What's a reasonable expectation for efficiency in modern solar panels? I recently had a solar array installed on my roof with four different sections connected to three inverters - the total array includes 56 panels for a total of 13.44 kW.

However, I'm not seeing anywhere near that much production, even during the peak of the day. I obviously wouldn't expect to product 13 kW, as the panels aren't 100% efficient, there are clouds, the inverters lose 10% or so, etc. However, what's a reasonable expectation for the system production or an array that size?

What I'm seeing is that production will rise pretty quickly in mid-morning to 6.68 kW, and then sit there (at that exact number) until late morning. Then it will jump pretty quickly to 7.38 kW, hang for a while, and then up to 7.7 kW once all banks of panels are in the sunlight, and then it will sit there until early afternoon - however, that's only 57% efficiency for the system, and that seems a bit low.

Here are some questions I have:

Maybe I mis-understand how the panels work. I'd thought that they'd produce more power when the sun is directly over them, as opposed to at an angle, but the production numbers don't seem to support that. Is that correct?
Obviously the panels have a maximum production level, but could my inverters be limiting total production? If my panels are making 10 kW but the inverters can only process 8 kW of it, is that something I can see happening?

I realize there a lot of variables to get my exact number of reasonable production, but I'm just wondering what's reasonable and if it's something I should dig into a bit more to ensure that they were set up correctly.

If you're in the northern hemisphere, the lower angle of the sun in the winter is probably contributing to your low numbers. (When the sun is low in the sky it passes through more atmosphere to reach the ground.) Presumably you'll do better in the summer.

Also, the tilt angle of the panels should be matched to your latitude. If your panels are mounted on your roof and aren't at the optimum angle (or aren't pointed directly south), that would decrease your efficiency. In any event, unless you have tracking panels or constantly change the tilt, your panels will only be pointed exactly at the sun twice a year, and at all other times will be slightly misaligned.

This website has a detailed description of tilt angles, but the net result is that if you have a fixed array at the optimum angle, you'll only be getting 71% of the exposure than if you had a tracking array constantly pointed at the sun. If your angle is not optimum you will do even worse, obviously.

EDIT: I should also point out that your definition of "optimum angle" for a fixed array is dependent on what you're trying to optimize. There are a couple of ways to look at it:

Generate as much power as possible over the entire year. The 71% refers to this option.
Generate as much power as possible in the summer, when electricity usage may be higher due to AC and/or power may cost more to buy from the grid. This will be a lower angle [array pointed more upwards] than 1), since the sun is higher in the sky in the summer. Winter usage will be lower than 1).
Try to generate power evenly throughout the year. This will be a larger angle [array pointed more towards the horizon]. This approach tries to increase power generation in the winter relative to 1), at the expense of some summer power.


Removing a light switch cuts power to my entire room. Breaker not tripped. Smart Switch Install I have installed smart switches before, but I moved into a new apartment recently. I have never had a problem before. I removed my old light switch and installed a new smart wifi light switch, and I lost power to my entire room. (All wall outlets, switches, etc)

The light switch powered up, but did not turn on the light, nor allow me to use anything else in my room. I hooked the ground to ground, hot to black on the switch, load (red wire) to the red wire on the switch, and unbunded the white neutral wired in the back and hooked it to neutral.

I also noticed that fully disconnecting the smart switch and leaving all wires 'safely' exposed, my room did not have its' power restored. I did this to test and see if the switch was bad or my wiring was somehow wrong.

It wasn't until I hooked back up the old light switch and re-bundled the neutral wire that everything started working again.

What is going on here? Is it something to do with the neutral?

Also: I noticed that when the power was on, wires were exposed, but no power was going to the rest of the room, ground-load measured 120v. ground-hot measured 120v. Why was load measuring 120v?

Measuring load-ground when the original switch was working measured 0v with switch off.

Because of what you did with the neutrals

You needed a neutral so you unbundled one from that bunch of "spare neutrals back there".  That's what broke it.  It is a common misconception.

All those neutrals already had a job to do.  Since you have seen the results of disconnecting them, you know what that job is.  I bet if you plug a 3-light tester into the downline sockets, you'd get only 1 yellow on the end.

Anyway, reconnect all those neutrals the way you found them. This should restore your plugs.   I understand your smart switch needs a neutral, you need to add it to all those neutrals.  If it binds 3 neutrals it will now bind 4.

Not all whites are neutral.  All neutrals are white, but not the other way 'round. Wire color does not designate function, but is simply how cables are made.

Now there are two other potential problems.

That brand is not sold by any reputable shop.  It is sold only on Amazon "Marketplace" and eBay (and Walmart which simply relabels Amazon listings).  That almost certainly means the brand is a Chinese cheapie that is sold that way to evade product safety laws. It cannot be sold retail because is unable to qualify for a UL listing (or equivalent Nationally Recognized Testing Lab), becuase it is unsafe. You should never install products like this, and you will face severe civil liability if there's fire or injury as a result.  The sick thing is, they're not even that much cheaper than listed product.
it sounds like you are renting. You must never do any electrical work without the permission of the landlord.  Even with permission, electrical work in a rental unit must be done by a licensed electrician, though your local jurisdiction may allow self-changes of receptacles and light switches because they are pretty simple.


Should a UPS be unplugged when working on the electrical circuit it is plugged in to? I need to do some electrical work on a circuit in my home. One of the outlets on the circuit has a UPS battery backup plugged into it. The UPS is tucked away behind a lot of other equipment, so I'd rather not have to unplug it if its not necessary. Is there a risk of the UPS "leaking" (or whatever the term would be) back onto the circuit when the breaker is tripped? That is, for safety, should the UPS be unplugged before I work on the circuit?
Specifics in case they matter:

I am replacing some switches for lights on the same circuit as the UPS
the switches do not control the outlet the UPS is plugged into
the UPS is a bXterra BM1500AVRLCD (1500VA)

The UPS battery won't be backfeeding into the house service. DC current won't be flowing back through the rectifier diode.
I'd be more concerned about doing something wrong with your switch replacements, turning on the power and frying your UPS board. We see this happening all the time here. Play it save and unplug the UPS and anything else on the circuit while you're working on it.


Power out, but no GFCI, no breakers tripped My wife's grandma has been in her house over 50 years. Can't find A GFCI anywhere in the house. I have two bedrooms without power from her plugging too many things in at one time. All other rooms have power.

I went to the panel. Looked to me as no breakers were tripped. Panel is also not labeled. I removed and capped the outlet that she popped just for the time being. Then decided to recheck all the breaker. I reset all breakers none still don't appear tripped but I also know they can go bad after years. I would be surprised if one did go out without any indication.

What's my next step?

Typically this ends up being a failed connection at a receptacle or other device in the chain.  Effectively the connection acted like an "amateur" circuit breaker.

90% of the time this is due to the connection being a "backstab type" where the wire is stabbed into a hole.

If you know the topology of the wiring, the failure must be either at the last good outlet, or the first bad one.


Keeping heating wires secured to roof during snow removal I have heating wires on my roof but still got bad ice dams the first winter I lived here. This caused leaking and I got my roof repaired. The 2nd year I used a roof shovel and heating elements. That worked great but I ended up pulling the wires down. I made it through that winter but it seems those clips to hold the wires onto the shingles can't be reused.

I can't seem to find a place that sells them. I tried putting the wires back. The first time I used my roof shovel I pulled just about all my wires down. What's the best way to keep those wires on the roof?

If I can't find really good wire clips then I guess I will buy a bucketload of clips and reinstall my wires each year but I don't know where to get them without buying the entire kit with heating wires.

Thanks in advance.

Ice melting cables are just a stopgap. You should fix the real problem. The easiest way to get rid of ice damming is to improve the attic ventilation.

Assuming you have existing vents, the biggest culprit is usually the eave venting. Check your eave vents to make sure they are clear. If so, you need more of them. If not, clear them and then add more.

If you have modern soffit with perforated aluminum panels, pull some of them out and make sure that they are not screwed on to solid wood of plywood soffits (we see this all the time). If so, cut holes in the ply or wood and then reinstall aluminum.

If they are installed directly to rafter tails or the like, look up inside and make sure that there is a free passage way from the eave up over the wall and into the attic space. It's common for overenthusiastic insulators to wedge insulation into that joint, thus effectively preventing airflow from the eaves into the attic space. This is vital for proper ventilation, which eliminates eave icing entirely.


Regular then low pressure from well water First of all I have a drilled well with an in well pump. My house is manufactured housing with PEX lines. I recently drained the lines to install a new kitchen faucet. I just shut off the breakers for the pump and water heater then opened up the cold faucet to drain. After the job was done I turned the water pump and heater breakers back on, then turned faucet on. Everything seemed good at first then the pressure dropped off. I tried the outdoor spigots and I got normal pressure at first then dropped right off to low stream. I checked all Faucets and showers in the house and same thing, normal pressure and then very low. I checked the pressure tank and it is pumping up to pressure and the valve on top yields no water just air. Spigot at the pressure tank blasts water out when I open it. Problem occurs with hot and cold water. Screens have been removed from all faucets and still problem exists. I recently installed a water softener about 2 weeks ago because of hard water but problem didn't start till I replaced kitchen Faucet. Could it be the pump? Clogged lines? I am stumped!

Rule out the pump.

Attach a hose to the drain tap at the base of the pressure tank.  Run the end outside.  Open the tap.  If the water system behaves normally, (Pump runs constantly, or runs and shuts off in a cycle that gives reasonable flow) then your pump is doing what it is supposed to.

Check the line between pressure tank and cold line supply.

Since it affects nearly everything, it sounds like you have an almost closed tap between the pressure tank and where the hot water tank cold supply line branches off.  Most houses have a single tap you can use to turn off the water to the whole house somewhere from.

I say almost closed, because if it drips it will pressurize the line, including any air pockets.  I would expect that you would get between a cup and a quart each time you did this, and it would take minutes to recharge.


Attic Insulation in hot and humid climate I am in central Texas and am looking to add insulation to my attic. My house is very old so I am pretty much starting from scratch as there is virtually no insulation.

So far from what I have read and understand, I need to add FACED insulation between the rafters as I am practically installing insulation for the first time. Now the question is, do I place the facing towards the ceiling below or upwards towards the roof? I have seen conflicting information. Some say that the vapor barrier ALWAYS faces towards the living space, while others say that the vapor barrier should go to the space that is hotter on average throughout the year. In my case, I air condition probably 95 percent of the time, so if that's the case, I should point the vapor barrier up.

Am I reading wrong information? Or is there a consensus that I missed? Thank you!

Any good paint on ceilings eliminates the need for vapor barrier. As far as which way to face a barrier if your climate is hot most of the time and you have air conditioning then face toward living area (ceiling) since inside air is cooler than attic. I.e. a cold glass of tea sweats on outside of glass. But my field experience says vapor barrier towards attic is a moot issue. Since you (should) have at least 8 inches attic insulation and that R value will buffer any temp exchange before it gets to ceiling material. Even on the walls I've never seen any mildew or evidence of excessive sweating due to lack of vapor barrier. I have seen such with rain leaks. Maybe in much colder climates walls would need a barrier.


Optimizing whole house coaxial distribution I'm interested in optimizing my current coaxial splitter setup that was primarily done by Comcast on one of their service calls.

During the first stage the coaxial cable from the cable provider is split (1000mhz, -3.5db on both outputs) (black splitter on left of image). 1/2 goes to an return amplifier (white box center of image) and then an 8 port splitter (far right of image; unknown specs) which provides all the TV's in the house with a signal, and the other 1/2 goes directly to a cable modem.

I am curious as to how I can possibly optimize this setup for better all around performance. The signal on the TV's is fine and not grainy, but I sometimes experience Internet outages for a minute or so in the afternoon.

Would it be beneficial for me to replace the splitter in the first stage? Or to boost the signal for the modem with a separate amplifier? Do you see any issues in my current setup?

I doubt your symptoms have much to do with inside the house, though following up the comments to look at what the modem shows (ideally capturing what it shows when you are having an outage) is a good idea. I had lots of dropouts on "Time Warner Business Class" that various service calls (with replacements of various cables - no splitters on that one, but replacing them is also "cable-guy Standard Operating Procedure")  didn't fix. One day it became evident that they had changed their central office equipment and things got a WHOLE lot better. But not perfect.

Any 2-way splitter is going to be down by at least 3 dB - that's just half power, and if it's a splitter, that's all you can get from a perfect one. The extra 0.5 dB is reality .vs. a perfect world.

Likewise, an 8-way splitter is 1-2-4-8 so it will be down by at least 9 dB from its input, which is why the amplifier is in front of it. Presumably the amplifier is not kind to your DOCSIS signals (or won't pass them upstream) which is why the modem is split off before that.


100A main breaker trips when using 60A heater My heater has a 60A/10 ka breaker inside of it, but the panel breaker is only 50A/10ka. The main breaker is 100A. Service is 240v.

Do I need to upgrade the service panel to solve this issue?

The fact that the 100-Amp main is tripping, supplying a load of about 45-Amps through a 60 & 50-Amp breakers doesn't really say anything other than the 100-Amp breaker has failed and conceivably needs to be change.  However, given that you have a 45-Amp load on a heater, which we consider to be a continuous load, you are very smart to upgrade to 200-Amp capacity.  This higher capacity needs to go all the way to the weather head.


What breakers to do I need to connect an outbuilding to main power pole? I need to hook up the outbuilding to the main power pole. It was hooked up before and we moved, moving the outbuilding. I have 10/2 WG UFB wire. the photo shows main power pole.

What size amp do I need to put in it? then run the wire to outbuilding where second photo shows the subpanel inside. there are 4 15 amps and one 30. Not all are being used. When I hooked it up only the top two 15 amp seem to work, the bottom 15 amps do not. My son said it might be because the breaker in the main pole is only a 20 amp breaker. Is he correct?  Or do I need better wire? it runs about 90 feet.

You're probably only getting half your circuits because you're missing a service leg. You said it is connected to a 20 amp breaker with 10/2. That really sounds like you're running 120V when it should be 240V.

Your 10/2 can handle a maximum of 30A. The bare minimum change you need to make is to take out the 20A breaker you're connected to and put in a 30A single pole breaker. You will get a voltage drop of around 5% with that length of 120. Pull out the 30A breaker in your sub panel and move the 15A breakers down one row. Only one bus is probably live in the panel right now. Put a 30A single pole breaker on the water heater circuit. (Skip another row in the sub panel for the same reason. ) ONLY DO THIS IF the heater can be set or wired for 120V. Your heater will heat much more slowly if you don't use 240V. This should be functional, but you will very likely trip your breaker if you're doing anything at all when the water heater comes on, depending on the actual current draw of the heater. The supply is definitely inadequate, and you will be relying on the circuit breaker to not let your house burn down. This is also 100% not to code.

If you can upgrade the wiring to the trailer, get a 50A two pole breaker, two 4 AWG conductors and a neutral, and run it through conduit. I will cost a few hundred dollars in materials, but it won't be a fire hazard.


Washing Machine Stator Wire Harness Melted I have a Kenmore 40318900 front loader that started giving the LE error(motor stall). I bought it as a display model 5 years ago. Tub spins freely by hand, I started troubleshooting according to the tech manual I found inside(quite convenient) and it said the stator was bad due to resistance being way out of spec. I took the stator out and to be 100% sure measured windings directly, and lo and behold they were all fine, around 8 ohms each. Then I figured it was in the harness and sure enough one of the wires had 1.2k ohms between the stator pin and the pwb connector. I started following the wire harness and found a melted and burnt section.

While going through the machine I also noticed one of the three shock absorber is missing the mount pin. Looked all over the laundry room and turned the machine on it's side and it is nowhere to be found, no broken pieces. My thought is it must've never been installed. The washer has always been pretty noisy and vibrates around on the tile floor.  My hypothesis is that the excess vibration may have frayed the strands in the wire and caused it to overheat due to the current flowing through a lot less copper. The fix should be a simple wire replacement, but I wanted opinions before I power it up and risk a fire. Any thoughts?

Edit: I ended up cutting about 4 inches out of the blue and yellow wires and splicing/heat shrinking some new wire with butt connectors. I also found out a 1/2" bolt fits where the shock mount pin was missing and put one and a nylon lock nut in. Ran one load of laundry and all seems well, but will monitor it for a bit for heat.

UPDATE: It's been a month and the washing machine has been fine. Seems it was simply the wire chafing. Thanks all

Wire flexing over time breaks the strands , this is not uncommon in equipment that moves. I would consider replacing the section that was flexing unless there was a single loop but even then do not shorten the over all length because a shorter area for flexing will cause higher stress on the wires. If anything a longer splice will reduce stress as it allows more area for flex.


Light bulb keeps going out, but isn't burned out. Recessed light (can) in living room ceiling went out. When I touched it to replace it, it went back on, only to go out again the next day. I screwed it in tighter and it went on, only to go out again the next day. If it were a heat issue, it should come back on after it goes out, but it doesn't. Is this indicating a loose connection to the lighting fixture and is it dangerous? (Living in Oregon)

I'd try bending the hot contact in the socket out a little bit or a different bulb. If the problem persists I'd be inspecting the connections inside the junction box.

Try a different bulb (swap in a known working bulb, and swap this one out to a known working can light).
Try bending the contact out (the pin inside the socket).
Inspect the connections (remove the three screws holding the can light housing in. Pull it out of the ceiling and now you can access the junction box).

Rub the threads of new bulbs in your hair (to lubricate them) before you insert them.


What could cause taps for both hot and cold water to suddenly stop working? There are two taps in one of the bathrooms of our house. A few days ago, one of them "went out": after giving a noise as if very suddenly closed, the water stopped flowing, only a little trickling remaining for both hot and cold when opened.

Today, the other tap (that was working unaffected so far) reproduced the phenomenon, with an even smaller amount of remaining trickling. Neither of them work now.

Does anyone have any ideas for the cause of this?

The pipes are not likely to be blocked. The problem will most probalby be in the tap. Most taps usually have a aerator before the exit and that could be blocked up from dirt.

To clean the tap there is a tool to remove the aerator but it is not necessary. You can use pliers or a the correct size key.

There is also a helpful video here

And this is what the part looks like when its a bit clogged.

With the clog that you mentioned it must be pretty bad- So when you remove the aerator you will most likely see allot of dirt follow it. Open the taps for a minute to get it out of the system.

This dirt usaully comes from the main water supply so installing a filter for your main supply for the house if a good option to stop this nuisance. There also options to improve the drinking qualities. Ask you local plumber depot for advice.

DIY TIPS

To avoid damaging the aerator body it is a good idea to wrap it with some cloth and gently try to unscrew it. It could be a bit stuck but wiggle it back and forth and should let go easily.
Many aerators  go into several pieces. The can help in cleaning them. Try to remember the order.
The aerator is not mandatory. It helps make the water come out silky and uniform which helps to prevent splashing. You can use the tap without it if it clogs up frequently.


What type of lighting is used in this picture? I just came across this picture . Would you guys know what LED's or lights have been used in this ?

Well, if we trust google's reverse image lookup, that's a picture of 3528 led light strips in action.

The problem is, those light strips have emitters every 5/8", so it's my opinion that you're looking at a bit of photo trickery or a diffuser that isn't ordinarily a part of those kits.


New house concrete slab foundation cracks - TX I'm asking about advise\idea\help. I'm new home buyer in Austin area TX.
I bought a new home in the foundation stage. Now it's in the framing stage.
Yesterday I found that I have 3-4 cracks on the slab.
I have read almost all the articles on this forum on this issue. :)
"There are two kinds of concrete. Cracked and gonna crack." - is expected..
Please, tell me is it acceptable or I should find 3th party inspector ASAP.
Thank you

and videos on youtube: kitchen
near the garage and the room

In your case whether or not they screwed up is kind of a matter of interpretation.  The claim that concrete always cracks is really BS.  In my opinion (and the opinion of many others) the number 1 reason residential concrete cracks during curing is too much water used in the mix.  It's possible to put down concrete that WON'T crack - do you seriously think that the Hoover Dam is full of concrete cracks????  It is just more costly.  But that's water under your bridge since it's too late now that the concrete is down and has hardened.
Now, the one crack there intersecting the post may be a problem since it's wide enough close to the post that it could be considered structural.  The inspector probably will bitch about it.  It gets narrower further away so they probably will allow it, but the reality is that it is easy right now to repair that area, just run a concrete chipper blade over the crack to V it out then put in patching epoxy.  Since it's a fresh crack it's clean and not filled up with dirt so the patch should be able to get all the way down to the bottom and bond the 2 pieces together.  It's a lot easier to do it now while dust generation and so on won't be a problem.
If you ever decide to pour your own concrete for a small job (like a couple of bags of sackrete) the trick is to add just enough water to make it into a paste.  You don't want it all sloppy and liquid.  It takes more effort to work with less water but it gets very dense and hard.  Then periodically while it's curing you want to mist it with water.  That prevents the water in it from evaporating quickly so it cures a lot slower and will not shrink as much and it is much less likely for it to crack.
The problem with residential slab cracks in my opinion is you can get water coming through them if there's water pressure in the soil, (like a gutter drain plugs up) and you can get the little sugar ants coming through them.  If these are really just shrinkage cracks (which if you bitch to the contractor they probably will claim that they are) then once the concrete is cured they won't get larger - so you can push the contractor to v them all out and run concrete epoxy patch in the V's.  That will prevent water and insect intrusion.  It also will pi ss off the contractor but too effing bad.
The important thing with residential slab construction is soil settling.  Residential slabs are not made with re-rod so they have very low shear strength and so if you get soil settling one side of the house, the slab will crack and that side will settle. That happened to my father in law, they bought a beach house about 20 years ago, slab construction, with the back end settled.  They thought it would not settle further, they were wrong, and 3 years ago they had to tear out the carpet, and have a foundation company come in and repair it.  My advice to you is to really get on them about good water control.  It's critical that water from the roof is discharged as far away from the house as possible.  You do NOT want the dirt under the slab getting wet.


How to fix stripped screw holes in drywall? (Without using drywall anchors) Where drywall anchors can't be used (for example, where only the screw holes themselves are visible through holes in a panel covering the drywall).

I've seen questions covering stripped screw holes in wood, metal or plaster, but nothing specific to drywall. Does the wood glue and toothpick method work here, or is another method recommended?

Drywall without anchors has very little holding power. There really isn't a method to repair stripped holes in it either. You could insert a toothpick in the hole and hold it in place while you screw in the screw and the screw would hold but not with any power. You could also use a larger screw which would cut into new drywall. None of these will give you any holding power. Using an anchor of some sort is your best bet so you don't have to go through this again.


Two shaver sockets on same circuit with extractor fan I've just had a new bathroom installed(UK based) and the electrician has put two shaver sockets(110V and 220V outlets) and an extractor fan on the light circuit.

With two toothbrushes plugged into the shaver sockets, the extractor fan lasted about 3 weeks before buzzing and then completely failing(but still buzzing) after about 4 weeks.

I've had a few electricians around and they all seem in doubt as to what the issue is - was it a freak failure or did the two shaver sockets destroy the extractor fan?

The extractor fan has been replaced, but I'm not using the two shaver sockets at the moment as the buzz is quite loud when both are plugged in. With only one plugged in there is only a mild hum.

Does the extractor need to be on a separate circuit?

the extractor fan lasted about 3 weeks before buzzing and then completely failing (but still buzzing)

Perhaps a bearing seized up, It is probably a small extractor fan and is easily replaced at low cost. You can do it yourself if you follow basic electrical safety procedures.

I replaced a noisy (but still working) bathroom extractor fan with another of the same make and model which also started to become noisy after a few weeks. I then replaced it with another make (Manrose Gold - "Long lasting ball bearing motor".) which is still working fine and does its job quietly and reliably.

I conclude there are good makes and bad makes of bathroom extractor fan. It may depend on which factory in china they use and who does the quality assurance. I suggest you don't buy the cheapest you can find.

  did the two shaver sockets destroy the extractor fan?

It was probably a coincidence.

  Does the extractor need to be on a separate circuit?

No.

The total expected load on a circuit should be less than the maximum allowed for the wire cross-sectional area and less than the rating of the circuit breaker for that circuit.

Charging a toothbrush probably takes a very very small current, maybe 0.01 Amps. This should not be a problem.

A 20W extractor fan on a 230V lighting circuit needs about 0.1 Amps. This also is a pretty small load and not worth installing a separate circuit for.

Your lighting circuit is probably rated for 5 Amps total load.


Water Filter system - backwash from sewer? I have a whole house Aquat water softner and filter system (new system that was put in last week). I believe the incoming line is connected to the filter, then the filter output line is connected to the water softner. The water softner output line is connected to the house.

I believe both the softner and the filter has drain lines that are plugged into the drain/sewage pipe.

Currently, the filter is working nonstop and I can hear tons of water being flushed down the sewage line. The plumber shut it off but will be back next week to fix it (he will need to contact the company cause he doesn't know what the problem is).

My question is.....is it possible for the sewage pipe to backwash into the filter system? Are there any engineering/plumber standards to prevent this? (do you think the system has this in place?)

This should not be a concern in a properly designed system, short of a flood. If you're feeling especially paranoid you could put an air gap in that drain line, but ...


Replacing old well tank that is leaking I have taken on the task of replacing a well tank for my grandmother. Well I didn’t realize there was this much to the well tanks. I believe she has a air-over water tank. It has an inlet about middle of the tank and the outlet towards the bottom. My question is can I just get a tank for local Lowe’s and just add the tank tee and redirect the plumbing. I’m going add pictures of current setup and then what I was going to buy to replace it with.

Yes, your plan is a good one.  I'd remove all that cast iron pipe that I could and replace it with copper.  Be sure to use a dielectric union on the iron/copper connection to avoid corrosion problems.
You'll find that a newer bladder-type tank will not waterlog the way the old air over water ones did.  Be sure, however, that the tank is not in a location that freezes.  Ice in the tank will rupture the bladder.


Beam Span and Size for Pool House I am building a simple pool house with a large overhang roof.
Main issue I have is figuring out what beam size and span I need to support the roof properly.
Key Features:

Total Roof width: 29ft
Distance between Posts: 27ft (center to center)
Roof Type: 2x12wood with 2 by 12 Pitch (~10degrees)
Location: Ontario, Canada (snow load)

I was told I need a 10" Steel Beam but have some questions:

What specific size of beam?
Does it span the full width of the roof or can it stop at the posts?
Do I need LVL or steel beams going from cross-beam to the shed that is 10ft distance or can the 2x12 carry that load/distance?

This is an engineering matter, the beam size is provided for your first-hand information use only. Confirmation from a structural engineer is required for construction.
Deck length tributary to the beam = (20' - 5' - 0.5)/2 + 2.5 = 9.75', say 10'. Assume 5 psf misc. wt. on top of the snow load (S), the uniform distribute load on beam (with 10% increase for beam self wt.), w = 1.1*(S+10)*10. Beam span length (column - column), L = 27', deflection limit = L/240 = 1.35".
The roof snow load across the province of Ontario varies from 40 psf to 70 psf (approx.) Per the Allowable Stress Design (ASD) method, and Fy = 36 ksi, fb = 21.6 ksi, the estimated wide flange beam sizes for the corresponding snow loads are as listed below:
Snow Load - Beam size*
40 - W10x30
50 - W10x33
60 - W10x39
70 - W10x45
(*) - All beam sizes are governed by the deflection criteria.


Is it possible to resurface a kitchen tile floor where most of the tiles are cracked? I have a kitchen floor that is made of ceramic tile. Most of the tiles are cracked. We are selling the home and having someone come and rip out the floor and install a new one will be very disruptive. Is it possible to just resurface the floor instead? Are there professionals that perform this service?

I ended up replacing the entire floor. It caused a lot of dust to be generated which took a while to clean up. Thanks for the comments.


Can a Dremel Circle Cutter be used on 20mm thick wood? Will the Dremel Circle Cutter cut through 20mm wood? Its just regular wood am using.

The product details page on the Dremel site just states:

  Depth adjustment allows easy setting of the correct cutting depth

without indicating what the maximum depth is.

As others have said, this will work, IF you have a sufficiently long bit, that will extend at last 2cm below the base of the jig. The problem is, most such bits for a Dremel tool are not that long. You may be able to use a Rotozip bit, which are longer than the standard Dremel bits.

Next problem is, even if you do find a sufficiently long bit, you need to deal with flexing of the bit, or breakage. These bits are relatively thin, so they can break off. Therefore, you will need to go slowly. Don't push it faster than it wants to cut. If you feel too much resistance, don't push as hard.


Electrical for Whole House Remodel I'm looking at doing a room by room remodel. I know there would have to be a lot of electrical done which has been the biggest deterrent to date. I'm trying to get a grasp on how much, from what I can figure so far half the house or more would need to be redone. Currently have a 40 slot box with 35 used. Looking to get feed back on my proposed box layout below:
Bed 1             15A  (Incl./ Light)
Bed 2             15A  (Incl. Light)
Bed 3             15A  (Incl. Light)
Living            15A  (Incl. Light)
Dining            15A or 20A (Incl. Light)
Bath 1            20A  (Lighting Branch?)
Bath 2            20A  (Lighting Branch?)
Laundry           20A  (Lighting Branch?)
Utility           15A  (Incl/ Light)
Dishwasher        15A  (3 wire?, shared box)
Garbage disposle  15A  (3 wire?, shared box)
Fridge            20A  (15A meet code?)
Kitchen 1         20A  (split between top and bottom, 3 wire?)
Kitchen 2         20A  (split between top and bottom, 3 wire?)
Garage            20A  (Outside outlet also)
Lights            15A or 20A (Kitchen, garage, outside, Hall, Bathrooms?, Laundry?)
16 slots          270A - 285A
Bed 1 Heat        20A 1000w
Bed 2 Heat        20A 1000w
Bed 3 Heat        20A 1000w
Living Heat       20A 1200w
Dining Heat       20A 1200w
Kitchen Heat      20A 1200w
Bathroom Heat     20A 450w (switch to 120v or add Hall to branch?)
Hall heat         20A 450w (switch to 120v or add Bathroom to branch?)
A/C, Entry Heat   20A 14000 BTU/7A Heat combo
Dryer             30A HE
Water Heater      30A 4500w
Stove             50A 5000w
24 Slots          290
Total  40 Slots, 580A

There is so much wrong here it's hard to know where to start and I don't have much time tonight. So here are my initial comments:

Separate your lighting circuits from your outlets, you don't want to be in the dark if a breaker trips.  On that sized house, with LED lighting you could easily run the lighting for entire house on 2 15 amp circuits (probably one, but I'm being cautious), if not LED lighting...why not? It's a game changer.

Your supply to the base board heaters is way over kill, a 1,000 watt heater at 240 will draw just over 4 amps. A 20 amp 240v circuit can supply 3,840 watts including derating for a continuous load (240 x 20 x .8 = 3,840 watts). Lots of your heaters could be combined into fewer circuits.

In some jurisdictions, depending upon which NEC code. Dining areas (dining room, kitchen nooks, etc.) need to be on a separate circuit from other living areas.   I think that's a stupid rule, but it is what it is.

Stay away from MWBCs (what you called 3-wire) for your kitchen and appliances.  They are a total PITA when it comes to GFCI/AFCI protection.  Given current wire pricing, you don't save anything by going with 12/3 vs 2 x 12/2.

Bathrooms require a dedicated 20 amp circuit, but that doesn't mean EACH bathroom has to have it's own circuit, that circuit can be shared by multiple bathrooms, that's up to you. I do prefer for each bathroom to have it's own circuit, but that's not required by code.

I'll think more about this and probably add to this tomorrow.


Mystery Romex in junction box I replaced a light switch installed at the bottom of the basement steps with one that has a dimmer. When I opened the junction box i saw there are two Romex wires coming in. One is connected to the switch at the top of the stairs which makes sense as this is a three way switch. I don’t know what the other one is connected to. The copper is connected to the ground, but the black and white wires are exposed and not connected to anything. Is this some kind of standard practice I’m not aware of or should I disconnect the ground and cap off the wire? I’m assuming the mystery wire is not live. I’m picking up a voltage meter tomorrow to confirm. Even if it’s not live, I feel uneasy having exposed random wires in the box. Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

It's not unusual to see an unused wires folded up in a box with the ground connected and the other conductors capped.  Unfortunately it's very rare to see anything marked or labelled to help the next guy figure out what's what.

This one's a little different in that it's clipped short on purpose - someone wanted to discourage trying to use the wire - and the wires are not capped.

I'd cap the wires and leave it alone.  Turn off the breaker for the light circuit, test to see if the short wire is live, and if so find and turn off that breaker.  I'd peel back the jacket 1/2", carefully strip 1/4" or so off the black and white, and twist on a small wire nut.

Tracing the wire to figure out where it goes and the rest of the story could be a bit of a project, and there's nothing to indicate any hazard, so I would not bother.


How can I drain the hot water line in my house? (re: adding a spigot) I'd like to add a hot water spigot to the outside of my house but my hot water heater doesn't have a shutoff for the output (ie. hot water side of plumbing).  However, the cold water has a shutoff (and of course the house has a shutoff as well).

How can I drain the hot water line in the house so I can cut it and connect a Tee, etc.

(If it makes any difference, I'd like to convert my cold-water outside spigot into a hot/cold water spigot)

Residential hot water systems normally supply both hot and cold water based on the pressure of the cold water coming into the house. The procedure for working on hot or cold is pretty much the same:

Turn off the house shutoff valve (which by definition is cold water)
Open faucet(s) to drain water/release pressure.

If your hot water heater is downstairs and you are working above it (the floor above or the pipe you are working on is higher than the output of the hot water heater) then this is pretty straightforward. If you are working on pipes below the hot water heater output then you will effectively be draining part (or all) of the hot water heater in the process, but I don't see any way around that.

If you will be (effectively) draining the hot water heater then I recommend turning it off before you get started (turn off the gas or flip the breaker) to avoid any problems that might be caused by letting it heat a less than full tank. Keep in mind that older gas water heaters use a pilot light, so restarting them is NOT as simple as "turn on the gas".

Slight modification for your setup: If you have (which I think you said you have) a cold water shutoff on the input to the hot water heater and you are ONLY working on hot water pipes, you can use that shutoff valve instead of the house shutoff valve. That has the advantage that you will continue to have cold water in the house while working on the hot water pipes. However, you still need to open faucets (just hot water) to drain water/release pressure before you start working, and the warning about possibly turning off your hot water heater still applies. But as Tyson pointed out, this is not foolproof and using the house cutoff may still be a good idea.


What is the best way to polish an old brass bed? I have an old brass bed frame with 15 years of tarnish and I've been trying to use Brasso, but the process is long and tedious. Does anyone know of an easier way to remove tough tarnish from brass?

+

A drill mounted buffing ball or disc should eliminate most of the elbow grease needed for the job.


How to remove glue from a CD/DVD plastic case I need to remove some glue/adhesive residue from CD/DVD plastic cases (not from CD/DVD themselves). I tried with acetone but it ruined the plastic case (from transparent it became white). Which product should I try instead?

Use an orange oil based product like Goo Gone.

If the glue is a water soluable material then just soak the case in warm water for a while.

If you use the Goo Gone you will want to wash with warm soapy water afterwards to remove the oily film.


Should I add a vapor barrier in this situation? I'm finishing my basement. I am wondering about the north wall which is a 2x6 stud wall (walkout basement). I removed the fiberglass insulation an put 2 layers of 3/4" rigid insulation (sealed edges with silicone)... each has a R4. I will then put the fiberglass back. I am wondering about putting the plastic vapor barrier back. I don't khow how permeable the rigid insulation is and I don't want to trap moisture in the wall. It was -10 below last night and I didn't have any condensation on the rigid insulation. ( I haven't put back the fiberglass yet).The rigid insulation sealed up all the leaking seams and eliminated all the drafts.

Foam board, especially the one in your pics, act as a vapor barrier.  The only issue with it is when you cut it and install between joists or studs.  Then it needs to be taped, caulked, or foamed.  You said you caulked them so you have completed your air seal. Adding another vapor barrier will only cause moisture problems and wood rot.  I have been insulating homes for over 30 years and have seen the entire sides of homes that have had to be tore out and rebuilt because of the second vapor barrier.


Will 21 inch replacement blades fit a mower with blades that measure 20-5/8 inches? Mower is a belly mounted 60 inch mower mounted on a Mahindra emax 22. The mower is manufactured by Amerequip for Mahindra. Manual specifies three 21 inch blades; however, the aftermarket blades found on the mower measure 20-5/8 inches. I intend to replace; however, want to use appropriate aftermarket blades. Like 2x4 lumber, the 21 inch description might simply be a nominal reference, but, I want to be certain.

My Mahindra has several similar differences. Not being made in the US the metric measurements are slightly different. With the measurements being just a couple of 8ths under will work fine.


Is ice on ERV door normal? My ERV is forming ice and condensation on the top of the door and on top of the unit (presumably because the fresh air intake is on that side).  The outside tempersture hit about 1 degree F today.    Is this normal?

I previously had issues with condensation and ice forming in the flex duct intake but after the installers replaced it with R8 insulated flex duct it seems to be ok thus far.

No, it's not normal at all for the new ERV's (last 15-years). The defrost sensor that's supposed to close the intake damper isn't working. It won't cause air problems for anyone, but it will rust the unit & possibly allow mold to take up residence in the unit's area & you don't want either.


Countersink for an M2 bolt I need to make my bolts flush - they're M2 with nuts on the other side. The  wood will have acrylic glued over the top so I need a flat surface.

I'm confused about how to select an appropriate countersink.

You want the diameter of the countersink bit to be at least slightly larger than the screw head. Larger is OK, for wood, larger bits don't cost much more. You then drill until the V-shape is slightly larger than the screw head. If I am drilling a lot of them on a drill press, I set the depth stop. If drilling by hand, I drill a little, then I test the depth by putting the screw head into the hole upside-down. If it is important for it to be exactly flush, work slowly.

Ideally the chamfer angle of the bit should be equal to the screw head angle. But for your application it isn't critical. My local home store only has 82 degree chamfer bits, this is close to the angle of most common flat-head screws.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-5-8-in-High-Speed-Steel-Countersink-A10CS82/205469295


Why might we have 3 twin wires in our doorbell chime? We're currently looking to replace our wired doorbell, but before doing so I wanted to understand the existing wiring - unfortunately I don't!
We have a transformer next to our consumer unit supplying 12V AC to the circuit, and a single push button outside the front door (which only has a single pair coming to it).  Each of these accounts for 1 pair of twin wires arriving into the chime - why might there be a third pair?

Each of the pairs has one wire commoned together in the wire nut.  From what I can tell, it seems the transformer supply is connected to the T3 terminal, with the other two on 0F.
I'm intending to replace this like-for-like, just with a nicer looking chime, so I could just reconnect everything as-is on the new one, but I'd like to know what this other wire is for!  Does this imply that we might have another push button somewhere?
If I separate out the two non-transformer leads, and try one at a time to figure out which is the actual push button, am I probably better off leaving the other pair disconnected, since we have no idea where it might be going?

Three pairs are most likely connected to the three other components in the doorbell system, the transformer, the "front door" pushbutton and the "back door" pushbutton.
The circuit diagram is something like this.


approximate strength of poured reinforced concrete slab We would like to back a truck over a garage floor recently poured. The slab is 6 inches thick with 1/2 inch rebar in a 2 foot grid throughout. The concrete is a 6.5 sack mix and has cured 60 days. The garage floor has no walls erected. Our intent is to pour a walk around three sides of the slab and they are only about 40 percent reachable to pour from the truck without using a wheel borrow to place  the concrete. The concrete company estimates their loaded truck will weigh about 37,000 pounds. Two sets of dual wheels in rear and one set of single wheels in the front. Any suggestions will be appreciated. The concrete is poured over a soil surface compacted to 95 percent minimum compaction. No voids, no rock.

The slab you’re driving on is a slab on grade that does not rely on reinforcing to span voids.
If, as you say, the ground is compacted to 95%, (which is about the most aggregates can be compacted,) then the load will be transferred to the ground without the slab bending.
With 6 1/2 sack concrete, it’s compressive strength is probably between 4,000 psi and 5,000 psi depending on the amount of water, aggregate, etc.  Therefore, one square foot of concrete will support between 576,000 lbs. (4,000 x 12 x 12) and 720,000 lbs. (5,000 x 12” x 12”).
Therefore, one square foot of concrete is substantially less than the area of 8 or 10 tires from the concrete truck.
Note: Don’t let the truck “bump up” onto the edge of the slab...it’ll crack the edge. If possible let it bump up on timbers and have timbers along the edge of the slab and on the slab for the first 12” or so. This will allow the weight to distribute out into the slab.


GE front load washing machine; emptying filter at least once a week I have a GE 4.5cu ft front load Energy Star washing machine. I am constantly draining and cleaning the filter/pump. I’ve had this one for a year. The one I had before I had for about 8 years and never had to drain the pump. It frustrating to go and change out clothes and they either aren’t washed or soaking wet still.

I have a newer front loader also and yes the filter is much finer than my previous one, we started cleaning the filter with each new jug of laundry detergent, since doing that we have not had the error.
So I would try a regular schedule of cleaning, it is much easier to do when the machine is not full of water. Once a week sounds a funny are you using the proper type of detergent? The high efficiency type. Your screen may be getting plugged with fillers that some detergents use.


Is an air pressure switch required for a whole house humidifier? I've installed a Honeywell whole house humidifier. For the time being, I've left off the air pressure switch that goes between the humidistat and the humidifier. It appears to be working fine without it and seems like just another fail point. Haven't been able to find much on the use/necessity.

Can anyone provide guidance?

The switch is not required for proper operation.  I believe it's intended as a fail safe in the event the humidifier gets turned on without the HVAC fan enabled.  In this scenario, the humidifier could theoretically flood the duct.  If wired properly, I can't think how this scenario would occur, but I suppose a specific type of system failure could.


Window AC fan drip pan full My AC started to blow out pretty lukewarm air recently, as well as make watery sounds while running. I realized the filter was dirty, and I cleaned the coils, replaced the filter and removed lots of water from the drip pan. I was able to get an improvement in cold air and no watery noise. However, after about 6 hours of use, I started to hear the watery sounds again and noticed the drip pan was full. I imagine the drainage in the unit is clogged. Unfortunately, I live on the 7th floor of a building, so taking the unit out can be quite cumbersome. Are there any methods to fix the problem? Would pouring some bleach into the pan do the trick?

Update: I drained the drainage pan again and saw that the AC unit was regurgitating water.

For servicing the workings of the whole unit can be taken indoors by undoing fastenings located indoors, leaving just the shell outside, you don't need the power of flight, but you do need to be strong, or gang up on it.

Some designs spray excess condensate water on the condenser coils to improve efficiency, the watery sound may be normal.


How do I build a form and pour a concrete pad? I have a new safe that I want to put out in the garage.  I'd like for it to be in a specific corner, but that corner has a few quirks.

First, the slab is pretensioned.  No cutting, drilling, coring, etc.  All around the garage the concrete comes up about 6 inches, and drywall starts above that.  In this particular corner the concrete juts out, making a sort of "L" shaped curb that sticks out about 4 inches.  Here's a super-crude ascii-art isomorphic picture of what I mean.  Yeah, it's a weird angle, but I can't describe it any better.

             |
             |
             /\
            /  \
           /    \
          /  /\  \
         /_ //\\  \
        |__|/  \\  \
        /       \\  \
       /         \\  \
      /           \\  \

What I was thinking of doing is pouring more concrete with a form to make an 18" x 24" x 6" pad that my safe can go on, but I know nothing about pouring concrete.  Anything I need to know?

This was a project I did earlier in 2012. We wanted to install central air conditioning for our new furnace and there was no better place to put the outside unit than on this side of the house. Unfortunately, the pad there was a wedge shape. So I made a form and turned it into a rectangle. Couple hours of work including a trip to Home Depot for concrete.

Determine the depth of your pad - For mine, I used 2x6's to build my form. You should use a material that will determine your depth, ie: a 2x4 for a depth of 3.5 inches

Use screws to connect the wood together - this will make disassembly of the form easier when you're finished.

Mix the concrete per the recommendations on the bag.

If you're concerned about strength, you can use rebar rods or wire mesh inside the pour. Pour half the depth, lay the mesh or rebar, pour the rest.

Make sure the concrete is level or sloped if need be. A 2x4 can be used to do this or a wooden level. Make sure to wash the level when you're done.

Make sure to tamp the concrete down into the corners of the form and into the field of the form. You don't want any air pockets. Use a trowel to help move the concrete around. Use the edge of the trowel to help remove air pockets.

You want a nice flat surface. Use the level or 2x4 that spans from edge to edge to "screed" the surface flat. Use a flat trowel to raise a bit of water to the surface to make it nice and clean.

Let the concrete set per the instructions on the bag - if the weather is colder, give it another day or 2.

Once everything is dry, remove the forms.


What is the expense and difficulty of moving an exterior kitchen wall? I'm considering a kitchen remodel, that is in the front-right corner of a house, and surrounded by a covered deck on both sides. The deck extends out 8ft in the front and 9ft on the right.

I'd like to find out if it's possible to move the front kitchen wall into the deck area, that is basically a small alcove. The deck is original to the house, and roof line already extends to the end of the deck. So assume you don't have to move the roof line.

The length of the front wall is 13ft, and contains counter w/ sink and dishwasher. I'd like to move it out at least 3 feet, maybe the full 8ft.

How hard would this remodel be? Moving the drainage and water, electrical. Framing the new wall, building up a new subfloor, etc. Do you think this is feasible, or am I past what a contractor could pull off? What kind of cost would this be just for the extension.

You'd need to get an engineer to look at it first. The biggest problems I can think of are structural -- even if the house is pier and beam, you'd need to move piers out. If it's not, you would need to dig out a new foundation. Then you have to figure out if the overhang is actually appropriate as a roof over indoor space, that moving the wall won't interfere with your joist and roof structure, and make sure that you're not interfering with your attic ventilation among other things.

I wouldn't just call a contractor and have him start swinging a hammer, and I definitely wouldn't do this yourself. On top of that, this will definitely require a lot of permits and a stamped architectural design to be filed with your city or county.


Is it okay to have a dryer vent in the wall cavity? I'm redoing the wall of a utility room that, among other things, has the dryer vent embedded in the wall cavity with all kinds of stupid turns to go around the plumbing. Would it be a good idea to remove the vent from the wall and have it just out in the open to facilitate cleaning? Or is it okay to have it in the wall cavity?

One of the leading causes of house fires is dirty or plugged clothes dryer vents. Dryer vents should not be installed in ways that make them difficult to clean and inspect.  Any vent in a wall cavity should be made of solid metal, with all joints sealed with metallic tape. There should not be any tight turns and they also need to be sized properly to the distance run. Flexible or corrugated plastic ducts should never be used in enclosed areas. When possible, it is safer to have vents exposed, as short as possible, made with metal duct with a minimum of bends. Ducts should be inspected for excess lint and vermin debris regularly and cleaned on regular intervals, usually every 6 months or annually depending on your usage. Also, anytime you see that your dryer is taking longer than usual to complete a drying cycle, it is a good idea to check the venting for problems.


How to tell if water pipes are grounded? This answer indicates that the water pipes should bonded to the electrical ground even if a grounding rod is used. How would one normally tell if that is the case? Is that bonding required to be accessible, or can it be hidden behind walls or buried? Where in the water system would it normally be bonded (e.g., before the main water shutoff, after, at the hot water tank)?

I recently had my electrical panel relocated and replaced, and don't recall seeing anything running from the panel to a water pipe - in the old panel or new. The electrician put in an intersystem bonding bridge, so the new ground rod, ground from the panel, and ground from the cable service are connected to it. I suppose that's where the bond from the water pipe would go?

My cold water piping is bonded to the panel at the cold supply of the clothes washer. The hot piping is presumably electrically connected to the cold through the brass mixing valves of the shower and tub. There is negligible resistance between the cold and hot pipes at the washer supply valves.

Following Tyson's link I see my kitchen and lavatory faucets are not bonded because they are connected with non-conducting flexible supply lines; an ohmmeter test confirms this. I tested this by plugging an extension cord into an outlet and measuring the resistance between the ground of the cord and the point under test.


Can I use the ground wire as a neutral for an outlet? I had a bulb light outlet, and I decided to convert it to power outlet.
Now when I took the bulb light off, I discovered that there is only two wires in the wall, brown and yellow green, so I assume it's "line" and "ground"... no neutral.
Now when I connected it to power outlet, it didn't work... until I took the yellow-green wire and connected it to where the neutral wire is supposed to go, and now the outlet started to work... I was able to connect electric appliances to it.

So... is it normal that use "ground" wire as "neutral"? Is it dangerous?

I'm in Europe. Thank you.

This is a wiring hack job.  Someone had a problem with the proper neutral wire, but they were aware that the safety grounding system has an equipotential bond with the neutral in the panel, so they are returning current on that instead.  Very dangerous; any problem in the grounding electrode system could result in all the safety grounds in your house being energized with the return current from that bulb!    Of course this arrangement would trip a whole-house RCD or GFCI.

Alternately, the neutral wire went dead on them, so they switched both ends, so the yellow/green wire is now the neutral wire, and there's no safety ground at all.  While less unsafe, this is still bad, since Europe is really into making the safety ground wire smaller than the conductors.


How can I join two mitred handrails? I have an old staircase with winders, so if I want 32 inches between handrail and nose of stairs, I'm going to have to cut some angles.

If the overall run of the handrails is going to be about 180 inches, and I'm cutting a 17 degree miter about 40 inches from the top, how would you securely join the two pieces?  Options I've considered:

wood glue and finishing nails.  I've done this for the returns, but one doesn't expect a lot of load on the returns, right?
some kind of rail bolt, like this one
dowels, though I'm nervous about getting close alignment on a mitered join.

A spline across that miter would work very well to reinforce it. Depending on the thickness of the rail, you could even use two.

This is very similar to this question


Unbearable rattling from one of my YORK furnaces i have a pair of YORK furnaces installed in my basement. Once a while one of them starts making unbearable rattling noise - maybe once every couple weeks, and the noise lasted, i don't know, hours?

I looked for the source of noise and found it's from this little guy - see below

Model: VCMA-15ULS

Little Giant Pump Company, Oklahoma City, OK

My apology that I couldn't provide more info as I don't know too much about furnace. Could it be the weather being hot so that the furnace is overloaded?
However any advice is appreciated.

That looks like an condensate pump. They're used to pump the waste condensate water to a drain that's higher than or far away from the furnace's outlet. It collects water in the tank until a float triggers the pump to eject it.

It's not a part of the furnace itself. I'm not sure if it's serviceable but a replacement should be available at local home center for around $50.


Are SharkBite plumbing connectors as reliable as soldered connectors? Are SharkBite plumbing connectors as reliable as soldered connectors?

So far they seem to be just as reliable, although given that they've only been on the market for a few years they don't have the same history as soldered connections. Here in the UK almost all new-build houses use push-fit connectors for concealed work as it's much quicker and easier.

You most likely do need to take extra care that the tube is perfectly round for an inch or so at the end, and that there's no bits of swarf, paint or other dirt there. Solder is good at filling in little gaps which push-fit connectors won't seal. On the other hand it's very easy to not heat a solder joint up enough to melt the solder properly, especially in confined spaces.

Obviously, make sure you push them in firmly.

Finally you don't really want to use them for exposed pipes, soldered joints are much neater.


Is too much of my home connected to one circuit breaker? I recently purchased my house and I have a few questions.

The breaker trips each time the vacuum is used. It looks like the previous owner has most of the house wired on to a 15 amp breaker (AC/ Furnace, living room, bathroom, and half the basement). Is that correct?
Should I put any of those on a dedicated circuit?

I included a few pictures for reference.  I tried to label as much as I could figure out but there are a few mystery breakers.

Thanks
Updated with another picture

After looking at it more carefully:

So it looks like the 30 amp breaker with the 14 gauge wire is to the garbage disposal.
The AC is wired the a double pole 20 amp with 14 gauge wire.
The two single pole 15 amp on the bottom right (red and black) are spliced together (wire nuts) to two wires coming from the same metal conduit.
Ground and neutral wires are connected to the same bus bar in the same slot.

These things seem odd to me...

There's really no substitute for painstakingly mapping your house, going to every outlet (by which I mean "point of use", including hardwired loads) and figuring out which breaker serves it.  I have done this A LOT.  It helps to own a bunch of dollar store nightlights, strings of Christmas lights, whatever you can plug into a receptacle.  If I were king, it would be required to be marked on the outside or inside of every outlet.

If you're exceptionally clever, you can put a card with each breaker number on it, at each outlet.  Turn off half the breakers, go through and if it has lost power, cross off the still-on breakers, and vice versa.  Turn off a different half and repeat.  Soon you narrow it down to 1 possibility.

After you've done the mapping, you can think about the likely route of the wires, and ways to access that wiring to add "home runs" back to the box.  For instance if your wiring goes Panel-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L, and you can route from point I to the panel, then you run two 12/2 cables there, feed I-L with one cable, E-H with the other cable, and in box D and E, disconnect the cable that interconnects them.  So now your segments are Panel-A-B-C-D   E-F-G-H-Panel  Panel-I-J-K-L.

But this will only be the result of your particular mapping, and the logistics of pulling cable in your particular home.  As such we cannot begin to advise you.

** Using the formal definition of "outlet", anyplace a load connects, including hardwired loads like lamps and fans.


Restore a front load washing machine door boot I have a front load Samsung washing machine, and it's started leaking around the door, which I take to mean that the seal is getting warn out.
Is there any possible way to get it working again, or is just replacing it the best option?

There's no good way to restore resiliency and surface integrity to that type of material for a substantial length of time. The seal itself shouldn't be terribly expensive, and replacement is the best long-term fix.


Why does my digital multimeter report small voltage between a battery and unattached metal and my fingers? I was performing some 12 volt DC voltage drop tests and I got a reading that I did not understand.  Hopefully someone here can satisfy my curiosity.
I had the positive lead on a 12 volt battery positive.  When I touched the tip of the common lead with my fingers, I got an 11 volt reading.  I was not grounded to the system.  Out of curiosity I then touched a small piece of metal that was not grounded to anything...it had a 1 volt reading.  How is that possible?
I thought the common lead had to return to battery ground to measure the difference between the leads.  I know now that is not the case, but I don't understand what is happening to get that reading.  Can a human complete a circuit and power a load without returning to battery ground?

On some ranges, a digital voltmeter (DVM) may have very high input impedance. A small static charge builds up on any non-grounded conductor. Atmospheric electricity is always present. The potential averages about 100 V/m height difference, so there is might be a 200 V difference between a 2 m tall person's head and toes. Of course, the wet, salty body is a fairly good conductor, so it effectively short-circuits most of the charge to ground... unless, perhaps, you're wearing rubber-soled shoes. So the DVM could have been measuring charge buildup.
A DVM also may be subject to self-rectification of AC pickup. Even though the scale is set to DC voltage measurement, RF pickup from radio stations and 50 or 60 Hz pickup from the power mains can still show as an erroneous DC reading.
As an experiment, I just set an inexpensive (US$6) DVM on the 200 mV scale, separated the leads at arms length, but with no contact to the probe tips, and walked around the room. Motion on the carpeted floor generated a large static charge, that bled off in a few seconds. Placing the leads near a WiFi router picked up a small signal, i.e., accidentally rectified RF.
You can make an even higher impedance voltmeter, an electroscope, with household materials. BTW, a spark jumps an air-gap at, very roughly, 1,000 V/mm, so a 1 cm spark made by walking across the floor and reaching for a grounded object might be 10,000 V. Shocking!
But you ask could you power something. It depends on the current (I), i.e., amount of electricity (compare with amount of water, whether a drop or a bucket full), as well as the voltage (compare with water pressure). Wet human skin, in series with the body, may have a resistance as low as ~500 ohms, and dry skin as high as 100,000 ohms. Resistance impedes, or partially blocks electricity, so you would not have much current, measured in amperes (A), milliamperes (mA, 1/1,000 A) and microamperes (µA, 1/1,000,000 A). Current = voltage / resistance (I=V/R), so at 12 V DC with 100,000 ohms, that would yield a current of 0.00012 A (0.12 mA), which could light a LED (light emitting diode) dimly. It would be safe to hold one lead of the LED, touch a finger to one side of the battery and the other LED to the other side of the battery. If it doesn't light (dimly, so this won't be visible in daylight or a brightly-lit garage), reverse the leads of the LED.
There would not be enough current to power an incandescent lamp, motor, or almost any other device than a lone LED, or perhaps a LCD clock, though.


Wiring a fan to a 3 wire switch off wiring question So, I recently moved into a house with some old fabric like covered wiring. In attempting to put in a fan I have a switch wired to control a plug on a 20a circuit. The weird part is I have a red, a black and a yellow wire. I’m used to standard 12/2 Romex but am unsure how to proceed. So questions are...

What type of wire do I need to buy to run from a new junction box I will place in the attic?
I will wire the fan and light together so the finished product will have the blue wire tied in but without a white wire I am not sure how to wire the fan.

Thanks in advance for all your help. If it’s at all helpful I included a pick of the switch that I’m trying to tap into.

You can't generally tap a 3-way complex like that.

-
That is a 3-way switch. It's partner to another 3-way switch in a different location. Further, it is on a "spur", meaning the only wires that are here are 2 travelers (red and black) and a hot wire (presumably always-hot).

Given that it is hot, the white wire must be re-marked with tape, paint or sleeving to indicate that.  Typically black is used, but other legal hot colors are allowed. The two traveler wires, it's my advice to mark those both yellow since they go on brass screws.  Markings should be done the same at both ends of the cable.

Anyway, since you want the switch to control a fan, you will need switched-hot and neutral.  You don't have either one of those here.

Possibly: Flip it around

It really depends what the wiring is in the other 3-way box.  It might be possible to reallocate the wires so that the white wire becomes a neutral, the red and black remain travelers (remarked yellow), and then you feed the fan onward from this box.  White would become neutral and switched-hot would be the "common" (black) screw on the 3-way.

You'd need some help with this at your skill level.

Hail-mary play: rearrange the entire 3-way circuit to be smart switches - only if other things are also true

Nowadays, there are "smart switches".  In some cases, they allow you to rearrange how the existing wiring is used.  This may allow you to get the wires you need here.  We'd need more info about the other switch box and whatever else they connect to.


Is my impact driver normal? I recently purchased a reconditioned impact driver from Bosch and everything is good except one bothering thing. When I try to countersink a screw, the clutch kicks in right before the screw head enters the surface. Then, to push it further, I have to keep pulling the trigger to force it to move foward, which makes the screw move slowly with the continuous clicking sound (due to the clutch). Unlike my drill driver, this impact driver does not have the no-clutch setting.

Because I purchased a reconditioned one, I am wondering if this behavor is normal or any mechanical failure.

Is this the first time you've used an impact driver? They sound and feel very different. The clicking / banging you hear is not the clutch, it is the hammer mechanism striking inside the tool. (Does your impact driver even have an adjustable clutch? It is not common on impact tools.)


How to seal dryer exhaust vent I am replacing my dryer exhaust vent. Here is a picture of the old one after I removed the cap.

I did my best to clean up the old caulking before adding the new tube and vent, which looks like this:

As you can see, it's not sealed very well against the brick. I'm not really sure how to go about that. I can't really just splork a bunch of caulking in there because the gaps are too big, especially in the grout lines.
The other side of the vent where the dryer hooks up is fairly well sealed, so I'm not too worried about that.

But for the outside, do I even need to worry about the sealing plastic cover against the brick? Or should I focus on sealing the metal tube, maybe with caulk or spray foam? The gaps around the tube are definitely caulkable, assuming I can take the plastic cover off the tube to get access.
Thoughts on approaches here?
FYI, I'm in Austin, TX and the dryer is located in the garage.

In the end I used a sealant putty called Mortite to fill in the space between the tube and the brick. I tried low expansion foam but as it expanded and dried, it squeezed the tube out of shape so that I couldn't fit the cap back on. There was really no way to caulk that area because once the cap is on, you can no longer access it.
So basically, I put the vent into the hole with the cap on, secured it to the wall on the other side to it wouldn't move, and took the cap off. Then I smooshed the putty into the cracks and placed the cap back on. Had to get some help to make it work but it wasn't too bad overall.
I also went ahead and used the putty to seal the metal collar to the wall on the other side where the dryer hose connects.
Also I used Loctite to glue a piece of broken stone back onto the wall on the right of the hole.


How do I install this fire screen? I bought this house with a gas fireplace we've never used.  While cleaning up the attic, I found these doors.  I'd like to install it as a deterrent to keep pets and children out of the firebox.

My assumption was that it had been installed before, but there doesn't seem to be any obvious way to mount it.  There's little structure beyond the brass frame, no visible attachment points on the frame or fireplace surround, no anchors or fasteners visible in the hearth and I'm completely stumped.  Am I missing part of it?

Looks like you are missing one or more parts.

Permanent Attachement

For permanent attachment, most fireplace screen/doors utilize some sort screw (masonry)to attach to the surrounding masonry around the fireplace opening.  Usually using supplied screws it would be attached to the opening using masonry drill bit.

Attachment

Other fireplace screen/doors use pressure points on the four corner's to secure (not attach) the door to the opening.  Basically the "screws" are turned until they make contact to the opening.  The screws usually have a plate or flatter contact point as they do not want to go into the material, merely apply pressure to it.  This is repeated 4x for all for corners until it is secure.

To simulate this method of attachment, stand in a door opening and put your arms out and press against the sides of the door.  If you apply enough pressure, basically you can hold yourself in place.  This method of attachment is not permanent, if one dials back the screws, the door can be removed.

You may be able to pick up some masonry screws and secure it, although I have not seen the back of the door for possible attachment locations or points.


How can I prevent water from leaking on an outlet? I recently moved into a new house rental and am setting up my washer & dryer. I am uncomfortable with the proximity of our hot/cold water valves to our washer's power outlet and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions to prevent water leakage onto the outlet (perhaps an outlet cover or valve cover would help?). Please see the attached image. Thanks for you help. -Jared

I think the best way to prevent water issues would be to move the outlet and/or valves. If that is not preferable, at least ensure that the outlet is protected by a GFI, or install a GFI receptacle at that location. You could also use a weatherproof "in-use" cover. Keep a close eye on your hoses and valves and repair at first sign of leak. Turn those faucets off when you go on vacation.


2 Switches + 2 Light Fixtures = a problem that needs help! My husband and I recently decided to build a small pantry closet in our kitchen/dining room area.  We decided that the pantry needed a small light.  We changed our 1 gang box to a 2 gang box that would house a switch for our dining room light AND the new pantry light.  The dining room light has been wired the same for the 25 years we've lived here and have never had a problem with it.  This is what we do know . . . the power source FIRST goes to the dining room light and THEN to the switch.  This is a 12/2 wire.  Upon investigation, there was a junction box in this line between the light and the switch, so we thought we could run 12/2 wire from the junction box to the new pantry switch then to the new pantry light.  Well, we've got a problem and I need some help in navigating how to fix this.  The switches work independent of each other.  If I only use the dining room light, were good.  If I only use the pantry light, we are also good.  BUT, if I turn on the pantry light and then turn on the dining room light, the pantry light shuts off and the dining room light comes on.  I have created a very amateur looking picture of my set up.  Any help that anyone can offer would mean so much.  I've wired alot of stuff, but this just seems impossible for me to understand.  Thanks in advance!

You are trying to feed your new light from a switch loop and as you've found out, it doesn't work. You have your source, hot and neutral, going to the hanging lamp. There, the neutral is tied to the lamp.The 12/2 going to the junction box and to the switch box is the always hot, probably the white, and the switched hot, probably black. That's what you spliced into, there is no neutral and you need one. One solution is to run a 12/2 source, hot and neutral,from the lamp to the light, hook your neutral to the lamp and then run your switch loop to the switch box. Disconnect the wire you ran from the junction box to switch 2. When running a switch loop, the always hot is supposed to be the white wire and it should be marked with some black tape to differentiate it from a neutral wire.


How can I divert down spout water above ground to a different location? I have a down spout that exits to an area that tends to pool water.  Unfortunately the flower bed area near the house is lower than the surrounding grass area - and that grass area slopes back towards the house/flower bed.

I do plan to address that slope issue eventually but wanted to divert the water coming out of the spout first.  All I have read is about putting in underground drain pipes.

What if I simply just want to run it above ground, wrapping the house for about 20 feet and exiting at another area that is more properly graded?  Is that not good to do?

The secondary question would be whether I would need to pay particular attention to what type of pipe I would need to use.  Smaller is obviously nicer but not necessary.

These are the things you need to consider:

the pipe diameter would need to be at least the size of the downspout or larger. So we are talking three to four inch diameter.  Two possibilities that come to mind are:

four inch diameter drain pipe with sleeve, not perforated
PVC pipe in four inch diameter

both are not pretty to look at and detract from the appearance of your house
in both cases you must ensure that there is a grade or drop of at least one inch over four feet. See here for details. A rough calculation for the twenty foot length indicates that the end of the drain would have to be five inches lower than the start of the drain.  If you fail to have a consistent grade water will pool in the pipe and freeze in the winter. This could deform or break PVC pipe.
there is a risk that the pipe will not be able to accommodate the quantity of water a "once in a hundred year storm" could supply.  Weather is unpredictable, if your pipe fails, then it fails next to the house.  The idea of drains is to get the water away from the house as fast as possible.

So, you could do what you describe and it might work fine, or you get a bad rain storm a few years from now and have the water dumped in a window well and into your basement. Who can say?

Here are similar questions with some excellent answers.  As well consider a french drain, this is an ideal solution to your problem.


Bathroom toilet paper holder I have a toilet paper holder that fell out recently. The holder looks like this:

What's the purpose of the alligator clips on the screws, and how should I go back reinstalling this? I can't seem to find a plate in the wall that the screws attach to.

Thanks very much for your help.

Those are anchors and they are installed backwards on the screws. Turn them around the other way, slip them into the holes, and they will spread and hold as the screws are tightened. I don't really like this type of anchor, but if it what is already there I would use it.


What is the best way to clean your clothes dryer exhaust? My dryer exhaust goes out of my laundry room, into my attic, and runs for about 15 feet before it gets outside. Over time the lent has built up quite a bit. What is the best way to clean this? The sections in the attic are connected via duct tape.

If this isn't an easy task, what type of local places would do this service. Would heating and air conditioning places have this type of service?

You can probably do it yourself cheaper than hiring it out. You could try something like this vent cleaning system. It seems to have fairly good reviews on Amazon, and for $25 it's worth a shot. It claims to have a 12' reach and the ability to navigate turns in the vent, so you may have to go at the last 3' from the other end.

Note: You'll need a drill to attach it to. A shopvac would also be helpful, but if you don't have one, the kit includes an attachment to use with your dryer.


What is the best way of removing 1.25" of concrete from slab floor? I have an area of concrete slab in a hallway measuring 5'x7' which I want to even out and need to remove about 1.25" from.

This is an area being lived in so am hoping for the cleanest possible solution.

I've been reading about some pretty advanced concrete grinders that advertise as being 'dust-free', ie. removing the majority of the dust on their own.  Sounds promising but I don't know if they can take of 1.25"?

Does anyone have thoughts on the best way of removing that much concrete from a slab?

Generally you'll not be able to remove 30mm from a concrete slab without cracking up the remainder. In the UK a typical slab might only be 100mm thick.

However (in the UK at least) it's unlikely you're looking at the floor slab, but rather the floor screed (sharp sand and cement 3:1) used to finish off the floor. The 100mm concrete floor slab is actually a sub-floor slab underneath the finish screed.

Now, the floor screed can be hard, but it's laid fairly dry and is often not too difficult to chop out. Typical thickness ranges from 50mm to 75mm (but can be as little as 25mm...)

Starting in a corner, try chopping a small exploratory hole with a sharp cold chisel and a club hammer. Check for pipes first, as radiator pipes typically get buried in the screed around the edges of the room.


Is this the kind of situation where aluminium wiring is potentially dangerous? I recently moved into a rental that has aluminum wiring.  My understanding is that the wiring itself isn't dangerous, it's just the interface between aluminum and copper where you have problems because of the different behavior of the materials.
We did lose an entire "circuit" once and from what I gathered the issue was caused by a failure of a single outlet, likely due to the aluminum wiring.  I believe the fix was to add, in essence, a converter that safely goes from aluminum to copper so that you can install "normal" outlets.  The electrician suggested doing this throughout the house, but of course the home owner declined.
I since had a switch in a bathroom break (it physically broke - nothing related to an electrical problem).  I opened it up to see if I could replace it and found this:

AKA this is aluminum wiring going into what looks like an otherwise "standard" light switch.  It appears to have some goopy stuff on it for reasons that I don't understand.
The property manager will probably just send out an electrician.  Normally I'd do it myself because it will take an electrician a week to get out here (I've replaced outlets with copper wiring before), but with the unknowns introduced by the aluminum wiring I'm thinking of just leaving it to the professionals.
Is this safe and code compliant?  Is it probably unsafe but grandfathered in (until it needs replacement)?  Is there an easy way to make this safe while replacing the switch?

Receps and switches labeled with CU-AL certification were legal at the time they were installed, but that certification later turned out to be wholly inadequate. They will be the source of trouble.
Receps and switches labeled "CO-ALR" certification are alright, as this is the revised standard that is much tougher on connector standards. Hint: the screws aren't brass.
You have to follow the instructions

NEC 110.3(B)  Installation and Use. Listed or labeled equipment shall be installed and used in accordance with any instructions included in the listing or labeling.

When CU-AL was decertified and CO-ALR was established, receptacle and switch makers who didn't step up to the CO-ALR standard had to make/label their devices for copper only.
Back in the day, sockets were either beige or black.  White is a fairly contemporary color, and I suspect it post-dates CO-ALR. Since they are not CO-ALR lugs, they are surely listed for copper-only.
It seems perfectly clear to me that you have an installer that just buys Cu-only devices and attaches them to aluminum anyway.  That is a codevio.
You're not allowed to fix it, though.
Almost any state or municipality has a rule that only licensed electricians can do electrical work on rental units.  Even the landlord can't work in an owned unit, because that would result in a sea of urban fires, as slumlords did cut-rate work.  No one can do electrical anywhere except a property owner who occupies the unit as their residence, or a licensed electrician.
There are exceptions but you have to ask the local AHJ what they will permit a tenant or landlord to do.  They often will waive the "electrician only" rule for simple recep or switch swaps.
Further, you need permission from the landlord to look at a cover screw cross-eyed. What you've already done would get you your walking papers with a lot of landlords; nobody needs a tenant who takes apart the building and does illegal work.


Adding a receptacle to a wall with an insulation blanket on the wall I have a newly built home with blanket insulation on the basement walls.  There are no studs as the blanket insulation is attached directly to the cement wall.
Is it possible to add receptacles to the wall over or through the blanket insulation or is my only option to build a wall or partial wall in front of the blanket insulation.

Anything less than 1-1/2 plus the sheetrock is about the shallowest you can do and meet code.
This will hold a receptacle and allow a nm cable routed down the wall but no room for splices in the receptacle box.
the 1-1/4” space then the nmb on the wall but trying to put this in after the fact it would be best to surface mount. As junction boxes at the ceiling would need to be accessible or each run a home run lots of wire.
Surface mount conduit can be done it may not look as nice as hidden but is more common in basement spaces and may be the only legal way depending on how thick the insulation board is.


Adding a ceiling fan to circuit of light fixtures I have 4 recessed 40 watt lights in the ceiling of the living room. They are all on the same switch (circuit). Can I add a ceiling fan to the room and splice the conductor into one of the 4 J boxes so I won't have to run new wire?
Thanks
Matt

You can do this because the standard fans draw only ~< 1 A of current. This is an easy way to install a fan but of course the lights must be on for the fan to be powered.

You could switch the fan off and change speeds with a remote controller. Receiver in the fan shroud and battery powered remote controller.

If you don't want to bother with a remote, you could control the fan with pull chain switch. I have had some trouble with the remote that came with the new Hunter fans. Or the problem may be with the fan itself. It won't run on high.


How do I properly renovate the concrete floor of my balcony? I live in an apartment that can be characterized as an old soviet-era, 5-story, multi-apartment, concrete block-based building. That means, everything was built by "stroybat" a soviet-time army battalion, whose main purpose was to construct everything that was needed by commanders. This apartment building was for officers, but still, it was made without knowledge about concrete and metal usage, everywhere you can see bad usage of materials.

There is a balcony I want to renovate. It looks terrible!

I removed that strange concrete substance, as it was shattered by wear and tear. There was an asphalt board between this layer and building panel, that allowed me to remove that layer with ease.

My goals:

Remove old concrete layer from balcony floor (done)
Lay a new thin layer of concrete
Remove old paint from metal handrails, cut off oblique parts, that are hanging outside the "handrail design"
Paint with a new paint
Lay a new thin layer of gyps (or some other material), and put small rocky garden floor on it
Set up wooden cover for handrails and add some wooden flower boxes outside.

The questions are about that new layer, I want to lay:

How to set up concrete "box" (to make concrete stay in place, and stop it falling off the balcony sides), there is hardly place to connect any temporary wooden box for that, ideas?
Which concrete should I use?
How thick a metal armature will be enough for this job?
Do I need any layers between building panel and my new layer?
Do I need to clean/set up those metal parts, cover with something, to stop rust and not let the flexibility of metal handrail shatter my new layer.
How thick should that layer be, how many sacks of that stuff will I need (will give balcony area m2 later)

I will give you some real photos (later) to let you understand more precisely.

I have questions about working on that metal handrail construction, it needs much work, but I am mostly experienced with wood and indoor constructions, but that would be wrong to ask about two things in one question, will add a link later.

PS: Sorry for my english, I don't know specific construction terminology in english.

Balcony size: 319-x710 mm
Building concrete panel thikness: 90mm
From panel to balcony door sill: 140mm
Highest place, where metal feet is out of concrete panel (in picture 7): 25mm
Wire diameter of bought armature (in picture 8): ~0,9mm

Below is what I would do, based on my understanding of what it is you're after achieving, please let me know if I get something wrong eg Have misunderstood anything or have missed any of your questions (I believe I've covered all of them below).

  From above comments: When that is covered, I want to pave the balcony with small garden rocks, I have already bought them, they are flat, glued to some farbic sieve in squares.

I'm going to assume a total thickness of 25mm (1inch) for the above material, and you know how to attach this material to the new concrete top slab. Please correct me if I'm wrong on those assumption.
I would say you want to end up with a minimum of a 50mm (2inches) step down from top of sill to finished balcony level.
Totally clear the balcony, work area (size: 710mm x 319mm)

  Do I need to clean/set up those metal parts, cover with something, to stop rust and not let the flexibility of metal handrail shatter my new layer.

Prepare and clean the existing metal hand-railing:

Use a wire-brush, steel-wool, wet & dry sandpaper to remove as much flaky/loose material as possible.
Wash down everything with a mixture of warm water and washing (dish) liquid. Rinse off thoroughly with clean water. Allow to dry, then wipe down with something like White Spirit (paint thinner).
Paint (primer) everything with a rust inhibiting primer.
Then paint/spray everything with one-coat of a good quality exterior enamel.

Prepare and clean the 90mm thick balcony concrete slab:

Refer to this question here on SE for some details/information on how to go about tackling this.

  How to set up concrete "box" (to make concrete stay in place, and stop it falling off the balcony sides), there is hardly place to connect any temporary wooden box for that, ideas?

Seeing as the balcony isn't that big (size: 710mm x 319mm) you could use something like, "Bar Clamps" or "Pole Clamps" (2 would be enough), to pin (clamp) some shuttering material to the outside faces of the existing balcony concrete slab (against the 2 shorter sides). This would probably be easier and safer to do from the balcony below (if your below neighbour would allow you that access).
Make sure the side shuttering has a "slight" fall on the top face (over a distance of 319mm, 10mm would be enough), so that the new concrete will slope away from the door (sill), thus allowing any water to drain away from the building.
You could then attach shuttering material along the front face via connecting it to the side shuttering pieces.

  Do I need any layers between building panel and my new layer?

Paint the top face of the existing balcony concrete slab and up the face of the sill with 2 coats of bitumen paint. This will provide some protection to the existing concrete from moisture penetrating down from above.

  Which concrete should I use?
  How thick should that layer be, how many sacks of that stuff will I need (will give balcony area m2 later)

If going with 50mm of less, use something like: QUIKRETE® Sand/Topping Mix
If going with 50mm of more, use something like: QUIKRETE® Crack-Resistant Concrete Mix
For your situation I think it would be best to go with the "50mm or less" option.

  How thick a metal armature will be enough for this job?
  Wire diameter of bought armature (in picture 8): ~0,9mm

That will be fine, just place a single layer in the middle of the new concrete top slab you pour.
After you finish installing your "garden rock fabric" and have allowed everything to dry properly, I would:

Have a "general" clean-up of the whole balcony area.
Paint/spray a second-coat of the good quality exterior enamel onto the existing metal handrailing.

Good luck, and please let me know if you have any questions related to what I've written above.


Can I put a standard light switch in line with a 240v electric baseboard heater to cut power to it? I'm installing a small baseboard heater in a back bedroom, adding it to a 240V circuit with two heaters already installed in other rooms. I mainly use the two heaters on low when I am away to prevent pipes from freezing. I heat with wood when there. I would like to be able to totally cut off power to the newly added third heater. This bedroom gets closed off when I am away and since the heater has a built in thermostat with lowest setting of 32degrees it will likely come on when the room is closed off. I don't need or want that...waste of electricity! No pipes back there. I would like to install a switch to the line before it reaches the heater to simply cut the power to that back bedroom heater when I'm away.

Would there be any issues with this type set up?

Do I need any special kind of switch or will a basic 20amp 120/240V light switch do the trick?
Thanks.

Yes, you can do that if the switch is a double pole switch rated for 240 volts or higher and is rated for the current of the heater. The National Electrical Code requires that the switch be rated for the load it serves. This means voltage AND current.
There are also line voltage thermostats with a positive OFF position so you wouldn't need the switch.
Whether you use a single pole or double pole switch it will work the same. It is a single phase circuit and it will work either way. However, the Code requires that the switch disconnect all ungrounded conductors. See below.
The difference is, with a double pole switch you are breaking the circuit in two places at the same time instead of one. This reduces the amount of pitting on the device contacts. With a double-break device the contacts will last longer at any given voltage. At 240 volts contact pitting is much higher than at 120 volts.
Additionally the National Electrical Code requires that all ungrounded conductors to fixed electric space heating be disconnected:

424.19 Disconnecting Means.  Means shall be provided to simultaneously disconnect the heater, motor controller(s), and supplementary overcurrent protective device(s) of all fixed electric space-heating equipment from all ungrounded conductors.
(C) Unit Switch(es) as Disconnecting Means.  A unit switch(es) with a marked “off” position that is part of a fixed heater and disconnects all ungrounded conductors shall be permitted as the disconnecting means required by this article where other means for disconnection are provided in the types of occupancies in 424.19(C)(1) through (C)(4).
...
(3) One-Family Dwellings.  In one-family dwellings, the service disconnecting means shall be permitted to be the other disconnecting means.

So, a 240 volt circuit would require a two pole switch if it used as a disconnect for the heater.
Good luck!