Electrical fault tracing Red Hot leg of 14/3 cable disconnected at panel but still picking current somewhere from the other leg.  Circuit breaker does not trip.  Everything works ok on the good leg. How do I find the fault?

Both a non contact tester and a voltmeter will show voltage on a disconnected wire that is running parallel to a hot wire. Using A load like a light bulb put on the red wire to neutral will take the voltage closer to 0. If there truly is a short from another hot wire to the red the bulb will light. If the bulb lights the short could be in any junction box or at a staple holding the wire in place, the last possibility is a nail or screw was driven through the cable. There is a tool that can scan through walls that some electricians have that can pinpoint an open or short through the walls. I would double check and verify the voltage with a load because most times it is just induced voltage from running with another wire.


Replacing receptacle, ground and neutral are connected My house was built in 1974. I have doubts the wiring has changed since then (aluminum everywhere) and have already noticed some bad things (downstairs potlights on same breaker as upstairs living room!?!?)

I bought some tamper/USB sockets to install in my bedroom, two to be exact. I installed the first one with success. Then I proceeded to remove the second outlet, to replace it, and noticed it was a split receptacle (at least I thought). It was a 3 prong, and had two hot and two neutral connections. I figured someone just put this on two circuits for some reason, so I decided to just use one.

So I safely marretted one neutral and one hot (not together of course!) which appeared to be coming from the same sheath, and used the other two for the new receptacle. I flipped on the breaker and not only did the new receptacle not turn on, but the other one I had just installed was now off.

This lead me to believe that the second receptacle was daisy-chained off the first one. But it was really confusing. I then discovered some stuff and having gone from electrical college to programming, I forget what is good and bad here, but I am sure there is a lot of bad.

My Hot 1 has 120VAC between everything. Hot1 to Hot2, Netural1, Neutral2, and yes, ground.

My Neutral 1 is also shorted to ground.

These are all confirmed via my DVM. What do I do? I googled this and someone said

  It's called a bootlegged ground. This is commonly done in older houses that had a two prong receptacle and was updated to a three prong receptacle. The old house didn't have a ground and this tricks the inspector's electric checker, so your house passes inspection.

Hot1 and Neutral1 are the feed from the panel.  Hot2 and Neutral2 feed the next receptacle in the chain.

If you connect Hot1 and Neutral1 to the receptacle, this receptacle will work.  If you also connect Hot2 and Neutral2 to the receptacle, all the devices downstream will also work.

Depending on the new receptacle you're installing, you should wire it the same as the old receptacle.

Just remember that the "black" ungrounded (hot) conductors should be attached to the brass colored screws, and the "white" grounded (neutral) conductors should attach to the silver colored screws.

As for the ground. It's odd that there's only one grounding wire.  Where does it come from, one of the cables, the box, somewhere else?  In any case, the bare grounding conductor should not be connected to the grounded (neutral) conductor.


Am I required to retrofit an egress window in a 1950s home to meet code? Our master bedroom in our house is located in the basement. The one window it was does not have an egress window and was like this since the 50's. Am i grandfathered in or do I have to replace the old window with a new egress window to be up to code. This will require substantial foundation work to make the opening to the correct size.

The required egress window size is 5.7 square feet, except for first floor and basement window is 5.0 square feet. The net height shall be a minimum of 24” and net width shall be 20” wide.  (See ICC R310.2.1)

The window sill shall be not more than 44” above the finished floor and provided with an appropriate window well if located in the basement. (R310.2.2 and R310.2.3)

Yes, you are “grandfathered in”, (See R310..6), unless you’re remodeling your basement and adding a sleeping room.

However, how do you sleep at night if you put a child or guest in that room? Do you at least have smoke detectors in the bedroom AND in the basement?


Why can't I connect a dimmer in line with an outdoor security light? I have an outdoor security floodlight (with motion sensor and photocell) that I'd like to be able to dim.
The user manual says to not connect it to a dimmer, but doesn't explain why.
What is the reason for this?
Is it a fire hazard, or will it simply prevent the motion sensor from working if I dim the light too low?

Generally, schemes where you want to control a light 2 ways at once, do not work.  The two methods end up in contention/conflict with each other.
The motion sensor and photocell units need 24x7 power. They do not work on reduced power, partial power or the wacky waveform you get out of a triac dimmer, which is made only for lights. Since you are using a single light+motion sensor+photocell unit, you can't separate out and dim only the light, unless the internal arrangement of the unit allows you to do so, which is pretty rare these days.
Modern motion sensor+photocell+LED units generally have a single power supply on board that makes 12V, both for the motion sensor and the light.  (12V motion sensors are ~$10, 120V motion sensors are ~$20 due to the need for an internal power conversion and a higher safety rating switch).  If you could access the internals of the unit, it's certainly easy to get a PWM dimmer for ~12V LEDs, that could go between the sensor and the LED.  The cheapies have a physical knob that will stay where you put it.
Honestly, your best option - though it'll be a little complex - is to do exactly that with discrete components.  The photocell is generally part of the motion sensor, and so you don't need 2 components there.
So you have a 12V power supply... then a 12V motion sensor... then a 12V PWM dimmer... then 12V LED lights of your choice, which are readily available.
It'd be possible to do that same thing in 120V, however choosing a dimmer would be a challenge.  Most dimmers these days do not like being downline of a switch, and will do undesirable things like reset themselves to full brightness etc.


Sediment/flakes in hot water For the past year or two, I’ve been seeing a lot of these hard brittle flakes coming out of all the faucets in my house (kitchen sink, bathroom sinks, and shower/tub).
Now that I actually have the time and funds to work on this, I’d like to get this fixed!
The flakes only occur in hot water, and clog the shower head. The water is from a city main line, not a well, and we also do have quite hard water. What can I do to diagnose and/or fix the issue?
Some history of the water heater:

It's a relatively new Noritz tankless water heater, installed about 2 years ago. It replaced an older Noritz tankless heater, which came with the house.
There used to be a water softener attached to the water heater, but we disconnected it awhile ago since it was old and we suspected it was the source/cause of the flakes.

Here’s a picture of the flakes, for reference:

If you have a tank-type heater, flush the tank.
Beware that if the tank drain has not been used, it may fail to seal well after being used to flush the tank (so try to schedule the operation for when the stores are open and you can go get another one.)
A water softener (at least on the supply to the water heater) is probably advisable since you have hard water from the city, and heating it tends to cause stuff to come out of solution. Your flakes are mostly limestone (calcium carbonate, dissolved in the water, which comes out of solution as the water is heated), in most parts of the world.


Wood vs Laminate Flooring I am changing my carpet to laminate/wood flooring. I was told laminate is more durable and better on the budget. I have been in homes and businesses since deciding to do this and when walking on the floors it sounds hollow...I do not want this for my home. Is it like this with all laminate? Can you suggest anything that would be nice, durable and affordable?

First, we should clarify terms. Hardwood is pretty clear...it refers to solid wood that is nailed and/or glued to a subfloor.

Laminate is a it fuzzier. It's sometimes used to refer to Pergo, which is a flooring that has a top surface that is actually printed paper. It's fine, but not as durable as engineered laminates, which are more like plywood...having a solid wood top surface.

For this discussions, we'll omit the Pergo option as that's usually reserved for cheap rentals and the like.

Between engineered laminate and hardwood, it's really impossible to say one is more or less durable than the other, as it will heavily depend on the quality of the manufacturing, the protective finishing and, of course, the actual species of wood being used.

As for the 'hollow' sound, yes, laminates will sound like that because they float on top of of the floor rather than being connected directly to the subfloor. But you can reduce that by choosing a quality underlayment. I've had success personally using cork as an underlayment.

Today, I usually choose engineered flooring because:

it's cheaper
quick to installe
more dimensionally stable in climates where you have swings of high/low humidity

However, hardwood flooring has one huge benefit over laminate:

it can be refinished.

The latter means a hardwood floor can last many, many decades.


Dishwasher - valve on water pipe designed as not to be opened I'm connecting dishwasher in my new place and I'm baffled by the valve on the pipe. I swear it looks like it was designed so that it won't be opened. Unless it doesn't turn... but this is ball type.

In case it helps: I'm in the UK. Not being British I can't think of any way to open it...
Help?

There is small protrusion from the side of the white pipe which prevents me from turning. Weird, to say the least.

The photo is washed out so it's hard to see exactly what's going on, but it looks like there might be a small screw on top of the shut-off lever, can you take that screw off, remove the lever, and turn it 180 degrees so it's no longer blocked?


How to polish a metal flooring like the one in this image? What equipment/chemical is needed to clean my metal flooring.

The product is known as Aluminum Diamond Plate.

Sadly it is going to take some work and if you can, rent a commercial floor buffer, or expect to spend a lot of hours and your hands and knees. Which would still require at least a hand held buffer. (Choice of hand held or commercial floor buffer should be based on square footage and accessibility.)

Taking Care of Aluminum Diamond Plate
Like any other type of high-use metal, it is important to take good care of your aluminum diamond plate to help keeping it looking and working great. Because it is used for such demanding purposes, chances are good that it will get quite dirty on a regular basis. Below is a basic guide on how to clean aluminum diamond plate.

Step One: Cleansers
Do not ever use harsh detergents or floor soap to clean diamond plate. Don’t allow water or cleaning products to sit on the surface for a long period of time. Harsh chemicals will eventually destroy the finish, as will acid-based cleansers, detergents and compounds, when used improperly. Non-detergent car wash soaps are your best choice. Wash and then rinse thoroughly right away to prevent staining, water spots, blemishes or etching on the surface.

Step Two: Protection
A protective coat of wax will help to keep your diamond plate looking new, regardless of whether it is aluminum, steel or stainless steel. Regular waxing will help to preserve the diamond plate and reduce the amount of time required to clean it on a regular basis. Start with clean diamond plate and evaluate the condition of the aluminum diamond plate to see how much wax and correction needs to be done to get it looking shiny and new.

Step Three: Correction
In some cases, it takes more than clean diamond plate and some wax to get your metal looking new. You might need to use specialized metal cleaners or polishes, as well as a buffer to get it back to its original shine. Buffing and polishing will take a lot of time and effort, so make sure you set aside enough time to get the job done. You don’t want to leave any cleaners or polish on the metal longer than the manufacturer’s recommendations suggest.

Preventative Maintenance for Aluminum, Steel and Stainless Steel Diamond Plate
Sometimes the best way to clean diamond plate is to never really let it get out of hand in the first place. The next part of our guide to proper care and maintenance of diamond plate is a series of tips that you can take that will help to reduce the amount of time required to clean and care for the metal on a regular basis. Establishing good habits like these will help you to take even better care of your aluminum diamond plate than ever before.

More can be read here: http://midcitysteel.com/proper-care-maintenance-of-aluminum-diamond-plate/

Here is a link to a product called Marine 31. It has good reviews and great results. https://www.amazon.com/Marine-31-Heavy-Cut-Oxidation-Cleaner/dp/B00CMHJMVM

Before:

After:


Remove Plastic Bracing by a Window I apologize if I'm abusing terminology, I'm not completely sure the correct names for window anatomy.

I'm trying to remove a plastic brace that's adjacent to a window and I can't figure out why it won't budge.

There's a silicone seal between the brace and the window casing, which I've broken to the best of my knowledge. It is L-shaped to wrap around the drywall. Still when I try to pull the brace out it refuses to move.

Any thoughts on how I can figure out the issue or remove the brace are appreciated!

That is a drywall trim piece and it hooks back around behind the drywall which is why it is not budging. The only way to remove it is to remove the drywall. For your purposes, you could continue to break off the outside visible leg and then cut off any left over exposed pieces with a razor knife


low voltage from circuit - bad breaker? Background: I'm doing some rewiring work in the kitchen. There were three circuits coming into a junction box that controlled the sink disposal, dishwasher, a few receptacles and a light. So I got everything the way I want, and the dishwasher circuit seems like it's dead. First thought is bad wiring, so I rechecked everything - no issues. Next thought, there's a GFCI upstream that I tripped while I was working (I've wasted a few hours on that problem before). But an ohmmeter check on the common/ground says no GFCI tripped. So I recalibrated my voltmeter and tested the line again and lo and behold, there is some power, but only about 20V.

Question: could the breaker really have gone bad while I was working on the junction box? Everything I know says it's possible but extraordinarily unlikely. I've even replaced a breaker before thinking it had gone bad, and it turned out not to be the problem after all. So before I do it again, is there anything else I'm missing?

These kinds of problems are very difficult to diagnose without being on site. Rather than guessing at a single fix, let me give you a process to follow.  Think of electricity as a closed water system, with hot water coming in and cold water draining out. What we are looking for is a leak in the system. I'd start at the breaker. Check the load screw to the ground/neutral buss. 120vac ok? yes, then we move further down the line to the next possible junction point. At each subsequent point, check your hot side to neutral and to ground until you find the point where there is no longer a proper 120vac measurement. When you find this point, if you have 120 hot to ground, but not to the neutral, you have an open neutral. Turn OFF the power and check the neutral to ground with an ohm meter. It should be very close to 0 ohms.  If you see no voltage to either neutral or ground, and the neutral to ground is 0 ohms, then you have an open hot.  Check the input side of the GFIC and the load side in a similar method.  If you try to follow a very straight logic, testing the three possibilites at each point,(open ground/open neutral/open hot) hopefully you will find the culprit.   Good Luck


How can I update this very stubborn antique bed frame so the mattress fits properly? How stubborn you ask?  Well the bed frame has three issues, but really only one and the other two are only a result of the first:

The rails are too short.  Not by much, maybe an inch. Maybe even less.  Just enough so that our last two beds never rested naturally in the rails, resulting in my girl trying to figure out daily if she's getting big or if I buy cheap mattresses (neither is anywhere near the truth).

The rails curve inward at each end rather than continue straight to meet the headboard and footboard.  I imagine this was, and maybe still is, a nicer design, keeping the bed from slipping around.  But since they are too short, they make a nice ledge for one end or the other of the mattress to lay atop and bend the springs, etc. (For those that can't imagine what I'm getting at, I found pictures and will provide in a moment.)

The end connectors neither hook or bolt. There are no screws or small parts that I've noticed.  The end of each rail (behind the curves) is a jigsaw puzzle looking tongue that fits into a corresponding groove/latch on the boards.

As promised, here are some pictures. I'm shocked I found some really good ones:

This person has the same problem as me. Notice the tilt.

Same album as above. This one shows better the interlocking connector.

(source: cathousebeds.com)
Our frame isn't quite so frightening and industrial, but this is a good shot of a similar design with no bed.  Our pegs are more tapered like the first two photos.
So now that you've heard my problem and even gotten some neat pics of other people's bed frames, here is what I've come up with so far, and I'm hoping to get more intel here:
Option 1:
Get the bed frames extended.  This was the suggestion at another site last year and it proved to be a good idea but hard to execute.  There was concern for the integrity of the rails, in terms of both their antique status as well as their actual post-op performance.  None of the welders seemed more than casually confident, if that. I got more responses like 'Oh sure, I can give that a shot.'  The last thing we want is to ruin our horribly short classic frame and crush our cat in a dangerous trip to the floor.  But maybe someone can advise if this is the best idea and who I should lookup in the phonebook other than welder.
Option 2:
Lose the rails, keep the connectors.  This was my nifty idea, which means it's either genius or the kind of bad idea I tend to fall for.  Simply chop off the heads of the rails, just below the curve I would think, and have the iron worker weld on the appropriate connector for a modern frame.  The problems I have seen in this are : 1) There is no going back, the current rails are scrap or installation art, 2) I don't know if the curve will be a nice touch or in the way but I am pretty sure cutting higher would be too much and I'd just have broken puzzle knobs, 3) I don't know if it will be sturdy and sound enough for either end of this abominator of an adapter, and 4) I have no clue what the appropriate "new" piece would be right for the new end.
Option 3:
Something else.  I was pondering some sort of funky extender with just the puzzle bits, but I remembered I'm an idiot and that wouldn't get past the curves.  Her mom suggested we pile on the bed slats so the bed rests on top, which was better but not great and did result in some loud clacking wake ups and cats going everywhere.  Plus if there is some reliable or clever solution that lets us keep as much of the bed frame (or as little, if that's the way it goes) but modernized, I'd prefer that over having to deal with this again with the next mattress or surrender and have the headboard lean on the wall and footboard go in the garage.
Also, if anyone can tell me or point me to more information about this style of bed frame or bed rail, I'd love to get nerdy details. It will make however much this costs me in time and dough sound more romantic.

It may be that the frame was originally designed to have slats span the rails, and not have the mattress (box spring) sit directly on the rails. This would have lifted the mattress up a bit, and possibly allowed it to ride over the bits that are giving you trouble.

This was one persons solution:


How do I change the light bulb in this fan? I can't figure out how to get into the light fixture on this fan.  There don't appear to be any screws or tabs.  I tried pulling it down gently.  I also tried twisting it gently.  It is possible that it twists or pulls down, but I don't want to damage the fan by applying too much pressure.  How do I change the bulb on this fan?

The fan is a Harbor Breeze Aero.  Only the glass comes off.  Slight push up and a twist counter clockwise twists the glass.  Then you let it drop down slowly.  It's about a 1/3 to 1/2 twist to get it to the stopping point.


loosening bolt on the steel support strut that's secured to the ceiling of the garage I was working on my garage door the other day and I noticed that the steel supporting strut (or more appropriate name for this? See the picture) tilted due to a loosening bolt, the ceiling cracked because of that too.

It concerns me. It's obviously the strut is no longer secured but I don't know how long it can hold. I can't tell what material inside the ceiling that the bolts stuck into either.

My question, if I want to fix this, how should I start? Or, honestly I don't think I am up to a job like this, so another question: if I want someone to come over to fix this, which category of professions this kind of work falls into? So that I can start googling and shopping for professionals.

It looks to me like a bit of a can of worms.

The perforated angle iron is set up so that the holes are right on the edge of the vertical drywall - there's nothing solid for them to anchor to.  But you don't have much flexibility placing the track, it has to line up with the door.  That jog in the ceiling is in a very inopportune spot.

It's a bit of a hack, but you could drive screws at an angle and maybe, hopefully, hit wood framing behind the drywall, and get off easy.

Otherwise you'll have to remove the drywall and extend the structure out so there's something above the angle iron to attach to.

If you're lucky it may be an I beam behind there, and beam clamps on the flange may work out.

If it's a glue-lam beam or something you could just nail a 2x4 to the beam to use as a cleat for the screws.


Baseboards on wavy wall I have a 25 foot drywall wall left that I am doing some wainscoting... I ripped up the old baseboards, and am bumping them out 3/4" basically following this guide a bit: http://www.familyhandyman.com/walls/how-to-build-a-wainscoted-wall/view-all

So the problem is that that particular wall is a bit wavy - It was real noticeable before I ripped out the baseboards, and so I was thinking that maybe I can make the 3/4" poplar smooth it out a bit.  Lining it up, I see that it can a bit, but even if it hugs the wall a little, they will be wavy to.

Wondering what the best thing to do is... sand the new boards where it's uneven, or something else?

If you really want the wainscoting to be straight, you could put shims behind the wainscot and baseboard to make them straight and level even if the wall isn't, and use a scribed board at the top to follow whatever curves exist there....


Attaching plastic to glass The people who repaired my wife’s car’s windshield didn’t do a good job, and the little plastic enclosure surrounding the mirror (containing a light and a sunglasses holder) has fallen off. I tried some superglue and it fell off again within a week, presumably because it gets so hot and humid in the car (Georgia summer, parked outside). What’s a simple and reliable glue to attach plastic to glass?

The Glue E6000 is quite strong also but requires a full 24hours to cure and must be untouched in the mean time. It should harden after about 30 mins but it's really best to give it 24hours.  Also its a flexible glue so its less likely to give out from vibration. They also have a "industrial" variant called e6800. I have used it for a few years now and its great. glass is listed but i have no personal experience with that.
Brands like loctite make glue for holding Rear view mirrors to glass so that may be a option.
Hope this helps!


Would replacing my boiler's control board resolve intermittent issues after a water leak? My Potterton Suprima HE 60 is approaching 10 years old. A few years ago it went badly wrong because the metal flue had corroded (known design flaw) and condensate had dripped down through the boiler.

That was all fixed but every now and again it stops working. The programmer is on, the thermostat is calling for heat, the motorised valves have opened but the boiler is dead - no burner, no LEDs lit. And then half an hour later it springs into life as if nothing has happened.

A couple of engineers have looked at it but say there's nothing they can do when it's working - they need to see it when it's dead, but they never arrive quickly enough to see that.

So I'm thinking it's time for drastic action - my options would seem to be new PCB or new boiler. Given the former is likely to be considerably cheaper, is it worth trying, or is there a danger the fault is not on the PCB and it will be a waste of time?

One last wrinkle - this morning the heating was off but when I checked the boiler was showing an "Ignition" fault. However, resetting cleared it and it appeared to fire up just fine...

I don't know what the community is going to make of all this but any advice is much appreciated!

I'm wondering if this is a temperature-related problem, where the trouble (wherever it is) happens when the boiler is hot, and fixes itself when the boiler cools.

The next time this fails, you might try hitting the PCB with some cooling spray and see if the problem immediately goes away. If it does, then the PCB is the problem, and replace that sucker.


Water began flowing from some taps even with whole house shut off I recently shut off the whole-house water supply when replacing 2nd floor bathroom sink faucet cartridges because I couldn't get the sink supply line shut off all the way for the hot side to close all the way. I opened the other bathroom sink taps to verify water was truly off and started working.

After maybe an hour, maybe a bit less, water started coming from the open taps of the second sink (which were open), and dripping from the showerhead (which was not). No water came from the faucet on which I was working - though I also had the under sink shutoffs shut.

Why did this happen? Did I just not have the whole-house valve shut all the way? If so, why the delay? Was water just slowly making its way to the 2nd floor? Is there something else going on here that I'm overlooking, like, should have also turned off the supply just to the hot water heater (though the whole-house I thought would trump that)?

All ended up fine, but I'm interested in any ideas why this would have happened.

Thanks,

Andrew B.

Okay, we gained more info in the comments, and now the order of events seems clear:

You turned off the water to the whole house,
opened taps on the first floor AND second floor to drain the pipes
closed taps on the first floor and then went to work
after about an hour, the taps on the second floor start to drip

We can now see the reason for the delay: Clearly the 'whole house shutoff' was not completely closed, and the water had to slowly fill all the pipes up to the level of the second floor.  If you had left a tap open on the first floor, you would have seen the drip almost immediately.


Can I install a new outlet here? I saw a blank faceplate at our new place, decided to open it up, and found two black cables going straight through the box (see picture). This would be a great spot for a new outlet, so I wanted to make sure I had the right idea before I went ahead and tried anything.

Is it as simple as clipping one of the wires and attaching both cut ends to the respective terminal on the new outlet? Does it matter which cable I pick? My guess is that one cable goes from the local circuit to another outlet to the left, and the other cable goes from the circuit breaker to power the back room. My thought would be to cut power to both, cut one, and check to see which set of outlets down the line no longer work.

I've replaced plenty of outlets before, but haven't actually installed a new one. I just want to make sure I have a good plan before I attempt this and screw things up or hurt myself.

No, you can't because that's not an electrical box or cable but is rather a telecom cable and bracket.


Help with sauna heater wiring diagram Hoping to get some help understanding this sauna heater wiring diagram.  Pics at bottom.

Disclaimer that I have an electrician friend "helping" (not for free though!) me on the weekends so I can't go too far wrong, but I am doing the runs and prep work to help the project go faster -- and also just have an inquisitive mind toward learning and understanding all of this.  That is just to say, don't be afraid to answer for educational purposes.

The unit consists of a wall-mounted controller (outside of sauna) and the heater itself + temperature sensor, inside the sauna.

The controller is supplied with 240v and contains the relay and PCB/controls to turn on the unit.  Upon turning on the unit, obviously the heater is energized.

It's a 9KW heater.  I have 6/3 with ground on a 50 amp breaker running to the sauna location.

It also has an option to power a 120v light (inside the sauna) from the controller, which I will not be taking advantage of.

My questions:

Will I be using the neutral from the 220 run at all? (remember I am not going to use the 120v light option)
I am generally confused about the jumpers on NN / LL for the power input, but only on NN for the output to the heater.

Generally, looking for confirmation on what goes where :)  Would appreciate if you could help demystify for me!

Pics:

EDIT:

Here are all 3 wiring diagrams supplied in the manual. I assumed the top one was relevant for me but perhaps not.

The bottom drawing is for European 3-phase "wye" power with 3 legs of 240V and a neutral in the middle. All connections are made hot-neutral.

The top drawing is for European single-phase (aka 3-phase "wye" where your house is only provisioned with one of the phases).  It has one leg of 240V and neutral.

The middle drawing is made for North America/Japan/Philippines "240V with neutral in the middle" (note the 60Hz assumption which is correct everywhere but southern Japan). Both hots have to be switched, so they change out to a much stronger single relay that switches both legs.

Not shown: the drawing to wire this up 208V/240V "delta", which you might do in New York City, Brazil or anywhere with wild-leg delta service.  That wires up just like #3 except the 6 heater terminals are rearranged G U V U W W to put the 3 heating elements in a triangle (delta).

The reason for so many terminals is so they have the maximum flexibility to support a wide variety of configurations. In fact there is nowhere in the world you can't wire this.   You only need to hook up 2 wires (other than ground) and also assure the relay is 2-pole and the heater jumpering is correct.

Do not continue if you see a 3-pole relay, you may think "extra pole, who cares" but the 2-pole relay handles larger amperage!

Keep in mind yellow/green is always ground (as is green or bare) worldwide.


Do I have the right tools for drilling granite? What I'm doing:  taking rounded granite stones and cutting the bottoms flat with an angle grinder and drilling 2-3" the other side for a flower, pen, etc. (3/8")

What I'm using:  Bosch multi purpose drill bit (3/8") and a Makita 6A 5/8" hammer drill

Question:  It seems like it's taking forever to drill the hole. Is the hammer drill or bit not suitable for the task?  I've been at it for about 10 minutes and I'm about 1/2" into the rock: is this normal?

Definitely using the wrong drill bit. You should be using a masonry bit, which is designed for drilling into concrete, masonry, and stone. It has a different tip than a regular wood/metal bit.


Can I attach a HEPA filter to the HVAC outlet? I am currently living in China and want to improve the indoor air-quality. We have a Hitachi R410A HVAC. All the room in the house are controlled separately. Just to make it clear up front, I am not a technical guy and have no idea about air conditioning or HVAC (just learned what a HVAC is recently while doing some research into my issue).

The air is 'fresh' from outside. Since the Pm2.5 count is very high outside, I would like to filter the air that is blown in. I was thinking of a very straightforward solution, but I am not sure if it is possible. I want to buy some HEPA filters and cut them to the right size and fix these before the A/C outlets.

Will this work? Or does someone expect the pressure drop will be too high and create malfunctions or breakdown of the HVAC?

Thanks for the replies! As requested, I added some pictures of the unit that is placed outside (pic 1 and 2), example of the vents where the air from the room is sucked in an goes to outside (pic 3) and some of the vents were the air is blown in to the room (pic 4). Each room has its own set of vents. The HVAC is central and each room can be controlled separately with a controller on the wall.

Also attached a link to the unit that we have (Hitachi multi set free, R410A, FSNQ) link to product Technical data brochure In the brochure I nowhere find any mentioneing of HEPA filters, so I guess these are not present.

Any more suggestions, thoughts about if it would be possible the attach a HEPA filter (need to think how without causing to much leakage) without causing serious HVAC malfunctioning would be appreciated.

Adding a filter onto an HVAC unit that's not designed for one will almost certainly cause problems... definitely with efficiency, possibly mechanical problems as well. If your model does not have a built-in filter you would probably be better served by getting a standalone air filter.

However, many units do have at least a basic filter built-in, and you may be able to clean it or replace it. Typically they are on the input side of the unit, to remove any particles or debris before the air passes through the unit. If you have or can find a user's manual, check there for instructions. Or it may be obvious once you start looking. In the USA they are often large square filters that come in standard sizes and slide into the unit, but on a smaller model like a window unit it may be a non-standard size. I do not know anything about HVAC equipment in China.


Should I be concerned about power leakage through a Z-wave switch? I have wired my LED Christmas lights on my front porch through a light fixture adapter.  Also, I just replaced the light switch with a remote z-wave switch.  When the light switch is off, the lights still glow a bit.  According to the answer to a previous question this is likely because of slight power leakage from the switch--that was what I suspected before I investigated.

So here is my question:  Does this cause or indicate any safety concerns?

I don't think there are any real safety concerns - a lot of fancy light switches work this way, and many have the proper safety approvals, which they presumably wouldn't be able to get if it was dangerous.

Mostly it's just an annoyance when you have lights that do light up with the tiny amount of power they allow through.  If that bothers you, the only solution is to replace it with a switch that requires or optionally uses the neutral - and if necessary rewire so the neutral is at the switch box.

The only concern I can think of is that the circuit is never fully off, even when the switch is off.  So if you are working on the circuit (like replacing the light fixture), you need to turn it off at the breaker.  That's something you should always do anyways in case the switch is wired wrong, or some idiot turns it on while you are working.


Wall Oven and Microwave Vent to Attic I bought a house that has a microwave & wall oven combination.  It's a Kenmore model from 2008.  The microwave & wall oven combo vents through a metal pipe (about 4 inches) that runs through the cabinet above the unit and into the attic.  Now I'm putting on a new roof and I have the chance to run this vent outside if I want to.  Should I vent the microwave/oven unit outside through the roof or leave it venting into the attic?

As info, the cooktop and the range hood are on the opposite side of the kitchen, so I know those are not what is venting.  The hot water tank and bathrooms are also not near the unit so I'm fairly certain it's the oven/microwave that's venting up.

I know that in general venting to the attic is a bad idea, especially for bathroom fans.  However I was surprised that the oven/microwave was venting up to the attic at all instead of back into the room.

I have the chance to do this the right way since I'm putting on a new roof.  It wouldn't be a problem to vent this through the roof, but I also don't want to put on unnecessary roof vents.

Can anyone help?

I am in the appliance repair business. I have never seen a Whirlpool oven and microwave that are vented. The only brand of wall oven that I ever saw vented was an older Thermador.

If it is coming from your oven/microwave combo, it would be vented out the top and you should be able to see that in a false cabinet above the unit.

They used to vent the old Wedgewood stoves with a 4 inch vent. I'm wondering if it is an aol vent left over from the original kitchen.   These old vents were always run up through the studs, the vents from the wall ovens that I have experience with were not run up between the wall studs.

Crawl back up in the attic and take a look at where this vent is coming from. If it is coming from between the studs, it is most likely an abandoned vent.


Is it better to pull old nails or hammer them flat? When doing work like replacing drywall and trim, I'll pull all the old unused nails from the studs, joists, etc.  I do this mainly for two reasons: a) so they don't get in the way of new fasteners when I'm putting up new materials (it's happened), and b) I'm a little OCD about this.  But then I have a bunch of holes in everything.  Seems most people would just hammer the nails flat to save time.  Is there some benefit to have the nails stay in the wood instead of leaving the hole?

This will probably be more of an opinion-based question, but here's my take. I think you hit the nail on the head with your reasoning in the answer.
If you want to avoid running your new fasteners into the heads of the old ones, pull them.  If you ever plan to re-use the material or think you will need to saw it, it will also be good to pull nails/screws as to not ruin your tools later on.
If you don't care about the above and only want to get the job done quickly, just pound them in. The caveat with that is that if you're trying to save time, chances are you're not pounding them all in perfectly flat and end up having issues with your finished material not wanting to sit properly, depending on how flexible that is.
The little holes left behind by nails will not have any structural impact, if that's what you're alluding to with that part of your question.


Appliances in between studs shelving As part of my kitchen remodel, I am planning to install cabinets between studs.

Essentially these are about 14" x 3.5" shelves and can be installed between studs.

( if you google "between stud shelving", it will give you an idea of what I am talking about ).

Now - I am planning to widen one of the wall by installing three rows of studs so that the thickness of wall becomes 10.5" ( 3 * 3.5 ). This the shelves can be upto 10.5 inches wide ( enough to store toaster or toaster oven ).

There will be electrical wiring through studs and also issue of placing a toaster oven in recessed shelf in a wall.

My question is how to make all this setup according to code ?

This won't go against any codes as long as you use the standard methods for wiring. The wires usually go through the studs via holes drilled through each board.


How do I wire a/c if furnace wiring compartment has no y terminal? I have been trying to figure this out for more than a year. All was running until HVAC company came to replace 2 thermostats with nest and rewired 2 HVAC units (a front of house and a back of house unit)and left me the back unit's a/c not working. I pressed the contactor of the compressor (manually to test) and it runs. Also the green cable gets the 24 volts. Yet, when I turn the nest to a/c only the fan turns on.
The second unit I have is easier for me to understand because there is a y terminal on the furnace board but this one does not have a y terminal/black wire.

I would really, really appreciate if one of you experts helps me with the basic question: Can the yellow/y wire from thermostat go directly to the contactor cable without having been connected to a wire in the furnace wiring system? Nest told me that it should be connected to the furnace wiring for "translation of the signal" but they just do not know how I can do that if the furnace wiring does not have a wire labeled y.
or How can I find out which one of those wired is y? Maybe the little tag with the y fell off?
The other thing I have noticed is that the low voltage wires that go to the compressor from this unit and the wires that go to the compressor from the second unit seem to be connected at some point, somewhere because outside, by the 2 compressors there is only one conduit that comes out of the wall and it has only 5 wires as the bottom picture shows. Out of these 5 wires, the yellow and red activate the working unit and the 3 left (green and white and blue) do not have power and thus do not activate the unit I have the a/c not working on.

Thank you so much for any suggestions or help understanding the system.

Furnace of non working a/c has:
Blue wire from thermostat is connected to c from furnace and white cable to compressor.

red wire from thermostat is connected to r from furnace.
white from thermostat is connected to w from furnace.
green from thermostat is connected to g from furnace.

This is easy

If your furnace board does not have a Y terminal, then you simply need to connect the Y wire from your thermostat directly to the Y wire to the outdoor unit (compressor) with a wirenut.  This way, the thermostat sends 24VAC to the compressor contactor to turn the A/C on during a call for cooling, as well as sending a 24VAC signal to the furnace fan relay to run the fan.


What is the type & size or part-number of this breaker terminal allen screw? I need to insert the wires directly at the bottom of it. Where can I find two extra terminal screw (allen type)? Is there standard size for this or proprietary (General Electric TQD22125)? What is its size?

This is another picture in the net for the GE TQD Series:

That could be a TCAL25 Connector Lug. That is what you would need on the breaker in the second picture.

However, you can also buy just the Set Screw separately. They come in many different sizes.


Installing a Hive Thermostat I purchased a HIVE thermostat and want some assurance before I go about installing this.

First of all i was wondering where to put the receiver as I thought it would just replace one of the thermostats however my thermostats only have 2 cables plugged into them so maybe needs to go somewhere else. Anyway I took my thermostat of the wall and the current cables show the following:

A: Yellow / Green cable attached to nothing.
B: Smaller Grey cable attached to nothing.
C: Brown cable plugged into 2 COM on thermostat
D: Grey cable plugged into 3N/0

The Hive reciever has the following:

N: Permanent Neutral
L: Permanent Live
1: Hot Water off (NC)
2: Heating off (NC)
3: Hot water on (NO)
4: Heating on (NO)

I have a combi boiler so dont really need to do the hot water part but am wondering if i can just put the reciever where the thermostat is for the zone i want to control or does it need to go near the boiler and then i connect directly from there.

Also if it does go in place of the old thermostat how do the cables go e.g. does the A -> N, B -> L, C -> 2, D -> 4? Or do I need to do it from the boiler / get someone in to do this?

Your existing thermostat is just a switch - COM is the same a Permanent Live on the Hive and N/O (Normally Open) is the same as 4: Heating on (NO) on the Hive.

Everything else on the Hive you should be able to ignore - except the Permanent Neutral that the Hive needs and your old thermostat doesn't; this might be a problem.

There is a good chance the unconnected Grey cable is neutral, but I would investigate the other end of the cable, or put an electrical tester on it first.  If it isn't connected to Neutral at the other end you should be able to fix that in the boiler

The Yellow/Green is earth and should be at least connected to the backbox (although this might not be possible!)

CAREFUL THOUGH!!  This is all mains voltage stuff; make sure you understand what you're doing!


Adding a C wire for WiFi Thermostat I have a secondary transformer already which is supplying power to my 2 zone zoning board.  Can I tap off of this to provide my WiFi thermostat with power or does it have to come off the furnace board?

The thermostat is going to expect to get power from Rh and C (normally), and also expect that Rh comes from the furnace power supply.  So, C should come from the furnace as well.  If this is for heat only, you could possibly connect the zone board transformer to Rc and C, and hook up the furnace to Rh and W and hope the thermostat gets power from Rc.

You have a few options, but you do not want to connect two transformers to Rh at the same time, and you also shouldn't connect Rh from one transformer and C from a second one.


would installing a brass ball valve against direction of water flow affect it's volume? I have very little water pressure coming through both my bathroom faucets. I just noticed the valve off the water heater is installed backwards And there are no other valves that I can see in between this and the bathroom.

If you mean a 1/4 turn ball shutoff valve, they are not directional - there is no such thing as backwards for 99.95% of them (and for 0.05% it might make some difference in potential for a leak when closed, but none to water flow when open.)


Bathroom Sink Tailpipe and P Trap do not line up horizontally I'm installing a new vanity, everything fits fine except the sink drain is about two inches farther out from the wall than the previous sink was. How can I get some horizontal extension? The outtake pipes are all glued, nothing to unscrew there. I tried a flexible p-trap fitting but it's going from a 1 1/4 inch sink tailpipe to a 2 inch outtake pipe.

The usual fix for this would be to extend the part of the pipe from the wall at the back of the cabinet out the amount needed to match up for the new sink drain location. In some instances there is a larger diameter pipe in the wall that the rear piece slides into and is secured with a compression washer and a clamp nut. The horizontal slide joint makes it much easier to adjust the P-trap joint.

In your situation due to the glued connections at the wall it can be more work to resolve this issue. Especially since it does not appear that there is much allowance to just cut and glue in new fittings. You will likely need to cut off the existing P-trap elbow from the rear wall extension. There is a small space just behind the elbow where this cut can be made. What you would be cutting there is a short piece of the pipe that is about 2 1/4 inches long that was glued in to join the P-trap elbow and the next fitting that extends out of the wall.

Once the elbow is cut off the next step is to hopefully be able to remove the remaining stub of pipe that is glued into the fitting from the wall. There are specialty rotary cutter tools that are made for carving out pipe stubs in existing fittings so that a new pipe extension can be glued in its place. This is one example of such a tool that is powered by an heavy duty electric drill (often one sized as a 1/2" drill).

(Picture Source: https://www.homedepot.com/p/JSC-2-in-Socket-Saver-J44200/302575481?MERCH=REC-_-PIPHorizontal2_rr-_-302575482-_-302575481-_-N)

The other ugly alternative that you have in a situation like this is to cut into the drywall to open up the wall enough so that you can access the drain pipe where it is possible to cut where you can then use a coupler fitting and new pipe and fittings that are measured out to meet the new sink location. Subsequent repair of the drywall makes a much larger project of the repair such that the cost of trying the tool shown above is a very tidy alternative.


Inexpensive way of fixing cracked area of concrete parking? This is my parking. As you can see, there are sections of the concrete that have cracked. Also, there's soil under the concrete. The parking's pretty narrow, so I don't have too much space between the car door and the concrete wall.
I don't mind leaving it as-is, but I don't want to step in a puddle when it rains. People that I've called to fix it want to replace the whole thing, which is very expensive.
So my question, is there an inexpensive way to fix the are of the concrete in the picture? It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to be functional.
As you can see, the puddle starts where the tires rest after parking the car. But if it rains too much, the puddle will be much bigger and it becomes impossible to get out of my car without stepping into a puddle.

You can't fix that concrete. It's badly disintegrating and any patch will quickly degrade as well.
You can pour new concrete, or you can replace with something like driveway pavers, which would help alleviate the water issue since they're porous. You'd want to provide a good, well-draining substrate.
The project could be inexpensive if you can source some second-hand or otherwise unwanted pavers. I purchased almost 1000 driveway-grade paver bricks for $40 a few years back. The owner just wanted them off his property.
Good luck.


Breaker vs Wire Size I have a 60 amp 208 single phase circuit using 4 AGW Aluminum wire 75-100 feet away from panel.
I need a 30 amp 208 single phase circuit for an expresso machine demo.
Can I just change out the 60 amp breaker with a 30 and use for the day or will the larger wire size not be safe.

Having larger wire is ok by changing to a smaller breaker you are protecting the coffee maker, this is fine in code just make sure the new outlet is rated for aluminum wire.


EPS insulation inside exterior walls I have access to a large amount of EPS in the form of used multi-cubic-foot blocks (I believe they used to be boat dock floats).

Because of the high R value of EPS, I am thinking about slicing them down to use to insulate the exterior walls of the house I'm renovating.  The house is located just southwest of Ft Worth, Texas. This would not be outside the sheathing to prevent thermal bridging, but between the studs, instead of fibreglass or sprayed in foam.

Can I use EPS insulation to insulate inside the exterior walls? If so, what else would I need to consider that more traditional insulation methods already include (e.g. the paper facing on batts)?

You can do this, especially for rim joists if the house has a basement or crawlspace. In fact, that's the perfect application for this "cut & cobble" approach. For walls it can still work too, and can be especially cost-effective in a situation like yours where you have access to a lot of cheap or free material that's not in board form. You can either cut the pieces loose and seal them to the framing with spray foam, or cut them tight and seal them to the framing with caulk. Your choice. Not a big deal wither way.

There's not much else you'd need to consider. You don't need a vapor retarder like the kraft facer on fiberglass batts. Just make sure you cover it up with drywall on the interior side and that the sheathing on the exterior side is intact and covered with a water-resistive barrier like Tyvek or tar paper. Ideally there would be more rigid foam outboard of the sheathing to cut down on the thermal bridging through the studs, but that's another matter.

Here are some more details on how to do it right: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/cut-and-cobble-insulation


Why did inspector ask to move P-trap above floor? Our contractor installed the Ptrap for our washer drain below the subfloor, basically in the crawl space.

We had everything nicely tucked inside the wall.

Then the inspector asked him to move the Ptrap above the subfloor.
All the pipes and vents would not fit so the contractor had to thicken the wall so there would be space for the Ptrap and the dryer vent.

What would be the reason for this? Is this code?

All traps must be installed on the same floor as the fixture served with the exception of tubs and showers.

You can probably find that code bit in the DWV section, not necessarily under washing machines. In any case putting it below the floor would violate the maximum length of the stand pipe code which is 30"

The Need for a P-trap

If you create a waste pipe for any fixture that needs draining, including a washing machine, and the drain doesn't have a properly installed P-trap, you're creating a dangerous situation. The pool of water in the bottom of the trap effectively seals sewer gases inside the pipes, and if you omit the trap, the gases have a direct route into your house. Besides being laden with harmful organisms that you can inhale, some sewer gases, such as methane, are flammable. If the washer is in an enclosed area, you could actually create a fire hazard by omitting the trap or from improper installation.


Can a drywall screwdriver be used as a regular power screwdriver? I will be buying (or renting) a drywall screwdriver, I want to save a bit and have a tool that can be used for woodworking later, can it be used? Is it too low torque (I guess it is about 7 Nm) for driving screws on wood or steel?

I usually don't need to drive lag bolts or bigger screws, but I want a driver for general woodworking and I don't want to make final tighten by hand.

PS: I can find some other drywall screwdrivers that are about 13 Nm in torque, but they are kind of a chinese generic brand.

Yes, I've done it for several years.  However, drywall screwdrivers are considerably more expensive than regular power screwdrivers (battery or corded) because of the clutch that allows them to engage and disengage the torque upon press.  Once you get the hang of setting drywall screws and develop the sense of how deep to go without the guard (if you haven't already), you will be able to set them with a regular power drill and a Phillips bit.  It is not that hard.  Just in case you were contemplating a purchase of a drywall one, I would say you don't need it and should go for the simpler and cheaper solution of just using a regular power screwdriver or even just a drill with a Phillips bit.  I hope this makes sense.


How difficult would it be to replace these fuses with circuit breakers? I had a fuse blow last night. While the short-term plan is just to replace the fuse wire, in the longer term I'd like to switch them out for circuit breakers for the added safety but mostly for the convenience.

Click for larger view

Is this going to be a simple case of swapping the fuses for circuit breaker units or will I need a new consumer unit? If it is a simple swap, is there anything I need to bear in mind when buying the breakers (beyond the obvious matching of current ratings)?

I'm not sure if it's relevant, and the voltage might have already given it away, but I'm in the UK.

Yes you can get pop in breaker replacements.

They look something like this:

The important thing is to ensure that you use a breaker that is the same ampage as your fuse (or very close to).  When I did mine (before rewiring the house) I had some fuse wire that was something like 15A.  But the closest breaker was 16A.  That's usually ok because the wiring is actually rated higher than that.  But for safety make it as close as you can.

Breakers on ebay in UK...


Broken underground ground wire I have underground three-strand #4 aluminum insulated from my service meter to my shop approx 500 ft. At the shop panel the volt meter with no load on either line across the lines 240V plus and from each live to the ground line 120V plus.  All looks good, turn lights on one of the line circuit voltage will drop 10 to 20V, the other line with no load will rise by about the same.  If I load the other line, the voltage will reverse the readings.  Have told this is because ground wire is bad.
So now I have questions:

How do I locate the break?
Why does the ground to soil rod not taking up the task?
My house is 325 ft away from the barn, my redneck engineering says to go from my shop earth ground rod to my house earth ground with bare copper. and save ripping up a paved driveway.

You lost your neutral

And this is an emergency.  You need to fix this before using the power there.

The safety ground isn't making a difference because that is neutral's job.  Your neutral is completely gone.

  How do I locate the break?

Now, unless you've been trenching, 99% of the time the problem is at a termination, which is probably just 2 or 4 places at most.  I'm guessing you did not see it because you've been checking ground, not neutral.  And depending on how much "redneck engineering" you've been doing, it might have been installed incorrectly in the first place.

If you have any ability to measure AC amps, another thing you can test for is current flow on the safety ground, e.g. out to the grounding rods.  There should never be any.  If you see current flow on the ground, that means neutral is not doing its job.

You never, ever, ever use earth as a current return.

  Why does the ground to soil rod not taking up the task?

Same reason they go to all the trouble to mine copper, instead of just using dirt. Dirt is a very poor conductor.  The only time dirt ever works as a conductor is with extremely low current (thus extremely high voltages), such as Australian rural distribution or a hack done in the third world with microwave oven transformers.

This work is incorrect by modern standards. A ground wire should have been trenched along with the conductors if installed in the past 20+ years.  A ground wire can be retrofitted and does not need to follow the same route.

  My house is 325 ft away from the barn, my redneck engineering says to go from my shop earth ground rod to my house earth ground with bare copper. and save ripping up a paved driveway.

I'd run it by the inspector, but in principle, that is compatible with the gist of the retrofit ground rules.

Neutral is not safety ground

And by that I mean ground in the mains electrical sense, not GND as "common" in the electronics sense.  If you're an EE and trained to sink all current to GND/Vss, that thing is what we call neutral. In mains power, you sink current to neutral (or the other hot). You never sink current to ground. Ever.  It is never a current return; current never flows on ground except during fault conditions.

Electricity doesn't want to go back to ground; it wants to go back to source. The difference is neutral goes back to the transformer (source for human-made power), and ground goes to the earth (return for naturally made power: lightning and ESD).

A lot of people conflate the two, on the logic that they're tied together at the service panel. That should only be one place in your whole service.  The job of the neutral-ground equipotential bond is to a) prevent hots and neutral from floating at thousands of volts (Say due to capacitive coupling inside a supply transformer)... and b) allow fault current moving on ground an easy path back to neutral, so the fault current can flow enough current to overcurrent-trip the breaker.   (otherwise fault current flows indefinitely, and simply energizes your grounds).

One option: rewire it as a main service panel

Now, in the old days, they allowed groundless 3-wire feeders to subpanels in outbuildings.  I gather your installation is that old.  That's dangerous generally; however with such very long distances there is some sense to treating the line to this outbuilding like it's a Service.  Service lines (e.g. your pole drop from the Power Co.) do not carry grounds.  Talk to your local inspector about giving you waiver for that... if your very old installation isn't grandfathered.  (if it was built to code at the time, you don't need to modernize it).

If you have your grandfathering or waiver, you treat it just like a service and the panel like a main panel:  2 local ground rods at the building (or an Ufer ground or 1 rod that passes the expensive test), which you need anyway, because it's an outbuilding.  Then install the one neutral-ground equipotential bond there in the "main" panel.

Another option: Go 240V with a transformer

If you are not grandfathered and your inspector won't give a waiver, you will need to wire a ground wire from the main panel. Given the cost of trenching, I would say you are better off going with a transformer, which has 2 effects:

It only needs 2 wires, freeing up your third wire to be used as safety ground.
It turns this barn panel into a separately derived service which means you do indeed bond neutral and ground.

I mention this because most people spec their wiring runs for 3% drop, and #4 aluminum at 500' only gives you 19A @ 3% drop.  So I'm guessing you only intend lights and odd plugs/sockets (dual 20A).  Well, that's only 4800 VA, and 5k VA transformers are $100 on Craigslist.

In a transformer setup,  the 3 wires are  tasked to 2 hots and 1 safety ground.  No neutral. The pole service feeds the 2 hots at 240V via a 20A breaker.  At the barn, the 2 hots go into the primary of the 5 KVA transformer.  The service panel is then served by the secondary's L1, L2 and neutral.  Now you have 20A @ 240V, or dual 20A @ 120V.

If you want more, you could go with a >=7.2 KVA transformer and run 30A that same way... at 4.8% voltage drop, which is acceptable. But the transformer will be more money.

You could do the same with a 10 KVA transformer, running 40A, but voltage drop would be 6.5% at full current, which is really, really pushing it.

If you want much more, you can get 25 KVA transformers at both ends back to back (primary to primary both jumpered for 480V).  Then backfeed the transformer at the pole, so it's a 240V-240V pair of transformers with 480V for transmission. The wire would run 480V@50A for only 4.1% voltage drop, perfectly reasonable!  That will give you 100A@240V at the garage.  So if you want a Tesla 80A charger, you're all set.

If you want even yet more, you can do ditto-ditto- dual 240V/600V transformers at hard wire limit of 65A@600V (39 KVA) at 4.2% drop. That will deliver 163A @ 240V to the shop, though realistically, 175A because you'd need to round up to the next available breaker.

All of the above is a no-trenching option.


How do I get acceptable water pressure when using two faucets on my 1/2" water main? I have a 1/2" water main entry, and if I open water in 2-3 places in the house, the water pressure is very low.

How can I fix this?

1/2" is a very small "main" - the only truly functional approach would be to upgrade it to a larger main.

If your multiple-water use scenarios are of short duration, you could get some benefit from placing a pressure tank (as used in well pump systems) in the house to provide a few gallons of buffering, but after a few gallons (variable with size of tank and variation in pressure) the stored water runs out and you are back to what the main can supply.


Building a free-standing wall on top of a retaining wall My house is well below street level. The slope from the sidewalk down towards the house is visibly eroding, to the point where I can see the entire side of many of the sidewalk slabs. The yard looks like this:

From the house, facing the sidewalk:

I'm looking to add a wall to my front yard that will serve two purposes:

Retain the slope from the street. I plan to build a retaining wall a few feet back from the sidewalk (roughly where the stone block in the lower right of the picture is located) and then backfill it to bring the grade in front of the wall up to street level (approximately 2.5-3 feet in height). This will prevent further erosion and provide a nice place to do some light plantings along the sidewalk.
Provide privacy and dampen noise from the road. Our code allows for walls up to 4 feet high in the front yard. I believe this is measured from the street level. So, the idea would be to build an additional 3-4 foot wall on top of the retaining wall and compacted backfill.

The finished product would end up looking something like this:

I'm planning to use dry stacking for both the retaining wall and the above-grade extension. We live in a temperate area (6a), so the ground and wall will be subject to frequent freeze-thaw cycles. My thought is that a dry-stack wall will be more flexible and less likely to crack than a wet-masonry wall. It will also be easier to remove portions in the event that the city needs to access the water supply line to the house.

Of course as discussed in other questions, we'll use appropriate techniques for a dry-stack retaining wall such as sloping it backwards, adding a gravel footer and backing, using geogrid to provide structure to the backfill, and installing adequate drainage.

The question is, is it reasonable to expect a 2.5-3 foot dry stack retaining wall to support the weight of an additional 3-4 foot free-standing wall without the whole thing toppling over? Can we expect the backfill to support part of the weight of the free-standing portion?

I do not think you could rest a second unsupported wall on top of a retaining wall without long reinforcement members penetrating both the retaining wall and the wall on top. Otherwise the upper wall could topple.

Perhaps the top wall should be a fence with posts embedded 18" in the earth on the sidewalk side of the retaining wall. Alternatively there could be a retaining wall extending above grade and then above grade a 2nd dry stacked masonry wall on the sidewalk side to both support the first wall and to have the decorative side of the blocks exposed to the sidewalk.

We have a 4 course Keystone retaining wall on the downhill side of our lot (32" high, with 4" buried in the soil so the top of the wall is 28" above grade). There is a 6 ft high wood fence on top of the retaining wall. The fence posts at 8' spacing are tubular steel 2-3/8" diameter and go down into the hollows of the retaining wall and are concreted in. This has held for 30 years with no movement. These Keystone blocks are dry stacked but each block is pinned to two blocks below with very strong fiberglass/epoxy pegs.

The fact that the wall and fill would be above the water line argues against implementing this project. Is that metal cap the water meter? This would be a major project. Consider being satisfied with just filling with soil around the edge of the sidewalk.


Replacing an sink cabinet (48") with a double sink (36") This is a very old kitchen. The cabinet I removed was there for most like ~30 years (minimum 20). I removed it but not sure of the next steps. The walls from what I can tell are plasterboard.
The floor had 4 layers of linoleum that I removed. The bottom is wood. That black stuff looks like residue from the bottom of the linoleum layer.
Question 1: Do I need to remove that black residue or can I put stuff on top of it?

Question 2: My basic plan is to put tiles. But not sure how to do that over the hardwood floor. Can I just put a layer of cement / let it harden and then do thinset+tiles?

Question 3: Lower right corner it looks like the plasterboard piece came off, and there is that crack going across. Are there any risks concerning it? I was thinking to just leave it be and put the next cabinet in.

Question 4: The new cabinet is 36". Which leaves me with 12". The only good 12" space is between the sink and the oven (on the other side even though it looks like more the 12" length is right over the water pipe handle - not sure if it will fit. Are there safety considerations about having a 12inch cabinet in this space?

Question 5: as far as the plumbing I am not planning to do any of that myself, but I am worried because the new sink is double sink (ikea) and I am not sure if it will work well if the pipe is in that location with both sink drains located to the right of it.

(poor representation of the sink with relative drain pipe if I put it all the way to the right)

||
  |\       /\       /|
  | \--_--/  \--_--/ |
  |   | |      | |   |
  |                  |
   ||

Would the above be a potential problem for connecting the 2 drains to the wall drain pipe?

This is what the space looks like right now(that range is getting replace later too):

If height is an issue, use 1/4" concrete backer board, screwed and glued down on your floor. Be sure to use backer board screws and alternate seams so tiles won't crack or shift. If height is not an issue, use 1/2". Then, thinset your tiles on the backer board.

There shouldn't be any issue with the 12" cabinet. You could use a taller cabinet to create a division of workstations (stove/sink). You could have an open spice storage on the raised area on the stove side. The front could have a fake draw front on it.

Seems like no problem piping the double sink drains.


Light switch with five wires controlled by two circuit breakers: What is this? I have a living room light switch. It's a one-way switch that controls eight built-in LED lights. This was redone recently (in the last 3-4 years), but the house is new to me, so I don't know anything about how it was done.

There are two things I don't understand:

There are five wires going into this switch. One is obviously the ground, but why are there two wires going into each of the other terminals? (There's another terminal on the other side of the switchbox where you could hook up wire(s) to make it a three-way switch, but that's currently unused. It's not operating as a three-way switch.)
Turning off these lights requires simultaneously turning off two different circuits in the breaker box. If I leave either of the two breakers on, the lights stay on. (This was very confusing when I was trying to figure out which breaker controlled the lights, before I resorted to just flipping all the breakers labelled "lights" at once.)

Is there a sensible explanation for this?

(The context is that I was hoping to replace this switch with a Lutron Caseta smart switch, but the weirdness here has me unsure if that's even possible or sensible.)

It looks like you have an improperly wired accidental ring circuit.

One of those switch terminals, the hot one,  has two wires on it because it is part of a daisy chain of such loads. (The other terminal has two load wires because they each run to several lamps, probably arranged in two daisy chains.)

A daisy chain of loads is acceptable practice, but your chain is improperly connected at both ends, to separate breakers. This violates code and common sense, and makes the wiring easily overloaded and unsafe to work on.

The fix is mechanically simple -- you just disconnect a hot wire from a terminal screw and cap it off with a wire nut -- but you should first decide where to divide the chain. This means identifying everything on the chain, so you can split it roughly in the middle leaving similar loads on each breaker.

EDIT: Well, almost that simple. As @Harper points out, the neutral half of the ring must also be disconnected at the same place where the hot wire is disconnected. So you have two wires to cap off with wire nuts. Just make sure that all the loads powered by one breaker share the same neutral.


Drywall tape peeling along ceiling edge I live in Seattle and it's currently wintertime. The house was built in 2014, we purchased this house in 2018 and did not have any nail pops or drywall cracks back then but the house was freshly painted so they probably just covered up a bunch of nail pops and cracks.
When it started getting cold this fall, I noticed a few nail pops in the ceiling on the 2nd floor of the house. A little later I got a crack along the edge of the ceiling and what appears to be drywall tape peeling in a couple of places.
I've checked the attic and there is no sign of water damage in these spots. There is some water near the edges of the foundation in the crawlspace that we are having addressed this spring by installing a french drain via a foundation repair contractor.
What's the best way to repair the peeling tape along the edge?
Is there anything out there that's better for edges than just applying more drywall tape?

I don’t see any evidence of repair so it may warrant a little more investigation.
In the Pacific Northwest we have multiple possibilities that could cause this;
Carpenter ants.
Termites.
Wood rot.
I like to use metal inside corners. Sand the texture mud the corner in and retexture.
Since this looks new and things may still moving I would put a scale or ruler up there and take a clear photo. Wait a 6 months and re measure. If no change repair.
If there is a change .
Be on the lookout around the home for carpenter ants and termites.
This new of construction should not have issues yet but look for water running down walls (plugged gutters) things that could start wood rotting)
If you haven’t noticed any of our big 3 and the crack has not gotten worse now would be the time to repair.
It could have just been “New house settling” since the structure is not very old and we have had some high winds lately.


Sewage smell in my basement - Where is it coming from? I have been randomly getting these periods of time(a day or so) where I enter my basement and I get hit by a strong wave of what I think is sewage gas. I recently replaced the wax ring underneath the toilet in the bathroom(which did have a slight leak prior to putting a new wax ring). I checked to make sure that it wasn't leaking again and it seems fine. There is a little Crawl-space next to the bathroom downstairs that has the main sewage line access but it looks fine. The only other thing I can think of is the floor drain for the water heater and furnace condensation.

Here are some of the things I am suspicious of:

You want to make sure that all your traps have water in them.  If your floor drain is dry, it will leak sewer gas.  Also, if you have natural gas or propane, check to make sure that there are no leaks.  Natural gas can smell like sewer gas.


What's the normal water flow from a residential RO membrane? I just replaced the filters of a reverse osmosis system by myself for the first time. However, I realized that the water flow from the outlet of the RO membrane is very low, like droplets.

Does anyone know if this is normal or is my OR membrane damaged? At this rate it will take forever for the tank to fill, and until then there's no water out from the tap :(

Yes.  Depending on your membranes gpm rating the flow is relativly slow also the reject side will be faster depending on its rejection ratio.  Most are 8 to 1. Good nembranes will be high gpd with a 2 to 1 ratio

Also these flow rates are if you dripped the product into a barrel. When you start adding back pressure. Like filling you tank. When it's half full you cut your production in half.  At 3/4 you cut another half.  Example.  50gpd becomes 25 at half full and 12.5 at 3/4.   Always go with the company with the biggest membranes and lowest rejection rates


How do I repair a glass cooker hob (glass top stove)? We have a glass cooker hob (glass top stove) where the black glass has chipped at one edge. Is there a repair system that will hide the damage?

I am looking for something that is gloss block that will stick on the glass, so as to hide the chips.

This is what I mean by a "cooker hob"

This apparently is for a smooth glass top on a stove. GE sells them, perhaps others now. Traditionally, the word is that these are generally replaced when cracked. A small chip on the edge may not be worth replacing the top (which is EXPENSIVE from what I've heard) until that crack chooses to propagate. The problem is, heat stresses in glass tend to turn small cracks into big ones.

You might ask the manufacturer, but I'll bet a large sum of money they have no interest in repair anyway. They want to sell you a new top.

The first solution I would think of is a high temperature silicon caulk. You can buy it in a tube, and it does come in black. I don't know how much it hardens though.

If not that, I would look for a high temperature epoxy. You can get colorants for epoxy.


Why do my LED bulbs have such a short lifespan? I love LED lighting. I have played with them for years soldering up my own fixtures and DC power supplies. But these LEDs were from Radio Shack, and cheap.

Now I am trying to light my abode with factory made, 120VAC bulbs and they don't last any longer then incandescent bulbs! They are not cheap, at these short lifespans! I know LEDs give off heat, so we need to give them breathing space, and some kind of material to transfer heat to. They also don't like reverse polarity or fluctuating voltages. Well, knowing all of this hasn't helped me get more life out of LEDs.

Where am I going wrong?

I don't know if it's really useful to compare a 120V LED bulb to the stuff you can cobble together from radio shack. First of all the commercial bulbs include a significant amount of circuitry to adjust the voltage, compensate for dimmers, etc. Most bulbs actually accept a wide range of input voltages. And of course with an AC circuit there is no such thing as polarity. Plus the diodes themselves are often quite complicated, mixing various colors and also combining phosphor coatings that are not feasible to do yourself.

But to answer your question about how good they are... I think they're excellent now. I started buying them 5 or 6 years ago when they were $30/each (for high-usage areas only), but the price now is down to about $1/bulb so I don't see why you wouldn't replace every single old-fashioned incandescent at that price. The energy savings will pay for the bulb in only 10 or 20 hours of use.

Also I don't think I've ever had an LED bulb die yet... even using some bulbs in enclosed fixtures even though they're not rated for such usage. (Many bulbs are now, so if you have enclosed fixtures that is something to look for.)


Do Federal Pacific baseboard heaters have a reputation for poor quality? I know Federal Pacific is infamous for their American Stab-Lok panels which should be replaced on sight.  However, this panel is Cutler-Hammer CH type (the narrow 3/4" breakers).

It's the 240V electric baseboard heaters that are Federal Pacific.   There's a 2000W heater, and three 1000W heaters (all sharing a 30A breaker).

Is this something I should be worried about?

The only problem I have ever had with FPE base board heaters is the thermostat. I am not saying there was a flaw. The contacts fail after many years of service and have required replacement. Your total of 5000 watts would be 20.8A so a 30 Amp breaker would be normal with #10 wire supplying them. If you cannot find a replacement thermostat (for the ones in the base board) I have added a wall mounted thermostat for the room and bypassed the thermostat but not the over temp sensor that is a safety if the contacts weld closed in the thermostat. Added Today I just did a power survey on an older 25kva 480 to 240-120v transformer that has been in use for? It wal lightly loaded at 54A at 240. I increased its load to 91A at 240 even ballanced loads (120) and it is still running cool on a hot day here (mid 90's) so I would still say FPE products other than "stab lock" are good.


Unsupported joists in attic? In my attic there is a beam that ends 80% of the way through. A few of the joists are connected with nails but are unsupported laterally. Should these joists have better support?

In my mind, it comes down to what's under that beam and ceiling joists.  There should be a wall under the joists (looks like that may be the case 'cause you can see what looks to be the top plate of the wall under the joists), and a built up post of some sort under the edge of the beam.
If those conditions are met, than you should be OK to put down the plywood over the joists.


Can I safely install a 90 amp main breaker in place of an existing 70 amp breaker feeding the panel? Existing panel with 70 amp double pole Stab Lok main breaker feeding the panel. Can this be replaced with a 90 amp Stab Lok double pole breaker as the main?

That would depend on the rating of the main panel. A bigger concern is the use of stab Lok breakers. They are fire starters and should not be used, replaced, or messed with. Post a picture of your panel for more information.


Moving main service breaker panel lower on wall exposes feeder wires non-sheathed I am replacing my main breaker panel and want to add a cutoff breaker inline before the new panel. To do so I will need to lower the new panel about a foot. The problem is that the sheathing on the 14/3 feeder wiring does not extend down the wires into the panel. It has been stripped off and stops right at the bottom of the cable clamps. The wire above the new lower main panel would have the hot, neutral and ground wires exposed above the top of the panel where the sheathing stops. Is it acceptable to run these wires inside stubs of conduit coming out of the top of the new main panel? I'd rather not have to wire nut new Romex onto all the runs above main panel and have them secured in junction boxes.

Can't do it. There must be at least 1/4" of sheath past the cable clamp.  No cable clamp.

Also there are painful limits on number of jacketed Romex cables in conduit. You can't just cram 'em in.

Only if you put a junction box at the top of the conduit

Fit a junction box there, then use a less-than-2-foot run of conduit called a "nipple".

Consolidate all the grounds into a single ground wire (of the largest size) that you carry through the conduit.  If you use steel boxes and EMT conduit (if indoors) or Rigid conduit (if outdoors), then the conduit itself carries the ground, and you can terminate at the junction box itself (get a box with a raised nub for the ground screw).

Given that all your cables are 14/2, each cable splice takes 8 cubic inches (2" x 4 wires), and you lose another 4 cubic inches for all cable clamps and all grounds.  That means:

A 4" square box takes 2 splices
A 4-11/16" square box takes 4 splices
A 6"x2" box takes 8 splices
A 6"x4" box takes 17 splices

"But I'm not splicing! I'm rolling the individual Romex conductors right on through to the panel!"  Yeah, that's not allowed by Code because those individual wires are not rated for conduit use.  You're meant to splice to another wire type (THHN).  I don't seriously expect you to do that... however I want to make sure you already have the cubic inches in the junction box, in case you get flagged and are forced to do them.  If you don't have to replace the junction box, then you could do it one pair at a time and not get too confused.  Otherwise, what a mess!

One thing you really must do, in any case, is bundle/group your wire pairs/triples.  You can't simply have a spew of blacks and a spew of whites raining down from the conduits.  You have to mark, in the main panel, which hots go to which neutral.   That's as easy as wrapping the pair/triplet with electrical tape positioned so it'll be visible in the main panel.

As mentioned, grounds can be consolidated in the junction box to a single wire (of the largest size), and if metal, can simply be pigtailed to the box itself.

This may be moot, though.  Outside may be mandatory

The upcoming NEC, 2020, has only been adopted by one state (Mass.) AFAIK. Once your state adopts it, you must put the disconnect outdoors.  Mind you, all the existing houses are grandfathered, and aren't required to retrofit a disconnect... but even under grandfathering, any step must be in the right direction.  Once NEC 2020 is adopted in your state, the disconnect will have to be outside.  Word to the wise: get that permit pulled soon if you want it indoors.


Incandescent to LED change There are 3 incandescent recessed light fixtures in my kitchen. I purchased the Home Depot ecosmart LED bulbs 65W. One of the recessed fixtures will only work with the incandescent lightbulb.  I have tried the new LED bulbs in other light fixtures, therefore the bulbs are tested good.  Looking for options to why the fixture will not support the LED bulb? the three fixtures work off the same 3-way switch (2 actual switches}.
Thanks in advance.

I have experienced problems with the bulbs not screwing all the way in, usually due to the shape of the LED bulb not being quite the same as an incandescent bulb, and at least once from malformed threads.

Since your bulb works in other fixtures, I'd bet on the one fixture having something that the LED bulbs are sticking on before they get all the way in, or that the center contact has been flattened by some previous bulb and needs (with the circuit breaker for this circuit off, please) to be gently bent/pulled up; or in case of severe damage, replace the socket, or the fixture.


Why won't the GFCI-protected devices in my kitchen work even though they seem to have power? I have a GFCI receptacle that will not reset, and all of the switches -- which are to my garbage disposal, dishwasher, and over-sink light -- will not work. I checked it with a voltage detector after shutting the power off and I still had live wires. How do I get this resolved?

Is this a new outlet where there was not a GFCI before?

Was the unit working before and suddenly stopped working?

There seem to be too many downstream devices on the load side of the GFCI.  I would have expected this list of devices to be on at least 3 circuits.  That may explain why there still live circuits after shutoff to the GFCI.

In general, GFCIs won't reset when

They are wired incorrectly (power to load terminals)
The load side is ground faulted (current leaving the hot side does not fully return on the neutral)
The GFCI is faulty

To isolate the GFCI from any downstream problems, disconnect the load terminals and see if it will reset.


How do i connect a Commmon wire to Heat Controller Inc air handler? I swapped out a 24v Honeywell Thermostat for a NEST Thermostat. I followed the Manufacturer instructions for install. Everything was working for a week or so. I recieved an error(pictured below) regarding the Y1. NEST indicated I must need a "C" Common Wire run from the air handler.

Can I Tap any of the wires, going to the outdoor unit?

Blue/ Brown- Going to TACO sr503 controller
Yellow/Green/ White /Red- Going to NEST
GREY SHEATHED (Not Pictured) - Going to Outdoor Unit

According to that wiring diagram, C is not available on the terminal block for the thermostat and outdoor unit. You'll have to find it by locating the 24V transformer. According to the wiring diagram, the yellow wire on the transformer would be C. You can verify that it is the correct wire because it should be connected to a couple of relays, and the other wire coming off the transformer should be red and connected to the terminal block for the thermostat.


How can I put in a screw in a concrete ceiling without power tools? I want to hang my plant but my ceiling is concrete. I don't have a drill. I have a hammer and screwdriver.

Unfortunately I don't think you can depend on anything hand installed into concrete, if you want a good hold.

Possibly ask a friend if you can borrow their hammer drill ?


How do I get a dishwasher to fit with pipes in the way? The installer showed up with the new dishwasher (KitchenAid KDTM404EWH).  Once he took the old one out, he found that these pipes are in the way:

Any ideas about what I can do? The installer said I'd need a dishwasher with a depth no greater than 19.25 inches.  That seems small to me. Do they make dishwashers like that?

Additional Details

Here's a picture of the space with measurements:

Here are the details:

    | Measurement                                                       | Value  |
    |-------------------------------------------------------------------|--------|
    | Full height of opening                                            | 34.5"  |
    | Full width of opening                                             | 24.5"  |
    | Full depth of space                                               | 24.0"  |
    | Distance from front of pipes to back wall                         | 4.75"  |
    | Height of pipes                                                   | 3"     |
    | Width of pipes                                                    | 6"     |
    | Full width of opening - width of pipes                            | 18.5"  |
    | Full depth of opening - distance from front of pipes to back wall | 19.25" |
    | Full height of opening - height of pipes                          | 31.5"  |

What can you do?:

Move the pipes: This is ideal, because that is .... UGH.
Move the/a/some cabinets: reconfigure the counter arrangements such that the pipes are behind/under a cabinet
Raise your counter in this area, trim it off up top and box in a platform on the bottom, so the dishwasher can be mounted above the pipes
Find a short tub dishwasher with a rather open back. There are hundreds of dishwashers on the market, you could find one, but knowing how they are framed, it is very very unlikely.
Don't install the dishwasher here, put some other device here, and locate the dishwasher somewhere else. (same basic idea as #2) but leave cabinets where they are, put a garbage can here
Cut a cabinet down, re-frame it (customize the cabinet) to allow room to the right to mount the dishwasher

I vote for #1, because what you have here is just, unpleasant. But these are "all" of the things you can do that I can creatively dream up.


Ceiling joists hung below top plate Exploring the possibility of turning the attic of our 100-year-old house into a living space. I knew the joists were only 2x6 and would need to be strengthened through interlacing. But when I pulled up some floor boards at the edge, I found that the joists are not sitting on a top plate, but are instead face nailed to the wall studs about 18" below the plate:

The lathe-and-plaster walls are attached to the studs and the underside of these joists. There is one wall in the house below that is a bit off center on the span that I've never considered to be load-bearing.

Now I can't imagine any code-compliant way to add the necessary support for live loads without putting the new joists on top of the plate and losing 18" of height (which would make the room too small). Any bright ideas out there?

There are many steel building hardware options. Simple joist hangers would do if you don't mind adding studs on the other side of each joist. I'd probably sister 2x10 or other suitable joists and use double hangers.

One other option might be to bolt a ledger to the wall under the joists, giving them bearing. You'd have to box it out or fur out the entire wall to conceal it.

I'd just have a conversation with your local inspector and see what (s)he'll be expecting and what options are available.


Are 11 outlets on a 15 amp breaker too many? I have a 11 outlets on a 15amp breaker and second from the last on that circuit is gfci plug in the bathroom with one plug after it in a closet. Is this to much for that breaker?

probably not, but there are a few other things wrong too.

Pretty sure that the bathroom outlet needs to be a 20amp (with 12 gauge wire) on a separate dedicated circuit.  think about this if you plugged in a 1800 Watt hairdryer you are maxxing the line and then you still have 10 other devices :)
Also, the circuit from the bathroom should not lead outside i think with the exception directly to another bathroom outlet.

Whoever wired it up clearly missed a few points there and probably more -

ideally you want your circuit to serve a purpose whether it is lighting, or a room or some critical service.


Ring™ and Swann™ floodlight cameras I'm thinking about buying either above brand for my home...

But I want to modify... I want to know if anyone knows if these camera / sensor outputs can energize a relay.

I am planning on turning on different / multiple lights via the camera sensor via relay.

I understand that depends upon how the camera sensor circuits are designed, just wanted to know if anyone has tried this... I don't want to buy and experiment unless I have to... Trying to save time / steps here.

FYI:
Take any Home Depot or Lowe's motion sensor... The only work with lights, not inductive loads ( like a 115v. relay )

Let me know... Called BOTH RING™ & SWANN tech support, and they are NO help.. They are setup techs, not in-depth circuitry techs.

PS,
I'm aware of product warranty liability.

Couple of ways

1. Get the right product

I gather you are looking at this one. That's the wrong one, you want this other one, called the "Ring Spotlight Cam Mount".   Black and white wires go to supply hot and neutral, then the red wire goes onward to your external lights.  just as this FAQ explains.

That one appears to have onboard lights as well (just not googly-eye ones), but I bet you can disable them in software.

2.  It's a smart, networked product: Use it.

You have a smart-home hub that the camera talks to.  When the camera says "hey, I saw something and turned on", add scripting to that event that turns on the additional lights.

3. Brute-force it

Presumably, this gadget draws more power when the lights are on.  Inside the box where you are hooking to its #18 wire, insert some of your own #18.  In which the "hot" makes about 30 turns around a magnetic reed switch, and the neutral does the same in the opposite direction.  There'll be some design considerations in sizing this thing, based on how much current it pulls, the ampere-turn rating of the reed switch, and the efficacy of your electromagnet building skills.   Get it right, and when the gadget pulls the higher amperage to light the light, that closes the reed switch, which operates the relay.  You can take it from there.


Should the tester start flickering when I touch my chandelier's top wiring cover? (First time quiestion here, so correct me if something's wrong)

I recently installed a lamp on the ceiling (a metallic chandelier). Two wires connected to the ceiling (one phase and one "zero"). The grounding is connected to the top metallic part  of the chandelier (the cover for the wiring). So everything is pretty much ok - the thing works as expected, all 5 lamps work and give light.

The problem: when I touch that top metallic part (the wiring cover) of the chandelier with a tester it starts flickering (a have this "pencil"-looking model of a tester). So basically some voltage there on that thing, but it is not stable - the led in the tester turns on and off at random. It is also not some temporary thing - I tried holding the tester there for longer times and it does not stop.

So the question is - should it be this way? Did I do something wrong? I mean there is not much to connect there - two wires in the ceiling (no grounding) and two wires in the chandelier. Help, please.

UPDATE

Ok, I just returned from the apartment. And I am getting a bit suspicious - the tester I got lights up even when close to pretty much any wire (the wires I tried were all isolated). The LED inside it does not go full-power though - it is quite dim when testing those wires. So, basically, it is getting some phantoms there. So again - I am starting to think that the tester I have is not going to help to find out anything. And I still do not have a volt meter so it will be a trip to the hardware store for me.

Just in case - I get no readings whatsoever with lights off. And I double-checked the neutral - it does not touch anything. In any case - I think I need a proper tester before proceeding.

UPDATE 2
Problem was solved. I was a bit (or a lot) stupid and got the wrong tester. I tried it out with a simple wire and got a reading (as indicated in the previous update). And then I got a normal tester that did not get any readings on any parts of the chandelier. I also tried it out with the phase wire coming out of the ceiling and it did light up (that way I ensured that the tester works). So again - thanks for your answers, guys. They really helped a lot.

The type of proximity  tester you are using is fine for quick checks on conductors and surfaces, but not always reliable. Since they will detect voltage at a short distance, it often gives false positives due to the fact that a hot conductor is close to some other part, such as your canopy. Often an AC voltage will induce a phantom voltage on adjacent metal conductors that your tester will detect.

The only certain way to tell, if in fact you have voltage on your canopy, is to use a Volt meter. Since voltage on a grounded part such as your canopy indicates a short to ground, it should trip your breaker. Regardless, use a meter and test the canopy to the actual ground conductor for any voltage. Also test hot to neutral and neutral to ground.

Another test you can try with your proximity tester is to drop the canopy and move it away from the hot wire. I bet the positive reading will disappear. Try this with the light on and off. If you still get a positive reading with the light off, you may in fact have a short to the casing of the fixture. If the positive is only when the light is on, then check to assure the neutral is not attached directly to the fixture case, as this will cause a positive reading.

Caution is always advised with working with electricity. If you continue to get positive readings or really don't understand the theory of what I have described, then get some help from an electrician to be safe.  Good Luck.