Battery bank in parallel/series or series/parallel I'm trying to help some friends who live in a remote village in Africa to get the best out of their solar installation, and I'm trying to understand whether there's an optimal way of hooking up the batteries and if there are any pitfalls.

This installation has 20 batteries, each 12V 120Ah and should be combined to give 48V 600Ah and a peak load/charge of ~50A/48V. They have three groups of solar panels each having their own charge controller.
Initially I was thinking that the arrangement was of lesser importance.
But then I found this article [http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html] explaining the importance of the details in parallel connections. This made me wonder if there is some pitfalls when you combine parallel and serial connection of batteries
In the original installation the batteries was first linked in series of 4 which then was connected in parallel. Rather than following the guidelines from the article linked above, we actually had the load and charge on opposite sides of the bank. Charge at A/B and load at C/D in this illustration, and I think this made the batteries to not charge optimally and discharge unevenly.

We got an advice of another setup which had first groups of 5 batteries in parallel and then linked, and someone rewired the setup to get this setup:

So, to my question. Is there any preferable way of connecting these batteries? Or is for instance the lengths and maybe that these should be as equal as possible?
My intuition now is to rather do it like this: parallel groups and then in series. In this setup I would try to:

Make all wires the same length
Pay attention to keeping each parallel group connected diagonally in each step

Side question; is there a optimal place of connecting the wires from the charger, load and batteries? Hook both load and charge directly to the terminals?

Well, there's optimal, and there's working with what you have.
Optimal is large capacity batteries in series. Really optimal is connecting that to a charge controller that actually looks at each cell voltage individually and can adjust - those tend to be rather high-end "boat" systems in my experience, and probably unaffordable for the African bush, where I assume your friend is trying to make the best of what they have got, not spend a pile more money.
That way no parallel strings get out of whack with each other. If you have to have parallel strings, ideally you set up some way that you can (easily) isolate strings for maintenance charging to get things "back in balance." That tends to favor paralleling series strings, rather than putting parallel sets in series.
I'm not particularly expert, but I did spend a while facing the possible prospect of having to go off-grid and reading a lot of material about it, before a previous economic downturn made my local utility more cooperative about hooking me up. So I don't really have a good suggestion for your more finicky details other than to go visit a specifically off-grid forum rather than this rather generalized one. And even there opinions will vary.
Now, if they are drawing 50A for much time at all, there's an immediate problem which is that that is "12 hour" rather than "20 hour" discharge rate for a 600AH bank, and typically [lead acid] batteries will deliver less than the rated capacity at rates faster than "20" or "24 hour" rates. It's very common to overdraw and under-supply a system, and it's very expensive when you factor in killing a bunch of (relatively inexpensive) lead-acid batteries (AGM are fundamentally lead acid batteries) which are finicky and dislike not being fully charged on a regular basis, as well as being deeply discharged at all.
These days there are relatively expensive lithium batteries which are far more tolerant of partial charging, but again, I assume "working with what they've got."
...and, even out in unregulated lands, some sort of overcurrent protection (usually fuses) is a good idea on a big honking battery bank that will melt a wrench if you drop it in the wrong position. Typically one per series string (and that way they don't have to be rated for the full capacity of the bank.) Having that much unfused power can get very messy very quickly, and I'll bet the fire department is rather limited, if at all.


For a small building, should joists or girders run the long dimension? I'm planning to frame a 12' x 16' floor. Should the joists be 12', and the beams 16'? Or vice versa?

More detail: 4x4 posts on concrete piers; 12' x 10' will be enclosed; 12' x 6' will be a covered deck. I'm using the county's standard loading of 40 psf live/ 10 psf dead.

EDIT: adding a 3D view (click for full size)

I'm not sure exactly what the orientation of this floor is? It is also common to split the 16 foot span in half with a center carrier beam, thus allowing you to use 8 foot joists on either side. The advantage to using two sets of 8 foot joists as opposed to single longer ones is that you can use smaller less expensive stock, and you can more easily control any wain or bowing typical in longer stock. Using a center beam also gives you a good structure to add additional center concrete post supports. This is also done by running a perpendicular double beam half way under the 16 foot joists, which gives the same support as using two 8 foot joists with a center support.

Another consideration is what kind of material and orientation you want to use as decking. If you are using planking, the aesthetics may be a determining factor. Got any drawings we can look at?


Basement Flooding suddenly. It looks like I have a French drain. Why is it still flooding? I recently bought a house and for the first month+, there was absolutely no water in the basement.  All of a sudden one day, I go downstairs and there are puddles!  I look and see that the water is coming from the seam between the floor and the foundation wall, but also through the floor in some places.
The funny thing is, I have a sump pump and the pit has THREE corrugated pipes going into it.  They are all spilling out water constantly and this water is being pumped out.  It seems like (if I reach my hand in through the pipes) they go along the walls.  This leads me to believe I have a french drain system installed in the basement.
The question is, even though there is water coming out of these pipes, why am I still getting a flooding basement?  And why in the world would it occur so suddenly like this?
Maybe the pipes clogged up?  Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
UPDATE: 7/6/2020
I found out that the french drain system I had was not done properly.  Namely, they did not drill holes in each and every void in the concrete block foundation (they actually didn't drill any holes at all!).  Furthermore, they raised the entire floor 8 or so inches. So in other words, the french drain is located on the original basement floor, then there is a whole new floor poured over top of that.  Thus, the water this system was draining was simply the seepage water going through the wall at the original basement floor level.  This amount of water drainage was not sufficient which led to the flooding (puddles).
It was completely impractical to remove the entire basement floor (what a crazy solution this was from the previous owner!).  Thus, I had the french drain job redone by a reputable water proofing company.  They jackhammered the edged of the basement, removed the old drainage pipe, drilled holes in every block void, put new pipe down and poured new concrete to cover the drains.  Cost about $8,000.  I have had zero problems since.  We have had some serious rains in these few years and it has remained dry as a bone down there ever since.  Thus, this story proves that not all french drains are created equal!!!

The french drain has to empty someplace.  Perhaps that path has gotten plugged up.


How can I repair scratches on a painted French door? A dog chewed up our solid wood, painted french doors. The tricky part is he got the trim between the glass panes and along the edge where the doors meet. If we want to repair ourselves can someone tell me how much time this could take? What materials I need and how much it will cost? If in your opinion this is a repair for a professional, what type of craftsperson should I look for (carpentry?), and how much would you estimate the cost to be? Thank you for your time.

update: 6/21/19 1:42 PM CT

Thank you so much for the quick replies! In addition to the methods and tools to use, does anyone have an estimate on the time it would take to fix this door and how much it would cost? The dog's owner gave us a $100 gift card to Lowes, without asking how much the damage cost. It's not really the money I'm concerned about. I just don't know if I have the talent to fix this, and I certainly don't have the time. I'm not sure what to do.

Another option is to first, lightly sand away all debris which is unsalvageable. Next use a quality wood filler (paintable) to fill dents, valleys & nicks. Use fine grain sandpaper to (patiently) sand over the fully cured filler to a smooth finish.

The final decision: To match the existing paint (hopefully you have some) or to repaint? Your decision. Of course, you’ll want to match the frame paint.

If you decide to touch-up, seek help on color matching from a professional at a big box store or a paint store. Prime the raw wood & filler. Paint over the dried primer using a feathering technique to ensure a nice, seamless blend.

Good luck.


How to fix newbies deck stain mistakes without sanding the whole deck I applied Thompson Waterproof semi-transparent stain to sanded and cleaned deck(pressure treated wood approximately a year old)  It was nice dry summery day with temp around 70 and I started first using a sprayer to apply the stain and then trying to spread the stain evenly with an applicator. However, the deck Look awful with ares of unevenly stained all over.   It may be too late to redcoat the deck with similar or darker stains since the deck repels water now.  Are there any tricks aivavole to fix this ?   Any comments will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Well, let's see what the instructions say.

  Apply using an exterior paint pad, brush, roller, dipping or compression driven sprayer. If over applied, remove excess before it dries by redistributing to dry areas or wiping off...

Make sure you did that. Honestly when working with a coating for the first time, I cut my teeth with brush/roller/tip-out or whatever is the "normal" way to apply the product. I only upgrade to more "efficient" methods after I have Popeye arms from doing it manually.  A lot of people leap straight to the most tech-heavy or "efficient" method, only to get snagged up in unfamiliarity with the product or tool.  Case in point.

  Only one coat is recommended. A second coat can be added if more color is desired.

This is paint company talk for "Two coats required" :)

  Allow the first coat to dry approximately 2 hours. Second coat must be applied within 4 hours of initial application.

Every product has "recoat times", when the coating is stable enough to take a second coat, but still soft enough for the next coat to chemically bond.  Here are the rules for this coating.

When you miss your recoat times, you must now "scuff-sand" the layer.  You're not trying to tear it down; you're just trying to lift the gloss off the surface, and give it microscopic mountains, to make the surface rough enough for the next coat to *mechanically bond.

This isn't a full-on sand-down.  You can get it done with green Scotchbrite pads or steel wool, or a wirebrush.

Then I would try a second coat and if necessary a third; so plan your day so that you can hit that 2-4 hour recoat window.

  Keep the leading edge wet and distribute waterproofer evenly. This will help avoid lap marks and keep the color uniform.

And pay very close attention to this. When you don't keep a wet edge, your overlap becomes a second coat, deepening the color.   This is yet another reason not to be "exploring" a new combination of product and application equipment.  I would expect the normal application method to be roller/tray; stick with that.   Google "tip out brush" for a way to make rolling even more uniform.


Why do I hear water running in my bedroom wall when faucets are on or when toilets are flushed? I've lived in my house for almost 9 years. I recently had my septic tank emptied.  I've noticed that about a few weeks after emptying the tank that whenever I flush or when the water is running in the bathrooms, I can hear the water running in my bedroom wall.

Here is the only plausible explanation I can think of. Obviously, there are pipes in the wall, they may not be carrying water, they may be vent pipes transmitting sound. Normally, the main line into the septic tank has its outlet below the waste water level. Now that the tank has been emptied the end is open to a large hollow box. This ends up being a sort of acoustic reverberation instrument that amplifies running water sounds. The sound travels back up the main drain and into the vent pipes in the wall where you can actually hear the amplified sound.

I predict once the tank fills and the pipe goes under water the sound will diminish again. You may still hear it slightly now that you know what to listen for, but it should be quieter than it is now.


Hook up propane fire pit to house hook up I have a valve on the supply line from a 250 gallon propane tank. I bought a propane fire pit/heater and I’m not sure how to connect the two. The fire pit is set up to screw on a portable propane tank and I am not sure how to connect my fire pit/heater to the supply line valve.
I have enclosed pictures of both the hook up, and the hose coming from the heater.
Can someone advise me on what adapter i need and how to make the connection.

What you see there is a male "flare" fitting, so you'll need a female flare to mate with  it.
It sounds like at the fire pit you'll need a male tank adapter.
I'm not sure you'll find that as an assembly, so you'll want to look into how to make and test gas line connections. You need either gas-tolerant PTFE thread tape or thread compound paste.


Dimmer switch shorted/fried during installation, is it still safe to use? relative newbie here.

I was upgrading a light fixture and at the same time installing a dimmer switch. I accidentally purchased a 3-way switch instead of the required 2-way switch and my "helper" removed the "insulating sticker" that covers the pole used for the 3-way switch and I didn't notice.

I installed it, flipped the breaker back on and went to test out the light. When I did, I could almost immediately smell a faint burning smell (really bad smell). I went back, turned off the breaker, and pulled the switch back out. The extra pole had come in contact with the box.

I took it out, replaced the "insulating sticker" and screwed the pole in so it isn't sticking out.

Some questions.

Is what I've done safe?
Is that insulating sticker really the protection against something bad?
Shouldn't the breaker have tripped if a "hot" pole came in contact with the grounded box?
My wife can still smell the foul smell - does that smell linger or do I have a bigger problem?

Help!

You killed it, man!

The solid-state switching devices in dimmers tend to fry when the dimmer's output is shorted.  Replace the dimmer, and this time, don't peel the insulating sticker off to avoid another short.  The breaker may have tripped eventually, or it may not have; the good news is that what you did is OK for now as the smell is simply lingering as odors are wont to do.


HVAC fan turned off by itself with associated burning smell I'm in the PNW and we're dealing with lots of wildfire smoke. Accordingly, I've been running the fan on the HVAC nearly continuously for the last 4 days so that air will go through my electronic filter attached to the system. Last night, I woke up to go to the bathroom and on my way there noticed a faint burning smell coming from the return air vents in the ceiling. I also noticed that even though my Google Nest expected the fan to still be running, it was not blowing air out of the registers.
I turned off the fan and left it off for the rest of the night. This morning, the fan (by itself) or the AC (with the fan) seems to be working correctly. What might have happened here, is it a concern, and is there anything I should do in response?
Edit: Added a picture of the register below the unit I blocked to help with discussion in comments.

Your fan was not running and a hot smell points to a thermal overload in your fan motor tripping.
Why would this happen? The lubricant in the motor has dried out and the bearings are getting stiff if a belt drive it could also include the bearings on the fan itself.
Can it be fixed: Usually yes
The fan motor usually has ports over the ends that lead to the bearings. I use 30 weight motor oil but any motor oil will usually help.
Most motors only take about 20 drops of oil if the tube or shaft fills up run the motor for a while and check it later,  if you can get 10-20 Drops in let it run and the problem may go away for a year or longer but adding a few drops every 6 months can extend the motor life by decades.
The reason the motor was not running it overloaded due to lack of lubricant and there is a thermal snap switch in the motor that had not cooled down yet. I have done this little trick hundreds of times and brought motors back to life.
Don’t forget to wash your grids I can’t believe how bad the smoke is this year, the grids will be more efficient when clean.
They said they expect containment by October 31 so we may have this mess for a while.


Can I shut off a second water heater? I reviewed this question and answer and there's probably similarities to this question,  but wasn't sure what kind of setup I have.  So I'm hoping I don't get flagged as duplicate.

We've got two gas heaters in the garage, but I don't really understand which one it is - parallel or series (from the first linked question).  We have a 3 people in a single-story 4/3 house and I'd like to shut off one of them to conserve energy - if it actually would and if it is recommended.

Given this configuration, can/should I shut down one (which one) of the water heaters which probably isn't needed?
Thanks.

From your picture it appears they are paralleled.

To be seriesed the cold water would enter only one of them and the hot output from that one would be fed into the other's cold water input.

That is not what you have here. The cold water feeds both of them and the hot outputs are tied together. That makes them paralleled.

If you shut the gas off to one of them, the water to that one needs to be shut off or cold water will flow through the heater directly into the hot lines. You will need individual water shut offs installed on the one that is shut off. ThreePhaseEel is right, there should be individual isolation shut offs on each pipe of each heater.

Happy Turkey Week!


How should I replace a 6 wire, 12 gauge electrical outlet? I am trying to replace a 15A electrical outlet. The existing one is attached to 12 gauge copper wire. There is a ground connection, one set of wire on the bottom screws, two sets of wire going into the holes in the back. Obviously, the existing one can accept 12 gauge wire in the holes in the back.

The new one cannot accept 12 gauge wire in the back (I read that code doesn't allow this anymore), so am I not sure what I should do.

The best way is to use a pigtail. Use a large wire nut to join four 12 awg hot wires in the back of the electrical box. One of these four wires is the pig tail that will come out and join to the outlet at the screws. Do a similar arrangement for the four neutrals (one a pigtail) and bring out the single neutral to the outlet.

This arrangement also makes it far easier to mount the outlet after the wires are attached.

Don't forget the GND wire attached to the green terminal on the outlet.


Sealing gap between foundation and external wall I'm trying to determine how to address a small gap between my foundation wall and the bottom of the house.  I believe this gap is being used by vermin to access a crawlspace and travel up the walls.

What would be the best filler for this gap?  I'm thinking perhaps caulk, but open to suggestions.

It looks like your siding is wood (probably cedar). You don't want to seal this too much - the underside of these shakes/shingles needs to be able to release moisture or your siding may rot sooner. Best option is to seal from the inside, probably with spray foam.

Edit based on comments: because you've indicated this is an inaccessible crawlspace, you should consider two other measures:

Apply pesticides around your foundation, under the edge of the shingles, and at crawlspace vents. These can help control the vermin problem without perfect sealing. (Powder treatments including diatomaceous earth are pretty effective and easy to use for ants and similar critters, but you'll want to target whatever particular vermin you've seen.)
Get access into your crawlspace and inspect there. If the crawlspace has no floor and vermin are digging through the dirt to get inside, extra sealing at this seam would have no effect. However, better sealing from inside the crawlspace could seal your walls and floors for better insulation and critter-resistance. Adding a moisture/bug barrier on the floor may also help. And you may find a bigger issue, like a colony of ants/termites/whatever established in your crawlspace.

I'd encourage you to get access into your crawlspace and inspect there -- it's really the best way to ascertain the cause of your critter problems and enables the most effective solutions.


What kind of gloves should I wear during electrical work? What kind of gloves should I wear during electrical work?

I need to know which glove material is most suitable for this kind of work, as I wish to purchase the proper gloves.

Depends on the voltage you're working with.

If you're working in a residential setting, simply turn off the power and wear any type of glove you find comfortable (including none).

If working in an industrial setting, where turning the power off is not an option. You'll have to choose a glove system based on the voltage you'll be working with.  A glove system should always consist of an appropriate insulating glove, and a protective leather glove. A glove liner is an optional part of the system, and can be worn depending on how dainty your hands are.

ASTM D120-14a divides gloves into the following classes:

Class 00 - Good for up to 500 volts.
Class 0 - Up to 1,000 volts.
Class 1 - Up to 7,500 volts.
Class 2 - Up to 17,000 volts.
Class 3 - Up to 26,500 volts.
Class 4 - Up to 36,000 volts.

WARNING: Always properly test your gloves before each use. Visual inspection and air testing is the most common method. If you're using these gloves, you've hopefully been trained how to care for and test them. If not, you probably shouldn't be doing anything that requires you to use them.


Light switch with same color wires I wanted to install a timer light switch but when I opened the switch I noticed there were only two wires and a ground and both wires were the same color.  The timer switch has a white black and blue wire with no place for the ground.   Is it possible to replace this switch with the timer switch?

Sounds like you need a neutral wire for that timer switch to work. It's simple logic really: the timer has to get power to run the timing mechanism whether the lamp is on or off.  There are clever ways to steal power when the lamp is off, but not when it's on.  So it needs a hot (which will be one of those wires) and a neutral.

Both wires being the same color is a hopeful surprise.  Same-color NM is hard to find, so good chance your wires are single-wire THHN/THWN in conduit, and the electrician ran two blacks (or whichever color he used) because it is a correct color for both always-hot and switched-hot.  You may be able to pull a neutral wire (white) by fishing.


How can I convert 4 ft fluorescent tube fixture to be used as a plug in fixtures? So I purchased four overhead 4 foot fluorescent tube fixtures and my plan is to re-wire so that I can plug them into a wall.
Would it make sense to run them in (Series)? (I believe that is the correct term) and connect one's black/white wires to the next fixtures black/white wires and continue on to the last fixture and then have that one connect to a 3 prong plug outlet?
If this is the way, my question is what to do with the ground? Would I also run the bare ground wire to each fixtures green screw and then to the ground of the male plug at the end?

You have the right idea, but some of your terminology is wrong.

In general, ALL household electrical work involves connecting the various lights, heaters, motors, computers, etc. all together with black to black, white to white, ground to ground.

This kind of a connection is called PARALLEL (not series).

To be specific, each of your lights will have a black wire and a white wire (and probably a green ground screw).

Your plug-in cord should also have a black wire and a white wire and a green (ground) wire.

To make it work electrically, you want to connect all 4 of the light's black wires together, and hook them to the black wire of the plug-in cord. You could use a really BIG wire nut to hook these 5 black wires together.

You also want to hook all 4 of the light's white wires together and to the white wire of the cord. BIG wire nut number 2.

You also want a ground wire from the green housing screw on each light coming all together electrically, and connected to the green ground wire of the plug-in cord. Big wire nut number 3.

Now, the best way to go about making those many connections can be as much art and skill as it is science.  Depending upon how the lights will be arranged, you might find it better to do something like the following...
1) at light 1 you have just the cord coming in, and the white black and ground of light 1, and an "extra" wire that will go off to light 2.  Hook all 3 blacks together; hook all 3 whites together, hook all 3 grounds together.
2) at light 2 you have the "extra" wire from light 1 coming in, the black/white/ground from light 2, and another "extra" wire that will be going over to light 3...  again, all 3 blacks together, all 3 whites together, all 3 grounds together...
and so on down the line.

This kind of a connection is called a "daisy chain parallel connection".  It is electrically the same as if you put all 5 black wires into a single BIG wire nut, and similarly with whites and grounds.  Since you probably don't want all 4 lights stacked tightly against each other though, it might be much more practical.

Even though you have the juice going from one light to the next to the next...if you draw it out on paper you will see that since all of the blacks are tied together and all of the whites are tied together...the juice is actually not flowing electrically THROUGH one light and into the to the next.  Electrically, you could draw ALL of those black wires as one big dot in your diagram.  Since the black wires are all hooked together somewhere, then as far as the electrons are concerned, they are all hooked together...period.

If it helps you to visualize it, draw it first like the BIG wire nut example at the beginning of this post.  Then draw it again but take that one BIG black wire nut and draw it as 4 smaller wire nuts right next to each other, with tiny little connections between them.  Your one BIG wire nut has changed into 4 smaller ones, but those 4 small ones are all hooked to each other.  Can you see how that is electrically the same?  Do the same with the BIG white wire nut and the same with the grounds.  Now just keep spreading them further apart in your drawing until they are spread out the way the lights will really be arranged in the room.

Or another way to look at it is...each light has a black/white/ground.  If when you're done, each of those black wires can "find its way back to the black of the plug-in cord" (doesn't matter how it gets there as long as it's always black); then you're golden.  Obviously, same for the whites and same for the grounds.


Shop 3-way switches for two receptacles with 2 additional receptacles not controlled by the 3-way switches In my newly framed shop I have two entry doors that I would like to put 3-way switches next to in order to operate lights plugged into receptacles installed on the ceiling.

I would like to have a box in the ceiling with four receptacles, two that will be hot all the time for battery tenders an two that will have lights plugged into operated by the 3-way switches.

How do I go about wiring this application? Is it possible to have two outlets continuously hot for my battery tenders and two outlets for the plug-in lights operated by the 3-way switches next to each door?

I have a 20 amp breaker with 12-2 wire from the panel that I am utilizing.

Sure.  But it will take 5 wires, and due to the equal-current rules, you can't just gang a /2 and /3.  Given the goofy cable required, conduit makes more sense costwise.

First, do you want the always-hot and switched-hot on separate circuits?  I do that so my dumb mistakes don't plunge me in the dark.

Receptacles come in white, beige, black, gray and if you hunt really hard you can find other colors.  Plan for different color receptacles for the lights vs the always-hot.

Also, because fitting wires onto screws from a ladder is a nightmare, I suggest you sit at an ergonomically comfortable workbench, and pigtail every single receptacle.   Yes, I know receptacles have 2 screws on each side and pigtailing isn't necessary.

When I say "run a wire from source to each box. i mean daisy-chain: run source to box 1, box 1 to box 2, box 2 to box 3, etc.

Method 1: conduit, one circuit, source anywhere

You will use a variety of wire colors, the purpose of which is to make this wiring job stupid-easy.   You can use fewer colors at your peril but if you do, I very strongly recommend getting a $3 pack of 5 colors of tape, and marking every wire  that isn't natively that color. Feel free to change my color code, just be consistent!

Pigtail your to-be-always-on receptacles with black on the hot side and white on the neutral side.   Pigtail your lamp receptacles with red on the hot side and white on neutral.

run 2 yellow messengers between the two 3-way switches. There is no need to distinguish these from each other.  These land on the two brass screws on both switches, leaving one screw left.  That was easy!
A single black always-hot wire connecting supply to one of the 3-way switches and every receptacle location (where you want always-hot).
a single red switched-hot wire connecting the other 3-way switch and every receptacle location (where you want lamps).
a single white neutral wire connecting supply to every receptacle location.
grounds everywhere (EMT is ground)

Anywhere the wires need to stop to connect to something, you can cut, but leave 8" of slack on each end of each box.  The messengers pass thru and don't need a loop or slack in passthru boxes.

Wiring the 3-ways is stupid easy because one wire at each switch is unaccounted for, and one black terminal remains.

Nothing left but receptacles and it's all color coded.  Nut together all the white neutrals, black hots and red switched-hots.

Method 2: conduit, two circuits, source anywhere

An even larger variety of colors, introducing brown and gray for the second circuit.

Pigtail your to-be-always-on receptacles with black on the hot side and white on the neutral side.   Pigtail your lamp receptacles with brown on the hot side and gray on neutral.

run 2 yellow wires for messengers between the 3-ways, and again they use up all the brass screws on the 3-ways.
run a brown wire (lighting always-hot) from supply to one 3-way switch, only.
run a red wire (lighting switched-hot) between the other 3-way and every lighting receptacle.
run a gray wire (lighting neutral) between supply and every lamp receptacle location.
run a black wire (service hot) and white wire (service neutral) between supply and every service receptacle location.
grounds everywhere (EMT is ground)

Spare wire to the black screw  on the 3-ways as before, then join same colors.  Done.

With flexible cable (one circuit)

Just to put you on notice, this will be a nightmare tangle. As you may have gathered, you cannot do this with a single cable unless you have a source for /5 cable.   But also, there are current-return rules that must be followed.

You will need to tape wires colors, or you will lose your mind.  Upside, you only need one color of tape. When you mark a wire, mark both ends at once.

Fasten your seat belt!

Sit at your ergonomic workstation, and pigtail all the always-hot receptacles with black and white, and the switched-hot receptacles with red and white.

From supply, run a /4 cable (you heard me) to 3-way switch #1.  On this cable, tag the red and blue wires with yellow tape.

From supply, run a /4 cable to the other 3-way.  On this cable, tag the black and blue wires with yellow tape.

Between supply and each of the receptacle locations, run /3 cable.  Yes, this may involve paralleling the /4 cable.  This is necessary due to current balance rules.

At each 3-way:  yellow is messengers and you land them on both brass screws on the 3-way.   White is neutral and is unused, for now.  The remaining wire goes on the black screw.

At source (if it isn't a 3-way box): nut the 2 yellows "thru" the box.

Now join all blacks to blacks, reds to reds, whites to whites.  Done.

If you can't get /4 cable you are allowed to use /2/2 cable and use the white-red in place of blue. Taping it yellow will mark it as a hot.

With flexible cable (2 circuits)

Fuggedaboutit.

No seriously it can be done, but you use /2/2 cable (not /4) between supply and each receptacle, and to the 3-ways.

Follow the above instructons with a few changes.

lighting receptacles get pigtailed with red and red-white-stripe
service receptacles get pigtailed with black and white (or white-black-stripe)
/2/2 cable has a white-striped-red wire instead of a blue. That becomes lighting circuit neutral.
brown is lighting-circuit supply hot.
on the /2/2's to the 3-ways, tape the black and white (or white-striped-black) wires yellow.
on the /2/2 cable to 3-way #1, tape the red wire brown, "lighting circuit supply always-hot".

Now your color codes are

black - always-hot (service circuit)
white or white-striped-black - neutral (service circuit)
brown - always-hot (lighting circuit)
white-striped-red - neutral (lighting circuit)
red - switched-hot (lighting circuit)
yellow - messengers

Join 'em.


Will silicone spray lubricant cause bare dry wood to swell? If wooden parts are binding, will silicone spray lubricant cause bare dry wood to swell?  The wood is not maple or oak or birch.  It is some type of softwood, maybe fir or pine.  The bearing surfaces are not painted or varnished, just bare wood.

A dry silicone spray lube is fine for bare wood applications. If you apply the spray to a cloth then wipe it on the binding surfaces, you should not have any problems with swelling. you can also use furniture polish, but in many cases, polish uses a silicone base as well with wax. Wax can build up, so I like pure silicon best.

As with any application to unfinished wood, test a small inconspicuous area to check for possible  discoloration if the surface is visible.


Why are the inside diameters of some pipe larger than the stated size? I'm looking over some specifications for black pipe. I understand why dimensional lumber is smaller than the stated dimensions, but why would the pipe manufacturers give you more volume than what is expected?

Does anyone know the history on this?

     Size   |     O. D.     |      I. D.    |   Wall Thickness
==================================================================
    1/4 in  |   0.540 in    |   0.364 in    |   0.0880 in
    3/8 in  |   0.675 in    |   0.493 in    |   0.0910 in
    1/2 in  |   0.840 in    |   0.622 in    |   0.1090 in
    3/4 in  |   1.050 in    |   0.824 in    |   0.1130 in
      1 in  |   1.315 in    |   1.049 in    |   0.1330 in
   1.25 in  |   1.660 in    |   1.380 in    |   0.1400 in
   1.50 in  |   1.900 in    |   1.610 in    |   0.1450 in

...and so on.....

1 inch pipe used to have an inside diameter of 1 inch.

As the fittings attached to the outside, the OD had to stay the same for compatibility with the old stuff. The manufacturers fiddled with the wall and the matching of the actual measurements with the named size was abandoned just as it had been at the sawmill.


2 wire light fixture with black and green wires wife bought an old light fixture for kitchen with only black and green wires bonded with rubber sheathing. Do i simply cut and cap the white common wire from the house feed? Of course it has 5 lights and a plastic shell,will try to post pics

No - don't confuse old fixture colors with current wiring colors.

If your fixture only has 2 wires, then black to black, white to what's left.

Use a metal box and attach the ground to the box.


What is the name of this connector for my fridge's wooden panel? I recently snapped off the wooden panel on my fridge/freezer. It is a tall fridge freezer with a separate door for each component. The doors are wooden panels that are attached to the metal doors using plastic connectors.

Recently I snapped the connector on my fridge door, this is the bit screwed in to the metal door (as opposed to to the bit screwed on to the wooden panel) so the panel is now loose from the door.

The panel has not completely fallen off, it is connected just fine on one side with the hinge, just when I open my 'fridge' I am greeted with the metal fridge door.

I am having trouble figuring out what the name of this thing is and where to buy a replacement, it looks like this:

Two philips head screws connect it to the metal door and another piece of plastic on the wooden panel hooks over the two broken pieces to keep the door and panel connected.

Any ideas?

Sounds like a bracket or a flange to me, check the parts browser here, you might get something close.


Blade comparison, DW4765 vs DW4701: What's the difference between DW4765 and DW4701?

Would the use cases be any different? They're both advertised for stone, granite, brick, and tile.

Both the DW4765 and DW4701 blades are listed by Dewalt as XP products.
More importantly is the difference in intended use.

The DW4765 is for use in a tile saw. This means it's designed for wet cutting where the temperature never gets very high because it is constantly water cooled. It is a little thinner and thus has a thin kerf.

The DW4701 is for use in an angle grinder. It is for dry cutting and thus can handle higher temperatures. This is achieved with the segments which allow better airflow for cooling. The cut will likely be by hand so the blade should be a little stiffer and thicker. This results in a wider kerf.


AC tripping power breaker My central AC is dripping power breaker

What I have checked

Filters are clean
I cleaned outside unit with water
I put in a new capacitor

It cools fine it just trips middle of night like 4am

Sounds like you have tried the basic items.

You could try replacing the breaker.

If you continue to have a problem then you will have to call an air conditioning service technician to check the unit out completely.

Good luck!


Descaling a top loading washing machine without a built in heater I have an 8 year old top loading washing machine thats never been descaled. It is used with hard water (TDS: about 500 mg/L).

The machine does not have a built in heater. Most descaling solutions seem to require running a wash cycle with max heat and use of the descaler instead of the detergent.

Is it OK to run a descaling cycle in my machine by using a bucket to fill hot water during the wash cycle? Will I need to use hot water for the rinse cycle as well (after using the descaler)?v

I think using a bucket of hot water would be fine, just don't use water over 60 C (140 F). In my experience descaling a tea kettle with white vinegar length of time is a factor. You might pour in the descaling solution and let it sit for an hour or two before you start the cycle.

I do not think you need hot water for the rinse.


Temperature Control Problems in Bedroom One of the bedrooms in my house has a problem heat in the summer and cold in the winter. It being summer here, it's immediately warmer in the room as soon as you step in from the hallway. The problems has gotten worse with time over the last several years. We've sent people up to check out the AC unit and make sure we're not just venting cold air into the attic, but every one we've sent up has said it's not related to the AC. We then had more insulation blown into the attic, with extra being placed in the back where the bedroom is. Our next step is opening the walls and replacing the insulation there, as the bedroom has three exterior walls. Does anyone have an idea if it could be anything else?

I would check / change the distribution box next to the Air Handler and the duct size to that particular room.

Engineering wise it was probably sized for the room not for the fact that it has 3 walls to the outside!

Why over time has it become worse ?

Good question now to the second issue you have.
Your Fan in the Air handler is not running as fast as it used to, bad bearings, bad capacitor or some other failure. Your system could have a blockage of sorts as well.

I would change the duct size and also adjust the distribution box to move more air to that room.
Check the Fan, the Fan bearings / check or replace the Fan capacitor.


LED Bulbs not Starting Properly Hi:  I have some undercabinet light fixtures from IKEA that each take 3 small 12V G4 size bulbs.  These bulbs are about 3/4" long x 1/4" wide with two plug-in prongs at the end.  The original bulbs were 10W Halogen bulbs but I found some nice 3W LED bulbs to use as replacements.  The new bulbs work great, but the odd thing is that they will only light up if 1 of the 3 bulbs in the fixture is an old halogen type bulb.  If I do 1, 2 or all 3 as LED's with no halogen bulb I just get a light flicker in all of the LED's.  But as soon as I make 1 of the 3 bulbs a halogen they all light up perfectly.  Any idea what's going on here?  I assume it has something to do with the transformer in the fixture and it's starter not giving enough of a jolt without the halogen bulb in the string.

Halogens are incandescent and do not require a "starter". Those are for fluorescent lamps.

I am guessing the LED's do not put enough of a load on the secondary (12v) side of the circuit to initiate a steady current draw. Some power supply output circuits are electronic and not just a straight transformer.  You would need a ballast resistor added to the circuit in parallel with the lamps to get all three LED's to work. But then you have current flowing through the resistor all the time, defeating the purpose of switching to LED's to save electricity.

You should get a fixture specifically designed to use LED's.

The specifics of this question are probably better answered by an electrical engineer so you would need the question moved to the electronic store section if you want an in depth response.


How to deal with the trapped air in a loft attic? I live in an apartment (not a house) with a loft attic. It has enough space and I use it as a study room. In summer, the air is extremely hot as I walk up the steps to the attic.

Initially I was thinking to get a solar powered roof fan installed on the roof with its opening inside the attic (of course this needs strata approval), however, there is a problem: My bathroom has a hole that leads to a dome shaped skylight window and at the end of the hole, it has access to the roof cavity (the gap between the roof and the ceiling). I guess they made it that way to vent the air in the bathroom.

Now, if I install this vent in my attic, the vent sucks the air inside the flat out and as the result the replacement air will be pulled from bathroom and since it's connected to the roof cavity, the air in there will be pulled inside the flat. I already have problem with dust and dead insects coming through that hole in my bathroom, if I install the vent, this gets even worst.

So then my next thought was that, perhaps I can install the roof vent without any opening inside the unit and the opening will be inside the roof cavity. However, I'm not sure if that will be effective and if it makes any different to the current state.

So I am kind of desperate and the air in my attic is so hot and humid that makes the attic useless. I can't even use it as storage because I'm worried molds will be grow so I keep it empty during the summer. I hope I can find a solution here.

I guess there are some misunderstanding, I draw something to explain what I mean. My attic is loft so from there you can see the living room. Also there is no access from toilet to attic, it’s venting into roof cavity

So here are my questions:

If I install the roof fan to vent the air from attic to outside, doesn’t that pull the air from the cavity via bathroom into the living area?
If I install the roof fan to vent the air from cavity and NOT the attic, does that even help? Considering the roof is shared with another unit.
Any other option?

P.S.: The wall on the other end of my attic is shared with the other unit, so I can't really open a hole to install an exhaust fan.

First off the bathroom should be sealed from the attic space, any venting from the bathroom should be to outside.  Venting moist bathroom air into the attic space is a recipe for mold and should never happen, fix that first.

Next the attic is supposed to get hot, this keeps the heat away from the living space, if you are using the attic as living space it needs to be properly insulated and ventilated.

Don't skip the insulation step keeping the heat out is a great first step.

As for ventilation you can either as you said, add a vent fan to send the hot attic air outside, and setup other attic vents to either draw air in from outside (normal for an attic space) or draw air up from the living space (not normal, but might be what you want as you are using the attic as living space).

Another option would be to setup interior fans to increase the air exchange between the attic and the other living space, allowing the living space HVAC to cool the warm attic air.

A big thing to consider here is that cooling the attic space with living space air is likely to make the other living spaces warmer in the summer.


How can I repair a cut in drywall and make the repair unoticable I cut out a section of drywall to do a repair to the exterior of my house and now need to put the piece I cut out back in. How can I do this without having a raised edge where the tape is?

Like any other drywall patch - there IS a raised area where the tape is. But you feather compound out 6-12" and there is no NOTICEABLE raised area, as the deviation from "exactly flat" is too small for the eye to see.

Tape with a 4" knife. Re-coat with an 8" knife. Finish with a 12" knife.


What are the effects of changing water pipe sizes? My question is similar to the one asked in the following link.

What if you reverse the pipe sizes and go from a larger pipe to a smaller and then back again?

I am installing a point of use small hot water heater, I have to go from 3/4" house pipe to 1/2" for hot water tank, then back to 3/4". I would just leave it at 1/2" after hot water heater except the 3/4" goes up into the wall and branches off to shower somewhere.

Effect of changing the size of a pipe

Changing from 3/4 to 1/2 and back will not cause any problems, the point of use heater will have a lower flow rate than the 1/2" pipe is capable of and the higher you need to raise the temp will be the restricting factor. Or to say it differently if you need to raise the temp 40 degrees you may only have 1 gallon per minute flow, shower if you only need to raise the temp 10 degrees you may have 3 or 4 gallons of flow. There should be heating curves with the unit you install. But the pipe size won't be a problem in this case.


orange indicator light is on for my outdoor GFI receptacle why is my GFI showing an orange indicator light..I have tried the reset a few times..I hae tried to unplug and [lig back in..nothing seems to work..it remains orange

I don’t see a reason for a down vote.
Orange? I don’t think I have seen but if the outside GFCI is not WR or weather rated moisture may have gotten to the electronics affecting the power to the led or be the cause of the trip.
Moisture in another receptacle that is fed by that one could also cause the trip/ failure to reset problem.
I have found many boxes outside with water in them not enough conductance to trip a breaker but in some cases enough rust and dirt in the water to trip the GFCI.
In-use or heavy duty covers on receptacles in wet locations help prevent this problem when combined with WR rated GFCI circuitry (receptacles). The electronics in WR GFCI’s are coated so moisture won’t affect them but if some current is going to ground through water at the terminals that can cause the problem.


Bathroom light switch changed, now the light only turns on when the fan switch is turned on. I switched the light switch in the bathroom today because the toggle broke off.  I took out the old one, which is the Leviton 15 Amp Duplex Style Single-Pole / 3-Way AC Combination Toggle Light Switch and put in the Leviton 15  Amp Combination Double Switch.  The are almost identical and I put the wires back the same, but now the light only turns on when the switch for the fan is also on.  The fan comes on regardless of the light being off or on. Any advice?

No, you didn't put the wires back the same.  You switched sides.   Or the new model of switch switched sides*.

Put the old switch back on Just as it was.  Only this time, instead of looking at the physical position of the screws, look at the function of the screws.  One screw will be "common", the others switched.  Find those on the new switch.

* The physical position of switch screws varies wildly from switch to switch.  I have never done a 3-way swap where the common and travelers were in the same place on the old vs new switch. There are only 12 possibilities, how can every single switch be different??


Whole front wall of house, outlets not working / no power []Moved into our house 4 years ago. None of the outlets/lights that are currently not working ever worked from day 1. 4 outlets and 2 front porch lights do not work. My outlet plug checking tool has no readings from any of the outlets. They seem to be all in a line or "on the same circuit or whatever. There is a gfci immediately after one of the final outlets that does not work. I have taken it (and the wires behind it in wire nuts) apart and the connections seem quality. The gfic outlet works just fine. There are 2 more gfci outlets within "earshot" of the down outlets. They don't seem to be "in line" with the other downed plugs. I have pulled out each plug that is not working and reattached the ALUMINUM wires to the screw in attachments. They all seem like good connections. HELP!

If no breaker is tripped and all gfci outlets are ok, then it is likely that these outlets and fixtures are fed from another outlet or fixture and the connection there is problematic.

It sounds as if you have little experience with wiring, and aluminum wiring poses a special set of issues. Connections between aluminum wiring and copper based devices often are problematic unless special techniques are used to ensure good permanent connections.

This sounds like a project for a professional electrician to trace the break in the circuit and ensure that all aluminum connections are sound and safe.


GE Water Softener: Can it function without the outflow turbine that monitors water flow going out? I just replaced the resin in my water softener which went find and dandy, but while reassembling the unit to the plumbing (in-flow / out-flow), I accidentally put the water flow turbine in backwards and broke it. The Turbine is the little plastic fan piece that rotates a magnet so a sensor can monitor outflow.
My question is: Is this an essential piece to replace? if my water softener recharges every night, can I assume that this sensor is only for troubleshooting and monitoring, thus I can live without it?
For reference, this is my water softener's manual. This page shows a little picture of the turbine on the bottom right corner of that page of the manual.

Your softener should be set on gallons.
it is a real waste of water and salt to automatically regenerate every night.
If you don’t care it probably will be fine but when properly set up it may not need to regenerate even 1/2 as often as you are.
But if you are happy with a 24 hour regenerate it should work fine.


How to fix rocking stone slab stair? My stone slab stair started rocking back and forth this spring. How can I properly fix it? Obviously it's very heavy, so lifting/moving it is a challenge. I'm in Ontario, Canada (in case it matters because the issue might have been caused by water freezing).

Here's the photo, the top stair is rocking:

One approach is to pry up one of the tottering edges up slightly and inject exterior construction adhesive (some are rated for stone/masonry) a few inches in and staying well away from the outside edges. Then lower the stone and let it dry undisturbed.

When dry, this creates an adhesive wedge. Its sticking power is less important than its shape.

Obviously, if rearrangement or removal of the stone is someday needed, this makes it a bit more difficult, but not impossible.

However, if you think the problem is progressing, you need to address the underlying erosion problem before taking this step.


What is this weird knocking sound in a wooden closet? A month ago my girlfriend and I moved into a new place, and it has a big closet in the bedroom.
Since day 1, we kept hearing knocking noises on the wooden doors, only at night, and it happens every few minutes, and it really keeps me awake at night and most of the time waking me up.
Yesterday I put my phone inside the closet (closed the doors) where I think most of the noise come from, and I found that every 10-20 minutes there is really loud knocking, and in between this 10-20 minutes window. In between these 10-20 minutes window, there is sometimes small knocking.
Audio #1 - The knocking itself:
https://soundcloud.com/mzday/333-1?in=mzday/sets/weird-sounds
Audio #2 - Weird "Bzzzz" sound, and knocking on the door after that:
https://soundcloud.com/mzday/222-1?in=mzday/sets/weird-sounds
Notes:

The phone was in the same place the entire recording (6 hours in total, there is A LOT of knocking on the door).
We live in apartment building, top floor (third).
The sound indeed comes from the closet, I checked multiple times throughout this month.
I checked for worms that eat the doors maybe, but nothing (no white powder, no holes in the doors).
I put mouse food in each door to check if maybe its a mouse (I don't believe it is, based on the recording).
All sounds was when both of us was asleep, non of us get out of bed.

Any idea what else it could be?

It’s usually just the house settling depending on how old the closet is could be the cause if not that it could be cracking caused by the house settling if no cracks sometimes wood can release stress in them causing a weird pow noise.


Why a SPDT momentary instead of a SPST momentary? I have an HRV (heat recovery ventilator) which has a bathroom booster switch input.  The HRV supplier specified a SPDT momentary switch for the bathroom booster switch.  18/2 shielded wiring is specified for the switch to HRV.
The SPDT switch has three screws plus a ground.  The supplier told me that I should jumper the screws on the same side together and then use 1 wire on the left side of the switch and one on the right side of the switch.  Does the jumpering really just turn this SPDT switch into a SPST switch?  I asked why they didn't specify a SPST momentary switch and their answer was it was out of stock.  My other thought was the dual throw could be used to later install a CO2 sensor in the bathroom and that could be another input to the switch to cause it to activate the boost mode - not sure if that is accurate.
SPDT wiring diagram in the following link.  The jumper goes from A1 to B1.
https://www.leviton.com/en/docs/PK-93107-10-02-0D-W.pdf
I have the leviton 56081 2w switch.  The way I understand this working is that when the momentary switch is activated a timer on the HRV puts the unit into boost mode for 5 minutes.  I imagine that the momentary rocker switch automatically turns itself off so really it makes a contact and then breaks the contact - is that correct?
The manufacturer quick guide says don't use a standard single pole single throw switch.
https://www.zehnderamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Zehnder-Electrical-Rough-in-Requirements-2020.08.31.pdf
The manufacturer documents says the switch is 1mA (lmax).
https://www.zehnderamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Option-Box-1.pdf

This is something of an opinion question - a reverse-engineering "why'd they suggest this?" question, but I'll take a swing.
In Leviton's low voltage catalog there are SPST and SPDT momentary switches in the Decora style. Both have center-off. It's easy to guess how the SPDT style works. Think about the implication for SPST with center-off: probably pushing one end of the switch causes a connection while pressing the other end does nothing.
A schematic diagram of the switch was not easily located in Leviton's literature, but based on outward differences between SPST and SPDT models, I expect the one-screw side is the common terminal and the two-screw side has both of the NO terminals. Tying those two NO terminals together does simplify the SPDT switch to an SPST function -- it's different from the SPST switch, though, because pressing either end of the switch activates the output.
The HRV vendor likely recommended the center-off SPDT switch to avoid the possibility that the user might "do it wrong" by pressing the wrong end of the SPST-type switch, likely resulting in a customer support call or worse.


What should I do about this smoke detector that beeps constantly? My smoke detector beeps constantly when connected. Looks like I need to change the battery. But I have no clue where to put in the battery or how to change. Your help will be appreciated.

The unit is on the ceiling. I just held the cover next to it for the photo.

Doesn't look like it has a battery.  How old is it? There should be a manufacture or expiry date written on the cover.

Many older AC powered detectors didn't have backup batteries.  That cable you unplugged is the AC power. If it's over 10 years old (or maybe it's 5 years now) it should be replaced anyways.

Replace the smoke detector. They aren't expensive. If it is acting up you don't want to depend on it when there is a fire.


How to connect 6x12 AWG wires? I'm replacing an electrical box in my bathroom that connects to both a vanity light and a fan. The idea is to put in a GFCI outlet and a duplex switch for separate light/fan switching.

Right now I'm stuck on grounding:

I have three ground wires coming into the box (line, light, fan). Plus one to ground the box itself, plus one each to the GFCI and the switch. That's 6x12 AWG wires that all need to be connected.

How do I connect that many wires? The largest readily-available wire connector (red) is rated for 4x12 AWG.

I'm a HUGE fan of Wago's "Wall-Nuts" ...

They exceed all NEC pull-out tests and they're much more secure than the crappy wire nuts everyone has been using since plastic was invented. And they come in up to 8-port. There are 6-port versions as well just not pictured.


Ceiling fan on one circuit tripping GFCI on separate circuit Installed a ceiling fan dimmer switch in a bedroom that is on an arc fault circuit.  When pushing the dimmer switch up or down on the ceiling fan, it then trips the GFCI outlet on the bathroom circuit.  These are two separate circuits with two separate breakers in the breaker box so I'm perplexed as to why a GFCI outlet on one circuit would trip as a result of something on another circuit.  Should I assume something in the breaker box is wired up incorrectly?

Try a Lamp Debuzzing Coil on the line-side of the dimmer

This sounds suspiciously like your dimmer is generating some sort of switching trash on the power line that's interfering with the GFCI's circuitry and causing it to trip, since it only happens if you change speeds.  The general fix for this sort of interference problem is to wire a Lamp Debuzzing Coil (LDC) (which is a prepackaged choke, basically) in on the line side of the dimmer, as documented in Lutron appnote #519.

If it persists, change the GFCI out for a new one of good quality

If the Lamp Debuzzing Coil doesn't fix it, then I would keep the coil in place (it'll cut down on RF trash coming out of the dimmer in any case) and replace the GFCI with a new one of good make and quality (you want a specification or industrial grade GFCI receptacle or deadfront device here, not the cheapest builder-grade thing you can find).


A-frame angle for swing I'd like to figure out the smallest angle possible for the kid swing A-frame. I will be using 4x8 beam on top and 4x4 for the legs. I am reading two sources and each has different angles:

This site http://myoutdoorplans.com/playhouse/outdoor-playset-plans/ says 15 degree (each side)

This site has plan with higher swing beam but it uses 30 degree http://www.ana-white.com/2010/06/how-build-swing-set-playhouse

I think using the second option plan is OK for the high (10 feet) but the width is also 10 feet which is too much space. Is there like a requirement for the A-frame angle? Or can I use 15 degree just fine? Given proper support and everything else framing correctly.

The angle is not particularly important.  With sufficient ground stability and fastening, you could do it with a zero angle:  a beam supported by a pair of posts.

For each configuration with a greater angle, the need for strength in the supports and anchoring decreases.  When the angle is 180 degrees, the system is completely stable without any anchors at all.  Of course, it it useless as a swing, but the point is that it is plenty strong.

If I were you, I would just build it to be as wide as is practical if space is tight, or about 30° to optimize height vs. the amount of materials needed.


How do you prop an exterior wall to replace rotted wood? I have an exterior wall, so load bearing, that is damaged.  About a 6ft span.  It's damaged at the bottom at the foundation, but it is enough to replace the studs.
How do I prop up the roof on the exterior wall, so I can make the repair?  It is the stud, bottom plate, the whole thing.  I may be able to sister the stud, but I am not sure yet, as I have to remove more siding to get the whole picture.  Plus the wood is 50 years old, but that may be a good thing?
The home is one story, so I won't be propping up two floors or anything.  Edge of the roof at the exterior wall.

This shouldn't be too difficult since according to your post, the top plate is OK. You'll need to get a few floor jacks and support the top plate from the foundation. You can rent them at most home stores. The jacks can be a little out of plumb to replace your bottom plate but then straighten them up. I would just replace all the studs. It will be quicker than messing around trying to sister them. Studs are cheap, you'll probably need 5.


If a light bulb is dead, does it still consume electricity if the switch is in ON? It's been a week since a light bulb in the bathroom died. I'm wondering if the bulb is dead, does it still consume electricity if the switch is in ON?

The light is completely dead, no light whatsoever.

It depends on the type of bulb.

Regular incandescents won't consume any electricity if the bulb is dead, since there's no continuous path for the current to take. It's just like an open switch.

With CFLs and LEDs, it depends on why the bulb burned out, but in general they will consume some amount of electricity even when burned out. Some CFLs may even consume up to 50% as much as a good bulb (older link, but a lot of burned out bulbs may be old). Newer bulbs may have circuits which eliminate most electricity usage on dead bulbs, as this answer from the electronics stack shows.

Smart bulbs have additional electronics, and so would consume even more electricity than an equivalent non-smart bulb, assuming of course that it's not the smart electronics that died.

The only way to be sure is to measure the usage, with a device like a Kill-a-Watt meter. You would need to install the bulb in a lamp or other fixture with a plug.


Reuse broken up plaster wall I have a banister that is screwed into a plaster wall. The screws have come out of the wall and the plaster is all broken up. I know how to put stuff over the broken up plaster to make it smooth, but I'd like to be able to use that same exact spot to drill the banister screws back in.

Do I buy plaster and use that to fill in the broken plaster so that I can drill into the same area again?

You should fill the hole, it's not that large, so you could just handle it with patching plaster or setting compound.
As for the banister, you are not supposed to anchor into plaster, ... for this reason. It doesn't hold well, and can crumble or tear out.  You need to secure anything that needs more than construction adhesive into wood framing.


Can I reuse old electrical wire? I'm adding new lights to my basement ceiling. I pulled out the old messy tangle of wires and ran new romex, but was missing the 4ft needed to reach the last box.  I reused the old wire.  Will this pass inspection?

Both old and new wire is 14/2 copper with ground.  New wire has plastic sheathing (NMD90), old wire appears to have paper strands wrapped around the conductors with a dark/black outer coating (NMD-7).

You can reuse old cable if a physical inspection reveals all of it to be in good condition.  It's inside walls, so it's not like it's had 30 years of sunlight baking it.   However if it's roached anywhere, into the trash cash-for-scrap bin it goes. Shiny copper is worth over $1/pound.

However, you can't splice except at a junction box which must remain directly accessible.  It can be behind a cabinet door that opens, but it can't be under a screwed-down plywood access panel or anything that would require tools or destruction to get to.  (the junction box cover doesn't apply, obviously).

I for one don't have any problems with splices properly executed in a grounded steel junction box.


Is it OK to use old (30+ years) heating oil in my central heating furnace? I found old steel jerrycans holding ~50 gallons (~200 liters) of heating oil. They were stored in a place where temperature can go below -5°C.

Is it safe to use it for heating?

If so, should I mix one can at a time into the main tank (in order to maximize the dilution of the "bad" oil into the "good" one), or should I pour everything in my nearly-empty tank (to avoid wasting one full tank of "good" oil) ?

Should I filter this and how?

Thank you very much!

Storage temperature (especially in the low direction) does not matter much; cold would actually be beneficial.

If the cans were clean when filled and sealed, the fuel oil may be fine - if it has a biotic slime, it may be practically unusable, or at least require a lot of processing (biocide and filtering) before use. I think @FiascoLabs means (and what I know is) that old diesel (fuel oil - same thing, different taxes) WITH slime Bacteria is notorious for clogging filters. You also do NOT want to start a slime bacteria colony in your (presumably clean) fuel tank.

Clean old oil can be fine - folks have reported successfully using old caches (sealed drums) from WWII era 50+ years later.

I suppose the better safe than sorry approach would be to purchase some biocide and treat each can as if it were contaminated, give that time to work, then run it through a funnel with filter to visually examine the extent (or lack) of evident contamination. If it appears to be clean, proceed with use; if not, deposit at an oil recycling facility. If that seems like too much bother, proceed directly to the oil recycling facility.


Japanese Appliance has a Green/Yellow Ground Wire coming out of it, What should I do? So I recently purchased a Japanese Toiletseat thing (I can't read japanese but I've just been translating little by little), and it has a ground wire (a green/yellow wire) Coming out of the back, right next to the plug.

Should I just ignore it?  On the manual, it says to connect the wire to the ground socket

The power cable & ground wire look just like this:

I am tempted to just shove that thing into a ground socket, or alternatively try to buy an adapter that looks like that outlet, that will plug into a 3 prong socket.

What you need to do is replace the cord with a proper cord and install a US compatible plug of the proper voltage and amperage. Assuming this appliance is 120V, it should be plugged into a GFI protected receptacle.
DO NOT just cut off or ignore the ground wire.


Storing water in 55-gallon container I have a 55-gallon plastic container that I'll be filling with water.

What's the best way to preserve this water? We won't be consuming the water stored in this container.

Thanks.

If you are not going to be consuming it, then you just need to keep algae from growing in it.

Make sure the container is full to the top to eliminate air from the algae. Then store it in a dark place to prevent sunshine from feeding the algae.

The other problems to consider might be contaminants in the container to start with and leeching of anything from the plastic into the water.

Good luck!


The ceiling I'm painting was never orinally undercoated and now my repaint is looking hideous. I'm doing a repaint on a ceiling ATM and found it looks hideous. Can see every roll line not because of built up paint on the roller edge. I think I'm laying it off properly.  I have worked out after a bit of investigation that there wasn't prepped properly originally and they skipped the undercoating process. The original work was done with a spray gun.  Does anyone have any ideas how to sort this out?

It looks horrible.

You probably did not spread the paint out.

Please watch the following video it will help you.

How to Paint a Ceiling With a roller Video 1

How to Paint a Ceiling with a Roller


My bathroom sink won't drain! I've taken apart the trap n cleaned it and also snaked the drain but still no water goes down! I noticed that the overflow is completely clogged..would this stop the drain from emptying? The overflow n sink r one complete Unit. ..how am I suppose to clear out the overflow when I can't get to it??

Assuming there are no other drain problems occurring (because you did not mention any) you most certainly have an obstruction of the branch drain line leading to that sink.

Option 1- run a good quality drain auger down the drain, through the trap, and down the branch line as far as it will go.

Option 2- take the trap back apart and run the cable directly down the drain line.

For either option, it is important that you use the correct technique and persevere until the length of the cable has gone down. It's not easy, be prepared to work. There are numerous instructional videos on-line, this one shows the correct technique but the person is using a cheap sub-standard auger.

I always cable from the top and run water until it backs up a bit, so I can tell when I have hit the clog (because the water suddenly drains). I highly recommend that you invest in a good professional quality auger, I did and it has saved me hundreds and hundreds of dollars over the years:
Always wipe off the cable with a rag as you remove it from the drain, and always spray it down with your favorite water displacing spray lube that comes in a blue and yellow can or it will rust in the drum.


Confused about 230V Air Compressor Wiring I just got an Ingersoll Rand SS4L5 230V Standalone Air Compressor, and I need some spot-checking on my wiring configuration from my panel. First let's get the details out of the way:

I'm not sure from the image what the starting amps required are, but it looks like running amps are ~21.1A.
The install location is roughly 40' from the breaker through the walls/ceiling. Current thought is:
Conductors sized at 125% motor load current, which would be ~27A, so rounding to 30A would give me 10/2 w/g CU NM-B Romex. I've anecdotally seen people using 8ga here, so I'm not sure if that is overzealous on safety or not...
As for the breaker, this article references NEC 440.22, saying that 225% is an OK rating to target to get over the starting current required. I have absolutely zero idea if this is too much, or if I need to bump down to 175%.
225% would give me ~47A, and 175% would give me ~37A, so the difference between a 40A and a 50A breaker.
I've seen forums recommend 10ga romex and 60A breakers,  8ga Romex on 40A, 10's on a 40A (and when that failed he ran 6ga on a 60A)....
I just want to avoid tripping breakers on startup and burning my garage down...
Thanks for the help!

You are in the wrong section, 440 is refer equipment, you need too roll back to section 430, Motors, Motor circuits, and Controllers.
Part III Motor and Branch circuit protection
Then look at label:
Continuous duty motor, Section 430.32.
More than 1 HP, Paragraph (A).
Thermally Protected, (2) A thermal protector integral with the motor, check, now we're looking at the right section: under 9A, shall not exceed 170%.
Table 430.248 FLA 1Ø AC, 5 hp, 28A, times 1.7, shall not exceed 47.6, so 45A from table 240.6(A). This is maximum, a 40A breaker would likely work fine and be acceptable by code.
Wire size, minimum 125% of 21.1 is 26.4, table 310.15 or 310.16 depending on year of code book, shows #10 wire, but with a **. So 240.4 says overcurrent protection for #10 conductors after any corrections can't exceed 30A, so you got to upsize to #8 AWG.


How might a person of limited strength pry embedded lumber out of soil? I thought it was clear and follow up comments clarify , the boards are buried in 4" of mud with only 2" showing, how would a person of limited strength remove the boards?

*EDIT** (to resolve questions/for clarity):

Thanks all. I'm sorry I wasn't clearer. The boards are set thin side up--so if it is a 2x4, the approximate depth would be 4". That is, the narrow side is 2": that is the part visible. As for the "horizontal," I really confused things there: I just meant that I have these long, narrow boards sunk about 4" in the ground, running about 40 feet across my yard total. And that is what traps the water: it pools in lower lying areas, especially where two boards meet. I can't post a pic now, but will do if it is still needed in the next few days.

Planning to dig out around the boards, and looking for a recommendation for a tool that 1) is narrow enough to wedge 2-4" into the ground (after digging), under the narrow part of the board (approximately 2").

Is this better? again, apologies. Hopefully I haven't confused things even more.

I moved into a rental where the previous tenant had begun a decking project that he didn't complete. He left behind 2x4s (I think--they're about 2" wide and I'm assuming 4" deep) stuck deep in the ground: at least 40 feet vertically all over the yard. It's messed up the water flow and I'm planning on planting a lawn this summer; I live in the Northwest and just have mud puddles in random places all over the yard.

Additionally, I'm fairly weak--a 43-year-old woman with no muscles :). Trying to find the best possible implements to DIY this (although I'm on a serious budget).

I think I need a heavy duty, long pry bar and, of course, a shovel. I have just a rudimentary understanding of outdoor tools, so forgive me in advance.

PRY BAR/WRECKING BAR
Know that something longer will give more leverage, but also need to make sure will be able to wedge under these boards, and that isn't too heavy to use. I think what I need is a "flat prybar," but I've found sites that list like 30 types of prybars, and none seem totally on point for this project. Is there a better implement? Considering something like the Stanley 55-525 15-inch Super Wonder Bar Pry Bar. Is this good for this purpose, or should I look for a longer model? Really loathe to spend more than $20 since this isn't something I'm going to continue to use.

SHOVEL
Going to have to get out in the rain when the soil is wet and dig before I use the pry bar. I'm assuming a standard round pointed shovel is best for that: is there anything special I should look for given my weakness/ineptitude? Something that is lightweight, with better leverage? Willing to spend more for this since I'll be using it on an ongoing basis.

I would use a shovel and a short piece of wood. Drive the shovel under 1 end ov the board to be lifted pry with the shovel, when the end raises up slip a short piece of 2×4 or other scrap wood under the board, move down and repeat.
I live in the PNW also and sometimes wood gets stuck in the mud, if done while wet a wrecking bar should not be needed. A constant pull on the shovel handle should pop it out of the mud. One of my grandsons had 5-6 pealing poles for a fort down by our creek 1/2 covered in mud, I showed him how to pop the end out (I used a rock to support the first end) then the second so he could start building again. He got the rest out by himself and he is only 11.


Can I move the kitchen to the living room? I am thinking to buy a ground floor flat and am wondering is it possible to move the kitchen to the reception room.  There is room to put it to the right as you walk into the room as an L-shape.  Problem is waster and water pipes.  Could I run the pipes to the bathroom and pump it?  The back boiler is in the reception room, so hot and cold water could come from there potentially.  Help!

There is practically nothing that money can't solve, so the answer to your question "can I move the kitchen" is "sure". But it could get very expensive.

In particular, looking at the floor plan it looks like almost all of your plumbing is on the east side of the apartment. Water pipes are pressurized and could be rerouted almost anywhere (e.g. under the floor, in the ceiling) but the sewer lines could get a little more tricky, since they need to slope down to the exit. Also, you will need a vertical vent going up from your new kitchen and to the exterior, either through a wall or the roof.

Much of the difficulty will be determined by what kind of access you have above and below your unit (if any).


How do I find a replacement for this light fixture enclosure? I recently moved into a new place and I was able to pull off the glass enclosure attached to this light fixture:

However, when I pulled it off a second time, the enclosure shattered in my hands from the pressure of pulling. I've tried searching for light fixtures but it's almost impossible to find one that attaches in the same way as this one does. How can I find a replacement? Also interested in knowing how to take the enclosure off again in the future without shattering it.

Firstly you could take the fixture down, examine all markings and google search any words or numbers you find on them.

If that doesn't work, and you have a picture of it or can take one of another similar fixture, you could use TinEye to find a similar photo and hope that it's on a product listing page.

Replacing a light fixture however, is pretty easy.  I recommend buying spare globes for any glass fixtures and keeping them in a safe place.


Changing switch to dimmer (UK) Right in the middle of this job and realised I don't know what I'm doing. I'm in the UK.

I currently have a Crabtree switch (which I believe is called a single gang two way switch) on a light on my living room. The switch had three wires on it which feed into terminals on the switch labelled: L1, L2 and L3

However on my new Crabtree dimmer switch the terminals are labelled as:

L1, L2 and a then a wavy line with a diagonal arrow through it pointing to the top right.

Can anyone please explain how I should wire the new dimmer in? Should L3 now go into the terminal with the wavy symbol?

Any help would be really appreciated as I don't want to blow anything up.

You have three wires because its a two way (or more) switch; You will find your light is switchable in two (or more) locations.

The wavy line with an arrow is the 'load' terminal, meaning this should be connected to the light; either directly or though the other switch(es)

It is likely that the old L1 goes to the load; the other two won't matter.

To be sure you need to test that the wire does indeed go to the light; this will require some electrical test equipment, and may require testing live circuits, so shouldn't be done with some experience.


Electric ground from another circuit I have a circuit that has a couple outlets and they used 2 wire no grounds.
Can I replaced the wire with 3 wire for the outlets and add new 3 prong outlets. It is a long difficut way back to my panel ground bar to run a ground wire for the two wire power source. I have another 240 circiut used for a 4' baseboard heater near my outlets. The baseboard has 3 wire and is grounded back to the panel. Can I run a green wire from the outlets to the ground wire used in the baseboard heater instead of running a seperate green wire back to the panel for the outlets ? Thanks.

I would avoid using the baseboard ground for the outlets since the baseboard is on a different breaker (circuit). Per NEC:

NEC 300.3(B) All conductors of the same circuit, including grounding and bonding conductors shall be contained in the same raceway, cable, or trench.

You can certianly replace the home run and associated branches with 3/12 (20 A) or 3/14 (15 A) depending on the circuit breaker size.


Winterizing: What to do with humidifiers if turning off the main water valve My house will be vacant for about a month and I'm strongly considering turning off the main water valve.  However, I have a couple humidifiers which I generally need to run because I have a lot of interior wood flooring in the house.  I'd like some advice on what to do here.  I see three options:

Turn off main water valve, don't drain the pipes, leave the humidifiers on. (Not sure what problems might be caused if the humidifier is running off the remaining water in the system... seems like it could cause a problem.)
Turn off main water valve, drain the pipes, turn humidifiers off, and just accept that I'll see more cracks in the wood flooring.
Don't turn off main water valve, leave humidifiers on.

No matter what, I'm going to continue to run my heat pump, and I don't expect deep freeze conditions.

I don't see why you would automatically get cracks without a humidifier.

Anyway, I strongly suggest turning off the water - it's far too risky not to. The damage from a leak will be way worse than a crack.

I would do #2: also turn off the humidifier. But: If I were really worried, I'd get a large bucket of water and leave it near a heat vent to warm up and put some water in the air.

Maybe experiment a bit before you leave see how fast it evaporates, and if it's too fast cover it partially. If too slow then put a synthetic very clean (you don't want mold) rag in it attached to something above it (to increase surface area).


HVAC blower comes on by itself. Even after thermostat has been disconnected from wall. EDIT- POSSIBLY FIXED My TRANE XE 90 blower fan has a mind of its own.  Even with the thermostat removed, it randomly turns on.  It has gone a day without coming on (thermo off the wall the entire time) then just cycles itself on.  Just blower, no heat or AC.

Will not cycle off unless I remove power to the entire HVAC unit.  Then, when power restored, fan stays off.  Until it doesn't - which could be an hour or a day.

I left the front panel open and taped the panel safety switch closed (thus allowing the system to cycle on with panel removed.).  When the blower ghost cycled the fan on, I removed the tape and the fan stopped (as it should).  But when I re-closed the safety switch, the blower fan again started.  Thus, cycling power to just the fan motor does not cure, even temporarily, the problem.  But turn power off to the entire unit- then the fan stays off for some random amount of time.  Usually measured in many hours, although not always.

Very hard to troubleshoot like this.

I was convinced it was the thermostat, (have ordered a replacement- thus thermo has not been connected while this has been transpiring over past few days).  I did test short the thermo wires coming from the HVAC unit and all works properly, again which made me believe it was the thermo itself.  But not now.

Wondering if there is a limit switch or relay that could trip or short to the ON position, then a momentary power interuption 'resets' it until some later time.

I find it interesting that NOTHING is being done to or near the system when the blower ghost turns the fan on.   Not even walking by.  The outside temps have ranged from low 60s to upper 70s during this period- pretty benign.

I do not have a heat recovery or transfer system.

EDIT:  Thanks ThreePhaseEel for pointing me to the wiring diagram, and thank Ken for telling me where to find the diagram.  After review of the diagram, there appears NO way power can get to the blower motor except via the 24 volt transformer voltage, which only goes thru my thermostat.  There is no other way to get power to the blower.  Thus there likely has to be a short in the thermostat wiring between the furnace and my thermostat.  Tracing the wiring and reviewing the colors of the wires attached to the furnace output with the wires coming into the back of my thermostat- I find that they Do Not Match.  Different color wires exist at the thermostat versus those screwed into the furnace control block!  There as been a splice, which I found, that spliced in power/control to the outside compressor and also changed some wire colors midstream.  This splice, alongside the outside of the furnace, was just taped with electrical tape to the gas line coming into the furnace.  And it is there that I found small cuts in the wiring exposing the copper of at least 2 of the wires.  Since they were taped without shielding directly to the METAL gas line, I am sure that potential for a short exists- whether thru the gas line or just in direct contact.  You can see the exposed copper in the last picture I have posted.

I will fix the short potential, and also trace the wiring to find out what is really connected where.  Also, I did have an HVAC guy out in the spring of this year who changed out the 24 volt transformer and did a service check, and he was messing with the wires at the furnace thermostat block for some reason. I need to make sure he didn't mistakenly 'fix' something based on the colors he saw,not knowing about the downstream splices.  It may be possible that this 'ghost' fan problem has been going on all summer, and we may not have noticed since in Atlanta the AC runs quite a bit during the summer, and only now that it is cooler does the blower fan bring attention to itself by running at the wrong time. Regardless, I feel I have isolated the problem.  Thanks for help.

shorts

Final cause is a combination of 2 problems.

After review of the wiring diagram, there appears NO way power can get to the blower motor except via the 24 volt transformer voltage, which only goes thru my thermostat. There is no other way to get power to the blower. Thus there has to be a short in the thermostat wiring between the furnace and my thermostat.

Tracing the wiring - I find that there is a midline splice in the line, that is used to tie in the A/C compressor to the circuit. This splice was just taped with electrical tape to the furnace metal gas line outside the furnace.  I found frayed wiring and bare copper showing- thus it appears that that the wiring is occasionally shorting- either from contact to the metal gas line or directly between the wires (why just some of the time I don't know).  Correcting these shorts, the blower now does not come on by itself anymore (no more 'ghost' fan starts), only operating with the thermostat in place or if I short the wires.  However,--

The thermostat itself is also broken.  Possibly due to the shorting that has been going on? It operates the A/C Compressor or heat calls properly based on cycling when the tempature calls for it, but the fan now continually runs, even with the thermostat switched off- unless I remove the thermostat from the wall (prior to fixing shorts the blower would still continue to run, even with thermostat removed from wall).

Thus, all works well except the thermostat seems to have internal shorts that keep the blower fan on at all times regardless of heat or cooling calls, or even when the thermostat is switched to 'off'.

Replaced the thermostat, and now system works fine.  So I was trying to solve two problems at the same time- always makes for more fun.

Thanks to comments from 'ThreePhaseEel' for pointing me to the wiring diagram so I could isolate problem, and to 'Ken' for telling me where to find the wiring diagram!.


Why would the stove and broiler work, but not the oven? I have a little 20" wide Holiday Propane Oven (Don't know the model number). Right now the oven is the only thing that is not working. The stove top, and broiler work, but the oven doesn't heat up. When I turn the oven on there is no smell. I tried turning the knob to broiler, and the flames kick on so from there, I tried turning it back to the oven temps, but it shuts off after about 30 seconds. Any help fixing this is appreciated. These things are expensive to buy new.

It's either the knob or (much more likely) the thermocouple.

Related: Oven wont heat past a certain point.


HoneyWell Wifi Thermostat and C wire I just bought the HoneyWell Wifi thermostat and so wanna use it. However my old Thermostat was battery powered and does not use the "C" wire.
I opened up my panel and found that there were three unused wire.
a brown color, an orange color and a blue color wire.
One by one I plugged each into the "C" terminal of the honey well wifi thermostat (R, W, G are already plugged) but none of them worked. I tried plugging G into C but it didn't work (my cooling isn't gas or propane powered but is electric. Maybe that's why).
The thermostat doesn't turn on.
What should I do?
Should I buy a 24V power adaptor and plug the power chord into C. I don't wanna do it as there would be a wire hanging outside thermostat. Do I have any other option?

P.S I don't have a cooling circuit board. All I have is an on / off circuit breaker.

I just got off the phone with Honeywell.   If you only have a 4-wire older system, you'll only be able to use the fan in the "auto" position.   It won't let you use the fan-only selection.  You need a 5th wire for power for the wi-fi side of the thermostat.   Call Honeywell and they'll walk you through it for free.


How Can I Correctly Attach new 4x4 Deck Rail Posts on the surface to an existing deck? The previous 4x4 deck rail posts were notched and attached with nails on the outside of the deck.  We have replaced many deck boards (2x6 pt) and want to replace the railing using 4x4 rail posts.  We are unable to bolt them on the outside or on the surface in all of the proper places due to the location and layout of the deck and would like to mount them on the surface.

Is there a proper surface mounted bracket to do this that would be to code? or close to code? Some of the deck is above 8' off the ground.

There are plenty of options, but none are pretty. Also, you may need to add sub-decking framing members to support such brackets.

To steer clear of (off-topic) product recommendations, I'll instead suggest this: Mount your posts to the inside of your rim joists, through the decking. You'll get a more solid railing and it'll look better. It'll look something like this (you'll probably need to use lag bolts from the inside of the posts, into the joists):


How to fix a toilet which continuously runs Yesterday I saw the water of my toilet kept running. The gap at the arrow did not close.

May I know what should I buy to fix it?

Simplest thing to check:  is the chain from the white rod down to the flapper valve tangled and thus too short to let the flapper valve fully down onto its seat?


Is a permit required for replacing the front exterior light? I live in California and checked my city's website for building permits requirements.  One of the things it says requires a permit is an electrical upgrade.  I want to change my front door light to a photo-electric one.  Would I need a permit for this?  In normal circumstances, is a permit required for this type of work?

I will call the city/county on Monday or Tuesday but I wanted to ask here in case the person gives me bad info and tells me I need a permit when I don't.

Every location can be different, but this hasn't required a permit anywhere I've ever lived. The only difference between changing this fixture and plugging a different light into an outlet is that the fixture is hardwired. Upgrading your service typically involves an addition to your home, or running a new circuit for something like a kitchen remodel. Anything at or after the junction box should be able to be changed without getting an electrical permit.


Question on installing ski rack on on 36" wall space I am trying to install ski rack on 36" wall space backed by 2 studs. To utilize maximum space, I think putting 2x4 wood board on wall fastened to 2 studs, and install ski rack on top of the board. Then, I don't need to align location of stud with screw hole of ski rack which gives whole space utilization. Before doing this, I want to double-check my ideas as follows.

Is my idea reasonable?
Aiming 150 lbs load capacity, what type of screw / how many of them needs to be used to fasten the board and studs?

Assuming not much is as stake, the idea is reasonable if the rack will still 'work' when it is 1.5" from the wall.  I suggest screws or lags of whatever type you have on hand, long enough to drive 1.5" into the stud, placed 3/4" from the top of the 2x4 cleat, one per stud, assuming you can tighten the screws enough to fasten the cleat tightly to the wall. Then mount the ski rack to the middle or lower half of the cleat.  Be careful of electrical and plumbing in the wall. However, all that's a lot of extra work that will end up looking cludgy.  I'd be more inclined to drill new holes in the rack that align with the studs.


How to future-proof a long cable run I'm starting on a project that will involve digging a long (roughly 150-200 meter) trench from my house down to the road. The trench itself will be a considerable expense and so while the ground is open, I plan on laying additional conduit(s) containing any telecom links we may ever want, both for connecting to services currently available and ensuring we can use any services that might become available later. Currently only phone and cable are available at the road, but fiber-to-the-home has become available in other areas around us recently and I would hate to lose out by not being ready for it should it become available here.

Based on the distance, multimode fiber seems the best general option (vs CAT5/6 or singlemode fiber). POTS/DSL and cable are also available at the road currently.

To the specific questions:

Is MMF really the correct choice, vs SM fiber or CAT6? Should I run both MM and SM?
How many fiber lines is it reasonable to run for redundancy/backup? Should I include 2 or 3 lines from the outset?
Is it safe/reasonable to run fiber, coaxial cable and POTS all in the same conduit over this distance?
In principle, laying a second, empty, conduit with a strong comealong wire seems reasonable, but actually using it would certainly require a winch of some kind to pull it through over this distance, and I don't know if it is even practical. Any thoughts on this welcome.
What additional cabling besides fiber, POTS and coax should I consider for future proofing this run?

I've done in-premises CAT5 installs before and played with fiber a bit at work but am not a network engineer so I suspect there are some unknown unknowns and would appreciate any comments or insight you may have. Thanks.

Empty conduit is your best bet here. No point in guessing what (if anything) you may get, and guessing wrong. While you can leave a pull string in it, you can also just vacuum a pull string into it when the time comes (that's what is normally done to install it in the first place). If you do leave a string, don't worry about how big/strong it is:  it can be used to pull in one big/strong enough when the time comes. Do make sure it won't rot while it's waiting. And CAP THE ENDS of the empty conduit, or it may not be as empty as it should be when you need to use it.

Speaking from personal experience, assuming you don't need more than one for excessive bends/sweeps (and do use long-radius sweeps when you do need to make a bend, not the short radius stuff from home centers) you will be much happier with a pull box/hand hole/access at the halfway point.

I have hand pulled (no winch) fiber over 600 feet. It was not much fun. With correct technique (pulling on the Kevlar, not the fiber or the jacket), possible, but no fun. 330 feet/100m it should be easy (was for us) if the conduit is configured correctly (large-radius sweeps, no more than 360 degrees of bending between access points.)

Enter (and leave) the pull box with 45s, not 90s. Leave some extra cable coiled up in the pull box in case of any future need for more at either end due to damage. Before pulling cable in, see figure 8 coiling and use it so you can pull the cable in, figure 8 coil the other half, flip the coil and pull it the rest of the way - no tangles.

For political/turf (rather than electrical) reasons, it's often best to keep cable, telephone and "whatever is next" in separate conduits. It's also much less practical (or more difficult) to pull into a conduit with a cable in it - often best to remove the original cable and pull the new cable and the original cable back in together, rather than trying to pull a new cable in next to the original - but best if you can just pull the new cable in its own conduit and leave the original cable/conduit alone.

Additional suggestions -

If using PVC conduit, choose schedule 80, and deburr (remove sharp inside edges from) the male ends of the joints.
If you can get polyethylene conduit, consider it as you can get
100 meters with no joints and it's more flexible than PVC
(effectively the same as polyethylene water pipe, with different
certifications stamped on it)
Do not neglect the locating/warning tape - whether it says buried fiber optic below or buried telephone line below does not matter nearly as much as that it is there in the top of the trench, directly over but well above the conduits.