Can I share a 240V outlet between two devices? I have a single 50 amp 240 volt outlet.  However, I've been using both my dryer and a welder on this same outlet, both have 3-prong (10-50P) plugs.  It can be difficult to plug and unplug cords from this outlet.  Are there any ways to share this outlet with both devices with the assumption that I won't be using both simultaneously?  Splitter box (with toggle switch)? Splitter cable?

I plan to eventually run a second 240 volt outlet when I have the time and consider this a temporary solution.

I think for what you want to do:

temporary short term solution
you guarantee you will never operate both the dryer and welder at the same time

You could consider building a 220V 30A power strip.
Without knowing your welder, I'll list parts from Home Depot that might work but you have to confirm their suitability for your use.

Please review this URL to determine your plug NEMA type. It will probably be NEMA 10-30 or 14-30. Make sure the plugs, receptacles and dryer cord all match.

Note this is for standard 30A dryer. If you need 50A, you will need different receptacles and cord. Probably a range cord.
But I assume that since you are currently plugging your welder into your dryer receptacle, 30A will be sufficient.

Raco 2-Gang 42 cu. in. Square Boxes
Model # 8257 Internet # 202058366
You should screw this to the wall if possible for safety, as that will reduce stress on the dryer cord.

6 ft.10/4 4-Wire Black Dryer Cord
Model # AW20009 Internet # 100672788 Store SKU # 601004

(two) Leviton 30-Amp 2-Pole Flush-Mount Outlet
Model # R50-05207-000 Store SKU # 621336

wire, wire nuts, box cover, cord clamp etc.
If your box can be mounted close enough to the existing outlet, you can cut the excess off your dryer or range cord and use that excess wire to connect the two new outlets. This is just a very minor optimization and you might figure it out as you assembled the box but this way, you'll know before you go shopping.


GFCI (panel) breaker trips on neutral connection I have a circuit previously with a regular 15A breaker, powering some lights, a closet outlet, and two (tile) floor outlets.  This latter is now going to power a large aquarium.  Because these outlets are recessed into the floor (and wet mopping could conceivably get into them), I think they probably should have had GFCI protection all along, but I definitely want it with the Aquarium.

The house dates from 2005, by the way, so the wiring is not particularly old, and was (hopefully) done to a recent code.

Rather than guessing what was upstream of what, I opted for a panel breaker.  It's Cutler Hammer style, and I added the breaker, hooked the white from the load to the white terminal, the black to the black, and the pigtail back to the neutral bar where the original neutral was (and indeed it was there).

Note the circuit works fine with the regular break, but trips immediately on reset.  I've unplugged everything but the lights and it still trips.  Perhaps more interestingly, it will trip with the hot disconnected from the breaker, but just the neutral connected.

The breaker does not trip with no neutral and no load black connected (but with the pigtail connected).

Here's my guess -- somewhere in the house, no idea where, the installing electrician connected this neutral to some other circuit's neutral.  Both may be still connected to the panel, but due to distance the extra neutral is causing a problem.

Or guess #2 - somewhere in the house, on this branch circuit, the neutral is hitting the ground (though frankly I don't think it would cause this symptom of tripping with the neutral-only connected to the breaker).

Does that sound correct?   If indeed this is the problem, it is pretty hopeless trying to find this, some wiring is in the slab, some in the attic (much of which is pretty inaccessible).

Or is there something else I can check?

The obvious thing is start disconnecting circuits, but because of the light/outlet mixture that's easier said than done.

Lacking a better idea I'm going to put a GFCI on the first outlet in the floor -- it won't really protect that outlet (or more precisely the wire leading to it), but at least it will protect the aquarium equipment itself.

Any ideas what it could be?

A GFCI uses a current transformer (CT) to detect differences in current between the ungrounded (hot), and the grounded (neutral) conductors. Since the GFCI is tripping with only the grounded (neutral) conductor connected, that means that there's current on the grounded (neutral) conductor.  This would lead me to believe, that this neutral is tied to the neutral of another circuit somewhere.

You'll want to make sure this isn't part of a multi-wire branch circuit. If the neutral in question enters a cable with two hot conductors, it's likely a multi-wire branch circuit.

If not, you'll want to look for places where this circuit might be in close proximity to other circuits. A multi-gang box with two or more devices, would be a prime suspect. If you find such a location, you'll want to open it up and make sure the grounded (neutral) conductors are separated properly. It's common; especially with DIYers, to simply connect all the grounded (neutral) conductors in a box together.  However, this can lead to the exact problem you're describing.


Bathtub Faucet - Can't stop the water I don't know what is the part called, but it is supposed to divert the water to the shower head. As shown in the photo, it is in the fully up position, however, large amount of water still coming out of the faucet. Can it be fixed, or I need a new faucet?

You should be able to turn that brass colored knob counterclockwise and remove it from the stem or have the stem turn too and remove it from the  diverter plate which should then drop out of the spout. Then examine it for any signs of corrosion or cracking. If damaged, a trip to a plumbing supply store might just do the trick for a replacement.
You have to be semi gentle in turning the knob.... you don't want to shear it off, maybe squirt some CLR or vinegar on the stem threads to dissolve any rust/corrosion.


Is there any liquid to stop leakage inside pipe or fitting i want to ask i have doubt there is a leakage in UPVC pipes or fittings but i am not able to find out this leakage is there any liquid to stop the leakage ( like i just put some kind of liquid inside pipe and leakage should be stopped) i need this liquid name? all pipes and fittings underground.

The honest answer is no.

There are things that will fix your problem, but they will cause more harm at the end.

It is like a pill that will only fix the problem, but have no side effects.

Your list of wants is long:

You want something that is liquid inside the pipe, find the leak inside of the pipe, and then dry inside of the pipe.

You are also looking for something that will attach and block to the pipe at the hole, but not attach to rough spots or connectors in the pipe.

It will also not harden around whatever is at the end of the pipe.

There is nothing that will only do what you want.

Your list of fixes is short:

The solution is to either put a smaller piece of pipe in the one you think leaks, and use that instead, or trace the entire pipe to find the leak.


What diameter should pipes from boiler to heating the hot water cylinder be What diameter should pipes from boiler to heating the hot water cylinder be - the same as the pipes used for radiators or larger ?

The usual diameter is 22mm in the UK.

Radiators will be 15mm (or microbore which is smaller)


Stumped about a receptacle Fixing up a property, we found one outlet in particular that when the mouse sander or shop vac was plugged into it, they ran really slowly, like almost no juice. So i did what any contractor would do, I removed the outlet and tested it with a voltage meter. Here's what I found:
Hot->neutral: ~113V, 59.9 hZ
Hot->ground: ~113V, 59.9 hZ
Neutral->ground: ~0V

Now, just as I did, any of you reading this are probably saying to yourself that that seems totally normal. 113V at just about 60hZ is what it should be (approximately). But for some dang gone reason, plugging a device into this yields about 10-20% of what the expected speed would be. The only thing I could guess, and I don't have an oscilloscope to confirm, is that maybe the 110V waveform is screwed up somehow? But how and why? This is a single fam home. Someone please shed some light. Thanx

One possibility is that the contacts in the receptacle are corroded or burnt. Or there may be some other fault in the wiring or connections to that receptacle. Perhaps a loose wiring nut or an undersized conductor.

This would create a resistance. When no current is flowing, no voltage is dropped across the resistance - so you measure nearly full voltage. However when a load is connected and a significant current is flowing, a voltage drop will occur across this resistance.

This is of course a fire hazard. The resistive part will heat up considerably.

ratchet-freak's diagnostic suggestion is a good way to verify this - use an extension cable so you can simultaneously plug in a high-wattage lamp (as a test load) and volt meter. See if the voltage dips when you plug the lamp into the extension.


How do I backtrace a landscape catch basin with only the exit point? I have a landscape drain that has been buried, lost over the years of neglect from previous owners. I have located what I can within somewhere around 3-5 ft of the end that would be somewhere close to the edge of the driveway to drain away rain etc into the lower end of the backyard. I cannot for the life of me dig up anything that appears to be the end or grate. Would there be any way to use the pipe I can find and drill into it and attach something to allow drainage? Drill holes and wrap with landscape fabric? I really need to stop the ponding and the muck from poorly draining clay that is all that is in that area. It seems to be probably 3-4" white PVC. I am about ready to drill a hole and shove a hose into it and just let the hose drain the water. But I don't know if that is a very good idea. A plumber told me he would clean it out --but I have to find the end first. I am afraid an idiot previous owner buried it under a huge rock... any ideas?

You can find the end, or at least the first leakage point in the line, with one of these:

It's intended for cleaning drain/sewer pipe. How it works is the small bladder/balloon will expand under the water pressure of the hose (garden hose water source) and has a small exit point on the other side of the balloon. So it will expand to the pipe size then fill it up. This way will use a decent amount of water but on a dry yard day should work fairly well.

Item/Picture source but they come is all different sizes and should be available at your local hardware store. I would measure the pipe first and buy the largest/closest size one you can, this is a 3" to 4" pictured but it may not seal a 4" pipe well until it has a certain amount of back pressure.

Same concept different approach, you can get 4" (or 3" depending on what you have) pipe fittings and step it down to a garden hose fitting.


How to remove this plastic pipe elbow I cannot seem to get this plastic pipe elbow (pictured below) off. It joins a plastic pipe to an outside tap and the elbow has a crack in.

I've tried twisting, pulling and pushing it - but it won't budge. Is there some special tool I need, or perhaps it needs squeezing with pliers whilst being twisted?

In the UK (where question poster is located), there are several distinct types of plastic push-fit connectors. You can get specialized tools to help undo each type.

John Guest Speedfit
Wavin Hep2O
Floplast Flo-Fit
etc

Yours are Hep2o

and can be released with a Hepkey - there is a tool selection guide.

Hep2O

Speedfit

FloPlast


Painted Kitchen Cabinets I painted my kitchen cabinets. Worked well but over time they have become sticky in areas often touched; near knobs. I think it is a bit of grease from cooking but when I try to clean them, paint comes off and they are still sticky. The rest of cabinets are fine.

If the paint is peeling off the wood surface then most likely there was a problem with how the cabinet was prepared for the paint or with the paint itself.  Painting any surface located in a kitchen takes more effort and attention to details when prepping it for paint. As you already know grease from cooking that becomes airborne in water vapor will adhere to wall surfaces and accumulate over time. For proper paint adhesion it must be removed through scrubbing with a de-greaser-type cleaner. Most commonly used is the cleaner labeled or containing "TSP" (Tri-Sodium Phosphate). Added to warm water and applied with a sponge (or sponge mop) the cleaner easily cuts through greasy build-up. Rinse the applicator often and then re-wipe with fresh clean water to remove any residue.  Since the cabinets are already peeling it will be hard to hide the edge of the paint with a new coat. You can try sanding the edge to "feather" or angle the transition so when another coat is applied it may be less noticeable. But I would guess since the wood hadn't been prepared you will continue to have peeling issues. It may be wise to start anew by sanding all the door faces to remove new paint, clean with TSP and prime and finish coat.


Add valve to water filter supply line I have a PureBlue H20 Reverse osmosis water filter system and want to add a water valve for it. Not sure which type of valve and size I should get and whether to put the valve on the main valve itself or on the plastic connections.

I would like some recommendations on the best and cheap option.

Looks like that water line to the filter is 1/4 tubing.   Go to local big box hardware store. int he plumbing section there will be a selection on little bags containing either brass or plastic parts, valves, compression fittings etc.

Find either a compression fittingGood) or a push-in valve(Better) for the tubing size.  Either way make sure cuts to tubing a clean and square, no angles use a knife and piece of scrap wood to cut...not a pair of scissors.

Which ever you chose follow instructions to install correctly!


Is there any way to do an Ufer (concrete-encased) ground with a monolithic slab that has a vapor barrier? If I understand correctly, when using a monolithic slab (where the footers and slab are poured as one piece), the vapor barrier is installed under the slab and the footers.
The NEC does not consider concrete that is over a vapor barrier to be in direct contact with the earth. ).
Are there any common practices or workarounds that are code compliant and used?
Note: I don't mean using a different grounding method, or skipping a vapor barrier. I'm asking if there's some clever way to get enough of the footer to contact the earth while still protecting the slab from moisture. Or something else along those lines.
NEC 250.52 (3)

Concrete-Encased Electrode. A concrete-encased electrode shall consist
of at least 20 ft of [...] One or more bare or zinc galvanized or other
electrically conductive coated steel reinforcing bars or rods of not
less than 13 mm (1/2 in.) in diameter, installed in one continuous 20
ft length, or if in multiple pieces connected together by the usual
steel tie wires, exothermic welding, welding, or other effective means
to create a 20 ft or greater length.
Metallic components shall be encased by at least 2 in of concrete and
shall be located horizontally within that portion of a concrete
foundation or footing that is in direct contact with the earth or
within vertical foundations or structural components or members that
are in direct contact with the earth. If multiple concrete-encased
electrodes are present at a building or structure, it shall be
permissible to bond only one into the grounding electrode system.
Informational Note: Concrete installed with insulation, vapor barriers,
films or similar items separating the concrete from the earth is not
considered to be in "direct contact" with the earth.

Front Porch Grounding Electrode

An Ufer ground (concrete-encased electrode) can be made from any reinforced foundation or footing that is in direct contact with the earth, whether it is supporting a structure or not.  This means that not only is the house foundation eligible provided it is in direct contact with the earth, but a front or back porch or stoop can be used in addition or instead provided it has a sufficient length of suitable rebar or wire inside and has a footing that is in direct contact with the earth.  Since there's no need for a vapor barrier on a porch or stoop where the concrete's wearing surface is exposed to the elements anyway, this means that with perhaps a bit of trickery, you can get the benefits of an Ufer ground without having to give up a sub-slab vapor barrier for the main foundation and footings.


Load bearing wall and basement beam don’t line up. Want to add a header and larger opening. Problem? Additional info:
-Ceiling joists have studs running down directly above floor joists
-Floor joists are 2x10 spanning ~14’ 16OC
  -One of the floor joists that will carry the load is doubled and right on the stairs wall
-Wall in question is 20” offset from the basement beam below
-load is just the ceiling joists/drywall
-plan is to burry the header in the attic

City wants an engineer plan that will prove the floor can carry the load or how I can make it carry the load.
-can adding a sister joist to the floor where it isn’t doubled work? Does that sister need to carry the full 14’ span?

I’ve learned that most of the time a load bearing wall in the center of a home (60s ranch in this case) is typically directly over the basement support beam thus transferring the energy of the roof straight down the wall/floor and into the columns/foundation. A wall I want to open up into a kitchen is load bearing (ceiling joists overlap across it) but the basement beam is 1.5-2’ off of being directly below. Does anybody see a problem transferring the load from a 30” opening to a 7’ opening with a new header etc? Wisconsin snow covered 5/12 pitch for reference.

Without seeing any pictures its hard know so they would help. If its a 60's ranch house I would think that the roof is a truss roof and the roof load is on the outside walls. With that said there would be no load bearing walls interior. The purpose for the beam running down through the center of the basement is for floor support because back in the 60's truss roofs were becoming popular but not truss floors, they used 2x6/2x8/2x10 depending on the span and placed them on a steel W beam in the center.
Its all guesses without images - but go in your attic to see what type of roof you have, you have to look up before you look down in the basement.


Home light switch circuit with 5 switches I am new to the amazing world of electronics and am starting out small.  I think...

Early 2010, the wife and I bought a house that was built in 1979. Now I started replacing light switches and encountered something that appears to me as a weird setup.

This is a simple schematic of what I managed to figure out so far:

I know this makes no sense at all. What I try to explain is that I have 5 switches that turn on the same light. Each switch has 3 wires, a red, black and blue wire. The light bulb has 2 wires and a ground wire.

The Switches
I can't figure what kind of switches these are and I can't find the location where the yellow wire from the light bulb is connected to the hot wire.

Below is a picture I've taken from the switch.

The mechanism works like this: When the button is pushed down, I measure zeroish resistance between the top-left and the bottom connection point. Once I release it though the resistance is infinite again. All the other connections always measure infinite resistance.

Any pointers on the type of switches or how this could all work is greatly appreciated! I want to learn how all this stuff works and I have a multimeter to measure current/resistance and a lot of other things I don't know much about.

Update
Maybe I shouldn't have drawn the schema as it adds to the confusion but the point is that I have 5 switches with each having 3 wires connected. A red one, a blue one, and a black one. From what I've measured:

Between blue and red: 230V
Between blue and black: 230V
Between red and black: 0V (These short circuit if you would connect them)

The button on these switches is indeed sort-of like a pushbutton. You push it down and it comes back up automatically. From what I've measured is when pushed down there is no resistance but once it's back up (released), there is again infinite resistance.

What I would like to know is how could this be done? What sort of switch is this as I have no clue. A cross switch would need four wires and I only have three.

You say that, when you release the button, the contact opens again (resistance goes to infinity). But the light stays on, right? That means there must be some device which has a "memory" of the last action: you push a button, the light goes on and stays on, until you press the button again (or another button). I'm sure there is a device in the cabinet (Dutch: "schakelkast") which toggles its output on every pulse it receives, and which in this way controls the lamp.
The wire on the top right of the switch also hints in this direction; it's a signal wire, it's too thin to be a power wire. My hunch is that it carries the pulses to the actual switching device (I don't know what it's called).


Need help replacing bulb in fancy light fixture How do I remove/open this Light fixture to replace the bulb?

There were small screws on the both sides of the metal, top and bottom (4 total) that was securing the glass attached to the metal frame. Removing them provided access. You have to remove 4 tiny screws and dangle sharp edged glass, while perched up on the bathroom counter top. Not losing the tiny screw is another challenge with screw driver on one hand, glass on another .... thanks for the responses everyone!


help identify HotPoint oven model Please help identify the oven; it's pretty old, I guess middle 90s. I checked the model name/number placed on a tag inside the oven (as you open the door, it's in there), but I failed to find mode information on www.hotpointservice.co.uk/manual/

Perhaps someone could figure the model by picture?

UPDATE
And this is a metal tag at the bottom of the oven with information about the oven; I hope somebody could recognize it:

I Googled RCBS536 and found a number of references:

A copy of the manual
The unit on sale at Best Buy Canada
Parts for sale


What is this 4-1/2 inch Vertical metal pipe doing in my garden? This 4 1/2 inch vertical metal pipe is sticking up a foot out of my garden.
The previous owner of the property didn't know what it was for.  It has 2 hose clamps on it and a cap with a square nipple.
The city utilities don't have a record of its existence.
I want to take it out, but I also want to get as much info as I can about it before I accidentally bust a necessary fixture. Also, there is another building with all utilities on the back of my property. House on property was built in 1983, if that helps.  All the relevant utility companies have said it is not theirs.
Anybody ever work with something like it?
UPDATE -- Definitely Drain Cleanout.  I loosened the hose clamps and the top came right off and I could see "liquid" about 3-1/2 feet down.

It really looks like a drain cleanout. Since it's on your property the city utilities probably won't have a record of it. It could have been added after the house was built and never needed by the previous owner. Remove that cap and see what's down there. Turn on some water or flush a few toilets and see if you see water flowing.


Putting shower head in the sink caused flood The bathroom in our rental has a cartridge that you push in to change from a shower to a bath, and the shower has a hose that lets you detach it from the wall. My tenant said that she had been putting the shower head on the floor when taking a bath. There was quite a lot of water that leaked in from the bathroom into the floor below. A couple of questions to understand what happened.

If the water is not currently leaking that means that there is not an issue with a leaky pipe, but that water was flowing down the path of least resistance; i.e. the shower to the floor?
Does the fact that the floor leaked mean that something is not caulked correctly or is it not possible for floors in bathrooms to handle a lot of water?
I was able to put a knife pretty deep into the wood, can a single water event cause the wood to get that soft or would it require multiple events?

If the water is not currently leaking that means that there is not an issue with a leaky pipe, but that water was flowing down the path of least resistance; i.e. the shower to the floor?

The circumstances that you have related seem to point to the shower head being placed on the floor as the cause of your damage. To rule out other causes it would be best to duplicate all possible scenarios (e.g. fill the tub and check for leaks; use the shower normally and check for leaks; lay the shower head on the floor and check for leaks, etc.)

Does the fact that the floor leaked mean that something is not caulked correctly or is it not possible for floors in bathrooms to handle a lot of water?

NO, unless purposely built as a "wet room" with a floor that slopes to a drain, bathroom floors are not waterproof and significant flooding will damage underlying structures.

I was able to put a knife pretty deep into the wood, can a single
water event cause the wood to get that soft or would it require
multiple events?

A single event might cause such damage but only if it was a significant event and there were conditions that prevented drying, and it would take a long time. That type of damage seems to have been caused by repeated events over time that kept the area moist.


What is this dark oily liquid leaking from the drain pipe under my kitchen sink? I haven't been under my kitchen sink in a while but recently went down there and found some dark oily liquid puddling directly under the drain pipe.

It was still wet and had the consistency of WD-40.

I turned the faucet on and there is no water leaking. And I have a SmartThings water leak sensor down there and that never tripped, so there was definitely no water leaks.

There wasn't that much of it, and I couldn't see where exactly it came from.

Should I be concerned, and should I do anything here? Wrap some duct tape around the pipe and call it a day?

My first guess?

Food grease/water mix where the water has evaporated..

When hot water runs thru the sink the metal will expand and the cracked fitting will allow leakage.

To test:  Put pan under fitting.  Run hot water for 5 minutes.  Watch for drips.


No bracket included for wall-mounted bathroom sink Dealer does not have a wall-mount bracket with this sink.  I'm told to just use lag bolts.  I don't believe them.  This thing is heavy!  Is there a bracket I can find.  Is it an almost universal thing?

It looks like it's designed to use a standard "old school" adjustable lavatory mounting bracket:

I would fasten it at the lower holes as well.


Changing light fixture with red/black UK wiring using only black wires I am planning to change a ceiling light fixture in my 1980s-built home in the UK.

I had a look at the box and was surprised to see 3 red wires nutted (?) together and 3 black wires feeding the light. And a healthy amount of tape.

Even though the wires are red and black, the fact that the 3 red wires sit unused does not seem to match any UK wiring scheme of any era, but hopefully I am wrong!

The two beige cables go to the light box hanging below.

Can someone tell me what's what? Note again this is in the UK. I don't know how old the wiring is but the house was built in the 1980s.

Standard UK loop in wiring.

The 3 reds joined together will be live in, live out (to the next light) and live down to the switch.

The 2 blacks joined together willl be neutral in, neutral out.*

The black on its own should be sleeved brown (was sleeved red) for switched live.*

The new light connects to * and * (and earth, if it's not doiuble insulated).

from

https://www.practicaldiy.com/electrics/lighting-wiring/light-wiring-loop.php


ok to run PVC pipe behind gas meter? I am considering installing a radon mitigation pipe system in my home, but the only area where I could reasonably have the pipe exit my home is crammed with all my other utilities.

The best spot I've found that I can conceivably would exit the house very close to my gas meter.  It won't interfere or touch, but I wonder if I would violate some housing code or another.

I'm aware that local codes always vary, but surely there must be some generalized consistency between them, so I hope someone can comment based on their own knowledge and experience.

The attached pictures show the area where the pipe would exit.  I plan on using 2" PVC pipe in the immediate vicinity of the exit, then expanding to 3" pipe for the rest of the vertical run up to the roofline.  Imagine a 2" PVC pipe running about 12" to the left of and more or less parallel to the black gas line seen exiting the meter and entering the house.

Note that this pipe would not "vent" near the gas meter - the vent would be located 2 stories up, above the roof line.  Also, the pipe will only carry air from underneath the house, no gas or fumes, so I don't think that this question applies.

Going along side to the right won’t be a problem, on the left the gas co could be “pissy” because that is the supply but the right is your responsibility. There is no power and no classified flammable or combustibles being pushed through the pipe so you should not have a problem with the vent on the right side of the meter.


Wiring Help Lutron Diva Dimmer and Claro 3-Way with Claro First in Line I am having trouble figuring this out.  Attached is a diagram, best I could do given the tools I have. Please remember I am not an electrician so explain like I am 5 please.  In a nutshell, the 14/2 hot from the breaker comes into the electrical box where the Claro 3-way switch is located.  The Claro has 4 screws -- copper, ground and 2 silvers.  Out of that box goes the 14/2 to the light fixtures and the 14/3 to the other side of the room where the Diva Dimmer is located.  The Diva has 4 wires already attached - black, red, red/white and green.  Now ground goes to ground so that part I have figured out, but I am unsure of the correct setup here.  All the diagrams I can find have the Lutron dimmer first or are just for two conventional 3-way switches and that is confusing me for this setup.  Thanks for any help that can be given or if someone has a diagram for this. -Alan

In many 3-way diagrams you will have the feed come in to one switch, and the outgoing wire to the light at the other switch.  You have the feed and the output in one box, so you need an extra hot wire to go between the two boxes.  Because you have a green wire, I think you might have conduit.  If that is the case, the best option is to run another colored wire between the two switches to act as the common wire to the Diva.

If you cannot run an extra wire, you can use the white wire as the common return, and you note that by marking the white wire with black tape (because it will be a hot wire in this scenario).

In either case, the wire connections should be as follows.  On the Claro, connect the black wire that is the power into the box to the different-colored screw on the outlet.  The red and black "travelers" that go from box to box will connect to the other two screws.  The whites from the feed and the output to the light should be connected together.  The common return (new wire or black taped white wire) will get connected to the black wire that goes to the light.

In the Diva box, the taped white wire will go to the different-colored screw, and the red and black get connected to the other two screws.  And of course, all grounds get tied together and attached to the two switches.


I need to make a swinging cat-door in a piece of furniture but I can't figure out how to hinge it I'm trying to convert a cabinet into cat litter storage. I've cut a piece out of the side of the cabinet and want to re-attach it as a top-mounted swinging door for the cat to get in and out. Unfortunately the wood is an inch thick so if I hinge it on one side (i.e the inside or the outside), it doesn't have enough clearance to swing the other way.

I'm trying to figure out a way to "hinge" or attach the door in the center of the opening thickness (as opposed to a hinge on either the inside or the outside) so as to cut the clearance requirement in half.

Any ideas?

If there is such a hinge it would leave a big gap and the door might be too heavy for your cat to comfortably go through it. I looked into this myself and decided it would be best to just use a cat flap like this one.

http://store.petsafe.net/2-way-locking-cat-door

Alternately you can do something similar like round over the top of your wood and use 2 metal pins on the side but you still have the weight issue. Not sure if they make spring pins big enough but that would make it easy to mount like a toilet paper roll.

Update: I had a little time today to draw out what I was talking about with the rounded over top... I still think the cat flap is the best option but if you want to give this a go...

Couldn't find spring pins big enough to handle this so just routing out a channel to accept the pins then covering with a straight metal bracket or strip of wood might be the only option.

Top needs to be rounded over. Radius should be 1/2 the width of the stock and rounded over on both sides to make a half circle top.

Drill holes and insert metal pins. The metal shelf pins should work.

Insert the door in the slots you routed out for the pins and cover with a small metal bracket attached with screws or something like that to prevent the pins from coming out.


No water comes out of the toilet's refill tube I just took apart the valve inside of my toilet to fix a crack in the floater. It's a Fluidmaster 300:

When I put the thing back together and turn the water back on, no water comes out of the refill tube. Instead, it squirts out of the top of the red cap where the black floater connects.

Underneath that red cap is a rubber diaphram, which i've pulled out and inspected. It's in good shape. it has a little nipple in the middle where a tiny stream of water can come out, and water is coming out of that, but not the refill tube. Anyone know what's going on here?

Edit: I found a little pin in the bottom of the toilet. Is this supposed to go in the nipple of the seal? Looking at the valve, I can't even understand how the arm raising could possibly shut anything off! I feel like I just discovered a glitch in the matrix or something.

Save yourself a headache and just remove this damaged unit and fit a Fluidmaster 400A. -Less than $15 and 30 minute's work.


What could be wrong with my A/C unit? I just installed a new compressor fan on my outdoor A/C unit.  Before the fan went bad, it was working fine and had just had its annual service check (the service guy said the freon was fine, everything checked out, it was just really dirty).  Now I get warm air in the house and the cold pipe is not cold, warm pipe is not warm.  No clog in the drain, but also no condensation out of it at all.  Just replaced the capacitor about 6 weeks ago as well, when that went bad.

My dad (not a pro, but a DIYer) says it is either low freon or bad compressor.  Neither of us believes that all of that could have gone bad at once, however.  Any suggestions on what to check?  After $1600 in repair bills on our HVAC system over the last year, I have no money left to call an actual repairman out to fix this.

Check your start / run capacitors.  They live in the outside unit, near the switch.

They look like oval or circular cans, and they feature prongs on one end and a flat bottom on the other.  If either end looks even remotely non-flat, the capacitor has failed and the compressor won't run (even if there's freon in the line and the compressor is functional).  Sometimes there is only one capacitor, as it has both the "start" capacitor and the "run" capacitor built into the same package.

If you are in doubt as to the "flatness" of the package, pull the disconnect near the outside unit, provide a bit of time to let the capacitors drain (10 min should be sufficent) and pull the capacitors out of the system (take care to identify the wiring, wiring a capacitor backwards is not recommended).  Then find a nice flat table and if one wobbles, it is gone.  If it is flat on the table, you dont't have this problem.

The repair (if needed) is a new capacitor ($10 to $15 at an AC parts supplier, no license needed for this part).  If you find these capacitors failing more often than "once in a blue moon" it is a strong indication that something else is wrong with the system, like worn windings on the compressor motor, or possibly an electrical short elsewhere.

You can replace a two-in-one capacitor with two single capacitors (provided they match the original ratings) and vice-versa.  But there's no need to get all fancy.

And everyone says "low freon" or a compressor.  Get used to it.  Occasionally they are right, but a failure like that sounds odd if recent repair work was done, unless the repairman did a shoddy job.


Power company's neutral cause surges and brownouts? My electric company recently made a repair that involved digging up underground wires near my house that I'm trying to understand.

The symptoms that caused them to initiate the repair were very frequent surges and brownouts inside my house, sometimes caused by an appliance motor turning on, but sometimes with no directly apparent large load to cause it.

While this was happening, I could measure wildly varying voltages (hot to neutral) on each of the two legs of the 220V circuit.

I'm trying to imagine what the cause could have been for this. How does the electric company balance the two legs around ground before sending the power into my house? I assume there's some center-tapped transformer involved somewhere? Would it have been some kind of fault in the transformer? In the quality of the ground reference connected to the center-tap? Something else entirely?

The best way to explain this is to take a look at some circuit diagrams, and do some math.

We know that in a parallel circuit, the voltage across all loads is the same. So we know the voltage across each resistor is 120V, so we can easily calculate the amperage at each resistor.

I=E/R = 120V/1000 ohms = 0.12 amps

Now that we know the current at each resistor, we can find the total current using the following formula.

It = I1 + I2 = 0.12A + 0.12A = 0.24A

We find total resistance in a parallel circuit like this.

Rt = R1 x R2 / (R1 + R2) = 1000ohms x 1000ohms / (1000ohms + 1000ohms) = 1000000 / 2000 = 500 ohms

So Voltage = 120V, Current = 0.24A, and Resistance = 500 ohms on each leg A and B of the of the circuit.

Now if we break (open) the neutral, we have changed the circuit from two 120V parallel circuits to one 240V series circuit.  Now we have to change our values, and do some new calculations.

We can use our total resistance calculations from before, to determine the resistance values for each parallel section of the circuit. We can now say we have a 240V series circuit with two 500ohm resistors, so we'll calculate total resistance by adding the resistances. Lets simplify our diagram.

Rt = R1 + R2 = 500ohms + 500ohms = 1000ohms

Next lets calculate the total current.

It = Et / Rt = 240V / 1000ohms =  0.24A

Now we can find the voltage at each combined load.

V1 = It x R1 = 0.24A x 500 ohms = 120V

We can see with a balanced load, we'll still see 120V like normal.  But what happens when we have an open nuetral, and an unbalanced load?

Rt1 = 1 / (1/1000 + 1/1000 + 1/1000) = 1 / 0.003 = 333.33ohms

Rt2 = 1 / (1/1000 + 1/1000) = 500ohms

Rt = Rt1 + Rt2 = 333.33ohms + 500 ohms = 833.33ohms

It = 240V / 833.33 = 0.29A

VRt1 = 0.29A x 333.33ohms = 96.6657V

VRt2 = 0.29A X 500 ohms = 145V

As you can see, if you measure hot to neutral on leg A you'll read 96.6657V, while leg B will measure 145V.

What you're seeing is the different characteristics of parallel vs series circuits.  In a parallel circuit voltage is constant and amperage varies, however, in a series circuit amperage is constant and voltage varies.


Can I use paint stripper in my basement workshop? I am looking to refinish a pool table that I purchased.  Since it is winter and too cold to do it in my garage, I would like to do it in my basement workshop but I'm worried about the fumes.

I have an air exchanger in the workshop which is designed for a 3000+ sq. ft. home.  I was thinking that I could disconnect the vents from going through the house, then use them to basically filter out the air from the workshop.

Do you think this would be strong enough to keep the room well enough ventilated?

Also, is a respirator necessary with this system?

Please advise, I would appreciate the help.

Paint strippers have different chemical compositions so it is difficult to properly answer your questions.  However, in general,
1. recommend you wait until you can either apply the stripper outside or get proper exhaust ventilation
2. The package on paint strippers will tell you if you should be using a respirator
3. Consider using a non-toxic citrus-based stripper or sanding instead.  (Use a dust mask if sanding)


Dead GFCI outlet(s), wire is live Summary

GFCI outlet is 'dead' (no power, won't test or reset), when the wire feeding it is live. Outlet was working yesterday. Swapped outlet with another GFCI (that had previously been working) and it behaves the same.

Details

I had to rebuild a piece of my house that had a (working) GFCI outlet on it. I purchased a new GFCI outlet, as the old one had a piece of broken plastic. I wired it up, being sure to put the white wire on the silver screw, black wire on brass, and avoiding the terminals with the sticker over them used to feed other receptacles. The outlet worked fine for a day. In case it matters, it's almost exactly this model:

Workers waterproofed near the outlet all the next day. (EPDM sealing a planter box.) It happened to be quite cold in the house for 6 hours, windows and doors open to 40° weather for ventilation. Presumably this paragraph is irrelevant.

Today, the outlet does not work. No power to items, no indicator light, pressing either RESET or TEST does nothing. The circuit breaker has not been tripped. An AC tester indicates power on the line.

I swapped the outlet with the previous GFCI outlet (which was working fine when last used). Same behavior (though the previous 10-year-old outlet never had an indicator light).

I removed the outlet, made the circuit breaker live, and used a multimeter on the bare wires. Measurements are:

Hot-to-neutral: 121.4V (Black-to-white)
Hot-to-ground: 121.4V (Black-to-bare)
Neutral-to-ground: 0.0V (White-to-bare)

When I attached the GFCI outlet and measured the line terminals:

Nothing plugged in: 121.4V
Known-working lamp plugged in: 119.5V

What is going on with my power? Are both outlets coincidentally dead? Am I miswiring them? Most importantly: how do I fix this?

Edits:

I've already discarded the box for the the new GFCI outlet, but it says on it:

Leviton
INSP.1J460
17456-037 ZR 2

…and on the other end is a nicely printed UL sticker:

UL LISTED
GROUND FAULT CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER
CLASS A
2 POLE UNIT
20A 125V 60HZ
ISSUE NO. 0045578
LEVITON MGF.CO.INC
O

It may be a "Leviton X7599-E SmartlockPro Slim GFCI Tamper-Resistant Receptacle with LED Indicator, 15-Amp, Black", based on searching for features and images, but I'm not certain of this.
I forgot to mention, in case relevant, that I'm using a metal waterproof outdoor box for the outlet (this one), which has a grounding screw in it that I've attached to the ground wire. (Ground wire is clamped in the middle to this screw in the box, and then continues to be attached to the outlet.)

Best I can tell, it's time to buy another GFCI (the correct one, this time -- hopefully, the third time's the charm)

There are four problems here:

The old GFCI finally died (at power on, likely) and the new GFCI is likely DOA.  Easiest fix is to try getting another GFCI and putting it in.
Your new GFCI was the wrong part -- you need a weather-resistant receptacle in a damp or wet location these days (NEC 406.9), and yours isn't.  Leviton's W7599 is the equivalent of what you have in a Weather Resistant model, BTW (as of this post, at least).
Receptacles in wet locations require a while-in-use weatherproof cover or "bubble cover" these days, such as this.  This helps keep rain out even under wind-driven conditions, no matter whether stuff's plugged in or not.
Even weatherproof boxes need to be pressure equalized (via a drainage hole in the bottom) in order to keep pressure differences from driving water through even the slightest imperfections in seals and to give any water that does get in a path to escape.  This is allowed as per 2014 NEC 314.15:

  314.15 Damp or Wet Locations. In damp or wet locations, boxes, conduit bodies, and fittings shall be placed or
  equipped so as to prevent moisture from
  or accumulating within the box, conduit body, or fitting. Boxes,
  conduit bodies, and fittings installed in wet locations shall
  be listed for use in wet locations. Approved drainage openings not larger than 6 mm (¼
  in.) shall be permitted to be
  installed in the field in boxes or conduit bodies listed for
  use in damp or wet locations.

See also BSI-004: Drainage, Holes, and Moderation for a good explanation as to why even the most snugly sealed enclosures need weep holes.  So, if there isn't a small hole in the bottom already, drill a ⅛" hole in the bottom of the box, as per NEMA bulletin 110 and the aforementioned NEC clause.


Will salty water from ice melt harm a wooden porch? I rebuilt our covered porch out of pressure treated lumber a couple of summers ago. This past summer, we retreated it with Thompson's Water Seal. It's now winter, and we've actually had a cold spell with some snow. We've got some icy patches on the porch and I just scattered some ice melt on it to clear them away. (We're expecting the UPS guy, so I thought I'd be nice.)
I plan on keeping an eye on it during the day today and sweeping the water off to drain it between the deck boards as soon as I've noticed it's melted, but I'm not sure if it is necessary or if it is overkill.
Am I likely to cause significantly more damage to the sealed, pressure treated decking (or worse to the supports underneath that I can't see) by having salty water sitting on them as opposed to the damage that would occur by having plain rain water/snow melt sitting on them?

Yes, water damages wood and salty water damages it faster.  If at all possible do not use ice-melting salts on wood decks.  If you must, wash it off and let the deck try as soon as possible afterward.  Keep your coatings refreshed.


Lumen output for a new room I am building a game room and want very good lighting in at least the portion that will include the table tennis table.  I would like 500 lux (46.5 foot candles) of light in this part of the room (at a 10' ceiling which is what I have).  That part of the room is approximately 1/3 of the total 500 +/- sqr ft.  So, if I understand this correctly, I need 46.5 * 500/3 = 7,750 lumens in that part of the room.

I am thinking of going with LED recessed cans or puck lights and if I went with 3 in a row (22' width room), I would need 2,580 lumens per light and if I went with 4 in a row, 1,900 lumens per light (approx). I have recessed cans in other parts of my house today at only 700 lumens each.  Is it the case that a "standard" can or puck housing can be installed, then just utilize a much higher lumen bulb?  Or is that not how it works?  Any advice would be appreciated.

LED lamps are heat-sensitive, and have a high failure rate if confined in a fixture too small or with insufficient ventilation. Putting a large lamp in a small fixture will likely damage the lamp after a while, and possibly create a fire hazard (though the fixture itself might be designed to survive the higher heat output of incandescent lamps).

There are surface-mount LED light fixtures with built-in (non-replaceable) lamps of 2,700 lumnens and more, which might be a better choice. Also check the color temprature. The lamp referenced above is 5,000 K, a somewhat bluish-white. Other lamps have color temperatures from a reddish 3,000 K to actinic 6,000 K.


Buzzing sound from ceiling light fixture. Can the source of the problem be the dimmer? I have a buzzing sound coming from in ceiling light fixtures.
The fixtures are Liton LH1499IC (https://liton.com/ic-double-wall-housing-51083.html)

These fixtures are connected to a dimmer switch
Buzzing from the fixtures gets worse over time (as the light stays on)
Buzzing gets worse with full brightness
Buzzing gets worse if I completely remove the bulb but have the dimmer ON
Buzzing 100% comes from the fixture itself and not the bulb, I can hear it from inside the fixture and as mentioned, if the bulb is completly removed the fixture buzzes worse
Bulbs are 12V 50W which is what the fixture says to use.  I tried changing to 12V 30W and 5W just to see what happens and the buzzing actually got much worse with the 5W as well

My first thought was to buy new fixtures and replace the old ones, but looking at the picture of that fixture it looks like its going to be alot of work (i've never replaced light fixtures before).
Next thought was could there be a relationship to the dimmer switch?
To be clear, the dimmer has no sound or buzzing whatsoever.  But is it possible the wrong dimmer switch is connected and that is creating a buzz downstream at the fixture?
Dimmer is Lutron SLV-600P (https://www.lutron.com/en-US/Products/Pages/StandAloneControls/Dimmers-Switches/SkylarkDimmer/ModelNumbers.aspx)

120 V / 600 VA (450 W)
I have 4 light fixtures connected to it, those are 12V, 50W each. MR-16

Bulbs are Osram 12V 50W MR-16 base bulbs
Is there any rule of thumb I can use in determining if the correct dimmer switch is paired to the correct fixture, or does it not matter?  I'm essentially both hoping and wondering there is an easier solution to this problem then changing the fixtures
As you can tell, I'm a total noob.
Any help is much appreciated!

This is not a simple light fixture. It uses a TRANSFORMER.
Dimmers are tricky devices. While conceptually they adjust the incoming current with a variable resistance, in reality they are far more complex. The end result is that for direct use with incandescent & halogen bulbs, all dimmers work well. For use with dimmer-compatible (some are, some are not) LED or fluorescent bulbs, most modern dimmers (they will specify LED compatibility, as your Lutron does), they will work well.
However, your light fixtures include a transformer. That takes the 120V power and takes it down to 12V needed by the specified bulbs. That process is most definitely not compatible with a typical dimmer. The "right" way to dim such lights would be to dim them after the transformer. There are lights designed to work that way, but not your standard off-the-shelf residential stuff.
Update: Your dimmer (SLV-600P) is supposed to be compatible with Magnetic Low-Voltage fixtures. So it is basically "the right stuff". However, something is clearly going wrong, and my recommendations still stand, primarily because LED lighting has gotten cheaper and better (more reliable, better color) over the last several years and will save a lot in energy costs.
End result: Your dimmer is modern and fine. Your bulbs are "plain" and, in and of themselves, likely dimmer compatible. But your fixtures are not dimmer compatible.
Options:
1 - Replace the dimmer with an ordinary ($1 - $3) switch. No dimming. No buzzing.
2 - Replace the fixtures with your choice of:

Ordinary "cans" that will accept ordinary light bulbs and install dimmer-compatible LED lights.
Fixtures with integrated dimmer-compatible LED lights.


Button on old Gas Stove is badly seated It is emergency- I can't fix the button soon then I will have buy a new gas stove. How to fix this? I pressed the edge of the button too hard when locked. We don't usually use the lock so it was a surprise to me.

An emergency would be if it was stuck on and you couldn't shut the gas off.  This is an inconvenience.

These look like simple electronic buttons.  Looks like the button has been pushed through the control panel.  Its likely held in by little plastic clips.

If you are lucky, the clips aren't broken.  You can disassemble the control panel and push the button back into place.

If the clips are broken, you can fix it properly with a new button (or possibly new control panel if they don't sell the buttons separately - still cheaper than a new stove).  If you just want it fixed now, you can probably epoxy the button into place instead.  Make sure the button itself still works before you do that.


Joining a branch drain line at a 30 degree angle? In order to bring a sink drain line over to the main drain line, I really need to join it in at a 30 degree angle. 45 degrees puts the wye outside the building. Searching on google for a 30 degree wye produced no results, so I'm guessing this either doesn't exist? What do plumbers normally do in cases there they need a 30 degree wye in the waste line?

I could go 90 degree from the fixture, 45 degree bend, then 45 degree wye, but I'd rather keep the line as direct as possible without the extra direction change in there if possible.

How do plumbers get a 30 degree angle from PVC ?

There are lots of ways to go about it for example reworking your plumbing, but the easier way is to just buy the 30 Degree PVC pipe that you need.

Below is not an endorsement but a reference for where you can get it .. of course a plumbing supply might have them in stock and on hand for same day pickup ..

https://www.supplyhouse.com/PVC-Schedule-40-30-deg-Elbows-15206000


How can I add additional lighting fixtures to an existing 3-way circuit? I have a light on a pair of 3 way switches.  I want to add 5 recessed cans to that circuit.  It is currently set up with power at the light fixture and 14/3 wires ran from the fixture to both switches. Can I tie the other fixtures into this setup using 14/2 and running my wires parallel?  If not, what would be a suggested way of doing it?

Yes.  You'll connect the wires feeding to the next fixture, to the wires that feed the current light fixture.

Basically, you'll start with this...

Then you'll add the additional lights like this...

NOTES:

I've excluded the grounding conductors to simplify the diagram, make sure you properly ground all the fixtures.
The black wire coming from the "3-way wiring" bubble, might actually be white, red, or some other color.


Damaged my garage - how should I repair? I did a stupid thing today, and clipped the side of my garage with my car pulling in from work. The house is only a month old, which compounds my frustration.

Anyway, it looks like the vinyl trim along the siding and the metal trim along the garage were dented, but I reached behind and couldn't feel anything else out of whack, so I don't think I need to be worried about structural damage.

That said, what should I do to repair this damage - do I replace the vinyl trim, patch it, or just paint it and call it a day? What about the metal? Do I nail it in the middle to work out the bend and adhere it back to the wall, caulk it, or just paint it and move on?

If you want to do it right, it is a process.
 You need to start by removing the siding to get to the nails that hold the damaged vinyl trim to remove the whole piece. When that is off that will expose the remaining nails that hold the front edge of the garage door wrap. Remove the garage door weatherstip and that will either expose more nails that hold the back edge of the door wrap or the weatherstripping holds it without the extra nails. That should get you so you can remove all your damaged parts.

Get new coil stock to replace the garage door wrap and rent a metal break long enough to do the whole replacement piece. Make the same cuts as the original and nail back in the same locations, no need to be exact, but get them in the same area. Find the vinyl trim at you local builders supply and copy the same cuts and replace that and reset your siding that was numbered on the back side as you took it down to ease the reinstall process.

This is a simplified explanation. If you are game to do it yourself and do it right, ask what you need and you will get help.


How does one identify a type of ballast? In a building how does one identify a type of ballast?

We have lights all over this place, and I was recently recommended that replacing our ballast with LEDs would greatly save on our electricity costs.

I was also recommended that some of the fixtures could be retrofitted to LED, but that if we keep the ballast in place it would still eat up the electricity just as fast even with retrofitted fixtures if they were to be placed within the existing ballast.

Modern retrofits do not use a ballast at all like this. Most have universal drivers, they can run on 100-277 VAC 50Hz or 60Hz. Here is another example. Things to think about, the color of light 5000K will be a very white closer to sunlight, 3000K is more yellow orange. With the same lumens I think the 5000K and higher wavelength lights look brighter with the same lumen count.
The type of lamp is the part that gobbles up the energy. florescent are more efficient than incandescent largely because they do not generate large amounts of heat to create light. florescent lights work on a gas plasma. LED's work with a diode junction. As technology has evolved the amount of light a LED can produce per watt of energy consumed has increased many times. There are many types of Ballast's and the type of Lamp you have will determine the type. The majority of homes have 4' T8 lamps (1" in diameter tube) some are T12 1-1/2" tube in both 4' & 8'. some of the retro kits have a strip of lights screwed to the fixture some have tubes similar to the florescent. Investigate a bit more and you will find there are hundreds of options out there and most don't use the ballast.


Trying to find a odd shaped fan blade So we bought a new house and one of the fans had 1. ugly blades and 2. one blade was broken.

Naturally I took one good blade of and went to Lowes to find a replacement. It turns out though that this is some custom style of fan blade. I looked EVERYWHERE on this freaking fan and I can't find a brand name so I have no idea who to contact to get a new blade.

I'm curious if anyone can point me toward a source to find a new blade like the one in the picture

If the blade is a flat panel, no surface contour, you could either duplicate it yourself or find a wood shop or makerspace with members who might assist. It would be a simple matter to drop a panel into a laser cutter, cnc router, jig saw, band saw, so many options if you can identify the material from which it is constructed. Jasen's suggestion of replacing all three is a good one, as well. 3 mm or 6 mm plywood would be quite strong for this application and not particularly heavy. Our fans have veneer over particle board, cheap and heavier than ply.


Line to AC dripping at the furnace My line from my exterior AC unit is dripping at the furnace. The dripping over time has caused rusting and we've had to replace the control board under it. It appears the root cause of the problem wasn't fixed. The pipe drips when the AC is running. I have re-insulated it (before it looked like it had poor insulation) and it is still dripping. Is there anything else I can do to fix it? Is there a proper gasket to put on the connection of the pipe to the side of the furnace that I need?

I've checked the condensate drain line and it appears it's working. I opened the furnace and there is some standing water in the pan but nothing high enough to reach this line where the water is coming out. The metal pipe on the right is the condensate drain line, and the two pipes above to the left are the lines to the AC. The larger line is dripping water.

I can think of two sources for this water: (1) condensate water overflowing from the a/c evaporator coil collection tray (2) water condensing on the cold low pressure (suction) refrigerant line and flowing down.

I think (1) is more likely.


How can I tell where the other end of the conduit is? We have a house with a lot of 2-prong outlets I'd like to replace.  They're all fed by conduits.  Multiple people (in real life and online) have told me that replacing them is easy:  "Just fish the new cable through the conduit," or, "tie the old cable to the new cable and pull it out."

However, I can't do either of these things if I don't know which conduit-openings belong to the same length of conduit.  The conduit out of all of the electrical boxes simply go up or down, and I don't see any of it in the basement or attic (except out of the panel).  To make matters worse, almost all of the outlets in the house are on a single circuit, so they could be tied together in almost any way.

So, how can I tell where the ends of the conduit are so I can rewire my house?

Since you're talking about an electrical circuit with a line/load connection in each outlet, you can start disconnecting one side of the connection and then noting all the receptacles and fixtures that lose power, which will be on the load side of where you disconnected. You can go through a process of elimination. Typically, circuits are wired the shortest distance between outlets, so you can make some intelligent guesses at which junction to try disconnecting next. Of course only work on the wiring with the circuit powered off, use non-contact testers, and other appropriate safety procedures.

Another method you can try is sound. Pipe a small speaker into one end of the conduit, and then put a hose from your ear to the other end to see where the sound is loudest.

When trying to label cat5 that had been run around my home, I've shorted two wires together at each location, with a different colored pair at each place. Then from the other end I just checked for continuity between different pairs.


Is an extra 1 W that significant with LED bulbs? I recently replaced a ceiling light fixture with a ceiling fan with two light sockets that have a maximum rating of 9 W for LED bulbs.  The bulbs in the original fixture are 10 W LED and dimmable.  The bulbs that came with the fan are non-dimmable.  Can I use the 10 W bulbs in the 9 W max socket?  My understanding is that heat is the main reason for the wattage rating, but does 1 W make that much of a difference?  That’s barely 0.01 A if I’ve done my math correctly.
Both bulbs are 60 W replacement bulbs.  The 10 W is a Satco S9703. The 9 W is an Ecosmart (I think it’s this).  Fan is a Hampton Bay Rothley II 52050

There are two completely different thermal objectives
First, don't set other stuff on fire.  That's decided by the thermal insulation of the fixture (think: thick insulation in down lights) and limits the size (in actual wattage) of any bulb, but it's mainly aimed at incandescents.  Incandescent bulbs love hot places and work better there.
A fixture succeeds at this goal if it has plenty of insulation and creates a little "oven" for the incandescent to burn in.
Second, let the LED keep cool.  The LED cannot tolerate high temperature - neither at the LED proper or the electronic driver.  Its worst worst enemy is itself: even with their good efficiency, still nearly 85% of its actual wattage is turning into heat at the LED or driver.  The  heat will cause premature failure of the LED.
A fixture succeeds at this goal if it provides an easy way for heat to be convected away from the bulb location.
These objectives are at best unrelated, and at worst conflicting. For instance a well-insulated, embedded-in-ceiling downlight might protect from incandescents but cook LEDs.  An antiquey lamp with "lamp chimneys" might work great to convection-cool LEDs, but with incandescents, scorch the ceiling above it.
The fixture's LED limit applies to the second thermal objective.  It is saying "Above 9 watts, we can't guarantee we can keep that LED cool enough for it to have a long life".


Hardware for a barn/sliding door that cantilevers into free space when open I've salvaged an old door from a neighbor's demolition to upgrade the door of my small laundry closet.

I thought it would be interesting to mount the door as a sliding barn door, both as a visual statement piece and to avoid constructing a new door frame/casing.

The issue is that the laundry area door/wall (cut into a solid wall cavity that originally housed a murphy bed) is only the width of the door. There is no door-sized wall to the left or right on which to slide the door when open, as is typical for barn doors.

So, when open, the door will need to slide into free space in the hallway.

Is there any hardware designed for such an application?

I can imagine, perhaps, wheels mounted under the door to support the weight. And then a rail on top to somewhat guide the movement, only from the left, but not support the door.

Vintage hardware and technology preferred, if possible, to match the door and apartment.

Any alternative suggestions are welcome as well.

Look for "full pull-out drawer sliders." Imagine the biggest drawer in a Snap-on giant tool chest. The big drawers ofter use 2 tandem sliders on each side of the drawer. There are ball-bearing models. Look for "architectural full pullout drawer slide." They can take the weight, but they might not have the travel distance. You could build a mechanism in this way: wall >first tandem slides >intermediate plate >second tandem slides >door. Build a vintage-look box cover over the mechanism.
Or you could look at truck/trailer manufacturers for sliding hardware.


3 way switch that stopped working Three fluorescent lights in my garage just stopped working. So here's the set-up: 2 switches, 3 fluorescent lights. Switch 1 has hot wire, travelers go to switch 2, switch 2 feeds all three lights. I am getting current to switch 1. I have changed out both switches, double and triple checked the way they are wired. I even put in a single pole at switch 1, and nutted the wires at switch 2 (tried each traveler pair) still no light. Checked all three lights to make sure connections in fixtures had not worked loose. Everything okay. What am I missing?

I'd have to go with the ballast of the first light (that switch 1 runs to) has died and needs replacement. However, tube-fluorescents have terrible socket connections and I've seen earthquakes, rumbling trucks, direct impacts and power surges kick them askew.

If you have tubes, then start with number 1 in just giving the bulbs a little twist to see if they pop on...yours may work in pairs-only, so you get one to flicker and then twist the other to get them both solid.

If so, then just do the same to the other 2 fixtures. If not, then a new ballast should remedy the situation.


LED T8 tube replacement I had replaced the two T8 Philips fluorescent tubes with two Utilitech YGA05A32-T8-18W-840-T LED tubes quite some time back.  I did not change any of the ballast wiring and all worked fine.  A few days ago the circuit breaker tripped (bad switch I believe) and after resetting this fixture did not seem to work. I tried the tubes in another fixture and they worked fine, I also tried good T8 fluorescent tubes and they did not work either.  So my assumption is that the ballast went bad during the circuit interruption.  Most all of the online help seems to suggest that I do not need to replace the ballast and I have tried direct wiring as posted online in many places.  That didn't work in my case.  I've noticed these LED tube end pins look identical to a fluorescent tube pins.  Both ends look exactly the same and there is no markings to indicate L or N on either end....maybe I have an older style?  Can anyone tell me if there is something different about these LED tubes that requires a replacement ballast or is there a different wiring scheme needed with these tubes which are at least a year old and maybe an older model than that? TKS!

The breaker trip was the ballast dying.  It is done.

You can replace the ballast if you like.  EBay is flush with T8 ballasts at sane cost; many are pulls from fixtures converted to direct-wire LED.  Pay very close attention to the number of wires going to each lampholder (tombstone). If each gets 2 wires, replace with preferably a rapid-start or programmed-start ballast, though an instant-start will do. If each tombstone gets only 1 wire, only an instant start ballast will wire up.   This ballast change will allow you to use the absolutely superb 90 CRI tubes now readily available (those utilitechs were junk) or will allow you to use "plug-n-play" LED tubes.

If your ultimate plan is LED, do not use any ballast at all.   Obtain direct-wire LED "tubes" that accept power from opposite ends of the tube. This is safer and plays well with all fixtures including instant-start (LEDs with same-end power do not like 1-wire tombstones).


Gravel under solid drain pipe? I'm putting in a drainage system on my property including 12" drain basins in low spots on one side of the house and under downspouts.  Probably going to use a light weight solid drainage pipe like,
 http://m.homedepot.com/p/4-in-x-10-ft-Triplewall-Pipe-Solid-4550010/100135310

I often see people laying a gravel need under the pipe and over.  Is that only useful for perforated pipe or is there a reason to do it on solid pipe as well?  Buried PVC for instance doesn't require a gravel bed?  Should the drain boxes be on a gravel bed too?

What does the gravel provide:
The gravel helps allow you to build the drainage slope for the pipe and provides a back-up drainage medium for leakage.  In commercial projects we spec the drainage starts with perforated pipe then truncs into main drainage that is non-perforated and we require the gravel to be carried throughout, as a secondary drainage path.

Why do I need the extra drainage in gravel:
If the pipe connection has a flaw or if the ground shifts a pipe crack could form.  If the pipe is backfilled directly with soil the water will collect against the pipe and soil without somewhere to go. This collecting of water will make the soil saturated, cause additional issues and water infiltration. The gravel will allow the water to drain away from the pipe and down the path of least resistance in the direction of the pipe to the outfall.


Close gap between bathtub border and wall In my bathroom, I have a bathtub with a showerhead. The bathtub is diagonal, one side is a semihigh wall, behind is the toilet. The other side is attached to a wall. Problem now is that there is a gap between the upper border of the bathtub and the wall. When I shower, then the water runs there and on the floor, which is annoying to clean. Attached some pictures, because I find it hard to explain. How can I close the gap in a way that I still can remove it easily later? First thing I did was putting cloth on there, but after a year it rotted. Right now, I use some bottles to fix the shower curtain in place, but the curtain now also rots a bit.

It's a bit hard issue to handle, because, as @isherwood indicated, that tub's destiny has been changed.
I can think of two groups of 'fixes' depending on how much You are motivated:
a. change of usage - bathing while standing must go, fix the shower head lower, try to use it kneeling or so, check if sutiation changes, consider using the tub as a bath tub
b. change of environment - consider changing the cloth, but this time let it start under the showerhead to let water be gathered by it before it reaches places You want to avoid getting wet; this must include change of cloth's suspension


All electrical outlets are working well except one This house has a GFCI "Downstream?" circuit.  I see two outlets, each in the showerroom, labeled "GFCI Protected" but I do not see any outlet with a reset button or any red light anywhere in the house.

All outlets are working perfect except one.  The nonfunctional receptacle looks like it is the end of the circuit because when I unscrewed it and opened it it only had two wires attached to itself.

I thought the receptacle itself was the problem, and I swapped it with another receptacle in the basement which was not in use, but even after swapping, the one in the basement continues to work flawlessly but the one upstairs continues to be nonfunctional

What can I do at this point?

A problem like that is either at the faulty receptacle, or at the outlet before that.  Check the one that feeds it.

As far as your GFCI, you'll want to find that.  Have you checked the breaker panel?  Or near the breaker panel?  I like to run a short stretch of conduit off the panel, then a 2-gang box with two GFCI deadfaces (or livefaces).

A GFCI is a device, not a receptacle.  You may be accustomed to seeing GFCI devices that are combo devices which also provide twin 120V receptacles.  There are other kinds of GFCI device.


How do I get a lawnmower in and out of an old barn? I have a barn/large coup built in the 1890s in my back yard.  It's foundation is just a 3 foot deep concrete pour around the perimeter.  Later they filled half of it with concrete on half the floor.

The problem I am having is that poured floor is about 10-12 inches below the perimeter lip.  The perimeter lip however is just a couple inches higher than the grass around it.

So I could get my riding lawnmower in the barn, but it will be a pain in the ass getting it out.  What are some options that I have to deal with this?

Update: To some questions -

Ramp?  Well yea but that section of barn is only like 10 feet deep and with a deep ramp will barely have enough room to park mower.
I will get a pic.  Laid up with foot injury.
There are two small doors on opposite sides of the barn.  They are about 30" wide.  The concrete foundation is only flat with the inside floor for these two doors and then curves up.  My riding lawnmower will need about 60" to get in.
barn has never had a drop of water in it.
I also haven't figured out the door.  It will either be two swinging doors latched or a couple of doors sliding together.  Security isn't a big concern.  We live in a nice area and taking anything from this barn would mean moving it 200 yards and going past my house and a neighbor's.  Really waiting on how I am getting the lawnmower out before I do this.
I have thought about providing an outside addition or roof but would like to keep elements out of mower.

I would lean towards constructing an elevated platform inside the doorway. It would only need to be large enough to park and safely mount/dismount the mower. You could construct it like a backyard deck, perhaps adding steps down into the main floor area.

This would be relatively easy to construct and inexpensive, especially compared to anything messing with the existing foundation.

There are car garages in existence with wood floors and framing so I doubt the weight of a mower would be a concern.


What types of tools are required for making wood toys and models? I am learning and doing some woodwork, and I have been using a hand saw and sanding to make very simple wood blocks.

I would like to know what tools are suitable for toys like this puzzle and these toys

I am considering the following options, but open to suggestions:

hack saw
Decker RTX + mandrel + cutting wheel
jigsaw
a small table saw

My grandfather used to make toys similar to these for a charity called Toys for Tots. To the best of my knowledge he built everything with a couple cordless drills, a 14" bandsaw and a multi-function sander like this one, and copious amounts of hot glue.

I personally would add to this a spindle sander and at least a skeleton set of quality hand tools(chisels, rasps and riffles, block plane etc.) but I'm more into the fit and finish of things than Grandad was. Basically you need to be able to:

dimension your stock
fit and shape your parts
assemble the parts

Given that the parts you'll be working with are generally fairly small, a bandsaw is a great choice because it's much safer than a table saw for short pieces and it can cut . And the sander is limited only by your imagination in terms of the variety of its uses. You can even use it as a lathe in a pinch (run a hanger bolt into the work piece, chuck the end of the bolt up in your drill, spin the piece up against the sander and viola)


Power Interruption/Outage: Outlets, Basement, Stove/Oven and Furnace I just moved into a new house and found this problem:

As long as I plugged a fan in one of outlets in my dining room, after 20 to 40 minutes the fan stops.
Or,
when I plugged my receiver (260W) connecting to 2 speakers in one of these outlets, the power was immediately turned off.
All other outlets in dining room and kitchen, basement, furnace (electrical) and ranges were out of power (after 1).
I checked the circuit breakers and none of them was tripped. I tried to reset the GFCI outlet controlling the dining room outlets and the power didn’t come back.
After 10 to 40 minutes, the power came back automatically. Or, if I turned the range (stove) on, the power came back.
A few times, the outlets in dining room and kitchen, basement, furnace and ranges were unpowered by themselves. After a while (10 to 40 minutes) the power to them came back.
I have moved in for 4 weeks and the electricity bill is $30.48.

Note: I haven’t used the furnace (not so cold). I just checked and the furnace had no power. The refrigerator and lights are fine.

I hired an electrician, but I couldn’t reproduce the above problem when he came.

I live in New Jersey.

Number 4 is the big clue. One side of your electric service is dropping out, turning on the stove causes it to back feed. This is likely caused by a loose connection on one of the service lines feeding your house.  There are however a few other possibilities I'll cover below.

For the sake of explanation, let's say the location of the problem is a loose lug inside your electric meter.  Over time that loose connection has been building up heat, it's likely aluminum wire that melts and burns and produces black carbon. As this continues over time it eventually works its way "open" and will no longer feed that side of your electric service resulting in partial lights out in your house, that might mysteriously just come back on as that burning lug cools down. You turn on the stove (which uses both sides of the electric service) and it back-feeds current through the circuit back to that bad lug, when that happens and the two opposing sides of the electric service meet it arcs and it can actually create a weak "weld" of sorts, restoring the power again, until the connection once again burns open. repeat.  Eventually it will just burn open and be broken until someone finds the problem.

Connection points on the power companies side include the pole (or underground connection vault or stump), and the meter can, and possibly an outdoor disconnect.  Most often in our area the problem is one of the meter lugs was not tight.

On the customers side, where the service feeders connect to the main breaker inside your panel is also a place for a possible loose lug. (In my area the power utility will actually tighten main lugs in the customers panel, many utilities however will stop at the meter.)  Beyond that it's also possible there is a problem with the main breaker or panel buss itself, but that's less likely (IMO) than all the above.

Start with a call to your power company and report "intermittent partial light out". They will check connections outside your house and may even check your panel for loose feeders. They also may not check past the meter, in that case you would need an electrician to check your panel for loose feed--if the power company didn't solve the problem outside.

Most electric utilities don't charge for the service call for their side, if it is your equipment in the end, you will of course have to pay an electrician for their work.


Re-mounting electrical switch box between studs after removing plaster and lath I am refinishing a room that had a gang of light switches mounted directly to the lath, between the studs. The lath is out, and drywall is going up next. I don't wish to change the horizontal position of the box, and I would like to avoid changing the box itself. I would like to know if there is a particular bracket I should mount the box to that stretches between the studs, or if I can just stretch a piece of scrap wood between the studs and mount the box to that (which seems technically comparable to mounting to lath, in my opinion).

The common method for dealing with this situation is to cut a piece of material that is nominally the same type of material as the studs and nail it between the studs as blocking. The electrical box is in turn mounted to the added cross piece.

Here is a picture of what one such blocking insert looks like (also known as header or noggin).


Can I use corner brackets to rebuild a wall frame that has the horizontal 2x4s extended in an adjacent room? The picture below shows the situation as it is right now.
I need to rebuild the frame on the wall where you see the vertical red and blue water supply pipes. So the plan is to remove the two vertical studs to the left and to the right of the pipes and cut the pipes near the top. I will put pex there and reroute the pipes toward the perpendicular wall you can guess in the picture.
The empty space to the left (no studs and framing there is because I removed an air duct and more piping for the sink that was there. That left in place a lot of not needed framing and patch work that had to go
After doing this I need to extend the two white horizontals to complete the framing and add frames as per standard every other 16".
Removing the top white 2x4 (the top of the frame) is out of question for two reasons:
-it hat the pipes going through it and it will be difficult to put it back
-since it is extended to the right into the wall of the next room that adds structural resistance> It is also nailed to the joists (this is a basement bathroom)
The guys who built this put the bottom horizontal studs floating on smaller pieces of wood (you can guess it to the bottom right side of the picture)
What is the standard solution in situations like this? How do I bridge the horizontals together ? It is very important for me to have a perfect alignment of the horizontal bottom 2x4 that will extend each other.
If I leave the two horizontals in place I will not be able to use nails and I think I have to options, use screws and an angle attachment for my drill or use angle brackets to secure the vertical studs ?

Update:
There is two issues here: extending the plates and removing the old/oddly spaced studs and adding new one properly spaced back.
For the top plate which I need to leave in place I will not have access from the above to properly nail or screw the new studs so I am considering brackets (?) Is it possible? For the plates I am not clear how and if I have to extend them somehow or simply close the frame there and create a new smaller one adjacent to the just closed one. I need the bottom plate in one piece so I might cut it and add a longer one like below (so I need to connect in #1 and cut and replace in #2)

After a long research I found something like what I am thinking about

Update 2
I need to bridge in #1 and #2 -how do I do that ?

Toe nailing is acceptable so anything stronger like repair brackets or structural screws will work too.


My Refrigerator Water Tastes Like Peppers! I have a whirlpool side by side refrigerator with an ice maker / water dispenser in the door. I got it used and have never use the water features because there is a peppery taste in the water that sits in the line for a while. I have tried the water in the supply line and have ruled that out. I have replaced the filter to no avail. if I purge the water, I can use it without the taste but if I let it sit, say.. over night, the peppery taste comes back. Both water and ice have problem.

I have a theory that pepper containing food was stored in the refrigerator and the aromatics leech into the internal supply lines, thus contaminating the water.

Does this theory seem valid? Has anyone else had this problem? Has anyone else solved this?

I am thinking about running copper lines to replace the internals.. Any advice?

My refrigerator also has as a through the door water dispenser like yours. Inside the refrigerator behind the bottom produce drawer there is a large coil of plastic tubing that is designed to pre-cool the water that is delivered to the door spigot.

You should check your refrigerator to see if it also has this same tubing arrangement. It is entirely possible that the previous owner of the refrigerator had left vegetables in the drawer for such a long time that they became severely spoiled and contaminated this tubing. Contamination could also have happened if spoiled food was on a shelf and decay liquids ran down the back wall into the tubing area. If the lower drawer was cracked and leaked out into the bottom of the refrigerator this problem could have been even worse.

If your refrigerator has this system I would highly recommend that you simply replace this coil of tubing with new.


What's involved in an electrical inspection to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy? In an 80 year old house with no original certificate of occupancy (C of O). I have to obtain a C of O, which requires an electrical inspection. What should the inspection involve?

As others have said, what is involved depends on the jurisdiction.

Many homes were built before there were building or electrical codes. Many never got a certificate of occupancy. Most buyers (and their banks and insurers) now require a C of O or its equivalent before a sale.

However, most jurisdictions recognize that it is generally not practical or necessary for older houses to come up to all current standards to be considered safe and occupancy worthy. Some jurisdictions offer a certificate of existing use in lieu of a certificate of occupancy.  This acknowledges that the building predates current C of O rules, but does indicate that basic requirements are met.

Exactly what will be required is jurisdiction specific. I just went through this process for a house being sold in a suburban community in New York. The house was built in 1905. While the house originally had knob and tube wiring, it had all been converted to either armored cable or non-metallic cable over the years.

The electrical inspection focused on

no exposed wires (finished spaces)
no dangling or unconnected wires (unfinished spaces)
no open junction boxes
no uncovered outlet boxes
adequate grounding of the main panel box (usually to water pipes or ground rods)
circuit breakers (no glass fuses)
presence of smoke and CO (carbon monoxide) detectors

In some jurisdictions, even old knob and tube may be allowed on existing circuits if it is undisturbed, appears sound, and as not been added to.

A common approach taken by inspectors is Does the work conform to code/standards of the period in which it was done?

Note that this type of review, often called a visual inspection, is not the same as an underwriters inspection, which involves a much more rigorous examination and has much tougher regulations.

For some items and in some jurisdictions upgrades will be required if the work or condition is considered unsafe, even if it would have been acceptable in a previous era.

Ultimately, you need to check with your local building department for the exact criteria they will follow. In most cases they try to be reasonable and recognize that historic homes are not going to be fully rewired to bring them up to current code every time they are sold.


How to level a tilted free-standing closet I have a very tall free-standing wooden closet, similar to the one depicted here, but with glass doors. The floor it sits on slopes down to the right so I laid a long piece of wood down under that side before setting it up. After several months it somehow shifted itself off the wood and is now sitting entirely on the sloped floor, causing some undesirable twisting and throwing the doors out of whack. The problem is that the closet is very heavy (even empty) and that the lower side is right up against a wall.

What is the best way to

tilt it back up so I can slide a new piece of wood under there to level it out?
Ensure that the closet will not settle itself off of the wood again?

I'm picturing somehow anchoring a cord on the top right side (closest to the wall) and pulling out and down using the lower left edge as a fulcrum, but somehow it seems like that might not be advisable.

Unless you want to drill holes in it and anchor it to the wall,  using wood shims (very thin pieces of wood) would be the best thing.  That is about all you are going to be able to do.  You can buy shims at any hardware store, and they are thin enough that you will be able to go up about 1/8 inch at a time until you get it level.  they do the same thing with pool tables in your home too, so I think that this would be the easiest solution.


How accurate is a TDR (Time Domain Reflectometer) in determining the distance to the location of a cut low voltage cable? The builders cut an ethernet wire during construction.  They put in the Foam Insulation and the dry wall up without testing the wires.  Upon terminating and testing them, I found that the wire to my AV room has been cut.  I've re-terminated and re-set the keystone twice.  I can't run a new wire.  I have to splice the old one.
I need to tone out the course of the wire (if a toner can even sense behind the drywall that far with UTP ethernet).
A TDR was suggested to determine the distance before the cut.  I'd like to minimize the amount of drywall and foam that I cut into.  Do you think that this will work?  I can hire an electrician and his tool to do the work.  I just don't want to waste their time and $$ only to find that a toner can't sense the wire that far or that a TDR isn't that accurate.
Thanks.

I have a greenlee cs8000 that will work through just about any wall even through conduit, if your electrician has this or a similar tool they can pinpoint a cut or shorted wire.  Time domain meters depend on the information being correct if you thought you had copper wire but it was copper clad Aluminum the distance would be off. Also you need to know the exact path for TDR or you will miss the mark.
Edit; I felt I should expand on my answer because there is some question in my mind if those commenting and or answering have ever used any of these tools
I do not have have a tdr meter but used to use One to test coax on plasma etchers. And is an absolute waste in general construction because it provides a distance based on the wire type and size . I have the other 3 and cable tester.
A toner is not for tracing wires through a wall it is for identifying a conductor in a bundle for example a toner is used in a phone jack in an office building then you go to the switch and can find that wire quickly by running the toner down the punch down panel or in a loose bundle the range is less than 1/2” I have several of these progressive 77 , etch tek (cheap). Data cables Can be live not powered mains Depending on brand
A tracer like the cs8000 can identify a live or dead wire within 1/2” even through metal conduit drywalls and stucco. Any live or dead wire up to 600v direct connect and pickup scanner
tracers for buried wire if you know how to use them can get you within 6” . on wires buried 2-3’ I think mine is a 520 greenlee . Live or dead up to 600v suitcase or direct connect and pickup scanner
Electricians that have and use these tools with competence can identify broken / shorted conductors very close to the open or short.
I think some one mentioned a cable tester (transmitter receiver) you plug in that tests for the correct connections On finished cables they show opens crossed or incorrectly wired connectors I have a couple of these ideal brand is the one I use the most but I don’t remember the model This is the least expensive of the tools mentioned and if you have a mis wire or open at crimp this could be your problem. Anyone doing data should have one of these. Non powered single cable xmit rcv modules on each end  I think the ideal cost ~50$


Can I convert a single circuit with multiple lights/1 switch to control 1 light/switch I have 3 recessed lights in my house that are controlled from a single switch. Actually they are controlled from 3 places with 3-way switches, so it's not really working all that well.

What I would like to be able to do, without running new wiring, is control each light from an individual switch. I'm envisioning each light junction box having a smart relay in it, and the switches sending a signal addressed to the specific light, which would allow for controlling from multiple locations. Ideally it would also be possible to dim them individually. I haven't been able to find anything ready-made, either because they don't exist or because I don't know what they would be called. Also, would such a solution even meet code since each fixture would now be live all the time?

I don't mind if it requires a hub (e.g. Z-Wave, Zigbee) since I'm considering going that route anyway for a smart deadbolt. What I'm trying to avoid is having to pull new wires. I'd also like to convert a couple of the cans to pendant lights, so a smart bulb solution isn't going to work either.

This is not really a duplicate of How can I convert two recessed lights on a single pole switch to two separate lights with light controls? since that appears to be looking for a more usual pull new wires solution.

If I can't find anything I'm probably just going to live with controlling them all at once and replace the existing switches with multiple remote dimmers.

First step is to identify the switch that the power comes in to. The other two switches will just be farther down the line. Disconnect all of those switches and put wire nuts on all of the wires individually. On the first switch, figure out which wires go to the lights and wire nut those to the incoming power wires. Now none of the switches control anything and the lights should just be on.

You can then get something like X10 screw-in adapters for the light fixtures.


Can a lack of oxygen cause septic tank deterioration? After 2 years I had my 8 year old septic tank pumped out for the second time. When we looked inside we found that the area above the outlet had concrete deterioration. Whatever happened ate through about 1/2 to 1 inch of the concrete. Doing some research I read about the lack of oxygen can cause a form of acid which can do this.

Is this correct, and will an aerator system resolve the problem?

There are several forms of acidic (sulpheric mainly) conditions causing concrete to decompose, external and internal.

External acid can be caused by sulpher in the ground water.

Anaerobic bacteria can indeed cause hydrogen sulphide gas which then can cause sulpheric acid.
High levels can quickly destroy a septic tank.

Aeration of the sludge effluent changes the chemistry to aerobic bacteria and stops the formation of HS gas.

Update
The phenomenon of HS gas formation leading to concrete deterioration is known as Crown Rot.  Anecdotally, this has been linked to several sources.  High vegetable matter (from garbage disposer use) and high levels of sulpher in well water.  Active venting does seem provide benefits in reducing the HS gas. (thanks to Capt. P).


wiring lights and continuing the circuit to another light circuit I have 1 switch running the 1st 3 lights then the next switch runs 1 light.  I mocked this up with spare wire and it works, but is it OK to do it like this?

No problem at all, that's exactly how it should be done.


Why is my front room ceiling fan switch setting off my smoke alarms When I come down in the morning and switch my ceiling fan on it sets off the fire alarms. It shouldn't be set off by a surge in the circuit as far as I know as the fan is downstairs and the smoke alarms are connected to the upstairs lighting circuit. I have got a box for the alarms on the wall with the option to locate alarm, test alarm and silence alarm but when I press the silence alarm button it just seems to reset the alarm and it goes off again. It only happens in the morning when the fan is first switched on.

There are two types of smoke detectors, Ionization and photoelectric. If you have the latter, it might be that they have some particulate around the photocell and when the fan goes off it disturbs the dust enough to simulate smoke. If you know your type and manufacturer you can check your manual (many are online) and follow the cleaning procedures.

If you don't know the manufacturer sometimes you can bag the smoke detectors with a "shower cap" or a plastic bag and a rubber band and see if turning on the fans will set of the alarm.

After that it gets a little complicated and you might need to consult an alarm specialist in your area.

Good luck.


Does an outdoor outlet mounted on a patio ceiling require protection from a GFCI? My home's patio is covered by a permanent ceiling/canopy.  As I'm starting do more electrical work, I've noticed that the two outlets mounted on the ceiling are not protected with GFCI; they are also not covered with an outdoor outlet box cover (photo below).

I believe that the box cover is not required since there is no way for rain or water to come in direct contact with the outlet (it is mounted under a ceiling, about 12' above ground), however I'm suspicious about the lack of the GFCI.

Does the NEC require a GFCI on this circuit? There are no other GCFI devices upstream to this outlet.

In my opinion (not AHJ). You don't need a GFCI on receptacles that:
1. Cannot be reached without the use of special equipment.
2. Are being used for a specific duty.

However, the receptacle shown is in a damp location and the cover that is on it not rated as such. It needs to be changed out with a weatherproof cover. If anyone is questioning why it is a damp location rather than wet. It's because rain or normal operation does not require it to be in direct contact with water.