Identifying gauge of unmarked stranded wire We're replacing our range and I want to confirm that the wire size is adequate. The existing wires are part of a cable which is not visible in the panel or outlet and the wires themselves appear to be unmarked.

Is there a reliable way to determine the size of the wire? I seem to recall that US wire gauge is the number of turns per inch – so for 8 gauge wire (16 KW range) would I expect a diameter of about 0.125" (1/8) or will it be different for stranded wire?

Wire gauge is based upon the conductor cross sectional area of the wire. There are tables all over the internet that show the characteristics of wire. Here is one for stranded wire.

For a given conductor cross sectional area the solid wire will have the smallest effective diameter. Stranded wire will have a slightly larger outside diameter due to the small spaces that exist between individual conductors. Different stranding (number and size of the individual conductors) will lead to different outside diameters because certain strandings will pack tighter together than others.


Need some help with wall behind rangetop We're in the middle of a kitchen remodel and we have replaced our old 48" Viking slide-in gas rangetop with a new Miele rangetop.  The rangetop came with an "island trim" behind the unit which is only a couple of inches high.  The installation instructions say that the range needs to be located 10" from any combustible surface, and if you install it flush against a back wall you need to purchase a 12" high backguard at a cost of around $400.  One of the reasons we purchased this unit is because my wife really liked the low profile back trim, and Miele's own brochure shows the rangetop up against a tile wall with just the island trim.

So I called Miele customer support.   They told me that a tile backsplash behind the unit would be just fine, that the 10" requirement was to ensure that people didn't put something easily flammable directly behind the rangetop.  Still, I was concerned so I cranked up the back burners and ran the unit for ten minutes or so and checked the wall temp behind the rangetop.  The drywall behind the unit (the tile is not yet installed) measured around 160F. That said, we'll probably only use the back burners once or twice a year since we have three front burners, so it's not like the wall is going to be subjected to constant heat.

So now I don't know what to do.   Should I accept the opinion of the customer support guy?   Do I have to bite the bullet and buy the expensive backguard that my wife hates? Is there any way I can add protection to the wall by replacing the drywall underlayment with something else on which I can mount the tile?

Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

Stan

If you are installing tile then just wait to use the back burners on high until that is done.   Any type of tile should be an adequate fire barrier for a stove top.

If you have to have something in the interim then I suggest taping up some aluminum foil or if you want to get semi-permanent some fire retardant paint.


Red wire in light fixture, no red wire in junction box I just bought a pair of motion activated lights for the side of my garage.  Standard connection turns on the light that triggered with motion. In order to have one light triggered, both lights turn on, the diagram shows  I need to connect the red wire of light one to the red wire of light 2.   The problem is, while the light has red wire, there is no red wire in the junction box.  Could I connect it to the hot  Black wire to have it work the same?  Thank you for you answer.

There is no standard for wire colors... Al least not for wire function.  Color is decided by the necessity of manufacturing cable. Often we get lucky and the colors in the cable line up with preferred colors for function.

However you can get colored tape and code wires yourself by function.  The first rule of marking wires is always mark both ends of the same wire at the same time.

Your setup needs 3 wires besides ground:

Safety Ground (always green, green/yellow or bare)
Neutral (always white or gray, though white isn't always neutral)
Always-hot (preferred: black, any color other than white gray green is legal)
Switched-hot (preferred: red, ditto)

I am fastidious about using colored wire or marking wires with colored tape, because it makes everything very clear.  My recommendation is to identify the wire that is appropriate, and mark it with red tape.

That said, it may not be possible if the topology of the wiring in your walls does not match the requirement.  Home Depot frequently puts things on the aisle endcap (those are for impulse buys, you know) and people get them home and discover they just won't work with their existing wiring.

Here's what you do

The two blacks and whites come in two cables such as Romex cable.  Cable 1 is the supply cable, and contains supply hot and neutral.  It may or may not come via a switch.

Cable 2 is one of three things: a switch loop with the two wires shorted by a switch (probably not); always-hot onward power to receptacles and other loads like a garage door opener; or switched-hot onward power to the other lamp.  We're rooting for that last one.

Start by taking a survey of every load in the house.  Does every half of every receptacle have power?  Does every hardwired thing work, all lights, fans, garage door opener etc.? Sump pump?  If anything does not, take note of that.  This is for a baseline for comparison.

Now, shut off the breaker and split and cap those four wires. Uncap a white/black pair from the same cable and hook them up to the light - black to black, white to white.  Cap off lamp red, it will be hot!  Does the light power up?  No? Then that is not the supply cable.  Try the other one.

Now the motion sensor light is working because it is connected to the supply cable.

The other cable is either always-hot onward to other appliances, or switched-hot to the other lamp.  Keep it capped off.  Do the survey again.  What has lost power now?  If you find any new things have lost power, you now know that black wire is always-hot onward to other loads. Leave it black.

If nothing else has lost power, except the other lamp, then good chance this is onward switched-hot to the other lamp.  Get some red electrical tape and tag the black wire red.

Now you join color to color, with the red-marked black wire going ot red, of course.  Expect 3 neutrals (white).


Good alternative to wood fascia trim My existing wood fascia is about as old as the house (~12 years) and its time to scrape, sand and repaint as I have some serious peeling in some parts. This is AZ so no boards are rotting though. It looks like the boards were pretty rough and furry when installed so a good sand and prime may make them last longer than 10 years, I dunno (10 years is probably when they should have been painted).

I'm considering getting a composite trim board so I never have to do this again (or at least do it less frequently), anything that would be around $1-$2 per linear foot to replace 1x6 trim board would be good. Does anyone have experience with a good alternative material that will be lower maintenance? Or is it just a better deal to scrape and sand the existing wood if it's in good shape? Other than some warping that I'm going to have to fix all the boards appear to be in decent shape. I'm willing to pay a few hundred bucks for alternative boards if it means I don't have to do this again in 10 years.

Assuming that you have one-by (3/4" nominal) fascia, I'd install steel wraps. They're commonly used in my area's harsh climate for an attractive, maintenance-free finish. Two sizes are available (for 6" and 8" fascias), but you could trim the top edge as needed for non-standard heights. The only preparation you'd need to do with your existing fascia would be to flatten out any warpage and replace any rotten areas with raw pine lumber.

Be aware that this product is installed by sliding it under a metal roof edge, and that it's nailed upward from the bottom along the narrow edge. Nailing the face (other than at joints, where needed) results in dimples that stand out in certain lighting conditions. Lap pieces such that the lap is less visible from entryways, etc., and so that water flows properly on rakes.


Can I drill another set of holes in my studs to mount a TV? I currently have a 47 inch TV which is mounted onto studs in my wall which is good.

But now I plan to get 70 inch TV which means my existing wall mount frame must move a little upwards to fit above the fireplace.

So, I am thinking to take off the existing screws and drill another set of holes a little above the existing holes.

Is it OK to drill multiple holes in the studs?

Yes. It's OK

Mounting holes do not significantly affect the strength/function of studs (within reason - if you make Swiss cheese out of them, you might manage to have an effect - but that's not what you are describing.) If you are going to be very close (1/4" or less) to the old holes, you may need to drill them out and glue in a dowel before you drill the new holes - if further away, no need.


Need help on how to remove dresser drawers! I am trying to remove my dresser drawers. There is a track on the side of the drawers with levers that go up on one side and down on the other. I have pulled the drawer all the way out and pushed the levers as far as they go, but the drawer still doesn't come out. I have tried jiggling and lifting as well, but no luck. Is there another step that I am overlooking? All the online videos show them sliding straight out!

Left side up, right side down; tug reasonably hard. The drawer should pop right out.


Can I use my shower while grout is curing? I just recaulked my front bath and accidentally popped loose a tile in the process.  I reinstalled the tile and allowed that to set before grouting.  I just finished grouting the tile, and I read on the interwebs you should allow grout to cure for at least a week before sealing, but was wondering if it was okay to use the shower stall in the meantime.

If I allow the grout to set for a day, is it ok to use that shower while the grout cures?  I know you're supposed to keep the grout from drying out...

The new grout only extends a few tiles from the corner and is on the side with the shower head, so it doesn't get very wet either.  Hoping someone could relate their experience(s) - I am definitely a tiling noob.

All you need to do is leave the grout to dry before getting it wet. The instructions should tell you for how long. As you and others have pointed out drying and curing are separate things.

While you can use the shower after the grout is dried you may need to leave it for a day or two after it's cured before sealing. You don't want to seal any moisture in.


Problems crimping Cat6 Ethernet I'm running Cat6 through my house, and I obviously need to crimp Cat6 connectors onto the ends (this is my first time), but I can't seem to keep the 8 wires from moving around after I've put them all in order, is there some sort of trick to keep the wires from moving around to get them into the connector?
Update:
I found out today the Cat6 I ran is too thin and not made to the proper specifications, the thicker wire works a lot better and is definitely easier.

Well, if you do normal house/building wiring, you don't crimp plugs on anything, you just punch-down into jacks (one wire at a time) and buy patch cables pre-terminated. That's what a professional job looks like, and there are good reasons for it - one of which is that getting wires into plugs is fiddly, even with experience. Another is that building wiring is solid and not meant to flex, while patch cables are stranded and survive flexing much better, so using patch cables plugged into wall jacks rather than plug-terminated building wires sticking out of the wall leads to a plant that survives longer.
The type of plug you use, if using a plug, can make a large difference - some are much easier to get the wires into, and some have cute tricks such as being able to feed the wires all the way through the plug and beyond, and then having a crimp tool that cuts off the excess, so that you can have minimal untwisted wires without having to get everything trimmed perfectly before shoving it in.
The main trick with lining up the wires for a plug is to get the twist out as far as needed (but no further), and everything lined up, and trimmed evenly if not using one of those cute trick systems with the post-trimming. This usually involves using pliers on the individual strands to remove the curl, and several insertions in the the plug to verify where a straight cut across the end should be located, and that all strands are in proper position - by which point you would have been done with punching down a jack and moved on (speed, another advantage of using jacks to terminate.) Often a certain wire will decide that it wants to hold back and not shove in even with everybody else, and you have to sort that out.
As for holding them while inserting, pretty much just pinch between thumb and finger after having got the curl out and the wires lined up correctly. Then visually inspect to be sure they are still in the right order and fully inserted.


Removing white layer which appears on floor after spilling water I'm pretty careless and sometimes spill a bit of water on our floor. When I do, some strange white layer appears on the floor within a minute. I took some photos to demo. Usually it gets much much worse, but I didn't want to leave the floor wet for long just to demonstrate.

If you leave something moist on the floor for an hour without noticing, it can be almost like someone drew on it with chalk. Attempts to scratch it off result in some weird grime peeling off, which I assume can't be good as it must be a part of the flooring.

What's the proper way to remove the layer after a spill?

Assuming it is indeed laminate flooring.

To take the stain out:
Toothpaste lightly rubbed on the stain is often suggested. Another one  is vinegar mixed with a bit of olive oil.

If the stain does not come out - Using Tea to Mask White Stains on Laminate Flooring.

Take two tea bags, put in a cup, just about cover them with boiling water, leave it to cool, then put the liquid on the white marks on the laminate flooring. Just rub in gently with your fingers, leave for about half an hour, then remove some of the liquid with a tissue to check the result. The liquid (tea, which has tannin in - the colour agent) will have started to dry out. If the white mark is still evident leave for another 15 mins, then just wipe the area clean with a soft damp cloth. This worked for my laminate floor and it is now fully restored.


What kind of service panel to use when the enemy is condensate, not rain? I have looked  at indoor and outdoor panels.  However, the design of the outdoor panel seems to be geared to excluding rain, falling from top to bottom or a little sideways.  Actually, my location can't have rain, but it does have issues with condensation.

What special characteristics should I look for in such a panel?

As requested:
I have used small fire rod heaters in the past where condensation was a problem,
they run off of 120v and are designed for a gun safe.
I don’t know if they make them small enough to fit in a 40 amp panel. the little warmth they generate keeps the panel from condensation issues. I have done this in pool areas and open metal buildings.
The first time I did this I asked the inspector, since then I have been asked what they were and after explaining have always been approved on inspection.


Can we use both caulk and Durabond to fill in hairline cracks in old plaster walls? Our end goal is to mud over the existing plaster walls/texture to create a smooth finish. Before this we want to repair several hairline cracks to prevent them from recurring.  After scraping open the hairline crack we plan to add caulk inside the new, wider crack, but not fill the space all the way to the surface, leaving room for a sandable Durabond to bring it flush to the surface.  Our thinking is that the caulk would allow for flexibility at the back of the crack and the Durabond would allow for better control of the surface sanding process.
We would appreciate any insight into this process.

Fiberglass tape and a couple coats of compound will give you the best results.

Just a thought not sure how textured your walls are that you're trying to smooth out but sometimes this can be more work and leave you with inferior results instead of just taking it down and replacing with drywall.


Breaker for my subpanel for the pool keep tripping I have a pool with a sub panel that has a 30amp breaker for the pump, a 20 amp for the lights that is also connected to a small fridge receptacle, the water heater has two 20amps on it. The main breaker for the subpanel is a 60 amp gfci. This breaker keeps tripping. Any suggestions?

Im with Tyson on this one also. I suppose you could also have a short somewhere, or if anything is touching water it will trip a GFCI real fast.


How can I determine the source of a basement flood? My basement flooded recently and I'm trying to determine why.

The basement has poured foundation walls and a slab. The slab is non-structural, and was poured after the foundation walls.  There is a tile drainage and sump pump system. It's a new build.

We got some heavy rain that resulted in the basement flooding. Some neighbors who also had flooding, suspect a sewer backup.

The sump pump continued to work during the flooding, but perhaps was overwhelmed.  I still see water seeping between the foundation wall and slab, and the slab is discolored where water appears to be seeping up.  The water was clear and didn't smell.  If the water came from the sewer, I would imagine it would have had to have come from the HVAC condensation drainage.

How can I tell whether the flooding was from a sewer backup or from a failure in the tile drainage/sump system?  If there's no way to determine why it flooded before, is there anything I can do to find out if/when it happens next time?

If it was a sewer back up you can install a check valve on your waste line, these need to be accessible as they require maintenance but will prevent the sewer system from backing up. Floor drains & showers are the first to flood in a back up but then toilets and washing machines, sinks all become possibilities.

Depending on the type of condensate line moving the trap higher may be the only safe method as check valves on condensate lines tend to fail.
Other than monitoring and identifying the water entrance point it may be hard to figure out, if the sewer was backed up and your sump pumps into it, where would the water go? Could the pump itself not only have been overwhelmed but provided a path for water ingress (if their is not a check valve in the pump).  I have seen sewers back up and put several feet of water in a basement with the water appearing to be clean.


Joint Compound was too dry, now what I'm finishing a small area of drywall, using the joint compound you mix with water, 20 minute open time.

I believe my second coat was too dry, as it didn't go on smoothly.

Can I just add the next coat on top? Maybe sand a little first to get off the big bumps. Any tips for consistency to mix it too?

Thanks!

It looks like you have enough joint compound on that to sand it down already... but I can't be sure from a picture. Yes, if you are going to apply more joint compound (I like to call it mud), you should probably sand that, or at least use a damp towel to knock down the really rough spots.

If you aren't familiar with the right consistency, buy some fresh mud and compare your consistency.

Also, a couple more tips: don't scrape your putty knife (trowel or whatever) off into your bucket of unused mud, just throw it away, because inevitably, you will put little chunks of stuff back into the fresh joint compound, making it difficult to apply smoothly. And you generally want to apply joint compound in an upward motion whenever possible... it just helps.


is there such a thing as a pipe brush? I've used Drano/Liquid Plumbr Foam to clean the bathroom sink drain, but that never cleans enough. There's always scum left over. I think I can clean it better if I follow up the Drano with a brush. So, I'm looking for a "pipe cleaner brush" (name?), but I can't find it anywhere online. I've searched the sites for Home Depot and Lowe's for:

pipe brush
pipe cleaner
tube brush

but the search results don't show what I'm looking for.

The brush I need looks like the ones in this search, but I need longer ones that come in various widths (one at ~ 2" and another 1/4").

Where can I find this thing?

I wouldn't worry about the scum left over - what you really need to do is get rid of the BIG gunk that's catching the little gunk that eventually clogs your sink.

For clogged drains, a hand held auger is your tool of choice for cleaning stubborn clogs out of bathroom pipes.


Calculating the effectiveness of sunlight reduction solutions Our new place has a few large windows facing west - this makes for a baking-hot house in the afternoons.

Curtains have been put up, but they are hot to the touch, and the rooms do feel hot (dark curtains). I'm figuring, while they give me privacy, they're not reflecting enough light away.

I figure I have the following options:

Window Tint (dark or reflective)
Blinds

My questions are:

Are these my best options or are there any others?
Which one of these is the most cost effective option? How do I calculate that?
Within these options, what additional things do I do (reflective tint, white blinds, etc) to get the most advantage?

The best is to block the sun from the outside. Options there would be:

plant a tree (pro: green; con: might take a few decades to get full effect)
awnings (pro: do great at blocking summer sun; con: costs a bit, takes some maintenance, can block views)

As for the windows themselves, are they high-efficiency? Ideally you'd have triple-pane glass with low-e coatings. If these are old windows, it might be time to invest in replacing them.

On the inside, blocking it with blinds is a good bet. A light, reflective or solar shade is a good bet.

Lots of commercial establishments will use shades such as these:

http://idahocanvas.com/roller_shades.htm

(Link is merely provided as an example product.)


What is this attaching my toilet seat and how can I unscrew it? I’m trying to unscrew my toilet seat but it seems to have been fitted with this plastic mechanism, which doesn't seem to want to be unscrewed.

Do I need a special tool to remove it?

That is called a blind jack nut, jack nut, blind collapsing nut, etc.

They are typically used when you don't have access to and/or don't have the tools to hold onto a nut on the backside of whatever you're putting it into. As you turn the bolt the wedge will move along its length, moving into/out of the split nut which adds/removes force that pushes the split nut apart. In the non installed position the wedge is at the end of the bolt so there is nothing in the split nut to force it apart & the entire assembly can be pushed/pulled through a hole.

In your case the bolt is accessed from the opposite side. There are usually caps covering the bolt that can be gently popped off/open using a small screwdriver. You will most likely need to grab the entire assembly from below with fingers, a screwdriver, or pliers to keep it from rotating as you turn the bolt. Once it breaks free the nut will likely be incredibly easy to hold as you unscrew the bolt.


Board on top of computer desk drawers blocking 2 cam locks because incorrectly installed upside down. Smashing and removing board cause instability? I am disassembling a computer desk for a move.

I think that removing the cam locks would remove the top of the desk.

The problem is that there's a board on top of the drawers that is blocking 2 cam locks because the board was incorrectly installed upside down a long time ago.

The board should look like this (tower side):

If I can’t figure out how to continue, will smashing and removing the board on the right side cause instability in my desk?

Just rotating the cam locks should allow you to remove the top, they don't have to be pulled out to release the cam-lock post on the top.. You could use a thin slotted screwdriver to rotate them even though they are blocked from removal. Then take off the top and when you put it back together make sure you do not make the same mistake.


Is a distribution panel necessary when pre-wiring for internet and cable TV? I am trying to pre-wire my house for internet and cable/satellite TV before finishing my basement. After researching, I got the idea to run CAT5e and RG6 wires from outdoor to the TV outlet.
One article was referring to a distribution panel to be put near the electric panel. Is this necessary and what does it do? And what should I be asking for in hardware shop?
Am not looking for high end home automation system, just DSL internet and Cable/Satellite TV. So that once I dry wall and finish the house, Service providers doesn't have to drill holes and run wires. Just hook it up at the outdoor and be done with it.
The suggested question doesn't answer my question. It talks about putting up conduit for additional wires in future. Am asking about the distribution panel for network cables.

Can't speak as much to the TV part, though an awful lot of TVs now work with internet connections. But as far as the internet connection, my recommendation is to wire up CAT 5e (or better) everywhere. Each cable should have one end in the desired location and the other end on a patch panel like:

Then you use cheap patch cables to connect to your switch or router. You mention DSL - that may be the technology now, but in the future it may fiber or Starlink. But you can change that easily enough.
The "main box", which can be a modem or a router or a combination of the two (typically with residential installations it is a combination modem/router/WiFi access point) may be placed where you put your patch panel but may be someplace else. A lot depends on the particular company, whether they do a professional installation or a "self install", the design of your house and other factors. In particular, if you have WiFi as part of the installation then you don't want the WiFi next to the patch panel in the basement or garage, etc. - you want your WiFi access point in a central location. Sometimes that means putting the router/WiFi in a better location and connecting it through one of your wired access points down to the patch panel and just putting a simple switch next to the patch panel. Sometimes the best solution is to put the router next to the patch panel and install a separate WiFi access point in another room. Sometimes multiple WiFi access points are needed for good coverage.
Speaking of good coverage, the best WiFi coverage is often obtained by putting WiFi access points in the ceiling, using Power over Ethernet to provide power and signal through one cable, so you may want to consider prewiring some ceiling locations as well.
What you can't change easily are the actual cables in the wall. Conduit really is a good idea. Think about all the people who had CAT 3 (or worse) cables and now really need CAT 5 in order to have a fast network. Or all the people who had coax and now want CAT 5 for their TV. Your house will (hopefully) be around for a long time, but nobody knows what will be popular for connections 20 years from now. It could easily be fiber everywhere, or some future CAT 'n' - all easy to install if you have conduit, very hard without.


Bathroom fan do I use 12-2/20a or 14-2/15a Hey guys I am hooking up my bathroom fan and wanted to get clarity on the electrical requirements.

The fans requirements state:

“Run 120V AC house wiring to the location of the fan”
On the box is says 120V/60Hz

My current 20a/12-2 will be to much power for this fan correct?

Does the 120V mean it is expecting 15a/14-2?

Your fan really only draws a few watts. You need the wire size to match the circuit breaker if it is a 20 amp circuit breaker you must use 12 gauge wire. 14 gauge is too small and can start a fire.  If it is a 15 amp circuit breaker it needs to be 14 gauge or larger (you can use a larger wire gauge than required).
The circuit breaker is protecting the circuit wiring.
The UL listing says it’s OK to use in the US. On a 15 or 20 amp circuit.


Repair cracks in concrete block wall that's no longer moving I'm fixing up my detached garage built in the early 1900's. At some point there was some movement in the walls (not the slab, the walls are built next to the slab). There doesn't seem to be any more movement; however, there are cracks left between the blocks (none of the blocks themselves are cracked). It seems to be a combination of some decay in the mortar and the settling.

The largest crack seems to be about 3/4" wide and runs from the bottom of the wall zig-zagging up about half way to the corner of the wall.

What would be the best way to fix these cracks? Cleaning them out and adding more mortar?

Before you patch it, I would recommend making sure it isn't moving any more. One common method is to epoxy a small piece of glass across the crack; if the crack is moving, it will break the glass.


Drill through kitchen floor tile I recently purchased a new refrigerator and in doing so want to swap out the copper ice maker line for a stainless steel flex line.  In order to do so I need to make the water line access hole to the basement bigger from about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch.  Do I need a carbide or diamond tip drill bit to do this?  I don't think the tiles are glazed.

A few possibilities...

Probably the cheapest (though not necessarily going to work in your setting) is a 3/4" ship auger drill bit through the plate of the wall behind. A slack jawed yokel would just set the bit at an angle through the drywall and go for it, but a sensible individual would open up a small hole in the drywall beforehand to see what they're drilling through. Hitting plumbing/electrical/etc is not in anyone's best interest.

Next would be a diamond grit hole saw. The only bothersome part of this approach is that you'd have to make a 3/4" hole in a scrap of plywood big enough to stand on. That would guide the hole saw and keep it from walking. If you do this, don't center the 3/4" hole saw exactly on your 1/2" hole. Have the rim of the hole saw go through a little bit of empty space in the 1/2" hole, so that it can drain dust and minimize clogging.

Least appealing would be to use a 3/4" hammer drill bit, but if you have other uses for such a thing (and a hammer drill that can actually drive something that big), it might be an option. On low speed and and not on the hammer setting, make the hole bigger. Too much pressure, and you run the risk of cracking the tile. (Not enough pressure and you'll be there for days.) Once you've opened up the tile, the drill bit won't go through the floor very well, but you can probably push your way through with a little more drill speed. From your description, it doesn't sound like you have porcelain tiles, but if you do, avoid the hammer drill bit like the plague -- I assure you that it won't end well.


Circular saw won't cut vertically I'm cutting dimensional lumber with a circular saw (a cheap 7.25" Ryobi I got at HD).  I can't seem to ensure that the cut is vertical.  Meaning, with the piece lying lengthwise while cutting, the cut should ideally be in a perfectly vertical plane, but turns out to be at least a few degrees off.

Is it typically hard to get this cut angle correct?  I made sure that the bevel adjustment lever is set correctly, and the blade doesn't feel loose.  I'm not sure whether it's because the saw is cheap or it's often hard to get right.

Despite what you might believe, those adjustment levers on most tools are not calibrated very well.  Even on my table saw I regularly use a simple plastic 90-degree triangle to ensure my blade is aligned to the table.  This is part of owning any tool and it's worth a few moments to verify everything is set up properly.  A more expensive tool will simply buy you more time between calibrations but all tools should be checked with regular use.


How to operate generator transfer switch? Our house came with a generator hookup already installed by a previous owner. How do I use it? Presumably I attach the generator to the 4-prong socket outside, and get it going, but what sequence of operations is necessary at the panel (see photo), inside? Presumably I first need to disconnect the house from the electric grid by throwing the main breaker. Then how do I know when the power outage is over and I no longer need to use the generator?

Each switch has 3 positions, as labeled on the right hand side of the panel: GEN OFF and LINE.
In their current position, the normal electrical feed is going to each circuit.
If you move the switch to 'GEN' it will then take power from the generator. OFF lets you kill the circuit entirely (connects to neither line nor generator).

If the panel was properly installed there should be no need to kill the breaker at the main panel: Flipping the switch on this panel disconnects the given circuit from the main panel.


How easy is it to fit a garage door opener? My wife is desperate to have a garage door opener, and she's found this kit at B&Q. Can anyone advise on how easy/straightforward these things are to install? It'll be me (and most likely my Dad) installing it, and I think between us we're reasonably capable, but I haven't done anything of this kind of scale before, and I imagine if it comes down and whacks my wife's new car it'll be my fault...

Also, regarding the electrics is it something I need an electrician to come and wire up for me? I have two fluorescent tubes in the garage ceiling, but I'm guessing if I run a spur from them down to the GDO, we'll need to leave the lights on all the time? (I'm in the UK if that makes a difference)

If you're not comfortable with running electricity in a safe manner, then yes, you should have an electrician install an outlet in the ceiling near where you intend to install the opener.  You can run a split off the line that feeds the lights, but you do need to run the opener on an always-on circuit, so you have to know what you're doing there.

As for the installation itself, as long as you're reasonably handy, know how to find proper structural supports (ie: the framing), the installation should not be very difficult.  Obviously the install will vary based on the model but generally you'll install a mounting brace of some kind, which needs to be VERY securely attached to the structure of your garage (not just the drywall - but INTO the joists/studs).  The rest should be pretty simple as long as you read the directions carefully and plan it all out before you actually start.


Why did my circuit blow after replacing a switch? I replaced an older switch yesterday on an existing line of recessed lights. There are five lights on the one switch. On the same breaker; but different switch, there are 7 more recessed lights (all in a basement, in the process of being renovated, and easily accessible; also both lines are missing one bulb, so they are not pulling a full load). On the same breaker there is also an outlet that runs a dehumidifier. This has been the setup for over a year when the project started.

If it is an overload on the breaker it has never been an issue before. Yesterday I switched out an older switch that was very noisy when flipped, for a newer, quieter switch (not new, but pulled from another spot in the house). The major difference is that the newer switch had a ground and and the older switch did not.

When I came home tonight and flipped the switch I heard a noise and the breaker tripped (not the noise of the breaker tripping, an additional electrical noise, like a surge). The dehumidifier was also on when I turned the switch on. I reset the breaker and did it again, tripped again. I had this on for hours yesterday (though I think the dehumidifier went on after the lights were on). When I turn on the line with the 7 lights nothing trips. It only happens on the new switch. Can the ground be messing it up (or rather be pointing to a problem that I didn't know was there)?

There are only a few possible causes:

The newish switch was not wired correctly.  I think this is the most probable cause:  anything recently changed and not working should be reviewed.  Maybe there is a stray strand of wire between the switched terminal and ground, or some wiring fault in the lights.  If any of these are the problem, turning on the switch will trip the breaker even if the dehumidifier and other devices are off.  That is, turning on only this switch is enough to blow the breaker.
The breaker has derated itself—that is, it is marginally defective.  This happens sometimes, especially with heavily loaded circuits.   Breakers get hot, or if they are tripped many times they can experience something similar to heat fatigue.
The load has increased:  more bulbs or more wattage, or the humidifier is using more power.  Many electrical systems do not provide steady voltage.  If it has increased recently, from say 114 to 122 volts, that might be just enough to increase the power to where the breaker should trip.

If it were me, I would

Shut off the circuit
Pull the "new" switch and examine it for physical problems.
Use a DMM to check for continuity between the black wire and ground: there should be none—that is, the ohms should be infinite.
Disconnect the white wires (should be a wire nut in the switchbox) and check for continuity between white going to the lights and ground: should be none.  The ohms between the white wire going to the breaker panel and ground should be close to 0.0.
Check the resistance of the light circuit with the DMM between black and white.  For 120 watts incandescent @ 120V, should be 8–10 ohms (cold tungsten has its resistance of about one fifteenth its hot temperature).

If the problem had not been found after that, I would reconnect the white wires (undo step 4), turn on the breaker, and put a clamp-on A.C. ammeter (actually an analog meter would be better for this test) to measure the current on a black wire, and turn the switch on.  It can either spike strongly or not at all.  Strongly is bad and means there is a fault in the wiring or fixtures.  Not at all means more tracing of wire, perhaps from the circuit breaker panel is needed.


How to deal with a thick wire in a mounting nipples for a chandelier? I have a chandelier that came with a very thick insulation on the wires which were intended for use as a plugged in lamp. I am installing it as a chandelier, and it came with the mounting hardware, but the thick wires will not fit through the nipple very well. Is there some technique I'm missing? Even when I've got the thing forced through, twisting the nipple to screw it into the mounting bracket is impossible. And let's not even mention getting the wires to the right length.

Call the manufacturer for assistance or see if you can get heavy duty hardware at an electrical supply store. The included hardware may be low-grade & drilling the nipple hole more than a millimeter larger may cause a safety issue. The heavy duty stuff you can drill no problem, if needed. The canopy cover will likely then also need to be slowly drilled so a bigger nipple can fit through.


Half-hot outlet connected to dimmer switch My home has a half-hot outlet connected to a dimmer switch.  I have two questions about it.
First, is this a code violation?
Second, What would be better in the long term:

Change to a standard switch
Replace the outlet with a normal duplex outlet
Other

Some things have a dim view of being dimmed

Things other than lamps, such as motors and some electronic loads, often take a rather dim view of being connected to a dimmed receptacle.  This may range from merely "not working" to "overheating and catching on fire", something you (and the NFPA) would rather not have happen.  So, the 2014 NEC prohibits your current configuration in 406.15:

  406.15 Dimmer-Controlled Receptacles. A receptacle supplying lighting loads shall not be connected to a dimmer
  unless the plug/receptacle combination is a nonstandard
  configuration type that is specifically listed and identified
  for each such unique combination.

This leaves you with two options -- either you can swap the culprit dimmer out for a switch, or you can use a special receptacle and plug to prevent non-lamps from being plugged in to the dimmed outlet.

Going Dimmerless

Swapping a dimmer for a switch is a relatively easy task, at least as far as single pole configurations are concerned:

Turn the power to the circuit off at the breaker
Remove the old dimmer + faceplate from the box and undo the terminal screws
Connect the new switch's brass screws to the two wires that went to the dimmer's brass screws (they may be any color but green or bare).  Which wire goes to which brass terminal doesn't matter, either.
Connect any bare or green wire present to the new switch's green grounding screw.
Put the switch back in the box and put the faceplate back on
Turn the circuit back on

Keeping pesky non-lamps at bay

Lutron makes a plug and receptacle combination for this job -- the receptacle you need is a Lutron HDTR, and you'll have to put the matching plug on whatever lamp you plug into the dimmed receptacle, as well.

This is the costlier and slightly trickier option of the two, but may be needed if the dimmer serves other lights as well as the half-dimmed receptacle or otherwise can't be removed.


How to Lubricate a Hammer/Rotary Drill I own a hammer drill (DeWalt d25263). I was using it today, and everything went well. But as I removed the SDS chisel bit that I was using, I saw a good bit of grease on the shank of the bit. I've never seen this before.
I'm worried that the tool has been compromised. The instructions say to take the drill to a repair shop to have it cleaned and lubricated after use. I would like to know how to clean and lubricate it myself.
I looked for videos on YouTube but didn't find anything that was helpful. Can you please tell me how to clean and lubricate a hammer drill?

Here's the relevant bit, which includes some liability tone:

  Your tool was properly lubricated before leaving the factory. In from two to six months, depending
  upon use, take or send your tool to an authorized service center for a complete cleaning, inspection
  and lubrication. Tools used constantly on production jobs will need relubrication more often. Also,
  tools “out of service” for long periods should be relubricated before being put back to work.

The simple fact is that it doesn't need periodic lubrication for the casual user. It would be different if you were a professional drilling dozens of holes every day.

If you like, dab a little common grease in the chuck on occasion. There's a lot of slop (movement) in that type of chuck, and friction can heat things up if it's totally dry.


Is urethane-based grout worth the cost for bathroom tile? We are beginning a project to tile the master bathroom.  The local tile shop where we are purchasing the tile is recommending a urethane-based grout (specifically Bostik TruColor Pre-Mixed Grout).  I am sure there are other brands as well.  It is like 4x the cost of traditional grout, but apparently has better characteristics like anti-mold, cracking, fading, etc.  There is no need to seal the grout as well.

Does anyone have any experience working with these grouts?  Apparently they are newer and have not been around too long, how are they holding up?  Is this newer product catching on or is it still too new to tell?  I can afford the cost, but is it really worth it?

UPDATE: A few more facts.  We are not going to be installing this ourselves for various reasons.  We have not yet contacted our installer to see if he has used it, and what his preference is.  We will do so and I will report what he recommends as well.

I, and many tile pros, aren't fans of the pre-mixed urethane grouts. Again, they're newer products. There's two downsides to the urethane grouts I looked at. The first is that the dry time before water exposure is something like seven days ... again, this is the last time I looked at it, and that might have changed. The urethane grouts are supposedly easy to clean, HOWEVER, every tile guy I've talked to has said it's not a product for newbies.

I haven't worked with them personally, because my go-to is Spectralock by Laticrete. Spectralock is an epoxy grout, and can be had at Lowe's or through your tile supplier. You mix two parts goo with one part colored sand, and you get a very consistent and easy to apply grout. You have to pay careful attention to the setup time and the cleaning instructions, though, because they will leave a haze on your tile as the epoxy sets up if you don't clean promptly, and it sets up quickly.


Is it safe to trim the torsion bar on a garage door? The torsion bar on my garage door extends ~6" past the end bearing bracket (picture below).  I would like to trim it by ~3" to place a cabinet on the wall.  Are there any requirements for torsion bar extension beyond the bracket?

The below link seems to indicate centering the torsion bar.  If one side is trimmed should the other side match?
https://diygaragedoor.com/diy-instructions/how-to-install-a-single-torsion-spring-assembly.php

Thanks!

Expert/garage door safety paranoiac here.

You know what, I actually feel comfortable with that.

I'd leave several inches beyond the end of the bearing, so if the shaft shifts in the bearing, that's still alright.

No need to trim both sides symmetrically.  Extra length doesn't cost you anything... Unless it does.


Speaker wires to outside covered deck If the picture loads you should be able to see what I’m talking about. I’m looking to move the 2 speakers that are mounted to the back of my garage over to the covered part of my deck. I would like to run them directly over from where the speakers are mounted now to the top of the post on the deck. Running them below ground is not an option. Distance is approximately 6’. Thought of maybe mounting a plastic pvc box at both ends with the plastic flex conduit glued between them. I don’t want anything rigid to allow for movement of the different structures. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated

Conduit's not what you want here

Flexible conduit (of any type) can't be run between buildings like this as it violates the support rules (you need supports every 3', and you can't have that here).

Instead, what you want to do is run a galvanized, aluminum-clad, or copper-clad steel messenger wire between the two structures, and then use field lashings or cable saddle rings to attach an outdoor rated (sunlight resistant) CL2 or CL3 speaker cable to it.  This falls under Article 396 of the NEC, and in particular the line in table 396.10(A) that states "Other factory-assembled, multiconductor control, signal, or power cables that are identified for the use" are allowed for messenger-supported wiring installations.

It is important to provide enough slack in the messenger and cable to let the messenger adopt a natural catenary curve (instead of having it taut between structures or excessively slack/drooping, check a sag and tension chart for details) in order to take up structural motion and wind deflections, as you indicate, and also to attach the cable to the messenger in a way that will withstand the test of time (usually, a thinner lashing wire is wound around the combination of cable and messenger, or the cable is threaded through cable saddles that have been attached to the messenger wire).  You'll also need to ground the messenger wire itself at at least one end (probably using a split bolt on the messenger with a ground wire or Bare Armored Ground cable going back to a nearby mains box that a ground can be tapped at).


Is a tiny dent in a compressor tank a safety concern? I saw some questions and answers on air compressors so I thought I would ask one: I just purchased a Chicago Pneumatics 21 gallon compressor and I noticed a tiny dent about 3+ inches from the upper seam, (almost unnoticeable, like the edge of something hit it or the tank fell on it). Again, it is really shallow, but is this something to worry over?

As the reservoir for an air compressor holds air under pressure, the forces on the dent will be outward. If the dent is not on a seam or other metal discontinuity, and is shallow enough, little will happen. When it is pressurized the first time, if it does not "un-dent" itself, you likely have little about which to worry. Even if it does pop out, it won't go beyond flush and again, no worry.

Keep an eye on the dent. If the paint is scratched and the metal under begins to rust, not so good. If the paint is cracked or scratched, consider to apply primer and topcoat to remove future rust problems.

Rust is a problem over long periods of time, especially on the inside, so drain your tank frequently and examine it for outside rust and damage as well.


How can I fix this garage door opener? My garage door opener (Craftsman 1/2 HP) stopped working some time ago (even lights didn't come on). I replaced the circuit board and now the lights are working and the board reacts to the remote (rapid blinking) but the motor doesn't start (doesn't even make a noise). I decided to replace the motor but it didn't help. There is a large capacitor between the CB and the motor. When I press the remote my voltage meter doesn't show anything on that capacitor's legs. Could it be the capacitor?

When I was working on modifying my garage door opener, I found two things:

One of the failure sensors was tripped; there are several, but the one that got me was the obstruction sensor. It was incredibly easy to bypass by short-circuiting the sensor's connection with a jumper wire.
The communication may be off, especially since you replaced the board and remotes sometimes don't clear their memory so well; check the blink patterns in the diagnosis manual. The blinks may indicate that the remote's rolling keycode pattern is incorrect. This is exactly what happened to me.


Equivalent of union for rigid conduit installation? As everyone who's ever done some plumbing knows, every fitting goes together clockwise.  The more pipe you run, or the more complicated your geometry is, the more likely it is you'll end up with something you have to connect where you can't turn the ends the right way, or at all.  There's a solution, of course: a union.
So the question is, what if you have that problem when you're running rigid conduit?  I've never seen a union, and AFAIK using a union (or any ordinary plumbing fitting other than perhaps a coupling) is not kosher for conduit work.
But I've looked at complicated, professionally-installed rigid conduit runs where I can't imagine how they got it together conventionally.  (It would be nice if I had some pictures, but I don't.)  So how do they do it?  Sometimes I can imagine that a left-hand thread would let you make something up tight, but I'm reasonably sure there's no such thing.  But is there some kind of special conduit fitting that helps you assemble things where you can't turn them conventionally?

What you're after, traditionally, is a three-piece coupling
The fitting you're after to join a pair of rigid conduits where you can't turn one or both conduits is called a three-piece conduit coupling.  As its name implies, it consists of three pieces: a doubly-threaded (inside and outside) chase nipple, a female threaded ferrule, and a female threaded hex coupling.  The chase nipple threads on one end, then the hex coupling is slipped over the other before the ferrule is threaded on.  Finally, the hex coupling is pulled over the ferrule and joins to the outside threads of the chase nipple, completing the joint as depicted in this video by electrical-fittings manufacturer/distributor Garvin Industries, who I have utterly no affiliation with.
There are other options, though
However, three-piece couplings aren't the only game in town.  There are set-screw and compression-type couplings available for rigid conduit (in addition to the EMT versions that folks usually know about).  Furthermore, there are also split couplings that are placed over the threaded ends you wish to join together and then bolted closed much like a pipe clamp.


Help identify wiring adapter involving Cat 5e cable? We recently moved into a 1960's house. 4 of the bedrooms have dual RJ-45 and RJ-11 receptacles. When I got cable installed, they had to run a new wire from the telephone pole out front. I was told the coax in the house was really old and wasn't being used. I was also informed the previous owners must have had DSL.

Our network is working great with the new cable setup, but I wanted to make use of the Ethernet that has already been ran throughout our house (it is Cat 5e). I found out one of the Ethernet cables runs all the way to the garage, then out of the crawl space, up to this adapter thing.  I just wanted to see if someone could shed some light on what might be going on here?  What might this adapter be for?

This was your original BELL system wiring throughout your house. It would have been modified throughout the years as bell added new cable for the old DSL service. You can see the old service drop coming in from the top and the distribution phone lines branching out from there. Who are you with now? If you're not using any of that wiring for your existing service, you can use it for whatever you need.  I know this is vague but so is the picture.


How can I hang a wall mount on misaligned studs? So my wall mount teleco rack arrived. However my studs are 15" apart, not 16" so I can't put lag screws into more than one stud.

I don't want to drill into the metal so close to the opening already.

If I put plywood against the wall, secured to 3 studs (2 are next to each other about 5" apart)

Would that hold a rack supporting 200lbs? Would 1" plywood be enough?

Putting a stud next to the other is an option however it would involve removing Sheetrock.

Even if your studs are 15" apart, and the holes are 16" apart, there will be a portion of the stud behind the mounting holes, just not the center of the studs.

Angling the lag screws a little, and using washers to buffer the head of the lags against the metal of the rack will aid in tightening.

Beyond that, I would not hesitate to elongate the existing hole to allow it to get a better centering on the studs, or even abandoning using lags, and drilling a series of 3/16" holes, maybe 4 or 5 or more and using drywall screws on each side instead. There has been mention that drywall screws don't hold a lot, since they are brittle, but if there is enough used, brittle don't matter. In a pinch, in my opinion, 4 drywall screws would hold 200 lbs. but I would not stop there, I would use at least that many on just one side, if I used the screws.

The screws would not have a tendency so much as to split out the side of the stud, compared to lags. But a properly sized pilot hole will allow the lags to perform in this "tight" situation.

Angling any of these fasteners will help deter the splitting out at the side of the stud.


Compacting soil after removing fence posts to install new posts with vibratory ram? I have a 6 foot wooden privacy fence I am looking to replace. Several of the posts are rotting right at ground level so their concrete footings are going to have to go.

A company sells a metal fencepost that is meant to be hidden and present the appearance of a wooden fence, which is desirable to me. I am thinking of using them as the metal should outlast any wood.

Rather than installing new concrete footings, I see a popular and cost effective method of installing fenceposts nowadays is with a vibratory driver that hammers the fenceposts right into the ground. Since I'll likely use a skid-steer to rip the old footings out, I can get an attachment that can drive in replacement posts. Put 4+ feet of post in the ground and 6' above and the fence should be solid.

The only question is how to prepare the soil. Ripping out the footings is going to leave holes that need to be filled. What steps should I take to compact or stabilize the soil, so that it can properly hold the posts? Would a plate compactor or jumping jack compactor be a good idea, or something else?

Or, should I just abandon this idea altogether and pour new footings for the new posts?

I live in Minnesota, with serious winters, and pretty loamy easily drained soil, so whatever I do it needs to withstand frost heave. Some of the current posts are not doing well at that.

Cut off old posts slightly below grade.

Leave concrete footing in place.
 Drive in new posts 4feet deep into ground at a short distance to the left or right of old post. Driving in that deep would mean no footing necessary. Leaving the old post base and concrete would eliminate need to compact.  Enjoy your new fence. Thanks for asking here because now I know about these posts and will use them on my fence redo.


Is sanding hardwood floors really necessary? I bought my house a couple of years ago and I was told that there are beautiful hardwood floors under the carpet.  I decided to rip up the carpets and find out (actually my dog decided that for me when she ate some of my carpet for dinner).

I see a lot of articles on how to refinish hardwood floors, so I can figure that out myself.

My question is if sanding is ALWAYS required when bringing hardwood back to life.  The old woman I bought the house from kept the house in pristine condition, and I can't imagine the floors under the carpet are any different.

I'm hoping that I can remove the carpet and any adhesive and just apply the stain and protective coating without sanding.  Is this a completely unrealistic expectation?  Or do people sometimes get lucky and have hardwood under carpet that doesn't need sanded?

Wall to wall carpeting is usually attached to the floor using carpet tack strips around the perimeter like these

The raised tack points grip the edges of the carpet.

Once you pull up the carpet,  there is probably a padding that is just laid on the floor without adhesive. If it is rubber backed, the rubber bottom surface sometimes sticks to the floor underneath. Rubber residue can usually be scraped of with a plastic putty knife without damaging the surface of the wood underneath.

The tack strip can be pried up and there will be a few nail holes per strip that can be easily filled.

The real issue will be the condition of the finish on the floor once you get to it. If there is glue on the surface, this may be difficult to remove without serious sanding.  Often the finish is fine and a cleaning is all that is needed.

If the finish is slightly worn or lightly scratched, a light sanding followed by a coat or two of polyurethane should restore it. Professional finishers have a light abrading process using large buffing machines that can do this easily and quickly. However it can be done with an orbital sander and lots of time and elbow grease. Very thorough vacuuming and wiping of all dust is essential for a good finish.

If the finish is badly worn or deeply scratched, a serious sanding and refinishing is called for. Again, it can be done by the DIYer, but this is a big job, sanding with power hand tools is very tedious and the professional sanding machines are difficult to use for the novice.


how much weight will a 1.5" long wood screw support when screwed into stud? I'm looking to minimize how much my wall-mounted TV protrudes out of the wall by recessing the wall plate of the mount. The latter is going to be secured by 4 wood screws into 2x4 studs sitting 16" apart - in a square pattern across 2 studs. I'd like to "shave" the studs but don't know how much stud depth is required - in other words how long a wood screw I should use. Will 1.5" long screw be sufficient, for example? And so the stud should be slightly deeper - say 1.75"?

The TV + mount ~ 110LBS; the mount specs can be found here

There are many factors: 1) species of wood, 2) moisture content of wood, 3) diameter of screw shank, 4) length of screw, 5) wood screw or lag screw (lag bolt), 6) Direction of loading.

1) Species: Where I live, we use Douglas Fir-Larch framing lumber. It's considered "dense". Other softer species have lower strength values...some as much as 40% less.

2) Moisture Content: Green lumber (unseasoned) will not tend to split as much as "dry" or "surface dry" lumber. Assuming your wall has been built and has been in a dry environment for more than a year, it should not split, even when you "shave it" (as you call it). Also, I'm going to assume the fasteners will be more than 7 times their diameter so they won't split the wood.

3) Diameter: Because the fastener needs to fit within the stud WIDTH, the diameter is limited to the minimum edge distance of 4 times the diameter...and that assumes you'll be equal distance from each edge of the stud.

4) Depth: Assuming a minimum of about 1 1/2" into wood, the screw needs to be about 2 1/2" long to account for the 1/2" drywall plus thickness of the metal hanger.

5) Screw or Bolt: You said screw so I'll use screw.

6) Loading: Fastening into stud will be side grain (not end grain, which is about 75% less). Also, because the TV is hanging on the wall, loading is a combination of shear and withdrawal.

Therefore, I'd use a #8 wood screw (0.164" diameter) x 2 1/2" long (to develop full resistance) which will give you about 95 lbs. withdrawal resistance in close or medium grain "dry" lumber per screw.

Remember, you can only "shave" a maximum of 1 1/2" off depth of stud (don't over cut or it will weaken stud) and don't over pre-drill diameter of hole. To develop full lateral strength, there needs to be lead holes drilled (pre-drilled). Lead holes should be about 7/8th the shank diameter. Therefore, I'd use a 0.1435" diameter bit. (1/8") If the screw doesn't go in easily, you can ease the installation by greasing it up by rubbing the screw in a bar of soap.


my furnace fan stays on even when at temperature I recently installed a 2nd generation NEST thermostat.  I'm not home very often, but I was paying particularly close attention to the furnace after installing this thermostat and I noticed that the fan would not shut off.

Thought it was a faulty NEST so I put the old honeywell back on and same problem.

The furnace is set to a 60 second delay so the fan should shut off 60 seconds after temp (heat) is reached.

I opened up the furnace and i found a relay (p283-0294) that has terminals 4 and 6 jumped from "line" (110v).  when the coil at 1 (24v heat) and 3 (neutral) is energized (heat is on) then 5 (red, low fan), 6 circuit is completed.   When heat is off 4 and 2 (black, high fan) circuit is completed.

I went in and removed the wire from terminal 5 and now it behaves as I would expect.

Why is this relay in place?  Why would anyone want the fan to be on all the time like that when there is no heating nor cooling and the fan is set to auto?

This system does have a white-rodgers electronic controller. The only connection to this board from the relay is the heat connection on terminal 1.  The connection for 4/6 is pigtailed off of the line connection to the board. The neutral is pigtailed to neutral.

I feel like i just saved myself a bunch of money by not having the furnace fan running all the time but did I create a different problem?

furnace is a york gas upflow model P3URC14N09501C.  i inherited it when we moved in.  The only service I have not done on it myself is had the main fan wheel blade assembly replaced when it somehow got warped a couple of years ago.

no error codes / lights on via board diagnostic led.

Edit:  should the red wire i pulled off of relay's terminal 5 be going to the board controller instead of directly to the fan?  seems logical to me that the board would decide when to run that fan speed instead of all the time.

There is often a "fan" switch on the thermostat, which can be set either to "auto" or to "on" - the "on" setting runs the fan all the time, which can be helpful with distributing heat (or cold) in houses that otherwise tend to be very cold downstairs and very hot upstairs due to natural convection currents, especially if the furnace/AC does not run for quite a while.

It can also be helpful in running more air through the filters. It does use more electricity running the fan - how much depends on the fan.


Showers in house run cold after 30/45 seconds - Sinks scalding hot? Have a two story house with kitchen, main bath, guest toilet and laundry room on first floor, and two bedrooms upstairs with one full bath each. The water heater is a 55 gal gas operated, located in the crawl space. There is an expansion/pressurized tank on the hot water line of the house as well.

Yesterday, out of the blue and without any warning, the shower in the main bath went from hot to lukewarm then cold after about 30/45 seconds of running. The sink in the same bath would put out scalding hot water, as did the kitchen sink and any other outlet in the 1st floor. Turning the mixer valve control to max hot puts out warmer water, just enough for one to shower.

Checked upstairs and one of the bathroom showers displays the same symptom, while the other one works fine. Again, all faucets in the 2nd floor put out hot water as expected.

I checked the anti-scald on both shower mix valves and these don't seem to have them (Price-Pfisters - MFD 2007), but after that I'm out of options. Today both showers continue to do the same, while the third one upstairs (the one least used) works fine.

Where should I start looking? Is it possible that both mixer valves would have gone bad at the same time? What else could be causing this?

Wait, there's an expansion tank in the HOT water side?  That's wrong, it's supposed to be on the cold-water side of the hot water heater.  Expansion tanks do not have heaters in them, so the water in them is cold!  Try this theory on for size: You turn on max-hot, until the water runs nice and hot.  The lengthy hot-water pipe from downstairs is now full of hot water.  Then you set it for mixed-warm, which flows a lot more water overall, and reduces system pressure.  What does the expansion tank do?  Equalize to that new pressure - the air in the tank expands, by pushing cold water out of the expansion tank into the "hot" line.  It gets upstairs 30 seconds later.

How do you test this?  First, when it gets cold, touch nothing - just let it keep flowing for 120 more seconds.  See if it goes back to normal if you wait long enough.  If so, I'd blame the expansion tank being on the wrong side.

Or check the tank's temperature - room temperature - then trigger the problem - and shut off everything and run back down and check the tank's temperature again.  If it's warmer, it just ingested some hot water - which means it recently pushed out some cold water.

Otherwise, I'd do some other experiments.  Shut off the cold supply to the shower.  Now if it does the hot-cold bounce, it can't be the mixing valve!  Turn the tub to hot max.  Let it get hot and watch for that bounce.  None? Throw open the sink faucet to COLD and flush the toilet, to simulate the extra flow of setting the shower to "warm".  Watch for the bounce again.  If it still happens, that means the (good) valve isn't getting good hot water.

What would make it suddenly break? Probably something minor upstream that wouldn't affect healthy plumbing. Maybe loose cruft in your piping (probably upstream of the hot water heater). Maybe in street piping.  Maybe the water company changed supply pressure.


Why does my breaker keep tripping after power failures? I have a breaker that has only one outlet with two computers on it. It either trips when I plug the computers in or when the power comes back after a power out. It feels like it trips when the computer power supplies start charging their components after they have been discharged. It is a 16amp circuit on 240v and it is nowhere near its limit. Help!!

If you have two PCs, it's possible that the inrush current could be 8A each.  That's a fairly common problem for switch-mode power supplies - their normal current draw is fairly low, but on power-on they can briefly draw a lot.  16A is lower than we'd use for a ring main in the UK.

You should also look for a genuine problem in the wiring though.  If you have any RCD plugs, try putting them on the mains cables to the PCs, in case there is a fault inside a PC.


Filling gap between Schluter transition strip and drywall I did a noob mistake in my first major DIY project of bathroom remodeling
When I installed the cement backer board I left some gap between the cement board and the drywall. On top of that when I installed the tiles I did not go all the way to cover the transition between cement board and the drywall.
Now I have this gap with the Schluter transition strip on the bottom, membrane coated cement board on the back and the drywall on the top. Please see the attached picture. Also note the drywall and cement board are not levelled.
The question is how do I fill this gap?
Some options that come to my mind are:

Fill it will cement, coat with drywall compound and paper tape and topcoat with drywall compound
Fill it with narrow and skinny(1/4 inch thick?) drywall strips, coat with drywall compound and paper tape and topcoat with drywall compound
Fill it with narrow and skinny(1/4 inch thick?) plywood strips, coat with drywall compound and paper tape  and topcoat with drywall compound
Fill it with Hot mud(I have 90 minutes USG), coat with drywall compound and paper tape and topcoat with drywall compound
Fill it with foam backer rod, coat with drywall compound and paper tape and topcoat with drywall compound
Fill it with foam backer rod and caulk.

There could be other options I am not aware of.
I am really confused as what I should do.
Please help!!
Thanks

I just did something similar to your option 3. I used setting compound (Durabond 90) to fill the gap and smooth out it as best as a could.

After I got it pretty level I used a layer of paper tape to create a smooth surface, and finished with a small amount of premixed finishing compound then texture in my case.
You can use the Schluter as kind of screed surface after you cover with blue tape. I changed it between each layer to keep the build up of compound minimal.

Since drywall near water is always susceptible I did 2 coats of primer Zins BIN 123

Then 2 coats of a satin

I'll caulk the transition with a thin bead of clear silicone once I finish the floor. If you look closely you can see the wall bends in behind to the Schluter because its not flat but its not as noticeable from far away when finished.


Double pane window replacement Can I replace 1 pane of a double pane window. The outside pane is broken, is there anyway to replace just the outside pane

Yes, either the interior or exterior pane can be replaced by a glazer (window company).

Most glazing companies have “on site” services, including replacing panes of glass. They will remove the broken pane, glazing tape, insulation bead, etc. and replace with new...

They will need to remove the unbroken pane too, in order to properly seal the panes together.

However, be careful that the glass matches in color, coating, tint, etc. (especially if adjacent to other windows) before they remove the unbroken pane.


Home Ac unit is not turning on Couple of days ago my ac stopped blowing cold air. vents had warm air coming out of it. I went to check the condenser unit outside and found that the fan and the compressor were not turning on. When the thermostat sends the signal, I can hear the contactor click but no buzzing noise. I thought it might be the Capacitor so I replaced it but it didn't fix the problem. I'm now thinking its the contactor. I noticed the middle of the contactor looks burnt out? How can I tell for sure? Can I test it somehow after turning off the power?

it was the contactor after all. I replaced it and everything turned on just fine. After inspecting the old contactor, I saw it looked like a bug caused the burn. New contactor has a protective cover so bugs won't get in easy.


How to splice wires on an Electric dog fence I am installing an electric pet fence.  It is indicated that the perimeter wire must be able to make it around the yard to meet at both ends so it can be spliced into the twisted wire that feeds into the transmitter. The twisted wire will cancel the signal. So I get all that   My question is, is there any type of tubing I can feed through some of the live wire so it can be another dead zone.  Also, how can I splice off twisted wire to create another dead zone.  I was thinking of the running the 15feet through the crawl space since I read concrete may block the signal.   Help  P.S. I am not an electrician but one did set the transmitter into the wall.

To be sure I've answered your question, yes you can use electricians corrugated metal conduit.  You'd have to connect a ground wire and tie it off as close to the transmitter's (the wall socket that the perimeter wires connect to) ground as possible.  For your second question, I'd go to home depot and peruse the electrical section.  When I installed my invisible fence, I used either the crimpable ones, called a butt splice, but found that the wire rusted out and dropped the signal to ground in a rain storm, -or- the new fancy ones like the following: AlumiConn 3-Port.  If this sounds a little "hack-ish" don't worry, if you study the electric fence's supplied manual and inferred method you'll see they are just as bad.  This is low voltage stuff, so you won't get shocked.

So,... now that your question is answered, I have to say, the conduit is overkill.  I would think that 15 feet of the twisted wire is more than sufficient.  The longer the twisted section with tighter twists the better, but my dogs never got zapped once walking out of the garage where this was installed, so I recommend trying it (testing it without the dog collar on the dog of course) and see if it is an issue before you waste lots of time and money on trying to attenuate a signal that may not be a problem in the first place.  While the electrician "hackery" of these electric fence companies may appear a little unnerving, they have definitely overcome the problem of needing "deadzones" in the fence quite well.


Spigot leaks when sprinklers come on Today I was adjusting my sprinkler system heads and I had my spigot turned on with my hose and nozzle attached. Strangely, when two zones would turn. On the spigot would shoot water out until the sprinklers were. Fully charged and operating. Only two of the five zones would make the spigot leak. As far ask know this wasn't happening last summer. The main water. line leaving the house splits and one pipe leads to the backyard and this leaking spigot and the other leads to sprinkler system. Any clue what could be causing this to happen?

Sounds like an anti-siphon reaction to me, full water pressure in the hose going to your roof, and the house water pressure temporarily drops from the large demand from those two zones until the sprinklers are fully charged. You can try adding an anti-siphon or backflow prevention valve on the faucet to verify (they make valves that screw on between the faucet and hose). If the leaking stops or significantly reduces, then you know that's the cause.

As for why it's leaking out the stem, I'm not sure, but it's possible that's by design. The cap on top should be a vacuum breaker, allowing air in the lines after the water is shutoff and pressure drops.


Where to find main shut off switch for breaker Where can I find the main shut off breaker It doesn’t let upload my picture but my breaker is small but doesn’t have  main shut off and meter doesn’t have a switch either

You may have what is called a Rule of Six setup. This means that more than one, but no more than six, separate switches need to be turned off to turn off all power to the building. As I understand it, this was allowed many years ago in order to make large panels without having a really big main breaker, but it has been used in many different ways. It is not the normal way to do things today - I'm not sure if it is even allowed for new installations, but old "rule of six" installations that are functioning OK are grandfathered.

For example, in my house there are two pairs of fuse blocks to be pulled out in each of two fuse panels that came with the house (or at least have been there for a very long time) plus a main breaker in a subpanel added with my kitchen remodel, for a total of 5 items to be pulled or switched to cut off everything. If/when I finally get this all replaced with one nice big breaker panel, I will need to have the electric company pull the meter/cut power to do that. Of course, I'll want them to increase my total service at the same time, and the end result is a lot of work and money and..."someday".


How concerned should I be over scraping/sanding a small area of lead paint We removed a shelving unit in our kitchen that was attached directly to the wall.

We intend to paint the entire room but the cabinet was on top of many layers of flaking old paint. The house dates back to the 30s and it is likely that some of the paint is lead based.

The area is roughly 3ftx6ft and we don't have any children. Should we avoid scraping it and call in professionals or is that small an amount relatively fine?

What about sanding?

Don't sand, that puts lead dust all over the place.  Get some medium plastic and taped it to the wall and extend it out 6-12 feet to catch all the chips.   Scrape it carefully so all the chips fall on the plastic.  When done, roll up the plastic to trap the chips and dust, tape it closed, and dispose in the trash. (I don't like that step, but last I heard, there was nothing better).

Wipe all surfaces down with damp towels until no more dust is removed.

Wash your clothes thoroughly; be careful not to track through the rest of the house.

If you have a HEPA vacuum, use it!  :)

You may not have kids now, but it's the lingering lead dust that is most dangerous.


faucet valve, dripping spout I have this vintage sterling faucet.
It stays like this for hours and hours and hours after turning it off

If i touch the end of the spout little drips fall for hours and hours and hours.

If i close the valve it stops the water immediately.  A little drip forms on the end of the spout.  If i leave that drip on there it hangs there without growing and dropping for hours.  If i touch that little drop a teaspoon comes out and then it seems little drops form and drop off for hours.
Is this water from the inside of the spout slowly drawing the remnants in the tube UP by capillary action or is the valve not totally totally zero psi zero flow closed?

Your statement that "...little drops form and drop off for hours" indicates that the valve is leaking-by and probably needs a new washer. The other weird effect you describe seems like a surface-tension anomoly.


Does it matter how the chuck on a drill is set when it is stored? When I put away my drill for storage, should I be concerned about whether the chuck is fully open, fully closed, or somewhere in between?

Doesn't make a major difference. The chuck is a rather precise thing and dust, sand and moisture which are all bad for the chuck will get into in regardless of how open it is.

Only one thing comes to mind: when the chuck is getting closed the jaws extend out of the chuck and so there's greater chance that they accidentally catch on something and scratch or damage that, but that's an unlikely edge case.

I'd say the most important thing is that once you open the chuck so such extent that the jaws don't extend from the chuck body anymore the chuck and the whole drill get shorter and that's quite useful both for storage and for transportation - takes less space in the bag, has less chances to scratch or pierce stuff. I've never faced any real problems because of having a drill chuck left in "wrong" position for storage.


Installing Gutter Leaf Guard Under Shingle This may be a simple question, but I just want to make sure I am doing it right. When installing a leaf guard on a gutter under shingles, which layer is best to put it under? I do not know much about roofs so I thought I would ask.

As you can see, there seems to be two layers. Should the guard go under the first or second layer? Thank you.

I am assuming that you are installing a surface tension type of system.  Ideally the metal sheet should go under both layers of roof.  It is hard to tell from the photo but it appears that the gutter may be high relative to the first roof.  If this is the case it will still work if it goes under the top layer only.  If the gutter is too high, preventing the gutter guard from laying at the same slope as the roof, you will need to relocate the gutter at a slightly lower position.  If the guard does not have enough slope the leaves will get hung up rather than being washed off the roof.


Conduit for low-voltage wire outdoors I'm building a "smart garden" - which is really nothing more than moisture and temperature sensors on each of my garden beds / planters hooked up to Raspberry Pis. Each Pi will be connected to a switch and powered by that switch (using PoE), so I need to connect the switch to the Pi with ethernet cable carrying between 48 and 57 VDC.
To try to shorten the story, I need to run conduit between the central switch location and the garden beds / planters. It will mostly be alongside the house; I intend to bury it instead of having the conduit run along the outside. Can I use EMT conduit for this? Can I use PVC? If both, which one would be the better solution?

Going back to finger safe voltages I use the contact limits in article 680 , 15v rms 30 for DC ,
However you are not talking about a body of water/pool
In chapter 9 of the NEC there are 2 tables 11a AC &11b DC.
These show the classifications based on  the available voltage and current
Inherently limited power supplies 30-60v and under 100 va are class 2.
Class 2 do not propose a hazard and the wiring methods are just about whatever you want if your wiring is rated for running in walls no conduit is needed (even speaker wire run in walls needs to be listed for use in walls).
The wiring method used out side can be either pvc or emt. If you don’t think it’s going in the ground for 10-15 years I find emt less expensive because you don’t need a fitting you bend it. If you do use emt fittings They are reusable where once conduit is glued it is solid. So it is really up to what you want to use.


Cutting ceiling joist for attic ladder install Looking to take advantage of some open space in our attic and want to install an attic ladder. This would require cutting some of the ceiling joist. Before I do can anyone help me answer the following questions:

1) Can the joist be cut to make room for the attic ladder.

2) How much weight could the ceiling joist hold

Some details:

Single story house built in the 1940s
Ceiling joist are 2x4
Ceiling joist are support by a wall that runs roughly down the middle of the house

Hopefully the attached pictures provide additional info.

Yes, you can typically cut through joists, but you must make some additions known as trimmers and headers to the framing as well. Like this...

Note that the trimmers run the whole length of the joists in place.

The ceiling joists will not hold much weight being only 2x4’s. I would not expect to be able to install plywood and flooring and walk around up there, but you could possibly store some lightweight things at the edges of the space and over the wall below.


Why do I have to start my furnace manually every morning? The oil furnace works fine all day and evening, then overnight I have the programmable thermostat lower the temperature at 11pm. But every morning at 5am when the thermostat tries to turn the temperature back up the furnace comes on for 45 seconds and shuts off. I go to the basement take off the panel. The box has a red light flashing. I push the reset button on the box, the furnace starts immediately and runs OK until the next morning. I've also had similar problems 5 or 6 months ago, had to call repairman twice and he said that he replaced almost everything he could replace. And it worked til now.

Something similar happened to my gas boiler. It was a problem with the ignition electronics. Every night, when the thermostat was lowered, the circuit board would cool down and a solder connection would come loose. Sometimes the board could be wiggled to make the connection again. Eventually I opened it up and identified and fixed the loose solder connection.

The ignitor box looked something like this:


How can I create circuit diagrams and what program should I use? Circuit diagrams are very handy. On this site, they can really help illustrate the problem or solution (see here). They can help you visualize what needs to be changed when doing work on your house, and they keep a record of how your house is wired up.

How can I easily create these diagrams, especially if I want a digital copy of them? What simple (hopefully free) programs do people use?

I knew a few EE's who used TinyCAD for circuit diagrams. It might be a little bit of overkill for drawing simpler diagrams though.

The best news is, it's FREE!

Screenshot:


What is an effective way to attach this plastic filter to aluminum without drilling? I have an aluminum angle that is housing an LED strip. I need to attach a UV filter to stop LEDs fading whatever it lights. I ordered a plexi angle that will work as a filter, I just need to figure out how to attach it. I don't want to drill into the aluminum because its attached and I would like to make this as painless as possible. I would also like to make it removable so I can change lights. Any ideas?

I would suggest good old J-B Weld for joining plexiglass and metal, and thistothat agrees.

Rough up the mating surfaces with 120 grit sandpaper and be sure to clamp where you can. If you don't want the J-B Weld to show, you'll have to put the plexiglass angle above the aluminum channel. However, it will definitely be harder to get a good bond, you'll have trouble clamping it from what I can see of your design. If you don't care because it's in a closet, you could cut some scrap wood to length and place it underneath as a brace while the J-B Weld cures.


What is a good generator for emergency backup? So recently, during Irene, I learned that my car's lighter outlet was insufficient to power a sump-pump (hello, two inches of water in the master bedroom) Thankfully, the car's circuitry was fine but I don't think the adapter works anymore c'est la vie. Even more thankfully, this is the second time my house has flooded, so we knew how to protect everything above the sub-floor save the carpet (huzzah?).

Anyway, my wife and I have come to the conclusion that maybe it would be a good idea to get a generator to power the sump-pump next time. The problem is that I know almost nothing about what I would need.

My only major requirement is that it is able to run a sump-pump (batteries are not sufficient -- power can go for hours during a storm). It would be nice (since I need to get one anyway) if it could run my well pump and my refrigerator too (because keeping the food good and the water running is something I consider worthwhile).

Ideal world -- I would like something which an idiot can run and something I won't need to worry about too much between uses (I'm a developer, I can take a computer apart and put it back together blindfolded, but when it comes to maintaining equipment, I'm basically lost), and something which is inexpensive would be nice too.

You should hire an electrician to help you with this, since you don't sound qualified to wire up a generator properly. She can help you figure out the right way to do this. However, it's good for you to be well-informed going in to this. So:

Generators are rated in several ways:

Peak load. Starting a motor (like a pump or fridge compressor) draws a lot of current (amps) for just a moment. You want to make sure your generator can handle that.
Nominal load. If your fridge and sump pump and well pump are all running at the same time, can the generator handle the load? Add up all the loads of what you plan to run. I've ready that it's good to keep a generator running at 50% - 75% capacity most of the time, but that was in an off-grid RV context; it may or may not apply to you.
240V vs. 120V. Smaller generators usually only put out 120V. If your sump pump or well pump requires 240V, you'll need one that can do that.
Fuel type. If you already use propane or natural gas for heat, it can be convenient to use that fuel for your generator. Otherwise you'll need to keep gas or diesel on hand. Diesel is less explosive. Gas engines are easier to work on. Use a fuel preservative like Sta-Bil to keep the gas fresh.

Be sure to exercise your generator regularly, per the manufacturer's instructions. (My RV generator wants to run for 30 minutes at 50% load every month.)

A permanently-installed generator must be on a transfer switch. This will disable the connection to the power grid when the generator is providing power. This is critical to protect line workers doing repairs on the grid after a storm. You can even have the whole system be automatic, so if you are evacuated or on vacation the generator can kick in and save your stuff.

Think about where you want the generator. Close to the transfer switch & main breaker panel will reduce cost of wiring.

The smaller your generator is, the cheaper it will be to buy, install, maintain, and run. A simple way to approach this problem is to buy a portable generator that will run one of those 3 loads at a time (sump pump, well pump, fridge). Plug each appliance in to the generator one at a time, as needed. Pump out the basement, then fill the well reservoir, then draw down the fridge. (Filling your fridge with bottles of water will add thermal mass.) Remember that the generator must remain outdoors, to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. This only works if your pumps are plug-in, not hard wired, and if they're close enough to run a reasonable extension cord to them from the generator.


Are there 2 ways to wire a ceiling light? I went to replace a (two wire) spring driven timer with a (four wire) digital timer, but found only two wires (and a bare ground) in the switch box.  I'm guessing the cable from the circuit breaker runs to the box at the light (as opposed to the switch box), then a side cable runs down to the switch box.  Regardless, I replaced it with another spring driven.

What factors determine whether the cable from the breaker gets run to the switch box or to the light box?

Assuming you are speaking of the neutral (grounded) conductor, until relatively recently it was not common for it to be routed through a switch box.

Switches (and timed switches) control associated loads by connecting/disconnecting the hot wire, so running the neutral wire through a switch box was unnecessary. Modern switches including digital timers often require a neutral, making it difficult to use those in older buildings.


Odd wiring setup in light switch Hoping for some help after trying to get this setup to work. I’ve purchased a smart switch that requires two load wires, one neutral wire, and one ground wire.

When I took out my existing light switch I found it having the two load wires but also two neutral (white wires) connected to a ground wire (green). I unwrapped all the wires and hooked it into the smart switch but it didn’t work.

After some investigation it seems that the green wire must be touching one of the white wires for even the normal switch to work. Does anyone have any idea what’s going on here and what the right setup should be?

What’s very odd is that my white wires must be connected to green ones. If they are disconnected the switch doesn’t work.

Thank you.

Here is a wiring that does seem to work (note the white and green are touching):

The following wiring doesn’t work (white and green not touching):

UPDATES:

Thank you all for the advice and help, it works great:

Someone ran out of white wire

It appears the previous installers ran out of white wire to use for running neutrals, so they grabbed the spool of green wire off the back of the truck to keep the job going.  As a result, you'll need to treat the green wires in your switch boxes as neutrals for the purposes of installing your smart switch. This is workable here because you're in Chicago, land of metal conduit everywhere, and metal conduit is usable as a grounding path all by itself.

So, what I'd do is wire up the line/load pigtails to the wires that went to the switch, attach the white pigtail to the existing bundle of white/green wires (making sure they're bundled together as before), mark the green wire as a neutral with white electrical tape (given that replacing it isn't an option at this time), and either leave the green pigtail capped off/unhooked (grounding the switch via its yoke) or terminate the green pigtail from the switch on a green 10-32 ground screw in the matching hole in the back of the switch box (grounding the switch to the box via its pigtail).  If there are any other bundles of wires in the box (such as the bundle of reds in the first switch box), just leave them intact.


Are steel exterior doors reversible? We're thinking of flipping the direction our front door opens. We have a solid (meaning no window), steel front door--likely something from the cheap-end of the spectrum from Home Depot.

I'm looking at it and it appears reversible. Both sides are the same, the hinge mounts go through the entire width of the door. There's nothing unique about the hardware on either side.

Safe to assume it's reversible?

Your front door probably currently opens inward. If you try to just flip the door such that you so not have to change around the hardware on the door (old outside becomes inside and old inside becomes outside) then the door would be oriented to as to open outwards. The door's frame is likely not at all compatible with this.

If the hardware on the door can truly be flipped such that the hinges can be swapped to swing from the other edge and the latch and deadbolt can be flipped side for side then you have a good start. However it is not just the door that you have to look at. There is also the door jamb that would require some significant work. The hinge cutouts need to move to the opposite side as well as the latch and deadbolt holes and strike plates. This consideration is probably best done by just replacing the whole door jamb as trying to patch the old hinge cutouts and latch holes can always look like a patch job.


Is it ok to pigtail different gauge transformer wires with a 15 amp circuit? I have a 15 amp breaker that’s used for my foyer/family room. The builders double tapped that breaker to add a 16V-10VA transformer for the doorbell to the side of the service panel via a knockout. See pics below.
I plan to swap the existing transformer with a 16V-30VA transformer to power a Unifi G4 Doorbell along with my NuTone chime box. In the process, I’d like to correct the double tap.
My question is: Do I need to worry about the wire gauge of the transformer wires if I wanted to correct the double tap via a pigtail? The AWG of the transformer is 18. As far as I know, this is not up to for code for a 15 amp circuit. Is it ok if I proceed to pigtail with the mismatched wire gauges? I understand the current transformer is also a different gauge wire and double tapped which seems to work fine, but I’d like to correct it.
My other question is: Instead of a pigtail, if I were to add another single pole 15 amp breaker to correct the double tap, would I need to worry about the wire gauge of the transformer as long as the doorbell is the only thing on that breaker?
Finally, I know it’s “common practice” to double tap for doorbell transformers, so how bad is it really if I didn’t fix the double tap?
I’m not so concerned about being perfectly up to code. Instead, I’m looking for something that is safe and reliable.
Thanks!

Just fix this with a pigtail + wirenut
Your breakers are GE breakers that do not support a "double tap" connection.  Fortunately, this is easy to fix; since this a 15A breaker, a length of 14AWG THHN and a wirenut suitable for the wires involved can be used to combine the new pigtail with the existing branch-circuit and transformer hot wires, while the other end of that pigtail simply lands on the existing breaker hot terminal.  Make sure to do this with the breaker in question turned OFF, of course, and you'll want to use an inch-pound torque screwdriver to torque the breaker and neutral screws to spec, as well as cranking that wirenut down tight!


How should I reattach this garage door bracket? I didn't install this originally but looks like the bracket has broke off from the door. Also it appears that the door itself is damaged. What is the best way to repair this?

Once screws rip out I like to reenforced the door.
I would get a larger piece of metal several inches wider. And screw into the door in 2-3 new locations if in the center use flat head screws there. Then attach the original bracket to the new piece of metal.

Next I would check that the door moves up with only a few pounds of force. I have found garage like you have when the torsion or one of the torsion springs break. If the door feels like more than 30lb you may want to inspect your spring(s). Broken springs are not hard to replace but can be quite dangerous (believe it or not even fatal at times). Door pros can knock a broken spring out quickly.
This may be the reason the bracket ripped loose.


Adding recessed LEDs to existing ceiling fan/light circuit - where to tap? I'd like to add a couple 4" recessed LEDs to an existing fan/light circuit in my room.  The fan/light is controlled by a wall switch, and it also has a remote (fan does not turn on if switch is OFF).  I could use some help figuring out how/where to splice the LEDs into.  Does this need to be done in the ceiling box or in the attic?  There are three 'Romex' entering the ceiling box, as pictured.  I believe one goes to the closet, one to the switch, and one to the main (?). I've also attached photos of the fan wiring and switch.  Any help is much appreciated!

Ed Beal has it right but you need to think about how you want to control the lights. If in parallel with the fan any time the fan is on the LEDs will also be on which is okay if that's what you want. So with the wall switch on, the LEDs will be lit. You can turn off the fan with the remote but the LEDs will be on as long as the wall switch is on. In other words you can't have the fan on and the LEDs off.
If the wire gauge is sufficient you can pigtail into the fan light which will be the wires coming out of the wireless receiver going to the light. In that case the LEDs will activate whenever you turn on the fan light with the remote. Just a thought.