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IOwnCalculus posted:Question on this, then...I was thinking about it a while back, how the screw-base light socket is quickly becoming the most over-built connector on the face of the planet when it's capable of handling 100-150W, but the biggest CFLs are what, 20W? Less? I know Home Depot sells a 300W-equivalent CFL that draws 68 watts. A quick search shows that there are some 400W-equivs that draw 105W yet still screw into a regular E26 socket. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Oct 20, 2011 |
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Oct 20, 2011 00:51
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Jebus that's gotta be bright. Might pick up a few of those for my garage. Still, though, there's got to be some movement to make a lower-powered socket that you could safely / to code wire up a large number of on a single breaker, and only make bulbs up to ~20W actual draw with that socket size?
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Oct 20, 2011 00:54
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IOwnCalculus posted:Jebus that's gotta be bright. Might pick up a few of those for my garage. They are bright. A buddy of mine and I found the 300W bulbs a few weeks ago, and in our amazement took one to the lamp aisle. It was bright enough to cast a shadow upwards on some of the other lamps despite the overhead lighting. Even in the 20-30 seconds before it's warmed up, it's too bright to stare at. edit: the socket you want is GU24. It's the future Energy-Star-proposed socket for newer low-wattage CFLs.
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Oct 20, 2011 02:54
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:The code says that lighting outlets should be calculated at the VA of the socket base (220.14(D)). If you have 32 sockets each rated at 120W, that's 1A per socket, or 32A. Way over your 20A breaker. The receptacles are calculated at 180VA per receptacle. Add or subtract based on the wattage of your track lighting, too. Why doesn't the circuit breaker trip, if it's way over? It hasn't ever tripped, all we get is the atrocious dimming. And I'm not trying to be a dick, but you said "should." Is that what I think it means, i.e., it's the way you're supposed to do it but there is no requirement it has to be done that way?
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Oct 20, 2011 06:20
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sixide posted:I saw this a long time ago and it caused me to do some research. Sure, just makes the lamp cord extra pliable while operating the garage door. 
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Oct 20, 2011 06:51
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emocrat posted:This seems like a decent place to ask, so: We use something called "duct seal mastic" that we usually get from the sheetmetal guys. As far as the light sockets: I've seen 15W CFL-only chandelier lamp bases on some newer ceiling fans, and 36W bases on some super-cheap light fixtures. As for the breaker not tripping: breakers get old, and are an inherently sucky technology for interrupting current. Find someone with a clamp-on ammeter and see what they're drawing. It may also be that your wire is undersized and is dropping enough voltage to not allow enough current to flow to trip the breaker. Any way you slice it, bad scene.
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Oct 20, 2011 07:02
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sixide posted:I saw this a long time ago and it caused me to do some research. It might have been this thread, or the crappy construction thread I started, but a B&B burned down because they were doing some cleaning or work. Moved the fridge out from the wall, used a lamp cord exactly like that to keep it running, then pushed it back in, forgetting to remove the lamp cord. First day they went on vacation the place burned down. Cause was determined to be that cord.
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Oct 20, 2011 15:29
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Blistex posted:It might have been this thread, or the crappy construction thread I started, but a B&B burned down because they were doing some cleaning or work. Moved the fridge out from the wall, used a lamp cord exactly like that to keep it running, then pushed it back in, forgetting to remove the lamp cord. That was how my middle school burned down. During construction the contractors had a soda machine plugged into a lamp cord and piled a bunch of wallpaper scraps on top of it. Gutted the whole place. They where only a few days from doing final cleanup and a month from opening the school. But my town likes to burn down schools.
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Oct 21, 2011 08:17
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Moral of the stories: lamp cord is only good for using as speaker wire.
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Oct 21, 2011 22:45
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sixide posted:Moral of the stories: lamp cord is only good for using as speaker wire. When I moved into my house there were a ton of extension cords left by the previous owners. All the lamp cords, and any extension cords that didn't have a significant heft to them ended up in the trash.
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Oct 22, 2011 02:59
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:
Now for my Q: We live in a '52 ranch with that wire that came after K&T and before Romex and NM-B and all of that. Appears to be 14/2, ungrounded. We have a 60A service and 15a fuses for each circuit -believe 8 circuits in all including the a/c. How terrible is it to run an 1800W hair dryer on high for up to 5-10 minutes at a time assuming negligible other load on that circuit? I realize that it's not going to BURST INTO FLAME RIGHT AWAY but I am thinking about wire heating issues. I'm....trying to resolve a domestic dispute without taking out a second mortgage to rewire the house. 3 years on and we have never blown a fuse, despite her doing this a few times a week. Jonny 290 fucked around with this message at 08:42 on Oct 22, 2011 |
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Oct 22, 2011 08:34
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It should be no problem at all. Eventually you will want to replace the wiring, but mostly because you will want more circuits with grounded receptacles. Most modern homes run 14/2 to every outlet. Most wiring will last almost forever if its not damaged. You may want to have your bathroom and kitchen outlets replaced with GFCI receptacles if you haven't already. If you want to upgrade you can do it slowly. Start out with a new service and panel. Then you can have the big stuff done like the AC and hot water heater done.
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Oct 22, 2011 18:59
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Cheap CFLs have a shitload of harmonics. If you want to know how much current it's drawing, calculate the amount of current at the rated wattage, and double it, and you'll be ballpark. Hardcore Phonography posted:Why doesn't the circuit breaker trip, if it's way over? It hasn't ever tripped, all we get is the atrocious dimming. When you call it a "brownout", is it just a slight dimming, or is it a severe dimming? Have you tested with a multimeter to see how low the voltage dips? Momentary dips of 3-5V are not uncommon (and not illegal and not usually dangerous to equipment) during in-rush when large motors start. Air conditioners and heat pumps will sometimes do this, as could garage door openers, pool pumps, table saws, and other large motors. If the voltage dips too much, the motor has a harder time starting, and the voltage dip lasts longer; with everything working properly, a stalled large motor should be enough current to trip the breaker, and can burn up if stalled too long. Normally, refrigerator motors aren't large enough to do this to a whole home, but if they're on the same circuit as your lights and it's as overloaded as you say, it could be the fridge causing it. Have you seen any correlation with anything happening when the brownouts occur? I would insist your landlord send an electrician to inspect your electrical system. If he refuses, consider moving out before it burns down. grover fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Oct 24, 2011 |
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Oct 24, 2011 02:29
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Alright, I need some help that's out of my expertise here. I've got an outdoor sign standing way the heck out in a field by a road that advertises for my business. The power company won't put a meter there (or at least the landlord of that property is unwilling to pressure them past their initial NO response to the only time he asked) but I would like to light it. It's a 4x8 two sided sign. There are a few commercial solutions for this but they are all really dim and the two I've tried in different projects lasted less than 6 months each. I'm interested in some help figuring out a "real" setup. A solar panel or two, a charge controller, a few batteries, an inverter, and some real lighting. It doesn't need to run all night. I just want to get perhaps 4 or 5 hours of real, bright light on the sign after sundown to catch the folks driving home after dark. Time change is approaching in a few weeks and so I'd like to get this going. Thoughts? I know little about how to calculate the battery and charging setup needed to run such lighting. If I used 2 18w LED bulbs a side (~1200 lumens/bulb) I would need to be able to hold 72w for 4 or 5 hours.
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Oct 25, 2011 16:50
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To install a correctly sized solar panels the first thing I need to know is where you live. I would expect something like this: http://www.sunelec.com/sun-solar-panel-50-watts-1820-vmp-p-844.html to be plenty. Basically we want double the battery capacity so that the battery will never go below half charge. To calculate that we take the watts divided by the battery voltage and multiplied by hours to find Ah. 72/12*5= 31.25. Any basic deep cycle 12 volt battery should fit this bill. One like this: http://www.usbattery.com/usb_us31dcxc_marine.html With 130 Ah over 20 hours is fine. It is probably better not to use an inverter and instead get 12 volt outdoor rated LED lights. That might be cheaper. An inverter like this that can be mounted and is heavy duty would be perfect: http://www.outsidesupply.com/go-power-150-watt-pure-sine-power-inverter.aspx I'm not sure where you can find smaller ones than that that are any good. Most of the solar I've done is at least 2000 watts. This seems like a decent charge controller: http://www.amazon.com/HQRP-Controller-Digital-Display-Radiation/dp/B002GIWMJG/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t Put all that in a good outdoor rated box that is vented, and you will need to figure out some way of mounting the panel. If you want to read more about this check out the book: 'Photovoltaics'. It has lots of information on sizing solar systems, calculating the power you need, and mounting them.
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Oct 25, 2011 20:38
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I just purchased a new house and when painting, noticed the plastic covering of one of my dimmer switches was hot. Upon taking it off, the metallic casing I have highlighted in red below was very hot to the touch. I checked all the connections and they looked fine so I purchased a new dimmer switch. I tossed it on (same wiring configuration) and the same issue happened. Any ideas what might be going on? I've included the current wiring config. It is a 3 way. Thank you! 
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Oct 27, 2011 16:05
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That's just the pots doing their job. Cheaper incandescent dimmers work by them. Pot is short for "potentiometer", a variable resistor. Resistors dissipate power as heat, which is what you're feeling. In fact, the largest dimmers designed to control entire large rooms will have a 2-gang faceplate that actually hides a heat sink underneath: I'd be willing to bet that your dimmer is using its metal face as a heat sink too. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 18:11 on Oct 27, 2011 |
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Oct 27, 2011 18:06
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Ah! Thank you so much, I appreciate it 
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Oct 28, 2011 00:29
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tworavens posted:stuff Thank you sir. That was one excellent reply. Edit: I'm curious to hear your opinion on the cost effectiveness of current residential grid tie systems. My general location is south central texas so I've got more sun than anyone could freaking ask for.
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Oct 28, 2011 01:53
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I think my house is broken. It's going through light bulbs waaaaaay faster than I feel it ought to be. I don't really have any numbers, but I've never seen a house eat this many light bulbs so fast. Is there anything I can do to check if the power is lovely in some way or something? It's a fairly new construction, within the last 15 years, maybe even 10, but of course it's typical "build a whole neighborhood of townhouses at once probably with the lowest bidder contractor" type stuff.
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Oct 28, 2011 06:14
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Chem: Depends on the price of power in your area and what the local PUD will pay you. You can usually find that info on their website or by calling them. Some PUDs just buy it at the same price that they sell it for or less. My PUD in Western Washington buys the power for almost double what they sell it for and they pay for every watt that you produce and use yourself. So thats pretty cool. Anyway it could take anywhere from 8-15 years to get your money back. The system should last 20-25 years or more. You should get a couple quotes then spreadsheet it. Don't consider any bids from contractors who haven't done any installations before. Lots of times people go for the low bid but miss the fact that they are also getting the lowest quality, so ask the contractors to submit a little proposal with the bid that details what they plan to build. If the numbers don't work out now keep it in mind. The price of panels is just going to go down. Edit: Lightbulb guy You could have several problems. If you have a multimeter check the voltage coming out of your fixtures. It should be 120 volts or less. If its only a little more like ten volts call the power company and ask them to change it. If its way more like 140-240 then call an electrician. Check the fixture and make sure that it is the right wattage of bulb. If its getting too hot that may shorten life. You could also just be buying crap bulbs. Double edit: handy guide to light bulb problems. http://www.arcadianlighting.com/troubleshoot-lamps.html tworavens fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Oct 28, 2011 |
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Oct 28, 2011 06:37
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Bad Munki posted:I think my house is broken. It's going through light bulbs waaaaaay faster than I feel it ought to be. I don't really have any numbers, but I've never seen a house eat this many light bulbs so fast. Call the power company and ask them to come do some basic checks? I've only done this once but they did it free of charge. They determined they wanted to swap some cables at the transformer that were a bit older than usual and doing so relieved an issue I was having with flickering power. Not sure it's your cause but it can't hurt to have them verify your setup if its free for them to do. Edit: Nevermind. The guide linked above is excellent and covers all this and more. Nice link. chedemefedeme fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Oct 28, 2011 |
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Oct 28, 2011 06:57
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Papercut posted:Depends on the wall type but 3M probably has you covered: babyeatingpsychopath posted:We use something called "duct seal mastic" that we usually get from the sheetmetal guys. Thanks guys, but I am afraid I am a little lost. I looked for Duct Seal Mastic but the only products I found in my local stores were water based, which seemed like a bad idea. As for the 3M stuff I guess I just don't really know what I need specifically enough. The problem I am trying to fix is this: The meter box for my home is mounted on the exterior wall of the house. The electrical cabling runs down from that and then enters the house through a hole in the concrete block about 6 or so inches above the ground, running through the block into the panel box in my basement. When it was installed, they did not build in a drip loop in the cable, just added some still semi-flexible putty of some kind around the hole. The putty has deteriorated and now when it rains I get water coming down the cable and through the wall into the panel box. I am at work now and unfortunately do not have a picture with me, I can take one tonight if it would be helpful.
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Oct 28, 2011 15:13
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This is the duct seal they were talking about. It's oil based, so it won't really dry out.
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Oct 28, 2011 16:06
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That looks excellent. Thank You.
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Oct 28, 2011 16:17
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Dumb question: We have three-phase AC in Belgium. I was checking out a few things in my fuse box. One phase to another, I'm supposed to measure 232V every time, and I do (I'm measuring after the breakers). Except on one circuit breaker, there is a tiny loss and I only get up to 229V. I'm almost sure it's that breaker that I think that gets into a Schrödiger state between holding and blowing when trying to exert it with a Dyson (causes sort of brown outs). Can a breaker wear out to such a degree, that it creates higher resistance?
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Oct 29, 2011 14:46
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Socratic Moron posted:I just purchased a new house and when painting, noticed the plastic covering of one of my dimmer switches was hot. Upon taking it off, the metallic casing I have highlighted in red below was very hot to the touch. I checked all the connections and they looked fine so I purchased a new dimmer switch. I tossed it on (same wiring configuration) and the same issue happened. Any ideas what might be going on? I've included the current wiring config. It is a 3 way. Thank you! dimmers are rated to be used with a certain wattage of bulbs. they do get hot because the metal facing is used to dissipate heat, but if it's getting excessively hot you may have too much wattage for what your dimmer is rated for. check to see how many watts that dimmer is controlling and if it's more than what it's rated for, try installing a higher rated dimmer. should stay a bit cooler that way.
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Oct 29, 2011 17:04
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Decided to replace my 1950's era thermostat. Moved a bunch of stuff around in a closet, took down some old paneling and found my thermostat hookup:  Can someone explain to me WTF is going on here because this looks terrifying. Thermostat is connected to the blue box on the right. The box on the left appears to be an old thermostat hookup. The heating system for my house runs off of the hot-water heater which is located to the left of the photo. Smiling Jack fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Oct 29, 2011 |
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Oct 29, 2011 20:27
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Combat Pretzel posted:Dumb question: We have three-phase AC in Belgium. I was checking out a few things in my fuse box. One phase to another, I'm supposed to measure 232V every time, and I do (I'm measuring after the breakers). Except on one circuit breaker, there is a tiny loss and I only get up to 229V. I'm almost sure it's that breaker that I think that gets into a Schrödiger state between holding and blowing when trying to exert it with a Dyson (causes sort of brown outs). Can a breaker wear out to such a degree, that it creates higher resistance? Yes it can. Try tightening all the connections and possibly replacing the breaker if it doesn't help. Measure the voltage from the service entrance on your panel to the output of the breaker. That is the voltage drop over the device. It should be almost nothing, like 100 mV or less and should be the same as the other breakers. If you still have a high reading then you might have a problem with the panel bus and you will need to have an electrician come out and replace it. That could indeed cause trouble for you. As you draw more amperage trying to use your vacuum it would heat up and cause even more voltage to drop at that connection. You should fix that or get it fixed right away.
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Oct 29, 2011 20:27
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Your thermostat can be replaced from the front. If you take the old one off the wall, what does it look like? Also, in my area it's cold enough that I wouldn't want to be without heat. How long can you go without heat (or cooling, if you are in the southern hemisphere) if the new thermostat doesn't work, or you have to do substantial work?
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Oct 29, 2011 20:58
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Smiling Jack posted:Decided to replace my 1950's era thermostat. Looks like a line-voltage t-stat to me. Fairly common for older heaters. Find your heater breaker, turn it off, then look inside the new box. That old box should be accessible at the front, too, and see what's going on there. I'm not sure what to tell you if you've got a line-voltage t-stat, other than "if it's not broke, don't fix it" and "don't mess with mercury contacts." The t-stat probably just turns on a pump at the hot water heater that runs everything through the radiators, dumping the output of your radiator loop back into the heater. Hopefully someone can shed some kind of light on solutions to replace line-voltage t-stats with newer, fancier, and less-prone-to-kill-you options.
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Oct 29, 2011 22:04
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Smiling Jack posted:Decided to replace my 1950's era thermostat. That thermostat is a probably bit newer than the 1950s. It's in an old work box, and those are only a few decades old. You can still buy the round style thermostats. In fact, this new round fancypants learning one was announced just a few days ago. babyeatingpsychopath posted:Hopefully someone can shed some kind of light on solutions to replace line-voltage t-stats with newer, fancier, and less-prone-to-kill-you options. For that you would need a thermostat relay. The relay would get mounted back near the heater's control box, then regular thermostat wire would get run from it to your new thermostat. That would kick the thermostat voltage down to the usual 24V AC, allowing you a much wider choice of thermostats.
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Oct 30, 2011 00:52
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Verify some theory for me, since I'm about to go check a motor at a friend's house. By measuring the voltage drop on it during operation, I should get its average resistance while running. If I have that resistance and the input voltage, I can calculate the current it draws. Is that about right? --edit: I do need to know the current beforehand, to calculate a resistance, right? Combat Pretzel fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Nov 6, 2011 |
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Nov 6, 2011 14:53
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Combat Pretzel posted:Verify some theory for me, since I'm about to go check a motor at a friend's house. By measuring the voltage drop on it during operation, I should get its average resistance while running. If I have that resistance and the input voltage, I can calculate the current it draws. Is that about right? No, this will not work. Voltage drop + current -> resistance, or VD + resistance -> current. You need to know two of the three things to find the other. If you've got a meter, just measure resistance with the thing disconnected. Or, if this is an appliance, find the nameplate and get the motor ratings right from there.
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Nov 6, 2011 18:30
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Measuring the resistance of the motor coil won't help you find the current. The voltage drop over a motor will be the full voltage unless you have some bizarre setup. You can use whats called a current shunt which is a resistor that you can measure the voltage drop over. But you need a high power and very stable resistor for it. The best way to measure current of a motor is with a current clamp, or by looking up the model number.
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Nov 6, 2011 22:35
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Combat Pretzel posted:Verify some theory for me, since I'm about to go check a motor at a friend's house. By measuring the voltage drop on it during operation, I should get its average resistance while running. If I have that resistance and the input voltage, I can calculate the current it draws. Is that about right?
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Nov 7, 2011 00:05
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I have a plumber installing a new boiler in my house, and rather than paying for an electrician to run a single line to it, I've elected to do it myself. I've got a fair amount of experience doing residential wiring. Are there any gotchas that I should be aware of? From what I can see, all it needs is a normal 115 drop from the rafters above it, and the wiring from the thermostat which are both nearby. My plan is to attach PVC conduit to the rafter (somehow), drop the romex 14/2 through it, into a pvc box/switch (code requirement) then out the boiler itself. Is there any reason I can't do that?
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Nov 21, 2011 22:40
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Yeah that is fine. You should use pvc conduit straps that are listed for pvc conduit. It should be pretty easy. I'd probably get 3/4 inch if I where you, romex can be a little hard to pull in conduit especially since you will be using solid conductors. I'm not sure if you are planning on having it inspected and permitted, but it might make things easier if you go to sell your house to have everything squared away.
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Nov 22, 2011 05:56
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grover posted:In theory, yes, but you need to know the precise resistance of the cabling to do it- measure at the panel and at the motor, divide the voltage drop by the estimated cable resistance, and you've got your current. Or, you could get a clamp ammeter for about $13 and measure it more directly. Note that these only work when you're measuring one leg. If you just clamp it around two conductors carrying a hot and neutral it won't work. ee: I also think they're actually wizardry. I understand the concept, it's just insane that it actually works. I trust inline plug-in ammeters way more 
Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 06:29 on Nov 22, 2011 |
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Nov 22, 2011 06:16
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tworavens posted:Yeah that is fine. You should use pvc conduit straps that are listed for pvc conduit. It should be pretty easy. I'd probably get 3/4 inch if I where you, romex can be a little hard to pull in conduit especially since you will be using solid conductors. Thanks for the feedback. Part of my loan program requires an inspection, so I don't have a choice there anyway. Right now I'm got some 1/2", but it's only a straight drop down for a single cable, so I think it'll work out. I also got the PVC straps, will post followup when I try to stick this thing in place.
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Nov 22, 2011 08:36
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