GFCI Trips when Grounds Touch I have a GFCI located in my garage which feeds into my bathroom and then goes to an external junction box and finally underground to my deck.  Upon doing some routine testing, I noticed by deck receptacle showed "Open ground".  Upon initial investigation, I noticed that the wiring from the bathroom outlet to the external junction box was missing a ground wire.  I assumed that was the problem so I replaced that span with brand new wires, inclusive of a ground.
I reconnected everything the same.  The only difference is that the new ground from the bathroom now connects to the ground wire coming from the deck, which meets in the external junction box. I assumed all was good, but no chance.  The GFCI kept tripping.
Long story short, I can confirm that the short happens when I connect the bathroom ground and the deck ground in the external junction box.  If I do not connect them, then everything works, but I still get the "open ground" at my deck.
Why is this happening?  I thought the ground wire can't trip a GFCI?  Is water, likely in the underground cable/conduit, causing the ground to short things out?
Not to complicate things, but the end of the underground cable at the external junction box is 12 AWG; however, the opposite end at the deck is 14 AWG.  I do not see another external junction box.  Is it possible they connected two different cables underground and that's what's causing this?
Appreciate any feedback.  I am a novice at electricity but I love learning.
Thanks

Let's consider Joe. Joe is living on a boat, using a diesel fired heater and using the engine to keep the batteries charged. Someone suggests fitting a carbon monoxide detector.  Joe fits one in the galley, and the detector goes off. So Joe moves it to the bedroom, still goes off. Back to the store it goes, the replacement also goes off. Back it goes, Joe gets a more expensive one.  It also goes off.  Joe is going crazy - can't anyone make a reliable detector???
Laugh if you will, but this is how most people react to GFCI trips.
The evidence is leading you to a conclusion, so let's try it on for size: "attaching the ground wire makes the circuit less safe".  Does that make any sense?  Of course not. The ground should always be connected, always.
What's happening is there's a second problem - which was always there all along.  And hooking up the ground wire improved the GFCI's ability to detect it.
Power is supposed to flow out the hot wire, through the appliance and back the neutral.  Any current moving on a third path is a ground fault.   The reason we started installing safety grounds in the 60s was to provide a reliable third path, instead of allowing Fate to choose its own, typically through a dying human.  So it makes perfect sense that installing/repairing a ground wire would increase a GFCI's sensitivity to ground faults.
Disconnecting the ground, thus, became a "red herring".  It showed correlation, but not causality.
Now, you need to admit that you probably have a ground fault, and then just work standard failure-tree analysis until you find it. As far as the grounds, there might be diagnostic value in temporarily unhooking one, but don't see it as a path to a solution. You must finish with all grounds connected.
ThreePhaseEel was quizzing you about cable type because the usual reason for a ground fault on an outdoor run is use of NM-B cable, which is not rated for outdoor/wet usage, and the insulation will fail when wet.


How do you remove the stick-on child safety locks from appliances? I have a few stick-on child safety locks, such as this one found on Amazon.

When it comes time to remove them, what should I do to avoid destroying the finish on the appliances?  They are stuck on really well and won't budge by hand.

I had these on painted wooden cabinet doors. I slid dental floss behind the plastic part which cut the plastic latch off, leaving the foam adhered to the door. Then I peeled the foam off by hand and it did no damage. I couldn't believe how easy it was! I thought it was stuck for good.


Is it normal for air to be leaking from where the drain hose connects to the central A/C unit? I'm trying to determine if I have a leak around my central AC unit. Basically when the unit is on, I feel cool air blowing outside the "furnace plenum" as I believe its called.

If you look at this picture, I think the air is coming from where the drain hose connects to the unit.

So my questions are:

1) Is this normal for air to be blowing out here

2) If not, is there a way I can seal it better?

That picture is kind of unclear but it certainly looks to me as if the drain (and maybe the whole a/c) was added as a retrofit to a furnace - the hole is uneven looking to me - sloppy.  I have something similar myself, in fact.

In answer:

1) No, it's not normal - it' a waste.  Air exchangers that are built to do both jobs do not have these kinds of gaps.

2) Yes - cut a piece of plastic to fit over the hole as much as possible.  Seal in place using METAL tape (not duct tape), closing up all the remaining gaps.


Can someone review this garage loft design for structure and stability? I'd like to build a loft above a 12'x16' portion of my garage. My plan is to lag screw ledger boards to the studs and attach 2x10 joists to the ledgers using joist hangers. Additional supports will be added beneath the ledgers to help with shear.

Will this sufficient? Is there anything that I could add to make this more stable?

I'm not an engineer, this is just a layman review, but I think you should rethink the main supports.  I'd rather see you open the walls and support your ledger boards directly on the existing wall studs rather than lagging into them.  I don't think the 3 supports (2x4s?) under each ledger board is sufficient to prevent sheer and since you're lagging into a 2x4, that's a very narrow target to hit through the face of a 2x10 and the existing drywall.

I'd also go 10" on center for the joists, not 16.  Otherwise I'd be concerned about the span length of the 2x10's over your car.


Attach one-step to ground level deck I want to do something like this photo but I don't know how to attach the one-step platform thing:

I circled two areas that should be attached by nails (assuming 16d Common Nail). But the photo shows they are not attached on the right side.

My question is: how to property attach the lower stair like this case? Or should I just submerge it into concrete in some part?

I wouldn't submerge anything, and ensure that all post holes are filled in concrete and sealed from any water. . With stairs and  raised floors eliminate any source of water to prevent wood rot. With the cost of materials these days  you can't afford a failure due to rot Anywhere!


What are the three copper connections to my water heater? Why do I have 3 copper pipes in my gas water heater?  It seems two are cold and one is hot. All videos I see online show only two pipes; one for cold coming in, one for hot going out.

Depending on the specific system installation and type of tank it could be any of these:

Cold in, hot out, and overflow:  Standard water heater.
Cold in, hot out, recirculate in.  This configuration has diverse uses:

typical for a solar water heating booster.
In heavy use applications, it could be for an external hot water reservoir.
In long lines applications, this could be for recirculating hot water so that a faucet 400 feet away has hot water available just a few feet away.  Many motels and hotels are plumbed this way.


How do I cable up a 10kw generator to my house from garage? I have an 8kw propane or 10kw gas generator in the back of the garage. It has a 50 amp hook up so I have run 6/3 w/g wire to a weatherhead. I have the hook up for the 6/3 w/g service cable. Now, I am looking at running the service to the house & straight down the wall to a junction box in the basement.
The question is do I have to cut the service cable at the house or is there something like Chinese fingers to wrap it at the house, then go down, or run a steel cable from the garage to the house? What do I use to hold up the service cable on the steel wire?

Edit. I may have mis read so the second half is about tie in this first part is support of a cable: thanks @Izzy +
If talking about a cable grip like a U eye weave split lace.
these provide support to a cable like those finger locks but they wrap around and are laced together.
There are weaves that are not split but then you have to feed the length of cable from to the point of support .
one of my small ones is an L9575  1-1/4-1-1/2” cable size get ready for some sticker shock these run 60-70$ and the larger size I use is ~$130. But they do support the cable if this is the question.
To tie a generator into your home power system there are 2 ways to do it.
The least expensive is a mechanical interlock kit that locks the main circuit breaker in the off position then allows a breaker to be turned on (yes with the main off) back feeding a breaker from the generator to power circuits that are turned on (some will need to be turned off or you will overload your generator.
The other method transfer switches has 2 sub categories.
A whole house transfer switch is a large “double or triple pole double throw” switch. The utility power is connected on one side and the generator is on the other. The house panel is the common so in 1 position the panel is connected to the utility flip the switch and the panel is connected to the generator )some breakers in the main need to be turned off to prevent overloading the generator.
The second transfer switch method is you choose the circuits to connect to the generator.
Each circuit is a switch that connects single or double pole double throw. These circuits are re-wired to a separate switch box unit that only powers the circuits wanted so you don’t overload the generator each switch is usually moved to the utility or generator position this is the most fool proof but also the most expensive method and it limits what can be powered.
The interlock or transfer switch methods prevent you from back feeding onto the power lines where the voltage man transformed to 12kv up to 35kv depending if in the city or country. That high voltage can kill a lineman or someone messing with down lines that were not hot a second before, but more likely is the massive load on your generator as you just became the power company will overload your generator and hopefully trip it’s breakers if not it will smoke the alternator and your generator is toast.


Changing plugs on Kenmore dryers I have a Kenmore dryer with a 3 wire slanted plug.  I was given a much newer Kenmore dryer but it has a 4 wire plug, with 2 straaight, 1 90 degree, and 1 round. Can I change it and put the 3 wire plug on and will it work and be safe?

Location Oregon.

Take the 3-wire cord off of your old dryer and use it. When you look at it, it should be flat with the three wires. These should line up with the three main connectors on your new dryer. Put the center one into the center connector, while the other two can go to either side. Make sure everything is snug. Have no fear as this is done all of the time. Your dryer will work with either cord, depending on the outlet on the wall.

This is how it should look in the dryer:


Should we glue or nail our new engineered wood flooring We have a concrete floor with linoleum tile. We will be leaving the tile in place. Should we glue the new engineered wood or put down a subfloor and nail the engineered wood into place? If a subfloor is the way to go, what type of plywood is recommended?

Either can be made to work, but both have challenges. Wood floor on slab is not a happy combination unless you prep the surface really well. And even then it has downsides, eg in winter the floor will be extremely cold. On the other hand, nailing the boards to a ply subfloor will give you great results, but you might have to fix every door, doorframe, base board,  transition step and so on in the space to accommodate the raised height of the floor.

I would be confident that gluing to the slab can work really well, but much less so that gluing to linoleum would not eventually fail. Although it's an ugly job, stripping the lino off the floor would be my recommendation if you go this path.


Do Smoke Alarms have timers in them? In my old residence, we had a smoke alarm that would always go off at 7 AM every Sunday. But whenever the power would go out it would go out at another random time, the first time was 3 PM every Saturday. Then the next time the power went out it went on 9 PM on Tuesday. Is there a reason for this?

Replace the smoke alarm
A "double chirp" from a smoke alarm these days is indicative that the smoke alarm has failed internal self-testing (chamber checks) and thus needs to be replaced outright.


Minimum length for a shed ramp 8" high using 2x12" PT? I've built a shed which sits on a frame built of 2x4's and those in turn sit on 4x4 runners, and the whole structure sits on a concrete patio.

The top of the shed floor sits approximately 8" above the patio.

I am using 12" aluminum ramp kit top and bottoms (pic below).  The most weight that will be used on the ramp is a riding mower (Cub Cadet XT1 42" - approx 500 lbs) plus rider (say 300 lbs).

I plan to use 2x12 PT lumber to create the ramp and add non-skid traction strips to the lumber for traction.

I have a decent amount of clearance in front of the shed (approx 12') but the ramp still has to be short enough to allow the mower to be aligned properly for climbing the ramp, so the question is - what's the minimum length the ramp can be to ensure a safe trip up the ramp?

These are the ramp kit pieces I'll be using.

5° is standard (ADA) which is 1:12. So at 8" height you would have an 8' ramp. If this is too long to line up the mower, shorten/steepen it as little as is necessary for you to use it. How steep is too steep is impossible to know without understanding all the circumstances.

Find a solid sloped surface somewhere nearby and test drive the mower up and down, to get a feel for how steep is driveable and safe on your mower.


Is sand mix concrete appropriate for a shower floor? I am looking to have the floor in the shower fall in a single-direction towards to a linear drain, I'm planning to have a fall from 50mm (finished floor level) to 35mm (drain height) over 1400mm, there are underfloor heating pipes in the floor which are roughly 20mm high.

Firstly: Will a regular sand and cement mixture be strong enough to complete this job or will I need something stronger?

Secondly: The rest of the floor in the bathroom has already been poured, will I need something between the floors to allow for expansion/contraction or can I pour right up to the existing floor?

in a normal curbless install you want a 100% sealed system. it sounds like this over a concrete substrate, so once the drain is  installed and secured, use a mud bed mix thats been fortified or add a latex into it, this will help with strength as the pitch gets shallow. in addition to latex in the mud bed, trowel mortar to the cement before the mud to help it bond to the cement.be sure to dampin the cement before combing mortar on it, so it doesnt suck the moisture out of it to fast and weakin its strength. after that its all about the water proofing, several options there from roll on to fabic membrains. choose the one you feel u can manage the best. showers are all about being water proof, if u cant take a shower before the tiles up without it leaking, then its not ready for tile.


How can I repair a bathtub that is peeling? My bathtub surface paint is peeling but I don know how and what the material is I never seen a bath with this kind of surface before so what can I do or use to fix the problem?

A picture would be handy, but I am betting the tub was refinished in place with a spray on epoxy at the most or a harry homeowner kit at the least. Either way the warranty for both surfaces is limited. It may be able to resurface it again, but you see what the product will look like in a few years if it is possible to redo.

The most reliable way to solve the problem is to replace the tub. Or..... you might want to hire a tub reliner company, which will have limited life as well, in my opinion. I would do the replacement tub, not the "refitter"


What size black iron pipe should I use for a 45,000 BTU attached garage heater? I'm running a new gas line for my garage heater. I have all black iron in my house, so that's what I'll continue with. I'm more comfortable having that exposed as it crosses part of a wall in the garage than copper. My understanding from charts and various discussions is that 1/2" line pipe should do, but with not a lot of overhead.
The situation:

Existing 3/4" tee port off a 1" line
~30 feet of new run - half in my basement and half in the garage
5 elbows to the ceiling stub, and presumably one more for the entrance to the unit
~10 feet of rise (in case that's important)
Loads on the system upstream from the proposed branch: kitchen range
Downstream loads: furnace, clothes dryer, water heater

The layout:
1" Meter trunk
    @5': 3/4" Kitchen range branch
        @13': 1/2" Kitchen range extension (2')
    @6': 3/4" Tee stub (to be use for garage heater @30')
    @15': 1/2" Furnace branch (15')
    @15': 3/4" Trunk extension
        @1': 1/2" Water heater branch (8')
        @1': 1/2" Clothes dryer branch (15')

Is 1/2" pipe adequate? If not, would a partial run of 3/4" help substantially, say in the basement portion? If not again, is the tee for the drip stub the right place to reduce to 1/2" for entrance into the unit?
Feel free to skip the discussion of homeowner installation legality. I'll look into that and it's off-topic here. Thanks much.

If the new heater would "home run" its supply pipe all the way to the meter then that pipe could be sized in isolation, but you've described a scenario in which the new heater would branch from existing piping. In this scenario the sizing of the entire system must be reconsidered. For a small appliance like your heater it's likely the existing piping can support the new load -- but for a heavier load, like another furnace or a new tankless water heater, it's likely that the existing piping ould not support the new load. In such a case one must upgrade some of the existing piping to a larger size, or else must run new pipe from the meter to supply the new appliance.
If you did run new pipe all the way back to the meter, the system of new pipe and its appliance(s) could be sized independently of the other system (the one that serves all the existing appliances in the house).
There are two common methods for sizing gas piping: "longest length" and "branch length." Both methods are concerned only with the appliance BTU input ratings and the pipe length; counts of elbows and elevation change aren't considered. The following is based on the longest length method as described in the document "Good Practices for Gas Piping and Appliance Installations" by Questar Gas (acquired by Dominion Energy some years ago). Unfortunately this document is no longer available from the original source, but copies might be found on various document archive web sites.
Longest Length method

Determine the type of pipe and the pressure of the gas. Pipe capacity depends on both of these figures. This exercise assumes schedule 40 black iron or steel pipe with 4 ounce gas pressure.
Calculate the gas demand in cubic feet per hour for each appliance. For natural gas the ratio is usually in the range of 890-1000 BTU/hr per cubic foot of gas. For example, an appliance with input of 136,000 BTU/hr would consume 136000/1000=136 to 136000/890=152.8 CFH of gas. Consult the gas supplier for an appropriate figure for their gas, err on the side of caution by assuming a low value like 890, or whatever suits you...
Draw a graph of the gas piping system. Include the length of each segment of pipe and the CFH demand of each appliance.
Calculate footage of pipe-path from one appliance back to the meter. Repeat for all other appliances. Review the list of pipe-path lengths and select the largest one. This is the "longest length." Round up to the nearest length shown in the pipe sizing table. Use this row of the table for all sizing in this system.
Beginning with the most distant appliance, working across the selected row in the sizing table, find the first column where the CFH capacity equals or exceeds the demand for this appliance. Use the pipe size corresponding to this column to build the line from this appliance to the nearest tee or branching point.
After the pipes downstream of a tee have been sized the pipe supplying the tee can be sized similarly. Determine the total CFH demand of things downstream of the tee, find the first column in the sizing table where CFH capacity equals or exceeds that demand, and use the indicated pipe size to connect from this tee to the next tee upstream.
Repeat steps 5 and 6 as needed until all pipes in the system have been sized.

An Example
Consider this example given in the Questar Gas document (images are copied from that document with annotations added by me).

Appliance A at 60 feet is the most distant. Use the 60 foot row in the capacity table.

The section of pipe from appliance A to Section 1 serves a demand of 34 CFH. Consulting the highlighted "longest length" row in the table below, we find that the 1/2" pipe's capacity of 65 CFH is sufficient for this portion.
The section of pipe from appliance B to Section 1 carries 29 CFH. Again, 1/2" pipe suffices.
With all loads served by Section 1 handled we can now size the pipe of Section 1. Its combined load is 63 (34+29), which is just within the capacity of 1/2" pipe.
We now turn to appliance C. The segment of pipe from C to the joint with Section 1 and Section 2 serves only appliance C with demand of 85 CFH. Consulting the highlighted row in the table we find that 3/4" is the smallest pipe having capacity equal to or greater than this demand.
Section 2 may now be sized. It carries the load of Section 1 (63 CFH) plus the load of appliance C (85 CFH) for a total load of 148 CFH. This is just a little too much for 3/4" pipe, so we'll have to use 1" pipe here.
The pipe from appliance D to the tee with Section 2 and Section 3 carries 153 CFH and must also be 1".
Section 3, the last piece of the trunk connecting to the meter, carries the entire load of the system: 301 CFH. The table shows that 1-1/4" pipe is the smallest size capable of meeting meeting this demand.


How many dimmer switches do I need? I have an electrical situation, 3 switches controlling one light and I want to put in a dimmer. What type of dimmer do I need, 3-way, 4-way,or what?

Conventional switches

When you have two switches controlling one circuit, they are both 3-way switches They are called that because they have three active contacts, one common and two travelers. They also have a ground and may have a neutral for extra features.

When you add any more switches beyond two, they each must be 4-way switches. These have two hot contacts in and two out and sit between the two three way switches (electrically in between, regardless of where they are physically). These also should have a ground contact and may have a neutral.

When you add a dimmer, it must replace one of the 3-ways, not the 4-ways. You also need a dimmer that is 3-way compatible (not all are).   Also, if you are using CFL or LED lights, make sure the dimmer is compatible (it should say so on the box).

Only one dimmer can be used. The other switches just turn the circuit on and off, at the level the dimmer has set.

Multiple dimmer systems

As @DMoore has said, there are newer electronic switch systems that allow dimming from multiple locations (as well as on and off). One switch is a master and the others are slaves. In effect, the master controls the circuit and the slaves send a signal to the master to do that remotely.

This system will give you more flexibility than a conventional switch system, but it is significantly more expensive. If you do not  need this flexibility, adding one 3-way dimmer is cheaper and easier.


How to continually monitor in-wall moisture content? There is an existing question about checking the moisture content of a wall, but I'm looking for continuous in-wall monitoring to check the integrity of the monolithic cladding throughout the house.  Insteon has a water leak detector with a 10 year battery but I'm not certain this can be placed inside a wall for this purpose ( accessed by a dummy wall switch ) as it picks up water vs moisture content.  I would be satisfied if I could embed a sensor into the baseplate inside the exterior walls.

You could contact the following EIMA, US Dept. of Energy, or Oak Ridge National combined these agencies conducted a test starting in 2005 on a building in Hollywood South Carolina and one in Washington State that lasted at least 4 years
to include test in eight climate zones.
I did the installation of the test panels on the South Carolina building.
Test panels included most exterior cladding systems.
Pick up sensors for moisture were placed on the back side of all materials used in the construction of each system
Example Exterior stucco sensor behind finish coat, sensor behind brown coat, sensor behind scratch coat, sensor behind lath, sensor behind vapor barrier and sensor behind sheathing.
Also sensor was placed in wall insulation and the back side of the drywall.
I have missed place my final report from EIMA you should be able to get info from one of the above agencies.


Using brass to chrome plated I had to use a brass threaded street 90 male and female  on chrome plated male nipple on commercial facet. It's trying to seep with Teflon tape any suggestions

Disassemble the fitting and try RTV silicone from an auto parts store. Allow the joint to set up overnight if possible. Brass fittings are hard to seal, and do not tighten too much. Brass is soft and will stretch. If you have tightened to where almost no thread is showing on the connection, you may have to  replace the fittings. No teflon or pipe dope, just RTV silicone.


Natural Gas water heater safety designs Do new gas water heaters have safety features that shut off the gas valve if they over heat? I have one that the pilot will be off and water all around the tank but we cannot find out where the water is coming from. The exhaust is tied in with the gas furnace, I am wondering if there's some extra heat from the furnace causing high heat in the water heater?

Thanks for the input, we figured this one out. Because we could not find a leak in the tank and the T&P valve was not leaking we were a little baffled. When this unit was installed it was so tall we had to actually dig a hole in the crawl space about 1' deep. This hole was filling up with water. Since we are in a group of 5 townhomes we figured out the water was come from 3 homes away due to a broken water line, thus filling up the hole our water heater is in to the point it would prevent enough oxygen to keep the pilot and burner from working. This is one of those crazy things that makes you think outside of the box.


Well Pump Setup: Best Materials to Use for Pipes I live in Southwest Florida, and we have well water. I am in the process of redoing our whole well input plumbing setup and wondering about the best materials to use.

This is what I'm proposing as a flow/materials:

The well pump pumps up water in a PVC pipe, which right past above ground transitions to a steel pipe. (Currently setup from the old system)
This steel pipe goes into a steel Tee that has one side go to PVC for a sprinkler system, and the other side of the Tee goes into the ground utilizing metal, and once underground transitions to PVC. (Currently setup from the old system)
That PVC runs about 4' to a Well Shed, where it pops back out of ground utilizing steel, and goes into the shed.
Once in the shed there is a pressure tank, pressure switch, sediment filter, iron eater, and kinetico softener. All of these I'm imagining connected with PVC.
The ~115' run to the house is done in Endopure Poly tubing.
This transitions to steel to feed into the house above ground.

My questions (For all of these I'm looking for the best answer from a lasting / maintenance standpoint. I don't mind if its a little bit more expensive):

Do you think I should replace any of the materials being used in steps 1-2?
Are there any materials besides PVC that you'd recommend I use for step #4? Everyone around here seems to use PVC, but it seems like PEX might be easier to work with and might last longer. I do have this in a shed, so it should mostly be shielded from UV.
Is something like Endopure the right / best thing to use for step #5? Most people I know use SCH 40 PVC for this; but it seems like poly is supposed to be more durable / better.
Anything else you'd change / recommend from a materials setup?

Thanks for your feedback!

Subject to being a matter of opinion, but for contrast:

Pump, 200PSI black poly water pipe, pitless adapter (freezing climate, exit well casing below ground) 160PSI black poly waterpipe, house, filter, pressure tank. Plain poly, not pex. No fancy upcharge brand, just basic well poly marked NSF-PW (National Sanitation Foundation Potable Water, as far as I recall.) This is the bog standard well pipe used in every place in the Northeastern USA that I've had dealings with a well. The 200PSI stuff is because the well is 300 ft deep and the pressure down there is somewhat higher to lift the water to the surface, so 160 would be dubious. It's also sturdier for hanging the pump on.

Steel pipe? What year is it, 1949? PVC - stuff shatters much too easily for outside use, even before sun exposure.


Condenser is always running I recently rewired two thermostats into one Honeywell RTH9580WF1005 Wifi Thermostat. I ran a new wire and hooked up R and W to the oil boiler and Rc, C, G, and Y to the Goodman air handler. The Y is wired directly to the condenser as the control board does not have a Y in the harness. The other wire from the condenser goes to C on the control board.

When I turn on the thermostat circuit breaker, the condenser/compressor immediately starts up. I checked the contact outside and it appears to be working smoothly. With the power on, the contact is depressed. When the power is off, the contact is open and I can press it easily to start it. It seems to me that the Y wire is always energized and thus the condenser won't turn off.

I just replaced the control board thinking that there was a short in the controllers. However, the issue still remains so the board is not at fault.

How should Y be wired when there is no place for it on the control board? How should the thermostat be wired to control two separate systems? Should R and Rc be jumped or not? How can I test the voltage of the wires to verify it was done correctly?

You have a short in your wiring

Somewhere in the wiring for your HVAC system, Rc has shorted to Y.  Find the short and fix it (using electrical tape to insulate the shorted wires will work for now given that it's a low voltage system), and the problem should go away.


Why does the maximum deck overhang sometimes decrease with joist spacing? The deck construction guide for my area contains this table:

Look at the "Allowable Overhang" columns. It's odd that a wider joint spacing (24") permits a longer overhang.

For example, look at the row for 2x12 fir joists. At 12" O.C. spacing, overhang can be 4'4". At 24" spacing, this decreases to 3'3".

Now look at 2x8 fir joists. At 12" spacing, overhang can be 1'8". Increasing the spacing to 24" increases the allowable overhang to 2'2"!

This doesn't make sense: I'd think closer joist spacing means more load bearing capacity, allowing for longer overhangs. Even more confusing is there's no consistency between joist sizes. What gives?

Looks like data entry error to me. The values were reversed for several rows at some point.

Considering that they spelled 'fir' as 'fire' in one case, one can assume that accuracy was not a high priority here. That's not a flush beam, either, nor is '2x8' a 'length'.


My doorbell chime is partially broken; is this a wiring problem or a problem with the chime mechanism? I have a Heath-Zenith SL-2796 doorbell.  It's wired to a front and rear door buttons.  Pressing the front door button should make it go "ding-dong" and pressing the rear door button should make it go "dong".

A few months after it was installed, it began to fail.  Now, one of the chimes never sounds.

When the front door button is pressed, it does "clunk-dong".  When I hold down the front door button, it goes "clunk-buzz" and then goes "dong" when I release the button.  The buzz sounds electrical.
When the rear door button is pressed, it still causes a "ding", as expected, i.e. the same tone as the first part of the front door sound.
So, the "ding" works for the rear door, while only the "dong" works for the front door.

The voltage of the doorbell circuit is 19V.

I asked my wife to watch the movement of the plungers when I pressed the front door button.  She said that one of the plungers never moves.

Is this caused by a problem in the wiring of the house, or something inside the doorbell chime module?  Should I just replace the doorbell chime module?

The simple path is to replace the chime.

The plungers get dirty and the added resistance makes them not slide correctly.

Only one plunger should move for front, each end of it hits a different chime (Ding-Dong). For back, the other plunger is blocked so it only hits one of the chimes (Ding).

It’s possible to clean plungers with alcohol then lubricate with graphite. Don’t use WD40 or oil, it attracts dirt and gets gummy over time, recreating the problem.


What I can use to waterproof a sink cutout I'm using solid wood to make a worktop/countertop in my camper van. It's going to have an undermounted sink, so I need to use something to protect the edge of the sink cutout from water. I have no idea what product to use and can't find a good solution anywhere.

Danish oil, tung oil, linseed oil will work if you apply multiple coats and re-apply on a regular basis. There are also special formulations with additives (waxes) that increase water and chemical resistance (but are usually less impact resistant).

Varnish will work as well, is more prone to mechanical damage, but does not have to be re-applied unless damaged or worn down.

Spar varnish (or outdoor varnish) is usually more resistant to UV and water, but will also usually emit more harmful fumes.

Solvent-based varnishes will in general be more durable and easier to apply than water-based varnishes. Water-based varnishes are generally healthier (less emissions and toxic fumes).

Most danish oils are food safe and will increase the hardness of the surface (offer better impact protection).


Pipe Insulation Slit Orientation I have insulated a 'sweaty' pipe to prevent condensation from forming and dripping on to ceiling tiles (hyperlink provides context).  I have been advised that the insulation foam should have the slit at the 6PM position.

What is the reason to orient the slit at 6PM and not 12PM?

CLARIFICATION

The PVC pipe in questions carries cold water from second-story (AC evaporator) to the outside.  Because it runs above paneled ceiling on the first floor, the pipe 'sweats' and the condensation drips onto the ceiling tiles (resulting in stains and mold).

Because there will still be a tiny bit of air access and thus water condensation.  You want the insulation acting like an inverted bucket, not a bucket that will catch the water and hold it against the pipe.  Catching the water will cause metal corrosion, mold, and waterlog the insulation.

Making the insulation heavier will also tend to make it want to fall downward.  If the top of the insulation is a crack, it will tend to want to yield and slip out.  Whereas if the crack is at the bottom, the insulation is "just sitting" on the pipe.


Rust and misty glass door, repair or replace? My daughter shoot water gun at our balcony glass door, water got in between glasses, now it's rust and misty.

We got a handyman to paint walls last week. We let him take a look. He said it has to be replaced.
I want to double check whether it is fixable and worth repairing first. If so, is it something I can do myself and how? Thanks.

The seal would have had to have failed BEFORE your daughter squirted water on it. Her water getting in just alerted you to the problem. Give her a cookie and apologize for making her feel bad...
In general it would cost more to try to clean and reseal it than it would cost to buy new sealed units.


what is my risk of asbestos exposure due to a previous drywall work? A few years ago my parents did some work on an interior drywall in our house (built in 1987) [US]. Now I wonder if I might've been exposed to asbestos and I'm freaking out. On the bright side, I was never near the work area when the work was being performed. Given it's an interior drywall (the partition between kitchen and family room), probably there wasn't any insulation that could've contained asbestos.
Given the research I did, it seems asbestos was far more commonly found in the joint compounds than the dry wall itself, and that asbestos was banned from joint compounds in 1977.
I understand there's nothing I can do at this point. Just hope someone who knows more about this topic can give me an idea of my risk.
I would send a sample to get tested except the housing is being rented now and my parents have moved to a newer house and I no longer live with them.
Thanks

if it was an interior wall, there would likely be no insulation. Even if it was insulated for some odd reason, most wool-type insulation (the kind you'd expect to find in walls) does not contain asbestos. The main form of asbestos tainted insulation in most single family homes is probably vermiculite, and you would generally not find any large amounts of that in wall voids (it was used as loose fill attic insulation; I have a bunch in the ceiling over my head). It was banned in 1990, and to my knowledge was rarely if ever used during new construction, so the odds of finding it in a house that was built in 1987 are slim to none.
As far as the joint compound goes, if the house was constructed in 1987 then it is almost certainly not a type that contained asbestos. I think that stuff was discontinued in the 1970's.
Even in the very unlikely event that there was actually asbestos present, the level of exposure you would have had from some light drywall work is extremely small. The risk of illness is proportional to the level and duration of the exposure, so your risk is very low even in the worst case scenario. If you are looking for things to worry about, I'd probably rank rabid raccoons and murder hornets higher on the list. And as you mentioned, there's not a thing you can do about it now anyways, so you might as well just enjoy life for whatever time you do have left.


How do I calculate the concrete needed for a fence post? I'm trying to determine how much concrete I'll need to set fence posts for a 6ft tall privacy fence. From what I've read these are the parameters I'll be using for each post hole.

Post: 4in x 4in x 8ft

Hole Diameter: 12in

Hole depth: 30in (6in of gravel + 24in for post)

When I calculate the concrete needed, do I use the 30in depth or just the 24in for the part of the post in the ground? At the moment I plan on using 3-50lb bags of sakrete fast drying per hole. Is this too much, too little, or just enough?

Well, I always use fast setting fence post concrete and you put 2" of gravel on the bottom of the hole, then fill the hole 1/3 of the way up with water, dump one bag of fence post concrete and level the post, then hold it that way for 2 minutes and let dry overnight. The reason fence post concrete is different is that it is packaged to be one bag per post based on a 12-18" hole diameter and a 4x4 post, no pre-mixing, fast setting.


How to create waterproof dog kennel floor? I want to build a dog kennel that is 4' x 8'. I want the flooring to be able to be cleaned out by using a water hose. I was planning on creating a concrete slab with a raised edge around it. I'm not sure if there are better methods to do this.

Requirements:

Floor/foundation must not leak from the edges except for a designated area to allow drainage.
Must be something that can be easily cleaned with a hose.
Can't cause future water damage to structure on the slab.

This is a rough design of what I would like the kennel to look like (side view).

Your idea of using a concrete slab is a good start, since you want to have a raised edge the assumption is you want containment, and since you also want to be able to hose it down you want a drainage / washable system.

Sounds very similar to what a food processing plant would do - so there are surface treatments you can make to the concrete that will allow you to wash it down even with chemicals.

Your slab should be poured with a grade - slant towards your drain system - and depending on how you want to handle that drainage i.e sewer system or other methods should determine how high up the slab should be for proper drainage (for example a pump system or gravity system).

Given your requirements , for the drain you might want to consider a catch system or a trench style drain (basically this is a grate with a drain underneath) - the slab should slope its grade towards the drain. Or you can use a simple floor drain with a removable cage to catch debris (so your drain does not get clogged - with hair or other things).

You should use an Epoxy type resin coating to cover the slab there are many types available but if you look for washdown epoxy floor coatings there are several manufacturers and types available.

Stonhard

Florock


Retractable faucet stopped working suddenly This faucet is less than a month old, so this is not about any sort of build up in rust or minerals. I have used it less than ten minutes before it failed.

Here is what I tried so far:

Checked other faucets in the house, they are working just fine.
I disconnected the water sources and they are working just fine.
I took off the aerator and made sure there's no obstruction.

I'm attaching a picture of the only part (left) that I can't verify is the failure point or not. Not sure if it's some form of anti-flooding mechanism or not, but I can't disconnect it.

The issue was fixed by leaving the faucet open for a while. I could be wrong but it seems like there was an amount of air trapped in the pipes. Let me know if this is a symptom of a bigger problem.


How do I repair a wall after mild water damage? Some water got in my wall near a window when it was raining (the window shade had previously put a nick on the window sill corner exposing the drywall). The water got in behind some of the paint and created a bubble that I peeled off. I scraped away all the loose paint and drywall with a flathead, then sanded a little bit. I'm wondering if I need to spackle and/or prime before I try painting over the exposed area?

The paint is from Benjamin Moore.

Here are some photos to better explain the damage:

Patch the holes, prime, then paint.

Usually when I patch walls I end up priming and painting the entire wall, it's more work but I find it looks much better when I'm done.


Why does the plumbing for my whole house filter produce a buzzing/humming sound? Yesterday, We installed the AquaSana Whole house water filter system by a licensed plumber. After install, We are hearing buzzing/humming sound near the main water line pipes. (Red arrow pointing to where the sound appears.)

If your asking what might be causing the sound the first thing to come to mind is a solenoid controlled valve ,but I don't see any in the photo. It may be that it's further along your plumbing system and out of frame. This is common with pipes as the easily transmit sound and vibrations.
It also may be the water traveling through the pipes which does sometimes sound like a hum. This can be amplified by the pipe itself if it is loose and not secured snugly. Air trapped in the line will also cause noticeable odd sounds, but it will eventually get released when a tap is opened.
Sudden opening of valves can cause noises if the water pressure is high enough.
Plastic pipes are also known for not being able to dampen sounds like heavier (metal) pipes do.
Does the U.V. light make any sounds when working? The metal canister on the right edge of the photo.


What are the options for moisture-proofing foundation from the interior I'm trying to prevent moisture from turning into mold and growing on concrete exterior walls and getting into the fiberglass insulation.

I see polystyrene, foil, chemical-based concrete sealing, and spray foam.

What is the suggested way for doing it reliably on the cheap side?

I should mention more detail. The area is fairly dry, but ranges quite a bit in temperatures (Plant zone 3). Grading does not cause a lot of water to pool. The issue is more with condensation. The city code requires "damp proofing" and I'm trying to see what options there are.

The new information has radically changed my perception of the actual problem. Preventing moisture movement through the foundation won't help.

Instead, it is cold temperatures outside causing condensation inside:  No matter how well sealed the foundation, the problem will persist.

A much less expensive solution may have several parts which can be mixed and matched:

A dehumidifier (or other measures to limit humidity like exhaust fans) to maintain a drier environment in the basement.  If the wall temperature is 40 °F (4 °C) and the interior temperature is 68 °F (20 °C), the relative humidity would have to be below 36% to prevent condensation.  For a wall temperature of 34 °F (1 °C), 28% relative humidity prevents condensation.  At freezing and below, condensation is unavoidable this way.
Insulation on the interior basement wall, especially above and near the exterior grade.  This will keep airborne moisture from contacting the wall and prevent any condensation.  The insulation will have to be adequate enough to keep its inside face above the dew point temperature.
Wall heating:  a little bit of heat applied from the inside to keep the basement wall warmer will prevent condensation.  You could do "off label" use of an under carpet floor heater.  I wouldn't be surprised if manufacturers of the higher end products have suggestions for satisfying local building and electrical codes.  In the DIY realm, this one has 310+ feet of cable which could be looped behind the finished wall several times (more than 3 is probably be overkill).  Placing it a little lower than needed allows the heat rising effect to keep the upper wall warm.
Exterior insulation.  Rigid foam insulation covered by a protective layer will go a long way to warming up the foundation.


Coleman furnace flame quits after 20 minutes Coleman DGAA090BDTA furnace flame quits after 20 minutes, below thermostat temperature.  Fails after 3 auto attempts to reignite.   I power cycle unit, still does not ignite.  Wait 15 minutes, reignites on first try, burns for 10 minutes, quits.  Wait 10-15 minutes, again works fine for 5 to 10 minutes. Repeat. Not really short cycling.

Doesn't matter if filters are on or not, and filters are clean anyway.  Cleaned flame sensor.  Made no difference.  All duct vents are open.  Doesn't seem to be limit switches because when I unplug limit switches, fan kicks on.  I've read as many DIY sites as possible, several similar questions on this site...watched videos...  nothing quite like this.

It sounds like a component is failing. Could be the circuit board or the gas valve. When you say it tries to light does it glow and fail to ignite? Does it ignite briefly and then go out?  Most likely a component is getting hot and loosing connection. Could be the vent proving switch if there is no glow. The combustion air is being taken from the roof since it is a sealed combustion furnace. The return air is coming from inside the house.
The vent motor should come on. Several seconds later the igniter should glow red. After a few seconds the gas valve should open. 45 seconds or so later the blower should come on. By using a volt meter at each component check if there is 24 volts present at each component at the proper time. If there is voltage at the gas valve for instance and the valve does not open it is the gas valve.
I once worked on a furnace for 2 years before it would fail for me. The owner said it would not operate when cold but by the time I got there it was working fine. Finally it wasn’t working when I got there. I was getting voltage to the gas valve but no gas. There was a bad solder joint inside the valve that would make enough contact once it warmed up a bit.


How to prepare the ground before laying concrete I am building a pizza oven and kitchen area in my garden. I am trying to work out how to lay a 2m*2m concrete slab.
My calculation for the weight (that the concrete slab needs to support) are
Dense bricks: 70 * 18.2kg = 1,274kg
Concrete slabs: 13 * 15kg = 195kg
Pizza oven:     1 * 50kg = 50kg
Total: 1,519kg
I did some research to find out how much concrete (with reinforcement bars) I need but it may turn out the bigger issue is what the concrete will be laying on (how much weight a specific sized concrete slab can carry?)
How do I determine this? In my case, I want to pour the concrete slab over mud, which I would have dug out to size (with a timber frame as well). I was hoping to pour a layer of gravel down but I'm not questioning if that is going to be enough.
I believe our soil is quite chalky.
How do I prepare the ground before laying the concrete slab in the UK?

You definitely shouldn't pour concrete over mud. Also, I guess your local can get quite cold during the winter, thus you need to dig the soil, at least, down to the frost depth to avoid differential settlement due to heave. The soil is considered "competent" if it can support the weight above without significant settlement. You can get the information from the local building code, a engineer, or an experienced contractor. Below is the suggested details.


Does it violate US wiring code to have non-standard outlets? Note: this is entirely theoretical. I have no (current) plans to actually do this.

Would I violate any state/national building/electrical codes if I installed BS 1363 (UK plug/socket) sockets on a 240v circuit in an ordinary residence? In addition to the existing 120V circuit with NEMA sockets.

For the sake of the question, assume that the goal is to wire the 240V sockets as closely to the way they'd be wired in a UK house as possible. (mostly with respect to safety features)

Failing that, what features of a standard BS 1363 outlet can I implement which differ from a permanently-attached NEMA-6 to BS 1363 adapter?

And most importantly;
What are the safety implications of installing/using a setup like this?

Inspired by this question about running 240v circuits and looking into the NEMA plug types available in the US.

There is no listing for non-standard receptacles, so at a basic level, it would require "examination" by the AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) in your area under NEC Article 90.7 to make sure it doesn't violate the basic "suitable for use" rules in Article 110.3. You might find an AHJ who will accept the IEC certifications as adequate, you might not, there is no way to know in advance. Most states have specific rules as to what third party listing agencies they will accept, often deferring to a list maintained by OSHA, referred to as the NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Labs) list. But unfortunately, most IEC devices do NOT undergo testing by any third party listing agency, manufacturers can "self certify" to any applicable standards, something that we in North America don't accept. I would venture to say that MOST inspectors here are aware of this and will not accept IEC devices, but again, you can't know without asking THE one that is going to inspect your house.

All of this is predicated on you having it inspected at all. If it's just you living in your house, you can do what you want. But if there is a fire, injury or loss associated with the device, your insurance company may use the unauthorized installation of it to avoid having to pay damages. Then when you go to sell your house some day in the future, you would have to remove the devices or disclose to the buyers that there was unpermitted electrical work done, something that scares a lot of people.

Another aspect is the equipment you intend to plug into this device. First is the 50Hz / 60Hz issue; if there are any motors inside, they may not work correctly. Then there is the fact that 240V here in North America is Line to Line, 230V overseas is Line to Neutral, with the Neutral referenced to Earth (ground) the way we do with 120V. While normally they would have the Neutral and Earth separated, in rare occasions the Neutral of equipment is bonded to earth inside. In that case, it's impossible to connect it here, it would be a dead short to ground.


Should a bathroom fan vent to a separate duct system? Is it acceptable to route a bathroom exhaust fan to the return of a central air system?  I'm afraid this will cause mold to grow in the air return ducts.  There is currently a fan in our bathroom and I can't seem to find any separate outlet or vent for it, so I assume that it must be connected our central air system somehow.  What is the best practice for routing bathroom fans if mold is a concern?

A bathroom exhaust fan should vent directly outside with its own dedicated duct, for exactly the reasons you are stating.


I am painting my deck with metacrylics paint do I need to clean between coats of paint I am painting my deck it is a sealed metacrylics walking deck. I cleaned with tsp and put down the primer coat. I applied the first color coat. Do I need to clean again with tsp before I put on the second coat. The first coat needs to cure for 72 hrs.
Thank You

The only reason you would need to clean between coats is if you couldn't finish the job and had to wait so long that the deck got dirty again.  If you're putting the second coat down right after the first is cured, and you haven't had a dirty rain or anything, you should be fine.

Other than that, follow the manufactures instructions for a second coat.  Some products might not require you to wait for a full cure to recoat.


Water from refrigerator tastes bad after 5 day power outage The water from refrigerator tastes very bad after 5 day power outage. Everything rotted in the fridge and we had to clean it out after the power came back on. The fridge is fine now, but the water that feeds the ice machine and the chilled water spout still tastes pretty funky.

I tried to flush the system by running water through it for a while, that seems to help temporarily, but the funky taste came back.

This is the refrigerator that I have: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_04651073000P

This is the manual for it: http://www.managemylife.com/mmh/lis_pdf/OWNM/1006612L.pdf

Should I just change the water filter in the fridge, or will I have to flush the system some kind of cleaning agent?

How is this kind of thing normally handled?

Thanks!

I am guessing that the rest of the house has no issues with smell or taste of the water. My first step would be to empty the ice tray and wash it really well with a mix of baking soda and water mixed into a paste. While the ice tray is out carefully check the ice unit for any evidence of mold or odors. Change the filter. Purge the system by making and throwing out a couple of trays of ice. Fill and dispose of a couple of gallons of water out of the dipenser.


What tools would I need to have/borrow/buy to build a table? What are the types of tools that I would need to have access to in order to build something like a table from wood?

It depends in no small part on how you wish to construct the table.  For instance, if you wish to do a simple screw or nail construction, it's a different set of end tools than if you wanted to do dove-tail joints, or biscuit joints, or mortice and tenant joints...

The basics (screw construction)

Measuring tape
Pencils
A straight edge (usually part of a related
tool)
A saw
A drill (for pre drilling screw holes)
A screwdriver or driver bit for your drill - for installing the screws
Several grits of sand paper from coarse (60 grit) to ultra fine (220 grit)
A sanding block (flat surface used to keep your sand paper flat)


Removal of the cardboard pier footing forms in the crawlspace - how to do it? Home inspector put this in the report:

=========================
Recommend removal of the cardboard pier footing forms in the crawlspace. Cardboard is a wood biproduct and its contact with the soil can be a potential attraction for wood boring insects.
=========================
Is it a new recommendation or was cardboard forgotten to be removed? Should I remove it? If yes - how - just get there and rip it off? Any precautions should I take?

It's doesn't hurt anything to remove it. Take a sharp utility knife and bring extra blades with you.


What is this fence-like feature on colonial roofs? I've seen this feature from time to time on both commercial and residential buildings exhibiting some form of colonial-style architecture. It's essentially a fence on top of a roof. Does this feature have an official name?

It's called a "Widow's Walk". The name stems from the fact that it was a prominent feature in homes near the sea, where wives of seafarers would (presumably) go to stare out at the ocean, hoping to see their husbands returning, but often finding out that they were widows.


Dimming Constant Current LED driver We have a "Tsong LED Panel":

Model: SRPL60X120-60WH
Type: 4014 - 4000K
Input DC27-42V/1350mA - 60W

With the LED driver:

Model: SR60-01N-042V1350
Input Voltage: 200-240VAC 50/60Hz
Input Current: 380mA Max
Power Factor: Ø 0.9
Output Voltage: 27-42VDC (Max 49VDC)
Output Current: 1350mA
Maximum Output Power: 54 watts

And I also have a HUE compatible LED driver of 12-36V (Constant Voltage).

But I feel that it's incompatible with the panel and driver; as the panel expects Constant Current, I feel it will burn out.

I also believe that a 230VAC wall dimmer will just 'mess up' instead of actually dimming; as the driver is 'constant current' changing the input voltage wouldn't have effect.

Does anyone know how to dim such LED panel, preferably with a HUE compatible dimmer (or 230VAC wall dimmer)?

Since your product has actually cleared all the EU safety standards and then some (TUV follows UL's standards generally), I recommend keeping your safe product all-safe.  That precludes using the cheap Asian junkstream coming out of Alibaba and blasting onto AliExpress, eBay, Amazon, banggood and other turdmeister outlets.

You want drivers which either have a listing from an NRTL, or component listings such as Underwriter's Laboratories ЯU mark.    You can make do with the "CE" mark if and only if the driver was shipped in a container to a bricks and mortar manufacturer in the EU, and then distributed to EU electronics distributors or to you.

Dropshippers like Amazon's warehouse do not count; anything from Prime equals direct ship from China. That means the CE mark is no good.

The CE mark is a promise by the manufacturer or importer that the item complies with EU safety standards.  It has no bearing on anyone outside the EU.  So the manufacturers simply fake the mark, and direct-ship it (including via dropshippers). That makes YOU the importer.

Dimming LEDs

LED drivers do not naturally dim. They consider triac dimming to be line noise, and they do their level best to ignore it. This could fatigue and burn out a non-dimming-rated LED driver.

Triac dimming uses a cheap hack that makes the dimmers cheaper, but was only ever expected to work on incandescent lights.  A "dimmer-friendly" LED driver is generally one which is hardened and also has some intelligence to listen to the AC waveform and "reverse-engineer" what the triac dimmer is trying to do.  It then commands the LEDs to dim to that level, such as with PWM or current limiting.   This scheme is tomfoolery.

Triac dimming is cheap residential grade nonsense.  Commercial lighting requires more efficiency, so it has always used better tech such as fluorescent, which couldn't possibly use triac dimming.  So they have had a standard, for decades, called "0-10V" - principally used on fluorescents at the time.  A signal is sent on separate wires from the dimmer controller (which need not be the light switch) to the LEDs.  The separate wires run in a separate cable that may or may not need to be part of the AC mains wires.  You have to follow your local electrical code's rules for low voltage wiring.

All that to say, if you're unequipped to run additional wires in the walls, you might not be able to use 0-10V dimming.  But it is definitely the more "pro" way to do that thing.

Matching your spec

LEDs are driven "constant-current" because they are not linear; they have a very steep voltage-current curve that is influenced by age and temperature. (hotter = higher current at same voltage, causing a thermal runaway situation).  Constant-current is essential to best performance.

"Constant-current" (or to be more precise, varying current) is also the best way to dim LEDs.

So, the critical spec on your LED driver is the 1350 mA figure.  You could use a driver with a lower figure, but the LEDs will be dimmer if you do.

It will take a certain voltage range for that to happen; the voltage changing based on temperature, age, etc.  The manufacturer believes that happens in the range of 27-42 volts.  You need a driver capable of functioning in that voltage range.

I generally go to electronics supply houses like Mouser or Digi-Key for LED drivers. Not sure who the players are in your country.


Trying to find correct bolt for ceiling fan electrical box I'm really struggling trying to find the correct bolt for this electrical box for a ceiling fan. After taking the old ceiling fan out, I found 2 mismatched bolts that the previous person had used. One looked like a 10-32 that had been stripped at the end and was bent and the other was some type of sheet metal screw. I wanted to replace both of them with the correct bolts but after multiple trips to the hardware store I'm out of luck and out of ideas, as are the people at the stores I've asked (well one person told me to replace the whole box but that seems drastic).
So far I've tried 8-32, 10-32, 10-24 and M5.80. The 10-24 seemed the closest but won't turn once I thread it into the 2nd hole. I've circled in red below the 2 holes the bolt has to pass through. They are aligned, just the angle I took the picture makes them look bent. House is in the USA and was built in 1999 if this information is of any help. Much appreciation if anyone can tell me what the type of bolt it is please.
Thanks.

As Ed said, it's almost certainly an 8-32, with a slim chance of a 10-32. My guess is the screws aren't working because the threads got damaged by the old incorrect screws. This is most likely why it was suggested you replace the box. If the threads are damaged I would probably replace the box. It's a chore but is the best option.
The alternative (which may violate the UL listing and/or NEC which are there for your safety) would be to re-tap the holes at a larger size than the damage. This could be done with self forming screws or with a drill and tap set. However, this will almost certainly result in a weaker connection and given this is an overhead box holding something up above people's heads and someone could come along and do something later like install a ceiling fan I would not recommend it.


Is this a condensation problem or. A roof leak problem? Noticed a water spot on my unused bathroom ceiling.

Crawled into the attic And found this is right below the sewer vent.

In my kitchen there is another similar stain right around another drain pipe vent but I haven't Crawled into that side of the attic yet.

We have had some decent rain recently bit it seems odd that both wold start leak g at the same time if it's a roof problem so my gut says condensation.

I went up onto the roof and looked at the vents.  The rubber around the pipe was cracked with large gaps on both.

I added outdoor rated caulking to reseal them.

Edit - We had a good rain yesterday (3in + with periods of heavy downpour as well as gentle soaking).  I had placed some plastic sheeting under the vent in the attic above the bathroom.  The bathroom leak did have some leaking still.

The kitchen leak did not register any additional moisture using a moisture meter (I still haven't climbed into that side of the attic) and the moisture (~5%) matched the surrounding ceiling.  When I climbed back on the roof, I noticed that the caulk job I did missed some cracks on the bathroom vent (not sure if it bubbled due to air escaping from the attic or if I just missed it).

The kitchen had no such spots.  I re-sealed the bathroom and will wait for more rain (tomorrow according to the forecast).


Can I reduce the size of a chase, to more closely fit the ducts within it? I have a framed in rectangle in my kitchen. I recently opened up a section of it and can see that there is only a 7" round duct in the roughly 22" x 30"box. I am wondering if I can possibly re frame the cavity to fit more closely to the duct so it won't be so bulky. I'm located in the Detroit area.

Certainly, assuming that 1) the cavity isn't actually in use as something else, say a return duct, and 2) you're sure you won't need to use it for utility access to other parts of your home in the future.

In fact, you may be able to move the duct entirely into the adjacent wall and eliminate the cavity altogether.


What should I do with abandoned cinder blocks? I recently moved to my first home (with a modest yard). The previous owners left behind about 20 cinder blocks. I'd like to build something constructive with them in lieu of discarding them. Any suggestions?

I was thinking about a BBQ smoker. Is that possible with cinder blocks?

Any ideas or useful links will be much appreciated.

Depending on your location, build a planter. This included the base and the wall surrounding it. You could do a traditional rectangle or something modern like these...

http://pocketgrow.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/HLIC/8ba626a0e2155abfa3bd213bdbba202e.jpg


Can I add a 120v branch for a washer to a 240v dryer circuit? I’m running 10-3 Romex for a 240v electric dryer in our garage. It would be very convenient to tap into one hot leg and add a 120v outlet for the washer (they will be stacked). Is this allowed per NEC code?

Also, can I add an additional 240v outlet to this circuit to future proof the garage for such things as a table saw or welder? Or does the dryer require a dedicated circuit with no other outlets?

You can't tap a cable like that - NEC has a whole section called the "tap rules" which describe when you can do that, and this is not one of those times. Even if you could, it would be a lost cause:  Since a washer must be provisioned for 20A, that plus the 30A dryer puts you at 50A, and you'd need to run the expensive 6/3 cable.

Here's what you can do:

Pull a 12/2 cable alongside the 10/3 cable

That may seem stupidly obvious, but for the cost of a 12/2 cable, you are done. It will take an additional breaker space.

Run 6/3 and install a subpanel

You can run 6/3 cable instead of 10/3, terminate at a small subpanel, then have a 2-pole 30A breaker for the dryer and a 1-pole 20A breaker for the washer.  I believe the subpanel would need to be at least 50A.

Run 10/3 to a subpanel with a "generator" interlock

Use the interlock so you can only operate the 30A breaker for the dryer, OR, the 20A breaker for the washer.  You would have to throw the breaker every time.  Very tedious. This will get old fast.

Buy a washer-dryer set that's designed for that

Large housing complexes are typically out to minimize the utility work they must put in laundry rooms.  Industry caters to them with washer-dryers designed to run together off a 30A/240V receptacle only.  They are either sized correctly, or have logic to manage electricity usage so they can't overload the 30A circuit. They make combo units (washer + dryer in one unit) which tend to be tenant-tier cheap in their feature set... or they make matched set washers + dryers which can be deluxe, but expensive.


How can I extend a wall outlet? I have a interior brick wall, with wall outlet in it, I am covering the wall with 1/2" sheet rock. But I am ancoring 1x2's on the brick so I can hang the sheetrock. How would I extend the wall outlet since I will not have a 2x4 to attach the box?

They sell extenders just for this.

They come in metal, aluminum, plastic, different thickness for many applications, single gang, double, etc...  Visit the electrical aisle of your home improvement store.


Load bearing water resistant substrate for floating shelves in kitchen I'm planning on hanging 4' floating shelves in my kitchen.  These shelves are 2" x 12" x 48".  Roughly 27 lbs each, and of course they will be loaded with dishes.  I should also mention the walls surrounding them will be tiled.  I bought floating shelf brackets from walnut wood works rated at 150 lbs w/ a 12" lever arm.  They consist of a 32" x 1.5" x 3/8" bar with three 3 x (3/4" x 6") pegs. My biggest concern is mounting. The holes are not on any relevant centers so I know I will be drilling new ones.  My concern is making sure I have enough points of contact.  Since the beam is 32", best case scenario is that I hit three studs.  Two is much more likely.  Also, in my opinion 1.5" is probably too narrow to sink two screws into a single stud.  I was debating removing the sheetrock and putting in cross members between the studs where the shelves were going, patch the sheetrock and then install. Is there a better method?

I have installed similar brackets and would recommend:

Open the wall and install 2x6 blocking in between the studs. It is critical that the blocking and the studs are all in a flat plane so that the when the bracket is installed the bars are true, parallel to each other and at 90 degree's to the wall so when you install the shelf on them they do not bind. Use a level or straight edge across the blocking and studs to check that it is a flat plane I.E.  the level does not rock on a high spots. It needs to be flat so the bars stay parallel when bolted down with lags bolts.

Now you can put up new sheetrock and tape the seams, nothing fancy it will be covered with tile.

You do not want to mount the bracket directly onto the sheetrock for two reasons;

The sheetrock can compress with the weight of the loaded shelves and
You want the base plate of the bracket to be recessed so your tile will go just over the edge of the plate thereby putting the tile behind the wood shelf.

You do not want it recessed to much so you could put a peace of wood or plywood behind the bracket so that the wood and the thickness of the bracket plate are enough to insure the lag bolts holding the base plate are just recessed in from the face of the sheetrock.
Mark the location of the shelf bracket and trace around it. Measure the rectangle of the traced footprint and cut your wood or plywood just over sized. Place the piece of wood up on the wall where it goes and trace around it and cut out the sheetrock so you can install the wood in that void.  ( this step may not be necessary for a base plate that is 3/8 thick but figure in the thickness of the sheetrock and the tile.)

Since you are tiling the wall i would replace all the sheetrock that will be tiled with Denshield.

It is the same thickness as sheetrock and it has a textured surface for better adhesion for tile. Bonus, it has a waterproof membrane, important if this is a wall behind a kitchen sink.  It scores and snaps like sheetrock so it is easy to work with. Make sure you do not install Denshield past the edge of where the tile stops. A half inch shy of that line is good. It is textured and you do not want it showing where there is no tile.


NEC Breaker Selection for Motor Loads In the case of motor loads connected to a long branch circuit, why does NEC Table 430.52 limit selection of an over current protection device (OCPD) to a smaller size than the branch conductor will permit?

My hypothesis is a branch conductor that is made larger to compensate for voltage drop cannot supply a larger motor load where voltage drop was the constraining factor.  Therefore, the OCPD is limited in size to add protection against motor damage from an unacceptable voltage drop.

This flies in the face of common reasoning that says branch OCPD are for protecting the branch conductors and are not for motor protection.  Separate motor overload protection is installed for that purpose.

What gives?  Is the NEC actually providing motor protection against unacceptable branch voltage drop during motor startup by prescribing these size limits on circuit breakers?

I would appreciate others' thoughts on this.

the motor overload is based on the FLA of the motor 115% and this protects the motor, in the US we normaly use class 10 overloads this measn the motor can draw 115% of the full load value on the motor nameplate for 10 seconds before it will trip out. 430.32 the conductor size is 125% these are minimum values the OCPD can be increased if needed for starting as motors generaly draw 200-800% of full load current on startup if the breaker is set two low it will trip as the time of the high current draw is only a few seconds the wiring dosent get hot but if there is a locked rotor/ or shorted phase the motor will draw enough to trip the breaker.
so the motor overloads protect the motor, circuit breakers protect the branch conductors, there are many kinds of overloads the 2 major types are electronic , and heaters, the electronic measure the current and many times are adjustable, the heaters have a small coil that is heated when it gets hot the metal in the "operator" melts and a small ratchet is released opening a switch contact that is in line with the "starter" the relay that applys line power to the motor , once the overload is cleared the heater cools and it can be reset, these are adjusted by changing the coil size that heats the "operator"


Why does my Whirlpool washing machine's lower agitator rotate, but the auger does not? I've got a Whirlpool washing machine that has started giving me some problems. Recently when I run a load through the wash, I can see the agitator turning, but the upper auger doesn't turn... it's as though it's not catching when the agitator rotates.

What could be causing this?

Turns out I needed an Agitator Cam Kit. I found one on Ebay for $3 and $5 s/h. A video I watched on Youtube shows that this is about a 10 minute repair.
Basically the Agitator Clutch Dogs were worn down and no longer catching. So the lower "agitator" worked just fine, but the upper "auger" didn't spin very well and could be stopped with one hand.
Follow-up
The repair was far from 10 minutes... more like 2 or 3. This was a super simple repair, and I didn't need to replace everything... just the clutch dogs.


What is the significance that "no blade is involved" in threading pipe? Lowe's (a big US chain home improvement store) offers black iron pipe cutting and threading services to customers. Basically they sell the pipe & will alter it for you.

From their website in the "We Cut It" section says that they offer:

  ... pipe threading and cutting for any size
  galvanized or black iron pipe. The process involves a machine-based
  cutting operation with a metal wheel that creates threads in the ends
  of pipes. This service is specifically designed to both thread and cut
  pipes. No blade is involved in the process.

I italicized the last part of this statement - what is the significance that no blade is involved? I assume it is important or why would they even bother to mention it?

I'm no expert but do have a little experience cutting threads (manual taps & dies) and from what I'd seen I thought pipe threading was essentially the same thing. But this makes me think I'm missing something?

I need to do some pipework projects soon and mainly I just want to make sure I'm educated well enough to do it right!  Thanks

Note - there is a "learn more" link on their website, but it doesn't offer information about this.

When pipe is cut with a blade it can result in material debris and/or metal filings or oxides inside the pipe.

This is equivalent to dangerous sediments or solids in a gas line which can damage or clog equipment. Pipes cut  with a blade will likely need to be cleaned and/or flushed before use. Imagine PVC filings clogging a sprinkler head.

Using something like a wheel or die should not pollute the pipe interior.


Is it more efficient to turn my AC unit off periodically vs. keeping it on only while in the room? I have an AC unit in my bedroom + workspace. I use its "auto" fan speed and
"energy saver" mode (rather than "cool" or "fan only").  I'm wondering, which strategy is more energy efficient and by roughly how much?

  Strategy 1: When the room temperature exceeds 73 F / 22.8 C, turn it on and set it to 70 F / 21.1 C. When the room reaches that
  temperature, turn the unit off and wait until the temps rise to 73 F
  again and repeat.

  Strategy 2: Same conditions, except keep the unit running as long as I am in the room.

It takes about 20-30 minutes on the average day for temps to rise from 70 F (set) to 73 F (trigger).

Is there a general best practice for this or is it dependent on the unit?

With strategy 1, you're basically emulating what your AC's thermostat in energy saver mode would do when set to a temperature of about 72 degrees -- it will cool to a bit beyond the set point, then switch off for a while, and let the temperature rise a bit above the set point, and then switch on again.  Most ACs have a range of about 2-3 degrees around the set point they try to stay within.

Whether you manually or automatically switch the AC on and off as the temperature fluctuates shouldn't matter all that much.  However, since with strategy 2, you have specified a lower set point of 70 degrees, if you're in the room for long enough, that strategy will use a bit more energy (and provide more cooling).  If you adjust your set point up to 71 or 72 degrees, it will operate almost identically to strategy 1.

One note: ACs don't like to be cycled on and off rapidly, so in some cases the electronics will add an extra delay before cycling on, beyond what the temperature set point calls for.  Usually this is only about 5 minutes though, so since you say it takes about 20-30 minutes for the temperature to rise from 70 to 73, this won't apply to you.


Which peninsula sink vent strategy is best for this situation? I am doing a remodel where I am removing a wall behind my sink to create a peninsula. This wall has my drain waste vent. So as far as code I do know that I cannot go less than 45 degrees (horizontal) until I am at least 6" above the sink flood plane. I should be able to make that work as I will be keeping a partial wall 16" to the right of the current drain.

I definitely can do a 45 degree vent. Though I might have the vent 45 possibly below the current sanitary tee. Reason being if I lower the whole p-trap then I lose more space in my cabinet #4 Or I will need to do a 90 jog #5 from the p-trap to the sanitary tee. So for those plumbers out there which solution would be most code compliant or is there a vent diagram that shows me a better solution? Thanks!

Notes, Single drain sink with garbage disposal. Also because of remodel and not wanting to move the current waste line (in concrete with the water lines on either side of it) the waste line will be to the far right of the cabinet. Sort of like #2.

Thanks a lot for the illustrations! I'd go with Option #4 where the sink connection and trap are done right. Trap parallel with wall and drain immediately elbowed. Trap is as low as needed and no forgotten odd in-wall setup while hanging a serving shelf type of situation.

In the case of a Garbage Disposal (GD), you'd use the GD itself as the elbow. Or, like the picture, you'd send that to the back ASAP as well.

Now, if you want to go nuts, literally, and get away from cleanouts or slip joints. Then, you'd glue-in union fittings under the sink so the entire drain start is solid-state and drops out for snaking. The picture is for using the trap as your elbow, but displays the union wonderfulness.


Can I use the CAT3 cable in my home for internet? I have FiOS internet (200 Mbps up/down service), via an Ethernet cable entering my house from one of their ONT boxes outside. I would love to have it available at each of the wall plates in my house. When the Verizon tech did the install, he looked behind one of the wall plates and said "your house is wired for CAT5 but I don't know where the access point is," and just plugged the cable into a router in the back of the house.
I've since done some investigating, checking behind each wall plate. First, I think he's wrong about the CAT5: every non-coax cable is stamped CAT3, though some have 2 pairs of wires and some have 4 pairs. Second, I also can't find non-coax splitters in any obvious locations, including behind the wall plates, in the outlet boxes. Here's what's behind each wall plate:

Basement: Two 2-pair CAT3, two coax connected to a 2-way splitter
Living room: One 2-pair CAT3, one 4-pair CAT3, two coax (the previous homeowner had a router that was previously connected to one of these coax cables). Pictured, in case helpful:
Bedroom 1: Two 4-pair CAT3, two coax
Bedroom 2: One 4-pair CAT3, one coax

So my questions are:

Can I use these cables for internet?
If so, how would I hook it up? Where is the splitter?

It would be great to have the outlets providing internet, though I gather that CAT3 is slow. A reduction in speed wouldn't be terrible, if it's more reliable than getting wireless across the house, and has low latency for video conferencing.
Thanks!
UPDATE
Wow, this generated a surprising amount of interest, and some very helpful info. I took a little bit from column A, and a little bit from column B.
I got a cheap tone and probe kit to confirm that the coax and CAT3 daisy-chained through the whole house. And I'm using two MoCA bridges to convert the FiOS signal from Ethernet to coax, snaking through the house and converting back into a wi-fi router. Ethernet out from the router goes back into the wall, traveling upstairs via a short run of CAT3 in the wall. From my office upstairs, if I plug my computer into the wall jack, I get 100 Mbps up/down with 7 ms latency, which is exactly what I got from plugging my computer directly into the FiOS ONT.
I now get great speeds when plugged in, and feel good knowing that I'm taking advantage of the wiring in the house. (Most of it anyway—I am cutting the daisy chain short by one link.) Also, the wi-fi router is much more centrally positioned, so I get better wireless speeds too.
Thanks for the suggestions to use MoCA, and also to give the CAT3 a shot—it seems to be working great so far.
Here's how everything's hooked up:

A Definite Maybe...
Harper's answer gives a good overview of the general setup of a wired home network. There are two separate issues in your particular case that complicate things:
CAT 3
CAT 3 is nominally rated for 10 Mbps. It may be able to handle 100 Mbps. But it is not officially designed for that, and there are actual differences between CAT 3, CAT 5, CAT 5e, CAT 6, etc. that make the newer cable types able to handle higher speeds. Forget Gigabit networking on CAT 3, but the vast majority of home users simply don't need that unless they are doing true networking between their computers - for myself the only time I truly need it is when I am replacing a computer and need to transfer everything over the wire (and there are ways around that too)).
The big catch is that if you hook things up with CAT 3 and it can't handle the desired 100 Mbps then there are two possible things that could happen:

Downgrade to 10 Mbps - This is actually fine for a lot of uses. May not work well for 4K video, but probably work fine for most other things. That's still 6x the speed of standard DSL of just a few years ago, and is for each device in the network, not shared like a DSL connection.
Errors. Lots and lots of errors. Get an error once every minute and it is no big deal. Get errors every other packet and it is a different story. A lot of things will go into this calculation, but mostly dependent on the quality of the cable (CAT 3 is all the same, but how good are the connections, the network cards, switches, etc.)

A switch that lets you force 10 Mbps. can solve the problem, but your typical cheap unmanaged switches these days don't have that capability. Many network cards have that capability, if you know where to find it.
Wiring Topology
Twisted-pair Ethernet is based on a hub/spoke topology. A bunch of devices connect to a central location - hub or switch (these days, almost always a switch). If your house is set up for that then each of those CAT 3 cables has the other end in one location - typically in the basement, but could be anywhere.
However, plain old telephone service (POTS) is often installed daisy-chained to save on cabling costs. You might have one cable going to bedroom 1 with another cable connected to that one (call it a splitter or whatever you want) and from there to bedroom 2. While POTS doesn't need even CAT 3, it was quite common 25 - 30 years ago to simply use CAT 3 for everything (why stock two cable types) and a little later to use CAT 3 (especially if you had a few boxes lying around) for POTS and CAT 5 for networking.
Since you have some rooms with 2 cables in each location and some with 1 cable in each location, that indicates a real possibility of daisy-chained cables.


No Cold Water in Shower ever So a few years back I installed a new bathroom for my kids, and lately, my eldest has been waking up earlier; she wants to take cold showers. I never really thought about cold showers, and when she said that she doesn't know how to turn on the cold water. I remember back, and we never have had cold water in that shower.
How do we get cold water installed?

Depends on the valve, mostly, barring a very unlikely arrangement of no cold supply (perhaps fed by a tempering valve if nobody's been scalded, but really, no cold supply is unlikely, while a poor user interface on the valve is very likely, at least in USA plumbing)

i.e. one common USA style of shower valve has essentially no "amount" of water control, and starts "cold" where it's near the off position, on up to hot furthest away from the on position. So if you think you are turning it "fully on" you are really just turning it fully hot. So, cold is "just barely turned on" for that style of valve.

But, I have experienced a surprising number of that sort of shower control that appears to be plumbed exactly backwards to the labels, so it starts full hot near the off position, and goes to full cold. I do not trust the labeling on any new one I meet. I'm not really fond of those anyway, but they are common.

There are various other options, depending what you have for a shower control valve.


Can an electric burner catch on fire inside itself? We have electric burner eyes like shown above in a 20+ years-old White-Westinghouse range.  My wife is an excellent cook and she's used this range earnestly for 8 years.  Recently after she had cooked dinner we heard a crackling noise coming from the range area.  The range was completely off and had been for at least 10 minutes.  I narrowed the noise down to one burner.  I pulled the burner element out of the range and it continued to make a crackling sound.  It sounded like it was on fire inside of the heating element.  It continued making a steady crackling sound for at least 30 minutes.  There was no smoke or warmth emerging from it.  It didn't smell noticeably either.  Is it possible for these elements to catch on fire?  Is there a better explanation for the sound we heard?

Nothing in the heating element burns. It has an Inconel sheath and a Nichrome resistance element - essentially the same alloy. The white insulation powder is magnesium oxide. If the internal wire comes in contact with the sheath , it may melt a hole before a fuse or breaker shuts off. I expect the crackling noise is contraction of cooling components. The alloy names are copyrights of Inco ( now gone) and other names may be used for the same alloys.


garage threshold concrete What is the strip that runs between the garage and the driveway called? Also what does it do? Is it a thermal break or is it there too prevent the concreate from cracking? What is the material? How deep does it need to be when installed?

That gap is to relieve stresses due to expansion/contraction caused by temperature changes.  It's not a thermal break.  You need some kind of flexible filler to keep water from getting into the gap, freezing, and cracking the concrete.
There are numerous materials than can be used to fill in the gap, so it's hard to say what may have been used in your case.  Looks like it may some sort of tar/oil impregnated material.  It's usually the depth of the concrete pour, probably 4"-6".


Ceiling insulation question I live in a 2 story city row house in Philadelphia that is over 100 years old with a flat roof.  The space between the second floor ceiling and roof grades down from the front to back - 36 inches or so to 0 when they meets in the rear.  The top floor has 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.  I already did the front and middle bedrooms, however I did not do any insulating in the ceiling space for those two rooms and regret it now and I am not willing to tear down the finished ceilings.

So now that I am doing the third bedroom, I want to insulate.  My first thought is to pull down the lathe and plaster ceiling, put a few inches of rigid foam board between the rafters, some faced fiberglass batts between the ceiling joists(they are not always 16 OC * advise please) and the put the drywall ceiling up.  Is it worth all the effort since the 2 other ceilings are not insulated at all?

I know there is the blow in loose stuff, but not sure someone can fit in in that space.  I heard that some people have contractors cut holes in the roof and shoot it in from the top, but is that inviting issues?

If the cutting in the flat roof isn't a big deal should I have it done to the entire roof? Can it be the closed cell foam to make it all air tight?

Or should I carry on and come back to the other two ceilings later, most likely blow in from above. Is it ok to have 2 different insulation schemas under the same roof?

I know I am being indecisive but I want to do the right thing now that I have the chance.

I would hire a contractor to blow it in from the inside. They drill a hole and fill the area of each bay They also do this in walls. I would never punch a bunch of holes in my roof that is asking for problems especially in your climate.


Rain gutter backs up and overflows in heavy rain I live in a terrace house and my gutter keeps over flowing every time it rains heavily. I've  found out that my gutter is a bigger size than both my neighbours' gutters on either side of me. Can I take my gutter out and fit the same size as my neighbours'? If so, will this solve my problem?

Your gutter is overflowing because either the gutter itself is clogged up with debris or the down spouts are clogged up.

Your larger sized gutter should be able to handle more rain than the smaller sized items installed on your neighbor's houses. So a smaller size would be even less able to cope with the problem than the size that you have.

I suggest that rather than fitting new gutters it would be more cost effective to unclog the existing gutters and make sure that water can flow properly along the gutters to and then down the spouts.

There is a slight possibility that some of your gutters may have been installed incorrectly such that they have a slope away from the down spouts. If this is the case then rain would gather and run toward the down slope end and then overflow because there is no where for it to go.


European Light Fixture in the US - Does it require a ground connection to light up A bit of an oddball question.  We bought, through a US distributor, a ceiling light fixture that was made in Europe (Netherlands).  It is a metal fixture, connected to the ceiling via a metal chain, which connects to mounting bracket which has a grounding wire attached to it at the bracket only.  The lamp wire is 2 wires, one with blue sheathing, one with brown sheathing.  The bulbs are E14 which I connected with an e14 to 12 reducer.  I checked on EU standards and blue wires are neutral, brown is for line.  When I wired it, it did not work but it was not hung at the time (I was testing it).  It was sitting on cardboard box that was on the floor.  A non-contact tester lit up when near the fixture (all over it) when the switch was on.  I immediately disconnected it (after turning off the breaker).  This is a well made fixture from a reputable company, wires appear intact, no obvious reason to think there is some kind of a short. It did not trip the breaker when hooked up.

My questions are
1) Using a multimeter, how could I test the fixture if re-wired to ensure that it is not actually live (maybe the non-contact tester is measuring a floating ground?)?

2) Is it possible that a fixture will not work without being connected to the "ground?"  I have had that happen with a step down transformer which would not work until the ground wire was hooked up.  No idea how or why that was that way (if someone knows please let me know).

Thank you very much for your help.

Lastly, I am contacting the seller to find out if this is approved for sale in the US.  The company website does list the US as an area of distribution.  I think they also make some of the fixtures for a large US light seller so I'm pretty sure it's ok.  Thank you again.

So I've got it working, I'll post a few things in case it's helpful for someone else in the future.

Using a multi-meter I tested continuity throughout the fixture on both sides of the circuit (both little round circles at the base of the bulb sockets), and everything was intact - so no shorts.
My non-contact tester is a capacitive coupling tester which will detect electrostatic fields in the absence of flowing current.  The entire fixture tested "hot" because there was line power going into it but no path outwards (see 3).  It was not an energized fixture however as the line power was contained within the intact wiring
Not all reducers are created equal (or fit in that particular light).  The e14-12 reducer that I was using was not getting good contact with the base of the socket.  I took the fixture to a local lamp store where we test fitted 3 different reducers until we found one that worked.  At least one bulb needed to be connected to complete the circuit.  Since none of the reducers was contacting the socket sufficiently to work there was no circuit made - leading to #2 above.
From my reading and discussion with the lamp store people: European fixtures are powered at 220-240V, at that voltage less current is needed to power a bulb which is why they are able to use smaller gauge wiring. In the US, at lower voltage more current is needed to power a given wattage bulb.  Wire resistance is pretty much fixed so a higher current over a fixed resistance generates more heat, I believe the equation is power is proportional to IxIxR.  In my application this is ok as I am using LEDs at a much lower wattage, I am also not using 240V bulbs which would demand a much higher current flow to work (if they even could).  Hopefully I summarized this correctly (and am not wrong).


Which direction is the airflow through my furnace? There's multiple lines of ductwork along the side, and up top. So what's the correct direction of airflow (red or green in the image below)?

That's an upflow unit, so the air flow would be in the direction of the red arrow. The air flows in through the lower side, up through the heat exchanger/evaporator coil, and out the top of the unit.

The first clue, is that the filter will always be where the air enters the unit. Secondly, the blower is typically on the inlet side of the furnace/air handler.


Can I remove one side frame of the cabinets above the refrigerator? The space for the refrigerator is more narrow than I'd like. Both sides have a wall/panel extending from the cabinets above. The space is 33"w x 72"h. The new fridge would likely by 36"w x 70"h (covering a light switch a little). Picture here:

I've basically only come up with one solution:
Saw off left side just below cabinet. In this case, what kind of support would I need for the cabinets above?

It would be great if I could preserve the cabinet/housing as is, and simply move the left wall over a little bit, but that doesn't seem trivial.

Thanks!

Long and boring, but the proper way...

You will have to see how the cabinet is fastened. If it is screwed on the sides to the "walls" of the housing then you need to remove it before removing the "walls"

If the cabinet is screwed on the back- to the actual wall (even id it has side screws) then empty it out completely and you should be able to safely detach the wooden "wall" you want to move.

In this case you will need pad out the extra space in-between the cupboard and wooden wall you are moving with another piece of wood that will fit. You need 3" inches.

A nice way would be to pad both sides of the cabinet with 2" thick pieces of wood to give you an extra 4". Painting it white will make it look like it should be there.

Then you need to screw from inside the right side of the cabinet through the padded wood into the wood of the existing cupboard -- but not so the screw comes out the other side. You need to measure precisely the length. screw in each corner and centre. Then put the left wall back in and screw from the left side inside the cupboard the same again.

You obviously have a problem with the light switch. IF you got enough space inside you could make a square opening in the side "wall" that you are moving and put the switch in there. The wires will be behind the fridge any way - just insulate them with some flex plastic pipe for wires.

The light switch will have to get moved to something similar like this. You can mount it flush /countersink it into the wall you are moving. The biggest problem is cutting out the hole to the correct size. You can go larger but you cant shrink. So be careful and try to fit it several times.

It is not an easy undertaking- but I would not do it any other way.

If you cant be bothered ...

If you cant be bothered doing it the right way. Then put several wall bolts in the back of the cupboard in the corners and centres. Then remove the left "wall" and put your fridge in.

But this will NOT work if you have a drywall behind the fridge.