Why is my air conditioner tripping the circuit breaker? Our air conditioner recently stopped blowing out cold air.  When I went to check on it, I noticed that the outside unit wasn't coming on.  We had had problems with ants in the contacter in the past, and so I went to take off the lid and check it out. I noticed that the circuit breaker marked "AC" was tripped. Like a good DIYer, I turned it all the way off and back on. It immediately tripped again.  In an effort to isolate the problem, I went to the outside unit and pulled the safety connection to disconnect the main power of the outside unit.  When I went back and reset the circuit breaker as before, the breaker didn't trip. Reconnecting the outside safety switch caused the breaker to immediately trip again.  Later, we tried turning off the air conditioning in the house, resetting the circuit breaker, and turning the AC back on. The circuit breaker didn't trip as soon as it was reset, but when the AC was turned back on inside, it immediately tripped as before.

My question is what should I check in this situation?  This seems like it can't be an uncommon problem, so I'm sure HVAC professionals encounter this frequently and have a checklist of things to try.  What are the possible causes, remedies, and safety precautions I should consider in this situation?

Edit:

Answers to some comments:  No, I didn't see any obvious damage to the wiring near the outside unit.  I did look pretty carefully, since I had already taken the panel off to check for ants in the contacter.  I didn't try to spin the fan with my hand, and I'm not in a place that I can try this right now.  I will try it later today; perhaps in the meantime that could be a step in the diagnosis of the problem if anyone gives an answer between now and then?  Likely, future readers of this question will encounter the same problem and some will have a fan that spins by hand and some will have one that is stuck.

Disconnect the power
Start by turning off the breaker, and pulling the serviceman disconnect, which will typically look something like this.

This will insure no electricity is flowing to the condenser unit while you're working.
Open the unit
Next you'll want to disassemble the unit, to allow access to the electrical parts. This will vary from unit to unit, so check the owners manual for the procedure for your unit.  Once you have the unit opened up, make sure to discharge the capacitors.

These things store enough power to kill you, so you don't want them to discharge accidentally.
Resistance is not futile
Once the power is completely removed from the unit, it's safe to start poking around (electrically speaking, don't go busting the refrigerant lines). Start by tracing the wires from the condenser fan motor, back to where they connect in the electrical box.  There should be 3 or 4 wires.  In my unit, I had Black, White, Brown, and Brown with a White stripe (your model may vary).  To determine if the motor is good, you'll measure the resistance across each coil.  To do this, you'll have to disconnect the wires, so the motor is no longer part of the circuit (make note of where the wires connected).
Typically you'll have 3 wires, start, run, and common (we'll ignore my 4th wire in this answer). Set your multimeter to measure Ohms, and start measuring.  You're going to measure the resistance between each combination of two wires to determine what each wire is, and if the motor is still good. Let's start with Black and White...
Black -> White = 15.9
Black -> Brown = 35.4
Brown -> White = 51.2
Knowing that...
Common -> Run = Lowest resistance
Common -> Start = Medium resistance
Start -> Run = Highest resistance
We can determine that...
Black = Common
White = Run
Brown = Start
If we also know that the two lower readings should always add up to the larger reading, we can safely say this motor is still good. If you measure 0 or infinity between any pair, that means you have a shorted or an open winding and the motor should be replaced.
Repeat the same procedure for the compressor motor.
Shorts on the ground
The other thing you'll want to check for, is shorts to ground.  Set your multimeter up to test impedance.  Put one probe on the equipment grounding conductor of the feeder, and the use the other to find a solid ground on the motor.  You may have to scratch some of the paint off, especially on the compressor.  Once you've found a solid ground, measure from each motor wire to your ground spot.  If the meter beeps or give a low resistance reading, you have a short to ground. As with the resistance test above, the motor should be isolated from the circuit when doing this test (once a solid ground is located).


Drawdown Factor and Boyle's Law Yesterday I posted a question concerning a pressure tank and Boyle's Law. I understand the concept of P1×V1=P2×V2. Now, there is a website claiming to use Boyle's Law to determine the drawdown of a pressure tank (the amount of water it can provide before the well pump starts). It goes a little something like this...

Drawdown = P1V / P2 – P1V / P3 where,

P1 is the pre-charge pressure. (typically 38psi)
P2 is the cut-in pressure. (when the well pump starts, typically 40psi)
P3 is the cut-out pressure. (when the pump stops, typically 60psi)
V is the total tank volume.

or restated as Drawdown = (P1 / P2 – P1 / P3) × V

What I don't understand is the third pressure value in the equation. Is this derived from Boyle's Law? I'm not seeing the relationship.

You are describing a bladder tank, rather than a conventional tank. In a conventional hydropneumatic tank water is pumped into a tank containing air. The air then compresses pressurizing the water. Unfortunately air is soluble in water, which decreases the volume of air trapped in the tank over time. That means that conventional tanks must be somewhat oversized to slow the loss of pressure and occasionally recharged.

Placing a flexible bladder between the air and water prevents the air from dissolving into the water. The air side of the bladder must be "pre charged" to a pressure above atmospheric pressure to prevent stress on the bladder though. It's Boyle's law all over again. Pressurizing the water side to say 60psi would really distort the bladder unless there's a substantial pressure on the opposite side counteracting it.

It's the pre-charge pressure, P1, which is actually the "third" pressure in your equation. It's introduced by the fact that the tank is higher than atmospheric pressure to begin with. In a physics textbook question on Boyle's Law the bladder may be absent and the tank start at a standard atmosphere making the atmospheric pressure "cancel out."

Technically the manufacturer's calculations will be based on the ISA, or international standard atmosphere, and your actual drawdown will vary with the actual atmospheric pressure so it will vary slightly. A given tank would have a slightly higher drawdown in Mexico City since there's less air pressure at the faucet due to the elevation. As a practical matter holding tanks aren't sized to the drop so it doesn't matter.

Put another way any water coming out of the tank must make it's way against the current atmospheric pressure. Typically you would assume ISA to keep things simple since the daily fluctuations are small. The pre-charge pressure, is large enough comparatively to have a significant effect on the drawdown.


How to remove moss from my roof? My roof seems to be growing moss and I'd like to remove it.  I did some research and it looks like the solution is to mix water and bleach, spray the mix on the moss and then scrub the moss off about 30 min later.  My concern about this is wont the bleach run off the roof and kill my grass?  Or worse get into my septic tank or well water?

Is the bleach mix safe or is there another method?

The bleach mix will be dilute enough that it will not be of harm. I've used it myself at least a few times to kill off algae that has accumulated.

You can also use things like Oxy-Boost and Stain Solver, a bleach substitute which I believe contains some hydrogen peroxide. It will also work against light moss and algae, yet perhaps be less harmful to plant life underneath.

More importantly is to fix the source of the moss. Roofs that gather moss tend to be too shaded, under big trees that stop it from drying out. You may need to open things up, just by a bit, but enough to let it dry out. Yes, those trees are a natural source of air conditioning, but trees tend to grow. So trim off branches that overhang the roof. Cut a few others out to let the sun in.

For roofs that have only a bit of green, you may find it is sufficient to add zinc strips along the top. The zinc leaches out, keeping the roof clean of moss accumulation. There are also shingles with a moss inhibiting additive that prevents moss from growing. Copper strips should also work, and copper flashing is easily available. I've even read that you can glue (use silicone) copper pennies just under the edge of the top row of shingles. They are mainly zinc anyway.

If the moss had accumulated heavily, the problem is your roof likely needs repair, as it will have been too wet for too long. The shingles will need to be stripped off and replaced, but probably the roof decking will be soft and need some repair too. This can best be judged by a professional who will inspect the roof carefully.


How safe is it to keep and use a mildly corroded hot water valve? We have a bathroom faucet (a couple years old), and the hot water side began to drip from the faucet (i.e. it was as though we were unable to shut off the faucet completely). Until I had a chance to replace the cartridge, I turned off the valve for the hot water under the sink. The valves look mildly corroded (photo below), and when I turned it off it did feel slightly stuck at first to start turning it, but after that point it turned fine, and it shut off with no problem.
Now, before repairing the faucet and ultimately turning the valve back on, the question has come up of whether turning it back on could end up being a problem, out of concern for us doing a non-emergency repair possibly then necessitating an emergency plumber visit: That is, since it is corroded, might turning the valve back on, or on and off at different points in the repair job, cause the valve itself to leak? How concerned should we be of a risk for such a leak in this sort of situation? And would the concern be for a large leak or a small one and only if it’s in the on or off position or always?

There is a decent chance that the valve will begin to leak where the stem passes through the packing nut/gland. Not uncommon at all and you will need a bucket to contain the water until you can get the supply shut down upstream. Sometimes it sprays everywhere until you can wrap a rag around it. Sometimes the leak will stop when you either open fully and "back-seat" the valve, or when fully closed.
You already know the valve won't give a tight shut off, why not change it out right now while you are in there working. Install a high-quality 1/4 turn valve.


Why does it take a long time for water to start draining from my tub faucet? Sorry for the awkwardly worded title, I couldn't really describe the issue in one sentence.

My shower has a handle that controls both pressure and temperature. To begin showering, I turn the handle, then pull up the stopper (is this the right word?) on the tub faucet to get the water to come out the shower head instead of the tub faucet.

For the first few weeks, when I was done showering, I'd simply turn the pressure/temperature handle, the shower would turn off, and the stopper would immediately drop, letting out the remaining water through the tub faucet.

Now, however, it takes a good 10 - 15 seconds between turning the handle and the stopper dropping. It's not a huge deal on it's own, but I also notice that the water never fully transfers to shower-head-only when I pull up the stopper, and some continues to come out of the tub faucet.

I think it's affecting the pressure of my shower and it's just annoying. Any idea on how to fix it?

The stopper you're describing is called the diverter. The symptoms you're describing sound like it's gotten slightly bent or nicked. I would take it apart and try re-setting the pin. Maybe scrub it a bit with a light abrasive to true it up. If that doesn't work, replace it. I assume your diverter is in your tub spout. You can usually remove that by removing the hex-head set-screw and then rotating the entire spout (the padded handle of a hammer stuck in the spout can help you get a grip).


how to close curved interior finished drywall opening with window or glass block? We have a curved opening between the entrance and bedroom/study. Since we would like to use this room as a bedroom and the opening is in the main entryway, does anyone have suggestions for closing this opening? It is large and curved, finished drywall with paint.

I'm presuming by curved opening, you are referring to the top of the doorway where the header would be.

To install a door, you'll have to get a rough opening, and while doing so, it will probably be easiest to square off the top of the opening.  You'll lose the style of the opening, but the easiest solution is frequently the cheapest, too.

For enough money, you could also get a custom door made.  However, depending on the height, you could also install a thin header across the top of the door frame and close off the opening over the door with glass, curtains, etc.

And one final idea is that you could extend the doorway into the room, framing out a new wall a foot or so inside the opening for the doors.  The arched opening would remain with the door(s) set inside.  If this creates a nook on one or both sides of the door, you can create some built in shelves.  I'd only do this if your home has a formal look and this is the master bedroom.


Where can I find a 90-degree elbow to connect to my ice maker water line? I currently have an ice maker box in my kitchen that is connected to a 1/4" compression fitting to a braided stainless steel tube that goes to my refrigerator.  The problem is that this ice maker box connector comes straight out of the wall directly behind the refrigerator and the refrigerator can't be moved far enough towards the wall without destructively bending the stainless steel tubing.  I'm looking for a 90-degree elbow that can connect to the ice maker box that will allow the stainless steel tubing to go straight up or to the side, thus allowing the refrigerator to move another inch or two closer to the wall (still giving enough clearance per the manual).

Is there any such elbow I can purchase that will allow me to make this sharp turn off the ice maker box?  I have not been able to find anything at my local hardware store or on the internet.  Or is there an alternate option I have not been considering?

Edit: I originally said this was a 1/2" comp connector, but it is actually 1/4".  This is the exact part I currently have installed.

Edit2: Does anyone know the proper name of this type of fitting?  Every time I search for compression fittings online, I just get the copper tubing type of fitting, not the threaded 1/4" fitting that I really need.

everyone just calm down.  you guys are looking for an arrow industries 05-57L-4-4

http://arrowindustries.com/content/catalog/2015/Arrow%20web%20catalog%20sec%20g.pdf


Why is there 4 inches of metal at on each side of this column? I have a column in my kitchen. As far as I can tell this is a decorative column, and doesn't contain anything structural -- I live in a high rise, it really cannot contain anything structural.

Yet, according to my fancy stud detector, it has metal 4 inches from either side, as shown here:

This doesn't seem to be a corner bead -- it seems to be an entirely different beast.

If you want to see the stud finder in action:

Can I drill through this? How thick is it? What is it? Can I still drill through this, and use a plastic toggle anchor?

UPDATE
So, there's a couple things in here. I bought a Depstech Boroscope (I do not recommend buying one of these, they suck, but then again, there's not really any decent competition for them). First, to answer people what the metal was -- it was just boring studs.

Inside, it gets a lot more interesting, as you can see in the metal studs picture, there's some insulation. That's the hot water pipe. There's also a cold water pipe in there, and some electrical conduit. The column itself is pretty idiot-proofed, but there's no armor on the pipework, instead

The metal that you are detecting is probably the metal studs that are in each corner of the column. From the picture it looks like that column is also sheathed in drywall and so there may very well be a metal corner strip along each vertical edge as well. The metal studs width are typically going to be 3.5 inches. The drywall thickness from the adjoining sides is 0.5 inches and with the metal corner piece it adds up to the 4 inches that you are seeing.

As mentioned in comments this column is most likely a place where some part of the building infrastructure is located. It could be a structural beam, vertical routing space for water or gas piping or electrical wiring.

As to whether you can use conventional drywall anchors to mount light weight things to the living space side it would be best to be certain what is inside this thing before you go drilling holes in it. It could be OK but then again it could be something to be highly discouraged for a variety of reasons.


Does the NEC limit the maximum size of junction boxes? In this question, the OP has constructed a large junction box out of several extension boxes attached to a "regular" junction box:

Is there any upper limit on the size of a junction box (either as-built, or expanded)?

There is no limit on SIZE - I've worked (in non-residential settings) with some you could sit in.

The practical concern with the "box and 4 extensions" shown is that the wires up at the ceiling are supposed to be able to come 6" out of the open face of the box, IIRC. From a practical working point of view it's usually better to put in a large box you can work in rather than a bunch of small extension boxes, but mostly code wants adequate volume, and adequate wire length, and does not mind a bit if you have more volume, or have made it awkward as shown.

Personally, if I need more room than an extension on a 4 or 4-11/16's box gets me I'm going to throw in a 6x6x4 or an 8x8x4 rather than construct a cluster-bleep like that. But I'll use a 4 inch and one extension quite happily, especially when it's way cheaper than a single bigger box (though I am always slightly befuddled that the extension costs more than the box does.)

Both orange and blue borgs (not a particularly good source of electrical supplies beyond the very run of the mill) stock up to 10x10x4 (400 cubic inches) at my local stores. Real electrical suppliers can get much bigger ones, but your wallet will prevent you from going there unless you actually need to.

Of course, most houses have at least one fairly large junction box, the center of which is full of circuit breakers ;-)


How long does Kilz need to dry before skim coating? How long does oil based Kilz need to dry before I apply a skim coat texture to my ceilings?

I've recently scraped a popcorn texture down to drywall. Now I want to seal the porous surface before applying a skim coat.

My assumption is a full 24 hours is plenty of time to wait.

The best suggestion is to read the manufacturers instructions on usage. This information is often printed on the paint container label. You can also check at the manufacturers web site and look up the particular type of paint you are using.

For example: http://www.kilz.com/products/primer/kilz-complete
Click on the "PREPARATION, APPLICATION & CLEAN-UP" tab near bottom.


Grounding metal box joining two BX cables without ground If I have a metal handy box used to join two legacy BX armored cables that don't have a ground wire, do I need to ground that box like I would with NM cable by connecting the box with the NM ground? If yes, how?

If this is old armored cable, commonly reffered to as "BX". Then the armor was never considered an adequate grounding conductor  (at least not that I'm aware of).  A circuit wired with "BX" would be considered an ungrounded circuit, just like any other two wire circuit.

If you want to add a ground, you'll have to install an NEC approved ground.  If you just want ground-fault protection, you can install a GFCI device to protect the circuit.

If it's modern Type AC or Type MC cable, then you'll use the bonding strip or grounding conductor as the ground.


Changing Pull Switch Ceiling Fan with Faulty Capacitor to Remote The capacitor of my pull switch ceiling fan (with light) is faulty (the medium speed not working). If I changed from pull switch to remote, do I still need to replace the faulty capacitor? Can I connect the wires from the remote receiver directly to the fan motor wires?

Regards, Eng Hup.

If you install a remote control module, it will control the speed of the fan. Which means, there will be no need for the pull switch. So yes, you can install a remote module instead of fixing the medium speed.

Install the remote module, put the pull switch in high, and enjoy.


3" perfect wooden round hole in cabinet I need to make good round 3 inches hole in the wooden cabinet (see blue circle) to pass feed and load wires to a subpanel I'll put outside the cabinet.

What's the best way to make that hole? My carpenter planned to just hammer it with nail to create rough hole but it is not pure hard wood and I'm afraid the impact may make the cabinet misaligned. Is there a better way? Can I drill around the circle circumference with a small metal or concrete drill bit? What do you do?

Use a 3" hole saw or closest metric size on a drill. 3 inch hole saw

Use whatever tools you use to make a round hole in a door for a lock.

EDIT

What is on the other side of the cabinet where you want the hole? Is it open space or is it against a wall? I would say that pounding a nail repeatedly around a 3" diameter hole would likely damage the cabinet and maybe pull it apart at the joints. The right tool would be what used to be called a "keyhole saw" but is now usually called a "jab saw" (shown in the another answer, currently deleted). This tool is commonly used for drywall but can be used on other materials. You would drill a hole (say 3/8" or 1/2" diameter just inside the 3" circle and start sawing there.
Best jab saws


What is the name for this round metal drain cover? Rainwater drains from an acre uphill from us into an underground system that has been in place for 50 years.  It works fine, except that the 16-inch round metal cover for the drain has rusted through.  What is the name of this round piece, almost like a city sewer cover, but smaller and thinner?  Without the right name, it's hard to find a replacement.  Any suggestions on what it might be called?

Sump cover. Technically what you have is a Rainwater Collection Cistern, so Cistern cover, Cistern access cover or Cistern hatch cover all would apply.


Wet venting of added bathroom sketch -question is this layout OK? I am adding a master bathroom shower, toilet and double vanity to an abutting wall of a full bathroom, Is this wet venting good if I tie into existing 2" shower vent in the shared wall?

Found this at https://inspectapedia.com/  Which references Maryland plumbing codes.  You should check your local code for what's appropriate in your situation.

The second table, which shows trap-vent distances says that for a 2" trap (shower) the maximum distance to the vent is 5 feet.  You're way over.  It also specifies a minimum vent size of 3"


Load bearing capacity of Spur Steel-lok shelf standards with MDF shelves I am building wall-mounted shelves for my electronics lab. These will basically be pieces of MDF supported by Spur Steel-Lok uprights and brackets, similar to what the picture below shows.

I can figure out the load bearing capacity of the supports from Spur's literature.

But what about the MDF? Given the thickness and the depth of the material, as well as the weight of the expected load, how do I compute the maximum spacing between uprights?

P. S. In case this somehow matters, I am specifically looking at MF (Melamine Faced) MDF.

Pressed wood shelves should never span more than 32". Beyond that even their own weight will result in unsightly sag.

As for maximum load, you'll probably be unhappy with sag long before they collapse. For anything heaver than a row of paperback books, go every 16".


Should I keep attic gable windows open for ventilation? Our attic only has a ridge vent (no soffits).  It also has two windows on either end.  It was recommended that we keep them open to help ventilate the attic.

Is this a good recommendation?  Should we have them open year round?  (Mid-Atlantic location)
If so, how do I account for rain?  I'd prefer to not have to remember to close them whenever it is going to rain.

Attics should remain ventilated, even in winter. Your gable windows should add important circulation to the airflow path. Ideally air is scavenged from all parts of the attic.

Typically there are louvered vents on gables, not windows. You'll need to look into some sort of add-on louver or awning, or replace the windows with something more appropriate.


I am trying to identify the brand of this bathtub faucet I am wanting to replace this bathtub faucet without changing the plumbing behind the wall. I am assuming by identifying the brand/type of faucet already installed I could have success by getting something similar?

Unfortunately, plumbing fixtures have no constancy. There are many, many different makes, and no company makes the same thing one year to another. They all change their models every year, so finding the same fixture is virtually impossible. That said, the stuff behind the fixture tends to be standardized. The handles are attached to what are called "faucet posts". This is what they look like:

Most ordinary turn handles will work, and if not, hey, just return them for store credit.


What bit should I use to drill a two inch hole in a solid concrete wall? I am planning to install a 1.5-inch conduit through a poured concrete wall. I am planning on drilling a two-inch hole to accommodate the size of the conduit body. I have been searching up and down, but I don't know what drill bit to use. Bi-metal? Diamond? Carbide?

Hire a core driller.   Trust me and do it.  You will regret doing this yourself and the cost will seem like nothing in comparison to your struggles with drilling a hole that size in solid concrete.

probably cost you 200 bucks.

You can rent one from a tool rental company, or even from home depot....  https://www.homedepot.com/tool-truck-rental/Small-Core-Drill/3510639/index.html

But trust me, as someone who has do this five or six times a year, just hire someone for this job.  By the time I calculate all the time and cost of renting a drill rig and diamond bit and figuring out how to use it and then returning it .... its never cheaper.


Setting minimum temperature for gas water heater My gas water heater heats water in its tank to about 60 C for use which is great. But I don't know how to set a minimum temperature so that water does not cool below 30 C. Please help me.

In a standard gas water heater there is no way to set a minimum hot water temperature. The thermostatic control has a pre set on/off differential.


How much #12 NM-B can I put in PVC conduit? I am going to be upgrading a full, very small 6-space panel in my attached garage to a much larger (40+ space) panel soon. I will have a number of circuits to run from this panel to a planned addition, then I will take advantage of the additional spaces to start bringing other wiring in the house up to (modern) code. To get from the panel, which will be surface mounted, in the garage, I will need to run the cable down the wall then through hole(s) punched in the brick foundation and into the basement/crawlspace.
My plan is to run as many pieces of conduit as I can get out of the bottom of the panel, and of as large a diameter as possible during the panel install. Only a few cables will be run on day one, but I want to have as much space available as possible for when I do additional work in the future, and I don't want to break out the sledge and chisel any more often than necessary.
At this point, I do not have a panel picked out, so I don't know what size knockouts may be available, however, I will beg/buy/borrow whatever tools may be necessary to make as large a knockout as possible to give myself plenty of space for the future expansion.
Assuming I get/can make holes large enough for 2" PVC conduit, how many 12/2 NM-B cables can I run through each one?

Yes, I know pulling NM through conduit is difficult. However, these will be a fairly short runs (under 36", I'd imagine) straight down, then around one 90° elbow and through a short straight piece through the wall and into the basement, so the pain will be minimal. Since I'm thinking PVC, I don't need any sort of nipple on the inside for protection from the conduit, correct?
Yes, I know that individual THHN would be easier to pull, but that would mean I would need a collection of junction boxen just inside the basement in a space that is already very cramped and/or to continue runs in conduit to a place where I can put junction boxen, which I don't particularly want to do.
I would be OK with going with metal conduit if I can get a larger number of cables into each one. PVC is easier (for a non-electrician without the proper tools), but I can cut steel pipe, I just don't have any threading tools, so non-threaded fittings would be easier/cheaper (fewer tools to invest in).

Note that I have checked a couple of on-line fill calculators, but they don't give NM-B as an option for cable type because the general recommendation is to not pull cable in conduit.

The dimension of Encore 12/2 nm-b is .16x.45 inches. Belden Cable has a calculator, it says you can fit only 8 in 2".


20amp breaker keeps tripping I have a 20 amp type QO GFCI circuit breaker (12 GU wire) that is tripping under load. My home is about 5 years old and the breaker provides power to half of the kitchen outlets and part of the dining room. The breaker just started tripping few weeks ago. We use a air fryer on this circuit and it trips about a minute after it has been on. I tested the amps while on and it reads 12.5 max. I’ve tested a different appliance on the circuit with the same results. Additionally, I tested the air fryer on a different 15 amp circuit, no issues. Do I have a bad breaker? If not, what else could be the issue? Thank you!

GFCI breakers are prone to fail earlier than traditional breakers. I would swap the breaker with another functioning GFCI breaker from the electrical panel to see if the problem follows the breaker or continues on the existing circuit.


Can anyone suggest how to connect a CAT6 cable to the incoming 5 pair telephone cable? The below image displays the incoming cable from the telephone provider. As far as I have searched it's a 5-pair telephone cable.
I was suggested by the telephone company to replace the current telephone wiring (single pair cable) with a CAT6 cable. But, I wasn't able to find any information as to how I can connect a CAT6/CAT6A cable to this 5-pair cable.
As you can see, the current telephone line uses the 2 left-most wires, and CAT6 is a 4-pair cable. So, should I use the remaining 8 wires for the CAT6?
Additionally, if anyone is aware, I would really like to understand the purpose of these 10 wires (which wire carries what signal).
P.S: I think this is the right channel for this question. But, if it isn't please suggest where it should be posted.
Edit:
Thank you all for the quick response. To clarify the use-case I am adding more context.
I live in Cyprus. Our house is located in the country-side, around 15 Km from the city center. It's a VDSL line, which is directly connected to a VDSL modem. The phone gets connected to the modem and works on the VOIP protocol. All the ethernet connections are also connected to the modem.
The available internet speed in this area is 50 Mbps (yeah, it's Cyprus!), but I was getting around 25 Mbps. So, I called a technician and he said that the analog cable is the culprit and asked me to replace the phone wiring in the house with Cat6.
I am also attaching the photo displaying the connections available on the modem. The input port is a 2-pair RJ11. And, I don't know the purpose of the WAN port.

Each of the incoming pairs in the telco's 5-pair cable is for a separate analog telephone line (or, in today's world, a single DSL channel). The pairs are identified by color: there's a solid blue wire paired with a white wire with blue stripe (also called tracer); a solid orange wire paired with a white wire with orange stripe, and so on with green, brown, and gray (slate).
The drop cable includes several pairs in case a subscriber might have wanted ability to make a voice call on one line while also using a modem or fax machine on another line. Sometimes pairs "go bad" due to cable damage, water ingress in the cable, etc so the extra pairs also provide some redundancy against that possibility.
I'd connect the blue pair of the CAT6 to whichever of the telco pairs has your primary telephone line, the orange pair to the second line, and so on. If you have only one line then connect only the blue pair from the CAT6.
As for mechanically how to carry out the connection: you need a "punch down tool." These look like 110-style terminals. A professional tool is spring-loaded, trims wires to length, and does other neat things. But you can get a simple inexpensive plastic tool as well -- these are sometimes included with CAT5/CAT6/telephone "keystone" wall plate jacks. If you're careful and attentive, you could even get the wire pushed down into the terminal using a pair of small flat-blade screwdrivers.
Here are a few examples of 110 punch down tools:

Interior wiring is a common source of trouble especially for DSL services. The cable shown in your photo is basic 4-conductor. Twisted pair CAT-rated cable tends to perform better. CAT6 is significantly over-qualified for the application (CAT5e, CAT5, even CAT3 would do) but it is commonly available and there's no appreciable difference in price vs the lesser cables.
The technician might also have recommended replacement for another reason: the home's existing phone wire might run all throughout the house, have many junctions that could be problematic, etc. A new cable that goes directly between the phone demarcation point outside to your DSL modem will eliminate those variables.
With possibility of trouble in your inside wiring eliminated, if the low speed persists the DSL provider may be more willing to troubleshoot their network to search for connection problems.
It's worth confirming whether your service is two-pair bonded or single-pair, and if bonded which one is the second pair. A bonded service with only one pair connected would get half the throughput.
The modem has a WAN port probably because it is designed to work with both xDSL and another service like fiber to the home. In the latter, some providers install a box called ONU/ONT (optical network unit/terminator) to convert from optical fiber to Ethernet. That Ethernet would connect to the WAN port of a gateway device like yours.


How install single Insteon switch with only line, load, and ground? I have a single on/off switch controlling a single light. I’ve checked carefully, and have ONLY one 3-wire Romex with black, white, and bare copper ground. (No white neutral wire hidden in box.) Am I correct (as the box says) that I CANNOT install an Insteon 2477S? Is there a different Insteon switch that would work? (Calif. house built in 1988.)

You can't. Neutral is not available in that box.

This is a switch loop, and currently white and black are always-hot and switched-hot.  The proper method is to use white as always-hot, to make it more apparent that it is not a neutral (i.e. it's always hot).

Your best bet is to go up into the lamp box and re-task the black and white wires to be always-hot and neutral (white must become the neutral, so make black always-hot). The switch's red wire goes to nothing at all.  Then, obtain an Insteon inline module and place that up in the ceiling rose of the lamp.  It will connect to always-hot, neutral and switched-hot to the lamp. (the lamp's other wire goes to neutral, of course).   Then you pair the module to the switch.

It may also be possible to obtain LED bulbs with the module built into the bulb.


Is my plan for replacing 4x4 deck posts with 6x6s reasonable? We're planning on resurfacing our deck this summer. As preparation I got an inspector to take a look at the substructure to make sure it is still in good shape. The good news is that for the most part it is. However, he recommended that 5 of the 4x4 vertical support posts be replaces with 6x6 posts instead. The 4x4s aren't failing but they are attached to the beam incorrectly (just with lag bolts, as in the "wrong" example here) and they are about 6 feet high. It's more about future-proofing than an imminent safety issue.

I called around for quotes and the first contractor I talked to basically said it can't be done and I need to tear down my deck and start over. This surprised me. There are videos all over youtube with people doing this. The process seems straightforward enough:

Dig/pour new footings
Jack up the deck with temporary vertical posts
Add the new ones
Cut out the old ones.

Am I missing something?

As an alternative, I've considered just adding 3 more 4x4 posts and attaching those to the beam (and retrofitting the old ones) with these

Thoughts?

Screen grab of the relevant section of the inspection report:

I could ask you to sketch your deck out with dimensions to calc out the beam reaction on the posts, but just shooting from the hip here to save all of us time: there's probably nothing wrong with using 4x4s, especially if they're only 6' tall, spaced that closely, and not also supporting a roof.

If they're leaning or warping badly, then correct the lean or replace with another 4x4.

Nobody in my market is using carriage bolts on any new deck, I don't know why that YouTube guy was telling people to. If your beam was a 3 ply instead of a 2 ply, the 1" notch leftover on a 6x6 wouldn't really hold anything. Everybody uses metal post caps from Simpson or USP now.

This sounds like a lot of work to fix something that isn't broken, all based on a recommendation from a random home inspector. They're usually a jack of all trades, but master of none type of person. I've never had a positive experience with one, they mostly just repeat stuff they have heard and don't really understand.

Home inspectors have to find things to feel like they're doing their job, and if they don't overreact to minor things they might even be liable if something did fail.

Replace the beam/posts if you want, but if it was me I would add two treated 2x4s to each 4x4 and attached with galvanized 10d nails (8" on center, in 2 staggered rows 1.5" from the edge). One on each side, directly under each deck beam so you have a 2x4 supporting each deck beam and not just the carriage bolts. You'd end up with your 4x4 post looking like it's a 3.5"x6.5" post because of the two 2x4s you added to each one.


What is the standard way to secure flex duct in an attic? I was in a house and noticed that flex duct (or what I think is flex duct) is being secured via a strap that's looped around the duct and then nailed to an attic truss (see picture below). Is this the proper way to secure flex duct?

That duct is not done properly notice how the duct is collapsed. Webbing can be used I have used plumbers tape (a metal strip with holes) at the first support after a rise I will screw a saddle of scrap ductwork to keep the duct from collapsing. I have used webbing but always think it will separate over time I usually melt the holes to reduce the chance of this but still make a saddle on the rise to spread the force out then support it regularly so it won’t collapse but nylon strapping is ok. I would want to fix that collapsed section a section of single wall duct like dryer duct opened up could make several sections of saddles.


Confused about Ethernet wiring in new home I’m moving into a new house that looks to have Ethernet wired through it though it looks like it was being used for telephone?
I’m wondering if it will be usable for Internet and if so what changes I need to make/what exactly I need to do.
Also is there any way to tell if it’s all cat 5 or cat 5e?
I don’t know much about this so step by step on how to make it work for Internet would be greatly appreciated.
So far my guess is that I need to pull all the wiring out of that current punch panel and add RJ45 connectors to each separate wire? At that point I just need a way to connect them to my router?
Thanks a lot!

Read the jacket - I think I can see, but not make out, faint red printing on at least two of the gray cables in your picture. But there's no guarantee that all the gray cables are the same, if this system grew organically over time rather than having been all installed at once.
Even if it's CAT3, it will run ethernet (slowly by modern standards.) That will be fine for a printer that plugs into ethernet, and other uses that are not too demanding, but won't suit your faster goals - in which case you might examine how it's installed, and whether you can use the current cables to help you get new cables into the places you actually need faster connections.
Your best bet at this end would be to install a patch panel, rather than "plugs on cables" - plugs on fixed cables are iffy (they tend to fail,) while a patch panel is quite reliable, (and also easier to connect to) and helps to organize the mess.
You'll also need a switch, to get the signal from a cable leading to your router to all the other cables (or all the other cables you are actually using.)
Beware that as phone wiring, there's no guarantee that the wiring completely respects a "star" configuration (each cable here leads only one place) - some legs of the apparent star may be "daisy-chained" to more than one outlet, and that does not fly with Ethernet like it does with telephones.


How can I repair my bench grinder? Received a relatively old black and decker bench grinder from a relative. It works, mostly. About 50% of the time it powers up but doesn't spin - hand cranking gets it going, whether it starts fine or not it makes a dreadful racket for the first 10-20 sec. of operation. WD40 helps. Also, it seems like the wheels are off-center, ie they seem to not move in a perfect circle.

Is the situation with the slow start likely to result in imminent failure of the unit?

Is the situation  with the uncentered wheels likely to result in damage to work?

Can any of this be fixed with some preexisting mechanical aptitude?

If the wheels are wobbling, that could be either a symptom or cause of other problems. A symptom, if the wheel is wobbling because a bearing is bad or because the wheel has been damaged. A cause, if an unbalanced wheel caused excessive wear on a bearing.

As far as affecting the work goes, the answer is yes. There's no way to put a straight face on a wheel that's moving in an arc.

As for fixing it: if the problem is a damaged wheel, then you could replace them. But if the problem is a damaged shaft/bearing, then it's pretty much shot, and the new wheels would be wasted money.


Will 1/4" plywood on existing 1/2" plywood suffice under 1/2" cement board for ceramic floor tile? I'm doing a bathroom with ceramic tile. The subfloor is 1/2" plywood, with joists 16" on center. Can I glue down 1/4" plywood to make it 3/4"? I will use 1/2" cement board with mortar after that. Or can I just lay the 1/2" cement board on the 1/2" plywood?

Yes, if you bond the layers of plywood together as a single structure using construction adhesive. Multiple thin layers that aren't bonded don't offer the same level of rigidity as a single, bonded layer. I'd use a v-notch trowel or a 1/8" bead every 3" (or closer) perpendicular to the joists.

If you were me, though, you'd drop in 3/4" plywood over your 1/2" and call it a day. It's more rigid than the cementboard, will perform perfectly well as a mortar substrate, and saves you a bunch of fitment and fastening of a third layer.


3way switch not working properly I have a 3 way switch, if I turn it on in the kitchen and off in the dining room all is fine, now if my someone else turns it on in kitchen nothing happens, you turn it on in the dining room and off at the kitchen all's good, but to turn it on in the dining room nothing, help thanks

It doesn't matter if new or old but it sounds like one switch is wired correctly the other has a traveler and common reversed (quite common DIY mistake). The one plus here is by swapping one of the travelers and common it won't cause any hazards and may fix your problem. The common on the switch is usually a black screw the travelers are brass. Do this with the circuit breaker off and give it a try, if it only changed the switch position try the other side as the first try just swapped travelers the second try should do the trick.


Strange mud-like formation on ceiling I live on 4th floor of a seven-storey building. It's been a month since I noticed these strange things growing on my ceiling. It looks like mud when observed closely.

At first I cleared it with brush which can be seen in the picture as light stains. But it grew again. The darker one is how it looks like now.

The other side of the wall from which this thing grows is the bathroom. Above the bathroom there is a small compartment for storing things. The door of the compartment can be seen in the picture.

I've never seen anything like this. What is this thing? And how can I get rid of it? As mentioned above clearing with a brush doesn't help.

It may not be termites but it looks likes some kind of insect infestation. I would contact either the building owner or a local pest exterminator. What ever the tunnels are made of is likely building material. I would recommend doing this quickly before there is structural damage to the building.


How to extend brass pipe/conduit that is buried? I need to relocate the above-ground junction box that is used by my pool light, and the conduit that feeds into the junction box is 1/2 inch brass pipe. I need to move it several feet further out, and need to know what my options are while maintaining code.
I think one option is to buy several more feet of brass pipe with some kind of coupling, only issue is the closest place that sells brass pipe is 40+ min away.
I believe the brass is threaded at the end going into the junction box. Can I use a threaded coupling that will connect to metal conduit?
Pics are below

You can connect the brass pipe to another brass pipe with a coupling, brass around a pool is the best option as it will not rust. If you would not have said an electrician verified it was brass I would have suggested it was rigid conduit as it looks galvanized to me in the photo. Maintaining the brass will prevent any galvanic corrosion issues , 680.11 allows for rigid pvc but you mentioned pool light. If a wet-niche type light this would explain the comment if they did it right the extra wire. And the use of brass 680.23.8.b.   I would continue the brass for the additional safety it provides for grounding.


What could go wrong if you made a circuit-breaker-tripper with its own circuit breaker? In this question, many commenters and answerers pointed out that a device that would trip the circuit breaker corresponding to an outlet by shorting the outlet would be extremely dangerous. It would indeed trip the relevant circuit breaker if that circuit breaker was working, but if not, it could start a fire.

My question is the following: suppose your wiring is connected to a 10 A circuit breaker. Would it be dangerous to have a device that tripped that circuit breaker by shorting the circuit using an 11 A circuit breaker? That way, the current could go above 10 A, tripping the original circuit breaker, but guaranteeing that no more than 11 A of current could go through the circuit, thus precluding a fire.

I am not proposing to actually implement this -- I am just curious about any possible dangers that could arise from such a scheme, since in my understanding the dangers suggested in the original answer would be mitigated by the use of an additional circuit breaker.

In theory, that sounds great.  In reality, maybe not so much.  You could be talking about putting a crap-ton of current through the house wiring, and a device in your hand!

Looking at a 20 ampere circuit, where the receptacle is 20' (along the wire) away from the breaker. That's 40' of wire in the wall.  According to NEC, 12 AWG wire has a resistance of 0.00193 ohms per foot. Assuming the wiring for the device is 12 AWG, and about a foot in length.  That's a total of 41' of wire, at 0.00193 ohms per foot.

Using Ohm's Law, we can calculate the fault current.

I = V/R
I = 120 v / 0.07913 ohms
I = 1,516.492 amperes

That's more than 75 times the rated current of the 20 ampere breaker, so it should be within the instantaneous trip range of the breaker.  If the house breaker does not open, you've got 1500 amperes flowing through the house wiring, and a device in your hand. Hopefully the breaker in your device works, and opens the circuit in less than a cycle.  Otherwise, that wire is going to get really hot, really fast.


Size of insulated flex hose needed to install for bathroom exhaust? What size of insulated flex hose do I need to install for bathroom exhaust.  Fan is 110cm.  Length of hose in attic is approx 15-20 ft, going just about straight to the exit site.  Bathroom size is 100 sq ft.  There is a 5" one there now and we are replacing it.  Both fan entrance and fan exit to outside is 4".  We do not know why the builders did it this way.  House is 5 years old.

Either follow "just about stright" to use hard smooth duct at 4", or figure the reason the builders used 5" was that increased size somewhat compensates for flex duct having terrible flow friction compared to  smooth duct.


How to find the mystery red wire I own/live in a brownstone (build in 1900) apartment (split off in ... 1960's?) that's been worked on by many clueless DIY or incompetent electricians so I'm slowly but surely untangling (pardon the pun) the mess that's here.  I'm about to replace all the cabinets in my kitchen and it seems like a good opportunity to correct many terrible mysteries that lie there.

While taking inventory of the number of circuits that run to the kitchen now, I came across something of a puzzle.  There is a 12/3 armored cable that comes out of the wall that was direct wired into a dishwasher that was here (that I got rid of) and there was 12ga black and neutral, and ground wires coming out of the cable.   However, on the panel, that conduit has 12ga black, red and neutral going into it.  The circuit breaker that the red is connected to does not seem to control/effect anything.

Is there a way that I can track down where the red hot wire ... uh ... leaves the conduit?  It's certainly possible that the conduit goes through some junction box along the way and we will be opening the walls behind the cabinets when they are removed, but for planning purposes it would be helpful to know now whether the hot red wire is somewhere in the kitchen or not.

In case it helps, here are some pictures:

The only sure way to hunt down missing wires, without taking forever, without disturbing the walls, ceiling, or floor is to use a circuit tracer. I use a Mastech MS6818. It comes with a transmitter and a tracer and can be used on energized and unenergized circuits. It may be worth a homeowner to have one if he owns a house like yours and you are determined to track everything down. You might find a local contractor who also has and uses such a device, but I wouldn't let him in unless he has one in his hand when he comes to the door.

If all of that is too expensive your only other option is to verify that it is not a switch leg or some such and doesn't go anywhere. Then just wire nut it off and leave it in the box, then at least keep a mental note as to where it is in case you find something not working.

Good luck and stay safe.


Setting cut depth on a circular saw When using a circular saw to cut through panels or dimensional lumber or whatever, the DIY folk on YouTube always set the cut depth to “a hair beyond what you’re cutting”. I’ve been blindly doing the same, but realized the other day I have no idea why.

Sure, obviously you need to make sure you cut through the whole thing you’re cutting. But short of protecting your workbench, why not just sink the blade as deep as possible as a default and only lift it up when there is an actual underlying surface.

Odd question perhaps, just wondering!

Skil gives two reasons for it.

From the operating manual for a Skil brand circular saw:

and in the "kickback" warning section:


Sonoff switch with override wall switch I have a fan, a light and two sonoff basic devices to control them. As sonoff can only work with internet, I thought it would be a good idea to be able to fully override the controls with separate switch just in case.

Basically, I want to use three separate switch.

if only S2 is on, the state of the devices will depend on sonoff
if S1 is on the light is always on
if S3 is on the fan is always on
if all three switches are off the devices are always off

I am aware that the button on sonoff can be used to override. However, I will be concealing the devices as they look a bit ugly while exposed.

I want to know if this setup is safe and will work without burning anything up.

I would hesitate to give a definitive answer to this because it's obvious in your circuit that when S1 is ON and S2 is OFF then you are connecting mains to the output of Sonoff 1 with no connection to it's input.

However, I have checked my own Sonoff (Basic R2) and the input line is switched to the output by a mechanical relay with no other connection to the output so I can see no reason why this wouldn't be perfectly safe. Worth checking yours is the same though as other versions may be different.


How is a "ground joint union" different from any other union out there, and why are they specified for gas service? The various documents (manuals, installation guides, etc) available for gas water heaters refer to the use of what's called a "ground joint union" between the shutoff valve and the appliance tee/drip leg.  How is such a thing different from any other union out there, or is this just a fancy name for a plain ol' union?  Furthermore, why are ground joint unions called out for gas service?

(BTW: for an example, see Figure 4 on Page 6 of this manual.)

A ground joint union has an angle cut (ground) into the union where the two sections mate. This provides more surface area at the joint, and allows the joint to seat more easily.

This is in comparison to a flat faced union, which does not have an angle ground at the mating surface.


Drywall - final joint compound coat While remodeling an older house (where nothing is quite straight) we used fiber glass mesh joint tape and 3 coats of joint compound. The first coat was applied with a 4 inch knife, the second with an 8 inch and ending the third on a 12 inch knife. I can still see the texture from the mesh tape I used on some of the joints.

I hoped that a coat of primer would level it off, but after using Kilz 2 primer I can still see the tape in some spots. :(

Sanding through the primer now proves difficult (doesn't work) with a medium grit sanding block.

Should I add another coat? I could never quite get the joint compound to adhere over the mesh tape. I've always been taught to go as thin as I can on the joint compound to reduce the sanding part. Did I go too thin?

I'm hoping a second coat of primer and 2 coats of the final latex paint hides it, but I know this isn't the right answer. How can I fix this?

following what doresoom and shirlock said; i just applied a coat with the 12 inch knife practically against the wall (accidentally touching the wall with the handle once or twice) - more or less dragging the compound across the surface

this produced the result explained - about 1/32nd ? thickness of mud, covering the tape that i'll need to feather round the edges

i miss spoke earlier - i was using a sponge sanding block (not strait paper sand paper)

now that the primer has dried (did it saturday) its not as bad as i thought it was, but this is the right way to do it (not covering it with paint)

just as a side, we've used sherwin williams paint throughout the house and although its great paint (IMO) the plaster and lath walls that remain, even those repairs show through - and if those do, than this new work will... may as well do finish it right...

thanks for the help guys - i'll check this coat tomorrow and give a last one with the soap and water if it needs it.

As the others have said, paint will not help your situation.  You will need to apply another coat of mud. The final coat can be applied using a 12 inch flat knife, but I personally like a 14 or 16 inch bow trowel. The idea is to have a thicker coat of mud over the tape and bevel or feather the edges out wide so you will not notice the small difference in thickness.  With a 12 inch knife, your joint should be about 16 to 18 inches wide. Push harder on the outside of the knife than on the inside/center of the joint. This will leave more mud in the center and feather the edges better. Do this on each side of the joint.

Here is another tip for you.  For your last or final touch-up coat, mix a little extra water and some Ivory dish soap into your mud.  It will flow very easily, far less tiny air bubbles, and will sand out easy with little pressure. Never use sandpaper, use a 150 or 220 sanding sponge. Don't go crazy and strip it too much or you will expose the tape again. Smooth the center gently and feather out the edges more agressively.   Good luck


Help Identifying Basement Rough-ins I am working through the layout of the framing for my basement and would appreciate some help identifying the rough-ins. I do not plan on putting a shower in the basement, only a powder room as my grandma used to call it. What are some of the better options for cutting and capping the shower drain once identified so that I can finish the floor. I was considering just busting up the concrete around it, cutting and capping it below grade and then pouring fresh concrete on it but that is just my gut instinct on how to solve this particular problem.
The pipe on the far left of the image is ~14.5" from the wall. I am framing with 2x6 and am already contending with a 12" intrusion into the room against the same wall from a radon mitigation system exhaust so if the far left is for the sink, I will just bring the framing out another couple of inches and have it come through the center of the studs.
Note: The temporary wall in the picture is not part of the framing for the basement, it has been torn out, was there during the picture only

The one on the left appears to be a for a vanity sink. Though sinks usually connect to 1-1/2" pipe, anything below slab level is usually upsized to 2" for clog avoidance and easier cleaning. You'd reduce it above floor level. It's positioned to be either in the wall or in the cabinet.
The center is the toilet. 4" stubs are often used so that you can install an inside (hub) flange, reducing the inlet to a standard 3" toilet connection. You'd cut it off and install a cement-in flange over your flooring. It's positioned to be centered 12" off your finished wall surface.
The right one is for a shower. They're typically left with a box around them so you can fine-tune position for the pan or tub you select by adding a trap assembly. The pail is simply a concrete form/barrier.
If you're going to eliminate the shower, just cut the stub below floor level, cap it, and fill in the boxed area with concrete. There's nothing to bust up.
Disclaimer: Plumbing is like a box of chocolates. You never know.... The pipe on the left could be a vent for the toilet. I'd run some water in each, with them all opened up, and see what you see (or hear).


How do I change an AC outlet into a switched outlet using wireless technology? I have an outlet that's live, and I want to make it switched without having to get an electrician. Suggestions?

Presto!   (Emeril would say - BAM!)

Heath/Zenith BL-6136-WH Wireless Switch Outlet, White

http://www.amazon.com/Heath-Zenith-BL-6136-WH-Wireless-Switch/dp/product-description/B000OUW7MA

P.S. Did you try googling for it yourself first?  Just sayin'...


How to clean rust in hard to reach points on a tool? I have a cheap tool with some rust on it. It's probably cheaper to buy a new one than to clean it. But I wonder if is there any solution where I can drop it and retrieve it clean. Is there anything like a rust solvent?

This stuff is sick: http://www.evapo-rust.com/

I used it on a drill press my buddy left out on a patio in the rain for a year.  Virtually no scrubbing.  I don't understand how this is not one of the most widely known products in the world.  It is THAT good.  I guess with the military as a client, they don't need the business from the public.  Here are some pics.  Truly an amazing product.  I purchased a gallon of it at a Harbor Freight store for $20.

Before:

After:


Cut Hue Light Strip and connect pieces in parallel is it possible to separate a hue light strip using heat like shown here and connect the pieces using Y-connectors in parallel?

I want to split a Light Strip and use just one piece per stair in my stairway, connecting them to a single bus. They should all be connected to the same controller to allow a smooth light scene. Obviously using one controller per stair is not optimal :)

Thanks for your ideas!

Update

The setup should look like this:

[CTRL]
  |
  |---[PIECE OF STRIP]
  |
  |---[PIECE OF STRIP]
  |
  |---[PIECE OF STRIP]
  |
  |---[PIECE OF STRIP]
  |

Will the controller be able to handle this?

Yes, absolutely.   In fact it's a good idea to parallel if you have more than about 10 feet of strips - those internal pathways on the strips will cause a lot of voltage drop if they're too long.


Better adhesive for LED light strips? I just got new cabinets and am going to be installing LED light strips on the under-sides of the shelves for effect.
My experience with these strips in the past is that the adhesive backing is not very strong and wears out after a few months despite it having the 3M label.  I would like these installed well the first time, so that I do not have to mess with the cabinet lighting again for decades if possible.
I've considered adding a dab of super glue to points along the strip, but then I worry if I have to replace these in 10 years, I won't be able to remove the old strips.  On the other hand, I've considered a bead of silicone because it's clear and can easily be removed with a scraper.
What may be other options for fix the LED strips in place, other than super-glue? I need them to be fixed well enough in place to last years, but also for me to be able to remove them if necessary without ruining the shelves.

Strengthen the supplied sticky backing with something better at all stress points (beginning, end, change of direction, near any switches or other places the strip will be handled).
Options:

double sided foam tape
A bracket made of a strip of wood with wood glue and/or screws
A metal bracket ... just a thin strip of metal that runs across the light strip and is screwed into the underside of the cabinet tightly.


What kind of jacks are used for lifting of framing in various situations? I have two vertical house jacks from the local tool library, which I've used to support framing during extensive dry rot and termite repair:

I'm into a section where the house jacks won't work.  I need to support, and then slightly jack up, a load bearing double stud to the left of a window.  The entire bottom plate is unusable for bearing due to termites, and access is needed to the double stud to complete the work.

Notes: The window corner bears no load (it's empty). All the cripple wall is mostly new with vintage lumber. And yes, that's electrical behind the kitchen cabinets which were built into the framing.  A Realtor(tm) arranged for that lovely work.

What kind of jacking techniques are used in situations like this?

Could you support it up the same way you support a porch?

You'd want to get past that sidewalk, the base has to be absolutely secure where it sets.


Do I want low-SHGC windows on the east and west sides? I live in sunny New Mexico and am doing research for having my windows replaced. I'm torn on the question of whether I want low solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) windows, though. My house faces east-west with only two small windows on the south side (definitely going LoE with these). Most of the windows are east or west, and these windows cause the house to gain undesirable amounts of solar heat in the summer, especially a large west-facing picture window which just gets scorching hot. The east and west windows are semi-shaded, but still let in a lot of direct sunlight. However, they also let in a lot of desirable solar heat in the winter when the sun is lower and gets under the shading more.

So I don't know if I should be spending more for the fanciest LoE coating available for these east and west windows. On one hand, it seems like it would help with summer overheating, but if it's going to block an equal amount of desirable winter solar gain, what's the point? Would I be better off getting less LoE and putting up adjustable blinds or something?

Using LBLs solar gain modeling software (RESFEN) can be instructive. I don't know if they have finally made a less cumbersome version of it yet - last I used it it was still Windows-only and ripe for redoing as a web app. Looks like it's still stuck on Windows PCs only. There are few other tools there on the page linked to as well.
E&W actually have more summertime gain than S (northern hemisphere - swap north for south if on the other side of the equator) due to the solar angles being low during the morning and evening. South windows are more easily made seasonal with shading that keeps the sun off them in summer and on them in winter.
If blinds are on the inside of the window, the heat is still inside the house, with the blind that stopped the sunbeam - exterior blinds or awnings are needed to really keep heat out with a shading product, AFAIK.
I think the most effective way to make use of solar heating for winter is to separate it from your windows, using dedicated collectors. In addition, it's actually become quite difficult to source windows that are good heat collectors (I do understand that what you are really doing is choosing between levels of SHGC - but I wanted some high solar gain but well-insulated windows for my south facade and ended up giving up, as the only ones I could find to buy would have been importing from Canada at 3 times the cost of the low SHGC windows that were all I could get locally - in a mostly-heating climate.) I can build or buy solar collectors with the cost differential I would have had to come up with for the windows I wanted as opposed to the ones I got.


Can I reuse ditra underlayment? I'm re-tiling for the first time. It's just a small powder room. After I took out the tile, I discovered that who ever had laid the tile had done it directly over vinyl. I removed the vinyl and it looks like there is a layer of plywood in most of the bathroom except for around the toilet area,which has a small section of Ditra underlayment.

My question is, should I remove the underlayment and replace it with cement board (or something) or is it possible to reuse the Ditra underlayment if I clean it out properly (clean out the thinset from the holes and reattach it to the subloor). The Ditra was attached to the subfloor, but the corners came out as I was cleaning the corners. Here is a pic of the area.

I regularly use Ditra. You can reuse it if you can get the corners down flat and co-planar.

Its not necessary to remove the old thinset, if it's well adhered.  A new coat of thinset will bond to the old.   A coat of concrete admix or bonding liquid (latex) the day before, will ensure old and new will adhere.

Schluter doesn't recommend using latex modified thinsets over Ditra and under porcelain tile.  This is due to Ditra being impervious, porcelain being impervious and latex modified needing to 'dry'. Straight Portland cement thinset will chemically cure faster. If you have small format tiles (4x4 or smaller), you can use modified.

Ditra, in addition to being a water/vapor barrier, is an excellent crack isolation membrane.  If you are using natural stone tiles or large format tiles (> 12x12), you should consider filling the whole power room area with Ditra.


Can a water softener bypass value be used as a temporary shut off value? We want to install a water softener (which we already own) which has a bypass value which looks something like this:

My question is whether or not we could use this bypass value to temporarily shut off water coming out of the softener sufficient to tell if certain lines (e.g. garden hose bibs) are being supplied by the water (bad!) or not (good!).

It's going to cost a significant amount more for installation if we have to temporarily cap lines to determine this, so I'm hoping there is some way we can determine this more easily.

Some valves can, some cannot. Yours, unfortunately, cannot act as a shut-off.

If  you're going to go through the trouble of modifying the plumbing, don't cap the line: add an inline valve on your softener line. It doesn't matter if it's before or after, as long as if you put it before, it's before the T that (you suspect) splits water to an outside tap.

There's some other ways to tell as well:

If you don't have a T that splits off between your supply line (pump/pressure tank, or municipal supply) and softener, then the outside taps must be softened.
Get some hardness test strips. These are good to have anyway, as they'll help you calibrate your softener. Check the hardness before your softener, after (eg: at a bathroom tap), and then compare to what you measure on your outside tap. It should be the same as before the softener.

Bypass valves

For the record, here's some different bypass valves:

Works as by-pass, in-service, or shut-off

Turn valves to opposite directions (one in bypass, one in service):

Move to "off" position:

Shut all three valves:

By-pass or In-service only


Are electrical switches under kitchen sinks common for any utility? So, I was cleaning under the kitchen sink and noticed there is a switch under there! It isn't clearly marked what it's for, I tried playing around with it and the garbage disposal thinking maybe it was a maintenance safety, but it didn't seem to have an effect.

I was just curious, is there a common reason for switches to be placed under the sink?

A standard snap switch can be used as a safety disconnect for small hard-wired equipment.

I would suspect it is a disconnect for the dishwasher.

Good luck!


Why should I not use standard "house" bricks for a patio? I'm looking to put in a brick patio and have been really wanting to do it with reclaimed road bricks. The problem here is sourcing enough to do an entire 18x18 patio and not spending a months salary on just the bricks. So the thought is to just use standard bricks, you know the ones with holes in them. These normally would be for the side of a house and not really exposed to the full force of a Michigan winter with 12"+ of snow on the ground.

Would these bricks hold up? Would grouting them into place help? Also might a sealer help?

Edit:
The base will be made of crushed rock. I am not sure if a layer of sand is needed or not at this point. But Will be added if needed.

My wife and I collected an assortment of old house wall bricks from various sources on craigs list and put them down in a patio in the mid-Atlantic a couple years ago. They're on packed gravel and sand with no mortar, laid flat in a herring bone pattern. We've had only one issue which is that some of the bricks were of the softer, less dense variety (light orange and easy to cut). These didn't make it through the first winter. They seemed to have trapped moisture, froze, then exploded into very small pieces. We'll be pulling these out and replacing them.

Other than that we found the old bricks to be great. Patina and slight variation in size make the patio look older than it is. Lots of character and other than a few exploding bricks, little maintenance.


How to make proper crimp joint For some low voltage applications, I'm trying to use "crimped" connections. Specifically, I'm trying to use yellow terminals with 12 AWG stranded wire. I got a cheap color-coded ratcheting crimper for that.

The crimp joints this makes don't hold, it takes barely no force to pull the wire out. I figure it would work fine if it was 10 AWG instead, as there is a considerable difference between the 10 and 12.

Same crimper works fine crimping 18 AWG into red terminals.

So, my questions are:

can I pad the wire that goes in with extra strands to make it same size as 10?
should the crimper be adjustable not just to the size of the terminal, but also to the gauge of the wire (mine isn't)?

Yellows should hold perfectly on #12.

Could be the conductor is not exactly #12, I've seen it happen, especially with foreign wire. IE: not made in North America.
Could also be that your crimper is out of adjustment, if it has that as you suggest.

Are you crimping in the correct area?

I will say, sometimes you can use blue terminals on #12 just fine and they do hold really well.


How do I connect my new tap's flexible hoses to my copper supply pipes? I bought a tap, and am not entirely sure what I should be doing with it. I received a flexible hose pipe to connect it to the mains.

The current tap however seems to use plastic joints into a metal solid pipe. If i remove the pipe (going upwards in the image), what type of adaptor would i need to put the flexible hose on please.

I am good with my hands, and I know how to drain the system etc. But just don't know much about joining pipes and the standards that are used.

Thanks for any help.

I found some adapters which are designed for Flexi tap to quick connectors.

You simply screw one end on, then insert the other into the quick connectors like you would any other pipe.

Now that I've done it, it seems straight forward. But at the time i wasn't sure of the connection types or possibilities. Or how they worked.

Really cheap and easy to do. Tool-less infact.


Fireplace main burner not lighting . .. .pilot is fine I have a very similar problem with my Napoleon HD40 fireplace to what another user had posted on.  My fireplace is using a Dexen 6K module and 6003 3v valve.  The pilot ignites fine using the wall switch with either the transformer or 3v battery pack.  However the main burner never lights up.  I can also bypass the wall switch at the fireplace by shorting the SW1 contacts together . . . giving me the same result.  The voltage from TP -> TH/TP is about 480mv after the pilot has been on for a minute or so. If I pull the TH wire from the valve there is no change.  So I'm unsure if a) the ignition module isn't sending the TH wire what it needs or b) if the valve itself is defective.  How can I tell?  What reading should I have at TH on the valve?

I ordered a new ICM and that fixed the problem.  In checking the voltages at the valve TH to ground is now 1.92v.  Also, the red and green LEDs on the battery relay are now brightly illuminated.  With the defective ICM they were very dim.  Thanks for all your input.  Hopefully this will help others in the future.


Why isn't my 3-way dimmer setup working? My dining room light is currently controlled by 2 different light switches.  However it isn't wired how I am used to seeing them.  In my old house, there were 2 switches that controlled the dining room light.  No matter what, if I toggled either of the switches the state of the light would switch on or off.  In my new house, one of the switches will turn the light on off, but only if the other switch is in a specific state.  Does that make sense?  It's almost as if 1 switch is a switch to allow usage of the other.

Anyways, today I went out to get dimmers for these switches and I wired them up exactly as the instructions said.  When I turned the power back on, I didn't get anything from the dimmers however one of the new switches turned the light on in a constant flickering and I heard some noise coming from the switch.  I quickly shut the power back off and wrote this question.  Any ideas?  My house was built in 2013.

UPDATE:  I just noticed the bulbs that were installed in my dining room light say "Do not use with dimmers, timers or other control devices" which may be part of my problem.  I am starting to think, however that I should only be using 1 dimmer and not 2, in addition to using different bulbs.

UPDATE 2:  I may be dealing with a 2-way switch?

Single switches that control a light are called single pole.

When there are two switches that both can turn a light on or off, they are called three way. (I am not sure about the origin of this label, perhaps because it required three wires; it does not mean that there are three or more switches - those are called four way!) In those switches, flipping the on off control on either switch will change its state: if it was off, it will go on, and vice versa.

When a dimmer control is part of a three way setup, one switch usually controls both the level and on/off, while the other switch only controls on and off. Both switches need to be the three way type.

It sounds like someone has put a single pole switch in a system that needs two three ways. Part of the problem is that there needs to be the right wiring between the switches. There has to be two hot wires*. There also may need to be a neutral wire, depending on the wiring configuration.

To determine the solution, we need to know what the wires are in each box that holds the switches, and what wires are currently attached to the switches.

SUPPLEMENT

It is possible to place dimmers at multiple locations if you use certain digitally controlled dimmers. You still need wiring between the dimmers that are able to have two hot lines, called followers, as well as a ground wire.  You also need to provide a neutral wire to the fixture.  That sometimes is part of the cable that goes through the dimmer boxes, but not necessarily.


Using a Radiator Space Heater to Support HVAC system I'm looking for ways to heat my home up more efficiently. I live in a 1200 sqft home that sits on the first floor and partially in the ground. So, it gets pretty cold. I was thinking of getting a radiator space heater and placing it at the intake vent of my hvac to support heating. Anyone think this might be a bad idea or ineffective?

My current HVAC is an electric heat pump.

Will using an electric space heater improve the efficiency of a heat pump?

No. When the temperature drops below the operational range of the heat pump, resistive heaters are used to provide heat. This would be the same as a space heater. However when the heat pump is running the heat pump is far more efficient at heating than a space heater. Depending on the model, some heat pumps can operate into the low teens, and a few models into single digits, but the efficiency will be the same when on electric heat (called auxiliary or emergency heat). The one difference is you can chose to heat only one room instead of the whole house with a space heater and that could save $.


Manufactured home bathtub/shower wall installation We purchased a 15 yr old mfd. home. Master bath has an ABS(?) bathtub with separate shower walls. It's serviceable, but will eventually need to be replaced(ugly).
A: I would like an all in one insert tub with walls. I can see, without measuring, the walls are not square. Is an insert possible without a lot of finagling? We're on a limited budget.
B:If I cannot do an all in one insert, what r my best options for material for the tub and the separate walls. The shower walls right now are board with vinyl over them, doomed to fail. Again, not looking for Top of the line, something economical, easy, sturdy, easy to clean.
Thanks.

I have replaced dozens of older tub/shower units with nice fiberglass tubs with a three piece matching/interlocking surround wall kits. Since getting a one piece unit into old construction is usually impossible, these modular units work well. The better units are sturdy and will adapt well in situations where the walls are not perfect. Since the wall units interlock and overlap the tub flange, leaking is rarely a problem. The costs of these units run from about $500 to $800. I have good results with Kohler and American Standard units. Avoid the cheap units that have non-locking wall sides and require a lot of sealants and flimsy corner trims. This is not an easy DIY project for someone without experience. The process will include plumbing skills, leveling the tub unit and shimming the walls if the existing wall framing is really bad.  Sometimes it is necessary to remove existing wall sheathing (drywall etc) and attach tub and sides to studs, then use moisture/mold resist drywall to recover the walls.


How to drill steel with large bit outside the drill press I need to drill a 12 mm hole in a steel piece 5mm thick, but the whole piece doesn't fit on my drill press. Can this be done anyhow?

In my previous experience drilling holes this big with a hand drill was a pain that end up dulling my drill bits.

Use oil to cool the bit, if oil residue is not a problem. Use water if that will be a problem. Keeping the bit cool is crucial to long bit life. The larger the hole the slower the RPM are to be used to drill the hole. Slow enough it is easy to count the revolutions is a good reference for how slow. When using a drill press the RPM are usually slower, and oil or water should be used there too. If the surface is flat, and water is preferred, an easy way to keep water at the drill tip is put an ice cube beside the hole while it is being drilled. The heat will melt the ice and keep a supply of water while drilling.

Another thing I do that I feel helps the large hole get drilled is using a smaller bit to pilot a hole through the metal first. Watch the last part of the hole just before the drill goes all the way through, the flutes of the drill bit will grab hard into the hole and try to wrench the drill out of your hands. That may hurt....


Attaching video doorbell to stucco over rigid foam insulation To the right and left of my front door are 6" deep protrusions/doorposts covered in stucco. I'm pretty sure (from another home installation project) that these posts are not really doorposts but are stucco over rigid foam insulation.
I want to mount a video doorbell (weight less than a pound) to this area next to my front door.  I have bits that are diamond tip rated to go thru the stucco. I can even get a hammer drill if needed.
My concern is how to get the two anchors to hold if there is nothing behind the stucco other than rigid foam insulation.
The frame for the doorbell is what is actually mounted and holds the doorbell which needs to be periodically removed for charging.  So, the mounting frame for the doorbell will be jiggled and wiggled somewhat as the doorbell is removed for charging and then re-attached.  My concern is the anchors will loosen or never hold to begin with.
I have thought of drilling the holes (6mm drill bit recommended by product)
and then filling the hole with caulking or hot-glue before inserting the anchors .  Have no idea if this would work.
What's the best way to deal with this job?

It would be important to find out if the entire column is rigid foam, or if it has a wood/steel/concrete/plastic core. If it has a core, you can use whatever type of fastener is ideal for that material (and long enough to penetrate the foam layer).
If it is truly rigid foam all the way through, you might consider drilling a hole and then using a molly fastener which when engaged would push hard outward from the hole against the rigid foam. Some kind of slow-drying glue or epoxy may help enhance that effect.
Otherwise, you're probably looking at some other kind of preparation. If you can engage a block of wood large enough (2x4 or 1x4) to mount the doorbell bracket, you may be able to embed it with glue and repair the stucco around it so it looks somewhat natural.


Run 3 Phase motor from 240V service? I just bought an older Delta Table Saw with a 3 phase motor. I have 240 Volt service. How can I wire the motor, or what do I need to do to make it work?

Your options are:

Replace the motor with a single phase motor (preferably also 240V)

Use a solid state variable frequency drive that can take single-phase input and provide 3-phase output. Be sure it it rated for the horsepower load, and DON'T exceed the rated speed of the motor (the drive may offer the opportunity, I've never seen a NON-variable speed solid state inverter drive, but if you make the motor go faster than it's rated for, it may mechanically fail.) You may also need accessories to keep the electrical noise generated contained.

Build a Rotary Phase Converter, generally done with a much larger 3 phase motor and a means to get it started.

For a tablesaw, the VFD offers little advantage (IMHO) unless you can do it for much less than a replacement motor. On a lathe, the VFD is a very desirable thing in its own right.


Could I conceivably use power from my neighbors (hypothetical) solar panels in the event of a blackout? I know some people have solar panels and produce excess power that they then sell back to the grid. Since they generate some amount of power that they could sell back to the grid.
So hypothetically, if my neighbor and I were the last two loads on the power line, is it conceivable that If we were to experience a blackout, that I could get power off of my neighbors solar panels? (Additionally, if multiple houses kept their load under what was supplied off the solar panel, then could they all share the output?)
Edit: I realize a lot of answers have been posted, but for the original intent of this question I was curious about transferring power from my neighbors house to mine using only existing municipal wiring (eg: not bringing suicide cords or the like into the mix)

There is disconnecting hardware to prevent backfeeding into the grid when the power company loses power. These disconnects are similar to the transfer switches required on generators. The disconnecting device is usually or can be locked and inspected by the utility that feeds the grid. It would be highly illegal and dangerous to try and bypass any of this equipment. Just run some extension cords from you neighbor to your house.


Single-lever shower faucet - no warm water; just hot/cold Built my house in 2005.  We have a tankless hot water heater.  It appears to be working fine.  Plenty of hot water from other faucets.

Guest bathroom shower is all from original contractor install.  Single-lever ball handle, American Standard - lift to start water flow, turn handle to adjust temperature.

About three weeks ago, I noticed that the water in the shower is either totally cold or too hot.  I can't get a "warm" temperature.  If it's too hot, for example, and I "nudge" the lever to the right, the water becomes completely cold.  And vice versa.

The water pressure, regardless of temperature, seems fine.  I do not notice a drop in pressure whether the temp is all cold or all hot.

So, before I call a plumber, I am wondering if this is possibly the sign of a bad cartridge, which I think I can replace on my own and skip the repair bill.  However, I really don't want to waste my time disassembling the faucet if a bad cartridge could not be causing this problem.

Would appreciate your thoughts.  Thank you!

Yes a bad cartridge can be the issue.

I speak from experience, you may want to forgo buying said cartridge until you take it apart and inspect the valve and parts.

Often times pieces of plastic, rock, minerals, bad sweat 'balls' and other contaminants can get in there and bind the mixing valve in the cartridge.

Also, if you find it is cracked, warped, or otherwise damaged, you might want to get the replacement from a reputable parts supplier. I was stunned to see that Home Depot was selling all plastic and Kohler OEM part was 90% metal (OEM, pronounced as separate letters, is short for "original equipment manufacturer").

I tried the Home Depot part to no avail. The OEM part worked and continued working at least for 8 years until I sold the place.


Change dimmer switch to regular I have a dimmer switch, need to change to regular for a ceiling fan. From the picture, I think the black wire is my "neutral," and the green is obviously ground. The red wire to the upper right is labeled for use with a three-way switch and not attached (which this circuit is not). My confusion is that there is a red and a black coming out of the wall, wound together and connected to a single red going to the dimmer switch. Do I install both red and black to my regular switch as "hot? (with the other black as neutral?")

Pigtail time

You'll need a couple lengths of the same gauge wire (preferably black, but any color other than white or green will do here) as what's in the box right now to serve as pigtails; if you don't have some NM laying around to shuck for this, just get a foot or so of 12AWG black THHN.

Once you have the old dimmer removed, one of them gets shucked of its insulation and goes between the existing ground bundle in the box and the green screw on the new switch, the second pigtail goes from the existing wirenut with the red and black wires in it to one brass screw as that's your always-hot, and the final pigtail goes from the existing wirenut with the single black wire in it to the other brass screw on the switch as that's your switched-hot (NOT "neutral" at all -- the neutral is the white bundle in back that you aren't touching).

Button it all back up, turn the breaker back on, and enjoy your new fan!


Could I use this Speaker Wire for my thermostat? I had this wire left over and thought I might as well use it if I can. I think it will work but I just wanted to make sure! So can I use this speaker wire for the Rc and C terminals on my thermostat? The other end will be going to a 24volt AC transformer...more specifically: https://www.amazon.com/Elk-TRG2440-24VAC-Transformer-Fuse/dp/B0007N5LJK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Thank you!

Typical "thermostat wire" is a NEC/UL type CL2 cable, just like your speaker wire says it is, so as a replacement for an 18/2 thermostat cable, this will work just fine.


Ceiling Fan with light kit and remote on 2 different switches I want to install a ceiling fan that has a led light kit and an included remote control 2 different wall switches (one for fan and one for light).

The fan only has 3 wires (one for the motor, one for neutral, and one ground). There is no wire for the light. There are 4 wires coming out of the ceiling to use 2 switches and I would like to use the existing wiring in my house.

My question is how can I wire the fan to control the light and the fan on 2 seperate switches that are in my house. The fan also has an included remote control that I would like to use, if possible.

Instructions for the fan:
https://images.atgstores.com/pdf/278/irenehuggerlk-installation.pdf

You can't... Well, you can't use separate switches to control the fan and light, and also use the remote. So you'll have to decide if you want to use two wall switches, or the remote.
The reason that there's only three wires coming out of the fan unit, is because you're only supplying power to the remote module. The remote module then controls the fan and light, depending on what buttons are pressed on the remote control. If you pull out the remote module, you'll find four wires going from it to the fan unit. One wire for neutral, one for ground, one for the lights, and one for the fan.
If you just want to use the remote control.

Connect the ground from the ceiling, to the ground from the remote module in the fan.
Connect the neutral from the ceiling, to the neutral from the remote module in the fan.
Connect the "hot" wire from one of the switches, to the "hot" wire from the remote module in the fan.
Cap off the extra "hot" wire from the other wall switch.

If you want to use two wall switches

Remove the remote module from the fan.
Connect the ground wire from the ceiling, to the ground wire(s) in the fan unit.
Connect the neutral from the ceiling, to the neutral(s) in the fan unit.
Connect the "hot" wire from one of the wall switches, to one of the "hot" wires from the fan unit.
Connect the "hot" wire from the other wall switch, to the other "hot" wire from the fan unit.

If you want to use the remote for the light or fan, and a wall switch for the other. That can also be accomplished, but I'm not going to cover it here.


Mounting / Support requirements for an oversized book case I am building a large bookcase, 12 feet wide by 5 feet high. Not a problem if it sits on the floor but the twist is that I must raise it up 18" due to a wall to wall hot water baseboard heater and electrical outlets along that wall.

I plan to use use 9 heavy-duty angle supports (rated 125 lb load) every 16 inches on the wall and wood support legs (1 inch decorative spindles every 3 feet on the front edge of the 12" depth unit. I estimate the load to be close to 800 lbs of books and items plus the lumber.

I have a few questions:

I believe I have sufficient load support.  The brackets alone support 1,125 (9*125) lbs.  With the additional front leg support, does this provide ample support?
What kind of screws should I use to hold the brackets? The sheetrock is 5/8 thick and the support bracket is 1/8". I don't want the screws supporting the brackets to snap under the load.  Would 3" steel nails be better?
The leg supports are 1" spindles.  Would it be advisable to use a 4X4 baluster - the kind used at the end of a staircase.  Obviously a 4*4 would provide a ton more support - but its bulkier and less attractive -- but is it overkill? I guess I can space them every 4 feet?

Thanks for any assistance!

PS - The unit would be secured at the top.  It will reside in a space that has a soffit for ductwork and will be secured to the crossbeam for stability, so no danger in tipping forward.

The angle brackets alone should be adequate if two things are true: Your case is well-built, and it's fastened securely to the wall. The spindles will do little to support the unit should they be accidentally knocked out by children, pets, or you. They shouldn't be considered a critical support component, in my opinion.
No, don't use nails. They don't have the pullout strength of screws and aren't removable (practically speaking). Use large wood screws (#14 or so), or lag screws (1/4" to 5/16" or so if the bracket holes allow). The key is penetration into the framing lumber. I'd want 2" of depth into the lumber itself. Pilot properly for maximum strength (slightly smaller than the screw shank). Also a factor is the number of screws per bracket. I'd want at least two. Also a factor is mounting of the cabinet to the wall. If you have a stout back panel, or a set of rails through which you can fasten, decorative or hidden screws into the framing will take much of the load off the brackets.
I addressed this earlier. Any support legs must have adequate diagonal bracing to prevent knockout. This means that the effort and expense may make them impractical. In any case, 1" is probably too small. Look to heavier oak stair balusters in the 1-1/2" or 2" size, with the milled dimensions being slightly smaller.


How can I remove the faucet cover I dropped down the drain? I dropped the plastic (H) round faucet cover of my bathtub faucet down my tub drain, and now the water will barely drain out. What do I do.

Fish it out. A piece of gum (or tape) on the end of a stick might work, as might a clipped coat hanger with a 90° hook at one end.


removal of mold in sump well that doesn't have a pump How do I remove mold from the sump well water and on the sides of the well and also return the water to clear and not cloudy

Spray the sides of the well with dilute bleach periodically (maybe a 4:1 water:bleach ratio) and pour some straight bleach in the standing water.  Start with just a little and add more as needed (or make the mix less dilute).


Chirping from a hard-wired fire alarm I know that when you hear a periodic chirping noise from smoke detectors, it means the battery needs to be replaced. I had been hearing such a chirping noise in my apartment building for a few hours, and just realized that the sound is not coming from the smoke detector(s), but from the hard-wired horn/strobe device in the hallway.

What could be causing this? To be clear, the alarm is not going off - it is making the exact same sound as a dying smoke detector, but from a hardwired SpectrAlert Classic horn/strobe device. We did just have an intense lightning storm in which the neighboring building lost power. Could the panel have been hit by a surge?

Even the wired smoke alarms have a end of life date.  They start to chirp when they are not functioning up to spec any more.  This can be caused by accumulation of particles on the sensor (from smoke, fumes, etc.)  When one of mine starting chirping (single beep every few minutes or so), I took it out and noticed that the install date was about 8 or 9 years ago, for a product that was supposed to last 10 years.

You can probably remove it from the base plate and look at the back side.  There should be a manufacture date on it and instructions regarding how long the device should last.  If it is anywhere near that date plus the expected product life, then replace it.

I would replace all of the smoke alarms in the house at the same time if they have similar dates on them.  These things start chirping at most inopportune times.  (Seems like they know when it is most annoying).  The safety of your family is worth it, and knowing that they are all good is peace of mind.