How close is too close, when digging below foundation level? I'm digging a drainage trench near my foundation, and have hit the bottom edge of that foundation.  In this case it's a T style foundation at the edge of a slab, but elsewhere there's no slab.   From the drainage point of view I'd like to dig deeper. In this case the soil is heavy almost impermeable clay and the area is not subject to hard freeze.  Thusly:

What are guidelines for how much soil must be left undistributed adjacent to and below a foundation?

A related question is: How close should a french drain be to a foundation? which addresses drains near deeper foundations.

It would depend on soil type and the load on the foundation. As a very rough rule of thumb, the soil actively supporting a foundation spreads at a 45 degree angle downwards from the outer lower edges of the foundation. You should be able to dig outside this section with impunity. If you encroach upon it, if you only excavate something like 15 foot sections at a time, assuming the wall is longer than this, you shouldn't encounter any issues unless the foundation is extremely heavily loaded, such as supporting a large concentrated load.

When backfilling, be sure the soil within the support prism is very well compacted, but be careful not to collapse the pipe.


Can I cut off the 2 fuse from the wire & connect a new one with normal soldering? I have a connector wire from rice cooker, which is faulty.
It consists of 2 fuses sefuse sf139e 142c 10a connected by some funny looking connector.
Please refer to the image here:

Either 1 of both fuses are blown. Before I order a new fuse, can I:

Cut off both fuses
Solder a new fuses with a normal wiring?

Can the normal soldering wire withstand the high temperature current?
Or am I better off to buy a new rice cooker to be at a safe side?

Those are thermal fuses if you mechanically twist the wire together prior to soldering you will probably be fine 142c is about 287f that is 1/2 the melting point of most solders but I would twist together or western Union splice prior to soldering and the new fuses should blow long before the solder melts. I have fixed coffee pots that have similar fuses same method / 60/40 Rosen core solder (its outside the cooking area if concerned about lead, or use lead free solder). I put heat sinks on the wires and a quick solder did it on more than 1 coffee pot.


How to create craft paper storage I am looking to make storage for my 12x12 papers and my 8.5" x 11" papers.  I want to make it with lots of shelves and not sure where to start.

Buy a sheet (or two, or three - depending on your scale of storage bins) of 1/8" tempered hardboard (Masonite® is one common brand)

Cut 1/8" (or just a hair larger) slots in 3/4" boards (shelves are a good starting point for material in consistent sizes if you don't have some plain wood handy.)

Cut the hardboard a bit bigger than your paper - enough to allow for both the slots and some room for handling. Glue the top and bottom pieces into the slots. Trying to glue them all might be frustrating ;-)

Cut another sheet of hardboard the size of the back of your two sides plus shelves, and glue and nail it to the back. That will give it a great deal of structural strength as well as keeping paper from sliding out the back.

(Or, visit an office supply store or an office furniture surplus outlet and look at in/out bins, document organizers, mail sorting bins, literature sorters, magazine racks, etc. to see if there's a solution you can just buy. Should be easy for 8.5x11, more of a challenge for 12" square.)


Removable Bracket for Wood I am hoping to bracket two pieces of wood together at in a removable fashion (parts of a table that can be disassembled).

Through research I found hanger bolts which look close to what I would want, but I think ideally I would have some sort of hollow screw into which a bolt could be threaded. That way I could screw into the wood once and then thread a bolt to attach the bracket when necessary.

Does this sort of part exist and if so what would be it's name?

Also is this a decent idea in general or is there a better way?

How about a "T Nut"?

Drill a hole for the central threaded part, then knock it in so the teeth grip & hold.


Is plastic paint a possible solution for a wall with humidity? I have a wall that often gets wet. It's a very thin wall and I think it's water that somehow just infiltrates. This happens mostly in the rainy season.

I am not looking for the ultimate permanent solution. For now I am just looking for a cheap solution, that may keep things looking a bit better.

Would painting with plastic paint help to keep water out

Trapping the water in the wall is no solution, it will only wreck the wall more quickly.

Any paint you put on there will fall off the wall, as it will be pushed off by the water.  I use a lot of different paints from LPU to powdercoat.  Nothing I know of will do what you want.


How can I stop my lights from dimming when major appliances start up? So it appears that I narrowed down the cause of my Random Flickering- the faulty 20-amp circuit on the detached garage service panel (leaking 60 volts at some point between the breaker and the last outlet).  Once I kill that breaker, all of my random flickering seems to have stopped (and that breaker will not be turned on until that branch is either re-wired, or a specific cause is found).

However, now I have noticed a slight dimming whenever the A/C, Fridge, or well pump/pressure tank kicks in.  From reading around it looks like this slight dimming tied to major appliances kicking in is not something to be too concerned about.  And when it comes to the Fridge and A/C, it isn't an issue for us.  Where it does get quite annoying is with the well pump/pressure tank.  Whenever water is running (doing dishes, laundry, taking a shower, etc..) the pump kicks in every 10-15 seconds or so, giving the whole house a nice 10-15 second "beat" of lights dimming.  Is there anything I can do for this one appliance circuit to reduce or eliminate the flicker?

Think of the electricity flowing into your house just like water flowing through a pipe.  If you turn on a faucet only halfway then you will probably not notice a drop in pressure elsewhere in the house.  But if your washing machine is filling (or your irrigation system kicks in, etc.) then you will see reduced pressure elsewhere in the house.

The electricity in your house works the same way.  Air conditioners, refrigerators, water pumps, draw a lot of electricity when they first start up and you may see a drop in "pressure" when any of those items turn on:

  Air conditioners, refrigerators,
  freezers, furnaces, etc. that have
  large motors require enormous amounts
  of power when the motor first starts
  to spin up to speed.  Once the motor
  is spinning, the energy requirement
  drops way down. This instantaneous
  need for motor shaft speed is what
  causes that momentary dimming of your
  lights.
  Reference: http://www.askthebuilder.com/QA_Lights_Dim_When_AC_Comes_On.shtml

As @Tester101 mentioned in the comments, you could look into a service upgrade to your house (which might not be a bad idea) but the problem might also be with your water pump.  The pump kicking on/off every 15 seconds may indicate a problem with the pump itself (capacitor or pressure leak) or possibly an incorrectly sized pump for your usage.  You probably want to look into a new/repair/upgrade of the water pump.


Can I wire a 3 way switch to a light but also have an always-hot receptacle? I'm trying to hook up an always-hot outlet coming from the 2nd 3-way switch, which that switch controls a light.

I'm thinking if I connect the black wire from the outlet cable to any of the 3 wires in the box (the red traveler, the black traveler, or the black switch leg), then the outlet will always be flipping on or off depending on the switch's state.

As an idea, I'm thinking of splicing the red and black travelers with the black from the outlet cable and that should provide power constantly, but I can't find anyone online doing this. Would this work? Is there a better way?

Due to the way the three way switch is wired, you will not be able to do this. Either, your outlet will turn on and off with the switches, or you would essentially render the switches "Always On" (By connecting both travelers together in the outlet). Regardless, your best option is to run a new line to the outlet. See the diagram below:

You should be able to daisy chain off a nearby outlet so you don't have to go all the way back to the breaker box.
Good Luck!


Can an inspector enforce issues with existing plumbing outside the scope of a permit? We have a contractor working a plumbing job for us in a bathroom. The inspection passed, however as he was walking out, he asked about where our washing machine drained to. I said it was to a dry well that was done by a plumbing company, it is not tied to the septic tank. We have plans to do that but not in the immediate future.
He said that wasn't legal and we'll want to fix that at some point. I couldn't tell, but can he take this to the county and issue us a fine or worse? The washer isn't part of the permit that was pulled for the work, JUST the bathroom stuff.
HOME: I wanted to provide an update. Turns out he can hold final inspection because I revealed the information. Maybe the General Contractor could have fought harder but in the end I revealed information that I probably shouldn't have. We ended up having to tie the washing to septic. It wasn't a huge deal, a morning of digging and and hour for the plumber to hook up the pipe.

This widely varies by municipality.
In general - big generalization - if this is something that isn't in the permit, something that is not being currently worked on, and something that is not an occupancy danger is out of scope for an inspector when visiting during a permit sign-off.

Isn't on permit - pretty clear your wash machine is not part of bathroom
Something that is not being currently worked on - so let's say you were getting this sign-off but then inspector notices you have outlets open in the room with the washer.   It doesn't take much and inspectors will say you are working on something to be permitted.   For instance I hide my toilets (boxes included) when doing minor refacing of a bathroom - which may include new vanity, new toilet, update plumbing (not change it - just make sure it is right and not old parts that may fail), and a paint job.   Inspectors see the toilet in the garage when inspecting something else... "what else do you have going on here".   Then I have to have an inspector out 3 times and quirky rules for a facelift.   Yours is clearly not being worked on, but this is a very hazy area!
occupancy danger - this would normally be under electrical issue or fire rating issue.   There is other gray area but don't think a washing machine hose could get there.

Now the other thing to think about is that some cities have presell inspections that have to take place before you can sell your home (not the buyer's inspection).    If your city requires that I would figure that that drain-off that you currently have will not pass.   I would also figure anyone who has your house inspected will have this noted and may require you to make it code before buying.
If I were in your house and might sell it the next couple years I would probably call inspector, and just ask about it.   What can I do to make it code?   Most inspectors will give you advice on this, especially basic plumbing requirements.   If I were planning on living in house for next 10+ years... there will probably be a new inspector by then.


Connecting the drain hose of a clothes washing machine to a wider drain pipe I need to install a clothes washing machine in the bathroom and I have a problem to solve.

The drain hose of the washing machine is 25 mm in diameter on the exterior, made from a soft rubber material - see image A, while the drain is 32 mm in diameter internally made from hard plastic - see image B.

How do I connect them? Is there some piece that goes in between I can buy? Do I need to cut the head of the drain hose and replace it with something else?

32mm equals 1.25" USA. Standard 1.25" drain pieces can be obtained at any hardware,Home Depot, Walmart, etc. You could buy another 1-1/4" desanco fitting x 1-1/2" abs or pvc piping. Use the 2 desanco pieces with their washers and jamb nuts back to back and convert to a stand pipe with the 1-1/2" abs or pvc and dump the washing machine drain hose into the stand pipe.


Possible application to backboard in shower I had a mild mold issue and as I tore the bottom of the window frame (in the middle of the back shower wall) I found more and more damp wood. Noticing there was plywood instead of cement board. I tore out the plywood and then the rusted out metal panels behind that to uncover the wall boards; which are were used on the walls throughout the house where plaster and metal mesh (chicken wire) were applied over it (not in the shower though).

So my question is, from the picture those back boards are damp looking but they are in good condition, is there something I should apply to them before covering then with cement board?

I would let that dry the best you can, heat or fan...once that is done, paint it with kilz or similar and, of course, wait for that to dry, then install backer board up the wall. The reason I would paint the framing is to inhibit any growth of spores you can't get to die completely, therefore sealing them in and causing them to die. Some people seal it, others don't. I know a few people who bleach it and be done with it. Some use a mold/mildew converter, and some paint it with regular paint.


How can I work around a broken faucet handle? I have these two faucets in the kitchen that I'll use for a washing machine and a dishwasher. Alas, the handles seem to be broken:

I guess I should change the handle at some point, but right now I'd be happy to leave it open using a wrench.

I'm unfamiliar with the nomenclature of these things, but going by this legend it seems like I should be able to rotate the stem -- that's the outer brass thingie right? -- with a wrench to open it.

I've rotated it a bit but no water came out. I'm afraid I'll be disassembling the whole thing if I rotate it too much, so any advice would be rather welcome!

That is the stem, but looking at your pictures it appears the faucets are 1/4 turns. So if you can turn it more that 1/4 of a turn and not get water, you need to turn it the other way. If the other way doesn't work you'll need to replace it, because that's all the knob/handle would do. You may have loosened it and need to turn it back to where it was to start. Guessing from photo on the 1/4 turn, if they aren't you may need to just turn more or try the other way.

You can also remove the screw holding down the other handle and use the same handle on both.


water pressure drops when irrigation system is turned on I am using well water. The static pressure measured with the outside faucet is 60 psi. When irrigation system is turned on, the water coming out of all sprinkler heads in any zone is weak. I guess the pressure at sprinkler heads is low. When irrigation system is on, water pressure inside the house is very low too and the PSI I read at outside faucet drops to 20 PSI. What could be the problem? Can low water in the well cause the problem?
Thank you!

It sounds like your well is not able to provide the flow rate needed to supply your sprinkler system.
Let's say that your well/pump/plumbing are able to provide 5 gal./minute.  If you exceed that rate then the pressure will drop.  It's unlikely that low water level in the well is the source of your problem as in that case the pump would start sucking air and you would notice the air in the system as it "burps" out.
I'd start by checking your plumbing for suitable sizes of pipes and fittings and see if there are any obvious problems such as way too small pipes.  If that fails to reveal any issues you likely need to engage a well service professional who can evaluate your well and pump and make any recommendations that might correct your problem.
Keep in mind, especially if your well and pump are old, that fixing this may involve replacing the pump, drilling a new well, running a new pipe from the well to the home, etc.  In other words, it may be expensive.


Polyurethane "separating" on table top Refinishing my kitchen table. The process so far: strip, sand (progressively moving through the grits), condition, stain, finish, sand,'finish again.
Any ideas as to why a coat of Oil-based polyurethane is separating in small circles within a few minutes after its applied? I've sanded and resanded, and if anything it's getting worse. Once the coat dries, there are several small "holes" or "divets" where the polyurethane didn't take and instead, crawled away from those spots.
What did I do wrong? I didn't notice the separating with the first coat of finish, but with the following coats. Is there any way to fix this?

A couple possibilities come to mind:

The product was not mixed well
The product has exceeded its viable shelf life
The product is contaminated
The table surface contains contamination
The table is made from a very oily wood that the varnish is not bonding well too
Applying it with the wrong applicator
Other application issues - wrong solvent used to thin it, applied too thick, etc.

I would start by ruling out the varnish as the issue by trying another can, manufacture, etc.

If it turns out the wood is the problem, you might also try applying a thin layer of a dewaxed shellac as a sanding sealer first.  More difficult woods might require something like Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer or a Hardwood Epoxy Glue as a base layer to the varnish.

I have no affiliation with these products and only recommend them based on experience


Are window air conditioner support brackets designed to support a window air conditioner by itself? I have this air conditioner that is designed to be used with vertical sliding windows. The problem is that I have a horizontal sliding window. I understand that the air conditioner I have is designed to be held in place by the window sash holding the top of the unit. I have seen solutions such as this answer where a support frame is installed in lieu of the sash to hold the air conditioner in place. I am very inexperienced with carpentry so I was hoping there is another way to do this for my first project. My HOA requires that I install a air conditioner support bracket under the air conditioner. My question is: Can I install my air conditioner using ONLY the support bracket to hold it in place and keep it from falling?

The answer to this question seems to indicate that I can use only the support bracket to keep it in place. But it only has one up-vote and is not accepted so I wanted to make sure and get more concrete answers.

One of my concerns is that the support bracket that I bought seems to be too narrow compared to the air conditioner. The bracket is 5 inches wide and the air conditioner is 19 inches wide. It seems like the air conditioner could just tip over one side or the other. Also, the product summary for the bracket says that it transfers weight from the window sash for safety. But I'm not sure if that means that it works without a sash, or that it is supposed to complement the sash.

Here is the support bracket:

Here is the air conditioner:

The bracket is entirely sufficient to support your AC.  That's doesn't mean that in some freak occurrence it couldn't come out of the window. If you want to add to the margin of safety, you want to prevent the upper sash from loosening enough to prevent it from rotating out. Most units have screw holes in the frame of the AC that allow you to fasten it to the upper sash.  Otherwise a small screw or nail to prevent the sash from moving will do the trick. At that point not much short of a tornado is going to get it out of the window...

Hope this helps!


Safe way to terminate exposed electrical during remodel? I have a few exposed electrical wires that were cut in order to remove wiring in the area being remodeled. Is there a safe alternative to terminating all these points inside boxes? I need them safely capped off with wire nuts for about 3 months, and adding boxes seems overkill.

Maybe I'm just wishing there was some sort of product that was a bit lighter duty for short-term applications. Before I go buy a bunch of boxes and spend a good number of hours, I just want to be sure I couldn't get away with something simpler. Any ideas?

I would also do wire nuts with electrical tape if I knew who was working in the area and they were competent.
The boxes you put your wires into don't need to be mounted anywhere. They can just be hanging around. But yes I understand cost and driving to get the boxes and covers can be a nuisance.
I know some people like to wire nut the hot and neutral together. That way if somebody turned the breaker on by accident, they would short out and not electrocute anybody. Again that would be wire nut and tape...


Refrigerator temperature fluctuates wildly I have an Electrolux Icon french door refrigerator left to us by the previous apartment owners. It has no model/serial sticker on it and they told us it was a gift from a relative.

After two years of use the temperature in both, cooler and freezer compartments started to fluctuate, ice began melting and 'High Temp' alarm would go off. But then the temps would suddenly go back to normal i.e. -20C and +1C cooler and freezer respectively, as if nothing happened before.

I used a portable temperature logger to record the temperature and got a constant seesaw every 2 hrs temperature goes up to almost +10C then briefly drops to normal (-20C freezer / +1C cooler) and immediately starts creeping up again. Once every a 24 hrs there is one longer 4 hrs cycle.

I tried adjusting the temperature setting, but to no avail. What can be causing this and what can I do to fix it?

Cooler temperature graph:
Freezer temperature graph: (for a different day)

UPDATE

The refrigerator stopped cooling at all. But I can still hear the compressor running. Virtually all the time.

Could it be that the refrigerant was leaking and now it has completely run out?

There may be list of reasons based on your refrigerator design.
1. May be a faulty pump that pumps coolant.
2. May be a faulty leaking capacitor in the circuit.
3. Leaking of refrigerator coolant.
4. Most power circuits have a ceramic round dial shaped capacitor that usually takes power surges when there is a sudden spike. After a few years(1-3) due to multiple surges it is subjected to a wear and tear and finally explodes. It happens many times and is located in coolant pump under a hard shell casing enclosed in hardened glue so that there will not be any visible damage.
5. There may be a leaking door as doors tend to loosen a bit on sides causing an air gap where cooling leaks.

Better call a technician as he can as sess and tell. I it covers warranty exchange for a new product.


How can I build an automated water valve for a coffee maker? Our home has a remodeled kitchen and we have yet to install a backsplash.  Before we do I was wondering if I couldn't add some functionality.
We currently have a simple coffee maker sitting on our counter.  Not that it's a huge pain, but it would be nice to run a water line up to it from the basement and add a valve so that we could easily fill the coffee maker with water without pulling it out and using the pitcher.
I'm thinking the same kind of water line that we use for our ice maker.

As a simple project I would like a simple push button valve (one that could not be left on and forgotten).  Lowe's/Home Depot have turn valves that could be left on to overflow the kitchen.

As a more advanced option I would like a valve where I could set the number of cups I want and it would automatically shut off when I reached the correct amount.

Does anyone know where I might be able to come across either kind of a valve?

If you're not married to your specific existing coffee pot you can purchase coffee machines which are designed to take in a water supply line.


Custom device mounted in electrical receptacle box? I designed a PCB which matches the dimensions of a receptacle box (the blue ones, just gonna call it the box). It is meant to mount next to an outlet in a double gang box and has a relay controlled by an esp to control the outlets. The components face into the box, and an led faces out, but is flush with the out-side of the board. I'm wondering the legality (code-wise) of installing a custom device like this into an electrical box. All it's doing is breaking or making the live connection to the outlet, but for now the design necessitates soldering the Live wire directly to the board, which I'm pretty sure I don't wanna do. If it had proper screw terminals for Live would that be ok? I'm having trouble finding information on this, maybe my Google-fu is off.

That would not be code-compliant. The NEC requires that all installed equipment be listed by a recognized testing laboratory (i.e. Underwriters' Laboratories, "UL", in the US) who has performed safety testing.
One way to deal with this is to outsource the switching job to a listed relay that mounts in or to a junction box, so that the mains voltage is completely contained in the junction box. Outside, the relay gives you terminals (for either closing a circuit or providing a voltage) to control the relay. Your custom IoT gadget can control the mains circuit without needing to be listed itself, because it is isolated from the mains power.
Random example relay


How do I remove this shower sliding door? I'm trying to remove the sliding doors of my shower to clean up the rails and also replace a broken "holder" (sorry I don't know the exact name of that part).

Do you have an idea how to remove a shower door using that hanging system ?

Thanks for the suggestions. Finally, I discovered that there's some hooks on the bottom of the door that you need to release to be able to lift and remove the door.


Should I seal these areas in my roof? Our home has some areas where the different pieces of roof meet the primary roof. These may or may not meet the criteria for "dormers." I recently had a local worker do some caulking & painting. I thought he was going to clear & seal these areas where the roof line meets another portion of the roof line. After he had completed the job I got home from work late & inspected the work the next am. There is still a 1 1/2 inch gap between the areas of intersecting roof lines. He replaced the flashing & caulked where he worked, but there is still open areas that are angled & go directly into my attic. These 4 areas a re approximately 12 to 18 inches in length & were infested with red wasps & a bird nest. The wasps do not bother us, but if they can get into my attic, I assume other insects &  critters can too.
Okay sorry for the history. Should I seal these areas? They are against the primary roof & might be considered dormer edges.

Typical Gap - A similar one is on the opposite side

Overview

Full Image Gallery

Oh dear. That's an unfortunate detail. :( I'm afraid DA01 is actually correct, the proper solution is tear out and properly rebuild. The proper approach to this would have been to either stop the barge end (the gable end overhang) several inches above the lower roof so the bottom could be properly enclosed and the lower roof properly flashed. This would not be a good detail architecturally though.

Another approach would be to fully extend the barge end so that it is actually fully framed into the lower roof, then flashing applied around the intersection. The barge end trim could extend a bit over the flashing, stopping short of the lower roof an inch or so. But the main structure is actually physically connected to the lower roof.

Those are the correct options, which involves a lot of remedial work and undoing much of what has been done in this area. If need be, you could do a stop gap treatment that will seal off the gap for now. This is far from ideal, and proper treatment should certainly be done when it comes time to re-roof.

This would involve fitting carefully shaped wood shims into the gaps to give the appearance the barge end had been framed into the lower roof. The outward facing shims could be toenailed in place, but the parts under the soffit would be just a pressure fit or sort of glued in with caulking. There will likely still be small gaps that need to be filled with caulk. Use a paintable caulk so when it's done and painted, it will not appear to be a patch job from any distance.

I don;t like this final option at all, but I understand if you are unwilling to do a proper fix at this point and thus offer this suggestion.


Can a mix of receptacles and light fixtures be installed on a single circuit? A while ago we had some renovations done in our house. After the electrician was done, we realized we now had one light switch in our kitchen that was no longer connected to anything. It is in a 2-gang box. The other switch in that box still is connected to a light in the kitchen. Suffice it to say that this isn't exactly what we wanted, but the electrician is done and won't be coming back.

So, now we have this useless switch and are trying to decide what to do with it. It happens to be above the counter (and it's more than 6 feet from the sink -- if that matters). So, we thought it might make sense to replace the switch with a receptacle, giving us an extra place along the counter where we can plug in small kitchen appliances (toaster, food processor, what have you). My question is, are there any problems with mixing receptacles and light fixtures on the same circuit? Does it make any difference if it is in a kitchen?

I realize that this means that if an appliance plugged into the receptacle trips the breaker, the lights will also go out. I'm personally not concerned about that.

To directly answer your question about the unused switch in your kitchen, you have to check a couple of things before you install a receptacle in it's place:

Is there a source voltage feed in the box?
If there is only one cable entering the box and both the black and white conductors are connected to the  switch(es), then the voltage feed is coming through the light fixture. In this configuration, there is no neutral and you cannot install a receptacle.
Technically, if the source wiring is not 12/2wg, AWG and controlled by a 20 amp breaker, it does not meet current code for use with a receptacle.
If you do find that you can install a receptacle, be sure to use a GFCI type.
Determine if the wires on the unused switch are energized and where they go.
If you use the line side (source) wires for your receptacle, be sure to safely terminate the unused switched load side wires in wirenuts.


How to efficiently clean bathroom's toilet and tiles, so the dirt/urine from one area doesn't soil the other? I've recently started to live on my own (with some roommates), and I'm big on cleanliness, and cleaning the bathroom is a nightmare.  I start with the counter top and bathtub next, both go well enough, but it's the toilet bowl that is a nightmare because it's not self contained like the tub.  Every time I pour a bit of water on the toilet bowl (the sides), it naturally pours down on the tile.  That's really urine water going down to the tiles.  Solution?  I use bit of detergent on more urine soaked spots and use a cloth to run with just couple of drops of water, and only then pour some more water, but still, that would still contain some urine mixed with water.

Same problem with tiles.  As you know, guys rarely get their pee in the toilet bowl (I guess I'm the exception) so the tiles are the same story.  Pouring water just spreads the filth.  I end up using gloves and going through a lot of pieces of cloth to do the job.

I know I'm being a bit OCD, so I appreciate sensitive replies and constructive solutions, so I can find a compromise between excellent time-consuming cleanliness and efficient use of time and resources.  Just to let you know, I use gloves, Tide detergent, and some pieces of cloths, that's all.

Much appreciated.

If your a bit OCD I almost hate to post any thing but it never hurts to do a good cleaning and a good occasional disinfecting of the bathroom.  As long as it does not get over done as the items used to clean and disinfect  can be harmful in there own right if exposed beyond need.  disinfecting
The markets are full of many good working bathroom spray on cleaners and disinfectants, a lite spray and then a damp wipe should be good for daily use.


Metric unit conversion for piping The German manual of my washer-dryer says it needs a water connection with measurements specified as 26,4 mm = 3/4". Assuming those quotation marks were meant to be prime marks, i.e. stand for inches, I ordered a 3/4 inch manometer. Turns out the 3/4 inches of the manometer were "actual" inches (i.e. 19.1 mm), whereas the 26.4 mm of my washer-dryer were 1,04 "actual" inches, not 0.75. If not "actual" inches, what does 3/4" refer to? I did some research on local home improvement store websites, where I found pipes labelled as both R 3/4 and 3/4".

They use a hose thread the German one specified is a British Standard Pipe(BSP) thread that is used, which is 3⁄4 inch and 14 TPI (male part outside diameter is 26.441 mm or 1.04 in).

  In the USA, its territories and Canada, the standard thread used for garden hoses is commonly known as garden hose thread (GHT), but officially its title is NHR ('NH' standing for "National Hose"). There are two designations is for thin-walled couplers on hoses formed from thin walled material, and NH is for full-form threads on thicker material used to make valves and fittings, produced by cutting or rolling Thread pitch is 11.5 threads per inch (TI).
  All fittings are the same size, but specified by pipe or hose's internal dimensions. So typical fittings are 3/4-11.5NH or 5/8-11.5NH (3/4 is the internal diameter, 11.5 is the thread pitch)
  GHT is not compatible with National Pipe Tapered (NPT).For the rest of the world, the British Standard Pipe Thread standard (BSP) is used. Domestic fittings are 3/4 inch BSP and thread pitch is 14 threads per inch. Taps used on farms, factories and in horticulture and fittings for garden irrigation pumps use a 1 inch BSP thread system.

This info is extracted from the guide:
The Complete Guide to Garden Hose Fittings


Wiring a garage door sensor Looking to wire an LED light indicator for my garage door. I'm in no way a lighting/electrical expert and I could use help. I do repair copiers for a living. Home auto mechanic rebuild motors etc. I have replace the entire house with new receptacles. I am a tech and work on electrical things here and there.

Here is what I need help on. I am wiring a sensor so that when the garage door opens a Led light will come on in the house to let me know that its open.

This is what I have:

Transformer/ power supply input 100-24v,output 9v-500mA
3mm Pre-wired LED Red Emitting Diode DC 9-12V 620-630nm Voltage(V) 20ma
Door Contact Magnetic Reed Switch closed. Max. Current: 0.5A Max. Voltage: 100V DC Max. Power: 10W
40 feet of wire

Do I need any resistor for this? or will it work fine with out it?

If you use a plain LED, you would need a current limiting resistor.  However if you use an LED panel mount pilot light, it will be as simple as drilling a hole in a faceplate and hooking up the leads.


wiring in a electric furnace to electrical subpanel I have a 30 amp double breaker in my main home panel feeding my detached garage 100amp sub panel. Can i run a electric furnace with a 90 amp breaker in the subpanel. Or is this setup all wrong

No, that's not going to work.  The furnace requires more power (maybe 3 times more!) than the whole subpanel feed can supply.


Does a GFCI also protect against arc faults? I have an old house, the electrical cabling only has two wires with no ground wire. When I bought it years ago, I had an electrician in to look at it, and they put GFCI blank-face receptacles on every circuit just outside of the electrical panel. So every outlet and fixture in my house is on the load side of a GFCI.
However, they didn't replace the existing breakers with AFCIs. My question is whether the GFCIs provide adequate protection against arc faults, or if I should also still have AFCI breakers.

You have it easy, since they added the GFCIs near the panel
So they did "my trick", which is install a junction box right next to the panel and use GFCI receptacles rather than GFCI breakers.  There are two reasons to do that, #1 GFCI receps are way cheaper than breakers, and possibly #2 can't get GFCIs for obsolete panels. For instance Pushmatic is the best consumer panel ever made, but no GFCIs available for it.
So with the hard part done, an AFCI upgrade is a piece of cake: Swap the GFCI recep for a GFCI+AFCI recep.
That was easy!
But before you do that, look closely at the existing "GFCIs" as you call them.  The "last guy" was pretty smart, and may be way ahead of you.  They may already be AFCI or AFCI+GFCI deadfronts.
By the way, they don't have to be deadfronts unless they power kitchen, bathroom or laundry room.  Feel free to use plain receps there for all other circuits, just pinky-swear you won't plug - no I'm kidding. Feel free to plug in anything you want.
GFCI's provide partial arc-fault detection
Generally we're interested in 5 kinds of arc faults:

Arcing between hot and ground wires  "parallel H-G fault"
Arcing between neutral and ground wires "parallel N-G fault"
Arcing between hot and neutral wires "parallel H-N fault"
Arcing in the hot wire, in series with the load
Arcing in the neutral wire, in series with the load

The first two, parallel arc faults to ground, are easily detected by a GFCI because they are, after all, ground faults.  In fact most AFCIs detect those by having a weak GFCI detection right onboard - that's why AFCIs need neutral.
Of course it's hard to have a parallel conductor-to-ground fault if you don't have ground.  Assuming you don't have ground. A lot of older wiring used metal jacketed cable, which provides varying degrees of grounding (certainly good enough to trip a GFCI)... and some uses metal conduit, which is an approved grounding method today.


Normal to see staples in hardwood floor? If not, how best to handle/fill? When new hardwood floors are installed, is it normal to see visible metal staples? In a couple of places in my new hardwood floors I see staples. They are flush and not a safety risk or comfort issue. But they do catch the light and don't look great. I don't see them everywhere, but especially near ends and scattered above - this leads me to believe they were missed in a few places.

If this isn't normal, what do you do to "hide" them? Should I go back to the floor installer to remedy or is this something that if you don't like you do on your own.

See some examples:

=====

Edit:

Adding photos of the starburst pop I described in the comments below. They told me they will sand and fill this.

There are also several places where it looks like dust got trapped underneath or paint that seems to be bellow finish I can't scrape away. They told me in these spots they will sand and fill. Is this the best path, anything specific I should be asking for or on the watch for when they do this? I don't like seeing white dots, but  is there a risk they could do something to make it worse?

Is there some underlying issue I should be investigating here?

Edit 2:

This is a photo of a board in the dining room - the dinning room open flows into the living room. Is this a big problem/warning sign if they had to use so many staples in the middle of the floor between rooms?

No, that's not the normal way to fasten hardwood floors.  Usually they are nailed or stapled on the edges which are then covered by the adjoining piece.  I suspect there was a problem here and the flooring was raised up and rather than take it out and do it right, they just stapled it down and left it.

Poor workmanship in my opinion.


Is it a bad idea to shower with the bathroom door open? I live in an apartment alone and wonder if there are any dangers of taking hotish showers with the bathroom door open? I know that humidity is an enemy of electronics, but I am not sure if showering can even create enough humidity (unless maybe I put the electronics in the bathroom).

Before I used to shower with the door closed and then let the fan run after showering.

I keep the bathroom door shut and the fan on while showering. I don't want water vapor to migrate back through the bathroom HVAC vent. On leaving I leave the fan on and shut the bathroom door, but come back a short while later, turn off fan and leave door open. My bathroom has not deteriorated in 38 years of my use, during which time it was renovated once.


Smart Thermostat without C on Heater I want to hook up my Honeywell rth9580wf to a natural gas garage heater that only has R, W, and G (not in use). It's currently hooked up to a standard battery powered Honeywell thermostat. I've read up on other posts for installing furnaces without C terminals, and gave it a try without luck. Here's what I did:
-Using a voltmeter I tested across the R terminal, and the red wire from the control board to the transformer. Each measures ~27V.
-No matter the heater's running state, I measure a constant ~27V at the R terminal and on the post of the transformer.
-Hooked up the G wire (which wasn't in use) to the R, and put this in the C on the thermostat. This did not power up.
-Was about to run a wire off the post on the transformer to the C, but held up before asking for advice.

I'd like some guidance I'd anyone can assist? Thank you.

You'll need to make a connection at that quick-connect with the red wire going to it

You see that quick-connect terminal you measured 27VAC from R to? That right there is where the control board connects to C, and can be used as a tap point for a C wire with the correct hardware.  In particular, you'll need a 6.3mm (0.25") stacked or piggyback quick-connect terminal (such as one of these) that accepts 18AWG wire and appropriate crimping and stripping tools.

To assemble this:

Turn the power to the heater off.
Strip the end of the wire (blue is typical, but color doesn't matter) that you want to use for your C wire
Crimp the piggyback terminal onto the end of the C wire
Remove the red wire you measured 27V from R to from its terminal on the control board.  This is the C wire from the transformer.
Install the C wire piggyback terminal's female part onto the control board C terminal
Install the red C wire from the transformer onto the piggyback terminal's male part.
Turn the heater back on, and enjoy your new smart thermostat!


Fixing crack in wall & baseboard Based in the UK, 1920's house that needs a bit of work. Last decorated about 10 years ago.
We have a number of cracks in the paintwork that I know how to fix, but here we have a crack in the wall right by the wooden base, and one crack where there is a join in the wood. What is the best way to repair this?
Looking for something like how to fill and paint it to make it look good. If it really needs a bigger replacement job I'd like to know but it's not something we can do immediately so would like to do a "decent" job of making it look better until then,

We have to assume that there's seasonal movement in the foundation that keeps these cracks alive. Therefore the best approach might be a flexible crack filler, such as painter's caulk (acrylic latex with silicone).

Scrape away all loose paint with a putty knife
Use a tool to gently groove the crack to remove loose material can create a cavity for caulk
Using a fine caulk tip, fill the cracks and tool it flat with a putty knife or similar
Allow to dry and repeat if shrinkage is substantial
Prime and paint


Why does the toilet keep running? One of our two toilets keeps running (septic system); both toilets have black sediment (sand-like) in toilets and tanks and slightly gray water. The toilet closest to drain field keeps running (has 3-mo old flush valve, 3-mo old toilet) and the septic system and drain field were recently serviced. Please help!

Have you verified that the flapper valve is seating properly? Even a brand new toilet can run if the flapper valve gets hung-up and is not allowed to close fully.

If you know for sure that the flapper valve is moving freely and tries to seal the drain pipe then try turning off the water flow and see if water is flowing in from the septic system. That's the only way I know that sediment would be able to enter the tank unless it was already in the line somehow.

Check those and report back if neither help to further evaluate.


Should I block off the soffit vents in the vicinity of my bathroom exhaust vent which is in the soffit? I've seen the other threads on here warning against venting a bathroom fan to a soffit:  People warn against the moist air heading right back up the surrounding soffit vents and into the attic (especially in a colder climate like mine--Wisconsin).  My plan to counteract this is to install non-vented soffit for a few feet on both sides of the bathroom soffit vent.

So now instead of being overly worried about moist warm air entering my attic via the vented soffit, I'm now worried that the 5 feet of venting that I'm choking off will result in decreased ventilation for my attic.

Can those who recommend against venting a bathroom fan to the soffit agree that, at the very least, my method of sealing off the soffit venting around the bathroom soffit vent is an improvement?

By the way, this is the vent I'm planning to go with

I think you've answered your own question, you've got the best compromise if you MUST go through the soffit.

Any reason to not do a roof vent?  Roof vent,  it has a backdraft damper and a bird screen


refrigertators that go into storage just bought a new refrigerator.
it will be used in our SUMMER cottage.   We always winterized our old refrig, by emptying it, cleaning it, unplugging it and propping the door open.   We were told we should consider a garage kit.  I question why, if we unplug it.   Are we potetentially damaging the compressor?  the lines?   Refrigerator ideally will not run at all in the winter, in our unheated cottage, yet the walls are all insulated.
Jim

You are doing a great job!
With the system clean and open no bad bugs can grow.
Second, with the system turned off, if there is a leak, there will be much less pressure on the lines.
Last some might say that on a motor not regularly run, there will be no oil, so when it starts there will be massive metal on metal contact. Well not with hermetic compressors, like those in fridges.  In those, all the oil settles back in the compressor!
Standing a fridge up for 24 hours is required by some manufacturers to make sure the oil has time to make it back to the compressor.
You are doing everything right for a long life of your new fridge.


Maytag Bravos Quiet Series dryer belt size I need to replace the belt on my Maytag Bravos Quiet Series 300.
In my search it seems that the replacement belt is 92 1/4 inch length and 1/4 inch width.
This belt (I bought two that size from Lowes's) seem to be too short to fit over the tension and motor pullies.
I had previously purchased a kit to replace the rollers and belt.   I've looked back at that order and it lists the belt in the kit as 93.6L.  I am unable to find any similar belts for purchase.
Has anyone else had experience with changing belts on this model?

Since the belt doesn't appear to be available separately at the right length, your best bet is probably to buy the kit that contains the correct length belt and the replacement  rollers.
Since you'll have new rollers, you may was well put the new ones on. You can keep the old, low mileage rollers as spares, just in case something goes wrong with one of these new ones.


Identifying non-standard flange fastener/nut Can someone please identify this non-standard fastener/nut with flange.
The thread is 10mm (it fits a 10mm threaded rod) and the diameter of the flange is 20mm.
The thread pitch is 1mm if that helps to identify it.
I need to find another one of these to repair a lamp with a pottery base that has a 10mm threaded rod that is missing this piece. I have an identical lamp from which this fastener/nut  was taken to photograph it.

Here is the nut fastened to the threaded rod from the other lamp to show how it is used. The flange is used to attach to the underside of the lamp base.

I just need to find the name of this fastener/nut or where to buy it. Many thanks!
Link to full sized image of front view
Link to full sized image of rear view
Link to full sized image of lamp holder

That is nut is 1/8" pipe thread, which is what standard lamp pipe and fittings are. Any lamp shop (or even a decent hardware store) will have a variety of lamp thread fittings available, including lock nuts. I call it lamp thread because while it is 1/8" pipe thread, the pipe and fittings are not tapered like 1/8" pipe thread plumbing fittings are.
While you may not find an identical flanged nut like the example in your picture, it would be easy enough to use a regular lamp thread hex nut and use a washer to increase the surface area.


Respirator or mask for brick (crystalline silica) and mold? I'm looking for a simple safety solution for multiple small projects that keep coming up. But it's not clear what safety mask and filters to buy.

For example, I read an article that states that I need an N95 mask for drilling thru brick:

  Safety first! Equip yourself with goggles, hearing protection, leather gloves, and an N95 respirator. Brick and mortar dust contains crystalline silica, which will be airborne when you start to drill into brick. Inhaling just a small amount is enough to create a health hazard.

I also plan to do some very basic removal of black mold. (Not on walls, I noticed some small amounts in the grout of my bathroom.)

Again, I'd need a mask, I hear. How do I know what filters and mask to buy?

I'm thinking of getting a 3M respirator and then buying these filters. How do I know if these are the correct filters for the type of work I'm doing?

Respirators are more typically used for preventing inhalation of gaseous contaminants which aren't filtered by simple fabric masks. They force air through media which entrap those gases. While they will also catch particulates, they're usually overkill for situations with just that concern. In your case, both silica dust and mold spores are particulates, with no real gaseous hazards involved.

Masks are simple dust filters, and the N95 spec indicates the size of the particulate that will be protected against. Search 'N95 mask' and you'll see a plethora of inexpensive options to meet your needs. These offer the added benefit of not making you look like a CDC operative while doing simple home improvement work.

I'd look for one with dual straps (for better mask-to-face seal integrity), and the exhaust vents some offer prevent forceful exhalation from creating gaps at the face-to-mask seal by more effectively venting pressure.


Side spray and a portable dishwasher We just bought a portable dishwasher, and the sink has a single handle faucet with a sprayer (side spray.) (This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTlmbpje7Js shows what the connection looks like.  The dishwasher connects to the end of the faucet much like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fszaXdH5K64)

The instructions for the dishwasher (and other brands) say to remove the side spray because the hose isn't designed for the constant pressure like when used with the dishwasher and is likely to leak.  That sounds plausible, but isn't the diverter the thing taking the pressure?  And if that's the case, how does removing the side spray prevent problems?

EDIT: Added details of the hose connection.

Side sprayers or vegetable sprayers are a known weak point of most faucet designs.  The valve is not meant for long-term pressure and are not designed for that task.

The diverter valve does play a role, but it's not to cut off water flow from the sprayer.  The diverter's job is to cut off water from the main faucet and divert it to the sprayer when the pressure on the spray side drops (when you pull the trigger).

Normally, most of the water pressure is going out the faucet and the sprayer only has to stop a small fraction of the pressure.  When a dishwasher is hooked up to the end of the faucet and the water flow is stopped,  the sprayer then has to deal with the full pressure of your water system.

To remove the side spray, you will need a threaded cap to cover the connection on the faucet where the spray hose connects.  You can remove the sprayer and take it to the store to ensure you get the right size.  This should be reversible, so if the dishwasher is no longer used the sprayer can be reattached.


Can I use a wider sill plate than what was originally used? I have a rotten sill plate. I believe it is a 2x4.
It sits on a  6 inch cinder block and only uses the the outside 2 inches of the block.
             __________
            |          |
 ___________|__________| <-- existing 2x4 sill plate
|                 |
|                 | <-- 6" concrete block wall
|                 |

I have access to the other 4 inches through my crawl space. Is there a reason I can't use the inside 4 inches for a wider sill plate?
  _____________________
 |                     |
 |_____________________| <-- new wider sill plate
|                 |
|                 | <-- 6" concrete block wall
|                 |

The sill plate is used as a transition from the wood walls to the foundation for vertical loads AND horizontal (shear) loads.
Yes, you can use a new sill plate placed on the inside of the wall (with anchors in it to hold it down to the foundation wall,) but the exterior wall sheathing needs to fasten into it too.
Horizontal shear is to resist wind and seismic events....and keep your house from floating away if it floods where you live.
Do you live in a high wind area or seismic active area?


What should I consider when using a sewage ejector pump? What are some of the things that you need to consider if you have a sewage ejector pump regarding maintenance and prevention of abominable, excrable catastrophes?

From what I gather this thing is akin to a giant garbage disposal with a pump that mashes up sewage and pushes it up to a point where it's above, elevation-wise, the nearest sewer line. It's probably most commonly used in old basements that have been dug out.

From this article http://burnettplumbing.com/tenways/; Step #6 talks about a sewage ejector pump:

  If you have a sewage ejector pump in your basement, plan for the fact that it will eventually fail.
  These pumps operate in a very harsh
  environment (submersed in sewage) and
  often fail after just a few years.
  Failure of your pump could mean sewage
  back-up in your basement. The risk of
  a damaging back-up is especially high
  if you have a water softener which
  drains into the sewage ejector system.
  If the softener regenerates while the
  ejector pump is not functioning, you
  could end up with up to 100 gallons of
  sewage backing up through the floor
  drain. All of this could happen at
  night while you are asleep, that is
  when most softeners regenerate.
  Consider installing an alarm in your
  sewage ejector tank. An alarm is
  designed to buzz loudly in the event
  of pump failure. Assuming you're home
  when this occurs, you should have
  ample time to shut-off your water
  before the sewage reaches flood level.
  Remember, alarms can fail too! It is
  best to NOT store valuable items on
  the basement floor if they could be
  damaged by water or sewage flooding.


What are some alternatives for a glass stove top replacement? As quite a few people are these days, my wife and I are in a difficult financial situation.  About 5 months ago we got a HUGE break and purchased a Stove, Fridge, LARGE microwave and Dishwasher for $250 (basically a gift as it was all worth well over $3,000).
Two days ago I tripped over my dog , dropped a full pot the stove and shattered the glass stovetop.  It doesn't look like anything but the glass is broken but the glass is definitely ruined.
I looked up the part from Whirlpool....it's over $360 just for that glass piece....and that doesn't include install.

So my question is this:  Are there any unconventional things I can do here to be able to use my stove again?  Could I just get a piece of tempered glass?  Remove all the glass and cook straight on the burners?  Or better yet...are there any places I could get a used stovetop that would fit?

Tempered glass is almost impossible to cut without shattering it after it's tempered, so you'd have to find a piece exactly the right size.  And even then I don't know if it would withstand high temperatures -- in fact it may get hot enough to un-temper it, in which case it would be a lot weaker and likely to break in normal use.

I have no idea if you can cook straight on the burners, but my guess is that since they're normally covered by ceramic glass, they're not constructed to support much weight.  Also I suspect they get a lot hotter than the glass surface does on a non-broken cooktop, so you'd be looking at an increased risk of fire if something spilled over.

I did a quick search and found a few online used appliance part suppliers, but I didn't check to see if any had that part available and at what price.  You might also call a few local appliance shops to see if they have any ideas on used parts.

A nationwide Craigslist search turns up many instances of that model stove for sale, all at prices lower than your price for a new part.  Sadly your most cost-effective option  may be to toss this one and buy a used one.


How can i add an outlet to an existing combination light switch? I have an old existing double light switch fixture that id like to add an outlet to. Can i do this? Ive been looking online and haven't seen much for info. Here are the pics of the current light switch[

No you can't. You have your always hot white wire, that should be marked with black tape, energizing the switch. You then have the two load wires, black and red, coming off the switch to control two devices. You are missing the neutral that would be required to add the outlet.

If you can combined the two devices at the fixture and connect them to the red wire, connect the hot to the black and the white to the neutral all at the fixtures, then replace the combination switch with a single switch. Connect the black, hot, to switch and pigtail to outlet. Connect red to switch and connect white , neutal, to outlet... just a thought.


Drill for Ikea dowels I would like to "customize" my Ikea Billy.

Therefore I would like to drill holes for the wooden dowels as well as the steel "dowel screws"

Is there a specific drill I could buy somewhere ? If not, how to determine which drill size I should use ?

Is there a specific drill [bit] I could buy somewhere?

No.

I'm pretty sure those are standard metric parts. You just use any appropriate-sized metric wood drill-bit.

  how to determine which drill size I should use?

For the wood dowels, measure the diameter and round to mearest mm. That's the size drill you need. Wood dowels tend to expand if they are not kept really dry, so round down. The most common metric sizes are 6, 8 and 10 mm.

For the metal cam-lock "dowels", you measure the inner diameter of the threaded part, like you would with any wood-screw. I think Ikea sometimes use threaded inserts for those, the thread may not be designed to cut a mating thread into chipboard. Note that some alloy-cams are very weak and brittle, I would try to find some good quality ones (or use a different type of fastener entirely)

You can do your measuring with a vernier caliper (or digital caliper if the batteries haven't died again) or just hold the thing up to the light and try various drill bit shanks behind and in front of it. A good alternative is to measure the Ikea-provided holes by dropping metric drill-bits into them backwards until you find a good fit.

You can always do some tests in scrap wood to reassure yourself you have the right sized drill-bit before making holes in any important material.

Lastly, you don't have to use Ikea hardware of course. You can be inventive with other fastening systems that work in chipboard. Screws, ordinary glued dowels, furniture-blocks, knock-down blocks etc. I sometimes have to be creative when repairing relatives' Ikea or Ikea-like furniture :-)

"Dowel points" can be useful for marking where to drill.


Grounding a 3-prong dryer plug I just bought a house, and my new washer/dryer is being delivered tomorrow. I have the older style 3-prong 220 outlet, which I know I'm allowed to still use. I also have a 2-prong 110 outlet next to it for the washer, which I don't think I can use. Since I have to upgrade the 110 outlet, I was going to just do both at the same time.

The outlets are located at the exact opposite diagonal corner of my house as the main panel. I had planned to just pull out the old ungrounded 10/3 and 12/3 and replace it foot by foot back to the breaker, ground it, and call it a day - but then I noticed that my breakers main ground runs all the way back to the laundry room, and connects to my main water line which just happens to be next to the washer.

My question, would it be safe, and code, to just run a #10 ground wire over to the same ground clamp on the water line? Or maybe secure a secondary ground bus near the water line, to tie into?

I know the codes need to cover every possible application, but it just seems silly to run $200 worth of new grounded cable back to my breaker, to tie into a ground that literally runs all the way back to where I started.

Thoughts? Thank you!!

You can retrofit a just ground wire back to the panel.

They broadly liberalized the rules for this in 2014 to allow this for almost any circuit -- but they had already liberalized the rules for dryer circuits some time prior. In fact, since the washer and dryer plugs both come out of the same service panel, they can share the ground wire.

Grounds don't need to be insulated (must be green or green/yellow if they are) and they don't need to follow the same route as the wiring they are grounding. They do have to be installed using proper wiring methods. Grounds must be large enough for the circuit they are protecting.

All the circuits out of that panel can share the ground, so it helps to run a "backbone" to the big appliances in #10 or #8, then tie everything else to that in reverse order of size. Splices are allowed in ground wiring, just do it legally in in junction boxes (which means pre-planning where those junction boxes would be useful when laying the backbone.)


How to unscrew this screw I want to take out my dish washer but there is a screw that I don't know how to unscrew.
I can't get the screwdriver straight on the screw head, only at an angle.
Any advise would be appreciated.

The plastic should be flexible enough to bend a little.
Put the end of the screwdriver in the head of the screw and then try to force the screwdriver in or more strait while turning it. Apply pressure up into the screw as you turn it as well.
Somebody got it in, you should be able to get it out.
If you can not get it out or the head strips you could cut the screw with a mini hacksaw.


Trying to identify the names of and how to replace Ikea parts I'm trying to put together an old Ikea table as an extra desk on which to work due to Covid related work from home. It is missing one of the four sets of threaded rods, washer and bolts that it needs. Plus it is missing the piece that sits inside the table leg in which the threaded rod secures itself. I'm looking for the name of this piece, and if possible, how to get a replacement for the whole set. I got a washer, nut and threaded rod at the hardware store, but don't really know how to go about getting the other piece as I can't even search for it without a name. See attached pics.

That part is commonly known as a cross dowel. If you buy everything at once, you should be able to match thread diameter and pitch. (Your existing bolt/nut might be metric or imperial.)


Leaving lost neutral wire I am in the process of clearing out old random wires from my 100 year old house (think multiple layers, modern, knob and tube and everything in between).   In the process of doing this, I  tried to remove a knob and tube circuit that disappeared into an air duct.  I turned off the breaker feeding it and cut the wires before they entered the duct. Why is the wiring being traced through an air duct?  You'll have to ask someone from 100 years ago.

I then went to the panel to disconnect the wires completely from the breaker (leaving the loose in between pieces in the air return, as I don't want to take that apart).  The  hot wire is easy to identify being connected to a specific breaker.  However, it enters the panel by itself, as a single cloth wrapped conductor not linked in any way to the neutral.  The neutral is one of 30 other neutral wires entering the panel, and I can't easily see which one it is.  Is it safe to leave the neutral wire that is buried in the air duct connected to the neutral bar, or should I really unearth it so I can fully remove it from its panel connection.

Chase down the matching neutral and remove it.

Otherwise it will drive you crazy, and be a loose end of wire unaccounted for.  What's more, it could wind up still being in use by some other circuit which shouldn't be there.   Part of the reason to fully explore an electrical system is to look for surprises.

Besides, since all wires must terminate in junction boxes, it will violate code and fail inspection.

I don't agree with my colleague that it's necessary to tear apart the ducting system, I feel unreachability is a defense.  But to play that defense, you must positively identify both wires of that circuit, both where they enter and exit the ducting, and fully remove all of that.


Does it matter whether a bedroom door swings in or out of the room? I am looking to install french doors to help brighten the room just outside of a basement bedroom I am currently planning (egress window added and all per building codes). All the other existing bedrooms in my house have doors which swing into the room. However, having the french doors swing out of the bedroom into a larger main room (not a hallway) makes the most sense to me for this bedroom since swinging into the bedroom would make me have to place the light switch further away from the door to keep the doors from obstructing access to the switch.

Also, when I think about it, it seems like every bedroom of every house I can remember has in-swing doors. But then, almost all of the bedrooms I remember also come off of a hallway of some sort where an door that swings into the hall would be an obstruction.

I primarily want to know if I would be breaking convention or some aspect of code/saftey which I have otherwise missed to install a door which swings out of a bedroom. One benefit I can think of for having in-swing doors is that an obstruction in front of the door wouldn't prevent someone inside the bedroom from opening the door.

There is no code that tells you that your bedroom doors need to swing in for a bedroom.   But it is usually not a good idea for them to swing out.

as you mentioned the doors present an obstruction in spaces.  In hallways it might even be comical to wind your way around 7 open doors from both sides.
when you are talking about privacy the doors have swung in because of the hinge side would be protected.  For instance if you locked your door and the hinges were out someone could just knock the pegs out of the hinges and release your door.
and safety wise there is always a chance that someone will open a door on someone else.  But not many people stand next to the door in their own room.  But people could be passing by where ever and you could hit them.  This should be thought about in your case.
aesthetically speaking you will be showing the hinges on the outside.  I know it isn't a huge thing but a small design factor.

I have to say I have finished maybe close to 50 basements now (got to be close) and one of my favorite designs for a smaller basement is simply storage room with the bathroom towards the front and the other side is huge living room with an "extra" room with french doors in the back.  Extra room is big enough to house a pool table but could easily be converted into a bedroom (often we have a walk-in closet going from extra room to storage room).  We usually have the French doors swing out to the living room.  If the living room is small though we swing them in.  This is highly dependent on what you feel is going to be next to the French doors on each side of the room. (On really small rooms we use double pocket doors)

Another note:  Come to think of it the doors themselves play a big part of inside or outside.  If I have some nice doors - especially the wooden vintage french doors we clean up - well these open out.  Because we want to showcase the door.  If it is some big box generic french door set, we hide them in the room.


What are the specific and current code requirements for wiring two circuits to one duplex receptacle? I'm finding a lot of conflicting information on this, and I think the code has changed a lot over the years, and many posts in forums are about multi-wire branch circuits (or being confused with them).

Based on either NEC 2014 or 2017 (which will be adopted here in about three months), what are the specific requirements, if any, for splitting a 20A duplex outlet on the tabs and having the top fed by one 20A breaker and the bottom feed by a second 20A breaker?

In this case, there would be two hots, two neutrals, and two grounds, since I would run two 12/2 romex runs to it. I know the neutral tab needs to be broken on the receptacle and the correct neutral placed on each side for safety and for AFCI to work.

I've read all sorts of conflicting information about this, much of which seems to get confused with MWBC (probably because that is how you would feed this setup "back in the day" when AFCI wasn't required).

What are the specific and current code requirements for wiring two circuits to one duplex receptacle? Specific NEC article and section numbers would be appreciated.

To clarify, these are the types of concerns that may or may not apply:

Labeling requirements. Should a warning be provided somewhere that de-energize one plug does not de-energize both?
Do they need to trip together?
Do the handles need to be joined (tandem breaker, 2 pole, etc)?
Since they are not sharing a neutral, it should be OK for them to be on the same leg. In fact, I think it would be good practice to put them on the same leg, because then you wouldn't be able to have 240 at a box most people expect to be 120.
Similarly, it seems the arc potential would be greater if the hots were on opposite legs, since there is more electromotive force, which could jump a larger air gap.
Something else that I didn't think of, since the people who write the code have put lots of thought into it based of field data and electrical engineering principles.
The most common application for breaking the tab is switch controlled outlets, which our usually supplied by the same branch, just one side is after a switch. In the event of receptacle failure where the hots touched, the light would just turn on. If the two hots were on different legs, it might cause bigger problems.
Sometimes certain features can only be used in certain cases. For example, you must wire the screw terminal for 12ga/20a circuits, but can legally back stab 14ga/15a. I thought perhaps there may be similar rules about when you could use two separate hots on a receptacle.

That's just considered normal wiring

As Ed Beal points out, the only special thing is that since both recpetacles are on the same yoke, they must have a common maintenance shut-off.  Because realistically, repairmen don't actaully stick a tester in both receptacles, they just probe one, and do stuff until it shuts off.  Whatever does that, must shut them both off.

In the case of the ubiquitous dual NEMA 5 receptacle, you simply have two receptacles on the same yoke, and if you snap off the tabs, they are independent receptacles.

The grounding system can be blended since it comes out of the same panel, so if you are running two 12/2's instead of 12/2/2 cable, simply tie them together in the back of the box.  You must pigtail them if more than 1 is involved: removing the receptacle can't sever anything else's ground.

Also if you plan to daisy chain these down to other receptacles, do not put one on the screw and one on the stab.  Either pigtail, or go for receptacles like Leviton's screw-and-clamp which are designed and rated for 2 wires per terminal.

To your questions

1 Warning signs?  No need, an electrician is expected to measure for power being present, and any of a variety of devices (like a night light) will do this. If you wanted to give them a hint, put "AFCI protected" both above and below the sockets.
2 Common trip?  Not required.  That would differ from #3 if the installation method was fuses and a shutoff switch.
3 Common maintenance shutoff?  @EdBeal points out "YES" because they are on a common yoke, based on 210.7 in 2014 and 2017 Codes.
4 On the same leg, I would call marginally better, but it contradicts #3 so it's not gonna happen.
5 Risk of 240V arcing? In any case your AFCIs will snuff that right out.
6 I can't think of anything.
7 Worrying about the hots touching, you are stuck with it because of #3.
8 Nothing special about separating receptacles, they are meant to be able to be independent.


Are pass-through grounding screw connections allowed by the NEC? Is this type of connection allowed according to the NEC assuming the ground wire is sheathed (like thhn) and striped back at the area of the screw and then continued to the receptacle ground screw then stripped there?

It is a good method and some local jurisdictions require it, the wrap is required to be between 2/3 & 3/4 around the screw.


How can I relocate a receptacle that cannot be removed from the junction box? We have an outlet recessed in a wood floor over a concrete subfloor. I want to build in a seating bench over that area, and extend the outlet to surface mount in the bench face.  However, the outlet screws are badly corroded and we can't remove the outlet from the junction box to wire in an extension. I would have to tear up the wood floor, and cut concrete to remove the receptacle.  Is there some option for leaving the existing outlet in place, and plugging an extension into it, then running to a new surface-mounted outlet?  Doesn't sound like something that would meet code, but I'm looking for any possible solution.

I would suggest trying harder to remove the screws before I started to rip up the floor; ripping up the floor to fix an electrical outlet/box just seems way to extreme.

If the screw head is stripped, use a specialty bit to remove stripped screws.  If it's rusted, try to use some penetrating oil (turn off the power first!).

As a last resort against the screws, you can drill out the screws and use a new tapping bit to create new larger threads for new screws.

If all that fails, just bust up the outlet (again, power off!) so that you can remove it or at least get access to other parts of the box so you can cut/grind whatever you need to remove it.


How to wire Two dimmers controlling a string of recessed light? Refinishing my basement and have an open ceiling at the moment. I have hung 12 recessed lights and connected them in 3 groups (groups of 2, 6 and 4 lights) using 14/2.  I then ran 14/2 from the start of each group to the entrance to the room where I intend to have 3 separate dimmer switches, one for each group.  I also have the power source running to this switch location on 14/2.  I have run 3 sets of 14/3 wire between from this location to another location where I intend to have a 2nd set of dimmer switches further into the room.

I have only tried hooking up one set of lights to for testing purposes and can't get both dimmers to work. Tried using a diagram that was shown on here (http://www.buildmyowncabin.com/electrical/3-way-switch-diagram-7.pdf) but it did not work.  Could not even get lights to come on.
I also found a diagram that has power at one dimmer and the lights at the other but not both power and lights from the same dimmer and ran a temp power line to the 2nd dimmer but even though the likes worked from either switch the dimmers did not work.  http://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/3_way_switch_wiring.html ( the diagram with 2 dimmers)

As @Tester101 says, with conventional dimmers, you can only have one dimmer in a circuit if the fixture (or set of fixtures) is being controlled from more than one location.

If you are switching from two locations, you also need to use 3-way switches for both the plain switches and dimmers (many dimmers are 3-way compatible).

There are specialized dimmers that work as master and slave units. These do allow dimming from multiple locations, but you need to use a set of matched units. These are also much more costly than basic 3-way dimmers.

Finally, if you are running remote switches that only connect back to the first set of switches, you need x/4 cable, not x/3. Two wires serve as travelers, one as the common return and one as neutral.  While not every switch requires a neutral, code now requires it as a hedge against future active devices. If you do not need the neutral, simply cap it in the box.


I am building a laundry room in the basement. Do I need a drain? I am finishing a basement with a laundry room in it.

Do I need a drain over there?

The floor for the laundry will be tile.

You will need a standpipe for the washer to drain into, and a floor drain.  You will also want to make sure the finished floor slopes slightly towards the drain.

The standpipe should be obvious - if you don't have that the washer will just shoot water out the back when it drains.  Make sure it is vented properly.

You need the floor drain for when the washer leaks.  Washers can leak for a lot of reasons and they can dump a lot of water quickly - you don't want that water finding its way under the flooring, into the walls, and into any adjacent rooms.


How to build deck starting in yard, ending on concrete slab? Here are some photos of my backyard with rough dimensions.

Needing help with how to end a deck from cemented posts in yard (at rear of house), to my back door. My trouble area is above the concrete.  Should I place a ledger board on house slab under siding and extend deck into yard on posts?  Or is there a way to not have to attach anything to the slab? Would also like it to run deck to the door to step out onto deck. From door threshold to cement slab is 6 inches.  Not sure on best approach here.  Thanks for any help.

I think your goal should be to have the deck a couple of inches below the bottom of the siding. If you use 2x6 joists, you'll need 5.5" plus the width of the decking, so you'll have to dig out the grass enough to get that depth.

There are two ways to deal with the concrete pad.

You could put a 2x4 on it's side and shim it up with pressure-treated shims to get the height that you need. I'd attach it with Tapcon concrete screws.
You could tear out the concrete pad with an electric jackhammer.

When I did my deck, I tore out the pad. It was a fair bit of work, but the deck was a lot easier to build.


Why did the water stop a few hours after my Culligan reverse osmosis filter change? How do I change the Aqua-Cleer Culligan reverse osmosis filters (the sediment and the carbon ones, the leftmost two of the four)?

Why did the water stop few hours after my change?

The manual has this under Install Filter Cartridges (I ignored the "lubricate" part as it did not make sense to me),

  Twist the cartridge to lock it into the manifold.
  See Figure 2.

I turned the incoming water pipe tap off (from the along-the-pipe position to the across-the-pipe one).
To remove the filters, I twisted them counter-clockwise (looking from the bottom up) and pulled them out.
To put the new ones in, I removed the cellophane from their tops, removed their lids and twisted them in clockwise.
Turned the incoming water pipe tap back on.

The drinking tap in the kitchen had water for few hours after that, then stopped.

Suspecting an issue with incoming water supply, I removed the cover of the filter shelf, removed the steel holder above the incoming tube, pulled out the tube with its plastic cuff, got a bowl ready, turned the incoming tap on for a second and saw the water gushing.
Suspecting a blockage between the filters, I removed the two filters, forced the leftmost (sediment filter) manifold open by rotating it with a screwdriver (taking care not to inflict damage).  Opening the incoming tap for a second pushed water through the manifold.  Closing it off and opening the manifold for the carbon filter showed no water.  (In retrospect I guess this happened because I closed off the sediment socket).
Suspecting an issue with the Automatic Shut-Off (ASO) valve located between the two filters, I removed the top cover, removed the screws, pulled it out, at which moment a few liters of water gushed from the opening (emptying the bladder-pressured tank).

The investigation steps above turned misdirected.  After talking with a local Culligan salesperson, I followed their advice and twisted the filters harder in (clockwise looking from the bottom up).  As soon as I turned the incoming tap on, I heard the water filling the filter system.  The drinking water tap in the kitchen had water couple hours after that.


How do I identify my closet system (or do I even need to)? In October I moved into a condo. All the bedrooms had built-in closet systems, but I don't know what brand/vendor. Why does it matter? I have a shelf or two with heavy things, and the shelf rocks back and forth when I move the heavy items. I want to get the thingie (not a technical term) that you put in the hole above the shelf to stabilize it, and I figured the spacing and hole size might vary depending on vendor.

So, is there any way at all to figure out who makes my closet? If not, do I even need to, or should I just take a measurement of the spacing and go to a store and ask for the shelf stabilizer thingie (any ideas what they're called?)?

The shelf when it's sitting normally:

When I put an unbalanced weight on it, this happens:

The shelf rests on shelf pins but there's nothing on the top side to prevent the shelf from flipping if the weight is unbalanced.

Thanks!

search for "locking shelf pin" and you will get what you need.

They have a clip that holds the shelf board from tipping.

Most shelf pins are made for a 1/4 inch hole, but  not all. Take one of your pins to the home improvement center and compare it to the 1/4" ones there to make sure of its size.


How do I secure my house against intruders? What are some suggestions for securing your house from an intruder? Right now we have a GE Simon XT alarm system, but it doesn't cover breaking a window. We put some PVC pipes in the tracks of the lower floor windows as well. What other suggestions do you have?

EDIT: I also would like to know what structural changes I should be looking at. A simple one is to ensure that the deadbolt goes into a stud (they don't always!). Any other suggestions like this would be great.

Some tips I remember from an interview with a burglar a few years ago (can't find a link now):

Make it difficult for someone to conceal themselves while breaking in.  If a burglar has to be in full view of the neighbors while he breaks in, it increases the risk of him getting caught.  Avoid tall/thick shrubs around your windows and doors.  Avoid privacy fences.
Having good exterior lighting on a timer helps, but the best thing is a motion sensor floodlight.  When a motion light kicks on, it says "hey, something's going on over here", which will draw attention to your house.
Those little solar walkway lamps aren't bright enough to matter.
Avoid having stuff in plain sight that says "we have lots of $$$".  If you have an expensive car, keep it in a garage.  If you have nice stuff in your house, keep your blinds closed.
Burglars case a neighborhood before they rob it.  They know when you leave for work.  They know when your neighbors leave for work.  If you have neighbors that are home during the day, it will make your house a riskier break-in.
If you have a security system, don't put one of those "Protected by ADT" stickers on your door.  Knowing which brand of security system can provide enough info on how to disable it.  Get a generic sticker.
Get a dog.  The bark is more important than the bite.  A little yappy dog can be more of a deterrent than a German Shepard.

Remember, the goal isn't to make your house completely break-in proof.  It is simply to make your house a less attractive target than the other houses in your neighborhood.  Look at the surrounding houses and adjust accordingly.  You don't want to be the lowest-hanging fruit!


How can I safely extend an existing outlet through an empty space? I have an electrical outlet in the back of a cubby hole over my fireplace as it seemed built for televisions of the CRT variety.

My question is, I plan to just wall off that cubby as to be able to hang a flat screen television on said wall. In doing so, how do I move the electrical outlet forward, from its current position, to the new wall?

If there is enough slack in the existing wire then you should pull it out up to the new outlet box.

If that's not possible then you can leave an access panel through which you can reach the old box and pigtail a short run of wire. Junction boxes must all be accessible using a screwdriver.

If you don't want to leave an access panel you can use correctly rated inline splices.


How can I route an in wall dryer vent through double top plate? I am looking to move the washer/dryer into the 1st floor walk in closet. Part of the process is putting in a dryer vent. I have seen some in wall vents for dyers and considering that as an option.

My main question is how do you vent it through the top? (see image for a reference). Is it ok to completely cut the double top plate in the section it needs to run? This is not a load bearing wall.

As an alternative, is it possible to run it straight down? In that case, would it be ok to go through the sole plate?

Bonus Questions - this is partially related to this

Is it okay to have a dryer vent in the wall cavity?
How difficult is it to clean something like I am describing? My worry is that I would have to climb into the attic, disconnect and clean it to the outside. It might be easier to clean if it went down and out, that way i could have an access panel or something to clean it in the basement.
Can a dryer be vented through the roof? The other question answered this somewhat which was a 'yes'. But would having it go straight up to the roof be easier to clean? Could just go on the roof and clean it straight down or even get it from the inside?
Update
I ended up going below. It was a easier and straighter shot that trying to go up.

2015 INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTIAL CODE
CHAPTER 15
EXHAUST SYSTEMS

M1502.2 Independent exhaust systems.
 Dryer exhaust systems shall be independent of all other systems and shall
convey the moisture to the outdoors.

M1502.3 Duct termination.
Exhaust ducts shall terminate on the outside of the building. Exhaust duct terminations shall be in accordance with the dryer manufacturer’s installation instructions. If the manufacturer’s instructions do not specify a termination location, the exhaust duct shall terminate not less than 3 feet (914 mm) in any direction from openings into buildings. Exhaust duct terminations shall be
equipped with a backdraft damper. Screens shall not be installed at the duct termination.

Answer.
You can go up or down. It's not advised to cut thru both top plates. The sole plate penetration is prefered. A cleaning access panel is not needed as cleaning can be performed from termination or connection point providing its installed to code.

M1502.4.1 Material and size.
 Exhaust ducts shall have a
smooth interior finish and be constructed of metal having
a minimum thickness of 0.0157 inches (0.3950 mm) (No.
28 gage). The duct shall be 4 inches (102 mm) nominal in
diameter.

M1502.4.2 Duct installation.
 Exhaust ducts shall be supported at intervals not to exceed 12 feet (3658 mm) and shall be secured in place. The insert end of the duct shall extend into the adjoining duct or fitting in the direction of airflow. Exhaust duct joints shall be sealed in accordance with Section M1601.4.1 and shall be mechanically fastened. Ducts shall not be joined with screws or similar fasteners that protrude more than 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) into the inside of the duct.

M1502.4.5.1 Specified length.
 The maximum length of the exhaust duct shall be 35 feet (10 668 mm) from
the connection to the transition duct from the dryer to the outlet terminal.


sump pit not filling like it used to Is it possible that work done to the basement slab can affect ground water flow to the sump pit? We recently had a toilet moved in our basement and since then our sump pit has been bone dry. The house was built in 2013 and we have lived here for two years. The reason I am concerned is that we live at the bottom of a hill and our pit usually has a constant flow (outside of winter time) of water and the pump runs every 4-8 minutes depending on rain and what not. Our neighbors along the base of the hill all have discharge from their outlets. Is this something I should be concerned with or are there other factors at play?

If you don’t have water coming inside don’t sweat it! But yes a new toilet and rock packed around the line may have provided a new drain path for the water. If the basement is dry I would be happy the work helped the drainage.


Can water siphon backwards through the main pressure regulator? Can water siphon backwards through the house pressure regulator? My house is above the main water line in the street. If the main line pressure goes to zero, will the house water siphon backwards through the pressure regulator and down into the main line?

If you have a backflow preventer, aka a check valve, installed in the system, then the water will not siphon back. This could be installed near the pressure regulator or main shutoff inside your home. It's also possible for the municipality to install one near the meter.

A standard pressure reducing valve closes when the water pressure inside reaches a threshold. Once the inside pressure drops slightly, the valve opens, at which point a backflow is possible.


What is this coving profile? This coving is all around my house, but some needs repair and I can't match it.
It's a "C" profile with a lip at the bottom. I thought perhaps the lip was a separate picture rail or something, but it is all one moulded piece (plaster).

Does this profile have a name? I am based in the UK.

I already accepted an answer for this, but I thought I'd post back because what I've learned since may be of help or interest to others.
After cleaning up the damaged coving and chipping off the wall plaster, it seemed more apparent (as some commenters suggested) that this coving was made in situ. In fact, it seems as though the plaster of the coving was the same continuous layer of finishing plaster as was on the wall. You can just about see below how it sits on the bonding coat.

After plenty of Googling I learned that the cove was probably not so much cast as sculpted using a running mould. There are some amazing videos of people doing this on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=running+mould
I didn't fancy doing this in situ, but I found various videos of people using the same technique to create sections on the bench. Inspired specifically by this video I decided to give that a try.
Making the blade that scrapes the plaster is worth some attention. It was the most  time consuming part and essential to get right. Here's a good video of that whole process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlH_vMc6yTE
I read that zinc is a good material for this, but I ended up using 0.5mm aluminium which is way too soft and flimsy for extended use. However, having very limited metal working tools this did allow me to cut a half-decent blade with tin snips and file into shape; finally smoothing down imperfections with 240 sand paper.
I won't post all the details of my ugly contraption, but I ended up with this.

It took 6 or 7 fairly thin coats of plaster of paris. The trickiest part was mixing small batches of plaster quickly between coats before the plaster could set on the mould. Plus also keeping the blade and running track clean between passes. I want an assistant next time as this was surprisingly exhausting.
Other notable details are that I added a layer of hessian at the back for strength. A curve of wire mesh would have been better (as in earlier video) but I was doing experiment no.1 on the cheap. Also, thanks to commenters in this related question, I used washing up liquid as a release agent.
A hollow back was created by putting a right angle bead at the back of the casing. This made the section lighter and used less of the fairly expensive plaster too.
Here's the final product out of the mould. I haven't glued it into place yet. That's for another day.


Can disconnected knob-and-tube wiring be left in place? The house I recently bought (over 100 years old) has had almost all of its wiring replaced with a new elctrical board. However, in two cases the new wiring has been connected to existing knob-and-tube wiring in a junction box, with the ground wire not connected. So the knob-and-tube wiring is still in place, fed by new wires coming from the panel. Can I just disconnect the knob-and-tube wiring, leave it where it is, and bypass it with new wiring? If I can leave the disconnnected knob-and-tube wiring, do I have to label it somehow?

Yes, you can leave the knob-and-tube wiring in place. Labeling is neither required nor common, but if things are confusing enough that you think it's warranted, it can't hurt. It's also a good idea to rip out whatever wiring is accessible (e.g., in an unfinished basement).

If you have an electrician do the disconnection work, you should ask the electrician to sign a form certifying that all knob-and-tube wiring has been removed. Such a form is sometimes required before blowing in insulation, or when selling the house.


Should I pursue building my own wind turbine? The area where I live suffers heavy power outages (in fact the whole country does!!) so I am considering building one of those wind turbines (with PVC pipes) but am not sure whether it's windy enough here for it to run (A Google result says its just 1.8m/s). So, is this project worth pursuing?

A generator would probably be a better choice.

You haven't given us a lot of details, so I'm going to assume that you live in norther US,  Canada, or the UK, that you live in a middle-class detached house with a yard, and that you're faced with winter storms taking out your power for a day or two, and you want to keep the fridge cold and run a few lights until the power comes back on. You will burn something (propane, kerosene, wood) to stay warm, cook food, and make tea.

The main problem with wind power is that it's not necessarily available when you want it. During a storm it may be so windy that the turbine shuts down to protect itself. After the storm there may be 0 wind. You'd need a way to store electricity, which means banks of deep-cycle batteries, a charge controller, an inverter. As long as you have the batteries and electronics, you can charge off main power when that's available, and don't need the turbine as much. Batteries are expensive, they go bad after 5-10 years, require good care.

A generator provides you with power exactly when you need it. You can store an enormous amount of energy on site in a tank of diesel of gasoline, and you can buy more with a trip to a gas station, for long outages. If you already have propane or natural gas on site, you can get a generator that uses that fuel, which is way less hassle than pouring fuel in to a tank in bad weather.

If your loads a small and your expected power outages are long, it might make sense to get a small battery bank + charger + inverter to accompany your generator. Turn on the generator for a couple hours in the evening, so you can check your email and run some lights and charge the batteries, and draw on the batteries for the small loads the rest of the time.

So, it goes like this:

Identify and minimize loads
Install a generator with transfer switch
Upgrade with a battery bank, charger, and inverter, if needs dictate
Upgrade further with wind or solar power, per budget and interest


Repairing dimmer switch I have an IKEA lamp with dimmer switch which took a knock and immediately started outputting full brightness. I've read a little about how dimmer switches work and that this is likely caused by the triac breaking.

I would like to repair this by replacing the triac (/diac combination?) but want to make sure that I have the right idea and check if there are any risks in doing so.

Photos:

As I understand it the block in the middle with the metal cover is the triac, possible also a unit containing a diac. Then the obvious variable resistor connected to the outside, a fuse (looks like a second fuse attached under the metal hood -- and labelled on the board -- but can't see it properly until disassembly), some resistors (baseline resistance? "taper"?) and finally the inductor and capacitor smooth out the voltage cut, reducing stress/noise on/from the load.

I plan to desolder the triac unit and replace it with an equivalent part (if I can find one). Is there a good way to confirm the triac is broken in advance? Are there any safety concerns?

Fuse is "fired"
Uncover black jacket around "fuse" (first pic.)
In my dimmer is fuse represented by resistor.
Resistor values are represented by color stripes

https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/conversion-calculators/conversion-calculator-resistor-color-code-4-band

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/resistors/decoding-resistor-markings

In my dimmer is
0,29 Ohm +-5% tolerance -> stripes red, white, silver, gold
(or 29G Ohm - 29 000 000 000 Ohm +- 5% tolerance -> red, white, grey, gold - iam not shure in 3rd tripe, but i think that is imposible 29G Ohm in table light dimmer)