How far apart is it okay to set thermostat during night and day This isn't home improvement, per se, so please feel free to let me know if there is a better forum for this.

I have been told by two people, one of whom is a boiler repair technician, that it's not a good idea to set my nighttime thermostat temperature too far below what I have it set at when I'm awake.  Neither gave me a satisfactory explanation - just vague "it shouldn't be done" sort of stuff.

My question is why?  Will it cause damage to the boiler (~3-4 years old, natural gas) if it's set, say, 10 degrees F different?  Will it cause damage to anything else in the house?

I have three zones (basement, first, and second floor).  Basement is always at 60.  First floor is 70ish while we're home during the day, and presently only 66 at night.  I'd like to set it to 60 at night but have been nervous to do so.  Second floor is where we sleep, so 66-68 at night is fine.

The advice is for the purpose of avoiding frozen pipes.

The larger the difference in thermostat settings, the longer the heat will be off.
The longer the heat is off, the bigger the temperature differences between the cold parts of the room and the warm parts of the room.
Your thermostat is likely to be in a warmer part of the room (inside wall, at eye level) and your pipes are likely to be in the cold parts of the room (in the walls or on the baseboards, often down low).

I had frozen pipes when I was using a room the night before and had the heat up around 70.  Then the night time setting of 45 degrees took effect.  The baseboard radiators froze before the heat at the thermostat reached 45 degrees and kicked the heat on.  This was on a night when the temperature was below zero.  I also had some cold air coming in directly behind that radiator. (I have since installed additional insulation there.)

My plumber offered to install a special controller on my boiler that circulates some hot water through the radiators every half hour or so even when the thermostat doesn't call for it.  This type of setup will allow wider temperature swings with less risk of frozen pipes.  I opted not to do so because the controller itself was expensive.  Adding some insulation and having a slightly higher night time temperature were easier.

To avoid frozen pipes:

Keep the night time setting well above freezing.  At least 50 degrees.  My plumber recommends at least 55.
Avoid large temperature swings so that the corners of the room don't cool down to below freezing.  I wouldn't worry about the 10 degree difference that you are proposing, but a 20 degree difference is more worrying.
Put the heat on "hold" if the temperature outside is going to particularly cold that night.


Frigidaire refrigerator: no ice produced, and no water dispensed. What would cause this besides the 3-way water valve? FFHS2311LBSA side-by-side fridge with water dispenser.  Water is not dispensed, and no ice is produced.  Common wisdom says the water valve assembly (3 valves, 3 solenoids) is the most likely culprit but I measure ~400 ohms across each coil.  In addition, when the water dispenser paddle is depressed, I get 120V across one of the solenoids.

I assume the water runs from the main valve to the filter, then back to the valve assembly, where either the dispenser or icemaker pulls a solenoid to deliver water.  This would mean that the main solenoid would have to energize AND also one of the other valves to deliver water. I never see 120v across the main solenoid (when I depress the dispenser paddle).

I could replace the water valve assembly as a shotgun guess but my gut is telling me it's something else. If I'm right about how the valves work, how does the water dispenser send 120V to both the main and the dispenser solenoids? And why would it send 120v to only one of them?

thanks for any help!

I wanted to close this out:  turns out the problem was the filter, presumably clogged (over two years old).  Thanks to @mike65535, who hit the nail on the head right off the bat. Did not try this first because I did not have a spare filter on hand...


Tiling shower walls how and where to start I'm about to start tiling my shower walls I just don't know where to start or how, I've never tiled before my shower is 5ft in length 32 inches wide and 80 inches high I have chosen a 12 by 24 inch tile but got 10 by 16 inch tiles I got everything I need for the job just need advice for starting and laying the tiles

If both corners are equally visible the best way is to start in the middle plumb on center. As you get to the corner measure and cut to fill. The leftover peice is the size of your starter for the next wall. Draw a new plumb line on the short wall according to off cut. This method does not always work out. If you end up with a tiny piece in the corner, offset your center line until visually appealing.

If your tile is 16 wide it would work out like this

Your short starter peice on the short wall would be about 5-1/2 inches

Starting at one corner is much easier but real professionals will normally start on center.


How should I insulate a wall I opened up? I am remodeling a bathroom and adjacent room and walls that are on the exterior side of the house are now open. I am trying to figure out what I should do to help insulate the walls better. The house was built in 1951, located in the temperate CA Bay Area and has a stucco exterior. It looks like the walls are made up of a dark fiberboard for the exterior sheathing. The studs are a little strange in the rooms. It looks like they are 2x4 with additional strips to get it to something like 2x6 and then some more strips that were used to attach the wood panel wall to and were probably necessary to clear the footing on the foundation slab at the bottom of the wall. These additional strips are often thicker than the underlying 2x4, so the cavities are not a uniform thickness. Is there a simple guide to what retrofits can be done to insulate the wall? I am thinking of using Roxul insulation. Does it need to fill the entire cavity depth-wise? I would also probably go with drywall for the interior sheathing.

The room is on the first floor and in the summer it generally stays cool. I am guessing in the winter it will get a bit cold since it stays so cool in the summer.

On the bedroom and bathroom walls there are windows. These windows are original steel casement windows. I have done some research on windows and am not sure if replacing them would really be worth it, especially since I like the fact that the steel frames are really thin. I was wondering if maybe I retrofit them with laminated glass with low-e glass I could get some efficiency boost and sound/security benefit without tearing them out.

Roxul is great stuff. There are 3.5" and 5.5" depth batts. With a combination of those, you should easily be able to entirely fill the stud cavities (leaving no voids inside is important). You can use a bread knife to really shape the batts to perfectly fit around obstructions and make slits for wires and things like that to get a very neat installation. The material is super DIY-friendly, and much easier to work with than fiberglass batts.

As for your windows, if you like them and they're attractive and in good condition, there's no reason to replace them; just get storm windows with your desired glass characteristics (laminated, Low-e, etc).


What size breaker should I use to feed an electrical panel for our addition? We recently put an addition on our home. I am looking to run a subpanel from our 200 amp service panel out in the yard at the meter (mounted to a pole), 75' to subpanel location.

In the addition we have 2 bedrooms, walk in closet, laundry room and bathroom. We also added on to our living room 10x15. All these rooms will have receptacles, lights and a 240 volt hook up for the dryer in the laundry room and baseboard electric heaters. (1 per room except laundry and living room) Total of 4 heaters. I currently picked up a 125 amp homeline 20 space 40 circuit panel box without main breaker. Is a 100 amp breaker from main panel more than enough? Can I use a 60 amp breaker to feed the subpanel? This is going to be inspected per NEC code.

Each baseboard heater is probably 15A (if not then check what they actually are), and the dryer is 30A. So you're already at 90A. The washer (is it frontloading?) will need 15A/2 (it's 120V), and so will the bathroom, so that's 105A. I can easily imagine all those running at once. Then you have some plugs and whatnot, but you probably won't max all of them at once.

Looks like 120A will be OK, but just barely. Is electrical heat really your only option? Can you use a gas dryer?


Buy Fluorescent Bulb With Warranty Or Without In This Case? I need a new E-14 fluorescent bulb of 9W for my aquarium since previous was 15W and got burned. People recommended to drill holes in aquarium's lid to allow convection but since former bulb was 15W, overheat probably caused it to burn.

Now i am considering if to buy bulb with 3-year warranty or without since the latter is cheaper. Do you think buying with 3-year warranty one would be better than without warranty for examining how it will work without drilling any holes first? The worst case is that bulb is burned and i got a replacement and know that i will need to drill holes for stable operation?

If I'm understanding correctly, E14 is the bulb base size (14 millimeter, right?). That means that the bulb is about $10. Which means that the cost in your time and energy to make good on the warranty (not to mention storing and then finding the original receipt again) is probably more than just buying another bulb.

That's not to say that you shouldn't buy the more expensive bulb, if you think it's better made go for it, but I doubt that you'll ever make good on the warranty.

As to why they burn out: How long did the 15W last? And what is the hood rated for (they usually have a sticker inside somewhere that lists maximum bulb size)? I'd put the 9W in, run it for a few hours and see how hot it seems to be by touching the outside of the hood. If it's really hot, then drill it out for airflow, if it's not, then leave it.


What is a safe maximum amount to leave a window open? We have sash windows and got broken into last week due to poor security (just internal latches).

I want to install better locks on the windows to prevent the windows being opened past certain amount, but am having trouble finding a reference for how much of a gap is considered practically impossible to fit through.

Though I understand that people, even burglars, come in different sizes and shapes, is there an acknowledged security-industry standard distance to limit such a window-lock installation?

Most code states that all railing balusters must be spaced no more than 4" apart to prevent a child from inserting their head.

So, that is one measurement you could use...if you don't want anyone's head to get through: 4".

Of course, also make sure you can't get an arm through that could reach the window lock.

Edit by OP:

According to http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/HeadAnthropometry.JPG
Men's heads range from 5.1" to 6.5" at their widest point (and women's 5.2" to 6.1"; 1st to 99th percentile).

As such, choosing a maximum gap between 4" to 5" would prevent somebody ranging between a child and adult from entering through the space.


How do I measure the discharge from a Sump Pump? My sump generates a lot of output during some weeks.  Enough that I need a better plan than dumping into the grass and gravel driveway downslope from the house.  My first step in improving my driveway is calculating the amount of water I am dumping into it. What is the easiest way to measure? The 2 inch discharge pipe is about 18 inches off the ground. I guess I could dump the water into a kiddy pool and measure the amount of water in it after a 24 hour period. That leaves me with a kiddy pool I'd have to throw away in a month.  I would prefer a method that allows me to measure into the future.

Is there a simple flow meter for a 2 inch pipe that will measure the amount of water flowing through it? I have found some, but they appear to be industrial grade and industrial priced.

I could estimate the volume of water discharged when the sump cycles on, and then count the number of times the sump runs. But how would I count the number of cycles?

Time how long it takes to fill a 1 gallon bucket, then divide that time into a minute, that gives you GPM; Gallons Per Minute, a standardized flow rate. So for example if, while it is fully flowing, you put the bucket in the stream, someone else starts a stopwatch and you see that it takes 6 seconds to fill the bucket, 60 seconds / 6 seconds = 10 GPM.

Then if you want, get what's called an "elapsed time meter" that works on the same voltage as your pump, and wire it in parallel with the pump so that it records how long the pump runs. Multiply that run time (in minutes) during a time period by the flow rate to get a larger averaged flow over that time period, i.e. per hour or per day or per week to make it more useful for deciding what you want to do with it. So for example if, during a given week, the sump pump ran for 3.2 hours, that is 192 minutes, x 10GPM = 1920 gallons per week that you need to figure out how to safely dispose of.


How do you paint vinyl shutters? What kind of paint will work for restoring the original color to vinyl shutters that have faded from exposure to the sun? They are supposedly "maintenance-free" but the home owners association says they need to be repaired or replaced.

I recently repainted mine after aging 5 years.  They are maintenance free, but the color will fade.  Sherwin Williams sells paint specifically for shutters and they had an exact match for my shutter color.  You just wash and paint.  They'll look as good as new!


Is there anything to be concerned with this picture? I just got a W/D combo unit that only needs a 120V outlet and my laundry room only has a 240V outlet.  Rather than converting the 240V to a 120V, I want to be able to have both 120V and 220V outlets for flexibility and I noticed that my circuit breaker panel actually has a 20A circuit labeled "Washer" and a 30A labeled Dryer which controls the 240V outlet.

I also found a blank plate in the laundry room half way up a wall and I opened it and found wiring.  I attached a picture of what I found and there are four pairs of wires in there.

It doesn't look like there is any ground wiring and so I will need to make sure the box is self-grounded, but if it is, does the condition of the wires cause anyone to think that installing an outlet there is more dangerous than normal (assuming I can find the wiring that comes from the 20 A "Washer" circuit)?  Thanks in advance.

panel showing label for "washer"

[Wiring behind a blank plate

Here is a picture with the wiring moved out of the way a little bit.  I am assuming now that the shiny metal wires in the back are the ground wires, is there any reason there are two and they are twisted together?!  Also, not sure what the two white insulated wires are doing connected inside the box too, just wiring for down the line?

So I just tested the wiring with my non-contact voltage tester.
After switching the circuit switches in the breaker box off then on, only one black ever came live, and it was the one twisted connected with the white.  The bad news is that the circuit switch that turned it on was the 15A circuit for the downstairs bathroom fixtures and outlets.  I guess I am going to need to just convert my 220V to a 120V as the most cost-effective solution.  Thanks for everyone and their responses.

That junction box had a fire.

It melted the lower side of the box. Probably nearly burned down the house.

As for the cause of the fire, I see plain wirenuts and aluminum wires.  Obviously this wire-nutting is contemporary to the fire, but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh? This is probably the classic situation of faulty terminations on aluminum wires, but for all I know, the aluminum wires were innocent bystanders and this was an incompetent wire-nut job on copper wires.  Aluminum wires need terminations rated for them.  Not having those is what caused the problem in the 70's.

So replace that box with a metal one less likely to catch fire; I recommend a 4-11/16" square steel box with a 1-gang or 2-gang mud ring, as you need a lot of room for 4 cables, grounds+clamps, and a receptacle or two. (5 sq.in. Each). That box was surely overstuffed if it had a receptacle.

Evaluate wiring throughout the house

Particularly aluminum wiring.   You want to see if wiring like this is typical in this house.  If it is, we need to emplace some strategies ASAP to protect the house.

The first line of defense against shoddy wiring is AFCI breakers.  These listen to the wires for arcing faults (like the one that started that fire). That classic GE panel is still fully supported (mostly; GE made some changes to bus stabs that might  affect you; ask a new question about that).

AFCIs do not come in double-stuff breakers, so noting the use of a few double-stuffs, you might need to combine a few circuits in order to fit AFCIs.  It's worth it.

That service panel

I do not like the rust pattern on it.  It makes it look like the humidity source is on the inside, and I would expect if you took that cover off, you'd find a sea of rust.  Not cool.

Also, if this is a "Rule of Six" (six main breakers) panel, that is a showstopper. Get rid of it.

I would stay with GE, nothing wrong with it.  However, if space is a premium, use Eaton CH or Square D QO (Eaton has cheaper breakers, but QO supports generator interlocks better).

Also, plug the humidity source! Probably a conduit pipe that goes outside.

Grounding

There is no such thing as a self-grounding box.  Boxes cannot reach through the mystical aether and obtain a ground.  They can pick it up from ground wires, but here you have the problem that these are aluminum ground wires, and only a limited number of devices can splice to them.

It might be fairly naughty Codewise, but you could buy accessory ground bars for panels, cut them up, and then fasten them down in the back of a metal junction box. That may be cheaper than using an Alumiconn to pigtail to a metal box.


Kitchen sink - loose tap Moved to a new apartment, got a "furnished" kitchen. How do I fix this kitchen sink and tap connection?

There should be a couple of threaded rods that are screwed into the body of the tap and stick out about an inch, pointing the same direction as the hoses. There should then be a rubber washer and a steel washer in a horseshoe shape with a couple of holes in them that slide onto the threaded rods from underneath the sink. When you tighten a nut on each of the rods, the washer clamps the tap onto the sink.

If yours are missing, you might search for a "monobloc tap fixing kit". Here's an example for illustration but you'll need to make sure you get one that fits your tap.


Dryer Outlet - Two 120V's testing fine. No 240V Have a seriously weird issue.

I have a  dryer outlet that is showing fine for both 120V's (checked against ground and common) but across them there is no 240.

My initial thought was that they were on the same hot leg but it is connected to a quad tandem breaker with the oven. The oven works fine.

Any ideas? Do you think the breaker might be bad? I know that's rare but I can't think of anything else.

Appreciate any ideas/insight.

Answer pending verification of photo...

It looks like someone may have been using that dryer outlet for a large 120v appliance, probably with some homemade adapter.  In your picture it seems like both the red and black wires are attached to the upper screw on that double pole breaker.  This would put them both at 120v to ground, but zero volts between each other.

Having parallel paths in a circuit like that is not allowed, but it doesn't matter much now because you're going to fix it.  Once the two wires are attached to the right screws you should be fine.  Just to double check that there is not an issue with your panel, measure the voltage between the two screws on the breaker.  That should be 240v, of course.  If it's not, there could be a compatibility issue with that breaker in that panel, but like you say, the stove works, so I don't think it there would be an issue here.  Turn the breaker on and off to reset it if the voltage is not present.


How do I remove old drylok? I'm about to start painting my basement walls with drylok.  Previous owner waterproofed.....stuff looks to be about 10-15 years old.  Has some stain marks in areas which shows there has been some water in the past.  Was going to uses a wire brush and scrapper to get the old drylok off, use some water stop cement on the cracks that I find, and then drylok over everything.

Any easy way to get the old drylok off?  Should I just clear the areas where there is staining.  Basement has no leaking, and the walls are cinder blocks

You might want to consider speaking with drylok representitives to find out how to remove the product safely. It contains Silica which is extremely toxic in dust form. The products has warnings regarding it on the label. I'm considering using it on my basement fieldstone and my only reservtion is the possibilty of having to remove it if it fails. Or having someone else get sick trying to remove it in the future. I'm sure it's inert when its on the wall, just not so sure about any dust/debri created from sanding or grinding or chipping. Good Luck.


Wiring new light switch I am trying to install a motion activated light switch in my basement of my condo in the United States. On the switch it states that it's max load is 500 watts which should be plenty since the switch itself as far as I'm aware only controls 5 lights in my basement which are at max 60 watts combined.

The switch that I got has 4 wires, a red load a white neutral a green ground and a black hot wire. In the gang box of my basement, when I took the current switch out, this is what I saw:

In the above photos, you can see three separate groups of wires each with white insulation on the three groups of wires within the gang box. Within each of the three groups, there is one black wire, one white wire and one ground. The three white wires were not in use by the previous switch so they were all joined together and a wire nut was used. I saw that the three grounds from the three separate groups were all combined and connected to the bottom ground of the previous light switch. Two black wires were connected to one black wire clamp while one other black wire was connected to another black wire clamp.

I never came across something like this before but I attempted to connect the new switch to this wiring. Below is a picture of the new switch wiring I am trying to put in.

When I took all the wires off of the old switch, I turned the circuit back on and I found that the entire circuit was not complete since I found that this one circuit energized my living room and basement, even though this switch only powers 5 lights in my basement. I was wondering, since there is a sump pump on the circuit (but not controlled by the light switch), would this light switch not be able to handle the sump pump kicking on?

Since I never came across a gang box like this before, I was wondering, it is possible to safely wire this new switch in? If so, how would I go about doing so? Thank you.

EDIT: Also, when I use a non-contact voltage tester, it appears as though only one black wire out of the three groups is hot when the circuit is flipped on.

Also, here is a link to the switch that I am trying to install https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0752W92LJ/?tag=stackoverfl08-20

I see where you took the 2 blacks that had been on the same terminal of the old switch, and joined them with a wire nut.   Good instincts.

Now, as you observed, the cables coming into the box had exactly the same color scheme- 1 black 1 white 1 bare.  That is how cables are made. The colors indicate nothing about the purpose/function of the wire, however white must be used for neutral if neutral is present.  So there's that.   If you want color coding by function, you must re-mark the wires e.g. With colored tape.  That is exactly what I want you to do.

Take the remaining solo wire and mark it with red electrical tape.  I like red for switched-hot, and so does everyone else including your switch.

As it happens, the blacks and whites are color coded correctly (black=always-hot).

Now, they're color coded.  Match 'em up EXCEPT STOP.  DO NOT HOOK UP RED.

Now, see if the switch will power up.  If it does, then shut off power again and hook up red; you're done.

Now, we are all assuming the usual situation, where supply comes in on one cable, and always-on power is carried onward down another cable.   Given you have at least 5 lights here, it's possible that 2 strings of lights branch from the switch, and we have it all backwards.  In that case, the solo black is supply, and the two blacks together are to-the-lamp and ought to be red.  In that case, hooking the switch black to the solo black will make it power up.  Then mark the other two blacks red and onward!


Do I need a vapor barrier on an 8" pour + carpeting over tile? So I am finishing my basement and the side I'm finishing has an extra 4" pour on it as well as old 8x8 asbestos tile.  My plan is to carpet over it.  Do I need a vapor barrier?  I get that concrete is porous but the tile on the 8" (4" on top of the original 4") leads me to believe that there already is a vapor barrier on the floor.

Thanks,
Joe

You don't mention what your climate is or whether you've had moisture in the basement. My answer is therefore in general.

Vapor barriers are rarely "barriers", and generally act as retarders. In this case, your tile is a fairly effective retarder. I'd discuss it with the carpet supplier/installer. It's often the case that carpet pad has a built-in moisture barrier as well.


Can I increase the setting of my well pump's pressure switch to improve pressure? I just bought a house and my water pressure isn't the greatest. When I looked at it, the pressure switch is for 30 50. When checking the cut-in and cut-out, it was at 35 55. Can it be set higher like that or should I change it back to 30 50?

You can raise the pressure switch-points by adjusting the pressure switch. It's not uncommon to run at 60/40, and 70/50 is also possible.

The limiting factors are:

Your pressure switch (though as Ed says, most go to 90 or so)
The fixtures in your house. Toilet valves in particular can start to leak at higher pressures, and the next big one would be connections made using compression fittings and smaller tubing like fridges, ice makers and humidifiers.
Your well pump. It may not be powerful enough to actually reach the cut-off pressure, or it may take an excessively long time.

You can also increase the size of your pressure tank. This will make the pressure drops and surges smoother and last longer as it takes longer for the pressure to drop to the cut-in pressure, but it'll also take longer to fill it up. The pump will run less frequently but for longer.

There's also a number of variable speed pumps on the market, and those will actually maintain a certain pressure fairly reliably. This is most noticeable while using water continuously such as in the shower or using a hose outside. One of the other benefits is these only need a fairly small pressure tank.

This obviously requires replacing your pump (and it's more expensive than the equivalent standard pump) so it's probably not a good option unless you needed/wanted to replacing the pump anyway.


Concrete brick patio, -how do I temporarily divert the water around a raised deck post? I am trying to fix a wet wall problem that appeared due to a incorrectly built patio.
I am now trying to fix the under the raised deck area where the patio settled Currently the water is converging toward two of the posts of my raised deck build above the patio. Since rain is in the forecast for Tu, I need to be able to temporary divert the runoff water around these posts till I fix the problem.

Does anybody know how I can do this?

Edit: picture as requested

Why not create a flashing dam around the post areas?

You could use a roll of sheet aluminum, maybe 6 inches wide. Put a crease down the middle to form an L shape.

Scrub down the blocks and when dry, duct tape the bottom flange of the aluminum to the blocks. You can bend the corners by cutting the bottom flange to the crease or cut separate pieces and duct tape them together. Add some duct tape to the inside seam along the bottom of the well formed.

When ready, it should pull up with little to no residue. If necessary, some mineral spirits should remove any remaining adhesive.


How do I fix bubbles under linoleum flooring? We put down a sheet 12X9 of linoleum in our kitchen and it went under the new cabinets and baseboard. The flooring depot said no glue was needed. Well now we have bubbles, a great big one and several others. What is the easiest way to fix this problem?

Most likely you have the new style of fiberglass, vinyl flooring. It has a softer feel than regular inlaid vinyl (slight padding on back) and in some cases can be laid without adhesives. I have been using this type of sheet goods a lot lately. My customers love it.

More directly to your problem. Since you installed cabinets and baseboards on top of the flooring, it has no space to expand into, thus the bubbles. Also, it may have not been rolled well before the cabinets and base were installed.  I would never have installed without an adhesive. You cannot use regular flooring adhesive on these types of fiberglass flooring. If an adhesive is used, it must be the new non-setting type. This adhesive is kind of like the glue on a post-it note. It never dries up hard and allows the flooring to be peeled up years from now. It must be applied very thinly across the entire field, never just around the perimeter. The flooring must then be rolled with at lest a 75 to 100 pound roller. We usually go back an hour after the initial rolling and give it a second roll.

In your case, I'd remove the baseboards, roll the flooring up against the cabinets, apply the proper adhesive and let the flooring back down.  Roll it from the cabinets out to the edges, so the adhesive does not pool up.  If you are brave, you could cut the flooring along the edge of the cabinets, take it out of the room then apply adhesive and reinstall the floor.

I should note, depending on what you have under your new flooring, you may have to apply an ultra thin coat of embossing leveler to assure proper bonding of the glue to the existing floor.


Can I use roofing nails to attach OSB/plywood to studs? My roofing nails are for nailing asphalt shingles to roof underlay boards.

I have been using 2.5 inch nails to nail external wall OSBs to the studs. I have been contemplating using the excess roofing nails (I inherited) for nailing the external wall OSBs to the studs.

Will there be any problems? I don't see any problems, except being a waste of money, since the OSBs would be covered by Tyvek. Are roofing nails of lesser shear strength than framing nails?

I am building a house and have decided to use metal roofing, so my roofing nails that someone gave us will be useless.

Roofing nails are a bad choice for attaching sheathing. The wire gauge is too small and the hardness of the nail shank is much less than a framing nail.  I personally like to use 6d or 8d ring shank nails for OSB. 8d common nails are Ok as well. Ring nails won't loosen or back out over time as wood dries and shrinks. The heads of the roofing nails can easily break off and will offer little if any holding power. Although you may save some money now, having your sheathing loosen over time will be extremely expensive to fix later. Use the right materials now and be sure the job is done right.


Is it possible to install backer-board on a curved surface? We are replacing the carpet around our Heart Shaped tub with tile.  For better waterproofing we are using cement board on the top surface.  The tub is sunk in the concrete floor with a 7" step up to the edge of the tub on one side. The other side of the rise is to the wall, finished off with a tile backsplash.

The problem is that the  step follows the curved edge of the tub about 10" out, at a radius of about 10 feet. We can tile by using 1" squares or other small configurations, but how do we curve the backer-board to go behind the tile on the stair riser?

I have used HardieBacker, Wonderboard and Durock and I'd use 1/4 Wonderboard in this application. IIRC, it is the most ductile (bends before it breaks) of the three. On a stair subject to being kicked, you may want to use two sheets of quarter inch (the same trick for bending drywall) with troweled mortar between them. Basically, backerboard easily lets you fake a "dry pack" mortar bed:

  Traditionally, for wet applications, the arguably proper method is a "dry pack" mortar bed sloped to a tile drain followed by a hot-mop asphalt application, followed by floated cement followed by tile set in thin-set mortar. It is a method that is quite labor intensive involving specific steps. This is still a common method for commercial and residential applications, but becoming less so with the advent of modern alternative materials and techniques. –  Jimmy Fix-it

The 'tar' waterproofing is accomplished by the application of an anti-water membrane over your backerboard; embedding fiber tape along any seams or cracks.

Even if one or both of the sandwiched backerboards does crack as you install it; the mortar will fill and set it back into a solid piece... hopefully. If the framing is sound, using screwed-down mortared-in-place backerboard and a liquid applied membrane will go a long way towards achieving a professional tile job.

This is all assuming you have a nice, gently curved plywood substrate that you can screw to every 6~8" and not just 16"oc studs.

Ditra mat is possibly what you could use but I never have, and therefore cannot attest to it's functionality nor whether it is applicable, vertically: (emctiles.co.uk)


Water dripping from bathroom faucet even with the under-sink valves turned off? Question: All of a sudden we have a dripping bathroom fauce - more of a thin stream of water rather than a slow drip. But even when I turn off the quarter-turn Hot/Cold water valves located under sink, the water doesn't completely stop; it it just barely slows to a very fast drip-drip-drip-drip. What would be causing this to happen? Is it an issue with the quarter-turn valves themselves, which are only about 3 years old, or with the actual faucet fixture? Or could it be something else entirely?
We have no access to main water shut-off within the apartment as it's a per floor/tier water system, accessible only by maintenance staff/plumbers in the building.
Lastly, is there anything I can do in the interim to stop the water from the faucet until Monday when I can get a hold of maintenance?
Thank you so much.

Sounds like you have a problem in both the faucet and the under-sink valves.

When the either the faucet is turned off, or the under-sink valves are turned off, the water should stop completely.  If it still runs or drips when both are shut off, then both are not doing their job.

It is quite common for both the faucet and the under-sink valves to have rubber washers as the surface that seals when the valve is turned off.  The most likely answer here is that the rubber washers have deteriorated or worn out, and are not making full contact to stop the water flow.

Alternatively, the valves may have a build-up of mineral deposits or rust, which is blocking the valve surfaces from making full contact to close.

The ultimate solution here is to fix both the faucet and the under-sink valves.

The fact that it started all-of-a-sudden sounds like something in the faucet broke.  It is likely just a rubber washer that just needs to be replaced.

Shutting off the under-sink valves, reducing it to a drip, will relieve the pressure enough that you can open up the faucet to replace the washer.  Depending on the make and model, there may be more than just a washer to replace; some brands have a valve "cartridge" that gets replaced.

Fixing the under-sink valves will require shutting off the water supply to the apartment.  Not something you can do yourself, in your situation.  You'll have to let building maintenance take care of that.

If you want to fix it before Monday, you'll need to shut off the under-sink valves, get your screw-driver or wrench, and open up the faucet to see if you need a rubber washer or something else, and replace it.  Good luck with it!


Unbundling Ground Wire make unconnected wires show hot A light that has a 2 wires (and a ground) coming in from an outlet. The 2 wires are unused.

From the other side there are two wires coming up to the box. 1 of these wires connects to the light and the other connected to the ground wire from the first bundle. A third wire connects the bundle to the other side of the light.

I understand what is going on here - the people who setup the light (for whatever reason) used the ground as the neutral, not sure why since they had 2 other wires they could have used.

Anyway, when I was trying to figure out what was going on I disconnected all the wires at the switch & up in the light box. When I disconnected the ground coming from the outlet the 2 wires from the switch box showed hot from my cheap voltage meter - they were not connected to anything on the other side...

Why were they hot?

Edit: OK so it's not the light.  But it's a ground fault somewhere. One presumes it is in the circuit, but grounds can be crossed over amongst circuits in the same panel, especially in a ground retrofit situation.  So it could be anywhere wired which feeds the hot ground wire.

There should be no intentional current whatsoever on a safety ground.  (though there can be micro-currents due to coupling or the tiny, tiny amount of leakage which is allowed.)

Unexpected currents like this are why grounds must be pigtailed, so you don't have to sever a ground to replace a device.

Obviously, bootlegging neutral from ground is the picture postcard definition of a ground fault.

If your previous homeowner did it one place, good chance he did it lots of places.

It's hot because when you interrupt/sever a current return, current is no longer able to return.  Normally it flows freely  back to the panel, and that pulls it down to near earth voltage.  But current can't go any further so it's "piling up" right there.


Is this an s-trap and can I vent it in the cabinet? I created the attached trap for my bath vanity. the extra inverted U was necessary to avoid an obstacle.

it seems it is still an S trap. Can I make a small hole on the top and add a pipe, effectively venting it?

The definition of an s-trap is where:

There's a drop in the pipe downstream of the trap weir (or outlet), and
That drop occurs before the vent connection

You hit both points, so yes, it's an s-trap. However, if it's not vented properly anyway (as your diagram seems to indicate), it's all moot. Such a situation always acts as an s-trap.

The solution is simply to extend your tailpiece, assuming you end up within maximum drop (might be 18").

Whether you can retrofit a local vent depends on your community's code authority. In the U.S. air-admittance valves and other internal vents are no longer legal, generally speaking. You're required to vent through the roof.

In no case can you simply add an open tube, as that would allow sewer gas to escape and defeat the purpose of the trap, and it needs to be the size of the drain pipe anyway or it won't vent adequately.

There are other venting retrofit options and exceptions, but we'd need to know more about your plumbing.


Does turning circuit breakers off cause wear? A comment over on another SE got me thinking. With screw-in fuses, unscrewing it and then later screwing it back in causes negligible wear on either part of the installation. But what about modern "switch" overcurrent circuit breakers? Does manually turning them off and back on repeatedly over a period of time cause a noticeable amount of wear?

I am considering here the case of using the breakers to turn off power for example when going on vacation, so more often than only when doing things like working on the house electrical wiring but also less often than daily. Let's say on the order of ten times per year or something along the lines of that.

As ChrisF mentions, any mechanical device causes some wear when it operates. With that said, let us start by checking with the National Electrical Code (NEC).

  NEC 2011
  404.11 Circuit Breakers as Switches. A hand-operable circuit breaker equipped with a lever or handle, or a power-operated circuit
  breaker capable of being opened by hand in the event of a power
  failure, shall be permitted to serve as a switch if it has the
  required number of poles.

  Informational Note: See the provisions contained in 240.81 and 240.83.

So according to the NEC, circuit breakers can be used as switches with some provisions.

  240.81 Indicating. Circuit breakers shall clearly indicate whether they are in the open “off” or closed “on” position. Where circuit
  breaker handles are operated vertically rather than rotationally or
  horizontally, the “up” position of the handle shall be the “on”
  position.

  240.83 Marking. (D) Used as Switches. Circuit breakers used as switches in 120-volt and 277-volt fluorescent lighting circuits shall
  be listed and shall be marked SWD or HID. Circuit breakers used as
  switches in high-intensity discharge lighting circuits shall be listed
  and shall be marked as HID.

If the circuit breaker clearly indicates the "on" and "off" position ("on" being up in vertically oriented situations), and the breaker is labeled "SWD" and/or "HID". Then the circuit breaker can be used as a switch, as far as NEC is concerned.

As for whether or not using a circuit breaker in this way causes damage to the circuit breaker, we'll look to the NEC's definition of a circuit breaker.

  Circuit Breaker. A device designed to open and close a circuit by nonautomatic means and to open the circuit automatically on a
  predetermined overcurrent without damage to itself when properly
  applied within its rating.

Notice it specifically mentions "without damage to itself". So in the eyes of the NEC. A device used manually or automatically to open a circuit that causes damage to itself, can not be used as a circuit breaker.

More evidence is provided in this pdf document from Schneider Electric describing the markings on a circuit breaker.

  4.) SWD – 15- or 20-A circuit breakers rated 347 V or less may be marked “SWD,” meaning that they are suitable for switching fluorescent
  lighting loads on a regular basis (NEC 240.83(D)). These circuit
  breakers are evaluated for high endurance use, since they will be used
  similar to a light switch.

  5.) HID – 50 A or less circuit breakers rated 480 V or less may be marked “HID,” meaning they are suitable for switching high intensity
  discharge or fluorescent lighting loads on a regular basis. These
  circuit breakers may employ a different construction than a standard
  SWD circuit breaker in order to address the high inrush current
  resulting from the lower power factor created by the HID lighting (NEC
  240.83(D)). These circuit breakers also undergo additional endurance evaluation to demonstrate their ability to perform the switching duty.

While the information presented here, is based on information that may only pertain to the United States.  Other countries will have similar rule and markings, to indicate which devices can be used safely in different situations.  Circuit breakers rated for this use are tested for durability similarly to switches, and can safely be used to manually open and close a circuit without too much wear and tear.


Propane Gas Fireplace Roaring Sound I've noticed a roaring sound at times after starting my gas fireplace. I assume it's gas flow making the noise. It does seem to quiet some after burning a few minutes. Could this be a regulator issue?

Papatots is right, in suggesting that this is a potential hazard. Especially with propane. Propane has a flame speed of 32" per second, that's why propane appliances have an 11" water column (pressure). Fireplaces will often have plenty of secondary air to complete combustion regardless of the pressure but that doesn't mean you want any deviation from the manufacturers allowable tolerance. An easy thing to look for is called "lifting" not like hitting the gym, but the flame, if the flame has a visible gap between itself and the burner the pressure is likely to high.

Disclaimer
In any case these things demand respect. Don't play around with fuel burning appliances unless you understand the dangers. Propane can be very explosive and a delayed ignition on a propane fired fireplace can easily result in a tempered glass grenade.


How to stick plastic on to fabric I am trying to stick a strip of LED lights under a bed base (which is covered with a bed base kind of sheet). The adhesive behind the LED strip has worn off. I have tried to get some cloth tape and wrapped it around trying to use it as a double sided tape which didnt work. Then I tried to just tape the LED to the bed base at equal spaces, which didnt work either. The tape just kept coming off after sometime.

All indoor/outdoor double sided hanging tapes specifically say not to use on porous material.

So how can I stick plastic on to cloth ?

I assume by "bed base" you are referring to the box spring?

Take some long strips of cardboard and staple it to the bottom of the box spring, over top of the fabric covering. Use some double-sided carpet tape or another type of adhesive to secure the strips to the cardboard.

This has the added benefit that it's easy to remove and doesn't damage the box spring.

Alternatively, you could do something to the bed frame itself: add some slats (1-by material), or even use some small corner brackets to add a strip of wood around the inside perimeter, and then attach your lights to that, rather than the box spring.

Also, either way, use some type of strain relief on the cord, so if it gets pulled (someone yanks on it, trips on it, or pulls out the bed without unplugging it) it doesn't tear everything down. This may be as simple as using a zip-tie around the cord and a leg, or a screw-in style ziptie to actually screw it into part of the frame.

Without knowing details about the bed frame it's hard to recommend something more specific.


Seeking name of a small natural gas generator that will run in all weather I want to run a small emergency generator on natural gas (NG).

In the past few years, 3 fuel portable generators have become available.  But the manuals say not to run them in the rain.

"Whole house" NG generators are built to run in all weather.

So, my question is:.  Are there portable NG generators built to run in all weather?  If not, what model whole house generator can I run without hooking it up to my electrical panel and,instead, starting it manually when needed.  (I would run an extension cord to the few appliances I want to power. That is what I do now with a gasoline generator.)

Thanks.

IMHO all of these 'don't run in the rain' rules mean, "don't let it get wet"

So the easy answer is to build a small shed for it, or locate it under sufficient overhang.

I have a gas generator with the same proviso -- don't operate in rain.  I took a barrel, split it in half verticaly, and the generator wears it like a hat.


Why can't the plumber fix my kitchen sink? I had a professional plumber out today. He spent about 3 hours trying to unclog my kitchen sink. Finally he said there's something wrong with the drain because he can't get it fixed. So here I am with no working sink and I'm not sure what to do now. The company I am working with has offered to bring a camera and have a look around the drain pipes.

Is there anything I can do on my own to try and fix my problem? Why couldn't a professional fix it?

Plumbers don't have x-ray eyes, sometimes they need to scope a pipe to find the problem. This does not make him a bad/lazy plumber. It just means he doesn't carry the scope in his truck, or the company has a special technician, who is the only one who runs the camera. Let the company scope the drain so they can see what they are dealing with, at which time they will offer you options on how to correct the problem.

It could be:

A ball of roots, that could not be broken up by the auger.
A collapsed pipe.
A shifted pipe.
A large foreign object that cannot be moved by the auger.


Low ceiling clearance non load-bearing door opening question I'm finishing my basement, and am framing in a room.  I have 81.5" of ceiling clearance to the ceiling joists, and am in the process of framing in a door for a bedroom.  My question is, since this wall is not load bearing, is it required to have double studs, as there's no structural header to hold up.  In this case, due to clearance issues, the header is also the top-plate of the wall.

I've attached a rough picture to give you an idea of what I'm planning on doing.

As you can see, the top plate extends the full length of the wall.  There is no room to install an additional plate as a header, the top plate will serve this function.  Since there's no normal header to hold up, is a jack stud needed, or no?  Is it ideal to provide support in the wall, or just not necessary?

This is perfectly fine. There is in fact a whole building science based protocol for not using double top plates or double studs even on structural walls. If the name comes back to me I'll provide a link to it.

Advanced Framing. Developed 40+ years ago and still not accepted by half the carpenters who learned from daddy who learned from daddy who...learned from the guy who's daddy thought he was nuts to move out of a perfectly nice cave.

The only possible benefit of a double stud in this application would be if you wanted to use 3-1/2" hinge screws. Sections of 2x4 scrap scabbed onto the stud in the right places would to that just as well.


Can this water valve be replaced as a separate component? Crack in bottom part of backflow preventer can you just replace this part or do you have to buy entire unit??

Thanks,
Eileen

That's just a basic quarter-turn ball valve that's been tossed in there for shutoff purposes

The cracked part isn't part of the backflow preventer proper; it's simply a quarter-turn ball valve that's been put there to allow the preventer to be shut off as part of winterization or testing procedures.  Simply replace it, preferably with a version that has a drain cap on the side for winterization purposes, and you'll be good for a good, long time afterwards.  Note that you'll need to undo the union below the valve in the process of replacing it in order to be able to unscrew it.


Dishwasher Not draining at the end of the cycle My Samsung dishwasher (DMT400RHS/XAA) stopped draining water about three weeks ago.  The “delicate” status light was blinking.  Apparently, a blinking “delicate” light indicates a clogged drain or a drain motor failure.

I opened up the dishwasher, removed the drain pump and checked the drain pump area and found a hard plastic dishwasher piece sitting in the drain pump impeller.  I checked the motor (externally) and found it to be running.  I also checked the resistance across the motor terminals and found it to be about 20 ohms.  Since there was no debris in the drain pump impeller and since there seemed to be no leak in/around the drain pipe or safety basin, I presumed that it was the motor.  I ordered a new (identical) motor and found out that it, too, had a resistance of about 20 ohms (same as the old motor). BTW, the specification on the motor says 120V, 0.8 amps.  So if this is the case, shouldn’t the motor have a resistance of 150 ohms (120/0.8)?

Questions:

1)  What should be the resistance of my drain-pump motor – 20 ohms as measured or 150 ohms as labeled/calculated?
2)  If the motor is not the problem, what else could be the reason for the drain problem (blinking “delicate” status light)?
3)  Should I try the new motor even though it has the same resistance as the old one?
4)  What should be the resistance of a drain motor for Samsung dishwasher (DMT400RHS/XAA)?

I would appreciate any help related to this issue.

Thanks.
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First step always, check the filter of the dishwasher. If once cleaned the problem hasn't been solved, check the drain hose, if still is not draining. In some models, not all of them, check the drain valve (if it's frozen, then the solenoid valve should be replaced).

The first step is the easiest and fastest one, the last one is not so easy (and includes some electrical knowledge). Believe me, people usually don't know how many times problems are solved (dishwasher, washing machines, water purifiers...) only cleaning filters.


How to match F96 T12 bulbs with a ballast I have a 2 lamp 8 ft fixture. It is T12. The ballast is new but I  don't know if it will power the bulbs. I don't want to change to LED yet since the ballast is new. The ballast has 2 red,blue, and yellow wires on one end and black , white on the other. The tombstones are original to the fixture (1988). They are typical F96 (nub) type. The fixture is connected to a loop switch and another power outlet down the line. I can't get but 1 of the lamps(new) to light. I suspect the ballast is incorrect or I need another kind of bulb.

You have the wrong ballast. The 240 in the product number indicates it only serves up to 2-40W lamps. You probably need a GE 2620S-MV-N. If you can find one.

There has been an attempt to phase out the use of Type T12 lamps which are old technology. You might want to rethink using the T12 F96 lamps for a newer Type T8 lamp or install LED lamps, both much more efficient.

The energy savings are substantial, at least 33%. So the payback on the original cost of material can be made with 1-2 years of use.

Just something to consider.

Good Luck


capacity of my electric panel I see a 100 Amp breaker in the mains, which means my electric panel is 100 Amps.
I see may arrays of circuit breakers on it, as many as 18. When I add the total amps on them, it adds upto 375 Amps.

Although, I use 1 dishwasher, 1 microwave, 1 dryer, 1 washer, 3-4 Ac's and lights, 1 sauna, I haven't observed mains or individual breakers going down. I have 40 Amp double pole and a 30 Amp breakers among them and rest are 15 Amp and 20 Amp.

I am trying to install a Tesla charger, which has a recommended breaker of 60 AMP.

Is there any possibility to support a new breaker? I do see empty slots. e.g., if I use 60 AMP charger in the night, I will not use any other appliance, will that work? please guide. of course, last alternative is to upgrade to 200 AMP panel, which is easy response.

If it wasn't a QO or Murray panel... I would say this is just too close.  However, I think we can "cheat it", especially if you are willing to fit a subpanel.

I'll disregard the 120V loads for now; it looks like a gas dryer.  Based on what you've mentioned, it appears the large 240V loads are

30A sauna
40A range

If there are others, do the same thing with them.

Add a subpanel for your large loads

So add a small (16 space) "QO" main-lug subpanel right next to this panel, and migrate your large loads there - the sauna, 40A/range, and whatever other large appliances I haven't deduced.

Feed that subpanel from an appropriate 2-pole breaker in the panel.

Interlock the subpanel and 60A EVSE breakers

With this beauty, a $20 QO2DTI generator interlock.

This clips onto a 2-pole breaker and interlocks with a 2-pole breaker below it (or 1-pole breaker).  Only one can be on at a time: the loads in the subpanel, or the EVSE.

Note that normally, this is used where the breakers are backfeeding, and so the breakers need to be bolted down, requiring a separate bolt-down kit. However, since these are normal loads, they do not require a bolt-down.

Now you will need to turn off the one that's on, and turn on the one you want.

But it should solve the load factors in your panel. The 120V loads seem like a lot, but #1 they are split among the two poles, so it's only half what it appears; and #2 they are not likely to be all heavily loaded at the same time.  Probably your worst loads will be your 120V A/C units, and you should make sure there are evenly loaded on the 2 poles (2 on each pole).


Why would a newly installed radiator only heat when on constant bleed? We have changed a gas central heating radiator. It is the last radiator in the circuit. It will not communicate with the boiler and only brings hot water into the pipe leading to the thermostat when on constant bleed. I have taken ten buckets of water from this radiator with the thermostat on 5. As soon as I close the purger the hot water stops coming down the pipe.

Pipes run across the attic. All the other radiators heat to really hot and I have bled all the other radiators several times.

I believe that means that the drain pipe of that last radiator is blocked in some way (or simply not or incorrectly connected)

for the connection you'll need to ensure the inlet and outlets are connected to the proper pipes

if it is properly connected then this can be an airlock to fix this close all other radiators and turn on the pump this will increase the pressure before the air bubble and might clear it.

if this doesn't fix it you'll need to check the drain pipes and replace as necessary.


Any way to meet code with 40.7% or 40.44% conduit fill? I’m running conduit along the walls in my shop (in a commercial warehouse) to provide power to some machines and additional outlets. The service is 3 phase, 208 V, 100 A. One of the machines requires 3 phase 240 V @ 30 A but the VFD manual calls for 8 ga conductors. This machine also has a computer attached that needs 120 V.

The other two machines are 240 V @ 20 A. In addition, I want two branches of 120 V @ 20 A outlets.

I'm facing a situation where I'd like to run 5 (or 6) circuits through 1" EMT, but my calculations are exceeding the 40% conduit fill limit by less than 1%.

Circuit 1 (50 A 3p4w): 4x 8ga + 1x 10ga ground (stranded)
Circuits 2&3 (30 A 240 V): 4x 10ga + 2x 10 ga ground (stranded)
Circuits 4&5 (20 A 120 V): 4x 12ga + 2x 12ga ground (solid)

That totals 40.7%. A workable alternative (the neutral in the 3ph circuit 1 above is only needed because I have a 120V load on that machine):

Circuit 1 (50 A 3p): 3x 8ga + 1x 10ga ground (stranded)
Circuits 2&3 (30 A 240 V): 4x 10ga + 2x 10 ga ground (stranded)
Circuits 4&5&6 (20 A 120 V): 6x 12ga + 3x 12ga ground (solid)

That totals 40.44%.

Can I round down the percentage values? Is there any other way to meet code?

Solid wire instead of stranded meets code, but It’s a pain to work with in the larger gauges.

Derailed by Derating

Your plan is a non-starter, even if you overcome the fill issues you're having, because of the other limit the NEC places on conduit fill; namely, the derating factors found in 310.15(B)(3)(a) that limit ampacity based on the number of current-carrying conductors.  The first two rows of the table are normally not an issue because nobody gets to use the 90°C ampacities of wires straight up for termination temperature rating reasons.  However, staying within those rows limits you to a maximum of 9 current-carrying conductors, and you need a minimum of 10: 3 for the three-phase machine, 4 for the two 208-240V single phase machines, and 3 for the 120V circuits (the analysis comes out the same in both scenarios, assuming we put the 120V circuits on a multi-wire branch circuit in either case).

This means that the ampacity rating of your 8AWG wires is limited to 27.5A by the 50% derate imposed by the NEC due to the conductor count.  Going up to 6AWG gets you to 37.5A, which would be acceptable for your application, albeit marginal.  The other wires are not spared either: the 10AWG wires need to become 8AWG as they are limited to 20A by the derate, and the 12AWG wires need to become 10AWG or else they will be limited to a mere 15A for the same reason.

Even with the fill savings yielded by removing the extraneous equipment grounding conductors and using a MWBC for the 120V circuits, we still wind up needing 3 6AWG, 4 8AWG, and 4 10AWG conductors in the best case, or 32.71*3 + 23.61*4 + 13.61*4 = 247.01mm2 of conduit fill to run this in a single conduit.  Since your 1" EMT has 222mm2 of fill available for you to use, we come to a single conclusion: you must split this run into two separate runs, one for the 3-phase machine + its convenience receptacle and the other for the two single phase machines and their associated receptacle, in order to wire this feasibly using "normal" methods.

There is a tricky way out, though...

There is a way to get this run down to 9 CCCs (and thus to manageable derates), while staying within the fill of a single 1" EMT, though.  If you can run the computer's power supply on 208V AC (check the power supply's label, if it says "90-264VAC" or something like that, then it will run quite happily on any AC voltage within that range), and the two single phase machines do not mandate specific upstream breaker sizes, we can cram them together to form a multi-wire branch circuit, consisting entirely of line-to-line loads.  This forces that circuit to go up to 8AWG wire at a minimum due to the fact we are effectively connecting the loads together in a delta configuration, vs the wye configuration more common in three-phase MWBCs, but lets us run the computer and both single machines off of a single three-phase branch circuit.

As a result, we wind up with 3 8AWG wires for the three phase machine, 3 6AWG wires (why 6AWG? this has to do with three phase power and wyes vs deltas, suffice it to say that the factor is roughly 1.7 times the single phase amps for a balanced load consisting of 3 single phase machines of a given ampacity wired as a delta, and then you have to factor continuous load derating atop that) for the two single phase machines and the control computer wired in a delta configuration across the circuit, and 3 12AWG wires for the convenience receptacles, wired as a conventional MWBC.  This gives us 3*32.71 + 3*23.61 + 3*8.581 = 194.703mm2 of total conduit fill, well within the 222mm2 of available fill in your 1" EMT.  You can even get a 3rd receptacle circuit in there "for free" simply by pulling its hot wire, as then the neutral on the 20A MWBC stops counting.


Can i use plywood to build shelves for my stereo speakers? I recently bought a Creative SBS A120 2.1 for my home computer.

Now while the subwoofer would be on the table, I want the tweeters or/and two satellite speakers to be little higher as in two shelves attached to the wall on plywood. I have heard that plywood doesn't resonate or vibrate much which is important as the wall is oldish. Is this true ?

I am looking for ideas as to how to accomplish this ?

Shirish, The answer is yes you can use plywood if you want, the small speakers are not going to create much vibration.

Your system has three components. two speakers that have handle the mid range and high frequencies and the sub woofer that produces the low frequencies. The speakers, (the smaller ones) that typically sit on the desk can be placed on a shelf. The shelf can be made out of plywood or solid wood or particle board, it does not matter to much because your speakers (tweeters and mids ) are not very big and the higher frequencies do not vibrate very much.

The important thing is the the bracket be attached to the wall securely and the shelf material also be attached to the brackets securely. Some speakers have holes on the back so you can hang them on the wall with a mounting system or a even a screw.

Your sub woofer is going be the thing that vibrates things in your house. Low frequency sound will travel though walls and floors. You do not need it on your desk, if fact it may vibrate your desk and the things on it to much. it can be anywhere on the floor. They make special feet for speakers and subs to raise it off of the floor or shelf, these are mainly to optimize sound quality. Test it out and if it vibrating your floor move it around to find a better place. Again the low sounds travel very well so it can be anywhere.


Where is the tandem breaker located? We added a sunroom back in the 2009 and the breaker panel was full so  the electrician installed a tandem breaker.
I am looking at the diagram for our breaker box, and wondering if he installed the breaker in the slot marked 3 in the diagram, or whether he installed it in the slot marked 5-6 in the diagram. Please see the attached pictures.
The reason that I am asking is that I intend to install a couple of additional tandem breakers, but I want to understand the numbering scheme.
Thanks!

To answer the question stated: slot 3 has the tandem (better called "double-stuff" to borrow a term from Harper on this site) breaker in it.

The problem you have is that whoever installed it wasn't paying attention, and installed the tandem in a slot (3) where tandems aren't allowed as per the wiring diagram, which violates the panel's listing.  Swapping the regular breaker in 5/6 with the tandem in 3 will fix this rather easily, though.

(What the diagram says is that slots 1-4 cannot be used for tandem or quadruplex i.e. "double stuff" breakers, while the rest of the slots can, although to install tandems on the right side of the panel in the tandem-capable slots you need to use quadruplex breakers due to the 240V circuits there.)


What causes this line in my popcorn ceiling? What causes this line in my popcorn ceiling?

You have a piece of dry wall joint tape that is coming loose,
The good thing in your case this is not popcorn texture.
Popcorn texture is very much different than what you have
And that’s a good thing because most contain asbestos.
Your texture is a light orange peal with several coats of paint.
To me this looks like it has been repaired previously note how light the texture is in that area. With that in mind I usually look for a leak point above a bathroom is a common cause but roof leaks or just not well bedded tape can be the cause.
What’s not well bedded mean? Not enough mud was under the tape.
Sheetrock mud is the material used to fill screw divots and cover the seams with paper tape. I normally put a layer of mud down then work the tape into the mud with a wide 6”  putty knife or mud knife the excess that is squished out I put on top and after it is dry a quick sand and possibly a topping coat (it depends on the quality needed and the type of texture that will be used.
After the mud is dry and top sanded then texture is sprayed. For patches you can use texture in a can. Make sure to read the instructions some need a lot of fresh air.
In some cases you may be able to slip some mud under the tape, I discourage the use of glue because if the glue did not work i have had to cut it out and start over.
(Glue is hard mud is soft) in some cases I will sand the paint and texture down to the paper then wet the tape let it sit and wet it s second time at that point the bad tape can usually be removed I cut just beyond the loose section with a razor knife, sand the mud under the tape. Wipe it down to get rid of the dust put some mud up and tape over with the new tape creating a slight bump because of the overlap.
Let dry and sand then I move from my 6” mud life to a 12” or longer and taper the mud over the slight bump so the taper hides the bump let dry. Finish with a light sand and possibly a second coat the smother it looks the better. Once you are happy with the look texture the surface try to match the amount or size of the bumps but be just slightly smaller also fade into the area you did not touch this way the repair won’t look like that one where it was a horrible texture job or previously repaired. Once the texture is dry it’s time to paint I use paint& primer for patches because the paint will soak in to the fresh mud and texture. A primer or paint with primer will help it to cover.
You will always be able to spot the work or I can but a good job others that don’t do this probably will never see it especially after a coat or 2 of paint.
FYI never mask off an area for a repair this will create straight lines that can never be hidden. When texturing a repair start in the center and work out once you get to the old texture move quickly and or pull back so the texture mixes with the original or fades the patch into the existing texture.
Sheetrock mud is not toxic but any heavy dust is not good to breathe so a dust mask is a good idea (it also prevents white boogers).


How should I handle areas of soft polyurethane left after sanding? Following 24 hour drying, sanding with 120 grit using handheld belt sander on very old pine floor, I vacuumed then damp mopped. Now I have spots of gummy poly throughout the floor. How do I proceed to fix this and move on to the second coat?

Has the polyurethane in areas other than the gummy spots dried alright? If so, then maybe these spots are the result of not stirring the polyurethane enough prior to application. Sometimes the the product settles in it's container so a couple of slow and steady stirs is needed. Second possible cause could be application method. How was the polyurethane applied? Assuming your able to access all spots and that all areas around the spots did dry properly, I would take a rag dampened with some mineral spirits to those spots. Try taking them down to a level that matches the surrounding areas.


Use metal studs to frame for drywall around brick fireplace This is my fireplace stripped to bare minimum and I asked a question on how to cover with drywall in this Frame drywall around brick fireplace

However, after I bought a metal stud and tested to install horizontally, I felt it's a bit odd.

I mounted using two drywall screws on each side. It's about 73.5" long:

The guy at Home Improvement Store told me to just use drywall screw for this but look closely on how the metal is "bend"

Is this "wrong"? I tend to just ignore it as it's not load bearing and there will be drywall on top anyways. But is there a different screw or technique I should use?

Thanks

Trying to use a metal stud in this way is not suitable. First off a metal stud is not used flat like that. Normally the metal studs are used on edge such that the drywall would screw to the narrow face of the stud. Then ends of the metal stud are meant to have each narrow face screwed to a U-shaped channel.

A metal stud used flat has next to no strength as compared to using them properly. Keep in mind that metal studs are just thin folded sheet metal, not some strong support girder.

If you must use it in the manner shown in your picture, even though not recommended, you should cut a piece of wood to fit inside the end of the metal stud so that screws do not bend the thing like you have experienced.


Try to add more power outlets to garage! for more toys! Just got myself a new table saw (13 amps- Delta 725T2). I'm thinking of rewiring the saw to 240V.
Also need a separate line for dust collection 20 amp should suffice. And another one for another tools.
In the future really want to dive into TIG welding and acquire a band saw. planer and jointer.
Please advise on the breakers to put in. The main panel is just behind the garage wall. Was thinking about using EMT as an option for more professional look.
I am pretty sure that I will not use two high amp tools at a time.
Really looking for advice from electricians on the breakers amperage that I need to install on the three lines.

High amps tools;
dust collection;
regular tools, charging stations for hand tools.

I have a 200 amp panel (505 amps in breakers already in it)
[

You will be a LOT happier later if you just decide from day 1 to never buy a shop tool that CANNOT be rewired to run off 240.  A 13 amp 120v saw uses 7.5 amps at 240 and the motor runs a lot cooler without all that extra current.  This goes for your dust collector as well.  Also by standardizing on 240 you can buy used commercial tools that are setup for 240 and they will be of better quality and probably cheaper than 120v residential home shop stuff.
With that said you might consider that you will want to use motor start switches (Allen Bradley, Furnas or equivalent) on any motors that do not have thermal limiting on the motor.  These are essentially "breakers" so you don't really need to put a 1 for 1 breaker for each tool.
Yes you can go to the trouble of running EMT all over but I would not do that.  Instead I would replace any of the "crummy" power cords on your tools with the NEMA rubber covered cable that is standard for use in shops.  You can use the #14 guage stuff for your 7amp saw which is not that expensive.  Then build a power distribution system consisting of a series of 240v electrical outlets in steel boxes that are on the ends of NEMA cables going into a central box, kind of like an octopus.  Put an assortment of lengths of cables on the central box.  Then a heavy 10 guage rubber covered cable from that to a single 30 amp outlet going to a 240v breaker.  The reason I would advise doing it this way is that you are NOT going to know the optimal layout of where you want to put your shop tools in the space you have until you buy them and use them for a while.  It is cheaper to run all this off a power distribution built from cables which can easily be moved around the shop as you decide to reorganize your shop tool layout.   Also as an extra trick you can run a 4 wire from the 30A outlet and run the neutral then you can add 120v outlets to the octopus distribution box.  Or if you really want to go big cut into the drywall and mount a nice 50A outlet on a 50A breaker.  Not only will 240 @ 50A provide you with plenty of power, you can pick up a dryer feed cable for cheap out of the bins at Goodwill and use that for your power distribution box.  And it is handy if you ever want to charge an electric car.  And another thing you can often find those "tombstone" Lincoln stick welders for very cheap and those are great welders to use while you are saving up for a decent tig not some Chingtau tig that falls apart.  And you CAN stick weld aluminum.
Once a few years from now your shop layout settles down you can then replace the octopus with EMT and put in 120 and 240 outlets spaced where the final resting place of each tool will be.
Lastly, consider buying an air compressor early on.  Used ones are inexpensive and you can run smaller tools like hand drills and air ratchets off compressed air.  And you will definitely want a compressor for running an HPLV gun and spraying paint, lacquer, etc.  And nobody ever said "dang this air compressor I bought is just too big" so don't get a small one like one of those dumb pancake ones that is only good for running a nailgun.  I have a 20 gallon in my wood shop and a 60 gallon in my garage (in my other house) that I bought for working on cars that is permanently bolted to the floor, wired into 240, and many times over the years I wish I had spent the money for a 2 stage one that could go above 120psi.


How can I insulate a window against the sound caused by high winds? I'm on the top floor of an exposed block of flats which is currently being battered by high winds on a nightly basis. I have draught excluders fitted but there's still a lot of noise that comes in through the windows.

I'm wondering if something as simple as packing the window with removable polystyrene blocks would serve to reduce the amount of sound being transmitted into the room?

The peanuts won't do anything as there'd still be gigantic air gaps. Do you want to seal the window? if so, you could get the plastic weather shrink-wrap stuff and seal it from the inside.


How do I caulk shower edges with the same color as my grout? I've used a tan colored grout between my shower tiles. I've noticed that the edges of the shower have already cracked after 1 week. To prevent cracking, many people on the Internet suggest caulking the perpendicular edges instead of grouting. The company that made my grout also makes caulk with an exact color match. When I looked at the fine print on their caulk, I saw "do not use in areas with constant water exposure". So what are my other options to have a color-matched caulk that can also withstand constant water exposure?

My grout is Sahara Tan colored:

The company also sells a Sahara Tan caulk:

Answer comes really late for the original poster, but may help others. Siliconized caulk is acrylic plus silicone, not suitable for constant water exposure (but fine and easy to use in mostly dry areas). A shower should be caulked with 100% silicone, NOT siliconized caulk.


Is there a good way to fill a pocket hole in a finished piece of wood? I'm building an oak handrail and had originally planned to assemble the entire project and then stain and topcoat it. As such, I planned on joining the handrail to the newel posts with pocket holes and screws... so I went ahead and drilled holes in the top of my newel posts.

Now that I've got all of my pieces cut-out and fit, I decided it'd be really nice to stain and topcoat everything in my shop before assembly.

Has anyone ever tried filling a pocket hole post-staining? Any tips on how to do so successfully?

This will be a very dark brown stain.

There are many ways to fill the holes.  Here's a good link that shows a comparison of what the results look like for six different methods: http://fixthisbuildthat.com/6-ways-to-plug-fill-pocket-holes-how-to/.

Getting the appearance to match in a visible area is the problem.  You can under-fill the hole with any type of filler and then fill the last bit with glue and sawdust from the same wood.  You can experiment with stain to match the color, but the grain pattern won't match.

You can do better with wood plugs.  Kreg sells plugs of various woods, although you can probably find pine ones at your local hardware store.  If you can get plugs in the same wood, you can stain it in advance to match, then glue it in place.

If you can't find plugs in matching wood, and the available woods stain noticeably different, you can use a plug cutter to cut you own plugs from the same wood stock.  The first link above shows how to do it with dowels and a flush cut saw.

You can use the same procedure for plugs you drill out yourself).  You may want to drill a pocket hole in some scrap to use as a jig.  Hold the plug in the pocket hole by temporary means to cut it flat.  Then you will have better access to remove it for trial staining.

Another approach is to drill the plug cutter at the same angle as the pocket. This will produce plugs with the same exposed grain on an already flat face.  You might need to make the plugs a little oversized so you can clean up any rough edges.


Controling of bathroom light by using Magnetic Switch (Sensor) I want to control bathroom light by using Magnetic Reed Switch (Sensor).
When enters inside light should be ON & after coming out light should be OFF.

As mentioned, constructing something from loose parts is often a local code violation. The common solution to this issue now is easier to implement, it's called an "occupancy sensor" that is built into the switch. it uses Passive Infra-Red (PIR) sensors that detect if a human (or animal) is in the room giving off heat and moving. They will have a timer built-in as well so that if you don't move for a few minutes, it doesn't go dark on you. Search for a "PIR occupancy sensor" that is available wherever you are located.


Re-framing basement walls after flooding. Drain tile with no concrete? Im getting ready to re-frame basement walls after basement flood (shocking images attached).

I'll be doing this for every wall portion that can possibly flood:

1) ridgid XPS foam insulation against side wall concrete
2) Pressure treated wood frame
3) cementboard  + stucco finish  (lime plaster) (instead of drywall+joint compound) -> as that survives standing water.

Now - as you can see from these pictures - house has drain tile around internal perimeter... and from what it looks like - existing rotten wall just sits on top of the pebbles....

Question - should I cover those pebbles with concrete prior to doing any framing?

My first concern would be why is the wall or slab leaking?  I would start there.  Make sure your foundation is sealed from the outside with a waterproof substance first.  As for the inside, if water get's in and runs down the wall you must have a gap between the framing and the wall to let it run into the drain tile.  I would not put my bottom plate on top of the gravel of the french drain.  You can bump the framing out in front of the drain but you will lose a lot of space that way. You could also mount brackets on the foundation to attach to the studs so it does not rest on the floor.  Or you can use wood spacers.  Your plan for pressure treated wood and wonder board is good but a bit over kill.  The key is to solve your water problem first.


My mini fridge had a frosty back wall, so I turned it off for 24 hours. There was water on the floor through the back of the fridge, why it happened? I know that there is a drain hole, and then that water is drained through it and then evaporated by the evaporator, and when the fridge does not work - nothing will evaporate the water. So does the fridge maybe have a tray where it is supposed to temporary hold up water until it evaporates it, but because there was a lot of frost and nothing to evaporate it, the tray just overflew hence the water on the floor?

Also, could this overflow damage something, I guess if this is the case the tray should not be close to the electronics - because everyone turns their fridge willingly or not once in a while and some people might even have more frost in their fridge.

I am not linking the mini fridge model because it is a generic one, but they most likely are all the same for the 120L and around - mine has a properly enclosed freezing part, which didn't have any freeze in it.

Well you kind of have the idea but not quite. The evaporator is the cooling side of the loop - this is where the frost forms. Depending on the size, it may or may not have a defrost cycle.

My mini-fridge in my shop has a defrost and the water drains into a pan on top of the compressor, the heat from the compressor accelerates the evaporation (some fridges only have a large drip pan). My guess is you have a fridge where the "ice box" is the actual evaporator - this is quite common in small units. When the moisture drains out, there is no pan or drip trays to catch the water, in many cases because these need to be manually defrosted, so all the moisture ends up on the floor.

In the case where there is a pan or tray, it may have been too small to catch all the water and you already guessed that with the fridge off there is no heat from the compressor to aid the evaporation of the water.

The parts of a fridge are the compressor, the condensing coil (many times this is outside the case but in some it can be enclosed) and after the condenser coil there is a metering device sometimes as simple as a small orifice or tube, but on larger high-end fridges it can be a thermally controlled valve. Then the evaporator and back to the compressor to complete the loop.

To answer the last question: will the excess water cause a safety problem with the electrical? My answer is it won't be a problem as even very inexpensive units have the power enclosed and I have never seen more than a slip hazard or damage to the flooring from this moisture.


What kind of wire should I use to pigtail an outlet? I want to turn my 2 hot and 2 neutral wires into a pigtail for my outlet.  Since I don't have any extra wire or black wires, what kind should I purchase? The wires in my receptacle are copper.

Depends.

If  you're using "screw-to-clamp" type receptacles

Then your "go-to" is #12 stranded THWN-2. These are sold as individual wires.  Also #12 solid bare or green ground wire.  (ground wires need to be pigtailed regardless, so you may already have this.)

The stranded wire is much easier to work with (push the pigtails into the back of the box and the receptacle will slide in like a dream), but its downside is it's difficult to attach to screw terminals without a lot of practice, and catastrophically dangerous to use on backstabs. I actually saw this fail once.
Stranded wire wire-nuts just fine to solid wire.  No pre-twisting, just line them up evenly and twist like the dickens.
#12 is the "universal donor" that will work on both 15A and 20A circuits. It's a little stiffer -- oh wait, it's stranded!

If you're using screw terminal type receptacles

In that case, ditto ditto ditto solid wire.   Which will be stiffer, but cake to put on screws.

However, if you want to buy all of them in one single SKU, buy "#12 Romex" aka NM-B type cable.  Buy 2' lengths at a time and cut into three 8" long sections (or four 6" sections), then carefully exacto-knife off the sheath by cutting directly down the ground wire (so you don't nick the insulation on hot or neutral).  Voilá, pigtails.

The disadvantage of NM-B is it's not legal outdoors.  For that, slicing up UF cable is challenging, so I'd go back to THWN-2 wires.
The individual wires are not marked, so you cannot use them for conduit runs.

Don't ever buy #14 for pigtails, because at best  you have an "orphan" you can only use on 15A circuits, and at worst you accidentally use one on a 20A circuit and have a problem.

If you're using backstabs

Stop.  They are unreliable and cause most dead-circuit problems.


How to fix this corroded zipper? This is more general repair than home DIY, hopefully right place for it.

I tried getting something out of a snowboard bag and found it was sealed by corroded zippers. I'm not sure why this happened as I've stored it like I have for years: off the floor in a dry-ish garage. Here are photos:

The zippers barely budge, and I applied a decent amount of force to the zipper pulling the zipper and bag away from each other almost parallel to the zipper track. I'm considering using plyers and pulling much harder, and I wondered about first cleaning the corrosion with vinegar or using a lubricant. I figured I'd get some better informed opinions first.

How can I get this zipper back in working order? Less important, I wonder how this happened in the first place and how to prevent it from happening again.

I'd start out with some club soda since it's pretty good at acidic materials. If it doesn't work then try some vinegar. work the zipper back and forth to free it up and then squirt some WD-40 on it. You mentioned it is a snowboard bag. You might have accumulated some salt from roadways on the bag and it froze up the zipper. Good luck


What brand of faucet is this and how can I hook the sink sprayer up to it? The sprayer for my faucet is not hooked up to anything, the rubber hose just dangles below the sink. I'd really like to get this wired up, as it would be very handy to have, but I have no idea how to go about doing this.  I have two primary issues

1) What brand of faucet is this?

2) How do I hook up the sprayer to it?

1) Price Pfister T26-4NRR Marielle Hole Kitchen Single Handle Faucet


Am I able to replace these water valves on my hot water oil heater? We just moved into a new house.  We had a plumber come out for a non related issue on out oil burning hot water heater and brought these corroded valves to my attention that he said needed to be replaced.  I see the corrosion and am wondering if these can be cleaned up or if they really need to be replaced. If they do need replaced can it be done safely by myself?  If it needs to be done by a plumber or HVAC tech is it an easy fix? Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I will attach a couple pictures of the worst water valves. Thank you.

I suppose you could disassemble the handle and clean things but if that doesn't work then keep reading.
Sure, you can replace a ball valve yourself. Have you ever soldered (sweated) copper lines before? I'm going to guess not.
The biggest worry is in the second picture. If you go to heat up #2 for removal then you will likely heat up #1 to the point of failure.

By doing this yourself you will probably spend more money than having a professional do it since you need to buy:

Propane torch
Solder wire
Flux
Emery cloth
Soldering cloth/blanket
New ball valve

This is really a tough job for an absolute beginner to tackle as I fully expect you to ruin your new ball valve by overheating it.
Another consideration is that you need your copper line to be fully drained of water or else you won't be able to heat it properly. If you do heat it hot enough for the old solder to melt while water is in the line then you risk a small explosion because of all the steam pressure you've built up in the line itself.


When do you use polyurethane vs. water based construction adhesive? When do you prefer to use something like Loctite PL, vs Loctite Power Grab?

I use water-based (project or panel) adhesive on foam board or any plastic which the solvent will dissolve, or where cleanup of spills is a concern. Solvent-based (heavy duty) for almost everything else. It dries faster and holds better.


Flush a gas powered water heater, not sure if it's ever been done in 15 years. Will it survive a flush? I'm concerned that there might be seals that are bad, or corrosion keeping things waterproof.  It looks great on the outside, But I don't know how efficiently it is working - I've never owned a home before.

Should I go ahead and flush it?
What should I have handy in case something goes wrong?

Fifteen years is a pretty good lifespan for a water heater, so it could easily fail at any time -- especially if it hasn't been serviced regularly during its life.  Personally, I would prefer to be there working on it when it fails so that you can take care of it immediately (as opposed to, say, being away for the weekend while it's filling up your basement).

Before you start flushing, you should know how to turn off both the water and the gas to it.  You should already have some way of taking care of the water as part of the normal flushing process; a wet/dry vacuum will help clean up if you run into problems during the flush.  Since it's gas-powered, you should also have the number of a licensed professional who can install a replacement heater if the worst does happen.


Drilled a shallow hole in concrete ceiling and some water came out. What now? We are on a ground floor of a condo building and to put up the partitions I drilled a small hole and after about 1" depth the drill fell into a void (about 1" more) and about a quart or so of clear water came out and stopped.

What could this be?

The drain pipes in the building are cast iron and visibly enter into our unit so this doesn't seem to be plumbing. The concrete slab is 10".

Void spaces are frequently used for utilities, it could be accumulated condensation. Leave it be and see if more water comes out to find out if it's an active leak. I hope you did not drill through an HVAC line or drain line.


Ceiling fan works, lights do not I will try to give as much information as I can. I have no experience with wiring so I imagine some of the things I did were incorrect and probably stupid.

I purchased a Hampton Bay ceiling fan, and after numerous attempts at installation, the fan itself spins, however the lights do not light up.

From my ceiling we only have 2 cloth-wrapped wires, a black and a white one (no ground). I connected the blue and black wires from the fan to the black wire from the ceiling, and the white wire from the fan to the white wire from the ceiling. The green wire from the fan was simply capped off.

I also tested the light kit alone, attaching the ceiling wires directly to the light kit, and the lights came on, and the pull cord could be used to switch them on and off.

The only wires for the light kit installation protruding from the bottom of the ceiling fan are a white and a blue one, so I connected the wires to their corresponding colors (white to white, blue to blue). When I do this, the lights do not come on, the ceiling fan still works.

I grabbed a multimeter, and "tested"... something, however I think that my tests were done completely incorrectly so disregard this information if it is not useful.

I set the multimeter to the 200VAC setting, placed the black lead in the "COM" port and the red in the red port. Then I took the leads, and with the power on at the wall switch, I placed the red lead onto the (blue and then after that white) wires, and the black lead onto a piece of metal (specifically the grooves where you screw in the light bulb, as per youtube instructions). Both wire tests returned non zero results (around 2.2).

I then plugged in the wires into the light kit, and tested, once again with the power on, the brass contacts for the light bulbs (with the red lead, and the black lead touching a piece of metal). This returned a zero result.

Once again, I don't know if the multimeter results are in any way significant as I had no idea what I was actually measuring :).

Right now I am stuck with a spinning ceiling fan and no lights. Any help or insight into how I should actually test with the multimeter would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you!

Since there's no grounding conductor in the box (i.e. the box is not grounded), touching a meter lead to metal is basically useless.Your COM probe should go to the grounded (neutral) (white wire in your case), then you can use the other probe to test for voltage.
It sounds to me like there might be a problem with the wiring inside the fixture, since you said the light kit on its own worked. It sounds like for some reason either the blue or the white wires are not continuous through the fixture to the light kit. Maybe a loose or bad connection inside the unit, or a loose or bad connection where the light kit clips into the fan.
If your multi-meter has a continuity setting, you could use that to test the continuity through to the light kit.  If not, you can use the resistance feature to do the testing.
The continuity setting will look something like this...

While the resistance setting will be represented by the omega symbol (Ω). If you're using the resistance settings, you'll want to use the lowest setting (usually 200, 400, or similar).
Testing continuity

Turn the power off to the fixture using the circuit breaker, and verify power is off.
Disconnect the white and blue wires from the building wiring.
With the light kit disconnected from the fan.

touch one probe to the white wire at the top of the fan, and the other to the white wire where the light kit should connect. Note the reading.
touch one probe to the blue wire at the top of the fan, and the other to the blue wire where the light kit should connect. Note the reading.
touch one probe to the white wire of the light kit, and the other to the threaded bit in the light socket. Note the reading.
touch one probe to the blue wire of the light kit, and the other to the contact at the bottom of the light socket. Note the reading.

With the light kit connected to the fan.

touch one probe to the white wire at the top of the fan, and the other to the threaded bit in the light socket. Note the reading.
touch one probe to the blue wire at the top of the fan, and the other to the contact at the bottom of the light socket. Note the reading.

When testing continuity, a beep or low resistance reading means there's electrical continuity between the two test points (i.e. electricity can flow between the points). If there's no beep, or an open or infinite reading, it means there's no electrical continuity (i.e. electricity cannot flow between the two points). If there's a high resistance reading, it means that there's a bad connection between the two points (i.e. electricity cannot flow easily between the two points).

If the continuity tests all pass (i.e. there's continuity from the top of the fan through to the socket), then you'll want to check the bulbs to make sure they're good, and check the contacts within the sockets to make sure they are making solid contact with the bulb.
If it still doesn't work, you'll want to think about exchanging the fixture.


Where could this green residue that is clogging fixture screens be coming from? I have a big problem with green residue clogging fixture screens. There has been no recent(for the last 2 years) plumbing work in the house so it is not flux/solder residue. I have two 50 gallon tanks in series. It appears much worse on the hot water side. I am beginning to think it is a recirculation line coming of the second tank. Because that line's supply comes from the bottom of the tank I think it may be spreading settled matter from the tank.

Thoughts/Ideas?

Green clogs in fine filters is usually due to algae being sucked up from the bottom of a holding tank. This is not uncommon in a water heater. This is a good reason to drain holding tanks annually to get rid of sediments. Also a good reason to never use water from a water heater to cook with. A water heater that is set below 130 degrees F is a breading ground for bacteria if not cycled often or allowed to set unused for several days at a time. (like when away on vacation) It could be copper oxide, but that would be very uncommon unless you have copper holding tanks.


External frost-free facuet gradually slowing flow I have a Woodford Model 22 freezeless water faucet that is not providing much water. When installed (DIY) 3 years ago, everything worked fine. After about a year of daily use, the hot water got harder and harder to coerce. It started having to turn the knob a little extra, then more, then it maxed out and while water still comes out it's extremely slowly.

I took the faucet off and made sure the pressure inside is appropriate. I've had the whole thing apart, I've taken apart all the pieces I know how to, and still no luck. All I see is a tiny screw (I assume the retaining screw?), but water is barely flowing through what is now essentially a piece of copper pipe. Obviously I'm missing something...

After turning and mashing things (out of ideas) the valve seat and the retaining screw popped out. Now it's actually just a piece of copper pipe, and water is flowing fine. Was something too tight/too loose? How is flow controlled in faucets like this?

After pulling everything apart a few times, I found it out. Looking at the diagram on the site, part 10 (the retainer screw) had loosened off but not to the point where it were no longer connected. If it had loosened off completely, turning the handle would have done nothing.

Taking everything apart, part 9 had been squished a bit and was stuck in the tube. Loosening everything off let me knock the retainer and valve out of the tube. With the tube cleared, I tightened the retainer screw and the valve against the valve stem assembly. With the retainer screw now attached, I reinserted the valve stem assembly and put it all back together. Great success, eventually.