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We have a bare-bulb ceiling light with a pull-cord. When we turn on the light, it flickers and sometimes turns off. Lightly tugging at the pull-cord (not enough to engage the mechanism) fixes it after a few jiggles. I have checked the bulb and it is seated tightly in the fixture. Any idea what I might look at to fix this? This is a rental house so I don't want to invest in a new fixture if possible, and I don't necessarily want to take time off from work to have someone come look at it. I will do the latter if the fix is expensive though.
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Jan 29, 2014 15:19
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me your dad posted:We have a bare-bulb ceiling light with a pull-cord. When we turn on the light, it flickers and sometimes turns off. Lightly tugging at the pull-cord (not enough to engage the mechanism) fixes it after a few jiggles. I have checked the bulb and it is seated tightly in the fixture. What room is this in? An exposed pull-cord fixture is only legal in a veeeery narrow niche of applications, and illegal in virtually every application I see it used in. Landlord's electrician might need to fix it right while he's there, and put in an enclosed light and switch to operate it.
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Jan 29, 2014 15:24
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grover posted:The bulb may not be screwed in right, try taking it out and putting it back in, and/or try a different bulb. If that doesn't fix it, call your landlord: one of the wires may be loose, or it may be a faulty switch. Neither is good for his/her liability. I'll try re-seating the bulb or a different one. The fixture is in our mudroom. There is an additional proper overhead light in the mudroom with a wall switch. The pull-cord fixture is a little further back in the room so we have to hit the wall switch and then pull a cord. I'd love it if the wall switch operated both lights.
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Jan 29, 2014 15:31
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GWBBQ posted:If you turn a bunch of the lights on, do they dim and brighten significantly when you turn the fan on and off? I'm thinking the breaker is overloaded and there's enough of a surge when you turn the fan off that the inverter for the TV's backlight is shutting off as a self protect measure. What happens if you plug it into an outlet on a different breaker? With all the lights on, flipping any switch will make them flicker.  I have only 6 months left on my lease (maybe less if the rear end in a top hat below me keeps making noise complains and leaving threatening letters while I am at work. . .) and I told the manager on duty about this, she looked extremely un-interested but promised to send maintenance by someday. At least I have renters insurance for when this place catches on fire. The funny thing is I don't know how old this place, but it is one probably the newest apartment I have lived in yet. Bonus: Last night I discovered whenever I flip the dead bolt on the front door all of the lights dim.
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Jan 29, 2014 17:21
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Crotch Fruit posted:With all the lights on, flipping any switch will make them flicker.
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Jan 29, 2014 17:30
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Don't die because of lovely landlord companies. They need to to fix and should be legally obliged to, if they don't fix after notice check your renters protection laws and report them. Worst case your deadbolt gets energized through a screw or something odd and you get 120v kuz you locked the door tater_salad fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Jan 29, 2014 |
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Jan 29, 2014 17:48
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me your dad posted:We have a bare-bulb ceiling light with a pull-cord. When we turn on the light, it flickers and sometimes turns off. Lightly tugging at the pull-cord (not enough to engage the mechanism) fixes it after a few jiggles. I have checked the bulb and it is seated tightly in the fixture. Sounds like a loose connection somewhere. If that's an incandescent, sometimes their filaments break but can still make contact on occasion. It's also possible that the tab at the back of the socket isn't making contact with the bulb. It's fixed by turning the power off, then either bend the tab back up again or just replace the socket. Seriously though, call your landlord. Have him fix it.
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Jan 29, 2014 19:27
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So I have to put in hardwired, interconnected fire alarms in my home and reading Amazon reviews has me concerned. Every brand seems to have problems of random alarms going off (or reviewers are just less than competent). Is there a particular brand I should go for or stay away from? Can I mix combination alarms (smoke + carbon monoxide) with plain smoke alarms on the same interconnected circuit?
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Jan 29, 2014 21:05
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Anyone have any experience getting a breaker box replaced? What kind of dinero did it end up running you? I think one of my rails inside the box is dead because I'm pulling 120 amps on both the cables coming in, but by the time it gets to the breakers on one of the runs it is down to ~23 volts.
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Jan 29, 2014 23:25
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Alaan posted:Anyone have any experience getting a breaker box replaced? What kind of dinero did it end up running you? I think one of my rails inside the box is dead because I'm pulling 120 amps on both the cables coming in, but by the time it gets to the breakers on one of the runs it is down to ~23 volts. Who made your panel? The only way a rail could wear out is if it's a model with the spring clamps on the rails instead of the breakers, and the springs wore out enough to not make contact anymore. It's more likely that one of your breakers is bad. Is it just the ~23V breaker giving you problems? kid sinister fucked around with this message at 23:58 on Jan 29, 2014 |
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Jan 29, 2014 23:54
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Alternating breakers are bad. So 1, 3, 5, etc on the left, and 4, 6, 8, etc on the right have poo poo voltage. Somewhere between the main breaker and the alternating breakers is bad mojo. Looking inside you can see other breakers are pulling from a different section of metal.
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Jan 29, 2014 23:56
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Alaan posted:Alternating breakers are bad. So 1, 3, 5, etc on the left, and 4, 6, 8, etc on the right have poo poo voltage. Somewhere between the main breaker and the alternating breakers is bad mojo. Looking inside you can see other breakers are pulling from a different section of metal. Take the cover off your panel and measure the voltage on both lugs of the main breaker. Do you get 120V on both phases? kid sinister fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Jan 30, 2014 |
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Jan 30, 2014 00:00
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Only 26 volts out, with over a hundred amps flowing? I am impressed your panel hasn't quite literally caught fire yet. Either something else is wrong, or you're about to lose your house. Check the voltage on the other leg... and voltage from ground to neutral, if you could. Also voltage input on the two main breaker lugs.
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Jan 30, 2014 00:05
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Pretty sure he meant 120 volts, not amps. First thing I would check is the main breaker connection to the bus bar. Sounds like either a bad connection or a bad main.
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Jan 30, 2014 02:32
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What is the voltage reading if you put one meter probe on the "in" side of the bad leg of the breaker and the other on the "out" of the same leg.
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Jan 30, 2014 02:37
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Crotch Fruit posted:With all the lights on, flipping any switch will make them flicker.  Check the batteries in your smoke alarms right now and wear arc flash protection gear when you touch anything metal or run water, including when you're taking a shower.
GWBBQ fucked around with this message at 05:04 on Jan 30, 2014 |
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Jan 30, 2014 05:01
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My staircase has two light switches. One at the top, and one at the bottom. The top switch acts as a "master" switch, meaning that when it's off, the bottom switch does nothing. It's really annoying as you can imagine. Is it possible to rewire so that both switches work, no matter if the other is on or off? Or is it more complicated than that.
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Jan 30, 2014 18:18
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BANME.sh posted:My staircase has two light switches. One at the top, and one at the bottom. The top switch acts as a "master" switch, meaning that when it's off, the bottom switch does nothing. It's really annoying as you can imagine. Is it possible to rewire so that both switches work, no matter if the other is on or off? Or is it more complicated than that. It might be possible, depending on the wiring you already have in place between those boxes. Turn the power off and take both switches out of their boxes. Do you see a red wire in both boxes? If so, then you got the right wiring to have a switch at either end of the stairway operate the light and it sounds like a previous owner couldn't figure out 3-way switching and replaced at least one of the switches with a regular 2-way switch. If you do have the red wire, hit us back with pictures of the wires splayed out in both boxes. There are a handful of 3-way switch wiring configurations. We'll tell you how to hook them up to 2 new 3-way switches.
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Jan 30, 2014 18:55
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Update on the light-switch/dead bolt of death, the maintenance guy finally came over. "It's normal, all the apartments do that." So I am examining the lease breaking clause in my rental agreement. 
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Jan 30, 2014 19:36
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Crotch Fruit posted:Update on the light-switch/dead bolt of death, the maintenance guy finally came over. "It's normal, all the apartments do that." So I am examining the lease breaking clause in my rental agreement. That's a really good idea.
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Jan 30, 2014 19:52
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Jesus christ, man.
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Jan 30, 2014 20:13
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Crotch Fruit posted:Update on the light-switch/dead bolt of death, the maintenance guy finally came over. "It's normal, all the apartments do that." So I am examining the lease breaking clause in my rental agreement. What sort of provisions exist in your state for you to hire your own electrician and deduct it from your rent? Also, just for laughs, how many volts between the dead bolt and the door frame?
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Jan 30, 2014 23:39
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Is it worth replacing these ballasts (it's a single unit) or am I better off tossing it and getting a replacement for a whopping $12? 
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Jan 31, 2014 04:32
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BANME.sh posted:My staircase has two light switches. One at the top, and one at the bottom. The top switch acts as a "master" switch, meaning that when it's off, the bottom switch does nothing. It's really annoying as you can imagine. Is it possible to rewire so that both switches work, no matter if the other is on or off? Or is it more complicated than that. I love the "master" switch description. It had to be invented by desperate real estate agents who needed to explain a miswired 3-way switch
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Jan 31, 2014 05:19
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Indolent Bastard posted:Is it worth replacing these ballasts (it's a single unit) or am I better off tossing it and getting a replacement for a whopping $12? It's almost never more economical to replace a ballast. Usually cheaper to buy a whole new fixture.
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Jan 31, 2014 16:56
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insta posted:I love the "master" switch description. It had to be invented by desperate real estate agents who needed to explain a miswired 3-way switch The people I bought my house from built it new and lived here 40 years with a miswired 3-way in the basement. At some point she had an electrician in for another issue and he told her it wasn't fixable. The wife admitted that she had just left the basement lights on almost all of the time so she didn't have to bother with the switches as she came in from the garage. 40 years of powering 6 flood light cans all day and night. We moved in and fixed it in half an hour with Wikipedia and a scribbled diagram. That electrician missed an easy hour of pay.
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Jan 31, 2014 17:57
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Ok I have a question that's not exactly home wiring but I don't know where to put it. I have to physically design an electrical cable reel and one of the requirements is a 10-500 micro-Ohm resistance between contacts. Most of the slip rings I have looked up to connect this reel to the power source have at lowest a 1 milli-Ohm resistance. I am not sure whether this requirement applies to the slip ring but I want to know if such a small resistance is applicable to a slip ring.
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Jan 31, 2014 18:48
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Crotch Fruit posted:Update on the light-switch/dead bolt of death, the maintenance guy finally came over. "It's normal, all the apartments do that." So I am examining the lease breaking clause in my rental agreement. Maybe give the fire marshall and the electric company a call while you're at it.
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Jan 31, 2014 19:09
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Ultimate Shrek Fan posted:It's almost never more economical to replace a ballast. Usually cheaper to buy a whole new fixture. It's looking that way. New ballast for a t12 fixture that only might work, $17. Whole new unit that is t8/t12 wired, $12. Not a tough choice.
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Jan 31, 2014 20:23
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thelightguy posted:Maybe give the fire marshall and the electric company a call while you're at it. And your insurance agent.
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Jan 31, 2014 23:27
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Indolent Bastard posted:It's looking that way. New ballast for a t12 fixture that only might work, $17. Whole new unit that is t8/t12 wired, $12. Not a tough choice. Not in the slightest. At my old job, whenever a ballast had to be replaced they'd charge the ballast and replace the fixture, really shady management.
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Feb 1, 2014 03:01
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How are houses with solar panels or windmills set up for selling extra power back to the grid prevented from back feeding the grid during a blackout? They back feed the grid anytime power generation exceeds power usage.
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Feb 1, 2014 15:07
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Psycho Donut Killer posted:How are houses with solar panels or windmills set up for selling extra power back to the grid prevented from back feeding the grid during a blackout? They back feed the grid anytime power generation exceeds power usage. Not the most technical explanation, but the meter that ties them to the grid and keeps things synchronized shuts down the flow of power for safety. In some systems at least I think it means you won't have power at your house even though you have solar or whatever unless you can disconnect from the grid.
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Feb 1, 2014 15:26
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It depends on the particular setup, but they are required to be prevented from back feeding. We have one account that can sell us energy on our system, they have solar with storage batteries, with a very complicated looking controller that handles the charging and discharging of the battery bank, and all flow of current from the solar array. It automatically disconnects from the line side in the event of an outage. In their case, if they have capacity to handle whatever load the home is pulling, their lights won't even blink. That's the idea, anyway. We have been instructed to pull their meter for a visible opening, if we have to work an outage that involves this account. angryrobots fucked around with this message at 18:08 on Feb 1, 2014 |
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Feb 1, 2014 18:02
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Psycho Donut Killer posted:How are houses with solar panels or windmills set up for selling extra power back to the grid prevented from back feeding the grid during a blackout? They back feed the grid anytime power generation exceeds power usage. Easy explanation: if they lose "sync" with the grid it trips off. Meaning if the controller can't match the frequency of the grid voltage it detaches itself. In a power outage, that's not 60 Hz, it's 0. So the system isolates itself.
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Feb 2, 2014 04:22
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Dyz posted:Ok I have a question that's not exactly home wiring but I don't know where to put it. I have to physically design an electrical cable reel and one of the requirements is a 10-500 micro-Ohm resistance between contacts. Most of the slip rings I have looked up to connect this reel to the power source have at lowest a 1 milli-Ohm resistance. I am not sure whether this requirement applies to the slip ring but I want to know if such a small resistance is applicable to a slip ring. Have you considered a roll ring? Basically rollers instead of brushes.
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Feb 2, 2014 09:21
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Phanatic posted:Have you considered a roll ring? Basically rollers instead of brushes. The one with a 1 milli-ohm resistance is basically a liquid interface instead of brushes. I'm not sure if rollers would have less resistance than that. I'm about to just scrap the slip ring and have the cable come off the reel instead of going through some silly rotational contact. KISS is a good rule to go by I guess.
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Feb 5, 2014 00:24
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So I moved in to a new house a month or so ago and discovered that the dryer outlets (yes plural, there's one in the utility room and one on the other side of the wall in the garage on independent circuits) are three-prong non-grounded. Not a big deal immediately, the PO left a washer/dryer so I swapped the cord over from theirs to mine, but I don't like non-grounded circuits. The one in the utility room is literally feet from the panel on a perpendicular wall (basically the dryer is in a corner, the outlet is behind it where the panel is above and to the right) and the garage outlet is slightly higher on the wall but roughly opposite of the utility room. Is there a good way for me to add a ground and switch these to four-prong myself or am I better off hiring a pro to avoid a visit from the local fire department? I guess secondarily does it matter all that much for a dryer, or am I being overly concerned? The existing outlets are NEMA 10-30, I want to upgrade to NEMA 14-30.
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Feb 5, 2014 02:43
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Dyz posted:The one with a 1 milli-ohm resistance is basically a liquid interface instead of brushes. I'm not sure if rollers would have less resistance than that. I've done a couple designs with clock-sprung cabling and a number more with Kabelschlepp or igus chains and each has their own awful cable dynamics to deal with. Make sure that the cable is only bending in one direction and isn't rolling or twisting, and if you can, design the cable without using twisted pair. New England Wire has a pretty good high-flex wire, as did Gore before they left the industry. If you're feeling like spending ludicrous dollars, Leoni makes a really nice high-flex, process hardened, high dielectric, vacuum compatible wire that consists of bundles of high flex similar to the NEW wire wrapped in a teflon jacket and then overmoulded/extruded with a PTFE/PFPE/PTFE sandwich. It's great wire, although doing the ground termination on it is a bitch. If you can avoid clock-springing, do so. The mechanical dynamics are heinous to get right. What sort of rotation, accel, decel, radius of curvature, number of wires, move time, and cycle life are you looking at?
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Feb 5, 2014 03:18
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Tim Thomas posted:I've done a couple designs with clock-sprung cabling and a number more with Kabelschlepp or igus chains and each has their own awful cable dynamics to deal with. Make sure that the cable is only bending in one direction and isn't rolling or twisting, and if you can, design the cable without using twisted pair. New England Wire has a pretty good high-flex wire, as did Gore before they left the industry. If you're feeling like spending ludicrous dollars, Leoni makes a really nice high-flex, process hardened, high dielectric, vacuum compatible wire that consists of bundles of high flex similar to the NEW wire wrapped in a teflon jacket and then overmoulded/extruded with a PTFE/PFPE/PTFE sandwich. It's great wire, although doing the ground termination on it is a bitch. We need to wind 20 ft of .75 in diameter cable on the reel. It has to resist at least 200N of shock and only take 20N to unreel. The cables have 3 10 AWG high current paths that carry 30 amps and 2 14 AWG low current paths with an unspecified amperage. The minimum bend radius is 3.5 inches, and the suggested lifetime is 10 years of intermittent use (its an EV charging cable). EDIT: I talked to the company contact for this project, apparently a resistance of 500 micro Ohms is pretty BS since not even one of the wires has that low of a resistance. Dyz fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Feb 8, 2014 |
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Feb 5, 2014 23:49
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