Hang 3 flat-screen monitors from a tilted wooden beam I have an attic with a part where the floor was removed to bring light to the living room. I'd like to have my desk adjacent to that emptyness, but there's no space on the desk to place screens so I'd like to have them hanging above the emptyness.

Now it's pretty easy to find a desktop mount for 3 monitors that is attached to the desk (such as the Duronic DM553 Spring Triple), but I haven't found anything that would let me hang screens from the ceiling.

Furthermore, the mount should be screwed into the tilted wooden beam already present since the ceiling isn't plan, it is tilted ~30°.

My google-fu has failed me, any ideas?

EDIT: picture of the beam

Is mounting a triangle shaped hardwood block to reduce or eliminate the 30 degree angle out of the question? I would lag-bolt it to the beam and then mount the ceiling mount to that in the usual manner.

There are plenty of long extension monitor/TV ceiling mounts available which with the appropriate length, put the monitors at eye-level, but as you've found, 20 degrees is as much as the ceiling end will compensate for.

Also, several of the multi-monitor mounts use a chrome tube and the brackets are movable up and down the tube by a thumb screw arrangement. Nothing prevents you from changing the chrome tube out for your own custom length one that would extend from a drilled hole in the beam down to a floor or desk mounting block.

Having it supported on both ends also means you're not sporting a really expensive pendulum that bounces around in air currents or from the garbage truck rolling down the street.


Can I warm up a swimming pool by submerging black-painted milk jugs in it? I know they make solar covers for pools, but I that is a bit of a pain to put on and take off all the time and my cover (from a well known manufacturer) from last year was easy to rip and became brittle and fell apart in a few thousand pieces at the end of the summer.

I was thinking about taking milk jugs, pouring a bit of black paint in them to coat the inside, letting them dry, and then submerging them in the pool. This sounds like it would be more effort than the solar cover, but I don't think I would need to remove them every time. Also, they could double as weights to keep the normal cover on when it storms.

Are there any DIY solutions that work well to really warm up a pool?

I live in Ohio, USA if that matters/helps.

I'm not clear on how some milk jugs are going to heat the pool. Most of the light will have scattered before it reaches the submerged jugs. Plus the surface area is going to be minuscule compared to the pool area, unless you have thousands of jugs.

Finally, I thought one of the main benefits to a pool cover was to reduce evaporative heat loss. Underwater jugs won't help you at all.


double hung sash window, any way to prevent the top from being moved down? I have double hung sash window, is there any way to prevent the top from being moved down?  A different style of window hardware possibly?

As of now I have a crecent style fastener in the middle, that will allow both the top and bottom to separate if unlatched.

They are wood sash windows, with a sash chord, and are approximately circa 1922.

Here's what the previous owner of my house did to prevent the top sash from moving: Painted it liberally.  They will be sealed and painted shut.  You could also use caulking.  They make clear caulking too so it wouldn't be noticeable, or in case you have bare wood still that has survived unpainted for the past 98 years. As an added bonus that would keep the drafts down a little too!


What's the recommended order for completing these bathroom remodel tasks? I realize that this question is similar to What is the order of tasks when refitting a bathroom? but since I have some different projects, I thought it would be appropriate to ask in a separate question.

I'm getting ready to remodel a bathroom and it'll involve a few sub-projects:

installing subfloor
installing tile
installing bathroom fan/light/vent (for the first time - which will require roof vent)
replacing drywall on walls (possibly on ceiling too)
replacing vanity and sink fixtures
replacing toilet
replacing bathtub
replacing lighting fixtures
painting

My original plan was to demolish everything... then start on the subfloor... and then work on electrical while the walls are open. I don't know where things like painting fall in though... because I don't want to paint walls too early but it might be difficult to paint around fixtures once they're in.

I have done quite a few bathrooms from start to finish.  You don't always have to do things in a certain order but I can tell you generally how to do things the easiest.

You start with your shower pan and/or tub in the bathroom.  These are specific sizes.  You don't want to have to find something that fits exactly what you need - unless you plan on making your own cement based pan.
Make sure framing fits your choice of tub/shower.  If not adjust/make walls.
Start with the subfloor for the tub/shower area.
Do exit plumbing and install tub/shower.
Make sure that you have bought vanity and any other fixed pieces (mirrors/medicine cabinets/whatever) for the bathroom at this point.  It is important to know the height of new vanity, height of backsplash pieces and other things so that electric/plumbing considerations can be taken.  For instance with taller vanity you might need to bump the GFCIs up a few inches too.  If you have a vanity with drawers sometimes your exit plumbing hangs to one side or your faucet water needs to come from the middle.
Do rough-in for plumbing.
Do rough-in for electric. Also if you have venting that runs to fans I would do this here.
Do the rest of your subfloor if needed.  Your tub/shower subfloor is a different world.  Different needs and the rest of the floor probably has to match up with the next room.  For instance you don't backer board under a shower pan - but would for tile in rest of the room.
Lay your tile.  Everyone has their opinion on aesthetics.  But I will say the easier - and it looks good too - way to do it is to start opposite your vanity wall.   Get most of your cuts hidden under the vanity.  Also try to plan your toilet across two tiles if using large tiles.
Hang drywall.  Mud and tape.  Also if you are tiling shower - then hang your backboard and waterproofing at this point.  Backerboard and drywall should be done at same time because they need to meet at pretty much the same depth.
Prime and paint.  I would redgard the shower area after priming the other walls if it needs it.
Tile shower area.
Install lighting, cap off the rest of the electric.
Install vanity, hook up sink to drain, install faucet.
Put up mirror, medicine cabinet, shower trim, all that stuff.
Install Toilet - you can do this much sooner if you need a place to go but I leave it close to last because I have chipped a few toilets, dropping whatever.
Put in trim around room.
Install any kind of glass enclosure/doors/panels for shower/tub if needed.


What is this part of a double hung window sash called? A few of the covers for these are missing in my house and I can't figure out what to search for for replacements. I'm referring to the dirty, vertical rectangular thing in this picture:

Full size picture here.

Those are safety catches that prevent the window from being opened all the way.

They pop out, and with the window unlocked, they let it open just a few inches. Supposedly an intruder cannot open the window enough to crawl in, and more importantly a child cannot crawl or fall out.

If these little catches are not in place then all you have are cosmetic closure caps.

Here is a photo:


Constant backed-up water from dishwasher drain I have read up on existing questions on this issue, and I understand it is a fairly common issue.

Unlike some other people, my kitchen sink hasn't been clogged, and the garbage disposal works fine. But there is always water at the bottom of my Frigidaire dishwasher (model FFBD2411NS), as high up as going up 1 inch over the bottom.

I called in a maintenance technician from the dishwasher warranty contract company, and he checks the dishwasher's drain hose and tells me the dishwasher works alright, and it's my kitchen sewage that's clogged. I remember seeing him unplug the dishwasher hose and water flow out of it from the dishwasher, which according to him shows that the dishwasher should drain properly.

Despite I don't see any clog, I tried some clog remover liquid. I also called in a plumber and had the kitchen drainage checked, but was told my kitchen sink wasn't clogged.

Now water still backs up, giving out a strong repellent odor, and we can't use the dishwasher as a dishwasher because of this. We have been using it as dish racks.

As @manassehkatz suggested, I am putting up a picture showing the drain hose path. There doesn't seem to be a high loop. Should I create one by elevating the hose?

A dishwasher drain requires an air gap in order to function properly. This prevents water that has drained out - and also water coming from the sink/disposal - from coming back into the dishwasher. There are two ways to install an air gap. The traditional way is the drain hose goes up to an air gap device installed in the corner of the sink and another hose goes down to the disposal. Many dishwashers include a long hose and are designed so that the hose can be attached to the underside of the counter as a "high loop". This effectively provides an air gap as the water is pumped out and goes over the top of the loop but can't come backwards to the dishwasher unless the drain/disposal was blocked and water filled up in the sink to the same level as the top of the loop. No special equipment is needed - just a wire or clip to hold the middle of the hose up high. More details and picture at Draining problems in dishwasher. Is this drain setup ok?

The installation instructions for your particular dishwasher FFBD2411NS Installation Manual show the correct installation of the drain hose, but unfortunately don't explain WHY it should be installed that way, so I can see how it could easily be innocently installed incorrectly.


Can I use #8 wire in a 15 or 20A circuit? I have a customer with a detached garage/shed unit that wants to install a few outlets and light fixtures/recessed lighting - common residential use, meaning no heavy power tools, washers/dryers, etc.

The CLOSEST power supply to the unit is 8 AWG wire rated for 40A-- which is coming from a 40A breaker in the panel. This breaker previously powered an outdoor spa.  The wire is run via underground conduit out to the original spa location -- which has since been removed. The conduit opening is about 6 feet away from the garage.

My initial plan was to swap the 40A breaker in the panel to 15A or 20A and pull out the 8 gauge wire entirely and swap it with 14 AWG or 12 AWG. From there, I would extend the conduit to the garage and wire up the receptacles and lights from there.

The customer wants to know WHY we can't just simply "tap into" or use the end of the existing conduit run with 8 AWG as a junction point for the 14/12AWG that will run into the garage.

Besides always wanting to matching the wire gauge EXACTLY to the breaker I have in the panel -- I didn't have a good response.  Obviously running NEW matching wire adds more to his cost -- so I want to be sure there is a technical standard I'm meeting by pushing for doing this.

What options do I have here?  Or is the customer correct?

You're always allowed to use bigger wire

The circuit ampacity defines the minimum wire size needed.  If you have larger wire on hand, go ahead and use it.

For instance I often run single appliance circuits that demand a 15A breaker. However, I stock 10 colors of #12. I don't stock #14 at all because it's a useless and redundant wire size for me, I'd rarely use it. So the circuit gets run in #12 and breakered 15A.  It's a 15A circuit because it's breakered 15A.

Good to be self-aware of the impulse to always match wire size exactly to the breaker.  That is a false impulse.  There are actually several reasons to consider an upsize besides the one I use: distance, conduit crowding, and yeah, use of existing wire.

The splice must be accessible

One of the rules of splicing in conduit is the splice must remain accessible.  So there must remain a hatch cover which can be removed to get to that splice.  Even if there was not a splice, if it is a junction box or other pulling access, it also must remain accessible.

If you wanted to bury the old junction site, you would need to reconfigure the conduit so it was straight thru, without any stops, to the garage.  Then I would see if I could shift the #8 wire so instead of going from spa to panel, it goes from the garage to a point still inside the house where you could fit a junction box.  Then extend the #8 from there to the service panel so the whole run is #8.

Keep it metal

If the old conduit was metal, extend in metal of the same type.  IMC and Rigid conduit can be buried at 6" cover, which is pretty handy.  Otherwise you will be at 18". Those metal conduits are able to serve as the ground wire.  You need separate neutral and grounds, no bootlegging.


What is this screw called? I need a screw for some outside door handles, and I cannot rethread the holes as some parts are brittle plastic and other parts are soft metal.

I need an exact replacement for this screw, but I do not know what type it is (e.g. wood, self tapping, other type etc)

The length from the head to the tip (other end) is 19mm

The diameter is 4mm

It has 15 threads in 12-13mm

Here are some pictures:

Apologies for the poor quality, my phone isn't very good at close-ups.

This is the closest match that I can find, but the threads seem to be larger.

M5 Pan head machine screw.

Edit: M5 screws have a 5mm shaft.

Edit2.1 (my apologies): This is an M5-0.80 screw. 0.8 refers to the thread pitch, which (for metric screws) is measured by dividing 9.6mm by 12 threads, which equals 0.80. The picture above shows a minor optical illusion of 12 threads over 10mm (pitch = 0.8333); but M5-0.85 screws simply don't exist.


Can I let rainwater run along the wall? I have 2 concrete small slabs (2m x 5m) that are sloped with 1.5% ending in the wall of the lower floor, 3 sides of the slabs have walls (just the low level doesn't). What is the best course of action to deal with this rain water?

Can I just let it run along the wall below?

Should I build a small (10cm) wall in the open end and use a scupper or some other thing?

I don't want to use gutter because I will need to put a ladder against it from time to time for maintenance.

It seems like the easiest solution would be to just put up a gutter and then move the lower ladder to one of the other walls, no?


What are the requirements on buried propane lines? I haven't been able to find online references to the rules, and I don't own a code book.

We have a 300 gallon propane tank, with 5/8" copper line going to a standby generator and into the house for a boiler and range. All installed at the same time about 4 years ago when the house was built.

I recently had my propane tank moved about 10' so we can add on to our garage. The gas company originally told me I needed to replace all of my lines because it's a code violation to bury couplings with copper piping.

In an effort to avoid digging up ~50' of line, I called the propane contractor who did the original install 4 years ago. (I was referred to this contractor by someone I trust and who should know that he's qualified.) He said the gas company was using an old code book, that they were incorrect. He came and extended my line, which I backfilled, and called out the gas company's lift truck to move the tank.

When they came out to do the move, they pointed out multiple violations with the installation:

buried couplings, 5/8" to 5/8", including a tee going to the generator
the new coupling he put in -- to be buried -- was black iron (which seems like a bad idea even to me who knows very little about this stuff)
the coupling going from 5/8" to the 3/8" line heading into the 2nd stage regulator at the garage was buried, including several feet of the uncoated 3/8" line
buried uncoated copper (it's supposed to be plastic coated copper?)

So in the end I had to do all the digging and pay the gas company to replace my lines. I also have this bill from the contractor that I need to have refunded.

Where can I find references, preferably chapter and verse, to code requirements so that I have some leverage with him?

If it matters, I'm in New Hampshire (USA). (And no, my town doesn't have any local code enforcement.)

I cannot fully answer your question, but it seems that New Hampshire simply uses the ICC guidelines for building codes, including for "Plumbing, Mechanical and Fuel Gas" which seems to be the key area here.

Not being an ICC member, I can't access the documents, and neither the New Hampshire Statutes website nor the State Building Codes website reprints these documents for public viewing. This may be to encourage the use of licensed individuals for work subject to code, but IMO as "ignorance of the law is no excuse" in most jurisdictions you should be able to educate yourself on the building code free of charge, the same as for any other section of law. I would call your county clerk and ask how to get ahold of a copy of the codes. It may cost you a little money for their time and paper, but if they can help you here it probably won't be as expensive as an ICC membership for yourself.

If the government won't help (excuse my cynicism but I'd put money on various offices passing the buck), if you need chapter and verse, just get it from both the propane guy and the gas company. They're telling you two very different things, and they can't both be right. Ask both companies for a hard copy of the section of the building codebook, with title and year of that document, detailing the relevant codes which back up their understanding of how it should be done. Both are working for you, and one has shafted you; my money for which one is with the one who can't quote the most recent official codebook recognized by the State of New Hampshire.


Uneven gap between two different floors We recently had our bathroom renovated, subfloor replaced and vinyl flooring installed, but now there's a gap underneath the door.

It measures 3 3/4" x 23" and I'm not sure of any products that would be large enough to accomodate. Most floor transition strips were 1.5" to 2" which is a bit too short

What could we possibly put in this spot?

As noted above you should be able to find a wooden transition piece that would be large enough. The box stores may not carry such a large piece in stock but I'd be surprised if you couldn't find one online somewhere.

Another option is to make a wooden transition piece yourself by taking something a 1x4 board and beveling the edges using a table saw, then sanding and finishing the piece. This would require some amount of skill, but it's a pretty simple job.

Other possible options:

1) fill it in with sanded grout that matches the grout in the existing tile floor. It won't look amazing, and the grout may crack over time especially if the vinyl floor expands into it and/or the subfloor is not great. But it's a quick, cheap and easy fix that will probably last until you are ready to redo the tile floor.

2) Get a matching piece of the vinyl flooring and cut it to fit the gap. This might look a little odd, but not too odd.

3) Fill it in with floor putty. They sell it in different colors. A gap that large filled with putty might also look a little odd, but it would be quick and easy to apply, and it should hold up well.

A final thought: You could always use a smaller transition piece that you buy off the shelf to cover most of the gap, then fill in the rest with floor putty or grout.


"Professional" termination of mains wires I am looking for a way to terminate stranded wires like this:

But in the DIY shops and I only find isolated ferrules with coloured plastic tubes to be put on top of the isolated part of the wire. Aesthetically, I prefer the "professional" option depicted above, which is also more suitable for confined space.

I wonder:

Can I buy such ferrules and crimp them myself with a normal crimper tool?
Does the depicted implementation have any significant disadvantages, making the isolated ferrules so popular?

Update: FWIW, so terminated wires are typical if you buy a wire with a mains plug in Europe, here is an example of a German cable.

Update 2: I realized that the picture may be not clear enough. The main "feature" of these ferrules is that originally they seem to be a flat piece of metal, rather than a tube. This stripe is wrapped around the wire. Therefore there is a seam. What I like about such crimp is that it's almost as thin as the wire, while a deformed tubular ferrule is always thicker, since otherwise it won't fit on the wire before crimping.

I see those ferrules all the time on the lights I get from those friendly east Asian purveyors of sensibly priced goods. They are supplied in brown/hot and blue/neutral, which are Europe and UK color standards.

European use screw terminal blocks to terminate wires, so those ferrules work rather well with them. They also increase the effective wire size somewhat. You would particularly expect to see them on products with fine-stranded wires such as used in cordage.  They are basically unheard of in the United States because they don't play well with our wire-nuts.

It doesn't surprise me if UK DIY shops (like our Home Depot) don't sell them. They are kind of a specialty item.  You'd have better luck with a proper electrical supply.

I would expect those ferrules to take a special crimp tool.


Whatzit? Name this dryer or washer thing-a-ma-bob I am victorious! I have my new LG washer and gas dryer installed. After a weekend of pain and suffering. Well, at least a few trips to Home Depot.

All's done except...I'm left with this one part. I don't see it listed as an accessory in either of my manuals. Maybe it wasn't supposed to come with them and the delivery people just tossed it in?

Anyone know what this is for? It's about 12" long and appears to be a braided wire cable with a plastic sleeve. A flat hook on one end and an eyelet on the other.

That may very well be a washer tub restraint device. The tub in a washer machine is often mounted in a way that takes up vibration during normal operation. During shipping from the factory additional items are added to the washer to restrain motion in the tub to prevent knocking around and/or damage. This cable hook device could be one of those restraint devices.

If a local delivery service brought the washer to your house they very often remove the restraint devices and other shipment items. This could include tapes that hold doors shut, ties that bind up wires, tub restraints.....it could be that the service people didn't extract all devices.


Getting R38 in roof with 2x8 rafters I was planning to use foil faced 2" polyiso plus an air gap, plus 5 1/2 rock wool, to get 13+3+23, or r39.

But this is all between the rafters below the roof deck, and the polyiso is impermeable.  If any water gets into the roof assembly it will have no way to dry out.  I was willing to say there won't be any water, until a severe thunderstorm last night.  The house is 100 years old, and the wall above this roof is cedar lap siding, and when I checked after the storm there was dampness at the ledger in one spot.

So I'm reluctant to stick the impermeable foam under the roof deck.  But with permeable foam, 2" foam + 5 1/2 rock wool is 10+23=33.

How should I get code required r38?

(There is some kind of insulation board on top of the roof, which is a new modified bitumen roof.  But those boards were only 3/4" thick and I don't know what they were.  I hired some guys to do the roof, and there were done communication problems.)

For Future Viewers:

No-one's forcing you get to R-anything, yet & it's coming people, but it's great that you want to. I'd call the Roofer back & get the leak fixed first. Whether you can get to the leak & don't fix it or cover it & never see the leak doesn't stop the leak or building rot.

However, you must (& I mean must) have joists below those rafters & they can even be built-up. Your idea is right, it's just not in the right location. Unless, your overall plans are to finish the attic.

If that's the case, then you don't need anything more than R-19 for that new segregated room's roof if you already have an R-38 done on the floor for the rest of the home's cap. Sure, more is better but not at the cost of Roof, Gable &/or Ridge Vents.

The roof's R-19 for a finished attic there would be best as just Polyiso boards with as much air space as you can give the roof to breathe. Literally board from the eave's venting all the way up to the Gables or Ridge to actually make a dedicated & drastically reduced venting highway for improved everything.


Is it safe to stain some small wood pieces with Danish oil in my basement? Is it safe to stain some small wood pieces with Danish oil in my basement? Nobody uses the basement but I am concerned about fumes leaking up into the main house. It is Watco Danish oil.

Oil finishes have been used on wood in homes for years, I have done several hard wood floors with this same brand it drys fairly quickly but you should make sure to have adequate fresh air for several hours, a couple of boards may not be much but some folks are very sensitive to the odors. Make sure to follow the mfg instructions and by following  them the product is safe to use.


Dripping sound in wall after toilet fills I just had a new toilet installed. When I flush toilet and the tank fills and fill valve shuts the water off, I hear a dripping sound in the wall for about 15 to 20 seconds. Then it stops until I flush the toilet again and it repeats.

It could be pipe thermal expansion. Is it drip drip or more like tic tic? Tic is thermal expansion.


Maximum weight window air condition without supports? For the average old window what is the maximum weight air condition you should have installed without any support brackets beside screwing in the window frame from the inside?  For example up to 50 pounds ok? 100 pounds risking it?

100 pounds is nothing for a window frame.   Now if you don't have it mounted right you could break, crack or put stress the bottom of the actual window unit.   This isn't a question of weight though, it is a question of how balanced it is and movement.

Is a 100 pound vs 50 pound AC unit more likely to have install issues... probably.


dark brown stains in the bottom of a toilet a rental toilet has a dark clay looking stain in the bottom of a toilet that the renter was unable to remove.  At first I thought it was very hard water, however, there was no evidence of stains in a second bathroom or any other fixture.  There is evidence of cat litter in the area and I was wondering if cat litter could form a tough clay layer in the bowl?  Also, if cat litter is in the toilet, could it be in the drain piping and be a problem waiting in thwings. Can anyone suggest a way of removing from the bowl?

My mother had a cat and dumped the cat liter down the toilet. At 90+,She would sometimes forget to flush the stuff and it would cake like that. When I would find it I would use a stick to dislodge what I could, and  After much use it would dissolve and be gone.


How to repair small area of damaged/loose plywood sheathe on roof? I have a small section at a corner of my roof where the plywood has come lose and a gap has appeared.  It is on a part of the roof that is not easy to see, and unfortunately some birds have started nesting inside, and we can hear the pecking near our ceiling.  Obviously I'll have to find a way to get the birds out, but is it possible to repair something like this without tearing the entire section of roof off?

Check with your local/state laws about moving birds/wildlife first.  I know in my area its illegal to move bats during certain times of year.  Now birds aren't bats but bats also make noises that could sound like a bird to an untrained ear.  Even if its birds, a lot of birds are protected here in the US so similar laws may apply. For bats they make 1 way doors that you attach to allow them exit but not come back in.  Put it there for a while to let all the critters out and then remove it in favor of a permanent fix.

Next, if you are looking for a quick fix that should last until the next time you replace the roof, you could always use some spray foam.  They make it in all sorts of colors or you can paint it to be the least obvious.

However, you really need to find the source of the leak that caused the plywood to rot and the curling in the first place, or else you will likely end up with just a bigger mess to deal with.


what is the brand of this sink faucet? enter image description hereOne of my sink faucets in my bathroom is leaking and I decide to fix it. I can uninstall the handle using allen wrench but then don't know how to find the O-ring or something. I need to know the brand but I couldn't find any logo on it. I need to know the brand no matter whether I will fix it or just go buy a new one (to be the same). Can someone help to identify the brand?
enter image description here

just looking at the surface and general look and fit and finish, it looks like a made in china junk faucet.  these types of faucets are essentially disposable.  even if you can get it apart (which may not be the case), you will never get parts for it.

if you do want to try it, try removing the supply line and nut from the bottom (under the counter) and lift the handle assembly out.  there may be a set screw or something under the escutcheon.  i have seen enough of these to not offer much hope though.  get yourself a moen faucet as a replacement.  good pricing, lots of choice, and free parts for life.


Wiring a new GFCI outlet and switch in same box We bought an old house to renovate and came across this situation in a bathroom and it is definitely not up to code. There is a regular outlet and a switch to lights above the mirror near the sink. There are also a couple terminals with two wires. So I want to wire this correctly using a GFCI outlet. I will have to test it to be sure, but I believe the line in is 14/2 wire to the outlet first and 14/3 wire connecting switch to lights and also connected to outlet. I am not there to see how it is exactly connected, but regardless, I want to connect it correctly. Can someone please help?? Also there is no ground with the 14/2 and it is a plastic box.

This is very tricky, because you have both a GFCI device and a switch in close proximity.  It's easy to miswire it so you get an instant GFCI trip when you turn on the light.

But even before that, there's a fair chance the receptacle is already GFCI protected, and you should check for that.

If you have one of the common 3-light testers (you want the simple ones with red-yellow-yellow lights), most of them have a GFCI test button.  Try it. If the power goes out, then it tripped a GFCI device somewhere else.  Search for it.

You can also turn off the breaker that supplies this outlet (since after all, you'll be doing that anyway to service it, right?) First, see if that breaker is itself a GFCI breaker.  If it does, your search is done.   Then, search the house for which other outlets lost power also.  If any of those are GFCI outlets, it's possible the bathroom has been placed "downstream of" that GFCI device, and is receiving GFCI protection from it.  You would need to test further at that point; turn the circuit back on and use "Test" to trip that GFCI.  If the bathroom socket loses power when you do, then your work is almost done.

If you establish that the bathroom or other plain outlets are downstream of another GFCI device, that outlet needs a sticker that says "GFCI Protected".  The stickers come in boxes with GFCI devices and are also sold separately.


When to use drop ears + nipples, and when to not? So I know enough to use brass when using nipples on water supply lines (especially if they consist of copper and copper fittings). However it isn't clear to me when it is best to use nipples and when it isn't.

I've seen sink installations using nipples and many with copper just poking out of the wall. Same with toilets and other fixtures. So what is the convention for when to install drop ears with nipples and when to just tee or elbow the copper out of the wall (and does the UPC have any bearing on this area)?

Is it purely aesthetic or are there practical reasons?

The drop ears are used when the plumbing should remain stationary, usually at the termination of the water line. A shower head may have a nipple (or stub out) tightened to it, usually with a cap when pressure tests are run. But the type of material used for a nipple ,as you mentioned, is dictated by the existing piping. Early plumbing lines used galvanized pipe. If you extended the pipe you should have used galvanized fittings to avoid reactions or corroding between any dissimilar metals. I think drop ears are required by code for all shower installations due to the showerhead being adjusted and grabbed. For a nipple that is installed for a sink to a shutoff valve , the pipe is usually supported close to the entry point.


How can I insert a receptacle into this junction box? I want to install a receptacle into an existing junction box (photo below). Within the box, there are three neutrals (white) and five hot (two black, two blue, and a red). All of the wires have wire nuts (two wires per nut) with one end going down to the basement and one end continuing through the box up to the next floor. I plan to pick on of the blacks to tie into (probably via pig tail) but I don't know which white to connect to. Does it matter since the are all going to the same place (neutral bus bar)? Seems like it might since it seems like you don't want a single circuit coming back to the panel through two different neutrals.

The home is in the State of Illinois

Box Fill
Box fill might be an issue.  There are 8 current carrying conductors, if they are 14 AWG, that's 16 cubic inches (18 if 12 AWG).  Plus another 4 cubic inches for the receptacle (4.5 for #12).  And another 2 cubic inches, if there are grounds (2.25 for #12).
Equipment Ground
If there aren't any grounding conductors, you'll either have to install a 2 prong receptacle or a GFCI receptacle with a "No Equipment Ground" label.
What's What
You'll also have to figure out where all the wires are coming from, and where they are going.  You can't just tap circuits all Willy Nilly,  you have know what else is on them.
Which Neutral
As for which neutral to use, you should defiantly use the grounded (neutral) conductor from the same circuit as the ungrounded (hot) conductor you're using.  You could end up overloading a neutral, or other problems if the circuits are out of phase.


Leaking bathroom sink? My sink is leaking and I’m sure it’s from the lock nut (I’ve put an arrow on the pic at where the water seems to be coming from).
Can anyone guide me on how to fix it? (Preferably by replacing the leaking part, I don’t want to just seal the leak and have to repair it at a later time.)
Thank you!

If tightening the nut 1/8-1/4 turns at a time doesn't stop the leak than the nut should be removed. The drain also should be removed and the flange piece (that sits in the sink) needs to be cleaned.
Apply fresh plumber's putty to the underside of the flange. Place it back in the basin and press down until putty oozes out.
Place the rubber washer and than the nut back on to the threaded drain piece. Snug it up by hand and than tighten with a wrench until the pipe can't be turned by hand.
Clean the putty from the flange and fill the basin with water. Open the drain and look for leaks. Tighten in small increments if leaks are noted and continue running water until no leaks are found.


How to remove a bolt with a broken-off head I'm looking for advice on non-destructively removing a bolt with a broken-off head. While loosening a bolt on some exercise equipment, I broke off the head completely, leaving the shank recessed inside the equipment, totally unreachable. I'd like to remove the remainder of the bolt and replace it with a new bolt.

Is there any way to unscrew the shaft of the bolt that is unlikely to damage the equipment, so that I can easily insert a new bolt?

I think some evaluation needs to be done here. First off it would be helpful to understand why this bolt needed to be removed in the first place. It appears that this bolt and the large washer were used to keep a hinged piece of the equipment on to the round metal shaft that the bolt was threaded into. I see black grease material there which tends to support this observation.

So was the removal just an attempt to loosen the washer against the hinged piece so it would allow the hinged piece to rotate more freely? I ask this because maybe it can continue to operate OK without the bolt even being replaced.

On the other hand if the hinged piece now wants to come off the shaft it will be obvious that the bolt replacement is essential to restore useful equipment operation. This will be a difficult repair operation and require some special tools. If it were me doing it I would investigate first removing the hinged part from the shaft. From your picture it is not possible to fully evaluate if this is easy or hard. Lets assume it comes off easily.

Remove the hinged part from the shaft.

Clean all the grease and oil from the stub of the shaft.

First step trial at removal will be to use an tool similar to that pictured below. (Often called an Easy-Out). Success with an Easy-Out in this situation may not be better than 50-50.

You select the proper size of one of these and then carefully drill a hole down the center of the broken off bolt that is inside the shaft. The Easy-Out is then inserted into the hole and turned in the direction that it wants to screw down into the drilled hole whilst at the same time applying torque on the bolt stub to want to screw itself out.

It is clear from the picture that this bolt was originally secured in place by some type of thread locker material. It will be necessary to apply some fairly significant heat to the shaft to loosen this thread locker so that the Easy-Out has half a chance at removing the bolt stub. There may be some value to heating and let cool the shaft multiple times before even attempting to apply torque to the Easy-Out. Then when you do begin to work with the Easy-Out I would have heat applied to the shaft. High heat will make the shaft expand some and make the bolt stub easier to remove.

Be aware that an Easy-Out is made of extremely hard material and with too much applied torque they can snap off in the hole and make further repair attempts even more difficult.

If the Easy-Out is unable to remove the bolt stub, or just strips out in the drilled hole then you will need to move on to the next level of the repair attempt. You may choose to go right to this step in the first place.

The idea here is to drill out most of the bolt stub using a good quality drill bit. The drill needs to be nearly the diameter of the bolt stub but not quite as big. It will also require a small guide hole to keep it centered. This can either be the previously drilled Easy-Out hole or if just starting here a small drilled hole that is pre-drilled right in the center of the bolt stub.

Once the bolt stub is drilled out you will use a threading tap (they look like as pictured below) that is a size that matches to the bolt and ideally to its thread size as well.

Note that threading taps are also extremely hard material and can break off it too much torque is applied to them. If it does break off further repair becomes extremely difficult.  Using one in this repair application requires extra care because as the threading process occurs parts of the old bolt thread will come loose and try to jam up the tap. Successful use of the tap requires screwing it in a way (quarter turn or so) and then reversing for part of a turn. If a lot of debris is created it may be necessary to completely remove the tap to clean out the hole and then start again.

Be aware that this tapping process does not leave perfect new threads in the shaft. In the best case the tap will try to follow into the original threads and simply remove the remaining parts of the bolt stub. In the worst case the drilling out of the bolt stub was off center, the tap threads do not match the bolt stub or the tapping operation attempts to cut some new thread paths in the hole. My experience has been that typically the result is still good enough to accept a new replacement bolt but you may want to be careful to not tighten it too much or it could strip out.

There is always the possibility to drill out all of the old bolt stub and the threads in the shaft and then thread the shaft to the next larger sized bolt.

Once you have managed to re-thread the hole you can re-grease the shaft and reinstall the hinged piece. Keep an eye on the new bolt. The rubbing of the hinged part on the washer will have a tendency to loosen the bolt over time so it will have to be re-tightened. This is the reason the original bolt had thread locker on it in the first place. The thread locker is also the reason the bolt head twisted off when you tried to remove it.


Old house--no neutral wire for Nest Protect? I'm not particularly electrically inclined, but am giving a go to setting up a wired Nest Protect where an old smoke detector was installed. The device says to connect its white wire to the white (or grey) wire from the wall, but I don't seem to see one of those. Is it possible I don't have a neutral wire here? I read that in some cases brown may be the neutral, so I've got it hooked up that way at the moment, but am not getting the green light from the Protect.

The house was built in 1930 (in California) and still has a fair amount of old wiring.

TIA for any suggestions.

Which Nest Protect should I get?
Just check the smoke alarm you have now. If it connects to [line voltage] wires, you’ll want Nest Protect (Wired 120V). If it doesn’t, you should get Nest Protect (Battery).

Those colored wires in your ceiling look like 24 gauge thermostat wires, unsuitable for line voltage. I surmise your old smoke directors ran on 24 volts. You need the battery version or you'll have to pull some new wire.
However:
The two brown wires look thicker though, more like 14awg. Do you get 120v across them? If you do, I'd assume the neutral is the one with a stripe.
The red, black, yellow and green wires should NOT be hooked to line voltage (and you shouldn't use them as 'interconnecting wires' if the detector is going to send 120v through them). Get the two brown wires separated from all the others and test them.
Utter guesswork that you'll need to confirm with the proper test equipment:
Black to solid brown. White to brown w/ stripe.


What's beneath the tiles of a bathroom? What is beneath the tiles of a bathroom?

I think that the tiles themselves are placed on some sort of tile glue that works like cement. What is this product called?
I also think that beneath that glue, there needs to be some sort of protection so that the water doesn't cause damage. What are these protection layers? Or  is that just on walls?
What comes after? More stuff, or just floor? What type of floor is it?
A bathroom floor often has a slope so that water goes into the drain. What part of the floor ensures this slope once the tiles are put on?

Just trying to figure out how walls and floors in a bathroom work.

It depends on if your tile was properly installed.  More variation than you would hope in that regard.

Floor applications

The layers of a properly-installed tile floor would be as follows, from top to bottom:

Tile and grout
Thinset mortar (the "glue" you are talking about)
Cement backer board
Thinset mortar
Subfloor
Floor joists

Thinset mortar is usually polymer-fortified to give it some flexibility, which helps prevent the movement of the substrate from affecting the tiles.

Backer board (such as Durock, HardieBacker, or WonderBoard) is like a sheet of concrete that is fairly impervious to water (though not water-tight).  It doesn't rot, warp, grow mold, or deteriorate when subject to water or moisture, and is a more stable substrate for tile than wood-based products like drywall, plywood, or OSB.

The backer board is always screwed to the subfloor, but I was taught to also bed it in a layer of thinset - sort of a "glue and screw" method for cement board.  The thinset helps fill in any irregularities in the subfloor so that the resulting tile installation is solid.

Beneath all that is the subfloor sheeting, attached to the floor joists.  If the subfloor is concrete, you don't need the backer board and can adhere the tile directly to the concrete.  In either case, the floor isn't strictly waterproof, but little enough water will make its way to the subfloor that it poses no problems.  Proper sealing of the grout will minimize the amount of water that makes its way through the first layer of floor.

Wet-area applications

In a shower or other area that is repeatedly exposed to water, you'll have a waterproof lining or membrane between the backer board and the studs (in the walls) and in the shower pan to prevent water from getting into places it shouldn't be.

Edit per comments:

Sometimes you'll see shower wall tiles adhered directly to drywall or "green board", which is a more resilient type of drywall.  It's not the best practice due to moisture concerns with the paper facing, but it's not always a problem.  Given the option to replace the drywall or green board with cement backer board (such as during a remodel), I personally would always choose to do so for peace of mind.

Sometimes, in place of a liner, a membrane-forming coating like RedGuard is used under the tile and mortar on the walls and floor.  When used correctly, this can replace the traditional sheet products.

Wall applications

Wall tiles are more commonly installed with a product called "mastic", which is more of an adhesive than thinset mortar.  It doesn't build or bed as well as thinset, so it's generally not suitable for floors or particularly heavy tiles.  You'll commonly find it used to adhere decorative tile backsplashes directly to drywall, which is acceptable as long as the drywall is sealed (painted).

I think that covers most of it.  If I've made any grave errors, please let me know.  My source for all of this is my former direct supervisor at Home Depot, who was a professional floor layer for about 25 years.  I no longer work there.


How do I wall mount this sink? Please let me know how this round sink is mounted. There's no lip and I don't know how the brackets would go on it. Thanks.

Looking at the top back of the sink, there are two screw holes provided, but these are for location not full weight bearing.

Having removed a similar sink in the past, there should be two (ornate) cast iron arms which may also double as towel rails which are secured to the wall and support the weight of the sink.

Another version would have two posts that came up from the floor to the side/front of the sink, there may be evidence of fixing points if you look - the picture does not show us. You might consider an under-sink cupboard with short support posts...

If you don't have those arms or posts then you will need to make something equivalent as you will not be able to rely on those two screw holes.

You might find some searching on google etc will provide images of similar sinks with the supports shown.


How do I temporarily remove section of vinyl fence? I am repairing a shed that's next to a vinyl fence.  I would like to temporarily remove a section of the vinyl fence, but I can't find a good way to remove it.

Here's the picture of the fence, and a picture of inside of the fence post.  I notice the plastic is molded so it goes easily into the post but not out of it.  Is it simple as squeezing the plastic and pulling out?  I face a lot of resistance when I try this, which makes me question if there's a better way or a tool to help.

In the picture of the interior, you can see the locking wedges (lugs) that hold the horizontal  beams in the posts. If you just pull out, the raised edge of the lug will prevent it.

One approach is to place a putty knife (or some other thin metal blade, not too sharp) inside the post, parallel to the beam, covering the lug and angled into the seam of the post's cutout. If there are two lugs, you need on on each side. The cutout should flex and let the lug pass.

You made need to cut down small putty knives to fit inside the post.

This assumes you have some starting point to move one of the beams horizontally.


Trouble with diy wiring in basement room with afci and ceiling fan So... I as a self/ Google taught electrician have wired in a room I have made in my basement with the following issues.

The ceiling fan trips the afci breaker every time. It is fine with a normal breaker, trips with the afci; the guts are exposed to the fan and I have tried re- splicing the hot wires a hundred times to get better contact. The fan is also on one single light switch, no red wire.
An unused treadmill is tripping the breaker on one of my outlets. The treadmill is fine on a properly wired in outlet, and I believe it's fine on a normal non afci breaker.
I believe a power strip is also tripping the afci.

One thing that will cause AFCI's to trip also happens to be something that will cause GFCI's to trip: crossed neutrals.

As you may know, all grounds are just basically a cloud of grounds - all grounds coming out of a panel can generally be mixed together, even if they are from different circuits out of that panel.   Back in the day, people sometimes thought the same thing of neutral, which was never true.  But it happens all the time where someone "grabs the nearest neutral" and that happens to be a neutral from a different circuit.  Or neutrals from 2 circuits have been tied together.  This mistake was undetectable; neutrals don't have breakers.

Now GFCIs and AFCIs don't like crossed neutrals, so it matters.

GFCI and AFCI will tolerate this situation as long as there is 0 load on the miswired part of the circuit (or both circuits if the neutrals are tied together on 2 circuits).  However when you add load, some or all of the neutral current "goes the wrong way". GFCI's are super sensitive to this, AFCIs less so, but will still trip.

Of course, it goes without saying that AFCIs don't work on multi-wire branch circuits (MWBC).  If in the panel, your AFCI "hot" is feeding up into a /3 cable with another hot fed from a different breaker, that is an MWBC. Safety requires you fix it: Get a 2-pole, 240V, handle-tied breaker, and land both hots on opposite sides of that breaker.  The AFCI versions of those are pricey.

So I would start by putting other loads on the outlets those devices are plugged into.  A 1500W heater should give a good test.   If the AFCI trips under those conditions, then it is a wiring problem and I would focus (in this priority)

multi-wire branch circuits first, just because it's easy to cross off the list.
crossed neutrals, as discussed, which means mapping the circuit, opening up every box in the circuit.
any loose wire anywhere in the circuit, which would cause genuine arc faults. - converting backstab connections to either screw or screw-and-clamp, as backstabs are not as reliable, and sometimes cause genuine arc faults.

"re-splicing the same wire 100 times" won't do it. Re-splicing every wire in the circuit once is a better use of your time.

Otherwise the appliance may be generating an arc fault internally. Test that by wiring an AFCI direct to a single receptacle only, and plugging the appliance direct into that, and seeing if it trips.

P.S. are you actually landing the circuit neutral on the AFCI?  Or is it still going to the panel's neutral bar?


Open ground indication on tester when connecting appliances to any outlet on same circuit We have 5 double outlets connected on one circuit. Now we noticed that if we connect outlet tester to any outlet it's indicate 'correct', but if we plug appliance to any one of outlets in the circuit, the tester starts to shoe 'open ground'. It happens with every outlet that we tested and any outlet we connected appliances to.
We checked the tester with other outlets in the house and it works fine.
We already tried to open all the outlets and tighten the wires.
Does anyone have any ideas on what's going on?
Thanks

Stop.  Stop worrying about the silly message from a $3 tester.

We call them "Magic 8-ball" testers

Because like the magic 8-ball, whatever answer is stated on the legend is an amusement at best.

The style of these testers is to have 3 lights and a litle "legend" that tries to interpret the lights.  Worse, newer testers embed a little computer that changes what the 3 lights mean!  On the originals, the lights are semi-useful if you understand what they are indicating and how to interpret half-lit lights.  (And your tester is built well enough you don't see bleed-through between lights). The legends were always useless.  one is in my toolbox for the lamps.

I don't know if your tester is an "at least the lamps are ok" ones or not.  Assuming that it is, and you are getting two yellows and one yellow extinguishes with a big load attached.... But the load works.

It might be exactly what it says on the tin, a weak neutral-ground bond, but with these, it usually isn't.

Start upstream

It sounds like the 5 receptacles are hooked together properly, so I would look upstream (toward supply).  Either a sixth outlet* you don't know about, or the panel itself.

To start, run this test on another circuit and see if it also does it.  That would make it a full-panel problem and we can just go there.

Then shut off this circuit breaker and scour the house for any outlets* that went dead.  Obviously those would be on the same circuit, and their box is worth looking inside for anything out of order.

Next go to the panel and scour the safety Equipment Grounding Conductor system in your panel for anything amiss.  Making sure all the grounds are on the ground bar.

If the panel is a main panel: it's the first panel past the meter, neutrals and grounds are spammed onto the same bar.  Inelegant but legal because of the next step.

Next, we need to go to the main panel/breaker and look at the Equipotential Bonding System. This is simpler than it sounds: it's a fat wire between neutral and ground bars in the main panel only.  This can't be too beefy.   Sometimes this is a magic green screw in the neutral bus that screw into panel chassis.  I have seen those fail. I prefer a beefy #4 bare wire from neutral bus to ground bus or chassis.  When I say One Place I mean the one main panel. Redundancy inside that panel is permitted.

Neutral and ground must not be bonded anywhere else.

Lastly we can declare the grounds "golden" once we look at the Grounding Electrode System - but that isn't involved in this problem.

If you have an older subpanel that only has a 3-wire connection (hot-hot-neutral) then you may see grounds on the neutral bar in that subpanel.  That is obsolete and a bit dangerous.  You are allowed to retrofit just a ground wire back to the main panel, and separate neutral and ground in that subpanel, as is normal for new work.

Back to the branch circuit

If you found any grounding system defects, that should lick it.   If not, we have to go back to the branch and check it through-and-through for defects.  I assume you've a) already been doing that, and b) doing it correctly, so at this point the most likely failure point is b).  Re-educate on how to do this stuff, and take another look.

* an "outlet" means any point-of-use for electrical power, not just receptacles.


How to find a motion sensing light switch that turns lights on AND off when motion is detected? Location: USA.

The light switch to our laundry room is in the hallway outside the door. I replaced the standard light switch with a motion sensing switch (Leviton ODS10-ID). When we enter the room, the lights turn on automatically and stay on for about 10 minutes. The problem is, when we leave the room, the sensor is triggered again and the lights stay on for another 10 minutes while no one is in the room.

I have researched various types of motion sensing light switch products from all the major manufacturer's websites and can't find anything that will simply turn lights on when motion is detected and then turn off when motion is detected again. I'm okay with getting the lights turned off on me if someone happens to walk by the room while I'm in there.

It seems like a common need, so perhaps I am in need of guidance on the correct terminology to use. This is not a request for a product recommendation, rather a request for help on researching products or re-wiring needs to include an additional sensor that could potentially address this waste of electricity while continuing to have the convenience of a motion sensing light switch.

Put the sensor in the space you are trying to light, and suddenly this "common need" becomes "not a need at all" which is why you can't find them, since that's how it's done, when done conventionally.

Either move the switch into the room or get a remote sensor switch and put the sensor in the room.


Thumbturn And Plate Removal (Schlage) I'm unfortunately having a lot of trouble removing my thumbturn of my door.  Please see pic.  It's a Schlage that was on this house when we bought it as the model home in 2007ish.

I've tried pushing in the small hole with a small allen wrench while trying to pull the thumbturn out but that hasn't done anything.  There are no visible screws.  Thanks

I have a similar lock. Press straight down in the center of the hole with an awl while wiggling the knob and pulling gently.  There is a small spring loaded pin that has to be depressed to remove the knob


At what height should I install chair rail? I have a couple questions regarding my chair rail installation.  I have read that, if possible, the chair rail should be at the same level as the window sill but I am thinking it might be better a little higher.  Note that the overall wall height is 8'4", the upper surface of the window sill is around 31" and the height of the chair backs is around 36".  One of the photos shows how the chair rail would look if it were installed a few inches above the window sill.

I would be interested to hear what others think about this.

Another issue is that I want to terminate a chair rail about 1 foot beyond an inside corner as it reaches an outside corner about 13 inches to the left of the inside corner.

I was thinking of putting in a mitered return about one inch from this outside corner.  Another option which is easier would be to not even install the railing along the 13 inch wall and just terminate the molding in the inside corner using a square cut.  I'm not sure if this would look as good though.

Although this is sort of an arbitrary question, and might get flagged, I'll pen a few thoughts.
There are no real rules to chair rails, I've installed them from 28 to 38 inches. Traditionally, some feature, like a window sill or a side board dictates the height so the lines flow around the room. But I always say, "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". If you decide to go higher than your sill, be sure to back cut the rail 3 or 4 degrees so it will fit snug to the window trim, no gaps.

Finishing at an outside corner is pretty straight forward. The rail should meet the edge of the outside corner perfectly with a 30 degree miter cut. I think cutting short of the corner makes it look unfinished, especially finishing with a straight cut at the inside corner.  The end miter cut needs to be sanded really smooth so no cut off wood grain shows through your paint. I use a fixed rotatory sander for that job, but a delicate touch with a decent palm sander will work.

Just my humble opinion, hope your job looks great when your done.  Good luck.


What could have caused these step formation cracks in a plaster wall? Trying to figure out what these cracks are from. house was built in 1929, has plaster walls throughout. Someone said its the house settling and firebreaks in the interior of the wall.

Anyone see this kind of thing before? (images were edited to show more details)

It could be settling. I see from the window sill it is on an outside wall. You did not mention how long the cracks have been there, but I would go outside and check if there is any water damage happening at the foundation level, missing siding, etc., to rule out settling from decay. Otherwise those cracks, I would say are normal in many cases for a wood lath and plaster home, which should be the case for your 1929 home. The cracks follow the typical way the wood lath is installed.


What kind of eye protect is appropriate for glass fibre insulation but won't fog up? I've tried various goggles (some with more ventilation than others) and resorted to swimming goggles, but they all steam up after 60 seconds at the most. Maybe I sweat too much(!), but whatever I try doesn't seem to be very effective (i.e. licking the lenses, rubbing with a potato, etc.)

They make a spray for Hockey visors that prevents them from fogging up; I have never tried it on goggles, but it should work on goggles too. It always kept my visor fog free, and I was always hot and sweaty playing hockey.  You should be able to find it at your local sporting goods store.

Actually I can't believe I have never tried this, I'm going to spray my safety glasses right now.


Vinyl siding gap on corner I'm a computer programmer so this isn't my field, however I am a new home owner... Our new house has vinyl siding, one of the corner prices has what appears to be a 6inch or so gap near the roof exposing the wood beneath. Is there an easy way to push this price back in to place, it seems to have slid down, there is a similarly lengthened surplus at the bottom, also I'm left to wonder if it is standard to not have some method to nail or otherwise pin the piece in to place so it wouldn't slip.

Some corners like yours are actually two parts--an inner part that's nailed to the wall framing, and a snap-on cover. You can actually see the inner component in your photo at the top. This arrangement allows for various styles to be used. Generally the inherent tension and friction of the two components prevents slipping like you've seen.

With a wooden block held snugly against the bottom of the slipped corner piece, use a rubber mallet or other tool to gently tap the slipped corner back into place. This would best be done on a warm day when the vinyl is less likely to shatter.

A small screw or rivet in an inconspicuous location, or a dab of exterior construction adhesive behind the cover, will help prevent future slipping.


How to wire 3 Phase for 220V Motor I have a used 3 Phase motor that can either run in 220V or 440V with 3 Phase power.

I looked at the wiring and there's three sets of wires, each wire has a label W6, U6, V6, etc...

There's a diagram on the inside of the wire casing but it looks like some sort of puzzle from Jonathan Blow The Witness

I was hoping that someone here can help me understand what this image means.

You want to use the lower voltage connections at the top the Wye start connections connect w6 to u6 to v6. Next w2 to u2 to v2. Those are the internal field windings to set up low voltage starting now connect u1 to u5- first phase, v1 to v5 -2nd phase and last w1 to w5 -3rd phase the little black lines are the connection points .


Help me understand electricity - is the neutral always dangerous? I've read the basics of modern domestic electrical systems, but I have a few questions about the very basic premise that I don't think was really explained.

The analogy used in the book compares electric delivery to water delivery - it comes into the house under pressure, and exits under no pressure. Anyway, the electricity leaves the house through the neutral wire, which is zero voltage, or "no pressure" as the book says.

Does this mean that if you have a circuit with just one outlet, and nothing is plugged in, wouldn't you still get a shock from touching the neutral? The voltage wasn't used - this is what I don't understand. If nothing is plugged in, how is the flow suddenly under zero pressure, or no voltage?

Is there a better analogy than water? Doesn't water leave the house either through gravity or... more pressure, i.e. other water pushing it towards gravity?

Oh one more thing: if electricity coming into the house is a constant loop, how does the meter work? Does it take a "resting" state and subtract the surges? The water analogy fails here, because if you don't use any water, no new water comes in (or is that incorrect?) With electricity, if it's always flowing (even if not used), how does the meter know how much you're "using"?

I'm on the brink of getting it, but I'm not quite there yet!

The water pressure/flow analogy is, unfortunately, a common but very imperfect one. If we insist on using it, voltage is something like pressure and current is something like flow rate.

The key concept you're missing is that you need a circuit, not a single wire.

Voltage, like pressure in the pipe, is always measured relative to some reference point. If you were perfectly insulated otherwise, you could hold the hot wire all day and not do yourself any harm, as birds on high-tension wires demonstrate on a regular basis. In the electrical analogy, this is like a capped pipe, or a connection into a tank where the outside pressure is the same as that coming from the pipe. You can extend that pipe or enlarge the tank, but as long as the counter-pressure from the cap or surroundings equals the pressure coming in, no current flows. (I'm oversimplifying like mad, but that's inherent in the faulty model.)

Only when there's somewhere for the water, or electrons, to go will you get current. In a properly designed circuit, that's the neutral, which in the water analogy we can almost think of almost as a drain pipe. If we were talking about DC, you could think of the return/neutral path as a drain pipe; to make that idea work with AC we have to remember that the whole system is sealed, current flows both direction, and we get our current from water sloshing back and forth in the loop of pipes rather than any one drop of water flowing all the way around the loop.

It's current, not voltage, that does the actual work. But voltage ("pressure") is what causes current to flow.

(Of course if you poke a hole in the pipe and let current flow in another direction -- not just stopping at you but through you to a ground, for example -- the voltage will happily do its "work" on you, which is why it's dangerous. Ditto for short circuits, where the "work" goes into heating up the wire and potentially starting a fire.)

Your electric meter measures the current, not voltage. Until the circuit is complete and there's a path from hot to neutral (or, in the bad case, to ground), no current flows and the meter just sits there. When current is flowing, the meter uses a bit of the energy from that current to advance itself; a gentle current spins the meter slowly, a strong current spins it more quickly. In an AC system, the meter is set up to measure both directions of the "sloshing", or to act like a ratchet so it ignores one direction, and again you get a measurement proportional to how much current is being used.

As I keep grumbling, this analogy really is not a very good one, because it leads to misunderstandings like yours. I've forced it a bit farther to answer your questions... but really, the best answer is to stop thinking of electricity by analogy and start thinking of it as its own thing, and just learn how it behaves.


Can I use regular pine lumber as a stair tread cover? I'd like to use knotty pine boards as stair tread covers instead of actual tread covers.  The tread covers I've seen are 1" or 2" wide pieces fit together to make a board, I'm guessing this is done to reduce warping?  If I use standard pine boards, will I run into a warping problem?

Sure. One technique I've used (with 2x10 lumber, in my case) is to cut partial-depth lengthwise to give the board more flex in case of warping forces. So for my 2x10 treads I cut 1" into the board on the 1/3 and 2/3 points across the board.

 ___________________________________________________
|                                                   |
|               _                   _               |
|              | |                 | |              |
|              | |                 | |              |
|______________| |_________________| |______________|

If you have exposed ends, stop the cuts short accordingly so they don't show.

If you're overlaying 1x boards, just glue them down well using construction adhesive. It would be wise to acclimate the boards in the home for a week or so first.

Be aware that pine is soft. It wasn't a problem in my home because we're a shoes-off family for the most part. One issue was when an HVAC tech bounced his dolly down the steps right after I built them, leaving a pair of dents on each nosing. I was not happy. That was the only damage they sustained during the decade or so I saw them in service.

Also be aware that varnished pine is slippery. I ended up installing a carpet runner down the center to remedy that. It's fine if you're aware of it, but guests won't be.

Like Kris mentioned in a comment, actual edge-glued or clear pine treads are available (though they're not cheap). They'll be 1" or 1-1/8" thick with a bullnose.


Correct wiring of float switch into two pole contactor for well pump I have a Mars 780 61347 two pole 30A contactor:

I am using this contactor to control a 220V well pump that fills a cistern.  I then have a float switch in the cistern which, when closed, should cause the well pump to kick on and fill the cistern.

I have a 30A 2P breaker in the box that feeds the bottom of the contactor.  The top of the contactor is wired to the pump.  If it matters, these wires are attached to the contactor using the screws and not the gold contacts that can be seen in the picture.

The contactor has two silver contacts on it that appear to be for energizing the coil, one on each side.  How do I wire the float switch into this setup?

Thanks in advance.

Float Switch

If it matters, the float switch I have is a SJE Pumpmaster:

http://www.sjerhombus.com/ses-controls-float-switches-details.php?ID=50&ID=49

The Rest of the Story

I wanted to respond to some of the comments for posterity's sake.

  If you don't know what "in series" means, you probably shouldn't be doing electrical work.

I understand what it means in general but was somewhat confused by this setup and how to apply "in series" to the current situation.

The reality was that I wasn't actually doing the work myself.  The guys who dug my well were installing all of this equipment.  I didn't always trust the work they were doing so I was asking them to explain things to me.  When the installer explained how he was going to wire the contactor, he told me he was only going to have one wire going to the coil and leave the other side without any wire connecting to it.  That seemed very wrong to me, but he said b/c it was 220, it would "just work."  I highly doubted that and posted here to confirm the correct way to wire it.

By the time he was finished, he realized he made a mistake and had it wired like @Tester101's diagram.

  Per Tester101's comment, why are you using a contactor at all? What
  type and size of well pump (submersible, jet pump) and is it currently
  hard-wired or plugged-in? Also, what is the model of the float switch
  you have? Hopefully it's a "PMU" model (pump-up), but they also have
  versions with and without plugs (which is why I ask). All of these
  will potentially dictate the best way to wire this up.

I'm using a contactor because the well installers said that is the way it should be done.  They explained that the float switch wiring was too small to run the pump's current through that wire.  It's a 3/4 HP submersible pump that they have wired using 10 gauge wire.  The float switch model is linked to above.

Wire the float switch and contactor coil just as if you were wiring a light fixture controlled by a wall switch.  Or, in bad ASCII art:

 ----------[float switch]---------
 |                               |
240V                           [coil]
 |                               |
 ---------------------------------


3-way switch for light with fan controlled by switch built into fan. Odd wiring layout. Wiring assistance required My electrician and I have parted ways. This has resulted in my having to finish off various projects. I have managed to get 2/3 lights operating the way they were intended. However, I am having extreme difficulty following the living room's switch loop--in particular how the living room would return to the panel.

All 3 lights are on the same 15A circuit. The shared junction box has 1 14/2 from panel and 1 14/3 running to the bathroom/living room and 1 14/3 running to SW1 for the living room and dining room 3-way switches. The living room box is inaccessible, in terms of having a more clear run (switches and power cannot route there directly) and has 1 14/3 running from it to the bathroom box, which has 1 14/3 running back to the junction box mentioned above.

Living room fan: Objective

3-way switch to control lights.
Fan controlled by the fan switch itself.

Wires are run as follows:
14/2 from panel into junction box. This feed powers a 3-way for the dining room light (Power to SW1 (on red), travelers to SW2 (red and black), Light from common SW2 (black), shared neutral), the bathroom light (Power runs along Red to bathroom, goes to a single pole switch (white), black off switch back to light, shared neutral on 14/3 which goes back to the junction box--all neutrals nutted together). Bathroom and Dining room I have working and understand the connections. Now for the living room....

The living room has 2 3-way switches currently wired (done by the electrician) . SW1 has black on the common and black and red for the travelers (Common (black) goes into the junction box mentioned above, travelers go to SW2). SW1 has 1 14/3 running to SW2. SW2 is wired as follows: red and black as travelers and a hot marked white on the common. In SW1's box (shared with 1 3-way for the dining room) the other 14/3 runs to the afore mentioned junction box. All neutrals (whites) at SW1 are martleted(wire nutted) together.

I have not, as yet, hooked up a fixture in the living room as I wish to avoid any possible "damage".

I assume that the electrician had intended that "power" be from the fixture box based on his "hot" white on SW2's common. However, I never use white as anything but a neutral so I'm just not logically seeing the layout of this.

Where I'm currently at:

Black from SW1 through junction box to bathroom and through to the living room and attach to the black (hot) of the light. Direct power for the fan to run from red in junction box to bathroom and through to the fan line of the fixture. Where my logic totally fails me is on the switch loop/"hot" white. With all the neutral's shared in SW1 (as done by the electrician) and the junction box (as done by me) I don't how the "hot" neutral on SW2 (switch loop of the living room) will function. I would be inclined to have the neutral just hook up to the neutral line of the fan(direct path back to the panel). I just do not follow the switching of the living room.

Again, all the wires where already run as noted above by the electrician--which he claimed was all that he required(so I've been working within that framework). The living room switches were also already wired by the electrician. The remainder has been conducted in my attempts to get the 3 lights working. Bathroom and dining room work fine. The living room remains an untested mystery.

Any assistance is appreciated--and a diagram would be wonderful.

I think I get what you're describing. You need to get switched power from the living 3-ways back through the common box and bathroom box on to the fan/light in the living room, all the while powering bath and dining lights as well as the fan, all with only 14-3 cables between boxes.

I think where you are going wrong is supplying power to bath and dining using the red conductors from the common box, because the black is for the living room power. You don't need to do this, they are all on the same circuit. Use black as common power to all switches and fan. The red is then free to be used to run switched power through all the boxes to the living light. And except for the switched white, all neutral whites tie together. Do not ever connect switched power white to neutral whites. Instant short circuit once any switch is on!

In the dining/living 3way switches box, black from common box to common of BOTH 3-way switches. Travelers OK as connected. Switched living white to red from common box.

In common box, connect all like colors together.

In bath box, connect all like colors together. Pigtail from black to bath switch.

In living room. Black to fan power. Red (switched) to light power. White to common neutral.


Basement sliding glass window (Pella) - how to remove the pane opposite of the sash I just installed a Pella basement sliding glass window in my house. It went well, but I have a question. How do you remove the non-sash pane? I Googled this like crazy but the only things that come up are how to remove the sash, which is super easy but not what I need to know.

What if the non-sash pane breaks? I can't imagine that one would have to remove the entire window and replace it. At least I hope not.

Also, what is the non-sash window pane area/thing called?

I cannot speak for all sliding windows but on mine the fixed section has some bracket things in the center corners top and bottom that keep it in place and prevent it from being lifted up to clear the lower track.

Removal on most of these involves lifting to clear the track on the bottom and then swinging the bottom away from the frame. Many times the movable section has to be removed before the fixed section can be removed. On mine both sections have to be removed toward the inside.


Is it okay to flush water heater onto the drip pan with drain hole? Our water heater is on the second floor and we need to have it flushed.  It has a drip pan with a hole that has a tube attached to it.  Common sense tells me that I can flush the water heater directly onto the drip pan since it has a pipe attached to it where the water will drain, but I haven't seen anywhere on line that this is okay to do.  I've read only that it is there just in case there's a leak.  Can I drain our water heater onto the pan or should I attach a hose to the it to drain?

The drip pan's drain tube may not be large enough to handle the flow if you drain the entire water heater through it, leading to an overflow of the drip pan. I would be safe and use a hose to connect the outlet to the drain.


Identify Hot and Neutral Line on Vintage Clock I am working on a vintage clock, and in order to make it safer, I would like to replace the cord with a more modern UL-approved cord.

First things first, I am trying to identify the hot and neutral lines of the current cord, but I'm having a hard time distinguishing between the two.

The metal prongs appear to be exactly the same size. The wire itself doesn't have a ridged side, but it does have one side that is slightly embossed with the words "General Electric L Flamenol"

Looking at what I think is the clock motor, there doesn't appear to be any indicator of a positive or neutral side.

As far as I can tell, the only obvious marker is the "General Electric L Flamenol" label on one side of the cord -- does anyone know if that indicates power or ground?

Below is an image of the clock model 8125 and power details for reference.

Any other feedback or safety recommendations on this undertaking are very appreciated

P.S. The ink is a little blotchy, but looks like the bottom label says "220V" -- but that seems far too high to work on a normal outlet. Is is more likely that it's actually 120V and coincidentally looks like 220V?

After more research, I realized that this question has been answered already -- I just didn't have the right terminology for it. When the prongs of a plug are the same size, they are "non-polarized" and don't have a hot and neutral.

I am looking to convert a non-polarized plug to a polarized one. According to this stack exchange thread it doesn't matter which way I wire it when going from non-polarized to polarized, so long as my gauge is the same or larger on the new plug so that it caries the old electrical load safely.


How to Wire New 1 Way Switch From 2 Existing 3 Way Switches I've done a lot of searching and can't seem to make sense of what to do in my situation.  I had 2 existing 3 way switches that I've replaced with new 3 way dimmers and also added a third single pole (dimmer) switch to a new light fixture.
Here is what the wiring looked like when I removed the old switches for reference:

Going off of that and making sense of the instructions the best my novice mind can, I was able to wire them up as below:

Wired this way, everything works - however, the new light fixture will only come on if the middle 3 way dimmer is also on.  Also the dimming for the far right switch works, but is overridden by the dimmer position on the middle 3 way switch.  My goal is to wire them up so I can independently control the new single pole switch on the right and new light.
Is this possible?  If so, can someone please point me in the right direction?
Here is an EXTREMELY crude MS Paint drawing:

I will take another look at it when I get home after work.

I am afraid that the way the photos are taken I can't clearly see what wires go where.  But I have a fairly safe guess for your answer.

When you have two three way switches on a light, you have a circuit like this:

Note that the common terminal on the switch on the left is connected to the constant-hot power source (let's call it the line side), and the common on the switch on the right is connected to the light or whatever, let's call it the load side.

(The actual physical layout, wire routing, and the color coding may be quite a bit different than the picture - the illustration is just to show how the circuit is put together.)

It sounds like you tapped the wire going to the common terminal on the middle switch to connect to the new switch on the right, and switch happens to be on the load side of the 3-way switch circuit.

If that switch happened to be on the line side of the 3-way switch circuit, and you tapped the wire on that common terminal for your new switch, you'd be getting constant hot at the third switch, which is what you want;  that new switch / dimmer alone would control the new light.

But as it is, you're supplying that right-side dimmer switch with whatever is coming through to the load side of the middle 3-way circuit - no power, full power, or dimmed power, depending on the position of the switches.

There is of course one hope for an easy solution.  If the three-way switch on the left happens to be on the  line side of that three way circuit, you can tap the common from that switch instead, and you're set.

If you don't have a constant hot in the box - just travelers for the three way circuits entering the box - you have a bit of a challenge.  You will have to either run another cable to supply power, or you'll have to convert one (or both) of the three way circuits to some kind of wireless switching, freeing up the travelers.  Then you can use one of those wires for constant power.


Plastic screw from a toilets flushing mechanism What is the name of the red plactic screw in the picture? It's from a toilets flushing mechanism.

I would call it the float height adjustment screw, possibly tank water level height adjustment screw.


What do I need to do to restore a wooden entry door? I'm going to give it a try rather then buying a new door.

I have a wooden door (veneer on both sides) with some decorative mouldings. My plan is to use a heat gun to get as much paint off as possible and then go around with an orbital sander using 80, 120 and 220 grit sandpaper.

On the bottom, the door is weathered and some of the wood is chipped or has started to flake under the paint. I think I need to use some kind of filler but I would like to know what kind because I want it to hold.

Also, one of the biggest issues with restoring it myself is that I don't like seeing brush marks in the paint. So, I plan to paint the door using a sprayer.  I do have the equipment for painting cars. Can I spray the door with the same spray gun? What kind of primer and paint do I need to use on the wood to make sure it holds well and lasts for a long time?

Any other advice on stripping, sanding and filling the paint will be appreciated.

Note: If it makes a difference, I'm also going to get all new hardware.

We just use good ol' bondo to fill missing pieces in wood. In the cabinets I did last weekend, several of the doors had an inch worth of corner rebuilt from bondo.

The other tool that helped us that weekend was a profile detail sander; specifically the octosander by Skil.

You can use the same spray gun you would use for cars, but you might need a larger diameter tip/needle combo. With my gun, I need a 1.7mm tip for oil based enamel and a 2.5 for water based.

Edit to add our process:

sand with an orbital sander and profile sander using 60 to 120 grit until the surface no longer has brush marks. It's OK if some of the original paint is still present. This ended up exposing some raw wood. Don't be afraid to press down hard on the sander at this point -- you're going for removal, not smoothness.
Clean areas that require patching or bondo using a stiff wire brush to remove any rotten or loose wood. Mix and apply bondo, keeping in mind that the set time of bondo is typically very small and that you want to apply it in it's most liquid state for it to bond well with the wood. Do not let it partially harden as you're applying it; stop and mix a new batch. Sand bondo after 45 minutes of hardening using a wood block with sandpaper wrapped around it so that you get a surface that is smooth with the rest of the door.
Wipe down to remove sawdust and paint debris, wait for it to dry. Apply a thick coat of primer across the entire surface. Wait for it to cure (12 hours).
Sand any areas that show as high LIGHTLY with 120 grit. This will probably include the bondoed area and any area around where raw wood was exposed. Sand more heavily with 120 grit in areas where the primer was attempting to fill in a crack.
Wipe down, wait to dry, Prime again, lighter this time.
Sand lightly with 220 grit until the surface is as smooth as a baby's bottom. You want to make sure you remove any signs of any orange peel or other imperfections in the primer coat, because they will show right through to the finish coat.
Apply finish coat smoothly and evenly. If you're in a climate like mine (hot and humid), move the door indoors to cure for > 24 hours before attempting to mount and close it.

Dad has always used exterior-grade Alkyd (Oil) based finishes on wood doors. Due to VOC restrictions, many of the finishes he used are no longer available, and the newer low-VOC formulations are prone to chalking. Our paint store, who I trust implicitly, now recommends that we use an alkyd primer and then coat with an exterior acrylic.


What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a thinner thickness of hardwood for stairing/flooring? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a thinner thickness of hardwood for stairing/flooring?

We are considering getting hardwood stairs as a replacement for carpet stairs and we found wood with varying amounts of thickness.   Is there a difference between a "thin" thickness and thick thickness?  Does it affect anything towards how long the wood will last, etc?

Most stair treads are a true 1" thick also known as 5/4" milled. Anything less than that might sag when you walk on them depending on how it's framed. You can use 3/4" thick boards for the risers.

Flooring can be all sizes for thickness depending on the application and manufacturer because you have a subfloor to attach it to. Thinner floors make transitions from a room with the flooring to a room without it a little less drastic.


Should I be concerned with my back flow valve pit filling with water? I have never had foundation or ground water problems in my basement but I did have a sewar problem and as part of a recent replacment of that, I had a back flow valve installed that looks like this:

(source: a-to-zplumbing.com)

I have been periodically checking it, and recently I found that there were a couple inches of water in the pit.  It was perfectly clear with no odor. We recently had a thaw so I figured it was a little bit of ground water flowing under the foundation.  I checked it for a week or so after and observed the water level drop.

Today I opened it to find the valve almost completely submerged in water, though the water level was still about 12" below the floor.  We had quite a bit of rain the last week, however in order to rule out the valve itself leaking, I tried to shop-vac the water out.  I filled my shop-vac completely in a few seconds and water flowed back into the pit, which leads me to beleive that there is quite a bit of water underneeth my basement floor.  The water supply enters my house about a foot from this pit.

I do not see any other evidence of moisture anywhere on the basement floor.
My biggest concern is that water will fill the pit completely and flood my basement.

Is it normal to find this much water under a basement floor after wet periods and is there a possibility of the pit overflowing, or am I only noticing this now because I have a big hole in my floor?

The fact that the water is seen in the pit only after a rain is a good thing, meaning your water table is not the problem, because that would mean a sump pump for sure.  I think you are just seeing this because the valve is only 2' from the wall.  Normally, it was dissipating.  You had a good wall/slab system that wasn't leaking until a hole got poked in the slab for the repair

Some grading of the soil alongside this wall for better runoff might be in order.  Any drainspouts nearby?

Some ad-hoc pump automation in the pit would give you some peace of mind until you can get outside for some landscaping.

Self contained sump pump

To verify gutters-to-storm drain are intact and not leaking down at the slab level,
Put a bottle of easter egg dye into the storm drain connection.  If you see the color in the pit, I would disconnect the downspouts and direct them into the yard.

A pain for mowing, but the flip up ones work well. In our area, downspouts were connected into the floor drains and thence to the sewer. In the 1990s, we had to cap the connection with concrete or face a fine.


Bathtub trip lever broken and detached I have somehow broken the bathtub trip lever and it is detached from the inside.

How easy is it to fix it? I am worried that whatever (chain, rod) that is behind the bathtub might be falling down to the abyss. How easy is it to recover those?

Remove the two screw on the trip lever cover, and have a look inside.  Since you have a plunger style, the linkage bars have likely dropped down out of view. You'll have to reach down the hole, and pull the assembly back up.

Straighten out a wire hanger; or some excess solid strand electrical wire, and put a small hook in one end.
Go fishing.
Try to hook the plunger assembly, and pull it back up out of the hole.

For reference, this is about what the drain looks like.

There should be a ridge at the bottom of the overflow pipe, to prevent the stopper from falling down the drain. So the stopper and linkages should be somewhere in the overflow pipe.

I've heard of people using a shop-vac to stuck the plunger out, but I've never tried it myself.

Good luck.


3 Way Switch Wiring Weirdness Setup: Two Switches for one light, one downstairs and one upstairs in a stairwell.

Old Switch Wiring  (black is in common of switch)( same type of switch upstairs)

New Switch: Lutron Maestro Motion Sensor switch, 2-Amp, Single-Pole, White

Wiring:

So here is the interesting part

With upstairs switch down, black wire from wall to green of new switch causes the new switch to click/switch but no lights

If the switch upstairs is up then the earth grounding wire (to the new switches green wire) works(light turns on) (when upstairs switch is down it doesn't light up)

Any ideas?

Edit: Updated some wording to make it more clear

That switch won’t work in a three-way application.  The Lutron website has an FAQ which includes this question.  Here is the answer:


Spalling and Efflorescence I just bought my first home, on one wall I can see that under the insulation we have some concrete spalling and Efflorescence. How serious is this? My plan is to open up the insulation there and take a peeksy.

Efflorescence is the product of dissolving internal salt by water or sufficient moisture and migration of the salty water to the surface of the wall. Depends on the weather and humidity, the water will evaporate and leave the salt behind that forms the efflorescence.
When it occurs, it indicates there is water/moisture that should be corrected to prevent the cyclic occurrence, which is harmful to the material/structure that contains the salt.
To correct/eliminate this problem, the first thing is to identify the source of water or cause of high humidity/moisture and cut off the capillary path. The linked article at the end addresses these issues and suggests ways to prevent the problem from recurring.
Per the article, some of the ways to remove efflorescence include:

Pressurized Water: Applying pressurized water may dissolve efflorescence quickly. If you use water, dry off the water from the building material after application. If you fail to remove the water, crystals may remain that can cause efflorescence to reappear.

Diluted Vinegar: If you’re in a pinch, using household diluted white vinegar can be used on efflorescence. It’s less harmful than industrial chemicals and you most likely already have vinegar in your kitchen.

Brushing: With a strong brush, you can remove efflorescence with ease."

Note that compared to method 1, methods 2 and 3 are patchworks, but they could work if the capillary path can be blocked effectively.
Please read this article for more information.  https://www.nitterhousemasonry.com/tips-advice/what-is-efflorescence/


Cleaning electric heaters I own a home heated with the wall mounted wall heaters that need to be cleaned every year. The way it's recommended to clean them is just simply remove the cover and vacuum out to the insides, if not blow out with compressed air. This is already been done last year at the beginning of the heat season, and it's time again. The initial startup of them always has their accustomed smell of burning off whatever remains on the elements after cleaning, which can still leave a bit of a stink initially. Some of them still have a smell even though they have been cleaned
This is a picture of perhaps the worst one, since it's got what looks to be soot coming out of the heater portion of it. This is one, as was all of  them were cleaned just prior to this showing up, with compressed air and a vacuum to keep the dust from flying everywhere which work pretty good, all contained within a cardboard box cut out.
My question is, is there a way to clean these after I remove the heater unit from the wall sleeve which is very easy to do, and disconnect from the power, better than simply blowing air through them at the most? Is there a solution of water and something that I can literally wash them in to get them virtually clean as possible? Of course I would allow them to dry before reinstalling and turning the power back on them, but it seems these things provide a little bit more smell than what's necessary, and since this has been the case for the past 2 years since we have owned the house and not knowing what situation the prior owner had, I would like to clean them in a way they will no longer give out any odor at least for a season. Replacement for all of them in the house would  be a costly proposition, so I really don't want to just simply buy new ones at about a $120 to $200 a piece, for the 9 or 10 I have in the house.
12-26 EDIT
This question stems from the spray that is available as a electrical contact cleaner or electrical cleaner of some sort. I was looking to use a larger volume to use to allow flooding of the areas needing cleaning
The parts I am only interested in cleaning are the coils at the least, including the fan area, but not the motor, at the most. If it was deemed plausible to clean the way I hope, the rheostat and fan motor would be protected from the process. I am aware of problems caused by water or a liquid being trapped in such places. My lack of concern may or may not be warranted about the rust that would form on the coils and perhaps the connections to the coils. It will only be a one time wetting, whatever the solution is that may be used, preferably something that will not cause rusting.

The recommended way is better than using another way to clean this type of heater.
Or you can try both of them, suck it with vacuum first then blow the rest.
The soot part of black could be some part of your heater burned up, either the plastic part or just another dirt.
The other way to clean up is removing your heater completely and try to disassemble it and after that, you can clean each part perfectly. (careful with the cable line, make sure it is disconnected both Live and Neutral)
The water type of cleaning process is not so good with the electrical device because it tends to leave the water in it and make it worse.
Edit answer from edited question:

For coil and rheostat : i always use rubbing alcohol or IPA (isopropyl alcohol) other than that i use contact cleaner because it is made for electrical.
The fan : same as coil and rheostat but i won't touch the inside of fan (the coil of fan) because I'm afraid if there is any residue left in the motor it could burn the motor.

Let it dry after cleaning with alcohol or contact cleaner.


Is it safe to put a clothes washer outdoors? I will be short on usable indoor space for a while, but want to be able to wash clothes on site.

Are there any issues with putting a washer (and perhaps, a dryer) outdoors?

Perhaps it needs to be protected from the rain. Would an EZ-UP style canopy be sufficient?

I have a friend who has a washer and dryer on his screened-in porch. He's mentioned that he's had his clothes frozen solid in the washer before, and the pipes have frozen on him as well. If you live in a cold climate, that could be a major factor.