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Silicone is usually used for flat roofs with ponding water issues, which acrylic won't hold up to. In addition to the expense, it's harder to work with and once it's down you can't put a different type of coating over top of it later on. Depending on your exact needs silicone may be more trouble and money than it's worth vs using acrylic and being able to recoat again cheap and easy as needed.
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Jun 27, 2022 12:07
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JediTalentAgent posted:I'm looking at doing a coat of a metal mobile home room (galvanized) and trying to figure out the best coating solution/brand since I'm not really wanting to do one of the roof replace/cover systems right now.
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Jun 27, 2022 14:05
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I checked back 3-4 pages and didn't see anything regarding this topic so I'm asking here. Are there any threads/forums where I can get good info on solar systems? I'm getting quotes for a system for my home and the sales person that I'm dealing with is having a very hard time getting me a detailed cost breakdown and this is making me think that they're trying to pull something fishy. They've quoted me a pre-rebate price of roughly 35k, so this isn't exactly a cheap project. I'll be getting at least 2 more quotes in the next couple weeks.
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Jun 27, 2022 16:41
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sporkstand posted:I checked back 3-4 pages and didn't see anything regarding this topic so I'm asking here. Are there any threads/forums where I can get good info on solar systems? I'm getting quotes for a system for my home and the sales person that I'm dealing with is having a very hard time getting me a detailed cost breakdown and this is making me think that they're trying to pull something fishy. They've quoted me a pre-rebate price of roughly 35k, so this isn't exactly a cheap project. I'll be getting at least 2 more quotes in the next couple weeks. Most of the discussion is in the house ownership thread or home zone https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3774735 https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3770037 Unless you're in one of a few very specific places with just the the right roof/land solar is a lifestyle choice and not a good financial choice.
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Jun 27, 2022 17:35
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Motronic posted:Most of the discussion is in the house ownership thread or home zone Thanks for those links. I'm in Los Angeles, so sunlight is not a problem. The complex angles of the roof of my 100+ year old house on the other hand...
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Jun 27, 2022 18:35
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I need to change the light fixture in my kitchen as the current one is dead. I don't know which breaker controls it, though I have a feeling its the one that controls the various outlets for the fridge and microwave etc.. Although the fixture itself is dead, with the switch on, I can read 120vAC at the wire nuts coming in to said fixture, with the switch on. I guess I was going to try (with light switch on) to flip breakers and see if I still read 120v with my volt meter, and when I don't then thats likely the one. Then I was going to shut the light switch off and change the fixture (breaker still off obviously). Are there any other precautions I should take? I know that electricity will gently caress me up if I'm not safe, so I don't want to gently caress myself up.
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Jun 27, 2022 18:49
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You should spend ~$20 on a contactless detector like this one: Which is more reliable and safer than testing directly with probes and a multimeter. The correct way to work on a circuit is as you described: turn off that circuit at the breaker box. Secure the breaker box. Also turn off any switches that control the fixture. Verify your voltmeter works by testing a live circuit somewhere nearby and then check the work location thoroughly for any blips. If it's all clear, go ahead and do the work. e. Highlighting an important bit. You want to be certain nobody could unknowingly, accidentally re-energize the circuit while you're working on it. Ideally you'd lock the box with a padlock that only you have a key to, and also affix some kind of label saying "work in progress, do not turn on" or similar, but that may be overkill if you live alone and your breaker box is in your garage or something. Just... yeah, secure it against the poor decision making skills of other people. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Jun 27, 2022 |
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Jun 27, 2022 18:53
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1) Check the meter on a known-live circuit 2) Check the circuit you're going to work on is off 3) Check the meter AGAIN on a known-live circuit The first step makes sure the meter/tester working. The 2nd step makes sure what you're about to work on is turned off. The 3rd step is to make sure your meter/tester didn't break some time in the middle and give you a false reading. Leperflesh posted:Which is more reliable and safer than testing directly with probes and a multimeter. Ehhhhhh I'll give this a pass for people who are doing basic things. But if you know how to test for voltage with a multimeter, it's way, way more reliable. I have a non-contact tester and it's sometimes useful, but I would rather use my meter any day. IMO if you have a meter, the non-contact detector is a good first pass to see if it's safe to take the wire nuts off before you use the meter to measure voltage. But personally I wouldn't work in a box based solely on a non-contact detector, I always double check with my meter before putting my hands on wires.
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Jun 27, 2022 19:02
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It's also worth noting the edge case that non contact detectors can absolutely give false positives if working with individual conductors instead of cables. I've come across it with knob and tube that paralleled a new NM run and with conduit containing multiple circuits where only one was energized. But it's a good first pass regardless.
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Jun 27, 2022 19:46
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I picked up one of these that has a speaker instead of just a light. You can actually hear the difference between "this wire is live" and "this wire is picking up induced voltage from sharing a conduit run with that one, but is not live". Though I will say I was only comfortable with that difference having verified it with a voltmeter.
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Jun 27, 2022 20:44
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Teabag Dome Scandal posted:I need to buy a new ceiling fan but those remotes annoy the poo poo out of me. I have a two switch setup right now. Can I bypass the remote controller and just wire everything directly? And then use something like https://www.amazon.com/Lutron-DVFSQ-F-WH-Single-3-Speed-Control/dp/B0006UUIC4/ to control the fan speed? Bad Munki posted:Yeah, usually it’s just a box that goes between the house wiring and the unit and gets stuffed into the junction box. Just don’t install it. I have seen some DC fans where the inverter/remote module is all one piece, so I'd stay away from those to be safe. They're still a minority but be aware.
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Jun 28, 2022 00:11
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Thanks for the advice goons, I live alone so someone accidentally turning on the breaker is probably minimal. I did ask my friend/she volunteered to help and her role will most likely be to shut off breakers while I'm poking wires and hand me screwdrivers etc when I'm up on the ladder, but I will make sure to emphasize that once the breaker is off, it stays off until the job is over and everything has been checked and/or secured. I don't have a main switch for the whole place but I guess worst case I just shut off every breaker in the panel and work by the light of my Milwaukee eyeball fucker floodlight 5000.
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Jun 28, 2022 00:13
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DaveSauce posted:1) Check the meter on a known-live circuit This isn't a terrible practice regardless. But: the tester I linked you hold down a button and it shows green or red (with a noise). The green indicates it's working, e.g, no false negative. If you trust the device, step 3 isn't necessary. This is a key difference from using a voltmeter with probes, because if you get a zero reading with a multimeter with probes, you can't tell if that's because the circuit's dead, or one of your probes is misplaced or has become dislodged from its socket or the wire is broken. For newbies I'm pretty well convinced that a dedicated, specialized tester is better than a general multi-use multimeter for verifying a circuit is safe to work on. Marginally. In most cases. I am not an electrician. Please don't die.
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Jun 28, 2022 20:43
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DaveSauce posted:Ehhhhhh I'll give this a pass for people who are doing basic things. Rookie question- how do you properly test if, say, a light switch is live using a multimeter? I have a non contact tester and it has been helpful but I've always wanted to learn how to safely use probes when replacing light fixtures. I've researched this online and every tutorial seems to discuss everything but this simple task.
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Jun 29, 2022 01:59
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melon cat posted:Rookie question- how do you properly test if, say, a light switch is live using a multimeter? I have a non contact tester and it has been helpful but I've always wanted to learn how to safely use probes when replacing light fixtures.
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Jun 29, 2022 02:26
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Since we're on the subject, when I was checking my fixture, I set my meter to AC volts and the correct range and then poked the wires in the wire nuts. AKA, the black and white wires. Is that right or did I luck out and not kill myself or gently caress something up? Should I have poked the hot to ground, or is that just for testing switches?
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Jun 29, 2022 02:33
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Slugworth posted:Find a ground. Hot to ground should be 120v. I'm gonna ask for a lot more detail than this. Like what setting do I put my multimeter to, and where do I place the probes. ngl every online tutorial I'm seeing either doesn't show exactly how to do this or just says "get a non-contact tester like ThIs OnE" Please help me to better understand a multimeter.
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Jun 29, 2022 02:49
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melon cat posted:I'm gonna ask for a lot more detail than this. Like what setting do I put my multimeter to, and where do I place the probes. Multimeters and their settings are not all the same, yet are the same enough that if you can use one you can use any. If this is the level of your question a multimeter is probably not the right thing for you to be using for a basic task like figuring out "does this have line voltage on it?" because that's simply not safe. So get a non contact tester.
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Jun 29, 2022 02:56
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Please get a non-contact tester. If you want to learn how a multimeter works we can show you but a basic tutorial of how to use a multimeter <brand> should work. Use a 1.5v or 9v battery to start. Something you can lick and not die. Check that you're on AC Volts or DC Volts. Now look at your proposed thing you're going to meter. Now Check again that you're on volts not amps. If you're on volts, put positive on + and negative on -. Your well charged alkaline battery is probably close to 1.6v. Your dead one is probably around 1.2v. Once you get that part we can go up to using an electric outlet to meter ac volts.
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Jun 29, 2022 03:33
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When the cable company replaced and buried the coax cable to my house, I had them leave the last 15 feet inside my backyard. Long story short, I’m finally getting around to securing this cable and thinking I might have made a mistake. So my questions: There’s about 10 feet where I can bury it in the back of my garden and then 5 feet where it has to run above ground along a fence. If I cut some conduit lengthwise to get it around the cable will that be enough protection for the buried section? Would it be better to just run the whole thing above ground along the fence?
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Jun 29, 2022 03:59
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I've been struggling with a garage door that sporadically stops in the middle of opening or closing. Most of the time it works fine, but around one day per week it'll just move the door an inch (open or close) and then turn off, and the light at the front of the unit also turns off, sometimes for several seconds or longer. Giving it a firm hit usually turns the light back on, and then I can move the door another inch or so, or sometimes it'll just work fine from there. The spring is definitely in need of adjustment (the door feels heavy), and I've read that some units have an internal fuse that will kill power if the unit is moving too much weight. It could also just be an electrical problem inside the unit Things I've tried: 1. Lubricating everything (this significantly reduced noise and seemed to help the problem, but did not fix it). 2. Replacing the safety sensors 3. Stripping and reinserting the safety sensor wires (this was also necessary, as one of the safety sensor wires had come completely loose and was just barely in contact) Would getting someone out to adjust the spring possibly fix this issue, or is that fuse notion just nonsense?
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Jun 29, 2022 05:10
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Leperflesh posted:You should spend ~$20 on a contactless detector like this one: For whatever it's worth, I have this contactless tester and it is very easy to use. In my old house it even allowed me to detect that a dead circuit of outlets in the living room would suddenly have a little bit of current running through the return when my AC compressor kicked on. That was fun to discover; look out for that kind of thing I guess.
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Jun 29, 2022 05:14
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Having been on a trip out of town recently, I was slightly dismayed to find the side door to my garage standing wide open upon our return. I was further disquieted to learn that someone had stolen a bunch of my poo poo from the garage (my chop saw, my tool box, our bikes, etc). Initial evidence suggested that my wife didn't close the door properly when we left. A new occurrence of finding the door standing wide open this morning after I know good and drat well I closed it has caused me to mount a new investigation. The results are that the latch on the door lock is not seating deeply enough in the strike plate when the door is closed to remain latched if any reasonable force is applied like me pulling on the door handle (which I tested this morning) or a decent gust of wind (which is the actual culprit given our location in the upper Midwest). Initial research has shown suggestions of shimming the door hinges to decrease the distance between the edge of the door and the strike plate, thus causing the latch to seat deeper into the strike plate gap in the door jamb. This approach makes logical sense to me, but what doesn't is the suggestion of using cardboard to serve as the shim. I get the concept of it not splintering or shattering like a wood shim would during the reattachment of the hinge screws, but cardboard? Other than apologizing to my wife, is there anything else I should be thinking of?
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Jun 29, 2022 13:51
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Beef Of Ages posted:Having been on a trip out of town recently, I was slightly dismayed to find the side door to my garage standing wide open upon our return. I was further disquieted to learn that someone had stolen a bunch of my poo poo from the garage (my chop saw, my tool box, our bikes, etc). Initial evidence suggested that my wife didn't close the door properly when we left. A new occurrence of finding the door standing wide open this morning after I know good and drat well I closed it has caused me to mount a new investigation. Installing a deadbolt. It’s not your fault or your wife’s you got robbed, but a good deadbolt will both give you secure peace of mind that the door is latched and locked as well as actual security, since a deadbolt can’t be defeated nearly as easily as a latch and strike plate.
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Jun 29, 2022 14:13
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Lawnie posted:Installing a deadbolt. It’s not your fault or your wife’s you got robbed, but a good deadbolt will both give you secure peace of mind that the door is latched and locked as well as actual security, since a deadbolt can’t be defeated nearly as easily as a latch and strike plate. This is fair, but also dramatically more invasive as the door is not cut for one and I didn't have the tools to create such a hole even before all my poo poo got jacked. Considering an internal bolt lock for when we're out of town as an additional protection measure that accomplishes a similar goal. Any thoughts on the cardboard shim bit?
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Jun 29, 2022 14:17
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Beef Of Ages posted:This is fair, but also dramatically more invasive as the door is not cut for one and I didn't have the tools to create such a hole even before all my poo poo got jacked. Considering an internal bolt lock for when we're out of town as an additional protection measure that accomplishes a similar goal. Cardboard is more widely available (pretty much everyone has scraps around), maybe? It’s also compressible compared to a wooden shim. Not sure what advantage that would have in this situation, though. Your internal bolt lock sounds good, so long as there’s no safety or ease-of-access issues presented by not being able to unlock from the outside.
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Jun 29, 2022 14:24
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edit: double post
Deviant fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Jun 29, 2022 |
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Jun 29, 2022 15:10
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re wall mounting: i also like triple grip anchors if you absolutely can't use a stud. Unrelated: Is there a way to get my garage window a/c unit to stop tripping the GFCI breaker it's plugged into? I'm told window units just tend to do that. It also has its own GFCI power cable. The outlet is GFCI because the circut runs to a lamp outdoors as well, which I'm of the understanding is needed for code.
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Jun 29, 2022 15:12
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^^^ This is why I hate GFCI. Any surge will trip them. Try a GFI breaker. If that doesn't work, just a standard breaker, NEMA be damned. My steel-post walk light is on a standard breaker. It doesn't kill me because it's properly grounded and the common is actually hooked up properly. ^^^ Beef Of Ages posted:Having been on a trip out of town recently, I was slightly dismayed to find the side door to my garage standing wide open upon our return. Cardboard is fine since you're using it to offset the door from the frame, and it is the screws that hold it secure. However, if your strike plate is too far recessed, then that is what should be shimmed out, not the hinges. It's a hell of a lot easier to build it out since you don't have to wrestle with the door and change its fit in the opening. You can use cardboard to shim out the strike plate. A hardware store also sells wood shims, or buy a couple cedar shakes and cut one down to fit. Whatever material you choose to use, I would swap up to screws that are over an inch long to be certain it's securely attached. If the entire gap on the striker side is evenly too wide, get a piece of lath/trim, paint it, and & nail it from top to bottom, then drill a new 3/4" hole for the latch with a spade bit before installing the plate. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 15:21 on Jun 29, 2022 |
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Jun 29, 2022 15:14
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Lawnie posted:Cardboard is more widely available (pretty much everyone has scraps around), maybe? It’s also compressible compared to a wooden shim. Not sure what advantage that would have in this situation, though. Makes sense, thanks. PainterofCrap posted:Cardboard is fine since you're using it to offset the door from the frame, and it is the screws that hold it secure. Also makes sense, thanks. The strike plate is properly mounted to the jamb and the jamb itself is shimmed (mostly) level so I do think this is an issue on the hinge side. I can see where the hinge indentation into the jamb is about as deep (call it 1/16") as would probably solve the issue on the other side. So given that cardboard itself is a fine material to use in this case, my guess is that one or two small sections should work fine. I'll also make sure the screws are sufficient; what's in there now looks fine but having something slightly longer to make sure things seat well makes sense to me.
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Jun 29, 2022 15:28
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PainterofCrap posted:Try a GFI breaker. If that doesn't work, just a standard breaker, NEMA be damned. My steel-post walk light is on a standard breaker. It doesn't kill me because it's properly grounded and the common is actually hooked up properly. ^^^ The chain is as follows (to best of my knowledge) Standard circuit breaker <-> GFCI outlet in garage (with a/c unit plugged in) <-> exterior lamp with solar cell for on/off So I'm not entirely sure what you're telling me to do. I could swap the garage outlet for a standard one? I'm unclear on what's up to code here though.
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Jun 29, 2022 15:41
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Deviant posted:The chain is as follows (to best of my knowledge) Sorry, thought it was in the panel. Yes, swap out the receptacle with a GFI receptacle. If that still doesn't solve it, and you are concerned about the walk light/code, expand the receptacle to a double, put a standard in first in line for the A/C unit, then a GFCI downstream to handle the post light. FWIW I have everything in my garage on GFI receptacles and nothing ever trips when I run a circular saw, table saw, 1939 refrigerator, etc. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Jun 29, 2022 |
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Jun 29, 2022 15:54
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You might just have a worn out gfci. Swapping it 1 for 1 might solve your problems. Or you might have a crappy run cap in your window ac which isn't swappable without major surgery.
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Jun 29, 2022 15:59
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I guess I need to do more research because i thought GFCI and GFI were the same thing. The idea about swapping to a double is clever though. it's more likely that i'll swap to a standard outlet and to hell with code because i'm not particularly worried about it in this situation, but i'll do some more research
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Jun 29, 2022 16:05
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Deviant posted:I guess I need to do more research because i thought GFCI and GFI were the same thing. The idea about swapping to a double is clever though. They are.
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Jun 29, 2022 16:06
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Then I guess i need to clarify. The a/c unit is popping the outlet, not the entire circuit. The walk lamp does of course go off, because it's downstream, but the breaker in my electrical panel doesn't trip.
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Jun 29, 2022 16:07
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QuarkJets posted:I've been struggling with a garage door that sporadically stops in the middle of opening or closing. Most of the time it works fine, but around one day per week it'll just move the door an inch (open or close) and then turn off, and the light at the front of the unit also turns off, sometimes for several seconds or longer. Giving it a firm hit usually turns the light back on, and then I can move the door another inch or so, or sometimes it'll just work fine from there. The spring is definitely in need of adjustment (the door feels heavy), and I've read that some units have an internal fuse that will kill power if the unit is moving too much weight. It could also just be an electrical problem inside the unit My first go-to would be lubricating the chain and the wheels in the track, but as you've already done this I would have a garage door company come out and have a look at it. I can't speak to the fuse being present or not, but there's obviously something wrong. It could be a misaligned track, a bad opener unit, or the spring. None of these are really user serviceable parts unless you have experience and know what you're doing. The spring is something you really don't want to mess with unless you know what you're doing, as there's a lot of potential energy that can be suddenly released. Moving the track the wrong way could bring the whole door crashing down on top of you.
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Jun 29, 2022 17:14
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Deviant posted:Then I guess i need to clarify. The a/c unit is popping the outlet, not the entire circuit. The walk lamp does of course go off, because it's downstream, but the breaker in my electrical panel doesn't trip. That's behavior that can be caused by a bad GFCI outlet, so the suggestion is to start with replacing it.
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Jun 29, 2022 17:33
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Deviant posted:Then I guess i need to clarify. The a/c unit is popping the outlet, not the entire circuit. The walk lamp does of course go off, because it's downstream, but the breaker in my electrical panel doesn't trip. Yeah so just try replacing the outlet like people are saying.
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Jun 29, 2022 17:34
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off to the store, then. thanks.
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Jun 29, 2022 18:10
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