Is it safe to clear out a garbage disposal with a hand? I have seen a couple websites, such as this one, which strongly advise against putting one's hand into a garbage disposal, in order to clear it out.  If the garbage disposal is turned off, is there really much risk in doing so?  It seems that some disposals do not even have very sharp blades.

It would be up to you to decide the value of your hand.

I rather enjoy having my hands, so I use a stick when needed. Never felt the need to buy a specialized tool. Sometimes what's jamming the garbage disposal is, itself, sharp - a tin can lid or glass object, for instance. Naturally, those things are not supposed to be in there, but it does not mean they can't be in there, by accident. It's also a fairly nice place for growing things you probably don't want to get in a scratch, much less a full blown cut. So, even if the thing is unplugged or turned off at the circuit breaker, there's a hazard - if it's only turned off at the wall switch, there is always at least some potential for it to be turned on with your hand in there, and that would be rather unpleasant - but some folks don't want to bother making sure it can't be turned on, because they are sure it won't be...


Are there skilled professionals who will supervise unskilled DIY labor? As somebody who is interested in improving my home, learning things and acquiring tools, I would like to know if there is an existing market for professionals advising and supervising DIY projects.

In my naive opinion, it seems like it should be a good way for customers to save money and a good way for skilled professionals to make money as they won't need to manage a labor force on the site, and ideally they could take on more of these kinds of jobs in tandem.

I'm imagining a process consisting of consulting & education sessions, and clearly decided stop-point inspections for critical matters like electrical work, demolition, framing, etc.

I would also love to see this sort of business model play out for workers & supervisors in under-served neighborhoods.

DIY projects, probably not. The price would negate any financial benefit of doing it yourself in many cases. That said, I've resorted to the beer-for-services approach many times for electrical and plumbing consulting visits from friends and relatives, which is usually win-win.

Major remodels and builds, yes. In fact, my family's company offered such a service at one time. We'd make regular trips to your jobsite and create reports of progress and areas of concern. You'd be the general contractor of record. It was a way to save tens of thousands of dollars on a project, yet still have peace of mind that it was done well, and it helped grease the wheels with inspectors and sub-contractors. The service probably falls under the umbrella term "building consultant", but there may be others.


What material can be used to bond metal to metal and is removable in the future? I'm looking to seal an opening in a metal refrigerator with a standard heatsink as a part of a thermoelectric cooling setup.

It'd be ideal if there was a bonding material of some sort that can squish down, needs to be both heat and cold resistant (40 F to 120 F), can be cut away or dissolved in the future for repairs, and form a mostly airtight seal.

Please advise, thanks!

From your description, I'm visualizing that you want to attach a cover (metal to metal).  If the parts mate well, superglue (cyanoacrylate) may do what you want.

The original thin liquid type works best when the surfaces make good contact so that there is a very thin layer of adhesive between them.  Such a joint will be close to airtight.  It doesn't work well as a filler.

There are several types of superglue gels.  One type typically has fumed silica as a filler, which will join poorer-fitting pieces by filling small gaps (but they still need to mate well).  This may be a little harder to separate, if needed.  Another type of gel uses a material like rubber as a filler to also make it more shock resistant.  That will be much harder to separate, so you probably don't want to use that.
The glue has great strength for keeping pieces from being pulled apart, but very low sheer strength.  When you need to separate them, you can sheer the joint by tapping on one of the pieces in the direction that would slide it.
It works well when mating two surfaces of the same material so that they expand and contract at the same rate.  With dissimilar materials subject to temperature changes, the expansion of one relative to the other will sheer the connection.
It dissolves in common solvents like acetone.  You can also separate the parts by letting acetone wick into the joint, and you can use acetone to clean the parts for reuse if you need to separate them.
40 F to 120 F is well within its service temperature range.


Electric Hot Water Heater-Draining or Not after 8 months of non-use In a vacation home, we installed a new electric hot water heater last year. The vacation home was not used for about 8 months. The breaker to the hot water heater has been off and the main water shut-off valve (into the house) was turned off.

Different acquaintances have different opinions on whether to drain some of the hot water heater before turning on the main water valve as we return to the vacation home.

What will be best to extend the life of the hot water heater? Any other reason to do or not do the draining?
And, if draining, what would the proper order/steps in the process be?

Thank you.

First off -- if your tank has been sitting idle eight months while full, there's a good chance that it's produced some hydrogen gas.  To fix this, go up to the highest hot water faucet in the house and open it, but do not have any open flames or lit cigarettes present, and do not turn on any lights or appliances where the faucet is.  If hydrogen is present, you will hear a hissing noise and/or see bubbles if you take a sample of the hot water with a glass.  Keep the faucet open until the hissing stops and hot water flows steadily from the tap.

Second, "draining" a hot water heater is a misnomer -- your goal is to remove sediment from the heater, and that requires some oomph to push the sediment bits out.  See this answer by BMitch for his suggestions as to flushing a typical residential tank like yours.

Finally, you may run into problems with stinky rotten egg smells in your hot water even after a flush -- hydrogen sulfide can also be a problem for idle hot water heaters, depending on your water supply and anode chemistry.  Spiking the tank with hydrogen peroxide when you bring it back into service is a common, cheap solution to this problem -- a tee piece and valves can be used to provide a place to add it to the heater.  There is more documentation on the peroxide fix available from Water Heater Rescue in case you want to try it, by the way.  (Another trick for stinky heaters is an aluminum/zinc alloy or powered anode, but that doesn't always work if a heater is left idle for very long periods of time.)


Can I extend an existing tile tub surround to create a shower surround? I have a bathroom that is tiled halfway up the wall with 50s teal tile and finished with a bullnose. Right now there is only a tub but I am planning to add a shower  and would like to tile farther up the wall. Right now there is drywall above the tile. Are there any recommendations on the best way to do this?

To do it well (so you won't regret it later) you will need to strip back to the studs and start with cement-board. More mess now, less trouble later.

In replacing a ~1964 tub which had a tile surround up to "shower height" I found that the whole thing was built on drywall. In that case I was having to rip tile to replace the rusted-out sheet-steel tub, but wanted to minimize offense to the rest of the tiled bathroom - I was able to salvage enough tile to trim around a fiberglass tub surround and maintain the overall look of the bathroom. I cement-boarded behind the surround, in the event that someone might ever want to tile the whole thing. Finding matching tile was not happening, and not all the tiles came off intact.


Should switch cover plates be installed before final inspection? For final inspection should I put the switch/outlet cover plates on? It's a minor pain because we still have to tape, sand and paint. We are in Portland Oregon. This is in a bedroom, not a kitchen or bathroom.

Usually they do require the cover plate to verify the box is set correctly.  Each inspector is different but some don't like DIY folks, especially in Lane County, Oregon. Benton & Linn counties were not so bad (I haven't worked up in Portland for ~15 years) but they usually want everything finished. I have seen inspectors fail an install because the wires were coated with sheet rock mud & paint.


Cement Board vs Dry Wall What is the downside with using green dry wall vs cement backer board in a  tub/shower surround? If green board is completely sealed with RedGard or similar product, will it not be impervious to moisture?

According to the manufacturer, drywall is not a suitable substrate for RedGard®.

  Source


Flooring covered the ac vent Well I can't believe I did it . I put 1/4 Plywood down as a underlayment for stick down tile.i just got finished laying the tile and my son says daddy were is the a.c. vent I looked I said omg . Now what do I do the floor is done.. It's a trailer so what do I do go under the trailer? Wow

You should be able to gently tap the area close to where the hole is and listen for the hollow sound that a thin layer of plywood over a void would make.
Then using a 1/8 drill bit probe the area to locate the center and cut out a section large enough to give you a look inside. After that gently cut away the rest to the edges of the vent hole.


Tile veneer cabinets / fix veener damage My wife would like me to put in a tile backsplash for the kitchen.  She really didn't like the granite backer, so I had to pull it off.  Problem is, the granite was glued onto the cabinet, and when I was trying to scrape off the caulking, it obviously did some damage.

Is there any way to fix this damage?  If they were solid cabinets I'd just sand and re-stain, but since they're a thin veneer, not sure if this is possible.  Would I be able to cover it in chalkboard paint, or would it be possible to just tile over the veneer?

Yes, you can tile on this surface - just like you can tile directly upon primed drywall. All tile needs is a sound surface - wood, drywall, cement, backer board, Denshield, plywood, brick etc.


What are these droops in the drywall? There's a few droopy-looking sections of drywall where the ceiling meets the wall (see album: http://imgur.com/a/P77xF) that have existed since I bought the house more than a year ago and haven't gotten any worse in that period of time.

My home inspector never said anything about them and they don't feel soft/soggy or cool to the touch (which I assume water damage would feel like one or all of these things). So what could be the reason for the droops?

Its hard to view the pictures on my phone, but two possibilities I can see:

The ceiling drywall may be unsupported at the edge.  Usually you put the ceiling up first, so the wall drywall supports the edges of it.  You can't do this (easily) if at some point only the ceiling was repaired.  This could make it flex down a bit between the joists it is screwed to.

Poor taping and mudding.  Between sheets of drywall you use tape (basically strips of paper) and mud to smooth out the edges.  Some of those look like the tape started to pull away from the ceiling before the mud hardened.

If it hasn't changed, its nothing to worry about - just a cosmetic annoyance.

Edit:  Looking closer from a computer, I'm almost certain that's just a poor taping job.  You can clearly see the inch or so line across the seam where the tape is.


What could cause the blower of a Coleman furnace to come on all by itself? I have a Coleman furnace in my mobile home.  It was really hot today and the  furnace blower came on all by itself.  It has ran for 7 hrs. and wont shut off.  How do I fix this and what is the problem?

I'm not an HVAC person but the blower is many times controlled by a relay that can get stuck in the "on" position. If the only thing that turns the blower off is shutting off the breakers, I suspect that is the issue. Typically not an expensive repair.


Mains wires aren't paired, is this a problem? I'm wanting to add another socket outlet to my ring main, on the opposite side of the wall to an existing socket outlet.

When I've removed the old socket the live and neutral wires aren't paired (can't tell which live goes with which neutral).

Does it matter which I pair together? My gut says it does but I'm not 100%.

If it is a problem I guess I'll have to spur the new socket instead.

It's a 1950s house in the UK.

You should not need to select a pair from the four live and neutral wires.

In a ring main the incoming live is always connected to the outgoing live, the incoming neutral is always connected to the outgoing neutral.

To add a second socket on the opposite wall you connect a new cable to all the existing cables - so you get three reds connected, three blacks connected and three greens connected.

With the new colours, a newly purchased piece of twin&earth would have brown for live (connect to both existing reds), blue for neutral (connect to both existing blacks) and bare for ground (cover with green/yellow sleeve and connect to both existing greens). Any connectors you use need to be rated at 32A.

At no point do you separate out one red and one black as a pair. Separating them from the others would split the ring and could cause overheating and fire in one leg of the broken ring.

Diagram by Ali@gwc.org.uk - used under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.


Covering up ceiling damage I have just started to paint my kitchen ceiling and the first white coat really showed up some surface damage we hadn't noticed before.

It looks like the previous occupiers scuffed their fridge across it whilst getting it out.

The scuffs are around 5-10mm deep and in some places are as wide as 30-40cm squared.

Is there anything i can do to make it look better without hiring a plasterer to re-skim the ceiling for us?

I am assuming that the ceiling is plaster board of some kind.

The damage is similar to the image below, but not as deep, and it has been painted and over.

Should be simple enough to fill it with joint compound yourself; I doubt you need a plasterer. Fill and strike off level with the ceiling. Wait for it to dry completely (24 hours is a good estimated time in most houses), fill again (the stuff shrinks) - after 2-3 coats, let it dry completely and sand lightly (will be dusty), then paint.

To evaluate drying, look for dark spots where it's thicker (not dry yet) and feel the surface to see if it's cooler than the surrounding wall (not dry yet.) For homeowner patching it's rarely worth getting the "setting" type joint compound which actually sets (more quickly) rather than drying - in larger projects or for a pro it can speed the process along. For a homeowner it will mostly be wasted (small amount used from a large bag but the large bag does not remain usable after a long time in storage) and adds complication (it's a dry mix rather than premix, and the mix instructions/quantities are often for mixing an entire bag at once.)

Using a small tub of premix (drying type) and taking a few days will generally be more sensible for DIY.


Furnace fan intermittent high pitch sound Sometimes this little black fan will emit a high pitch sound while spinning. If I slow down its spin by touching it with my finger, the pitch is lowered. I've had this Bryant furnace for 10 years and this just started happening. Could the fan be unbalanced? Any ideas on how to fix?

Update: The furnace is a Bryant Plus 80v

thanks

Sounds more like a bearing going bad to me than a balance issue - unbalance is more often a vibration, and to become unbalanced the fan would either need to have a part fall off, or accumulate crud.

"Lifetime lubricated bearings" are a standard euphemism for "we prelubed and then provided no way to relube, so when it wears out from lack of lubrication, that's the lifetime of the fan" - i.e. I expect you are looking at replacement.

I know nothing about your specific furnace, but I know squealing fans pretty well.


Will neodymium magnets harm my power drill battery? I glued some magnets onto my power drill battery to use for storing drill bits on - but will the magnets affect the battery life?

For one, the magnetic field generated by the magnets are going to be small potatoes compared to the magnetic fields generated by the motor while in use.
Two, battery chemistry is essentially unaffected by ferromagnetic fields of the magnitudes you'll encounter in everyday life. Thirdly, there exist specialty tools that have a big magnet on them out of the factory, designed for drilling holes in large pieces of sheet metal, and those of course have no problems.

Unless the magnet is strong enough to lift several 747s off the ground, it's not going to have any impact on your battery.


Fire escape ladder cannot be used if the floor (room) below is on fire? I heard fire escape ladders or rope ladders cannot be used to get out of your building window if the room directly below is on fire. I would imagine because the ladder then would catch fire? If that's true, what are other methods to safely get out of your window, if the window escape was your only option?

This is why every livable room is required to have at least two ways to exit room.  If all paths are blocked, you then have to wait for the fire department to come with the ladder truck.  Any other means will put you in greater dander.

Also it is not the ladder catching on fire that is the concern, but climbing through heat/fire/smoke that will make it impossible.


Cannot adjust dropbolt on bifold doors which is catching I have a patio door made of up two aluminium tri-folding doors which meet in the middle. One side has a normal 5 point locking system operated by a normal door handle and key. The other side has a hidden lever (only accessible when the main door is unlocked and set ajar.

The hidden lever (as seen in photo, as silver coloured) operates two bolts, one up and one down, to lock it in position.

The problem is when I operate this lever, it moves fine and the top bolt moves down sufficiently to release door at top. But at the bottom, the bolt does not move up enough to clear the metal lip on the ground.

So, I need to adjust this bolt to move it up. I keep saying bolt, but its more like a 80cm steel rod which goes from the hidden level down to the ground.

Basically, I can't access this bolt. Its hidden inside. I've taken off the lock faceplates and even attempted to remove the glass, so get access to the steel rod/bolt, but I can't access it.

The patio doors are 5 years old, so quite modern.

Maybe another way to ask is, how would someone actually fit the rod/bolt in the first place and perform adjustments?

That is called a manual flush bolt. The piece that protrudes through the top and bottom of the door is called the bolt head.

Both the bolt head (which is threaded to an actuating rod), and the actuating rod (which is threaded to the lever actuator) are designed to be adjusted by threading them in or out. The bolt head is commonly keyed, i.e. it is not round but designed with a flat spot (like a "D" shape) and protrudes through a guide plate (attached to the top and bottom of the door) which is also keyed, to prevent the bolt head from turning, which would change the length/adjustment.

You need to thread the bolt head and/or rod in to shorten the flush bolt throw length. The proper way would be to remove the door and lay it flat, then remove the guide. You could try turning it while the door is still hung, using long nose pliers or similar tool; but if the bolt head is keyed and a guide is installed it wont turn, by design.


How to store small computer equipment in a home context? I have a small network at home and with time more and more small equipment was added (such as the Internet box, a RPi, powered hub, external USB drive, etc.).

Right now all of this is pretty much stacked with cables flourishing behind. I was wondering if there are simple, low cost solutions to store such equipment (in the context of an apartment, ideally in a slot between the furniture).

Right now my idea is to take a grid similar to that

and strap equipment to it. The intended usage for the grid is not that one, strapping can be tricky, etc. I hope there is a solution which is more adapted to computer equipment (but not the racks you find in data centers or computer closets, this is really in the context on an apartment and small equipment)

Structured media enclosures are a common solution.

It's basically a cabinet that can be built into a wall, where all the devices can be stored. It usually has some form of cable management, and a way to affix devices.


How to replace Blender's Drive Coupling? I am in need to replace the drive coupling of a blender, Breville BBL605.
The drive coupling looks some thing like this :

I watched a video on youtube for a similar looking blender :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTH3g-jVUtg

From the video, it doesn't look exactly like the drive coupling on the Breville and also I have no idea how the guy figured it was a left handed thread. The presenter also doesn't show if the drive spins clockwise and anti-clockwise freely as the Breville's does. Since the Breville's drive coupling freely spins in both directions, I think this videos approach may not work.

How can I go about replacing the drive coupling of this blender ?

If it is press fit then you need to just pull hard.

If it is screwed then you need to lock the shaft somehow and then turn the coupling in the same direction as it normally turns when it blends. Locking the shaft down may require some disassembly to get access to it.

If you have the replacement ready you can look where the shaft connects to see which it is.


Changing plug switch to fan and making plug constant hot I have a bit of a cluster going on.

There is (A) stair light with (A) up and (A) down switches.
There is a (B) switch that goes to (B) outlet controlling one plug.
(A) & (B) switches are in the same box where four wires are entering in, two 3 wire and two 4 wire, in the diagram I omitted the grounds for clarity.
I want to install (C) fan (a Kichler Barrington #35170) and have it controlled with (B) switch and make (B) outlet normal to always hot for both plugs.
The (B) line is easily accessible from the attic.

Can I:

cut the (B) line,
run it from (B) switch to (C) fan,
exit the fan without the red wire,
reconnect to the cut (B) wire going to (B) outlet?

I've never tried exiting a fan and continuing. Is it better to just cut, piggy the black to the fan, have the red go to the fan, and no red going to (B) plug?
Or since the fan had a wireless remote, can I just cut the (B) wire, splice another (C) wire in, run the black and white to the fan, reconnect the red as it was? This will make the fan always hot and used by remote?

The issue with tapping in like that is slack
In order to have a legally (and practically) wire-able junction box, you need to have a sufficient length of cable coming in (about 6") so that connections can be made without having to reach all the way into the back of the box.  The problem is, your average wiring run doesn't have 8" of slack length in it to deal with having a 4" fan-rated round or octagon box cut into the middle of the run.  Solving this problem requires either an additional box or a special NM splice kit to splice an additional length of NM cable into the circuit so that sufficient wire length's available in the box where you're making your connections.
Once you have that solved...
Once you have the fan-rated box up and the wire length issues worked out, we can then focus on re-wiring.  The red wire in the switch-box-to-B cable gets abandoned  and capped off by itself at all ends (although if you're using a NM splice kit, it can't terminate there!), and all the grounds get connected together and to the box in the new fan box, of course.  Once that's done, the fan box wiring is as per the instructions, just with an additional black and white in there to pass power on to the receptacle.  Finally, switch B and the always-hot pigtail feeding it can be removed (if you want, you can get a battery-operated wall controller from Kichler that works with the remote for your fan, part #370039MULTR, and install it in place of switch B although you may have to swap the wallplate at that location to a toggle+decorator type to do so), and the receptacle at B can be replaced with one whose tab has not been broken off.


Why is my fire extinguisher emptied after one use? I'm planning to make a small DIY gas tank and I saw people using old or used fire extinguishers but I don't understand why my fire extinguisher can't hold pressure after one use.

I have this fire extinguisher about 3 years and it was holding pressure but few weeks ago my home workshop caught fire from a lithium ion battery explosion. I used my fire extinguisher to control fire but I only used a little bit. After I used it the pressure gauge showed half of the pressure remained but after few weeks pressure slowly leaked to zero.

Do all fire extinguishers do that or is mine just a cheap one?

Also I must add: My fire extinguisher is refillable (instructions say it can be refilled by the manufacturer). I'm thinking maybe they have a special method for locking the mechanism? Because leakage happened after I removed the safety pin. Maybe the company added a mechanism so people have to send their fire extinguisher to the company after use?

Fire extinguishers (here in the US anyway) are REQUIRED to not be usable after being discharged, partial or not, because you can never know HOW MUCH extinguishing material was discharged by just looking at the pressure gauge. So the valves are designed with breakaway seals that, once broken, will not hold the charge for very long, forcing you to replace it or have it recharged and re-certified by the manufacturer. These are devices used in saving lives, it's all very serious from their perspective.


Door will no longer latch when closed I have an older home built circa 1977 and one of the bedroom doors now will not stay closed.  Meaning, if I go to close it, the door does not lay flat against the frame, and the door tongue will not go into the grove of the door so it can be latched.  The door is not bowed, nor is the frame broken or cracked.  What is causing the door not to close flushly and how do I remedy?

I experienced this at a previous property of mine.  I found the easiest thing ended up being adjusting the latch.  Unscrew the metal plate and use a small sharp chisel to carve out the required area (and maybe a large drill bit if the actual recess needs expanding more than a millimetre or two).  Any gaps can be filled with wood filler after the fact.

If the case is that the door fails to easily sit flush in the frame then you may want to adjust the hinges (usually by digging out the hinge recess in the frame a little more) to see if that stops the “bounce”


Extending or increasing volume of a quiet doorbell I have an old analog doorbell - there is a button for my apartment outside, and two wires come to where the chime is. When someone presses the button, a solenoid pulls back a little metal thingy with a piece of rubber at the end, and then releases it and it springs back and hits the chime. But the chime isn't very loud so it can only be heard in part of the apartment.

In order to remedy this, I decided to purchase a doorbell extender. Unfortunately, the existing chime is not loud enough to trigger the microphone on the doorbell extender, even on its most sensitive setting.

I'm looking for one or more of:

a product that I can wire directly to the existing doorbell situation and cause something across the apartment to go off
recommendations on how to make my existing analog chime louder
recommendations for a replacement product for the analog chime, that will be loud enough to be heard across the apartment or at least loud enough to trigger the extender
or something else that will solve my problem

Many "old analog doorbells" have some old-fashioned mechanical adjustments to alter the volume. If labelled at all, would commonly be something cryptic like a + at one end of a slot, or near a lever, or on the more verbose, a + at one end and a - at the other.

This might allow a longer distance for the striker to move so it hits harder, for instance.

You may also get results from changing or replacing rubber parts, or looking for things like a collection of dust or cobwebs (or eroded rubber parts) damping the chime itself.


How can I fix this shower drain and eliminate its odor? A house member had some health issues the past few months and, for a while, another house member was pouring buckets of urine down the shower. It developed something of a smell which we tried to extirpate with bleach and vinegar.

However, there's still a lingering odor, and, through the grating, I can see what looks like a loose seal of some sort.

Pulling off the grate, it looks like this:

I'm worried that some kind of seal is broken and is either (a) letting gases up from the sewer or (b) the smells of waste that snuck into the cavity below the shower.

Any thoughts on what may have happened and how to fix this?

Here is what i did to remove the odor from my drain.
1)Use a screwdriver to remove the trap.
2) Put 1/4 cup of baking soda down the drain.
3)Follow it with one cup of white vinegar into the   drain.
4)Let that sit for 1-2 hours with the bathroom door closed.
5)Slowly pour a gallon of hot (just-off-the-stove-boiling) water down the drain.
6*)After fifteen minutes, run cold water for ten minutes to thoroughly rinse the vinegar down. This step (#6)is very important so don't skip it!
7)Pour 1/2 cup chlorine bleach into the drain and let it sit for another 1-2 hours.
8)Rinse with another gallon of boiling water poured slowly.
9)Turn on the shower’s water faucet, and let the water run for ten minutes. By now, ample water should be standing in the “U” curve of the p-trap.
10)The last step is to pour four ounces of mineral oil (plain cooking oil will work in a pinch) into the drain. The oil floats on the water in the trap and slows evaporation.
11)Replace the trap
     FYI** NEVER  mix BLEACH  and VINEGAR , or you will create toxic chlorine and chloramine gas. Step #6 is crucial to avoid this danger!.


What tool will allow me to make a cutout in the middle of a vertical sheet of cardboard? On low end furniture such as bookcases and entertainment centers, the backs of them are usually sheets of cardboard nailed on.

I have a bookcase with a cardboard back already assembled.  I would like to make a rectangular cutout above one of the shelf boards to allow cords to pass through.

What's the best tool to allow me to make this cutout in place without disassembling the bookcase and ensuring the cutout has clean, straight lines?  I tried using a utility knife on the back of my entertainment center and that required a lot of effort to saw through and it got messy.

A good utility knife is all you need.  It will give you a cleaner cut and it's faster.


Can I modify 3 ampere table lamps to work on 5 ampere round pin plugs? I have moved to a property with 5amp round sockets around the room. I want to remove the standard 3 pin plugs from my table lamps and re-wire them with the 5amp round pin plugs I have bought. This means they will be on a mains dimmer circuit, so I can choose to have the spotlights on, or the lamps come on with one switch. The problem is, 2 of the table lamps have 3amp fuses in. Can I safely attach them to a 5amp round pin plug and put them in the sockets without blowing anything up?

3A lamp on 5A outlet

You should be OK to use a 3A appliance on a 5A circuit. The circuit is capable of supplying up to 5A but it is the individual appliance (lamp in this case) that determines how much current is drawn.

Round-pin plugs vs rectangular-pin plugs

Modern usage

I'm surprised a new home would have BS 546 round-pin plugs instead of the more usual BS 1363 rectangular-pin plugs.

Wikipedia says

  Although BS 546 plugs and sockets are still permitted in the U.K. and are used for special purposes, new installations since 1947 generally have used BS 1363 sockets and fused plugs.

Until now, I thought the only place where round-pin plugs were used was in theatrical stages, where I think they are used to prevent people plugging inappropriate devices into theatrical lighting circuits.

Safety

If the BS 546 plugs don't have built-in fuses, they don't provide any protection to the line-cord between the plug and the lamp.

BS 1363 plugs have additional safety features which may not be present in BS 546 plugs

fuse to prevent overload of appliance cord (& hence fire.)
shutter in socket opened by earth pin (safer sockets).
insulating sleeves around base of live and neutral pins.
high insertion force to reduce risk of partial removal.
designed so earth wire is last to break under cord strain.

For example a small child can poke their hands (or part of a metal toy) behind a loose BS 546 plug and be in contact with 230 V.


Water is too hot in electric water heater My electric water heater all of a sudden started producing scalding hot water. Tried turning down the thermostats. No change. Replaced both thermostats. No change. Turned new thermostats way down to almost off. No change. Tested element for continuity. Tested OK. Tested for element short using continuity tester, element terminal to element flange and tank. tested both elements and both element terminals. No continuity which should indicate no short. What am I missing?

Easy fix: add an anti scalding valve right after your boiler. Remember that water under 60°C will incubate legionella that is quite dangerous so don't lower boiler's set-point temperature below that.

Also remember that (tanked) boiler work by stratification it means that quite hot water stays at top of tank while cool one lays at the bottom, so it's normal that 'first' water is hotter than set if the sensor isn't in the boiler's top.

Note: water above the sensing element is hotter than set point, water below sensing element is colder than set point.


Can Romex (NM-B) cable be run through conduit? A few days ago I asked an electrician if I could run cable through conduit - he gave me a funny look and said "No, Romex is not allowed in conduit."
When I searched online, there seems to be a wide belief that Romex cannot be run through conduit, but no one can find the code which states this.  See for example here, here, or here.   However, in many other places it's stated that you can, for example here or here.  And here, someone claims that the NEC says it's only allowed if explicitly stated in local code!
So, which is it?  Can I run Romex through conduit!?

Yes, NM cable can be in conduit. In fact. NEC calls for it to be in conduit, when protection from physical damage is required.

  National Electrical Code 2011

  ARTICLE 334 Nonmetallic-Sheathed Cable: Types NM, NMC, and NMS

  II. Installation

  334.15 Exposed Work. In exposed work, except as provided in 300.11(A), cable shall be installed as specified in 334.15(A) through (C).

  (B) Protection from Physical Damage. Cable shall be protected from physical damage where necessary by rigid metal conduit, intermediate metal conduit, electrical metallic tubing, Schedule 80 PVC conduit, Type RTRC marked with the suffix -XW, or other approved means. Where passing through a floor, the cable shall be enclosed in rigid metal conduit, intermediate metal conduit, electrical metallic tubing, Schedule 80 PVC conduit, Type RTRC marked with the suffix -XW, or other approved means extending at least 150 mm (6 in.) above the floor. [ROP 7-94] Type NMC cable installed in shallow chases or grooves in masonry, concrete, or adobe shall be protected in accordance with the requirements in 300.4(F) and covered with plaster, adobe, or similar finish.

There's also some notes in Chapter 9, dealing with how to figure for cables when calculating conduit fill.

  Chapter 9 Tables

  Notes to Tables

  (5) For conductors not included in Chapter 9, such as
  multiconductor cables and optical fiber cables, the actual
  dimensions shall be used.

  (9) A multiconductor cable, optical fiber cable or flexible cord of two or more
  conductors shall be treated as a single conductor for
  calculating percentage conduit fill area. For cables that
  have elliptical cross sections, the cross-sectional area
  calculation shall be based on using the major diameter
  of the ellipse as a circle diameter.

However, it depends on where the conduit is.  If the conduit is underground (or any other damp or wet location), then NM cable is not allowed.

  National Electrical Code 2011

  ARTICLE 300 Wiring Methods

  I. General Requirements

  300.5 Underground Installations.
  (B) Wet Locations. The interior of enclosures or raceways installed underground shall be considered to be a wet location. Insulated conductors and cables installed in these enclosures or raceways in underground installations shall be listed for use in wet locations and shall comply with 310.10(C). Any connections or splices in an underground installation shall be approved for wet locations.

  300.9 Raceways in Wet Locations Above Grade. Where raceways are installed in wet locations above grade, the interior of these raceways shall be considered to be a wet location. Insulated conductors and cables installed in raceways in wet locations above grade shall comply with 310.10(C).

  ARTICLE 334 Nonmetallic-Sheathed Cable: Types NM, NMC, and NMS

  II. Installation

  334.12 Uses Not Permitted.
  (B) Types NM and NMS. Types NM and NMS cables shall not be used under the following conditions or in the following locations:

  (4) In wet or damp locations


Any issue with GFCI outlet touching sides of outlet extender? I have to extend a single gang outlet box to account for added depth from beadboard wainscoting. The box is PVC and so is the outlet extender. The problem is, the outlet is a GFCI and it is very snug in the outlet extender. It touches on all sides. Is this acceptable? Should be safe from shorts because the extender and box are PVC correct?

Don't take any chances. Give the receptacle a couple of wraps of tape around its perimeter, to cover up the screw terminals for sure.

The other way to solve a "GFCI in a hard location" problem is to install the GFCI device instead in a location between this one and the service panel... then feed this outlet off the LOAD terminals of the other GFCI.  It can be a recep at an earlier location, a deadfront at a new location (e.g. next to the panel), or a GFCI breaker.


Varnishing existing floorboards We have just bought a 1930's house and it has already varnished floorboards but we want to darken the colour. Will we have to sand back and start from scratch or can we varnish on varnish?

You might try a glaze coat and then over-seal with more varnish.
Some background:
A pigmented stain is made from 'bits' of color (the pigment).  When applied to bare wood, most  of the color is on the surface.  (But HerrBag, I hear you saying, my Minwax stain is oil based and penetrates.  Alas, Minwax is a MIX of dye and pigmented stain.
Most paint is pigment mixed into a base material that lets you disperse it evenly.  The opaqueness comes from the concentration of pigment and the base material itself.
GLAZES
are the same pigment in a transparent base that lets you 'float' a color layer over previously finished wood.  Indeed, to make a custom glaze, you add a small percentage of regular paint to the glazing base.
To adapt the technique for large areas will require the slower setting version glaze and a swivel head applicator (as used by flooring pros, its an oversized tubular paint pad (like a paint roller that doesn't rotate)).

A good article on glazes and glazing from Woodworkers Journal is here.


What should I use to seal an exterior garden hose faucet pipe? I have a garden hose faucet on the outside of my home in the front yard that is loose in the surrounding brick.  It can be wiggled freely and has a good 1/4" clearance between the pipe and the brick that it goes through into the house.  What can I use to seal it?  Is there a specific type of caulk?  Would I need to use a small amount of concrete?

I would personally use Loctite PL Polyurethane Concrete Crack & Masonry Sealant, which will adhere well but still provide a degree of flexibility as your pipe moves within the brick. It's grey, but you can also mix in a little concrete dust or dirt to give it that "I'm not shiny caulk, honest!" look.

The PL product should be available at your local home improvement stores. (Homer's or Lowe's or Ace or whomever.)


Cement board or plywood for stuccoing over I have a former window I want to close and stucco over. I did the framing already. Was wondering if I should use a cement board or 1/2" OSB or plywood with wire mesh as substrate to stucco over (to match the surrounding). If cement board is the way to go, should I still use wire mesh nonetheless?

You can use any of those materials, or none of those. Waterproof paper (properly installed such that water is prevented from penetrating the repair seams) and wire mesh alone, with no substrate, may be just fine.

An important part of the job that you do not mention (and is not apparent in your picture) is the waterproof paper/membrane.


Why does a water line behind wall of home have capped off areas above supply area that heads out to wall? I couldn't find an answer to this question using Google. I think it's because I am not sure how to ask the question properly. I am not a plumber but I have seen in my new construction house with cpvc and I have seen in the past the same thing done with copper pipe.

When a water line comes out of a wall, just before it comes out there seems to be an area where the pipe goes up a little more and is then capped off. What is the reason for this? Why not just bend 90 degrees out to the source?

Is this necessary with PEX tubing too?

Sometimes we put in up stubs, they fill with air and act as a surge arrestor (helps to reduce pipe chatter).


what is burning smell off a new power strip? Got a new power strip, I detect a very faint burning smell kind of distinct when I stick my nose near it, 2 cm away. The smell is there whether it's connected or not, but amplifies when its working. I don't think that smell was there before and I've been using it for 2 weeks. The brand is Brennenstuhl, from Germany 3m long cable. It's like 20$, I connect desktop pc on it.

Defective power strip.  Return it to the store and demand a replacement, before it causes a fire.


pvc clamps keep snapping I live in a cold climate and every winter the metal clamps ( attached to brick) on my 2 1/2 inch pvc underground feed pipe keeps breaking at the side of the house. Can I  assume that the pipe is lifting and eventually snaps the screws ?
Is there a way of repairing this ?

If so,  will this require  some sort  of sliding  pvc sleeve ? If any one knows of a solution can you please let me know how one can repair this?
Thanks

Yes there are expansion joints available

This is an example of a expansion joint

Www.homedepot.com

You also need to make sure that there is enough wire inside to allow for expansion.


How to remove an old wood stove brick chimney? I need to remove what is left of an old wood stove chimney that was partially removed from the top at roof level (one story) and the opening roofed over.

What is the best way to break out the bricks?

A mid size rotary hammer (SDS plus or SDS max) with a point and a chisel will break the bricks out. Have an extra manual chisel, mason's hammer and prybar on hand (to free the rotary hammer, when you get carried away and plunge too deep).  Hand, eye and head (hard hat) protection are advised.  Dust masks, too.


Well pump ends up overwhelmed. How can I solve this? I have moved into a house with a well. Occasionally if too many water uses occur the pressure tank is expended and it trips the switch to off and it stops running. If I go down and reprime the pressure tank it kicks back up and works.

The pressure tank pressure is set to 30 at the moment and the bladder on my last measurement is 28 psi. I'm not entirely sure what this indicates. I haven't lived in a house with a well since I was a child and clearly it wasn't something as a kid I would think about. I know what to do when it happens but my wife definitely doesn't as she is a city girl and we now live way out in the country. I have to travel sometimes so I want to do what I can to mitigate this.

Help your wife to become at least something of a country person by letting her fix it while you (patiently and nicely) explain what needs to be done. Either of you should write down notes and/or take video or pictures, it being the modern era, to help with doing it unassisted. Then practice a few times without your help to build confidence and figure out what else might need to be written down or videoed.

With the pressure off the water side of the system, the tank (assuming a modern bladder-type tank) should be a few pounds below the "cut-in" or start pressure of the pump. So, if the 26 PSI (I evidently misread that - 28 might want to be adjusted to 27) measurement was with the water side drained/no pressure, that's roughly correct. The point of this difference is to allow water to keep flowing to the house as the pump is being started.

The exact nature of your problem may affect the right solution to solving it.

A flow restrictor as Jack suggests is one approach, to limit the water taken out of the tank to a rate the pump or well can keep up with.

If the problem is the speed the pump can provide water at, pumps can be replaced with pumps of greater capacity. You can also provide a larger, or additional pressure tank to increase the stored capacity for temporary loads.

If the problem is the speed the well can provide water at, that's a MUCH more expensive problem to solve, and far more unknown. Drilling deeper can cause more problems than it solves, depending on the specific (and somewhat unknown) details of the hydro-geology at that exact point, for instance.


How to connect plumbing to a trap adapter which is already installed? I'm replacing the drain plumbing from my bathroom sink, and there is currently a 1-1/4" male threaded PVC fitting coming from the wall, which I assume is a trap adapter that was installed at some point in the past.  I have the nut from it and understand it should tightly clamp around a new piece of pipe, but I can't seem to make it work.  There was no gasket there - should there be one?  How do I go about attaching the plumbing to this threaded fitting?  Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!!

The fitting you show inthe picture is probably a "desanco" fitting. A tail piece or J bend is slipped into the fitting and a gasket and jam nut seal the joint. This J bend is usually part of a P trap assembly. If in doubt, go to a big box store, show them a picture and they can show you what you need.


Does the NEC require armored cable in kitchen islands? One electrician told me that armored cable (BX) wiring must be used in a kitchen island cabinet. Another electrician told me that simple Romex is fine. Which is it? Does the NEC require BX in kitchen islands?

The relevant NEC is 334.15B

  (B) Protection from Physical Damage. Cable shall be protected from physical damage where necessary by rigid metal conduit, intermediate metal conduit, electrical metallic tubing, Schedule 80 PVC conduit, Type RTRC marked with the suffic -XW, or other approved means

This is more of a "It's a really good idea if you do this" area (with regards to the island). It depends a LOT on the design of the island itself. I've seen BX wires that were overkill and I've seen NM wires that were unsafe the way they were routed.

What I would do is find an electrician who isn't in the Always BX camp. Look at the design with them and figure out if there's anything that could cause damage to the wire. If it's always going to be in an inside corner, the risk is low enough you could get away with NM (and I would say most islands could). If the wire will have to run tight to, say, metal tracks for a drawer (where it could make contact), then run BX to be safe.


My toilets are filling with HOT HOT Water and we have no water pressure Please help. We just rented this house and now realize why the walk through was so quick. Most important concern is that the toilets are filling with hot water!! ( In addition matter bath runs constantly, I just bought a new stopper last night, which should fix running water) we have NO WATER PRESSURE.  The owner told us as far as maintenance for us to take care of small things ourselves, but if something more serious his responsibility.

Plumbing issues are not small things and should be the responsibility of the landlord.

It sounds like there is a  toilet mixing valve that has failed or was installed improperly.   In  places where the water supply is very cold  a mixing valve is used to  take the chill off of the water going to the tank to eliminate condensation on the size of the tank.

It is possible that the mixing valve was not set properly and that you could adjust the screw that regulates the amount of hot water mixing with the Cold water.

If you can locate the mixing valve that is a simple fix that you could take care of yourself anything else I would inform the landlord that it is their responsibility to remedy the situation.  The valve is usually located in an accessible place such as the crawlspace under the house or in the mechanical room where the hot water heater is  or it is possible  but not probable that there is an access panel on the backside of the wall that the toilet sits against.

If your mixing valve is like the one that I linked to there is a screw adjustment on  One side of the  valve that can be adjusted with a slotted screwdriver, screwing it in reduces the amount of hot water aloud through the valves.

If it is a mixing valve issue I don’t think that would account for the lack of water pressure. That is something that is certainly going to have to be addressed by a professional plumber.

Is the water pressure issue a problem with all of your Faucets or just the toilet?


How to maintain temp for always cold office in finished Basement I work out of my home in an office in our finished basement.  The room is always cold whether it's the middle of winter or the middle of summer.  I often run a cheap space heater (especially) in the winter but that tends to take a long time to warm up the room and ultimately causes over heating, especially when the furnace kicks on.

Primarily:  How can I maintain a consistent temperature (ie 68-70 degrees) all year long?

Secondarily:  Should I insulate the ceiling space above the office to reduce heat loss to the master bedroom above?

Some details:

My office is roughly 14x14 w/ insulated walls
Office has a large window 6x6 facing North-East (walkout basement) and is a "wing" off of the main structure, the windows are ~6 yrs old Pella double-pane
There are two heat/AC vents in the office served by the same duct, when these kick on the room gets HOT (or cold) very quickly but the heat dissipates after a few minutes.
The ceiling of the office is NOT insulated but is finished/painted, there is a roughly 2 foot space between the ceiling and the next floor which I have good access to.  Directly above my office is the master bedroom which is also always cold.
Home has 2 zones for heat/AC, one for the 2nd/top floor bedrooms and one for the main floor (the basement is on the main floor zone but the thermostat is on the main floor)
My office is carpeted (the rest of the basement is not), I would like to replace this w/ hardwood

The room in question is fairly large and has several heat loss factors. Not withstanding the fact that the room sits on the cold basement floor, has large windows etc., the main problem is that the temp in the room is not thermostatically controlled properly. The only thermostat and heat zone is on the main floor and controls heat based on temps in the main living space. Your typically closed bedrooms and lower level rooms will never heat or cool at the same temps as the room the thermostat is monitoring. If you really want to have accurate temp control, it may be necessary to install zones. One zone for open living areas (kitchen, dining, living spaces) , a zone for bedrooms, and a separate zone for the office level. Without separate zones, you cannot monitor and adjust temps in the areas isolated from the living space.


Should I use a GFCI breaker or receptacles for my shed run? In my question about running a circuit to my backyard shed, a discussion arose in the comments about whether I should use a GFCI breaker or have the convenience outlet be a GFCI. Instead of debating it in comments, I thought I'd ask a new question where the answer will be more obvious and findable for future generations.
To recap the situation: I'm running a single circuit out of my sub-panel to my backyard shed for lighting and 1 convenience outlet. This is a storage shed, not a workshop, so there will be only the 1 outlet and loads will be minimal.
My plan was to use a GFCI breaker which will allow me to run conduit with only 12" of cover according to Row 1, Column 4 of table 300.5.
However, it was suggested that I not use the GFCI breaker since that would put all the lighting under GFCI protection. Instead, as I understand it, the recommendation is to use a standard breaker and use a GFCI outlet for the convenience outlet. As I understand it that would put me in Row 1, Column 3 of table 300.5 and require 18" of cover over my conduit. I'm not certain that this suggestion was made with the full recognition that the lights are plug-in, not hard-wired or if that would make a difference.
Obviously, less digging is better than more digging, so I'm all about needing only 12" of cover over my conduit. I'm pretty sure a GFCI receptacle is cheaper than a GFCI breaker and saving cash isn't a bad thing either. However, if there are repercussions of running the lights with GFCI protection that I'm not aware of, the extra work and money saved is worth it.
Bearing in mind that the lights I'm planning on using are plug-in and are not hard-wired, the question is:
What is the reason for not running the lighting in the shed off of a GFCI breaker?
If the reason is simply "that's what code states" then I'll meet code. If there are preferences, concerns, and considerations but lighting on GFCI protection is allowed, I'd like to know what things I need to consider before I determine which route to take.
Note, I'm looking for reasons for/against, code implications, general concerns, etc. i.e., it appears that I can spend a few extra bucks to do less digging and that would be my preference, but if there are significant concerns, I'll dig a deeper trench and throw the few bucks at the kid to have him put his back into it.

Because if an appliance trips the GFCI breaker, there go the lights
The issue with having your whole shed on a GFCI consists of two parts:

some things (power tools, hot things) can pose a stored-energy hazard after shutdown for a little while
tripping the GFCI breaker will plunge you into the dark as the lights will have to be on it as well

Being in the dark around a stored energy hazard, such as a spinning saw blade, is bad, so we don't want the lights to go out if that device malfunctions and trips the GFCI.  Furthermore, with the GFCI tucked inside the shed, that keeps it reasonably protected from the weather; this isn't an issue for most folks, but can be if your breaker panel is outside (say, on a meter-pole).
Besides, the difference between 12" and 18" burial depth isn't significant in terms of trenching costs as far as I know; if you really care that much about trench depth, you're better off using RMC and matching non-threaded fittings, as that gets you down to 6" of cover anyway.


To use a US shower head in India or elsewhere abroad? So, I asked this question as I wanted to use this water purifying/ dechlorination/ calcium type of shower head outside the US.

I had also posted a similar question on Amazon, but I realize it needs knowledge of Plumbing parts and standards and if/ how they vary across the Globe.

Any experts share their wisdom on whether US based shower heads can be used in India and/ or other nations abroad? Directly or with some attachments/ fixtures?

Update: I figured someone here knows or can point me to "information" on standards of such things across nations.

For example, I was able to google Electrical Plug/ Socket Pins types and voltages etc and now know how most of it operates.

http://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plug-voltage-by-country/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_electricity_by_country

I found some orgs, but not yet any information on standards:

http://www.worldplumbing.org/
http://www.indianplumbing.org/
Is there a similar US site?

Any resources for plumbing that point out standards?

https://www.amazon.com/Culligan-WSH-C125-Wall-Mount-Capacity-Showerhead/dp/B0006VVN1S/

Q: Could this be used in India? and its filtering purifying mechanism be recharged/ replaced in time?

A: The only requirement for using this filtering showerhead is that it fits the pipe you want to attach it to.

It might be possible to use some kind of connecting pipe fitting to make the showerhead fit.

It filters using a replaceable cartridge.

The cartridge says it's good for 6 months or 10,000 gallons. I am the only one using mine and the cartridges don't last 6 months. I have to replace mine every 5 months but I love what it does to the water!

Pipe in India most likely conforms to (BSP): ISO-7-1 British Standard Pipe Taper (BSPT)

INDIAN STANDARDS : Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) have so far not developed an Indian Standard for the design of Piping Systems. Hence, ANSI Standards ASME 31.1 and 31.3 are widely used for the design. These standards also accept materials covered in other standards. Unlike American Standards, Indian Standards cover dimensions and material specifications under the same standard number. There are no groupings based on branch of engineering. Some of the most commonly referred Indian Standards by Piping Engineers are :
[truncated, see link; e.g., IS 554 : Dimensions of Pipe Threads]
There are certain other international standards, which are also referred in Piping Industry. These are DIN standards of Germany and JIS standards of Japan. DIN standards are more popular and equivalent. –CODES and STANDARDS, www.svlele.com

IS 554 : 1999
IS0 7-11 : 1994
"This Indian Standard (Fourth Revision) which is identical with IS0 7-l : 1994 [...]" –law.resource.org (ISO-7-1 British Standard Pipe Taper)
Which means you'll need an adapter that gets you from NTP to BSPT
Then again, according to this table (BSP vs NPT), 1/2" and 3/4" pipe both have 14 threads per inch, and the pitch of the threads are only off by five degrees, so I think a copious amount of PTFE tape would make a shower head work just fine. But don't quote me on that; I've never encountered BSP in the field and had to make it work with NPT fittings.

It has been mentioned that, "That model, it super sucks. The flow is extremely low." Might I suggest that you install a (valved) wye fitting and have both shower heads. Use the new one only for doing your hair so as to not prematurely clog the filter.


Underground electrical to garage - burying depth? How deep does schedule 40 PVC conduit need to be buried for 30 amp electrical service from house to garage?

It depends. Mostly it depends on what's above the conduit - if there's at least 4" of concrete above the conduit, and it's at least 6" to either side, that's all you need. Combines well with a concrete walkway to the garage, say.

With 2" of concrete on top of it in the trench, it can be 12" deep (to the top of the conduit - 12" of cover.) If you hit solid rock before that, you can also concrete encase it 2" above, to the sides, and down to the rock.

Just dirt, you need at least 18" of cover. Technically you may also need to change to schedule 80 for any above-ground part that is deemed "subject to damage" (a vague part of the code, leaving it up to the inspector) - practically speaking it often makes sense just to use schedule 80 PVC for the entire run - it costs more, but usually not that much more, and it is more durable.


Small leak has appeared in a PVC drain pipe joint, how to seal? I have attached a picture of the joint, and circled the bit that is leaking, a small hole. What is the best way to go about sealing this up and fixing it? Thanks.

It looks like they put the primer down without the glue.   Clean area, reprime it, get pvc glue, put glue around and jam it in.
If the length is not great enough to jam in - it looks a little short or something else moved - then cut about a foot up buy a double female straight joint in that size and if you made your cut straight you can probably use the exact same piece!   The joint will give you a good 1-1.5 inches.   You can always get 16" in that size (4?) if you don't want to go back to the store.
This is not a location that normally would EVER leak, so obviously installed wrong.   Should be a 30 minute fix, if that.


Small Floating Cabinet on Drywall? I want to install this square floating cabinet on my walls, but it's small, so I will only be able to hit one stud with it. If I add a wall anchor to the other side, will it be strong enough? Or will the cabinet will just fall?? What should I do then?
Thanks, I tried looking for an answer but I can't find it anywhere.

Hang a piece of 1/2" to 3/4" birch plywood (depending on how strong you need it to be), the same dimensions as the cabinet, on the wall, securing it with counter sunk #10 or larger screws, at the stud, and countersunk toggles at the corners.

Hang your cabinet from the plywood, and stain/paint the plywood to match.

If you don't want to see the plywood grain, you can cut it a little narrow, and glue hardwood edge banding to it, and then stain/paint to match.


Kitchen tile on pier & beam We are remodeling our kitchen in our older pier & beam house. We were looking at tile today and they said we would need to remove the existing linoleum, then put some type of cement board over the existing plywood sub-floor, then lay the tile.

Does anyone have any experience with tile in pier & beam?

I have a pier-and-beam house, and the instructions are pretty much correct.

Tile will crack eventually when placed over pier-and-beam because of two related issues:

Floor joists often aren't on 12- or 16-inch centers, so they allow too much "give" when you step on the floor between the joists.
The piers are settling independently of one another based on soil conditions, and even fractional-inch movement is enough to crack grout lines over time.

So, if you really want tile, I would suggest removing the existing linoleum, then do the following:

Ensure that the subfloor is as level as possible before you begini. This is a lot better than to discover later that you need to shim your subfloor, use self-leveling compound, etc. for the tile to lay flat.
Lay a first layer of 3/4" plywood (or leave the one you have if it is in good condition and screwed down well).
Install a second layer of either 3/4" plywood or cement board going the other direction, so any movement at the first-layer joints is distributed across the second layer. Be sure to use long wood screws that go through both layers and back into the joists.
Install a decoupling membrane such as DITRA over the subfloor.
Install the tile.


Why would a replacement 3-way light switch cause the other switch to no longer work? I just attempted to replace an existing three way switch (two switches controlling the same light), with one of these

I hooked up the cables in the same way as on the old switch. The new switch seemed to use the terms 1WAY instead of L1 and 2WAY instead L2, but reading the installation instructions, I think these are equivalent.

The replacement switch worked, however the other switch which controls the same light (which I didn't change at all) no longer worked. I put the old switch back on and now everything works again...

What am I doing wrong with the new switch? Is the new switch switching differently?

According to the instructions found here, you'll have to replace the other switch with a Retractive Press Switch when using a dimmer.

  Important notes - for two way and multi - way installation

  Read General Installation Safety Instructions before starting work.
  Any existing 2 Way or Intermediate switches MUST be replaced with Retractive Press Switches.
  Any number of Retractive Press Switches may be installed provided total cable length does not exceed 50m.
  Either 1 Way normally open or 2 Way Retractive Push Switches may be used.
  If 2 Way retractive switches are used, connect to Common (COM) and normally open L1 (1 WAY) terminals as shown. Do NOT use the L2
  (2 WAY) terminal.
  If replacing an existing 2 Way switch,cut back and insulate the unused 2 way wire previously connected to the L2 (2 way) terminal.
  All Metal Wall Boxes and Metal Plate Switches must be earthed.
  Do NOT connect more than 1 Dimmer in the same circuit,
  Remove label covering centre terminal on rear of dimmer. This terminal is to be connected to Retractive Switch as shown in wiring
  diagram. Do NOT connect any other conductor to this terminal.

However, there does not appear to be a requirement to replace the regular 3-way switch if a dimmer is not being used.

You might want to telephone the manufacturer to confirm this.

Here is a wiring diagram provided from the above link for non-dimming multiple switches


How can I handle water softener output without relying on a sump pump? We bought a house that had a water softener in the basement. It drains into a crock and gets to our septic by a sub pump. In 6 months the pump has failed twice flooding our unfinished basement. I understand the pumps don't handle the salt brine for long. What can I do to get the water out/avoid buying sub pumps every six months/not damage drinking water from our well? Our basement is not a walkout.

Water softeners can drain up and out. The house I currently live in has a softener drain that runs up about 5 feet from the softener and over through the basement to the drain. So, you could drain it outside fairly easily.

I have never had a problem with it but if you are concerned about drain back you can put a check valve in the drain tube at the beginning next to the softener. Mine doesn't have any and it works fine.

Good luck!


Problems with GFCI outlets recently installed I had 3 GFCI outlets installed recently in my home in by a contractor and now have some  lights that do not work at all.  The contractor put one in my kitchen, one in my 2nd floor bathroom and one in my basement.

The light above my kitchen sink would not work, so a relative who has done electrical work over many years spent nearly 3 hours correcting the outlet in the kitchen.  The light above the sink now works, but there is a light switch in the kitchen that turns on a floodlight in the back yard, and it will not work at all.  There are two ceiling lights on my third floor that always worked, but now one will not work at all.  I have never had any problems before with any lights not working, and believe the problem has to do with the outlets not being connected properly, especially since the one my relative spent 3 hours working on was not installed properly.

I called the contractor & explained the situation, but he states that the fact that the lights now don't work at all has nothing to do with what they did.  I would appreciate some insight or advice as to what the cause of the problem may be.

Some insight and advice: hire an electrician for this.  If you'd done that in the beginning you wouldn't be here asking for insight and advice.


OK to drain 2nd vanity sink like drawing? Will this meet code? Hope you can take a look at the drawing and let me know if its ok to hook up the waste like this. The plan is to remove a section of gal at both locations in red and install a pvc sanitary tee and attach with 1-1/2" Fernco Proflex couplings. The existing sink drain that will be removed is @ 14" center. The 2 new drains will be @ 22" center to get up inside the vanity. Hope this makes sense.
Thanks

You show a trap for the laundry, so you need a trap for both sinks and the shower, if you don't fit them then you could / will end up with smells coming in...


What is a 'power supply noise filter'? In an instruction booklet written in 2001 for a Boss guitar effects pedal it says:

Do not connect this unit to same [sic] electrical outlet that is being used by an electrical appliance that is controlled by an inverter (such as a refrigerator, washing machine, microwave oven, or air conditioner), or that contains a motor. Depending on the way in which the electrical appliance is used, power supply noise may cause this unit to malfunction or may produce audible noise. If it is not practical to use a separate electrical outlet, connect a power supply noise filter between this unit and the electrical outlet.

Since this effects pedal is a consumer unit, it follows that there must be consumer power supply noise filters available, but I cannot find anything with that name available. Do they exist?
Another question: does this mean that it's a bad idea to plug something into a multi-socket extension along with anything that contains a motor or inverter?

Surge Suppressors are commonly available as consumer units.
Power Supply Noise Filters are not particularly common as a consumer unit, though they are commonly available as parts to be built into commercial electronics.
You could simply use a better-built 9V DC supply which has a filter built in - it's fairly common to have one large-amperage 9V DC supply powering your whole pedalboard (if you have a few pedals), rather than individual wall-warts for each pedal. Those will normally have excellent filters.
For test purposes (it's expensive beyond that) you can also use a 9V battery to completely eliminate the possibility that power supply noise is a problem.
As to the question of "what a power supply noise filter is" it's usually 3 capacitors and 2 inductors in a package. You'll find better results searching for "EMI filter" usually. But I seriously doubt you need to go buy one, if you can even find a "plug and play" packaged for consumers version.


What happens to foam insulation board after you pour concrete slab? I plan on making a garage out of a large carport, and I've watched and I understood how to properly insulate a new concrete slab. 4 inches of gravel, vapor barrier, 2 inch foam board, 2 inches of sand and then 4-6 inches of poured concrete with mesh rebar in it.

My question is, how in the world will 2 inch foam board support all the concrete? Especially when I park both my trucks on top of it! Won't it crush in some parts and be uneven underground. Why does it make a good base?

By way of example, the pink Owens-Corning FOAMULAR 250 product and the blue DOW STYROFOAM Brand SM product rated for 25 and 30 psi compressive strength respectively. If weight is distributed and applied evenly a square foot of FOAMULAR 250 could support 25*12*12=3600 pounds at its limit while the STYROFOAM could support 4320 pounds. A footnote in the data sheet qualifies this as "at yield or 10% deflection, whichever occurs first."

The weight of concrete varies but 150 pounds per cubic foot is a common approximation. Then a square foot of concrete, half a foot thick, should weigh about 75 pounds. That leaves at least 3500 pounds of weight carrying capacity before the foam below the concrete would fail.

The weight of a vehicle sits on the contact patch of its tires. If we consider a hypothetical 8000 pound pickup truck with 70% of its weight on the front tires, that's 2800 pounds per tire. (Maybe a 70/30 distribution of weight is extreme; I don't know.)

The tire contact patch is much smaller than the square foot we've been thinking about, so it would seem that the load might be too concentrated and would crush the foam. Indeed if the tire rolled directly over the foam it likely would be crushed. Fortunately the reinforced concrete does a pretty good job of spreading the load. The weight on that tire contact patch is spread over a larger area of foam and it all works out.

On a related note, enormous foam blocks can be used instead of soil as fill in construction projects like bridge abutments, roadways, etc. See Geofoam.


"Axle cap": what is it called and how to remove it? I've put together a wagon for a child, but I've messed up something. Now I need to remove a plastic cap that has metal bits inside and that goes over the end of the wheel axle. A spare part of this cap looks like this:

  What is this part called and what tool can I use to remove it? As I have a spare part, I don't mind destroying the original cap during removal but if there is a way to remove it without destroying it, I'm interested in knowing as well.

p.s.

I include as well this pic to show where the cap goes in the wagon:

I assembled toys, displays, and bicycles for a major retailer for 7 years.  I despise removing those caps in a recessed hole like the center of a plastic wheel.  You can snap the plastic cover off, then use vice grips, pliers, a screw driver, or wire cutters to twist, bend, pry, or cut the metal part to remove it.  They're almost always destroyed during removal so expect to use that spare to replace it.


How to take off conservatory door I'm preparing to dismantle a conservatory without breaking stuff, and I can't figure out how to take the doors off. Yes, I did put it up, but that was years ago, and I've forgotten. It must be simple - I did after all manage to put them there; so how do I take them off?
I've attached some pictures; there is a small screw on one side - that's for horizontal adjustment - and two on the top that I'm entirely sure about. The one near the frame comes out easily and doesn't really seem to have a purpose, the other one is very hard to turn and there is a small screw on the side of the hinge, that seems to be for locking it in place, but losening it doesn't make the top screw want to move. I'm worried about forcing it, so what is the secret here?

Two picures of the Philips screws. They are unfortunately not accessible, because the gap is too small:

Edit
I have tried out @FreeMan's suggestion, but as it turns out, the top-screw that appears to be the hinge-pin is not; instead it adjusts the position of the door as in this illustration:

As isherwood noted in a comment, you need to remove the hinge pins. To get them out, it's likely that you'll also need to loosen the set screw.

Loosen the set screw by backing it off a turn or two. There shouldn't be any need to fully remove it, but if you do, that's not the end of the world, just put it back in enough to keep it from falling out.
Then remove the hinge pin which seems to bolt in. It occurs to me that the hinge pin may actually be a 2 part device, with a bolt up top that we can see and a separate one down below that's not as obvious. Without a 2nd set screw, it's not as likely, but it's possible. There may be a nut of some sort on the bottom that has to be held with another tool while backing off the bolt we can see.
Once you've got the door removed from the hinges, you can take a Phillips to the screws holding the hinges to the door jamb.
Note that the years of accumulated crud & corrosion may require a fair bit of force to loosen these bolts. You may want to put a penetrating oil on and let it soak in for a while if you're meeting resistance. You should be good with the Allen head screws - those generally get a pretty good bite and don't strip often, but the Phillips screw heads will be very easy to strip out if you're not careful.


Why is a broken LCD tv causing the electrical circuit to go out without tripping a breaker? I live in a new apartment (about two years old), and have lived there for about two months without any electrical issues. I have an older 40 inch  1080p LCD tv (about 7-8 years old) in our bedroom (the bedroom is on the same electrical circuit as our bathroom). The other day, I went to turn on the tv and the picture was out. I just assumed the bulb or something finally went, but I know this can be caused by other issues.
In going to troubleshoot, I unplugged the tv and plugged it back in (it's plugged in directly into an outlet, along with an Amazon Firestick), as soon as I did this, the rest of the power on the same circuit went out (lights wouldn't turn on in bedroom/bathroom, no other outlet was supplying power, and the outlet in question also stopped providing power as well.) What's weird is that this didn't trip the breaker.
The apartment maintenance came and said it's because the tv was pulling too much power, so simply unplugging it brought power back to the the circuit. I tried the tv on other outlets and it didn't cause this issue (the tv bulb is still seemingly dead, but power on the tv works), and other electronics on the same outlet didn't cause this issue either. I also had like maybe one other small device on the same circuit at the time so I can't imagine it would be overloaded. I have little to no electrical knowledge (clearly), but I didn't think a device could somehow cut power to the rest of the circuit without tripping a breaker, especially an LCD tv, malfunctioning or not.
I'm beginning to wonder now too if the tv issue was a result of something electrical (a chicken or the egg scenario I suppose). there were no power surges or anything else unusual occurring ahead of time. I guess I'm just trying to feel out if this sounds like a normal occurrence, because I'd hate to buy a new tv and have it turn out that the electrical circuit is the cause of the original tv going out, and have the same thing happen again.
Thanks in advance for an electrical knowledge or insight.

Thanks for the help and comments everyone! So they came back and discovered surprise surprise, it was a loose wire in that specific outlet. So it wasn’t specific to the tv. Still trying to figure out if that actually caused the tv to go bad though. Will be kind of annoyed, but not much I can do about it ♂ They fixed the outlet and the problem seems to have resolved now.


Repair Lamp with intermittent problem We have a lamp in our bedroom which has a wheel switch on the power cord to turn the lamp on or off.

Recently, the lamp has been flickering if the cord wheel switch is touched.  When the switch & housing are positioned correctly, the light is on and steady, but when it is twisted slightly (the housing, not the wheel) the light will either flicker or turn off entirely.

It seems like it might be a short in the connection between the switch and the cord.  If so, I feel like that should be a fairly straightforward fix - disassemble the housing, fix the connection, and put the housing back together.

Is this the case?  If so, how do I identify the problematic connection, and how do I fix it?

Most likely your switch is going bad or it is at the switch, but I do agree with @Martin Bonner and think if it's not that it's a loose connection. These are not that hard to find. It's the loose connection.

Good luck.


Help identify this cabinet clip used to mount face frame on cabinet? This clip is used to mount a frame around a built-in oven. Some of the clips have broken and I'd love to replace them. The metal piece goes on the frame, with the plastic piece on the cabinet. A corse screw goes through the plastic piece and into the metal piece on the frame.

Any ideas on what these are called or where I can find some replacements? Ideally would be able to find the exact replacements so I don't need to re-measure and align everything again.

Hmm, those were harder to find than expected. It's extremely unlikely that you'll find an exact match (unless you can go back to the manufacturer of your cabinets), but here's a few possibilities.

Hettich: https://diy.hettich.com/en/products/connecting-fittings/carcase-and-cabinets-connectors.html

Blum: http://www.wwhardware.com/blum-surface-mount-rta-fittings-b040-2

Lee Valley: http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?p=40080&cat=3,41306,41319&ap=1 (Although these don't look like much, they're extremely solid and set with a satisfying thunk. They'll also come apart without wrecking anything.)


Getting UPS Power from One Room to Another I’d like to run power from a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) in ROOM A to where a work computer is used in ROOM B. I was thinking of installing an outlet box in ROOM A near where the UPS is plugged in, then run wire under the house to another outlet in the other room. That way I could just plug the UPS power out into the receptacle in ROOM A and the computer into the outlet in ROOM B on the other side of the house. Of course this line would not be connected to a circuit breaker, only from outlet to outlet.

I want to run the UPS to be available for use in both rooms, that’s the reason for the additional line.

Would there be any problems with this from a code perspective?
Would it require traditional wiring and hardware (e.g. Romex, outlet boxes) to accomplish it?

You need an inlet in Room A, not an outlet

You'll need an outlet box with an inlet in it in Room A so that you can plug the output of the UPS into it with a proper cord (read: if you have to do weird crap to your cord to plug the output of the UPS into the wall, stop, because that's a sign you're doing it wrong!).  From there, you can use a suitable chapter 3 wiring method (assuming the crawlspace is not wet, NM/Romex will do; use UF aka "outdoor Romex" instead if it is wet/damp, though) to connect the inlet box in Room A to an ordinary box+receptacle in Room B.


How to protect exterior phone line connection from the elements I recently had some work done in my phone line. The line works, but it was left partially taped. What's the best way to protect it? It's outdoors, so it needs to be UV-safe and waterproof. I've previously used liquid electrical tape, but it might be a mess the next time someone needs access to the wires. I'd use heat-shrink plastic, but I can't get it around the cable. I also thought about self-fusing silicone tape.

I know the correct answer is the phone company should have used a NID, but they didn't.

Yeah, that's a bad joke, I wonder who your phone company is...

If you insist on DIY... it does not particularly need to be waterproof - the splice connectors are filled with grease, so they are waterproof.  Buy a plastic electrical box (no holes) and cut slots in the box part so you can get the cable in place without cutting it.

Don't make the slots too large. If you want to try for waterproof, use duct seal (gray electrical putty, non-hardening) around the cables in the slot. Screw the cover on, pack some more duct seal on from the outside.

If you choose to use self-fusing tape, choose from the electrical aisle (well, it may not be in your average hardware store/home center, so you might need an actual electrical supply store to find it), not late night TV or plumbing repair. The box is going to be more robust and easier to access.


Was this outdoor outlet properly installed? This receptacle was installed prior to in-use requirements and placed inside the box instead of it being recessed.  This is an aluminum garage (separate from the house) and I am not sure what I should do?

I did purchase an in-use box, but I am not sure in this case since the aluminum is very thin and the outside wall is about 1/2" thick. Should I put the whole 15 amp receptacle in the box or try to recess it. Your advice would be appreciated.

Lucky you. That installation is grandfathered and you have the old type that work.

Today for new work, "in use" covers are mandatory, but those things are a complete disaster.   They are expensive, the seals don't work, they divert water into the junction box, and the door breaks off after the first or second use.  On top of that, they won't even close over most extension cords.  It's a racket.

If you want more water protection, build a little birdhouse around the receptacle with a hinged door and an open bottom for cords to exit.

Just put GFCI protection on the circuit somewhere upstream, and don't worry about it.

Here's the trick with GFCIs.  Never put one outdoors, you need a special expensive type if you do.  Every GFCI receptacle has a second set of terminals called LOAD.  It is designed to feed additional receptacles, and it will confer GFCI protection to those receptacles also.. You add "GFCI protected" stickers to those downstream receptacles.

So you put a regular GFCI indoors in the circuit upstream of that receptacle.  Voila, done.

The other reason not to put GFCIs outdoors is that the wires going into a GFCI (to its LINE terminals) do not have GFCI protection.  If they get wet, they can create a serious shock hazard.  By putting the GFCI safely inside and feeding off LOAD, the entire outdoor socket and supply cables are all protected.


How do I easily and inexpensively fix a crack developing in the stone front of my house? I think the picture says it all.  Is there some type of ready-to-go filler that can be purchased?  Naturally, it would be great to match the color of the mortar some how.  Many thanks]1

Your picture IS worth a thousand words! Is the stone a fascia or veneer in front of the bearing wall? Or is the stone the actual foundation for the structure? That's a window sill in the photo? Lastly, how old is the stonework? If it's just a façade of stone you may be able to reason the crack developed from settling. But it would be wise to monitor it. But to repair the gap start by removing loose pieces by hand (specifically that one in the middle). Then check each stone is still fastened and secured in place. Do this by grasping and attempting to move each one (again by hand). The second stone from the top left might come loose. If any are loose get a batch of mortar ready. With a cold chisel Gently chip away the old mortar from the joints on either edge of the crack. The idea is to develop a space along the crack line for fresh mortar. It will be difficult, but try not to loosen any stone. Brush or vacuum  out any dust. You should now have a wider gap running the length of the old crack! With a bucket of water and a sponge moisten the surrounding area. Mix a batch of mortar with enough water so that it will remain in place when troweled into the gap. The ideal tool for this type of work is a 'joint striking tool' and a pointed trowel. Work your way up from the bottom pressing mortar in the gap with the pointed trowel until it is full. Every 6 inches or so switch to the joint striking tool (which is concave in profile) and press the still moistened mortar level with the surrounding original mortar. For best results let the mortar cure out of direct sun light so it doesn't dry to fast. After it has set up for a couple of hours keep it moist for the same reason. The slower it cures the stronger it will be. Mortar straight from the bag and mixed with enough water will usually appear much lighter when cured. Some what silvery to grayish in tone. The mortar in your photo has been wiped with a sponge. Probably to clean any splotches from the stone and/ or for appearances. You can do the same after it sets up in an hour or so.


Where is A/C switch? How to turn it off? I'm trying to install a new c-wire based thermostat, and I plan to turn off the A/C power before I touch the C and R wires (24v). However, I couldn't locate the power switch.
The breaker box has some switches with suspicious labels: 'SD', 'E.D.O' and 'F.A.U'. Not sure which one belongs to A/C.
(BTW: what does those abbreviations mean?)
I also find there is a standalone breaker box with only 1 switch next to the A/C external unit. Is it the right one?
Any cautious needs to be paid attention to when turn off (and turn it back on) this standalone switch?

That panel does not appear to have a main breaker in it, so that would mean the Main is somewhere else, probably outside next to the meter. In that box, there is probably another large 2 pole breaker to feed the A/C unit. You are allowed to have up to 6 breakers in that service entrance box, so because this panel looks full, when someone installed the A/C, they put the breaker out with the main.
But also, is your A/C a central air system, where is it combined with the heating system? If so, there must be a separate switch in the closet with the HVAC unit, usually just a toggle switch, sometimes with a fuse holder too, either on the wall or sometimes on the side of the furnace (see picture below). That is required for doing exactly this; it is JUST the control power for the furnace/AC unit so when you turn off that switch, your little 24V transformer for the thermostat circuit is off too. For what you want to do, that's all you need.


Need advice on how to wire a switch outlet combo with two hot wires So my situation is that I have a switch which controls an outlet. I want to wire in a switch outlet combo to still control that outlet with the switch, but also have constant power to the outlet on the combo receptacle. The issue is that there are only to hot wires in the box. The grounds are wire nutted together, one hot line is independent, and the other is wire nutted to two other hot lines. I have tried every possible combination that I can think of. The switch still works as before but I cannot get power to the outlet on the combo receptacle. How can I wire this so I can get the desired outcome?

Your description and comments are a little confusing, and your picture lacks detail, but I'll take a general swing at this. I think you want to swap this switch for a Leviton style switch/receptacle combo with the new switch controlling the existing receptacle(s).
Add white wire from the existing nutted white wires to the silver screw on the new device.
It looks like the wire from the top of the switch goes unspliced directly into a cable with two insulated conductors, if your existing receptacle is not a split duplex that cable normally would be a cable to the receptacle.
If you want the switch to control only the existing wall receptacle, and the half of the combo to stay hot then attach that top wire to the gold screw and the wire from the bottom of the switch to one of the black screws. There should be two black screws, it doesn't matter which one since you should be able to see they are connected together.
If you want the switch to control both the receptacle at the switch and the existing then attach the top wire to one of the black screws, and the bottom wire to the gold screw.
Add a bare wire to the ground screw.


Why is my toilet backing up and bubbling after replacing an ejector pump? About two weeks ago my sewage ejector pump died and had a massive overflow in the basement. I replaced the pump but I am now noticing that the toilet backs up. I am also noticing that when I take a shower the toilet bubbles.

Any clue???

You have a clog downstream of the pump most likely.  It might have even died because of this (overheated?).

You will need a drain auger/snake in order to clear this.  If it's close to your access point you might be able to use a small handheld one, but most likely you'll need an electric drum snake:

You can rent these from most home improvement stores.


Black and Decker drill just started to lose power in clockwise direction. What could be worn off? It is an 800w corded drill and was working just fine till recently. Counter clockwise mode works full power but the clockwise mode is completely useless, drill starts at some decent speed and power(about 80-90% that of counter clockwise) but stops on the slightest contact or sometimes even before contact with anything and won't start until i switch the direction back and forth.

Not a switch problem, as it energizes both forward and reverse.

Not a battery/power problem because you have full power in one of the directions.

I would suspect that you busted an internal gear.


How do I connect a subpanel with neutral and ground to the same bus bar in main panel? My main panel has the neutral and ground to the same bus bar and I am planning to connect a subpanel for a detached garage.  So I have a few questions.

When I connect the subpanel to the main panel, does it matter which bus bar I connect the ground and neutral?
Do I need to separate all of the other ground and neutral wires on the bus bar when I connect the sub panel?

bus bar singular?

There are supposed to be two bus bars in every panel.  One for neutrals, and one for grounds.

In the main panel ONLY, they are to be bonded together. This is what references your electrical system to earth voltage.  It must only be done one place in a system.

Because of the required bond in the main panel, a great many electricians conclude that there is no difference between neutral and ground in the main panel since the N-G bond is right there.  And they simply spam all neutrals and grounds onto the same bus.   That logic is actually... reasonable... in the main panel.

However... If you want to be a precise and competent worker, then you separate them always, as if every panel were a subpanel, and let the neutral-ground bond do its job.  This has a couple of neat benefits for you.

if you convert that panel to a subpanel later, it's cake.
if you want to troubleshoot a ground fault, you can remove the neutral-ground bond, and replace it with a wire which you loop 10 times and clamp an ammeter around the loop. Now the meter indicates ground leakage at 10x resolution.  It'll take you literally 30 seconds of snapping off breakers before you find which breaker it is.  That was easy.
not that this is typically done in residential in the US, partly because of risk of damage to hardwired loads and controls... but you can separate the neutral-ground bond, then do insulation testing (megging) on the conductors to ground, to affirm no ground faults in the wiring proper.  This is especially important at higher voltages like 480/277.


What's this plastic thing along my sidewalk pavers? I just moved into a new house and am unable to close my gate because there is something nailed to the ground at the threshold that is sticking up too high for the gate the close. Any idea what this thing is? I'm trying to decide if I just remove it to allow the gate to close or if I need to keep it there and bury it a little deeper.

That is called Paver Edging. It is used to keep the pavers tight or to separate one section from the other. It's usually covered to the point that you only see a small strip of it. However, it looks like the installer didn't quite finish the job. I would probably do as you suggested and bury the edging deeper. You could also take up those few bricks that are outside the gate, level that area a little better and place those bricks closer to the edging for a more uniform look and to stabilize that immediate area.


Troubleshooting bandsaw cutting at an angle (through aluminum) I occasionally use (or abuse) a small tabletop band saw to rough cut aluminum plate. I generally having a lot of success and have been able to cut half inch thick plate without any problem using 6 to 10 tpi wood cutting blades.

This weekend I tried cutting some more aluminum and could not get the saw to cut a straight line. The saw wanted to cut at about a 20 degree angle off of straight and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't follow my line. I then tried a thinner (1/8 in.) piece of aluminum and didn't have any trouble at all. I went back to the half inch thick piece and again couldn't cut a straight line.

What would cause this? Is this a blade problem or a tension problem or what? I'm not a band saw expert, but I tried adjusting the saw with no luck. The guides all seem to be in the right place so I think the issue is something else.

Cheaper bandsaws tend to drift in the cut more, but any bandsaw can suffer from it. You can watch the line it is cutting along, and adjust to it, or you can try to resolve the problem. There are a few issues.

If you need to push the material through the cut too hard, then it tends to twist the blade. This will cause the cut to go at a angle. Why might you be pushing?

A dull blade
Thicker material than normal to cut
Impatience

Another factor is the blade tension. A bandsaw has a spring that you tighten to keep the blade under tension. Your saw will probably have instructions for how tight to make the blade. This spring can loose its ability to properly tension the blade after some time, allowing the blade to twist in the cut. Replacing the spring can thus help you to bring your saw back to optimum cutting performance. A sign that it is time to do this is if your saw tends to drift when it did not do so in the past on a similar cut, with a good blade installed.

Next, check the blade guides. If your blade guides are damaged, then they may be allowing the blade to drift off line. Most saws have a set of lower and upper guides. Some are small rolling bearings (on more expensive saws) but on a tabletop saw these are probably metal, held in place with a set screw.

The blade can actually wear the guides away from friction. The metal guides can often be reversed before they need to be replaced, but they are inexpensive to replace. You can usually find a non-metallic (slippery) replacement for those guides, which runs a bit cooler. This is good because less heat means your blade will run more cooly, so live longer before it dulls.

Finally, check the tires. Your saw has rubber (or plastic/polyurethane) tires that the blade runs on. There will be either two or three such tires. After a few years time, these tires dry out. The saw will then start to behave poorly. Those tires can be pulled from the wheels and replaced.