Shock treating a home, or rooms with ozone I have an older home, complete with a damp basement and some musty smells around the house. We're in the process of renovating but that will probably take a while for us to get around to ripping out carpet, and finding all of the surprises.

After some quick research, I picked up this ozone generator for around $120.  It's rated at 7,000 mg/h, which is higher than a bunch of other generators I found.  It also had raving reviews so I figured for the price it was a good buy.

My question is, how long would you have to let this run in the average room (250 sqft.) in order to remove airborn pollutants/smells?

Ozone is highly toxic and dangerous. It's pretty much comparable to trying to clean your home with a flamethrower. Either the flame is candle-sized, then it doesn't do anything. Or it's big enough to kill the fungus in the walls, your dog, your wife and ultimately the walls themselves if you let it run for too long.

Laser printers have problem with ozone emissions, and it's tightly regulated to keep ozone down to a minimum. Ozone is good only in stratosphere, where it can't harm living organisms like humans.

Your real problem is the damp basement. Fix the root problem and other will disappear on their own. Ripping the carpets won't do anything in the long run. Renovating a house without waterproofing the basement is like perfuming a corpse - it'll seem nice for a moment, but the stench will return sooner or later.

Fix the water problem or get rid of the house. It's unsafe to live in mold-infested building.


How to stop my mobile home's new doors from leaking when it rains? We just replaced two exterior doors on our mobile home.  Now both doors leak at the bottom of the door where the door meets the frame. With the doors closed, you can see light at both the corners & we've had one recent storm & all is wet inside. I have tried several different items from hardware stores & nothing fits or works.

What will fix this problem?

Installing a proper threshold will reduce or eliminate water infiltration under the door.

Notice that water would have to flow uphill in order to pass these adjustable height thresholds:

The lower one has a sill extension, the upper does not. Products of this type are available for both in-swinging and out-swinging doors.


Home HVAC condenser fan not spinning The Bryant condenser outside the house was making a noise like it wants the fan to spin but the fan wasn't spinning. I pushed the fan with a stick and it started spinning, but reluctantly, like 4 revolutions per second.

What is this symptomatic of? What is the potential solution? Can a DIYer do it?

My research shows that I have a "bad fan motor and/or bad start capacitor". Does that sound right?

Thanks!

The capacitor is the most likely culprit . They are easy to change out (with the power off). They are usually silver cans with several connections on 1 end. You need to find the size it will be something like 15mfd then the voltage. It may be a dual element then there will be 2 numbers like 15 - 28 mfd.
Make sure to write down the terminals the diferent wires go to so you get them correct on the new one. The caps can be found on line for the best price.


Can I Connect RGBW LED Strips With LAN Cable? I'm in the process of remodeling my kitchen. I plan to install RGBW led strips on the top of the upper cabinets, below upper cabinets and below ground cabinets. I have to close off any wall holes and paint the whole thing tomorrow and my RGBW wire still hasn't arrived (ordered online).

Now the thing is that the range hood will divide the upper cabinets and there is no way to run a wire from one side to the other without it being visible after I tile up that wall tomorrow. The only solution is to run the wire behind the tiles, but that has to be done now and I still don't have the 5 wire cable at hand, but I do have some spare LAN cable.

Do you think it will be okay if I put a LAN cable in the wall now behind the tiles and then connect the two LED strip parts with it instead of a RGBW 5-wire cable?

Past few weeks I have really come to appreciate the benefits of cable pull string. A nylon string used to help pull cables. You can drill the holes in the walls, cover them up and then when you get your cable, tie and tape it on one end, then pull from the other. Just make sure you make the holes big enough to pass the flat ribbon RGBW cable through along with the knots.

If you don't have cable pull string, you can get it at most hardware stores and the big box stores. You can also just use any strong string or twine you have. If you have UTP cable you can put that in temporarily then use it as a pull cord but it's not as strong as the pull string. That shouldn't be a problem for a small run like you're describing if it doesn't have a lot of sharp bends.

The problem with running UTP is that it's normally 24 gauge and even though it might just be a temporary fix, temporary can sometimes be a very long time as long as everything appears to be working and you have other things to do. So it's thinner than the usually 22 gauge RGBW cable conductors. According to this table on wire properties 22 gauge wire can handle up to 0.92 amps for power transmission and 24 gauge wire only 0.577 amps. If you know how many amps your light setup will use then you can make a safe decision.

When you have to use a different wire it's better to go with a larger size than a smaller size. You can get 5 conductor thermostat wire most places and that's generally 18 gauge. 18 gauge wire can handle up to 2.9 amps for power transmission so it's the safer choice.

I would personally just make the holes, pass some string, leaving plenty on each end to tie and grab, then install the cable when you get it.


How can I repair a nicked wire without adding a junction box? I had to open up a wall for a plumbing repair and accidentally nicked the jacket of a NM electrical wire with my drywall saw. From what I can see, only the outer jacket was affected, but I admittedly can't see much. It's 12/2 wire, and it runs to an outlet 6 feet away or so. There is no other junction box near that I can tell, and I would prefer not to put in a new box. How can I repair this while covering it back up? Or do I even need to worry?

I hate to leave questionable connections behind walls. I dream of fire and destruction.

I would repair the tear unless you were certain that the wire insulation was not compromised.

The easiest way to do that is with an inline cable splice.

These are mean to be concealed in walls where repairs to existing wiring is needed, and are UL approved. I use them sparingly (they are a hidden connection) but sometimes they are necessary.

Yon need some slack, so you may have to open a bay next to the current one to get more cable. You can then run a new cable to the next box. In a pinch, you could use two splices and a short run of cable between them, but I would try to avoid that.


How to manage one heat zone with two thermostats? Main house: forced steam/radiators with a simple programmable thermostat.
Addition (large family room): forced hot water baseboard with an old-school dial thermostat.

But there is only one zone. When you turn up the heat in the addition, all of the house radiators heat up and heat the rest of the house. It's absurd.

Having just moved into this house and do not have money to burn, I'm looking to determine what - if anything - I should do to make this arrangement the most efficient. Just put a programmable thermostat in the addition to time things correctly with the main thermostat? Just accept the fact that I need to crank the heat in the addition for warmth and that the rest of the house will be warmer than I need or want?

Thoughts? Thanks

With one zone, there's only one thing that can be controlled by a thermostat: how much hot water is pumped through that zone. For example, if your main house is a little cold, there's no way to add heat to the main house without also heating up the addition (and vice versa).

If you're ruling out adding more zones, or somehow adding controllable radiators, then all you can do is balance out the heating effectiveness between the two areas. It sounds like for a given level of heat, too much is pumped into the main house relative to the addition. So, you need to either a) increase the effectiveness of the radiators in the addition, or b) decrease the effectiveness of the radiators in the main house. My guess is that you'll have to do b), which you can do by closing radiator louvers, blocking the air path, etc.

If this is done properly, and you don't change the heating needs of one space relative to the other (e.g. don't leave the addition's front door open) then you may be able to get the temperatures to be at least close to each other.


Double Socket Not Working (UK) We moved into a house a couple of years ago and found that one of the sockets, at the back of the house, simply didn't work.  It wasn't too much of a problem as I ran a power supply from a nearby socket into the room and ran the washing machine from this.

I've revisted this socket as I want to put both my washer and drier in the same room.

After examining the socket using a mains tester, I found that the live supply was exactly that - live; the screwdriver lit up as expected. I tested further by plugging my drill charger unit into the socket, but this did not work (though it did work fine in another socket). Strangely, however, when testing the neutral wire inside the socket, the mains tester lit up as it should do, proving that there was a circuit being formed with the device. The socket is clean; there's no apparent damage to it, and it does not trip the consumer unit.

The socket, as stated, is located to the back of the house and is spurred from a live socket in the kitchen.  At the time of examination, it did not have an earth cable from the switch to the casing, but that's probably not necessary as the earthing cable from the spur was already in place (belt and braces).

Is this a sign of a faulty switch or poor wiring involved in the spur?

Mains tester screwdrivers are useless, dangerous and should be thrown away. They rely on current passing through a neon, resistor and your body and if they are faulty or they get wet they can kill you. They give false positives and negatives.

Check that all wires are done up tightly in the socket and that the terminal screw isn't gripping the plastic insulation on the wire. And check at the kitchen socket it's spurred from too. It's possible the neutral is out, but the live is connected, or vice versa.


Are these remains of electricity meter's anti-tampering seal? This is an electricity meter on top of an old Zinsco panel. The meter does not have anything else hanging that reminds me of an anti-tamper seal. So I am wondering - has anyone tampered with this electricity meter?

If it is anti-tampering device, then are there any fines against homeowner? Should I try to track down the person who did this?

"Sure" - "You can assume yes" - However this does NOT mean someone tampered with it.

Someone has not secured the meter with a new identifying marker that gives a power company or service person indication that no one has touched it since it was last secured.

This doesn't mean it was tampered with, it means as I've noted, someone did not re-secure it.


Reducing threaded rod to mount fixture cross bar I have a very antique light on a very antique ceiling that I do not want, by any means, to compromise (meaning have to open). A few weeks ago, the ceiling light that was installed started losing its grip on the flange. The primary structural support on which the light was mounted is a threaded rod that I measured (with a caliper) to be roughly 13/16" in diameter. It can be seen in this picture as the central protruding piece in the middle of the hole, just to the right of the white electrical tape.

That 13/16 is my measurement, which may be off so my first question is what standard size (by which to look for in a store or online) that resolves to as I obviously cannot take the piece with me.

Then I need to adapt this crossbar on it. The smaller size of the hole on the crossbar is why I need to reduce the threaded rod from whatever standard size it is (part of my question) to this:

In order to mount this flange on which the light goes

QUESTION 1: What standard threaded size is something that roughly measures 0.82-0.84" (roughly 13/16").

QUSTION 2: Is adapting this rod down to a modern stock size my best approach to secure this flange to the rod?

NOTE: This surrounding context of this terminal is what I have to deal with as invariable. Suggesting to change the installation because it is out of date (so that I can install a proper, modern box to which adaptation is easy) would be kind of superfluous as I am not touching the ceiling. This is a retrofitting job.

The thread sizes for these mounting fittings are specified in IPS, "Iron Pipe Straight."  It's a hold over from when lights were mounted on repurposed gas lighting, which used the IPS sizing.  Later IPS was replaced with NPS but the nominal sizes are not the same.  Lamps still use the old IPS sizing.

I believe the size you have there is 1/2" IPS.  Try a 1/2" IPS to 3/8" IPS hickey with your 3/8" IPS crossbar.  I'd not expect to find it in a local store, but it won't be hard to find online.


HVAC indoor fan stuck buzzing My old Sanyo SAP-KRV123EHA had a noisy ball bearing in the indoor fan unit. Since Sanyo is no longer making these units I tried replacing the fan bearing with ceramic ones. After assembling the motor, it can spin freely when no power is on, but a humming sequence can be heard when powered by the control PCB. And the motor seems to be braked to stand still. My guesses are:

I broke a wire to the hall sensor
the capacitor is fried, but it shouldn't get firmly stuck because of that?

Any other ideas? Before I start chasing a new motor.

Motor disassembled:

The problem was that I had broken one of the Hall sensor wires. In the end I got a new motor. Re-mounting the old one wasn't feasible since I had disassembled it by bending open the rolled/pressed metal enclosure.


Should I purchase a hand driller? Can I use hand drill machine, which runs manually not by electricity, to drill in plastic pipes, bottles, and cement walls?

The purpose of purchasing it is to get hands-on experience with some DIY projects. I don't want to buy expensive tools until I find myself satisfactory in such activities.

A hand powered drill will be satisfactory for drilling small holes in plastic pipe or even in wood. It will not be so good for drilling holes in concrete, glass bottles or metal items. The problem with the latter is that you will spend so much time drilling the holes that you are likely to get discouraged and never arrive at the point that you can determine if you have a satisfactory ability with DIY type projects. You really should look at some AC powered electric drill models. You can find some entry level models with very reasonable prices.


Is there a 1/2 Female copper to 3/4 Pex barb adapter? I need to connect a 3/4" PEX pipe to an 1/2" copper pipe.
The copper end of the adapter must be a female type
Is there an adapter for this ? Can't find anything like it. Useg Google and Amazon.ca ...maybe I am not using the right key words, I am not familiar with the plumbing terminology

Yes, it's called a "1/2 in. Brass Female Sweat Copper Adapter x 3/4 in. Pex Barb Pipe Fitting"
Home Depot | Amazon

Sidenote: it took me quite some time to become efficient for searching these kinds of parts.

Per your comment this part is unavailable to you so you can do this:

Get a 1/2" female sweat to 1/2" barbed adapter

If available then do a 1/2" push-to-connect coupling instead since it will help to avoid soldering

Attach a short (6-12 inches) piece of 1/2" pex
Get a 3/4" to 1/2" barbed transition

Not sure about your pipe layout but a 3/4" to 1/2" barbed elbow could be a better choice
3/4" x 3/4" x 1/2" reducing tee could also be used depending on where this transition is


How well does AA-8000 alloy resist pitting corrosion? Aluminum corrosion in salty environments often takes the form of a surface pitting -- while this does little to damage the structural value of the aluminium, it can be an issue for mating contexts.  Some aluminum alloys, such as the 6000 series, resist pitting well, and are used in applications such as boats as a result; others, such as aircraft-grade 7000 series alloys, resist pitting poorly and need corrosion protection help when deployed in applications where pitting corrosion is a factor.

How well do the 8000 series alloys used for modern aluminum electrical components (i.e. wiring, cable armor, and I presume busbars and such as well) fare in their resistance to pitting corrosion?

The areas for buss bars and wire connections are dry locations not subject to much influence of salt air. I always use a anti-oxidant compound with any aluminum wire or buss bar installations. (Newport Oregon) Only a couple of jobs there where Aluminum was used close to 20 years ago I did a small update 2 years ago and other than the "grey oxide" that aluminum develops it looked the same as the stuff in the valley 60 miles away from the coast.


Why would the neutral wire in my bathroom's outlet box have voltage? So, my wife was using the hair dryer in the bathroom, connected to the GFCI plug when the power to the bathroom plug goes out. I toggled the circuit breaker on/off, still not power. Suspecting the GFCI outlet is bad, I replaced it with a new one, and still no power to the plug and all the other outlets that it feeds.
Did some basic troubleshooting using a light tester and a volt meter and noticed that there is no volatge detected between the Hot (black) and Neutral (white) wire. however, there is voltage between the Hot and ground, and surprisingly voltage between Neutral and ground.

So jut to make sure I have my facts straight. In a good circuit, if I place a light bulb between Hot and Neutral, the light should come on. The light bulb should also come on if I place it between the HOT and ground. The light should NOT come on if I place it between Neutral white wire and the ground.

Do I have my fact straight? if the Neutral and ground turns my test light on, does this mean I have a short somewhere? If there is a short, wouldn't the circuit breaker go off?

Is there some kind of device that can help in troubleshooting where the short is?

Thanks.

Before I explain my answer, turn off your circuit breaker! If the wires are truly switched, there is a hazardous shock/fire hazard present and you need to turn off the circuit breaker right now! If the options below don't resolve your situation, call an electrician for help. The problem you're describing can be very dangerous.

There are two possible scenarios here.

1) The receptacle circuit hasn't changed - If you haven't changed anything (wiring, additional receptacles, new receptacles), then it sounds like there is a short to ground. Your circuit breaker should be tripping though, which is odd. You will have to check the wiring to and from all receptacles and the load center.

2) The receptacle circuit has changed - I believe this is the most likely scenario. Have you replaced wiring or receptacle in that circuit? Keep in mind that something you changed that you thought was on another circuit may be connected to this one. Check all of your connections from the load center to the receptacle.

To answer your theoretical light bulb question, you are correct. A standard incandescent light bulb (not LED) will turn on if placed between hot/neutral, neutral/hot, and even hot/ground, ground/hot. It will not work with ground/neutral or neutral/ground because they have the same voltage potential and therefore can't carry current (V=iR). Please note that although it would work between hot and ground, this is a code violation and is very dangerous because you will be passing current through the grounded enclosures and you will also be creating a shock hazard.

You can test receptacle wiring with something like this: Receptacle Tester. However, this will only work if the circuit has power, which as you pointed out, your GFCI keeps tripping.


Removing wallpaper on concrete wall and prepare for paint I have removed the textured wallpaper from the wall and the concrete is now exposed. There was a significant amount of glue, and I have used warm water with sugar soap and a scraper to remove as much of it as possible (the process was repeated 3-4 times and little glue was removed on the last pass, but the wall still feels very slightly sticky when wet).
Small holes have been patched with setting compound and then sanded.
The wall is now fairly smooth, with some irregularities.
I am looking for a smooth (but not necessarily perfect) wall and long-lasting paint job so the glue is a concern. I am thinking about proceeding as follows:

Apply a layer of sealer to the wall (Zinsser Gardz High Performance Sealer, a water-based product. It looks like oil-based sealers were popular in the past but because of their smell and thanks to technical progress water-based sealers are now a good option.)
Skim coat the wall with some gypsum-based joint and filler compound, then sand (repeating the process twice).

Does it make sense to process in this order or should skimming happen first?
Would this method yield good results?
I'm aware skimming can be tricky but I'm happy to learn how to do it. I have considered putting wallpaper on the wall but would prefer not to if there are decent alternatives.

I think you have the right idea. Wall paper is a huge pain to remove correctly, and that glue will absolutely cause problems with future coatings if it's not dealt with.
I have 2 suggestions.

If you can muster the willpower to clean the walls one more time, get some TSP (trisodium phosphate, the real stuff, not the "TSP Substitute") and use it mixed with hot water to really scrub, then rinse with water. It does a good job of eating up that gunk.
Use an oil primer. As good a product as Gardz is, you absolutely must avoid any kind of water based product being directly in contact with the remaining paste residue. The water can re-activate it and cause poor adhesion and peeling. If that base coat doesn't stick, anything else that goes on top of it will fail sooner or later. Get a respirator with an organic vapor cartridge, a can of mineral spirits... and maybe a couple of fans. It's kind of a pain, but it dries fast. It's really not that bad.

Also, @JACK makes a good suggestion in the comments to deal with the texturing, but I will add a warning: don't mud directly on top of the unprimed wall, for the same reason I recommended not using a water based primer.


Is this vinyl tile? Should I have it tested for asbestos? What kind of tile is this? I think it is vinyl tile but it doesn't look like the pictures I am finding online. Maybe it is plastic tile?

The house is from the 1950s but the bathroom was installed prior to 1990.

Should I be concerned about asbestos?

The tile is 1/8 inch thick and 12" by 12". It doesn't break with pulling it up. The adhesive is tacky and difficult to remove.

I suppose I should update this with what I learned. I got a test done and the tiles did not contain asbestos but the mastic below the tiles did. The mastic was from a previously installed floor.


How to reduce amplification of solar inverter relay due to drywall? I have recently had solar panels installed on the roof of our attic. They hung the inverter on a hollow plasterboard wall as this was the most easily accessible.
However, every time the solar inverter turns on, there is a rather annoying series of clicks of an internal relay, and the sound is massively amplified due to the hollow wall onto which it is mounted. I now have two options,

Hang the inverter on an outer (stone) wall nearby. Since I don't want to void my warranty right away (or worse, create a fire risk with diy DC cabling), this probably involves getting the contractor over, and the inverter would have to hang over the stairs making it quite inaccessible.
Somehow reduce the emission of sound from the drywall.

What options do I have for the second option? I suppose I can put some damping material between the inverter and the wall. My instinct would be to drill the screw through felt patches, but maybe there are better options? Also, the sound might still transfer through the screws into the wall. Perhaps there exist purpose-built wall plug / anchors with sound or vibration isolation?

Look around your home store for some rubber grommets and put them on the inverter then put the mounting screws through them.


Help identifying shower valve and cartridge I can not find a manufacturer name anywhere.  Here's a picture of the valve and the exploded ceramic cartridge and other pieces.   Thank you very much in advance.

Looks like an American Standard, hard to tell as your bottom photo is not that great.

https://www.supply.com/shop?nid=567051&d=1124-16385&wmh_cid=236648182&wmh_aid=14658639502&wmh_kid=69378820539&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_o7NBRDgARIsAKvAgt3kDpHmf2lHcIlhVOvT-_RT2EC3H95CkP3ieOXSRCL3rAhEJijbyEQaAhZmEALw_wcB


What type of sealant/caulk is this used on inside corner of shower frame rail? Does anybody know if this is just a clear silicone caulk or something else? Lexel? It doesn't go all the way into the gap where the vertical and horizontal shower frame rails meet, which I want to be able to replicate, and it feels almost like rubber.

It was also laid in a very thin layer between the inside and outside of the tub, how were they (home builders) able to do this?

I would like to use this same exact material when redoing the other shower. Thank you.

In wet locations you use 100% silicone caulk. Get the kind specifically for bathrooms with 10 year mold and mildew resistance.

If you are not experienced in caulking you should use painters tape to mask off around the area you are caulking, ( I.E. a line of tape running along both sides parallel to the gap you are caulking. ) Have a roll of paper towels and Water or can of denatured alcohol ready.

Apply the caulk so that you have enough to fill the void, it is ok to put a little to much because you used the tape.  Use your finger to smooth out the caulk by starting at one end and swiping the length of the run, this pushes the caulk into the void and the extra out onto the tape and your finger, do this once and wipe your finger clean then dip your finger in denatured alcohol  and do it again.

Now carefully pull the tape up, it will have caulk on it so do not let it swing into the walls or you will be cleaning up the walls. Now dip your finger in the denatured alcohol and smooth it one last time with light pressure, this smooths out any ridges left behind by the tape.

informative video here

I bet your caulking job will look much better then the previous persons attempt.


How do I make a lamp cord stick to drywall? Because trying to fish electrical wire through the walls and ceilings of my old house was too daunting, I have resorted to using a lamp cord to power a ceiling-mounted light from an existing outlet on the wall.  How do I make the cord stick to the drywall?

I tried hot glue but it didn't hold and cable clips (white plastic loops with nails) fell right out of the drywall.

Do not use lamp cord to extend a circuit to a new outlet! The wire is neither big enough, insulated enough, or grounded. It's illegal everywhere, and I wouldn't consider it to be safe.

Use Wiremold with standard electrical wire. That's why the product exists.


Can I Use 4" CPVC Pipe for a Dryer vent? Can I use 4" CPVC pipe to extend a dryer vent in my garage?

No. It has to be rigid metal pipe in the wall. Plastic pipe is a fire hazard.

Note that you cannot use screws to attach together metal pipe for dryer vents; lint can collect on it and become a fire hazard.


Should I be concerned about foundation seepage and what to do about it? We recently bought a 20 yr old home next to a lake in NC.. within a couple thousand feet.  It doesn't rain incredibly often here but we've noticed when it does rain it pours 2-3 times the amount we received when we lived 20 minutes from the lake.  I've gone down in the crawlspace during and after a rain and notice water seeping through the foundation wall.  There is no french drain system installed inside or outside the foundation wall and all of the downspouts just have those little kick plates right where they meet the ground.

Last weekend I installed a sump pump with seep basin in the lowest spot just to keep water from standing, and to prevent it from ever building up enough to reach the equipment down there (water heater, air handlers, etc) .. which from the mud lines I saw it looks like its done before.  When I installed the sump basin I ran rock channels out off of every connection point so it wouldn't be terribly difficult to add an interior french drain down the road.

The land around the house is very sandy and there is a hard clay bed 3-4ft down.  The house has been in these conditions for 20yrs and shows no signs of uneven settling, no cracks in any walls nor foundation, so I'm wondering how much I should worry about the water.  I would at least like to tile all of the downspouts away from the house but given there is a downspout at every corner of the house (and some in the middle) and the way the house sets on the property I would have to tile pretty much all the way around the house to reach the a discharge point.  I feel like if I'm going to dig all the way around the house I might as well install a french drain while I'm at it but part of me thinks most/all of the water issues I have could be solved just by getting the downspout water away from the foundation.  Or should I maybe tile the downspouts away and install a french drain inside the foundation?  Or.. not worry about it at all?

I had to draw a small diagram to see how the area was around the house. I drew a swale in to show what is there already, or hopefully something that can be created

What looks troubling here is the concentration of runoff heading to the house IF there is no swale there, that is why I hope there is one there, if not you really need to get the flow away form the house. It is bad enough that it is sandy, the water can still perk into the foundation, though it will be minimized with a swale. The clay base on the north side, sounds exactly as you describe, a bowl.

You need to do whatever you can to minimize the water infiltration, to start. It may not require to pipe the downspouts away from the house to a drywell or into a French drain, well not a French drain as you may plan around the house. French drains return the water to the ground, and in turn the crawlspace. What I mean is terminating the downspouts into an in ground pipe that daylights downhill of the home. A drywell would work too, but it is much more than may be needed.

This is the minimum I would suggest, although it is still a lot to do. I would also consider waterproofing the foundation, it may work on most of the foundation, but I think the runoff would still migrate under the foundation on the south side since it is still on sand/ clay mix presumably.

All of this is still tempered by the symptoms created by the water in the crawlspace. If there is no evidence of black marks (mildew) or white fuzzy stuff growing in places from the excess moisture in the crawlspace, if none of these symptoms exist, al least extreme measures are not needed. Regrade if needed, would be the minimum, downspouts to daylight away from the house the next active remedy, drywell addition the next, and if you are doing all that digging, waterproof the foundation, all these measures combined are the extreme I mean.

Edit 1/26/13

Aside from the shape of the house and other extensions from it, it shows the same thing happening except your swale that exists is more of a collection point. It appears the rain runoff takes the same path, but the house is in the way. The swale in the above sketch I posted would divert the rain water before it gets too close to your home. Is this a possibility to happen? It can be done by lowering the grade or if the house is high enough above grade, the grade can be raised, but that has implications too. The water in the swale may be of no concern. I would draw more concern to the south and west side where the rain looks like it is path is unencumbered to the foundation.

I will edit your drawing to show a more accurate idea and post it.

Back at the downspouts that I mentioned earlier, if the grade looks like it can daylight a underground lead would help reduce the amount of water at the foundation. Yet the addition of the swale will redirect the downspout water as well.


Is wiring a motion sensor switch with 18 AWG wire on a 20 amp circuit innapprorpiate? I bought some motion sensor switch. They don't come with screw mounts, just 18 AWG wires that pop out. The load is 2 light fixtures maybe drawing 200 watts total.  It's on a 15 amp circuit though.

I also wired a timer switch with 14 AWG onto a 20 Amp circuit dedicated to X-Mas lights, the draw is about 300 watts when in use.

I've read there are some exceptions to wiring within the NEC regarding fixtures.

Am I rolling the dice? Or good to go?

You are good to go. The NEC does not regulate manufactured equipment. In the US they are regulated primarily by UL, NEMA, and NFPA.  In you case the motion sensor is what will regulate your connected load. In other words, it will probably burn up before the wiring is damaged.

Good luck and stay safe.


Can I install an additional breaker bus bar on my main breaker panel? I'm adding several new circuits to my main electrical panel as part of a kitchen remodel.  The panel with accommodate the new circuit breakers, but it does not appear to have enough neutral and ground terminals.

Once complete, my panel will have 17 circuit breakers, but only has 23 total screw terminals for grounds and neutrals.  I believe this is because it is a older panel, from a time when each circuit was not required to be grounded.

Short of replacing the whole panel (which is not within my budget), what are my options for getting all the neutrals and grounds connected properly?

I've read that two or more neutral wires should never share the screw terminal, but grounds can if the panel is designed for it.  This isn't really an option for me though, since the 17 neutrals would leave only 6 screw terminals left to connect up all 17 grounds.  Even if I used wire nuts to combine multiple grounds together before going to the terminals, this still seems excessive.  At the very least it would be pretty messy.

Can I install an additional ground bus bar?  I've seen these at Home Depot from the same manufacturer of the breaker box (SquareD).  I'm thinking I could drill and tap some new holes in the side of the panel housing and then screw a 20 terminal bus bar on.  Then maybe run some 10 gauge wire between it and the main bus bar just for good measure (but it should be grounded fine just from being attached to the panel housing).  All the grounds would then go to this new bar, and all the neutrals to the main bar.  Electrically this seems like the best option, but would it pass inspection?

A picture of my breaker box is below.  Ignore the neutral and ground in the same terminal on the left.  I've since fixed that.  The empty breakers are where the new kitchen circuits will attach.

The panel you have pictured is a grounded panel but originally designed for just 12 branch circuits.  There would be no problem if you added an extra ground buss as long as it is screwed securely to the metal box and bonded to earth ground with a piece of 10 or 8 AWG.
Knowing you want to add kitchen circuits, looks like you have plenty of capacity. Minimum of two 20 amp convenience receptacle circuits (GFIC), one for the fridge, one for the dishwasher, and one for lighting.  Looks good to me. I'd pass it on my inspection.


How to pull toothbrush out of the sink? My toddler dropped a toothbrush down a bathroom sink.  Unfortunately, the stopper wasn't in the sink at the time.

When looking down from above the sink, I believe the toothbrush is in the PVC section of the picture, and leaning against the side.  The PVC is a larger diameter so even if I could reach the toothbrush from above, I'd need to pull it center before pulling up.

How do I remove the toothbrush and get the sink functional again?

In my part of the world, PVC P-traps for sinks and basins are universally designed so that you can easily remove the U-bend from below without tools.

I wouldn't hesitate very long before undoing all the obvious nuts visible in your picture† and attempting to gain access to the U-bend.

In some cases a strap-wrench may be useful, but usually those joints between PVC sections are sealed by a simple rubber ring and shouldn't have any kind of putty or sealant applied (which can make them hard to remove by hand)

† Obviously, except the one on the flexible tap connector(s)!


Are these breakers single-pole or double-pole? I'm installing a Sense energy monitor and it needs a 2-pole, 240V breaker. I know I can piggyback off an existing 2-pole breaker, but am I correct that all of these are single-pole?

Those 3 breakers are two-pole breakers.
I see piggybacking off an existing breaker is indicated as permitted in the installation instructions, installation instructions are part of the NRTL Listing. You probably wouldn't have a function problem but you could run afoul of the Code if the installation instructions for the other item requires a dedicated circuit.
Landing a second wire under the breaker termination is also subject to the Listing of the breaker, most breakers also have the restrictions on the breaker. Schneider Square D QO breakers "have pressure plate terminals suitable for single or two-wire terminations"  There is a chart that shows minimum size is #14. https://download.schneider-electric.com/files?p_enDocType=Catalog&p_File_Name=0730CT9801.pdf&p_Doc_Ref=0730CT9801 .


Does a sub-panel require its own local main breaker? When one goes to install an electrical subpanel is it required to install a "main" breaker in the subpanel to shut off all the circuits in the panel?

Or is it sufficient to just have the feeding breaker from the main panel be the shutoff for the subpanel?

It's a convenience, but:

The breaker capability is unnecessary (and you can't make it trip locally first). However most breakers are actually combo devices, breaker+shutoff, breaker+GFCI, etc.  Those auxiliary functions are useful.

In an outbuilding, the shutoff switch is mandatory.  In other locations like hot tub, a GFCI may be mandatory.  You would use main breaker panels there to obtain that auxiliary function.


Why is my sink's drain pipe connection angled? My sink piping quite often drips despite several attempts to adjust/tighten the U-bend. The drain pipe is not totally straight and the pipe attaching to it is intentionally a long way from straight. I suspect I cannot get a good deal due to this angling - but why is it like this? Is it even possible to make this straight when all the other pieces are straight?

UPDATE

Rotating the trap as discussed below allowed it to be almost straight. However, it still drips. I believe it's the top of the U section that's the problem.

This looks like it's a renovation, or maybe just an island sink, because of the anti-siphon valve (aka air admittance valve (AAV), aka cheater vent). Either way, it's fairly sloppy plumbing by the looks of it.

I'll leave aside the use of the AAV as I've never seen one like that: in many jurisdictions they're not allowed at all, and I've only ever seen ones that must come above the trap by several inches, or even be above the top of the sink.

The trap you linked (SP10V) is actually designed to swivel, presumably to connect to a pipe coming in on an angle:

You should be able to rotate around that union and make it straight, then connect the rest of the trap from there.

If the trap doesn't line up with the sink, however, the best course of action would be to make the riser pipe straight. Cut it off near the bottom, then using two 45° elbows you can shift it over slightly and allow it to line up. When you're doing this, it will probably require a few tries so connect the trap and dry-fit everything, and make sure it's nice and straight before you glue. Forgive my crude mock-up, but something like this:


Shou sugi ban treatment of external timber cladding I'm considering a shou sugi ban (Japanese burned wood) cladding on the building I'm currently working on.  I've done a quick test with a few small pieces of the board I'm thinking of using and the result looks quite good, but it transfers black marks to anything it touches, even after quite extensive cleaning.  Does this problem go away by itself, or do I need to apply some kind of treatment to prevent it transferring, and if so what would be appropriate?  I've seen suggestions of tung oil, but that seems prohibitively expensive for covering a large area -- would linseed oil be appropriate?

Charcoal (if not burned) is forever, more or less (ask an archeologist if you doubt that.) As such I'd have to doubt that cleaning which does not go so far as to remove the charred surface will help, nor will time and weather do much.

Linseed oil would be a reasonable approach for a building exterior, though I'd certainly test that before proceeding.


Is it OK to draw different current from L1 and L2 on NEMA 14-50? I want to power a rack of commodity servers with 110v power supplies from single NEMA 14-50 outlet. I plan to distribute servers between L1 and L2 such that even at full tilt current on either side doesn't exceed 50A. However load is likely to be uneven most or all of the time.

Is this a problem?

Drawing Uneven Current Is Fine

On a NEMA 14-50 plug, it's typically the case that the load on the two hot legs are uneven, and the neutral is used to return the difference current.  If the load on both hot legs was exactly the same, neutral wouldn't be needed at all, and you could use a NEMA 6 series plug instead.

Connecting 15/20A Receptacles to a 50A Circuit Is Not

You don't mention how you plan to break out from your 2x50A feed into individual 120V circuits to send to your servers, but if you're intending to directly wire from the 14-50 plug into some standard receptacles, don't do that.  Those receptacles need to be breakered for 20A at most, so that if one of the server power supplies suffers a short circuit, the breaker can trip before the receptacle melts and catches fire.

If you're using standard electrical distribution hardware, you should fit a subpanel between your 14-50 plug and your receptacles.  Alternatively, some server power distribution hardware has circuit breakers built into the receptacles themselves; this is also fine.

Consider Feeding Your Servers 240V

You mention that you're using standard commodity servers -- in 2019, that means they will have universal-input power supplies designed to be used anywhere in the world, and will accept a voltage input of 100-250V.  Double check the labeling on your servers, but it's extremely likely that they will be perfectly happy with 240V instead of 120V. If you do this, you will guarantee balanced current on your two hot legs, and you will make maximum use of the power you have available.  Most likely, your servers power supplies will run a few percent more efficiently as well.


Insulation of an unheated workshop I have a small workshop in my backyard. The previous owner of has installed an insulation with mineral wool behind paneling on the walls and the ceiling. Now I have to replace the electric installation and that requires to remove the paneling. Currently it looks like this:

My original plan was to replace the paneling or install OSBs when the electric installation is finished, but now I am unsure if insulation is reasonable at all or if should just remove the remaining insulation and thats it.

So is it reasonable to insulate a workshop that is only used from time to time and has no heating installed?

Well..

1) If it's not in the way and not hurting anything, then removing it seems like unnecessary work. Besides the initial removal, there's disposal.

2) It provides some sound dampening...shop work can be loud and your neighbors may appreciate it as-is.

3) Where there's at least a 110v/15amp outlet, there can be a temporary space heater, and so that insulation could potentially provide some benefits in that respect.

My opinion: Keep it.


How should I connect a new timer switch? trying to install a new 4 hour timer switch for my bathroom vent.  the new timer has 4 wires green (ground) red white and black and they are labeled as to where they should go.  but the problem is that there are three black wires currently connected to the old switch and the whites are tied together.  I know that I need to tie the whites to the existing whites but I am trying to figure out why there are three black wires in the box all connected to the old switch.  on the old switch looking at the back there is one black wire in the top middle which I believe is the hot, one black wire in the bottom middle of the switch which I believe is the load but the third one is attached to the left side top screw could this also be a neutral. hope you can help

That third wire is feeding power on to the next item in your house.  No worries.  Just connect it in with the full time power lead.  PCL


What type of filters should I use for a 3 stage whole house water filter? We have city water, but it always manages to taste like metal and chlorine.  I was going to add point-of-use filters, but then decided it would be better to do the whole house to cover showering, hot water heater, bathroom sinks, etc.  I'm hoping this will also extend the life of water-using appliances.

I purchased 3 20"x4.5" Big Blue filter housings.  I plan to use a 5 micron sediment filter, but the other two housings I haven't decided on yet.  I oversized the filters on purpose to hopefully allow adequate flow for the whole house.  A popular design seems to be:
sediment -> Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) -> carbon block
since the GAC allows more contact with the medium, and then the carbon block filters out anything that comes loose in the GAC.

I was considering double sediment filtering (5 micron and then 1 micron), but since it's really the chlorine/chloramine that I want out, the GAC is important.

Sorry, I haven't boiled this down to a question, so here it is:

Is the carbon block good enough to remove any loose carbon from the GAC (especially after filter changes)?  Should I put a spigot inbetween the GAC housing and the carbon block so I can flush that after a GAC filter change without overwhelming the block?  Or is there some other filter arrangement that I haven't discovered yet?

And, as an aside, if I wanted RO at my kitchen sink, do they sell JUST an RO filter/tank setup for systems that already do sediment/carbon for the whole house?  Everything I see is a combo system.

Does anyone who already has a whole house system look at TDS / pressure drop to determine when to change a filter, or is it better to stick to a schedule?  I was also hoping that the large filters would get me longer periods between changing.

UPDATE:
Well, it's not an "answer", but here's what I went with after discussing it with a few ChemEng friends.  They agreed that carbon block is far preferable to GAC, since it forces the water through the carbon instead of just having it flow past.  I initially installed the 5 micron sediment filter in housing 1, left 2 empty, and put a 1 micron carbon block in 3.  At their recommendation, I put a second 1 micron carbon block in housing 2.  Our pressure is great, and oversizing the filters was a good call - flow rates are more than adequate.

Just today, some neighbors were posting to facebook asking if anyone had noticed a much more pronounced chlorine taste over the past few days.  The water company is pointing to salt runoff, but everyone's claiming it smells like pool water is coming from the taps.  I can't smell the chlorine at all, and the taste is very faintly metallic, but no chlorine.  Very pleased with how this worked out.

First, look up your municipality's water department site and see what they specify for treatment. Your sediment filter will work fine, if you replace it when it becomes full. For the chlorine smell, your water likely contains chlorine or chloramines. A loose filter filled with granulated activated carbon (GAC) should remove these chemicals. The water will interact well with the pores of the GAC, assuming you size the filter for the maximum flow rate you expect.

It may be reasonable to filter sediment at the house level, but filter out the disinfectants at the points of use. There's no benefit to treating your non-drinking water, and you'll replace the filters more often if you treat the whole house for chemical/odor/smells.


Why does my Shower Faucet Stem have water on it after a shower? Diagnosing a constant dripping from my shower, I eventually replaced the hot water faucet stem. I have not yet finalized it with sealant or plumber's putty, so to dry the area of any resulting moisture, I've been screwing on and off the compression sleeve and handle every time I want to use the shower.

But, I have been noticing that after I use the shower and subsequently remove the handle and sleeve, the faucet stem has a collection of water on it that I wouldn't expect if I had installed everything correctly.

A result of the lack of sealant? I wouldn't have expected that much water to collect over the duration of a relatively short use of the shower.
An issue with the packing nut? I thought that particular nut only controlled the friction of the turning of the handle.
An issue with the gasket or seat? These would cause leaks like I had before, out of the shower head, right?
What else would cause this?

Feel free to suggest corrections to my terminology in the comments.

Your stem is getting wet because water is getting behind the escutcheon when you use it.  Water gets everywhere inside a shower so it'll run down the walls, drip onto the stem, and then run down hill towards the end of the stem.

Seal the escutcheon with plumbers putty against the tile and you should find the issue resolves.


How do I find the source of a constant high pitch whistle in bathroom? I need suggestions to track down the source of a fairly loud nearly constant >1000 Hz tone which is loudest in my upstairs bathroom. I have eliminated the lights, the exhaust fan, the HVAC vent, and the water pipes as possible sources. It's not a nearby smoke detector. I have opened the attic and it is not coming from there, either. It started yesterday and it is driving me nuts.

Posting as answer:
Did you try shutting off power to your house at the main breaker? That would rule out any AC-mains connected devices.
What about your toilet? The fill valve can make noises like this and it can be continuous if it's leaking.


Are there any side effects of using sodium hydroxide as a mold-cleaner in the shower? I've tried using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to clean mold (mould) in the shower before on a patch test area, and it worked really well. This simply involves using drain cleaner (with gloves, open window etc.) liberally on a scourer, and just wiping it on the tiles, plastic shower pan etc. I waited for ~20min, then used the shower head to spray it down the drain.

I understand that NaOH is highly corrosive and would easily eat into the skin, however it is intended to be used as a drain cleaner. Thus presumably it's OK on plastics used in pipes such as ABS and polypropylene.

Qs: Are there any gotchas (unintended side-effects) that I should be aware of with this method? Is this OK to use on silicone and grout?

I think you are right to use caustic.  NaOH is fantastic.  It comes with some positives that outweigh the negatives in your case.  Peroxyacetic Acid or Peracetic acid, they are the same, come with some things you should know about.

It's an explosive acid.  The guys who have jet packs and fly around.  They burn this stuff.  I have found that small doses dropped on the ground, can be very toxic in unventilated areas. I have been around for accidents where we were forced to clear entire floors of people for 2 plus hours for spilling as little as 8oz.
Just like hydrogen peroxide sold at your Walgreens, this stuff is the same, just much more concentrated.   Often the stuff in the store is sold at 3% and Peroxyacetic acid is often 25% concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. It also will have some acid affect on your grout and tile. I would be more cautious of acid on grout than caustic.

Benefits of the Peracetic acid solution include:

Extremely short contact time needed to kill germs.  They use this stuff in chicken plants.
Breaks down into harmless vinegar and water given time.
Extremely small amounts needed at 25% concentration.  1oz per 6 gallons of water to create a sanitizing solution. You dont need much.  5 gallons might cost you 150 dollars.  IT will last for 3840 gallons of sanitized water.

Caustics include there own benefits.

They are great at removing protein.  They are used in major brewing, dairy, pharmaceutical and other food production facilities. They clean things. Wet things. Mold like things.
When mixed with chlorine they can kill bacteria and mold, and work at a lower temp. Do not mix chlorinated caustic with any acid.  You will make mustard gas.
Do not use purple cleansers.  They are usually made with high concentrations of nitric acid which will also degrade your tile or concrete.  Don't mix purple cleansers with chlorinated anything.

Remember that straight NaOH isn't a sanitizer. It is a cleanser.  Most commercial examples are blended with a chemical that is probably known to someone to cause cancer. It has all sorts of industrial uses.  If you need to sanitize your bathtub, cause your are making gin or something you could sanitize it with H2O2.  I think that would probably be bad for your biom though and I don't think you should sanitize. Cleaning and scrubbing with high powered lye cleaner will do you just fine. Remember to rinse. Also remember to be soft on your grout with the brush and keep the temp on your wash bucket really hot. As hot as possible.  Most of that stuff is meant to work at 120-160+ degrees depending on how it is blended. Hot caustic means less scrubbing, more waiting followed by washing off.


Powering a long 20M LED strip light run in large room through ambient lighting via crown molding I'm looking to make a long run of LED strip lights (20m) in crown molding around a large room and am trying to figure how to power the entire unit.
After quite a bit of research and testing, I've decided to use LEDENET's Double Row RGBCCT strips which has 6 pins.
I've read that "running parallel 'feeder' wire and tie to the strip as convenient" works and I had planned on putting the entire run in a loop (4 x 5m runs for a total of 20m), running power down 5m on each side to power the back two strips, but I'm not sure how 'feed' it into the run.  I've found 5 pin mini-amplifiers, but haven't been able to find anything for a 6 pin.  Any ideas would be wildly appreciated.
Thank you!

They make a lot of socket connectors and other kit for novices.  Unfortunately this product is a bit too "out there" and I wouldn't expect to find stuff like that.  You'll have to do it old-school, by soldering leads onto the solder pads.
Solder on short (<12", 6" is better) #20 or #22 wire pigtails, stranded if possible. Otherwise the wire is too stiff and it tends to "wag the dog" i.e. the wire pushes he strip around and can even tear the solder pads off. I know that wire seems awfully light but it's OK for a short pigtail as long as you keep current below absolute limits for that wire (under 5A for #20... or under 3.5A for #22...)
Those tie onto the feeder wires.  At such short distances voltage drop won't be an issue.
What you really have there is 5 channels plus a "common".  Now, 3-channel amplifiers are ubiquitous.  4-channel (RGBW) amplifiers can be had.  5-channel, forget it.  You'll be forced to use two 3-channel amplifiers, which is fine.  You don't need to distribute the amplifiers all over the place if you have a big enough central amplifier to drive the whole shebang and are willing to run 6 feeder wires.  You'll want to make the common extra large; it's carrying 5x the current of the others...


Magnetic impact driver bits I am looking to buy some magnetic impact driver bits (philips head, torx head, etc), but I have not found any online. Am I searching for the wrong thing or is this not something that is made?

Not looking for any recommendations on brand just on how to find them or a better workaround so I can drive screws one handed when needed.

The bits I have go into a magnetic holder which is sufficient for most screws except, of course, the stainless ones...


What do I need to do to clean/restore these floor tiles? We have a porch on a 1930s property in the UK which has red tiles on the floor. I believe they are original and in good need of a clean up and maybe some additional work. What do I need to do to get them looking nice?

The traditional way to seal the tiles and add a new sheen to the tiles is with Boiled Linseed Oil. These tiles are likely quarry tiles rather than the more modern replacement terracotta tiles.

You can buy modern products that do that same job.

See this link https://lubelska.co.uk/how-to-seal-a-reclaimed-brick-or-terracotta-floor/


Green crust around water heater exit pipe As shown in the picture, I have green crust at the elbow of the copper exit pipe (I'm assuming its the exit pipe because its warm to the touch and encased in pipe insulation) coming out of the top of my water heater. It also drips a little. I know from reading other posts that I need to replace that elbow. I plan on replacing it with a Sharkbite corrugated stainless steel water heater connector.

My question is, do I need to drain the water heater before I cut the old copper pipe, or is it sufficient to just shut the water supply off to the water heater?

Also, is there any reason to shut off the gas supply to the water heater while I'm working on that pipe if I'm not sweating any joints?

Thanks.

There is no need to drain the tank.  You will probably get some small amount of water on the floor but the tank will not run onto the floor.  Make sure that the main water supply valve is shut off.  The Shark Bite supply is a good idea.  Get one with the valve build in.  Just turn the control gas valve into the vacation mode while working on the water supply.  Then back on again when done.


Advice needed on staining 10 year old fence I don't know what was done to it when it was brand new.  I have stained it twice, once about 7 years ago and once about 5 years ago.  Going by the partial cans in the garage and my own memory, the first time was done with a Behr transparent oil-based stain and the second time with Behr semi-solid urethane-enhanced acrylic stain. I don't recall doing much of any prep before either project.

The stain is actually in pretty decent shape considering I apparently put water based over oil based with no prep.  The horizontal top of the fence is pretty much devoid of stain at this point and there is a fair amount of green mildew, but for the most part the vertical boards are looking decent.

This time around I've done more research, but in some ways it is only serving to confuse me.  So far the plan is to pressure wash, hand scrub away any remaining mildew with a bleach solution, let dry, then stain. But:

how long does it take for the wood to be dry enough?  This is Oregon, if we prep it one weekend it is likely to get rained on before the next weekend.  But I'm guessing that doing it the next day may be too soon.
do I need to sand off the old finish in order for the new one to take properly?  I would really rather not do this, partly due to the effort and partly because the boards are rough-sawn and I don't want to lose the texture.  But I don't want it all to peel off right away either.
I've read conflicting reports of whether a colored stain needs to have a clear coat applied over it or not.
It seems that every brand of stain out there has it's fans and detractors.  How in the world do you pick the best of what seems like a sorry lot?

In case it matters, I plan on using Woodmates stain applicators (pads) this time around, instead of brushing as we did last time.  Also, I don't know what kind of wood it is - the posts look pressure treated but as far as I know the rest is not.

Any advice would be most welcome!

Ok let's talk outdoor staining.  You are right that the first thing you need to do is clean off any mold, dirt and green slime. As with decks, a good and cheap solution of TSP, bleach and water is a fine cleaner, no need for expensive premixed stuff.  Using a one gallon garden sprayer, apply your TSP/bleach solution. Let it sit a bit, but not dry. Scrub with a stiff brush and rinse with a pressure washer or high pressure hose. The drying time is obviously tricky in your area, but usually a couple of days of decent weather does a good job. You can somewhat judge the dryness by it's color as compared to the color when wet.

Since the last stain you used was a urethane based acrylic, you really need to stay with an acrylic product this time. A pure oil based product may not sit well and raise the acrylic and create a mess. Also, since there was spar urethane in the last application, a stain only may not want to stick to the areas where the urethane is still in good condition. The urethane is a hard resin and will repel a simple stain. I would probably look towards using a similar product to what you used last time.

As far as what brand to buy, don't over think it. You are painting a fence, not a church! Avoid any bargain basement crap that is most likely low quality. I love Sekins, but it is very pricey. Most major brands are good. My advise is to try to use the same Behr you used last time. It will be formula compatible and the color will match.  Good luck


How can I test and increase the water pressure in my apartment? I have a few questions pertaining to this topic:

In Miami Fl what's the mandatory minimum water pressure for an apartment? (Or where can I find this info)
How can I increase my water pressure at the shower and faucet outside of removing the internal filter at the heads. I have an in unit water tank. (Can I put some sort of pump on it?)
How can I test the water pressure in my apartment?

I don't know if there is an absolute minimum for your area. A pressure gauge can be installed on a kitchen faucet with a adapter to quickly check the pressure.

A few years back a family needed 120 psi for their child's medical needs. I installed a check valve on the main line and then a small booster pump and pressure tank. It was a small pump; I think it was 7gallons per minute. This provided both the pressure and flow they needed. The total cost was close to 1k for the pump tank and install. I also set it up so they could take it with them when they moved.

We had to replace several older valves that leaked due to the high pressure. Their original pressure from the city supply was just under 60. You need to be aware of the possibility of leaks with a pressure increase but you probably won't need such a high pressure.

Also we measured the flow afterwards and had much more than the pump was rated for, probably because the supply pressure to the pump was rated for a shallow well so you may not need as high a flow pump as your total demand.


To much attic exhaust venting? Help check my math So I just had my roof done and wanted ridge vents. The roofer used VentSure® 4-Foot Strip Heat & Moisture Ridge Vents. I am trying however to check my math on my balance, and thing I have way to much exhaust venting.

The roofer used about 35 linear feet of ridge vents (the whole ridge). I have about 966 square feet of attic floor. And I have 40 soffit panels with a single strip of lanced holed venting, the area of the perforation is 24 by 5 inches roughly.

Now I know I have way more venting than I need (966/300 = 3.22 sq/ft), but I am worried about my balance.

By my calculations I have Free Net Area in the ridge of 700 sq inches (4.9 sq/ft). Using OC's 20 sq/in NFA per linear foot (20 x 35). Ridge Vent Stats

I could not find the exact NFA for my under eave soffit vents but I used the following logic to estimate. I have one strip of 24 " x 5" of lanced holes per soffit panel. So that is 120 sq inces of perforation area (or .83 sq ft). Looking at a similar product that is perforated all over I found it had a NFA of 5.87 sq in/sq ft. So I figured each of my soffit vents gave me a NFA of 4.5 sq inches (5.87 x .83). I have 40 soffit panels (with rafter channels so no blockage), so that should equate to 180 square inches of intake (1.25 sq/ft). So while I have enough total venting 6.15 sq ft... I have a ratio of 20% Intake to 80% exhaust.

Or are my calculations way off?
How big of an issue is this?

I will say that because of the roof layout, one side of my house has 30 soffit vents and the other side has a length of 11 of them. The wind usually will hit the 30 soffit side first.

You can never have too much attic vent.  If you have proper insulation installed,  with vapor barrier, there's no problem with heat or moisture loss from the house proper.
The roof itself is 'happiest,' i.e. will last longest, when the underside (in the attic) is as close in temperature as possible to the top, exterior, side.  That's why attics are supposed to have full airflow from outside the house.


Why are British "shaver sockets" limited to using a single plug at at a time, and given this, how are you supposed to use two appliances? Is the only option either for everyone who needs another socket to get an adapter and charge things in their own rooms or constantly swap which appliance is plugged in? I live in a shared rental where everyone has different brands of electric toothbrush and shavers so even a single extra plug would be helpful but plugs without this shutter effect seem impossibly hard to find.

Those shaver sockets are actually a small transformer with 1:1 windings. That provides mains voltage in, and the same voltage out. The only difference is the output voltage is "fully floating" with absolutely no ground return or reference. You could accidentally touch the voltage and the faucet with no current flow. The only way to get a shock would be to touch both sides of the output.


Proper R-Value/insulation type for between living space and attic area above garage? My house has an unfinished attic area about the garage.  This is on the same level as the upper floor of the house.  The wall towards the living space is adjacent to a bedroom, the upstairs hall, and the stairs going up.  The interior gets very cold in the winter in this area so I'm hoping to improve the insulation.  There is some existing insulation but it looks like someone took some scraps and jammed it in between the studs rather than doing a quality job.

Everything I've seen with regard to R-Value for insulation refers to either walls facing the outdoors or attic floors.  What is the proper R-Value for this scenario?

Any special considerations regarding type of insulation or features for this scenario?

I'm in the US in NJ in zone 5.

For purposes of insulation, a wall common to conditioned and unconditioned spaces should be treated as any exterior wall. Modern standards would be R-19 fiberglass batts (or R-13 for older 2x4 walls), or something modestly above that with spray foam.

Assuming a proper firewall (5/8" type X gypsum panels, joined over framing members), no special material is needed for the insulation.


Can I install a sprinkler system timer underground? I have a 4-zone sprinkler system. I had a construction crew at my house, and it appears they cut 1 of the 5 wires before pouring new concrete on top. Therefore, only 3 of the 4 sprinkler zones work.

Short of tearing out lots of concrete to find the cut wire, I cannot repair the wire. I tried letting 2 zones share one wire, but I don't have enough water pressure to support 2 zones at the same time.

The only thing I can think of is that I might be able to install the timer outside, underground in the box with the solenoid valves. I have a few questions...

Is this a feasible idea? If so, how should I do it?

Are there any companies that make  waterproof, underground timers
specifically for this purpose? If not, can I use a "regular" timer
that I put in a box?
Where do I convert from 110V to low voltage? In the house or in the
box?  The four good wires are typical sprinkler wires (18 gauge?).
Can this handle 110 AC electricity? Or should I use be using the
"black box" to convert to low-voltage before using the sprinkler
wire.

Timer   |  ------------------ 1 cut wire ---------------- | underground box
in house | ================= 4 good wires =============== | with valves

You would not use the existing good sprinkler wires to bring the 120VAC out to the valve box. The wires are not rated and approved for that type of use. Place the converter transformer indoors to step the 120VAC down to the 24VAC. The "good" wires could then be used to route the 24VAC outdoors.

I would not use the sprinkler timer in the valve box. It would be very inconvenient to use it in that manner and the underground environment is highly likely to not be friendly to the control unit circuitry. Instead you should install an outdoor timer unit on an exterior wall above the valve box. (Use "outdoor sprinkler timer" in Google to see a selection of possible timers). The better outdoor timers have a lid that closes over the controls to protect the interior from the elements. You could then use a PVC conduit to route the necessary wires from the timer down into the valve box to keep things neat.

Do select the timer as one that works off the low voltage.


A/C Emergency Cut-off Cleaning and Maintenance I found my thermostat not working. After googling for a solution, I found that I may need to check my emergency cut-off.

I know of a pipe that if tripped will turn-off the A/C, so I took the pipe cleaner did some plunging and attempted to clear it out. After doing so, the thermostat turned back on and my system started working again.

Did I do the right thing? What kind of maintenance could I do at home to avoid this cut-off?

I'm a novice at HVAC, I can identify only the heat pump and thermostat!

Included photo of pipe in question.

Ok, that appears to be the condensation drain pipe.  If you notice above the trap, you will likely have a removable cap.  I pour a small bit of bleach in that trap every year to prevent anything from growing and to keep it flowing, but you may need more or more often depending on your location.

The other key self maintenance step is to replace your filters regularly.  The thin blue fiberglass filters that are likely installed at the air handler will probably make it a year.  My friends refer to them as rock catchers since they hardly do anything to catch dust.  The thicker filters that you may have at your air returns should be changed more often, possibly monthly, depending on how much dust you have in your home.


How to tighten a nut in a tank that can not be reached? I got a water tank (like this) installed which is leaking from an unused outlet at the bottom. The fitting is as shown in the figure below, it looks somewhat like a bulkhead installed in reverse:

Pic from outside:

I think that the water is seeping out from either side of the outside gasket. The obvious way to fix this is to tighten the nut on the inside.
However I can't tighten the nut from the inside because the tank has a narrow opening and is very deep. I will have to drain it, disconnect it, move it on its side and then crawl into it, which is a lot of work and risks damaging the tank.

I am asking if anyone has ideas or knows of tools which provide an easier way to do this.

Use a deep well socket and two 36" extensions. Tape them together really good otherwise you might have to fish them out with a magnet if they come apart. If the nut is at a right angle then fasten a long handle (piece of pipe works well) to a ratchet wrench.


How to dig a trench for a cable for a garden office I'm trying to dig a trench for the electrical cable for a shed/office I'm building in my back garden. This is about 7 m long and should be 0.5 m deep. My soil seems to be about 5 cm of soil/turf and then soil which is full of gravel, stones and building waste like bricks, etc. What is the best way to approach this?

I tried first just making cuts into the soil using a spade to make a narrow slot. That didn't work once I got to the stones.

I also tried using an SDS drill with a 600 mm long chisel bit, but that tends to jam in between the stones and gravel, so I spent a lot of time trying to dislodge it from the ground.

The third technique was with the pressure washer and wet vac, to blast away the soil and suck up the water and smaller stones. This seems to be doing something, but it is painstakingly slow. Since the slot is quite narrow it's pretty difficult to pull up the stones and gravel.

Is there some other piece of equipment I should consider using, or some other technique?

You got a bad roll of the dice. Very good ideas and attempts that would work in more normal soil conditions. The problem is, if you continue then you will likely undermine the soil because that small rock will fall into the hole from the sides. That will be very difficult to back fill properly and over time it will settle and form a slight ditch / depression.

At this point I think I would call it on the attempt to minimize the work and / effect on the yard and just dig a proper ditch. It could still be narrow-ish, the width of a shovel. This will give you the space you need to backfill in layers compacting as you go and in the end (years from now) it will pay off in spades.


Connecting 3 AWG wires I'm running 100 AMP service out to a shed/workshop - and while I see a TON of posts floating around about how to do this and all the codes, this isn't my question.

After consulting with a local electrician, I've agreed (and understand) everything BUT one bit - once the THHN 3 gauge wires are pulled on either end to a junction box, and the 3-3-3-5 SER cable meets it in there - how does one connect these things together?

I've seen people suggest copper crush bolts, and others say no.  I can see that granger sells a plastic case for these things so it's POSSIBLE they can all be insulated from each other.

I've seen the polaris fittings, but can't seem to find something that supports 3 AWG wire.

Any tips/links/etc?  Even if it's just to some additional reading material, that'd be HUGELY helpful!

I recommend the ISR-10 by NSI Industries or equal. They splice and are completely insulated. Pretty much foolproof. You can Google them and you will see what I mean.

http://www.nsiindustries.com/catalog/nsiproducts/polaris%E2%84%A2-mechanical-connectors/polaris%E2%84%A2-black-insulated-connectors/isr-1-0

This might get you there. You can probably buy them online or from a wholesaler or someone like grainger.


Replacing and outlet (2 plugs) with only one black, one-white, has ground wire I am replacing a dated outlet. when I removed the plate, I found 1 black wire, one white wire and a ground wire. The other outlets I replaced  had two sets of wires, 2-black, 2-white, 1-ground. How do I replace so that both outlets work?

The first outlets you replaced had a black wire, white wire and ground  coming in, feeding the outlet and then leaving the outlet to go to another outlet, feeding it and going somewhere else. The last outlet on the circuit will only have a black wire, white wire and ground coming in to feed the outlet and will end there. Just hook the single black wire to the brass screw and the white wire to the silver screw and the ground wire to the green screw.

When replacing any outlets or switches, do not utilize the backstabs as they are prone to failure. Use the screw terminals and shepherd hook the wire around them.... and turn off the power

If the outlets you're replacing utilize four screws on the outlets, you can pigtail the wires and only use two screws. This will make future replacements easier and will provide more reliable service.


How to manage wiring if replacing ceiling rose with anchor for heavier light I have just moved house and have brought a dimmable multi-bulb ceiling light with me. It needs to be connected with an anchor to the ceiling.

Here is the light.

The light above is attached to the sides of this anchor, which is then screwed to the ceiling.

In my old house, there was only one light on the circuit so it was straightforward to wire. However, in the current room, the light is one of several and the ceiling rose is wired in a standard way like this.

Here is the actual ceiling rose (with the wires for the pendant removed).

My question is about how best to manage the wiring, as it seems that the anchor must take the place of the ceiling rose wiring block.

Is is acceptable (in the UK) to substitute the ceiling rose wiring with connector strips within the small cavity between the light and the ceiling?
Am I meant to be reattaching the ceiling rose underneath the anchor?
Is there a better way to handle this?

The house is quite old and will need reworked at some point soon, so I am open to any identification of any problems in the existing wiring.

I cannot believe that the ceramic ceiling connection block is to be removed unless it would be replaced with another one.

I would expect that the metal bar is to be held with screws through some of the pairs of holes in the ceramic block penetrating into the wood structure above. I see what looks like breakaway covers over extra holes just outside the ones with the brass wood screws. What is the distance between those holes? What is the distance between the slots in the metal bar? Are these the same?

EDIT

Yes, I am referring to the two on the same line as the holes with the brass wood screws with are being used to hold the connection block. I believe that the projections on the ends of the bar go up toward the ceiling. If the slots in the mounting bar are the same distance as the inner pair of holes, you could break away the covers on the outer holes and shift the brass screws to those outer holes. Then use the inner holes to secure the mounting strap. If there is not enough clearance for the wires (with the projections on the bar projecting up), you'd have to get some spacers.

EDIT2

Another possibility would be to drill two new holes further out in the mounting bar. You should find out how this type of ceiling fixture is normally installed in the UK. This is not something to try to puzzle out on your own.

EDIT

Looks like I was completely wrong! See this video for installation in the UK. Video

EDIT

It could be that one could remove the ceiling rosette temporarily to place the bar against the ceiling (end tabs down of course), then replace the rosette on top of the bar. The fact that the slots in the bar would line up with the holes in the rosette suggests that this was intended as a possibility. This would allow the use of the connection block instead of getting a bunch of individual connectors for the various wires. I don't know if the UK fixtures have enough clearance under the shroud for the rosette and whether this is a practice in the UK. To do this one would place the bar on the ceiling so that the mounting slots line up with the existing holes in the ceiling then mark the countersunk hole for drilling a pilot hole and secure the bar to the ceiling with a single screw in the countersunk hole in the bar, then secure the rosette over the bar through the lined up holes of rosette and bar.


Do I need window trim for a chair rail I have three close windows here. We are putting in a chair rail 6 inches above the sill and I was thinking of just putting a 30 degree miter cut on all the pieces across this bank of windows. I am wondering if it will look bad... or, would it look better to trim all the windows? They are just so close together I am not sure how to trim them out. Anyone have experience with close windows and a chair rail?

Can I answer your second question first? If other windows in the vicinity are trimmed, then you should probably trim these windows. If you do, you want to take styling cues from everything around, but without that information, I'd imagine that something like a simple fireplace surround with 2 extra pilasters would be nice. (Comment back if that description made no sense and I'll mock a picture.)

If you don't trim the windows, I'd put bits of chair rail up with tape and see what you think. If you like them, go for it.


When using a Hand Saw (or Hack saw), Dust hides line Whenever I start cutting a piece of wood with either a handsaw or hacksaw (i.e. manual saw), the dust covers the line I drew, thereby making following the line very difficult if not impossible.

I am also wearing a dust mask, so I can't blow the dust away (also to take a deep breath to blow the dust would cause me to inhale dust).

What are solutions to this? Cheap and expensive?

Painter here.  I stock quality throwaway brushes (Redtree Fooler) and I find them all the time in the wood shop next to saws.

The woodshop guys use paint brushes to dust off woodwork.

A chip brush is a "cheapie" natural bristle paint brush. They are ideal for chasing chips.  The 2" width is the most popular amongst the woodworkers and metalworkers.  Expect to pay $1-1.50 retail for generic cheapies.

Being natural bristle, they hate latex paint. They work fine for alkyds, and are ideal for 2-part coatings (LPU) where cleaning the brush is out of the question.  We win awards with em.


Why caulking turns yellow? I have caulking around the base of the shower and tub and it turned yellow. Is this normal? It was transparent to begin with.

As mentioned by one user, the grout was most likely not sealed before the silicone was put on. The grout is brownish/grey and indeed it looks like it changed color a bit and now looks yellow underneath the transparent silicone.


Bathroom toilet has air bubbles when I shower Whenever I take a shower my toilet has air bubbles.

Do I need to snake my plumbing?

I live in a mobile home so do I remove the toilet to snake the main line or what do I need to do and how?

Sounds to me like a roof vent is plugged or restricted. Run water from a hose into each roof vent and see if you can clear them. Have someone inside while running water into the vents to insure that if this would cause a water leak inside that you stop before doing damage.

Or run a snake down each roof vent. But don't drive the snake into the drain joint where the vent connects to the horizontal runs. You could damage the drain and turn a minor problem into a major one.


latent heat loss of water in pipe What is the latent heat loss of water with
a temperature of 5 degrees c in pipe with an outside air temperature of 0, -5 and -10? This is a 6" hdpe dr11 pipe exterior with no insulation.

Latent heat is 80 kcal per Kg in all cases, and ends with a pipe frozen solid.

Total heat is 85 kcal per kg in all cases. Now, if the water is actually flowing, you have some other factors that you haven't told us about, (lenght, wind, etc.) as well as not telling us if the water is flowing or not. In general, uninsulated water pipes below freezing are not a great idea unless there is constant flow of warm water, and you don't mind losing the heat.


Honeywell RTH9585WF Thermostat wiring question My old thermostat LUXPRO TX 9600tsa uses 4 wires:

W white
G green
R red hooked to RH and looped to RC and
Y yellow

This thing is not working right, so I purchased a Honeywell RTH9585WF WiFi thermostat.  The issue is I have is no C wire and on this new one there is no RH block so I hooked the R red to red but do I need to loop it to RC to get power?

I was also told I could relocate the G to C and go that route. just not sure what to do?   I am getting no power to it...

The RTH9585WF should have a Rh/Rc jumper from the factory, if it is missing then you must add one. If you use the green wire as a "c" wire you need to change it on the thermostat and in the air conditioner. You will lose the "fan only" option at the stat.


How can I insulate a shed floor? I am currently planning on insulating my shed this summer to allow year round usage.

My first step is to insulate the whole shed.
   - The walls and Ceiling are straight forward, I will be installing fiberglass batts, I'm just not sure which R-Value I should be using on either.
   - I will then cover them with vapour barrier, and tape (Tuck Tape) all the seams and staple holes.
   - The floor is another matter, I cannot access the underneath, nor do I know what the construction underneath is like. It is 3/4" plywood. Now do I cover it with vapour barrier, then 1" styrofoam panels, then 1/2 plywood, then I can finish it as I like. Or do I flip flop the vapor barrier and styrofoam.

For the R-Value of your walls and roof, it will depend on the depth of the framing, but assuming you're using 2x4 studs in your wall, then R18 is pretty standard.  For your ceiling, again depending on your framing, R30 or R38 is typical for batts.  Remember that you may be able to squeeze a higher R-Value batt in between the framing, but compressing the fiberglass effectively reduces the R-Value by creating thermal short circuits.

For the floor, install the rigid insulation, then the vapor barrier, then the floor boards.  Here's a pdf which talks about vapor barriers:


Finding Mold After Roof Leak I have a leaking roof that I am having professionally replaced.  I had originally thought the water damage was minimal and isolated to a specific area, until a bad storm last week caused water to pour in from other areas of the house.  I plan to remove the drywall and insulation from areas that I know were affected by the leak.  I'm concerned that there may already be a mold problem, or one could develop due to the moisture.

How can I find all of the places that mold may be, or may be likely to grow after replacing my leaking roof?

Honestly, anywhere. Mold grows on walls, ceilings, windows, floors, furniture, air ducts, on clothes, etc.

My water heater had burst in my basement and had gone unnoticed for 3 days (I was away on vacation). I hired a restoration service. They found mold all the way on the opposite end of the basement. They said it was because of heavy moisture in the room.

Mold is one thing that is not worth messing with. I would hire a contractor to take an air quality test to confirm.


No voltage from breaker even though breaker is good I’ve searched the forums quite a bit and can’t find any other question like this one. I recently moved into a new house and needed to remove a light fixture from a wall in a bathroom. So I needed to turn off the breaker to the fixture, but the previous owners didn’t mark any of the breakers in the panel or sub-panel (which is right next to the main panel). I didn’t have a circuit breaker finder tool, so I had to resort to turning off (and back on) each breaker sequentially while someone waited at the light and told me when it went off. After going through almost all of  the breakers, I eventually found the right one and turned it off. This turned off that fixture as well as a number of other lights in the bathroom. Then I removed the fixture, capped the wire, put it in the wall, and turned the breaker back on. All of the other lights that had been turned off (because of the off circuit) all came back on as expected. Everything seemed normal until I noticed that the lights and plugs in two other rooms in a different part of the house didn’t work. Note that the other lights on the circuit with the light I removed were all working, so I know the non-working lights/plugs are on a different circuit. I suspected that one (or more) of the other breakers that I had turned off and on must not have switched completely back on (I didn’t know which one, since they aren’t labeled). So I went through all of them and made sure they were all in the on position (they were). But still the other lights/plugs didn’t work. So I went through all of them again and turned them off and back on, but still no luck.

Next I thought it might be possible that a GFCI had tripped (or gone bad), although it would be strange to have two entire rooms wired after a GFCI. But despite extensive searching I couldn’t find any GFCIs that weren’t working. It’s possible that there is a GFCI hiding somewhere I haven’t found, but I don’t think that’s the problem.

At this point I suspected that one of my breakers had gone bad (triggered by my initially switching it off and back on). So I took off the covers to my panel and sub panel and used my multimeter to check the voltage between each breaker load screw and the neutral. I went though all 48 breakers and found two 15A breakers in the sub-panel that weren’t showing any voltage (the others were all 120V as expected). So I thought that those two must have both died, so I went to the store and bout two new ones and replaced the bad ones. But still no voltage coming from those breakers, and no lights/plugs. I did a continuity check on the “bad” breakers that I had taken out and found that they were actually both still good.

So that’s the situation I’m in. Also, in the course of doing this diagnosis I bought a circuit breaker finder tool and was able to label just about all of the other breakers, however I can’t use the tool on the dead plugs/lights since the tool requires the circuit to be energized. None the less I’m pretty confident the breakers for the dead lights/plugs are the two that I’ve identified as not having any voltage. My question is, what can cause a breaker to show no voltage between the breaker and the neutral, assuming the breaker is good and properly installed? Is there something in the house wiring that can cause this? Is there other testing that I can do to diagnosis where the problem is? Thanks in advance for any help.

Sorry for the slow response, but when in the process of taking out the breakers to investigate the bus bar I figured out what was going on and it took me a few days to confirm it. The two bad breakers were in the same row of my sub panel, and it dawned on me that if one the lines from the main panel that feeds sub panel was bad, that could be causing my problem. So I tested the two breakers (tandem) in the main panel that were feeding my sub and sure enough one of them was putting out 25V. So I replaced the tandem breaker in the main panel and now everything is working agin.

Thank for your suggestion about the breakers being in the same row, which got me thinking about the problem in a different way.


What is the maximum sub-panel amperage I can use, and is my setup okay? I would like to install a sub-panel in a garage by running cable underground.  I have 60' of 2-2-2-4 aluminum service entrance cable -- gray jacket, 3 conductors insulated.  While I have 60', the distance will only be about 40', most of it underground.  So my questions are:

Can I lay the cable direct-burial, or does it need a conduit?
What is the maximum amperage breaker I can use at the service side to supply the sub-panel?
What number of 15 and 20 amp 120 volt breakers can I use in the sub-panel?

That cable's absolutely worthless to you in this situation...
First off, that cable's worthless for what you need it to do, as NEC 338.12 point 2 says that type SER (and SEU for that matter, not to be confused with USE) cables cannot be run underground, conduit or no conduit:

338.12 Uses Not Permitted.

(A) Service-Entrance Cable. Service-entrance cable (SE) shall
not be used under the following conditions or in the following
locations:

...

(2) Underground with or without a raceway

...and you're better off just slapping a fat conduit or two in anyway
Besides, starting with the wire is an absolutely backwards way to do things, especially considering that installing fat conduits (a 1.5" or 2" PVC for power, and an additional 1" PVC for telecom if you wish) in your trench means that you won't have to dig things up later if you decide your shed needs MORE POWAH.  You'll want to use prefabricated sweeps to bring the conduit up at each end, along with expansion joints to take up ground movement.  You'll also get a slight benefit with regards to burial depth here, but it's not enough to be particularly significant, so going down 24" is recommended anyway.
Once you've done that, then you can pull a bundle of individual THWN or XHHW-2 wires through the conduit for your hots, neutral, and ground, getting to pick the gauge of wire based on how many amps your shed plans actually call for and how much load your service can support instead of having to limit them based on the cable you have on hand.
GO BIG OR GO HOME
The other factor is that there really is no limit as to how many breaker spaces you can have on a single feeder, and nobody ever complains about having too many!  As a result, I'd grab the biggest panel you can find, space-wise; in fact, I consider a 100A or 125A, 24-space panel the bare minimum for a generic outbuilding situation.  Note that you'll want a main breaker panel here so that you don't have to provision a separate disconnect for the shed; it doesn't matter that the main breaker in the subpanel is bigger than the feeder as the feeder breaker in the main panel is protecting everything anyway.


replacing dishwasher hose, which way do I turn this? I am trying to replace a hose on my portable dishwasher. The connection is very difficult to reach and I'm not sure what I should be turning and which way I should be turning it. It was very hard to get a good picture but I'm attaching what I got. The hose end has a male screw end and that seems to go into a female socket type thing. Any suggestions for a proper tool and which way to turn? Thanks.

When dealing with anything threaded, the thing to remember is "Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey"
If you want to remove the hose then you have to get a wrench on it and turn it to the left.
If you want to put the hose on and tighten in you have to turn it to the right.
If its a portable dishwasher you may be able to move it and tilt it in a position that allows you to have better access.


How can I make my home internet router work with a battery? I have an ZTE zxhn h108n router, which needs an 12 V input.

I want to make it work when the electricity goes off.

Get a UPS
No, not that UPS. An uninterruptible power supply, also known as a battery backup. This is a box that takes normal AC (e.g., 110-120V in the US) and uses it to charge a battery and power your devices. If power goes out (technically: voltage out of range) then it uses an inverter to power your devices from the battery. All automatically.
You typically want to connect:

Cable or DSL or FIOS modem
Router
Computer if you are using a desktop computer
Any other small but important devices - e.g., if you have an Ethernet switch then connect it so if you have a laptop or other device on that switch (instead of WiFi) it will continue to have a wired internet connection

Sizes and prices vary, primarily based on the size of the battery which, combined with the size of the load, determines how long it will run when AC is out.


How to open this drainage cap? Just moved into a new house and had a new washer and dryer delivered today. When they installed them, they said they couldn't complete the washer install due to this cap on the drainage pipe.
They mentioned it might be a knockout, but, in trying to knock it out, all that's happened is my knocking out a chunk of it. I then decided to drill a hole in it and see if I could pull it out with pliers, which didn't work.
So, what is it, and how should I go about getting through it for the drainage line?

It appears that the original knockout was removed but a safety plug/cap was put on the pipe and not removed before gluing up.  Can you get a pair needle nose pliers in that little notch and see if you pull up on it?
I would drive a screw into it, leave it and tie a string to the screw. Take a Dremel or some other rotary tool and cut around the perimeter , or a razor knife or a small chisel and hammer.
The screw/string will keep the cut out part from falling down the drain.


60Hz to 50Hz Conversion I need to convert 220V 60HZ to 220/230V 50hz for use in a consumer Super Automatic Espresso Coffee machine, 1,400 watts.
I assume running it at 50Hz is possible, it's an expensive machine so wish to be safe and run it at 50Hz. There are grinders, gears and boilers in the machine. The manufacture in Italy is no help at all.

The electrical Label on the machine is 230V 50Hz 1,400 watts no mention of 60Hz.

I am not able to build and would like to buy a converter.
Can anyone recommend a source, I can only find industrial units on the web.

thank you!

JC

I believe what you want is an online sinewave UPS built for the European market.  That will input don't care Hz power and output 50Hz power at all times.

We're not a shop-for-you site, so you'd have to go elsewhere for advice on which one.

The important features are

Online, which is a specific subtype of UPS, indicating output is inverter-driven at all times, using all-the-time double conversion, and it never bypasses and serves line power directly.
Sinewave, to make the motors happy.
Output of 230V to satisfy your Eurogadget.  The input voltage does not matter, so bonus points if you can find one rated for  120V-240V input, and the ability to input varying voltages strongly suggests it is a double conversion unit.
Listed by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory. Most European testing labs are qualified bevause their standards are equivalent to ours.  CE won't qualify, it is not a testing lab, it is only a promise from the manufacturer, is widely falsified, and effectively stands for Chinese Excrement.