further into the bowl, and the waste line than does the original porcelain. However, that's going to be problematic, as it'll be prone to clogging and make the toilet harder to clean.
Only real option is to replace the toilet with one that behaves as you want. Some extra tall toilets give more room between the seat and the water level.


What would be the best temporary adhesive to stick a shower head holder onto a ceramic tile wall? I recently broke the shower bracket and can't get a replacement since it's out of stock everywhere. I bought a suction cup shower head holder as a temporary fix but that won't stay on the wall so I was thinking of gluing it until I can afford to get the whole shower rail replaced.

What would be the best (but temporary) adhesive to stick a shower head holder onto the wall? I was thinking hot melt from a glue gun since that can be removed fairly easily but I'm worried the humidity and steam from the shower would weaken the bond.

Silicone caulk or silicone RTV (Room Temperature Vulcanizing) glue (pretty much the same thing with different labels.) Sticks pretty well, moisture helps it cure, and it can be peeled off when you want it gone.


Should I cut-in the whole room at once, or only the portion I'm working on? Never painted before. I've decided to paint my studio, which is a 770 sq rectangular space.

I'm going to need to paint the ceiling as well as the walls. I am planning to follow John Burbidge instructional videos on youtube. I'm going to paint the ceiling first then the walls. I'm going to use a roller for the majority of the work. I have several questions:

When painting the walls do I "cut-in" just the areas I'm going to paint or do I cut-in all the walls?

For example:

if I were going to paint the right side of my studio on Friday night and the left side on Saturday would I still cut-in the all the corners and edges?  Or just the ones connected to the wall I'm planning to paint that day?
what if I were going to take 3 a hour break between painting the right side and the left side?

As you can see, I'm trying to figure out when I should cut-in the entire room as oppose to cut-in only part of it.

Could you also explain how the "frame/border/halo" effect happens?  This is where the cut-in area is a different shade?  Is really because the "cut-in" area had dried before you painted the area?

It really shouldn't matter. In the end, it's the exact same paint so it should match.

What can cause the halo, though is if your brush vs. roller technique lay down different amounts of paint. In my experience, it's easier to lay down a thicker coat of paint with a roller than brush, so after doing one coat of cutting in, and then one coat of rolling, you may notice the edges look lighter because there is less paint there. That said, I've yet to find any magical wall paint that only takes one coat so by the time you get the second (or sometimes 3rd coat) on you shouldn't notice it.

The only reason you may not want to cut in well before you roll is if you want to reduce the amount of brush marks as much as possible. While the color won't change based on what you are using, the texture may.

What I typically do is do them both at the same time. I'll cut in around a window, then roll as close as I can get safely with the roller to even out the texture. Then I'll cut in the ceiling on the same wall, then roll that, repeat.

Also, if you just hate cutting in, or have so much to do it's daunting, consider not doing it all at the border of the ceiling and walls and instead roll close to it, then when finished, tack up some crown moulding. It doesn't have to be fancy moulding at all...even a 2" bit of slightly tapered door casing can look sharp.

That's the technique I usually use on already painted rooms that I'm repainting. Often the previous paint job at the border is just sloppy enough that even if I carefully go to the edge, there's enough spots of the old color that creep out that it just looks tacky. In those situations I go get the pre-finished window casings from Home Depot (can be found for less than a dollar a foot) and tack them up with a brad nailer. For a slightly more modern look you can use plain dimensional trim (such as a 1 x 2).

Yet another technique to avoid all that cutting in at the corner of the ceiling and wall is to simply paint them the same color. I'm redoing a bath that needs new paint on both the walls and ceiling so I'm going with a very light gray for both.


Plug-In Power Monitor causing washing machine drum to become electrified? I bought this plug-in power monitor four years ago. I have used it all over my house without issue. I should note that it is designed for UK plugs (I'm in Australia), so I've had to use some plug adapters. Because the UK plug adapters are "upside down" compared to australian plugs, could this be switching the polarities?

Yesterday I put it inline with my washing machine plug to test its usage. After I removed the clean clothes, I touched the metal case of the drum inside and received a decent strength electric shock.

I have been shocked before and I would say that this felt like about 50% of the strength of getting shocked directly from the power-point. It was an intense buzzing in my hand which left it sore for 30 mins after.

I used my proximity voltage detector which started beeping as soon as it came near the washing machine drum.

Having removed the power monitor, I've checked all over the washing machine with the voltage detector and it has not detected any power leakage in the drum or case.

4 years ago my washing machine was attached to a power point that burned and melted. I never found out the cause. Here is a picture of the washing machine plug.
Could this be causing the wires to cross in the plug somehow?

Can I safely use my washing machine?

Since there is no leakage detected when the power monitor is removed, can I safely assume that it is the culprit?

Is there any way to test if they Neutral wire is touching the drum when the machine is just plugged straight into the wall and my voltage detector doesn't detect anything?

There needs to be multiple compounding faults for you to get a jolt like that from the tub. The tub should be grounded to earth, but to give you a jolt, it would need to be instead bonded to one of the mains lines. Since your detector is no longer complaining, it must be bonded to the neutral line. While a bad situation, in normal use there are likely no adverse effects from this.

The other thing that needs to happen is a polarity reversal from either the power monitor or one of the plug adapters. For example, if you accidentally got an UK to Argentine adapter, it would appear outwardly to be for Oz, but in fact the neutral and active pins would be reversed. This too is bad, but also usually no adverse effects are apparent.

Now you have active mains power running down the neutral washer wiring, which inappropriately includes the tub. If the tub were properly grounded and active power somehow came in contact with it, the breaker would trip or the fuse would blow. Having been instead bonded to neutral, and now hot due to polarity reversal, two somewhat innocuous errors combine to become a potentially deadly combination!

First identify which device is reversing polarity. Looking at a wall outlet, with the ground pin on the bottom, both UK and Oz outlets have neutral on the right. Anything that switches sides should be destroyed. Not just thrown out, destroyed, as in render unusable.

The washer should be inspected and the connection to neutral identified and removed. It may be simply a wire with worn insulation that needs to be replaced, or something more intentional. It's impossible to say without inspection. The situation has not changed from before. While the tub bonded to neutral cannot ever be called "safe", as long as polarity is observed, nothing really bad should happen. You can still get shocked from this because the neutral and true ground are likely at different potentials, but nothing like the full 220v jolt you got.


How do I remove excess wood stain that dried before I could wipe it off? While staining some wood, we had an emergency and had to leave. The stain has now dried and I'm not sure how to remove the excess; it's normally wiped off before it dries.

When I get home I'm going to try to brush on some mineral spirits to loosen it up and wait about 30 minutes before trying to wipe off the excess.

Any other suggestions are appreciated.

The Minwax website says to apply another coat of stain on top of that and then once it softens
up the dried stain just wipe it off like you normally would. I'm currently having the exact same problem. But I think this makes sense so thats what I'm going to try.


What should I leave in the walls to allow me to fish future wires? I'm working with a builder, and I did all of my own low-voltage wiring to open low voltage single gang plates.  I have some runs that I want to be able to fish future wires through.  Some of my runs are long, and others are short (a plate low and high between the same two studs, same floor for a security camera).  What are the recognized strategies to help me plan and prepare for this?

Here are some of the questions about that I have:

What do I leave in the walls?
What do I do at each end?
What are some things I should consider?

I plan to trim the wires or pull them up into the attic after the drywall is done.  For now, I have each labeled on the wire and tape and box.

The question for me, is between those two boxes, what if I wanted to do something seasonal like run an extension cord for holiday lights, or run a low voltage wire for a baby monitor camera?  I think I want a string up into the rafters, and a string between these two boxes in this picture

This is what ENT (or any sort of conduit) is for

If you want to leave "room for installing wires in the future" in an electrical installation, you put a conduit in the wall so that the installer who is doing the pulls can actually do the pull without getting wires damaged on edges and whatnot.  For data wiring, electrical nonmetallic tubing (ENT) ("smurf tube") is more than adequate -- orange ENT is conventional for data wiring, but any color will do, and 3/4" ENT will provide plenty of room for a data cable or three.  Leaving a pull string inside the conduit is helpful for the installer as well, but not mandatory -- I doubt you'd want to do a long-haul pull through a wall on a pull string, though!


What glue to hold wooden batten to ceiling for window blind Today I attempted to put up a window blind, fixing it to the ceiling (there is no option to drill into the window frame)
My metal/pipe detector has 'pinged' where I want to drill the holes into the ceiling. I'm guessing an RSJ.
I drilled a hole any way, and it's only 1cm deep (before hitting the RSJ)! As such, I think my only option is to glue a wooden batten where the ceiling meets the wall (inside the window recess). I can then attach the blind to the wooden batten.
My question is concerning how to   affix the batten   to the ceiling. With only 1cm depth, I'm not sure rawl plugs are going to work, and it's really unclear if glue will strong enough.
Is there a glue that is designed for this purpose, or is my approach flawed?

Is it 1cm plaster? If so, the hanging load capacity is limited by the plaster, not the glue. Any vibration from movement of the blinds will eventually weaken the plaster and the integrity of the plaster & paint could fail, letting go of the blinds while keeping the glue in tact!
Perhaps you can run a wooden horizontal support (a batten, as you say) along the ceiling from wall to wall as a backer for the blinds, and bracket the support at the walls.


How to remedy railing swollen with rust I noticed that a metal porch railing looks swollen with rust.  Do I need to cut that piece out and have someone weld a repair or is it ok to leave as is?  Should I put rust stop on it?  Since it’s hollow should I seal the gaps in the cap above to prevent water getting in or does it need the ventilation to let it dry out?

Here’s what it looks like from underneath
And see that water is separating the porch ceiling underneath

If it was my project, I'd get a body grinder (like those used in auto body shops), grind away much of the rust and old paint, assess the damage.   If you end up seeing that it's very badly rusted, maybe even rusted thru, it's decision time. You could patch it with a couple of steel plates epoxied, or welded to  the  lower part of the post...it would be somewhat unsightly, but when painted black, probably not too noticeable. A product like Rust-oleum would be best.   This may be a temporary solution depending upon the condition of the current post.
Also, a question:  Due to the caulking around the post, it looks like the concrete was poured after the post was installed.  Can you confirm that?   If so, replacement would be even more difficult. The existing post would need to be cut flush to the concrete and the new post would need a "foot" (plate) that could be screwed into the concrete.  It all depends upon the exact installation, there may be other options and hopefully others here will chime in as well.


How to support column for the cat climbing tree Looking for a way to give support for the falling ceiling in the cat climbing tree.
Currently there is a fast fix with what I had around, but that won't last for long.
I Would prefer some sort of jack instead of chopping a piece of wood until it fits correctly.
thanks.

Repair in 3 simple steps

Remove the plastic support
Replace with a length of wooden dowel, probably don't need to screw it down if you get the length right
Place kitty on a diet


Flow rate of water in a gutter system I am attempting to build a waterfall out of a gutter system. I currently have an awning that is 72" by 48" with 3" high (tentatively) buffers on each side to keep the water from flowing off. The awning is tilted 95 degrees downward from the side of a building. Connected to the awning I have a gutter with the cross-sectional dimensions below and a length of approximately 72" plus or minus 5". I plan on drilling holes in the bottom of the gutter along a linear path so that a waterfall will be created, but I am not sure the amount of surface area I need to create with the holes in order to balance the amount of water/rate that is flowing in and keep the gutter from overflowing. Any help in this would be greatly appreciated.

You have a lot of flexibility, as if there is not enough water flowing out the depth in the gutter will increase, increasing the pressure and flow rate.  Here is an online calculator which says a 1/8" hole at 0.036 psig will flow 3.7 gallons per hour.  I picked the pressure to be roughly one inch deep water.  The flow rate increases with the square root of the pressure.


Do I need a wall thimble for thermal separation with a category III venting appliance? I bought a tankless water heater that allows me to vent using category III.  I've seen that wall thimbles are included in many category III termination kits, but am wondering if they are really necessary as the flue doesn't seem to get very hot.

Are wall thimbles necessary for side venting category III flue though
combustible materials like plywood??
How about for category IV?

In accordance with NFPA 37 and NFPA 1 Fire Code: "An approved thimble shall be used where exhaust piping passes through combustible walls or partitions."

This code would apply to all venting categories.


Does a 2100W angle grinder need an earth pin? I have recently purchased a Makita 2100W angle grinder. It has just the live (L) and neutral (N) connectors unlike the one I previously used, which had a third protected earth (PE) connection.

Would it be better if I changed the connections to a 3 pin connector?

Your grinder is a Class-II Double Insulated appliance and therefore does not require a ground/earth connection.

But even if you did decide to fit a 3-pin plug, what would you connect the 3rd pin to?
There's no 3rd wire in the cord, nor is there a ground point in the device to connect it to.


On a typical US NEMA 5-15 outlet, what parts are generally safe to touch when it is live? I'm particularly curious if the yoke on typical outlets (e.g. NEMA 5-15) are safe to touch when the outlet is energized.

My understanding is the only way the yoke would be energized is if there is a short circuit somewhere (hot wire touching the yoke, or touching another conductor which touches the yoke) and the outlet is not properly grounded.

So in general, what parts of an outlet are safe to touch when it is live? Only the plastic? Plastic parts and the yoke?

The safe parts to touch are the plastic, of course, and the metal frame that holds the outlet into the electrical box (the yoke).  Of course, this is in a correctly wired installation where the ground wire is connected and runs all the way back to a properly terminated ground point.  The grounding would prevent you from being shocked if there was an internal fault in the outlet.

If you suspect something is wrong with the wiring or there is no grounding present, you really shouldn't touch any metal without testing it for voltage or turning off the circuit at the breaker.

Also, this may be obvious to you, but both sides of the outlet where the screws are will be energized - even the screws that are not directly connected to a wire.  Never stick your fingers or a screwdriver into the box when the power is on - it's just too easy to touch the sides of an outlet or light switch.

Addition: this isn't very common in newer residential construction, but if there are metal boxes in the wall, some outlets are grounded to the metal box, and the metal box is grounded to the rest of the system.  So, if you see an outlet in a metal box with no ground wire, it could still be grounded via the box.  Of course, the box may not be grounded at all, so don't assume anything.


Black and white wires crossed in the ceiling Replacing a ceiling fixture in a house (1989); removed the old fixture, which worked perfectly fine, but now I see up into the box there are 3 cables to this box that includes two blacks and one white that are pigtailed, as you can see in this short video clip. I am thinking this qualifies as a TAR (That Ain't Right)?

Should I be calling in the big guns, or can I sleep at night with this scenario, if I just connect the new fixture as the old one was installed?

It looks like an inline switch to me, which is usually indicated by a mark on the wire. Are there any black markings (Eg sharpie or electrical tape) on the white wire? You should be able to wire in your fixture to the old wires exactly as is.


Are extension cords safe for permanent use? I recently learned (via a rant from an electrician's son and some internet research) that the standard buy-anywhere cheapo extension cords are a big cause of electrical fires and are not recommended to be left plugged in.

So say I DO want to leave an extension cord plugged in permanently around the house. Is there some type of cord or some feature of a cord that is safer for this?

Extension cords that are not listed, labeled, or rated for permanent (long term) use are all temporary wiring devices.

If you need to permanently connect an electrical device, you should use approved wires and/or cable assemblies installed in an approved manner.


Concerns about a pipe that keeps freezing I recently purchased my first home, so I’m new to home ownership, please bear with me.

I live in the Chicago area and this winter has been particularly cold. When the weather dips below 0 degrees F, one of the pipes freezes. This pipe must be somewhat insulated as it doesn’t freeze until well below freezing temperature. It’s strange because the toilet, which I’d assume feeds off of the same water line keeps working, but the cold water line on the sink faucet stops (the hot water line is also fine). As soon as the weather heats up to about 10 degrees F the pipe thaws and everything goes back to normal.

I understand that I eventually need to track down the root cause of this issue, which I plan on doing when it’s a little warmer, but my immediate concern is regarding the best way to deal with the frozen pipe. I’m not particularly worried about not having cold water, I can temporarily use the other bathroom in the house, but I’m seeking advice on how to ensure the pipe doesn’t break and other miscellaneous concerns.

I have been keeping the cold water line open to drip, but it seems to freeze even when I do that.

A few general questions:

Should I keep the cold water line open to at least reduce pressure in the pipes, even if this doesn’t prevent freezing?
When I leave for work for the day, should I shut main water line off to prevent flooding if the pipe does break? Anything I should know about turning off the main water supply somewhat frequently until I get this resolved? Is this a bad thing to do? Do I need to do anything with the water heater when I shut the main line off? Any other advice here?
Regarding a more long term solution, any advice on tracking down the problematic pipe? The pipe must be in a wall that’s facing the outside of the house with little insulation. Am I going to have to rip off drywall to find the pipe?

A side note. I recently removed the sink to replace with a new one, so I currently can’t keep the cold water line open, as it has no where to drain. Any advice given this twist?

Edit: I have copper pipes. This house was built in 1978. The sink in on an interior wall but that wall backs up to an attic.

Thanks!

A simple way avoid freezing is keeping the tap little open (I'd say gallon per hour), because moving water won't freeze.

Another way is to use a 'heated' insulator, so if the temperature drops beyond a threshold, electric heater kicks in keeping the water few degree above freezing point.

Closing the main valve when you go it's not a good thing to do (if you don't empty the cold water piping) because you remove a secondary 'pressure relief'.

Good thing can be emptying only that trunk of pipe that freezes and preventing water passing through it.


My contractor replaced old soffits and fascia with fiber cement panels. What type of molding/cleating should be used? My contractor installed a narrow piece of wood molding in the corner where the soffit panels meet the wall of the house.  See the diagram below.

The material used for the yellow piece is unprimed, unpainted wood, and looks like the type of product that would be installed as ceiling molding (inside the house).

This concerns me because the wood will probably deteriorate quickly unless we paint it.  It probably should have been painted before it was installed.  Maybe it should not be wood at all.

Unfortunately, the manual that I copied this diagram from does not specify anything about the yellow piece.  (I colored the yellow piece myself.)

Does this piece provide structural support for the soffit panel, or is it simply decorative?  It conceals the nails that fasten the soffit panel to the frame.
The diagram is from the soffit manufacturer's website.  Is this piece supposed to be fiber cement, like the fascia on the left side of the diagram?  The fact that both pieces are gray in the diagram implies that it is.
Who dictates what material is required, local building code or the soffit manufacturer?

Here is more context.

The house has wood shingles.  In this project, eaves of the roof were extended, to provide more protection from rain.  So the new soffits are wider than the original, and required new wood framing and subfascia.  The wood frame at the wall of the house was attached over existing wood shingles.  The molding (yellow piece) was attached over wood shingles as well, as shown in the diagram.

The house also has a bay window assembly whose frame is vinyl.  So, in places where the new fiber cement soffits meet the vinyl window frame, I now have unfinished wood molding.

It's probably only aesthetic in function, depending on how the soffit was fastened. If that wasn't the case a strip would be needed on the inside of the fascia as well. Walls and fascia tend to be a bit wavy, so it's difficult to get a perfect, caulkable fit.
Not fibercement, but the same material that other trim moldings are made of. Something maintenance-free (or low-maintenance)--vinyl or similar. You mentioned Hardie, and they have their own line of trim boards. You can also get vinyl trim in white at big box home improvement stores.
There's probably no code for this, as it's merely aesthetic. It's unlikely to rot soon as it's well protected, and if it does it'll be from the top and back where moisture is retained and the wood is unprotected. I'd contact the contractor and ask him to replace it with something of higher quality, or at least prime and paint it.


Electrical breaker and outlet wiring question I want to run a dedicated circuit for my air compressor. Can I run a 20 amp breaker with 12-2 to a single 20 amp receptacle for an air compressor?

You can run a 20A breaker and 12-2 copper (with ground, but that's a given unless you have found some antique wire) to a single 20A receptacle for any purpose. Including an air compressor.

However, for an air compressor "dedicated circuit" the FIRST question I'd ask is whether the motor can be converted to run on 240V, and if it can, I'd strongly suggest doing that unless you have strong reasons not to (such as this being a portable compressor that you often take to job sites where 240V is hard to come by.)

If that is the case, I'd then look at provisioning a 240V (two-pole) breaker of appropriate amperage to a 240V outlet of the appropriate amperage rating on appropriate size wire for that amperage (or 12/2 if you are already sitting on it, even if it's larger than needed for 240V and fewer amps.) Rewire the compressor for 240V operation and install the matching plug.


furnace not staying on for heater! I have a.Lennox furnace not sure of the model it was installed in the basement in 2008 also.has.  a/c connected . but I noticed my house was getting a lil cold so I messed with the thermostat and it didn't kick on so I turned the hear all the way down and then turned the power off like most things that works but not this time, after I turned the power back on it started blowing cold air then it makes a click noise like something else was supposed to start blowing but than it made another click and continued for a few minutes than it just goes off. I also noticed the red and green lights flash at the same time while running but when it goes off they blink one after another. If anyone can help is appreciate it its winter and cold in Utah just noticed it at 8:00 pm????????;;

The flashing lights will likely tell you what's wrong.  Grab the owners manual, and locate the troubleshooting section.  It should have a section describing the meaning of the blinking lights. If you don't have the owners manual, you might be able to find it online, but you'll have to locate the model number first.  Inside the unit there should be a nameplate that lists a bunch of numbers, and other information.  The model number is likely on that, probably right after the words Model Number:, or Model #:, or maybe simply Model:. If you can't find the model number, the user guide, or you just don't know anything about furnaces. You could always contact Lennox customer support, or the company that installed the unit.

I'm guessing it's a high efficiency unit (which can be verified by looking for PVC piping leading away from the unit toward the outside of the building). If I'm correct, the sounds you're hearing are likely...

"it started blowing cold air" - Inducer fan on.
"then it makes a click noise like something else was supposed to start blowing" - Pilot or main gas valve open.
"but than it made another click and continued for a few minutes" - Spark ignitor trying to light gas.
"than it just goes off" - Pilot fails to prove.
"the red and green lights ... blink one after another" - Unit failed to ignite, system lock out (possibly flashing specific error code).

Without the model number, it's very difficult to provide further assistance.  Watch the flashing lights, and try to notice a pattern. For example, the red light might flash quickly 4 times, then pause. This pattern often tells you exactly what the problem is.


In a three way switch, why would the "open" traveler wire test at 17VAC While I had my 3 way switches open, I used a DMM to figure out what was hot and cold while flipping the switches. While my traveler shorted with the line feed showed 120VAC as expected, at least one traveler line (I think it was whichever one in "open" state) showed 17VAC. I expected the traveler to be closer to 0VAC.

Is this indicative of a hardware failure, or is that normal?

It's capacitively picking up some stray voltage from the hot wire that parallels it.  Your DMM has a high-impedance input so there is no place for that induced voltage to go.  If you were to place a load on the wire, the voltage would go to near 0V as you would expect.

Bottom line: It's normal and this is a case where the sensitivity of the instrument you're using (i.e. the DMM) is fooling you.


Antique Schlage Door Knob - Can't reassemble From an old Schlage outside/inside door knob (I think it dates back to the 1950's).  I can't find where the retaining clip goes.  The front of the door is a handle with an old-fashioned lever

This seems to be the solution, so far.  (I will know for sure, once it's on the door).  The little (moveable) tab that holds the finishing plate on bottom is holding the retaining clip, with gravity keeping it down.  Both finishing plate and door knob seem secure.  Somehow, I pictured this in a tighter area when I took it off a month ago.

Another lesson I learned.  Take photos when disassembling.  I had originally planned to replace the door knob so saw no need to.  It would've been too difficult of a project to replace. And I didn't want to end up getting an entire new door if I couldn't find an exact match or didn't measure a for new one's location properly.

Also, I was "almost 100% sure" the clip went on the front of that silver back plate with the finishing plate in front of it.  It looks like I was 100% wrong.


GFCI Protection for Garage Lights? I know all receptacles in a garage require GFCI protection. But what about garage lights? I plan to hard-wire some new wiring to new garage lights and I'm wondering if this circuit needs to be on a GFCI breaker.

NEC 210.8.2 requires all outlets in a garage to be GFCI protected so if your lights are connected by an outlet they need GFCI protection if they are hard wired they do not require GFCI protection. Exhibit 210.10 provides a illustration of this.


Install doorbell transformer on round junction box Recently installed a Ring doorbell but realized that I need to hardwire a transformer to it. There's no existing transformer, so I'm thinking of wiring the transformer from the front door light (120v). My questions are:

Is it safe to splice the transformer to the light?
Should the transformer be inside or outside of the junction box? Attached is a picture of the junction box. I figure it has to be outside because the transformer and resister together can't fit in the box.
Is it safe if the transformer is outside of the junction box but inside the cover of the light?

If that light fixture has a roof or structure over it so it would be considered a dry location the transformer could be wired in that location. If no roof you may need a transformer rated for a damp location most are listed for a dry location only.


Should you turn off and drain gas water heater if you leave for 6 months? Water heater when you areA snowbird for six months

I was a snow bird for many years and I would always shut off the gas for the water heater and also shut the valve for the supply line to the water heater. Like Ed mentioned, if the water heater is in an area where the temp will drop below 30 degrees then you'll need to drain it. I left the heat on, set very low, so I didn't have to worry about this, I didn't want to freeze out the home checkers.


How to fill large 1" gap between preform laminate countertop and wall We are trying to save money and replaced an old laminate countertop with a newer preform laminate countertop, where the backsplash is part of the laminate countertop. The countertop is an "L" shape, so we have the pre-cut miter ends that join together in the corner. The problem is that the walls seem to have a serious bow to them and where the countertop pieces join in the corner, there is about a 1 inch gap between the backsplash and the wall.  The counters are flush up against the wall at the furthest ends from the corner.  Is there any way to fill in this gap?

!countertop with 1 inch gap in corner

If the walls aren't square, I bet the cabinets aren't square as well.  And nothing says your counter top has to be square as well.  The best way to hide out of square rooms is to try and match the existing angles.  In this case you will need to make the miter cut a little bit off 45, probably 44.  A small angle change can make a huge difference when getting to get things to fit.  And even then a slight difference in the overhang on the cabinets will not be as noticeable as any means trying to fix the gap between the counter and wall.


Why my baseboard heater won’t turn with new thermostat? I have a pair of electromod basement heater. The label on each of them show them show 750/1000W. Power supply to this is 240V

I am trying to replace the old manual thermostat with a progrmabale one. I bought Aube TH106 and installed it. It turns on fine and set the target temperature around 6 degrees more than the current temperature.

However the heater is not turning on. The thermostat is supposed to work with minimum 2Amp.

Now thinking baseboard heater may not be working, I put the old thermostat back and the heater runs fine.  With the new thermostat I also checked if power is coming to the heater with a voltage tester and it’s positive. I don’t have a multimeter right now with me

What could be wrong here? Any idea ?

The only thing that comes to my mind would be a possible wiring issue. If the old stat works properly that can only lead to one thing. Improper wiring on new stat, or a bad stat right out of the box. Believe me when I say this, its more common than one would think.
 I would double check the wiring. Double check the programming. If all that checks to be normal and within the manufacturers specs. Then that would leave one to reasonably believe the stat is bad OR incompatible with your system. I know this isn't a lot of help to you.
 I have seen many cases where components and parts have been DOA right out of the box.


How many times should I cut in? I am using a water-based paint (based on Eskaro Akrit 7) to paint interior walls. At this point I have masked the edges of my target area, and have cut in those edges once. The wall is otherwise unpainted — I meant to make multiple coats (two or three).

How do I proceed now? Should I remove the tape, start rolling, and just touch up the edges? Or should I keep the tape, cut in all the edges a second time, and then roll?

Perhaps more generally, what is the right sequence in which to paint edges vs. large areas in multiple coats?

How many times is mostly dependent on the quality of the paint and the particular color.

You want to do it enough times so that it matches the rolled-on areas.

There is no 'one way' to do this, but typically I cut in first, then roll, then touch up as needed.

I don't bother with tape. It's much faster, less messy, and (over time) more accurate to get the hang of using a good brush and cutting in manually. The tape rarely works as well as you want and adds a whole lot of time to the project.


How to fix a huge gap between tub faucet and tile We just moved into an old house and two of the tub faucets have huge gaps from the tile as pictured below. This is something that I feel needs to be addressed right away to prevent shower water from splashing back there and causing water damage to the wall behind.

How did this happen in the original install and how do I need to fix it?

The ideal method to repair the gap (if the spout can not be tightened further, is to shorten the length of the pipe nipple that exits the wall and connects to the spout. You need to un-screw the spout and the pipe nipple. Replace with a shorter nipple equal to the gap measurement. Use Teflon tape on all male pipe threads and caulking behind the spout base. The faster, "just as appropriate, but may not look that good", repair is to apply enough caulking into the gap so that it can be smoothed flush with the spout. A third and middle of the road repair is to locate an eschuteon plate. Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IKVJEUI?keywords=eschuteon&qid=1445614060&ref_=sr_1_3&s=home-garden&sr=8-3


Is WD-40 alright to use in freezers/places with food? Recently I used WD-40 in my freezer to stop the fan from maxing such obnoxious noises. But, now the freezer reeks of the smell, and my food inside also stinks like the product.

I cooked some steaks for dinner tonight, and the steak itself tasted like WD-40. I might be going crazy, but hope that I am just going crazy.

Replace the Fan.

If you insist on lubricating - Olive Oil works nicely.

EDIT 5-8-2017

You could buy food safe lubricants but they also might have unwanted odors and only allow for incidental contact with food.

Olive Oil on the other hand has been known to be a very good lubricant for a long long time at least as far back as the 12th Century, probably longer than that.

The Below Excerpt was copied from this Web Site PDF document:
"olive oil spreads easily and thoroughly over the rubbing surfaces.
Unlike the drying oils, it does not gum, taking up to seven days
to gain as little as 1.7 percent of its weight after exposure to the air.
Most important, olive oil stands up extremely well under pressure because of its viscosity and oiliness.
Not only can it surmount the thrusts of force-closure, but after the machine is set in motion it also maintains
coefficients of friction between 0.07 and 0.08 whether it is running between surfaces of wood and metal, wood and wood, or metal and metal.
Perhaps its only weakness is that it can become too acidic, especially if the olives are left to ferment too long before going to the press.
This disadvantage was overcome by simply pressing the olives as soon as possible.
Within Tuscany and its immediate vicinity, then, olive oil was known as an efficient lubricant that could endure great stress."


Installing a swing set between two brick walls? My neighbors and I are considering putting up a swing set in the alleyway between our houses. The space is about 10' wide, and the house walls on both sides are brick (about 4" thick).

Which of the following alternatives would be best, if we wanted to have two swings there, each capable of holding a child up to 80 lb. or so?

Put up brackets on both walls to hold the pole.
Drill holes in both facing walls, put in the pole, fill the holes with concrete.
Forget about attaching to the walls; get a freestanding swing set and attach it to the ground.

3 for two reasons:

Your walls are not meant for dynamic, changing loads such as those caused by swingset motions, so you don't know the potential damage long term; and

I would hesitate very much to buy a house which had a physical connection to another person's house via a toy.


Wiring a ceiling light to a switched receptacle Please note that I am a diy newbie, and the only electrical experience I have is changing out switches & light fixtures.

I want to install a new ceiling light to a switched receptacle, and I have already put a 2-line+ground electric cable from the ceiling to the switches outlet location

The power source seems to be from the switch (1st & 2nd picture) from a 2-wire cable, and there is a 3-wire cable going from the switch to the switched receptacle.

The outlet also has another 2-wire cable, which I am assuming powers the receptacle that is always hot (4th picture). Or it connects this outlet to the other 3 in the room.

The 3rd picture shows the current state of the outlet area with two 2-wire cables (one from the ceiling light and one always there) and one 3-wire cable from the switch.

I’m not quite sure how to wire the outlet so that one stays switched along with the light (already removed the tab from the hot side of the outlet), and one stays always hot.

I hope I was clear. Any guidance will help immensely. Thanks in advance!

First, stop using backstabs.  See how the wires go into that receptacle, jabbed into holes where magic fingers grab the wire?  Those are super unreliable and will give you nothing but trouble on down the road.  Switch to the side screws.  In some cases you will have more wires than the side screws can accommodate.  In that case use pigtails and wire nuts.  Or use Leviton's commercial tier receptacles that use "screw-to-clamp" back connections, they cost (are you sitting down?) $3.

Now, get some colored electrical tape.   On the /2 cable coming down from the light, I want you to wrap the black wire with red tape, making it a red wire.  Do it on both ends if able.  This is now a red wire.  At this point, lucky us, all the wires work out to be color coded: red is switched-hot for the lamp.

Once you've done what I just said with tape marking, take the receptacle and break the "tab" off between the two brass screws.

all the black wires go together and to the upper brass screw.
all the red wires go together and to the lower brass screw.
all white wires go together and to the silver screw(s) which are still joined to each other.

Looks like the switch is fine the way it is.  Switches have 2 screws that want the red and black wire.

Oh, you want the switched receptacle on the lower, because it will rarely ever be unplugged - if it's on top, it's in the way evertime you try to use the other plug.


Issues with roofing in cold weather? I've got a crew of workers at my house putting on a new roof, in 25 degree weather.

The contractor said it wouldn't be a problem, although part of me wonders if he just didn't want his crew sitting idle.

Is this an issue?  Will the shingles be able to seal properly?

The weather is expected to warm to the low 40s in a few days.

The shingles will eventually seal, but it will take more than 40 degrees to do so, although it may start the process. As long as there are not protruding nail heads and everything looks straight, I wouldn't worry too much.


Running electrical to a shed I have a shed in my backyard about 200ft from the house. I would like to run electrical to the shed to install 2 or 3 power outlets, and two LED lights for the inside.

Currently from the house to about 50ft from the house there is an exterior power outlet on a pole (no light on the pole, just the outlet). The line from the circuit breaker is completely dedicated to this one outlet the whole way -- currently no forks or splices. It is a 12 gauge UF-B wire run connected to a 20 amp gfci breaker. It is not in conduit and looks about 2 to 2.5 feet deep.

I am wondering if I can continue the line from the power outlet 50ft from the house on more 12 gauge UF-B for another 150ft to the shed -- which will have 2 or 3 power outlets and two LED lights for the inside. Or I am wondering if it would be required for me to have a dedicated line and a subpanel in the shed -- and maybe heavier wire.

Thanks!

Generically I'd knee-jerk to conduit and 30A 240V service with a sub-panel, but if your needs are going to be adequately met by 20A 120V power and the loading is sufficiently low that the voltage drop from 200 ft of 12Ga wire won't be a huge issue, yes, you can do that.

Given the relative expense of digging a ditch once, and never having to dig it again if the small cost of conduit is added, I think direct burial is a terrible idea, so I'd use conduit and THWN at least for the extra 150 ft, and I'd contemplate using heavier wire than 12Ga for that 150ft to reduce voltage drop from the long run. At which point I'd be looking hard at just digging another 50 ft and doing the whole thing to a higher standard, but you may not think the way I do.

Harper will stop in to say the 3% voltage drop rule isn't a rule (and it's not, merely a guideline), but if you get close to 20A at 200 feet on 12Ga copper you'll be down 12 volts or more - over 10% of 120V service, and generally not a good plan. But if the actual shed use will be down below 10A the 5% or so loss is unlikely to be a problem, until someone loads it up fully despite your planned use.


How to repair stripped drywall anchor I took a blind down a while back to decorate the spare room. Before moving it I noticed that one of the wall plugs was loose. I replaced it with a brown wall plug but it's going straight into the ceiling and disappearing.

My thoughts is that my landlord has drilled in the wrong area. I have put a really long screw in to test and it just keeps going all the way up.

I can't screw into the wall plug as the plug just goes too far into the wall and doesn't grip on to anything.

I don't know how to fix this :/

You are using the wrong size plug. Measure the hole, go to the hardware store (ironmongers?) and buy the appropriate plug for your hole size. Also, make sure you are using the proper size screw for the plug. If the screw diameter is too small, it will not expand the plug and it will not grip tightly.


1/4" Hardibacker cement fiber board for shower walls I'm preparing to lay tile in my new bathroom and I picked up the cement board but when I got home I realized I bought quarter inch instead of half inch thick sheets. The Hardibacker website says that you can use quarter inch but a lot of websites that I've looked at recommends half inch for the walls. Has anybody use quarter inch cement board for shower walls with large tile with good results?
another question I have is what is the preferred method for laying tile on concrete slab floor? Should I use cement board or the rubber mat uncoupling style? Any experiences are appreciated

1/4" hardibacker alone is an unsuitable substrate for shower wall tile. If it were attached to properly waterproofed drywall, plywood, or plaster it would be fine. Think about it, one wayward elbow, knee, or hip bump and you may get flexion which would cause the grout (or tile) to crack.

  what is the preferred method for laying tile on concrete slab floor?

It depends on the application. Concrete is porous, so for water applications (like a shower floor) there are specific established methods for waterproofing, sloping, and draining.

For dry area applications, concrete is the perfect tile substrate as long as it is clean and dry. Just apply thinset mortar using the application technique recommended by the mortar (and/or tile) manufacturer.


What's the best fastener for a carpet that won't cause unraveling? Last time I tried this, the drywall screws I was using snagged and started unraveling the carpet.

Is there a particular kind of screw that won't snag carpets? It's a loop/pile carpet so snagging is pretty likely.

Nails unfortunately aren't going to suffice unless they are maybe resistant to being pulled out like a screw would be.

And yeah... I'm putting it into drywall.

You want to use carpet staples, and if your carpet is heavy you want to use a lot of them.  If it is heavy and permanent then use glue also.


Baseboard heat register makes loud banging sounds FYI... I am a homeowner and not technical.
Problem.. about 2 months ago my baseboard heating (hot water) starting making loud noises when the furnace turned on. It continues for a good period of time, its so loud it wakes me up. If I go to the thermostat and lower the temp the noises immediately stop. The noises come from more than 1 baseboard. I had service come to check the issue and I was told that the pipes are hitting something and need to pinpoint and eliminate where hitting. The system has been in place for years and this never occurred.
I would appreciate any feedback before I call for another service appt.
Thanks

It sounds like there's water in your system. When you have a hot-water based radiator system, sometimes air will get in there and start making banging noises.

If it is a water boiler, I also highly suggest getting a new tech.

When I bleed (let the air out) of my radiators, I turn the system on and let it run at a hot temp, then turn it down and let it cool off. Starting at the radiator closest to the boiler I turn the bleed valve and let all the air out until water starts to come out. It helps to have a bowl or something to catch water when it comes out.

Repeat this process until you make it to the top floor. You may have to repeat the process again in a day or so, but this should take care of the issue.

If you need a more detailed guide read here


Can I run electrical raceway on a baseboard? I have a Panduit ldp5 I'd like to mount on a baseboard.  As you can see from the photos, the path above the baseboard is blocked by an existing outlet and further down, by a radiator.  The box fits nicely on the baseboard and the raceway blends.  The only downside I can think of is that the outlets will be low and perhaps more prone to being kicked or scraped by furniture.

The raceway is for 120V electrical outlets.

This is fine

Article 388 sets out the usage conditions for non-metallic surface raceways such as yours, and I seriously doubt that being at a baseboard is going to subject your raceway to the "severe physical damage" mentioned in 388.12 point 2.  Considering that it's an exposed application, indoors where temperatures are presumably benign, your raceway is UL listed for power service (to 600V no less), and not subject to any other significant restrictions from Article 388 (definitely not hazard classified or in an elevator hoistway!), you are good to go running 120V power wires through this raceway setup.  One note though: you will want to run individual stranded THHN wires for hot, neutral, and ground in the raceway instead of a NM cable -- NM doesn't go around your average raceway elbow well at all.


Diagnose cold radiator I recently moved into a new place which has two floors. It is heated with hot water and the heater gas-powered heater is in the lower floor. There are two radiators in the upper floor that stay ice-cold, while one, in another room also upstairs is warm. I am unsure if the problem is just a failure to properly turn them on or something else. The two cold radiators are different from the others in that they don't have knob to turn them on. I have attached a picture of what it looks like. There are two pipes connected to them but they are also always cold, and vanish into the wall. I called the previous owner who built the whole place but he is very old and doesn't remember anything about it. How do I start diagnosing what's wrong?

That looks like the body of a Thermostatic valve (TRV). It looks like the actuator pin (in the center of the front face) is stuck in. This can usually be unstuck by wiggling with a pair of pliers. If it's really stubborn, some WD-40 or a LIGHT tap with a small hammer may help. You can then get a new TRV head and add that to control the room temp. There should be another valve on the other end of the radiator and it's usually worth screwing that closed and then re-opening it.


Good way to clean Stainless Steel Railing I have a stainless steel fence in my garden. Its near the sea and constantly looks dirty and old. I think the steel is a Stainless 316 as opposed to 304.

What cost effective cleaner could I use or what techniques could be the best to clean the numerous posts.

Also, Is there anything that could preserve the stainless steel from future build-up?

I would add a protective coating to it.  I personally have used Stainless Steel Defender.  I use this on anything from dishwashers, fridges, and bar-b-que pits when I flip a house.  I have been happy with the product but there may be other products that are better - this is the only one I have used.


Why can't I measure 240V on this wall heater wiring? I am replacing a 240V wall heater.  I get 120V from black to ground but 0V from black to white and 0V from ground to white.  Is this correct?  The old heater worked but not really well. There was a thermostat in the wall single pole and I get the same readings there. It is hooked to a 40 amp circuit breaker. This was originally installed in the 1970s with aluminum wire.

You say the thermostat is "Single Pole". I take that to mean that there is one wire in and one wire out? Does the wire out happen to be white? If so, the reason you don't have any voltage on the white wire at the heater is because your thermostat is off. Set the thermostat so that it turns on and test again.

Alternatively, test from the wire on the in side of the thermostat (which is probably white) to black or ground and you should get 120V.


Changing Light Switch - all three wires the same color How do I change a light switch when I took switch out and it has three wires all the same color - red?

Which wire is which??

While annoying, it is entirely legal in the USA to use all same-color wires for a 3-way switch setup.   This implies wires in conduit, where any wire color can be chosen... rather than multiconductor cable, where the factory decides the colors and they'd never put 2 reds in a cable.

Two of the screws are the same color.  These are the messengers.   One screw is a different color.  This is the common.   If the screws are not different colors, look at the markings on the switch to figure out which is which.

The wires enter the box in one or more cables or conduits.  The messengers will always be together.  Depending on topology, there's probably a 70% chance that the messengers exit via a different conduit than the common. The fact that the installer used the same colors makes this even more likely... if they were all in the same conduit, he'd confuse himself! So most likely the common goes into a different conduit/destination, and the installer used the same color because it was in his hand.

Assuming we're dealing with a 3-way switch, there is no harm in trial and error; worst case the circuit won't work fully.  However, do not connect a ground wire anywhere except the ground terminal.


What's the difference (if any) between these two types of PEX-to-copper fittings? There are two kinds of similar fittings to transition from copper pipe to PEX tubing. Here's an example:

The first is made from copper and looks to be "formed" ie bent / pressed into shape in a mold.

The second is made from brass and looks to me to be machined.

But does it make any difference which of these two types is used? It seems like they will both function identically and be installed the same way.

Note - I'm not concerned about the specific brands, this is just an example.

It certain makes a difference - apparently 70 cents.

Functionally, no difference, or possibly (hard to be sure from the small images and I'm not going to bother to hunt down the parts elsewhere) the brass is set up / sized to be a  male part for soldering into a female copper port, while the copper appears to be a female copper port to have a male copper pipe soldered into. The machined exterior on the brass part leans that way, but could simply be the way it's made. i.e. depending on what size the part is, it appears that it could be either.

Edit to add: the brass might also be slightly shorter, but that seems unlikely to matter 99.9% of the time.


Wiring for GFCI and 3 switches in bathroom I'm wrapping up a bathroom remodel.  An electrician came a while back and ran new wiring.  He installed a plastic 4-gang box which will have a GFCI receptacle and 3 switches for a light above the vanity, an overhead light, and an overhead fan.  The wiring is already in place; I just need to install the actual GFCI and switches.  There are three cables coming into the top of the box: two with a black, a white, and a bare, and one with a black, a white, a red, and a bare.  When he installed the wiring and box, he roughly pushed each group of wires into place. I made the attached diagram based on where it looked like the wires were supposed to end up.  Does this look correct?  Also, will the three switches be single pole switches?
Thanks.

You need to ground your switches -- Code requires it.  And yes, standard single pole switches work here.

Also -- depending on where the fixtures are located, you may wish to put one or more of them on the load side of the GFCI.  Make sure that the existing black and white wires on your diagram go to the LINE terminals on the GFCI outlet!


Can an electrical subpanel be directly mounted to a hvac supply plenum? Can an electrical sub panel be directly mounted to an HVAC supply plenum. I usually see and have installed the disconnect or sub panel to the actual equipment on a wall near by or used some sort of standoff such as u-channel and spring nuts to keep the panel off the supply ductwork.

Can an electrical sub panel be directly mounted to an HVAC supply plenum?

Yes.

Just don't be sloppy about it.  It needs to be mounted securely.  So consider using a plywood backing, or adequate fasteners such that it is not going to fall off if someone bumps into it.

Also, ensure that no air from the plenum is vented into the sub-panel to isolate the sub-panel from condensation; and that the sub-panel will not be exposed to temperatures outside its limits.


Sound proof window arrangements with double windows I am interested in understanding the key factors in sound proofing a window.

I once stayed in an old hotel (built about 1815) in New York City on Canal Street and the room was absolutely silent which may be hard to believe for anyone who has been to Canal Street, but it was actually perfectly silent.

The reason for this was that the windows were doubled (not double pane); ie there were two layers of windows. The outer window was some kind of tempered glass and was sized exactly to the outer frame of the window and had been caulked into place. The inner windows were the original casement windows from the 19th century. Due to the thick width of the window frame there was a separation of perhaps 10 inches between the air tight window on the outside and the inner window.

I have been in houses with normal modern double paned windows and they are definitely not sound proof, so I am wondering what was special about the arrangement in the hotel. My guesses are:

(1) The outer window was absolutely airtight, but modern windows are not perfectly air tight but have joints and so forth that let sound past, and that made the difference.

(2) The distance between the panes was 10 inches and for some reason that is far more effective than two panes that are close together.

Does anybody know if either of these two factors (or another) is what is critical in making a window sound proof?

Key factors are mass and air gap. Sounds like this hotel had both.


Is an exhaust fan required by code in a new basement half-bath? I am building a half bath in my basement.  Is an exhaust fan required by code?  Since there is no shower can it be vented into unfinished space?

I can't say for sure about code - it varies a lot by location. But generally either code requires or it is a good idea to have:

An exhaust fan
or
An operable window on an outer wall

so that you can vent hot/moist air, chemical fumes from cleaning, etc. A half-bath (normally that means no tub or shower) will not have as great a need for ventilation as a full bath, but it still needs a fan or window.

If you install an exhaust fan, you must vent it to the outside. If you vent it into an attic or other unfinished space then you will eventually get some combination of mold, mildew, damage to insulation, damage to wood and other problems. Venting to the outside is easiest if you can basically go "up" and put a hole (properly caulked/sealed) in the roof, but venting off to the side is acceptable. The total length of the ductwork can be an issue - check the specs on the fan for more information.

There is quite a variety of exhaust fans available, but the biggest criteria to consider are noise (typically measured in either sones or decibels) and speed (typically measured in CFM). You generally want the quietest fan you can afford that has at least the minimum speed for your bathroom - which will depend on the size of the bathroom.


What are the benefits of a Floating Vanity over a Vanity that is secured to the floor? Would this be purely design choice?

Most standard type box vanities are constructed with a back stile across the width of the unit at the top/back. We never connect them to the floor. We find the studs in the wall and screw the back stile to it. When doing this, you can correct the level both side to side and front to back. Strategic use of shims helps in the leveling process, but the screws lock the vanity in place.


Have an unused receptacle in the ceiling that used to have a fan. What is safe way to cap it? I have an unused receptacle in the ceiling that used to have a fan attached. Now the wires are dangling out of the box (all are wire nutted to keep separate except the ground). If I go to  and get a cap, how do I ensure the wires are safe to stuff in there?
I don't see any exposed wire except the ground which is all exposed. Do/should I tape that?

You can leave the ground wire bare, it's fine. As long as the other wires are capped off so that no bare metal is exposed, then those are fine, too. You can bend the wires and stuff them all into the box, then put a blank faceplate on the box. You cannot cover the box with sheetrock or anything. You have to leave it accessible.


How do I snake this dual-sink configuration? The sink drains have become blocked in a duplex apartment.  There is a bathroom on either side of a shared wall, with each sink belonging to a different living space in the duplex.  There is a straight pipe between the sink drains: if I remove both traps I can see through it.  The setup is something like this:

That tee in the middle is inaccessible - it is between two walls and above the subfloor.  Running a snake from a sink obviously doesn't work, and it would take a lot of liquid plumber to fill up both traps and the bottom of the horizontal pipe.

Under the house, there isn't any access that I can see.  I'm not a plumber, though, so maybe I'm missing something.  Here's a mediocre picture of the pipes (the purple circle in both images represents the same elbow):

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Get two bladder-style drain cleaners.

Insert one down each sink. Turn them both on simultaneously and they'll inflate until they block up the sinks, at which point they'll fill the plumbing in between the two and use pressure to push the blockage down the only remaining path.

If this drain proves to be problematic in the long-term, then you'll have to modify the plumbing. But there's no reason not to try the simplest solution first!


Replacing a few boards in a hardwood floor: sanding and refinishing? I'm replacing a half dozen board ends in a hardwood floor due to water and carpenter ant damage. Each is about 4-6" long. I have the old boards cut and removed, and in fact I can slide the new boards in from the ends, and so don't need to cut off the bottom of the groove edge of the boards. But, the floor was at one point sanded and refinished, so the new boards are about 1/32" proud of the main floor.

Should I sand down the new boards to the correct thickness before installation? Or, should I install them and then sand them in place? And the same question with polyurethaning the boards: before or after installation? (I'm worried that sanding or getting finish on the old boards will make the repair more visible.)

If you can slide them in, then - sand, finish (top face only), assemble. You may need to use a bit of glue on the grooves in the new pieces to hold them in place.

There still may be a visible difference between the color and finish of the old and the new. The only way to get them both exactly the same is to refinish the entire floor as suggested by @python starter. But whether the difference is too much is a matter of taste.


How to repair a piano that was damaged during a move? We hired professional movers to transport a grand piano across a few states.  However, the movers damaged it (with a forklift?).  What is a good way to repair the damage, where the gouge is quite deep and wide?

Assuming the purported professionals were actually insured, you find the local piano shop (if one currently in production, ideally the shop dealing in that brand) and inquire about having it fixed, on the movers (or the movers' insurance's) dime. If it needs to move to get fixed, use Piano Movers.


How do I remove this stuck faucet valve cartridge? It's still in the casing, as I didn't want to remove the whole faucet.  I tried lots of WD-40 and trying to tighten a little and then loosen. Someone told me to use a hair-dryer on it to heat it up a little.  The thing just won't budge. I think I may have ruined the "nut."  I'm obviously an amateur, but I don't want to be a failure.

Click for full size image

My cold side cartridge needed replacement. (My valve assembly has manufacture date of 2007.) I have a number of same Kohler Lavatory sets and have had to replace a few valve assemblies a few times. Kohler has sent me entire retrofit valve set because many times, as was described in prior comments, it's difficult to break the seal of the top nut to get at and replace the cartridge. I decided to get brave after reading the ideas from comments and decided to try to get at the cartridge.

This is what worked for me. I used a vice grip and attached it right below the threads of the assembly (just above where the water line attaches to the assembly). It's machined there to accept a wrench and the vice grip secures perfectly. I took my ball pain hammer and tapped the nut area all around to hopefully break the seal. I attached a 5/8" socket and ratchet wrench to the cartridge top nut (You do not have to take off that cotter pin). I then placed the valve assembly on the garage floor with the vice grip attached. I then secured the 5/8" socket to the top nut and used one foot to make sure the valve set doesn't move and used my other foot to apply leverage to the socket wrench and with a few stomps on the ratchet handle the nut loosened and the cartridge came out of the assembly.


Why won't my dimmer dim CFL Lights? My dinning room had an on/off switch for the light which made it impossible to have romantic dinners there - the light was either too bright or off.  So I decided to install a dimmer.  Being energy conscious and progressive, I wanted to install a dimmer for compact fluorescent lights. I bought a dimmer for compact flourescent lights, the Lutron dimmer with the designer or decora switch, and the slide control to adjust the intensity of the light.  I also installed 60W equivalent compact flourescent light bulbs that were recommended by Home Depot as being dimmable.  After installing it, I found that it would dim the lights from 100% brightness down to 80% brightness - still nowhere near dim enough for a romantic dinner.  When I went to Lowes, the guy there said that I just happened to get a bad switch - try another one.  I did - same result.  I went back to Home Depot - the guy there was adamant that they do work, so I tried another - same result.  I made very sure that I had the polarity of the switch right, checking which was the hot lead with a volt meter before installing the switch.

Is there a trick to get the compact flourescent light switches and dimmable compact flourescent lights to work?

There should be an adjustment dial or slider somewhere on the switch (you'll likely have to remove the cover plate to access it), which allows you to adjust the lower end of the dimming range. Where exactly the adjustment dial is will depend on the switch you're using.
To make the adjustment:

Turn on the light
Turn the dimmer all the way down
Turn the adjustment dial clockwise (up) to lower the light level.

Models and manufacturers vary, so you'll have to determine which way to adjust the dial/slider by moving it one way then the other. Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer.
Once you have the level set, install the cover plate and enjoy your romantic dinner.


Bradford White water heater: burner making loud noise towards the end of the heating cycle I have a Bradford White gas water heater. By coincidence, we noticed that the burner flame pops all of a sudden and a big flame starts up in the unit (see video for location).

I sat for an hour in the garage to observe. The burner came on as we used hot water, everything was normal. After 5 - 10 minutes, there was a big pop sound as if a burst gas was supplied and a big flame came on as can be seen in the video. I then moved the temperature knob to low and the flame died down.

See attached video. Any idea why this would happen? Recommendation?

Video updated on March 15th at approximately 3:30 pm ET.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfi95sw371rls14/Video%20Mar%2015%2C%2010%2054%2014%20AM.mov?dl=0

Want to share what I learned.

Thanks to Ed Beal who provided suggestion. I opened the unit and removed the burner assembly and cleaned the filter area. There was not much there. This did not help the situation.

Called our local plumber who guessed that the burner assembly was damaged. He was right. The burner assembly which looked like a exhaust on a car had a tear in the mesh. New burner assembly was installed and we are all good.

I have been told by multiple plumbers that they highly recommend Bradford White including the most recent plumber. With that said, I am not too thrilled with their product. Within the last 5 years (unit was purchased in 2014), we have had to shell out close to $700/- in repairs. This does not include parts because the unit was still under warranty. First two incidents dealt with the control unit by Honeywell that was bad. Now the burner unit.

Anyway, wanted to share my experience.


Decipher electrical junction I am replacing an light fixture and box. The box is not actually a box, it's a round thing with 4 round tubular portals. The electricians have treated this thing as a junction box so it has a lot of wires I want to decipher the purpose of. There are two lines of Greenfield going into the box and two lines of Romex going into it. In the diagram below I have labeled the Greenfield lines A and B, and the Romex lines X and Y.

My plan is to add a junction box and have the connections in the box. Then add a second box for the light to which only two wires will go (doh).

Should I keep this same wiring scheme or change it?

I do believe this is a switch loop with the supply going to the box. I think Xb, Yb, A2, B2 is the hot supply leg and going to additional lighting or some outlets. Xw, A1 B1 and to the light is the neutral. Yw is the return from the switch (romex Y caries hot to the switch and the white returns the hot to the light when turned on. If this matches what you have the light fixture is wired backwards  and the Yw wire should be marked with tape, marker or paint (I like red for a switched leg but black is normal).