Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:

GreenTrench posted:

Technically, that's two code violations. One is not allowed to tape up wire that's smaller than #6, and a neutral is not allowed to be phased to hot. Someone some day might pick up that wire elsewhere and go "wow, that's white, it's a neutral! Let me splice in because it's a neutral...."
It's OK in switch loops, though. Or, rather, used to be. New codes require a neutral be run to the switch, but that's brand new in 2011.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

some texas redneck posted:

Our attic
...
I'd like to add a 2 tube T8 fixture.

FYI: Fluorescents start very dim when they're cold and take awhile to work up to full brightness, like when you'd most likely need to see what's going on with your furnace.

Personally I'd just pigtail another screw-in fixture off your existing socket just closer to the furnace.

Barnabas posted:

And I don't have that lone red wire hanging out by itself anymore. Should I have that red wire hanging out by itself? That just seemed like a bad situation. But I'm obviously not an electrician.

Edit: Just discovered another dangling red wire at the dining room fixture. What the hell?

For ceiling fixtures like that, one of the hots is used for always hot and the other is used for switched hot. That way the box can be used for fixtures like ceiling fans, where the switch can control the just the fan's lights while the fan can always remain on.

If it isn't being used, just twist a wire nut onto the end and stick it back up into the box.

kid sinister fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Dec 18, 2010

Mill Town
Apr 17, 2006

GreenTrench posted:

Technically, that's two code violations. One is not allowed to tape up wire that's smaller than #6, and a neutral is not allowed to be phased to hot. Someone some day might pick up that wire elsewhere and go "wow, that's white, it's a neutral! Let me splice in because it's a neutral...."

What would he have to do then, run 12/3 and leave the neutral disconnected? Or can you get black/red 12/2?

Jake Gittes
Jul 11, 2006

me irl
I just installed the Current Cost Power Meter, and I noticed that my breaker box is buzzing after I put the clamps on the main leads into the breakers. My washing machine is running right now and presumably pulling a lot of amps which probably explains the buzzing, but I was curious if this is normal.

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

Mill Town posted:

What would he have to do then, run 12/3 and leave the neutral disconnected? Or can you get black/red 12/2?

He would run regular 12/3, with red and black connected to the hots, then white to the neutral. The ground is always the ground and can't be repurposed. In this case it would connect to the receptacle's frame, or the box if it's steel.

The real question is how insta is going to do computer-grade surge suppression off a non-NEMA 5-15 outlet...

kid sinister fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Dec 26, 2010

insta
Jan 28, 2009

kid sinister posted:

He would run regular 12/3, with red and black connected to the hots, then white to the neutral. The ground is always the ground and can't be repurposed. In this case it would connect to the receptacle's frame, or the box if it's steel.

The real question is how insta is going to do computer-grade surge suppression off a non-NEMA 5-15 outlet...

Hmm, didn't think of the surge suppression / UPS. That's going to kill the project, unless we go whole-house suppression. Rats :(

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:

insta posted:

Hmm, didn't think of the surge suppression / UPS. That's going to kill the project, unless we go whole-house suppression. Rats :(
Surge suppressors usually shunt line-neutral transient voltages, too, so it should still provide some protection to put one on a GFCI. Whole-house surge suppression only costs about $35, and is more effective than power strips since is has a lower impedance path to ground. Contrary to popular belief, you can put in multiple layers of surge suppressors like this, and it provides more protection than one alone can. (Simply plugging one power strip into another does jack squat, though.)

The issue is that your PC case is supposed to be grounded. If it isn't, it's going to be floating at some random voltage all the time; the GFCI will keep you from getting shocked, but won't help with EMI.

chedemefedeme
May 25, 2007

Until then I need your help
figuring out the logistics!
As a computer tech who's home office is sometimes powering thousands of dollars of computers I don't own....tell me about this $35 whole house more effective surge protection.

I've found through observing numerous client failures that it's true the little surge protector plug strips do almost nothing. Tell me about affordable, more effective solutions.

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
We were discussing this in July in this thread. A whole house surge suppressor uses the same MOVs as power-strip style surge suppressors, just slightly larger to handle the higher fault current associated with lower impedance at the panel. Professional-grade TVSS/SPD use the same MOVs, too, but if you really are hosting professionally, you might want to research a professional model- commercial data centers will have one of these mounted on every single panel, getting bigger and bigger going back to the main switchgear. They work by shunting the transient overvoltage to ground, which as you may note if you draw a general ideal wiring diagram, still routes that overvoltage through your equipment! You have to instead draw the wiring diagram with every wire as a resistor. If you short-circuit it out, increasing current, you now get a sizeable voltage drop across every wire upstream of you- this is what really protects you. Multiple layers of this mean less impedance to ground (and more current flow) and the more points you protect at, the more wires you pull fault current through, and the more voltage drop you see. I'd keep the local power strips, too.

Here was my recommendation for general personal home use. I haven't seen any data on how effective/reliable/etc this particular model is, but SquareD is a good name in electrical equipment:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3090739&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=20#post380069337

grover posted:

For $35, you can put a surge suppressor on your whole house. They're more effective the shorter the path is to ground, so your main panel is the best spot to put it. It's OK to stack, them, too: you can use this at your main panel AND one on your computer's power strip. Datacenters and the like put surge suppressive devices on every panel in the building.

I bought this one because I trust SquareD more than a company I've never heard of, but there are others:
http://www.amazon.com/SOURCE-SQUARE-SDSA1175-SECONDARY-ARRESTOR/dp/B000H5Y8EM



It can withstand a bunch of low-power surges, or a single really bad one. Replace it when the light goes out. As far as DIY goes, it's easy to install. See the 3 wires? One black wire on each phase, and the white goes to neutral/ground (one and the same in the residential panels this unit is designed for.) To do it properly, use a dedicated double-yoke breaker, and mount it to the outside your panel using the lock nut on the back. Wires should be trimmed to be as short as possible. Depending on the UL listing of the breakers in your panel, you may be able to piggyback off another 2-pole breaker, like your dryer or range breaker. It's a Type-1 SPD and can legally be installed on the supply side of your main breaker*, so breaker size doesn't really matter**; I'd put it on 15A 2-pole breaker if you buy a new breaker, but I piggy-backed it off the 30A dryer breaker in my house.

* some caveats apply regarding available fault current and a few other things. Also, you're an idiot if you put it on the supply side of your main breaker when it would work just as well (and be a few orders of magnitude safer to install) on a small branch circuit breaker.
** some caveats apply regarding available fault current and common sense, here, too!
It's still not going to protect from a direct lightning strike, there's nothing you can do about that, but it can really help reduce the risk from a nearby lightning strike. When a bolt hit a tree across the street from me, one that's about 8' from the lines that supply my house, I was glad I had this! In the end, all I lost was a cable TV splitter and garage door opener sensor that I suspect picked up EMP on the low-voltage wire.

If you want the absolute best, you'll want to use a surge arrestor on the high-voltage side of your transformer, and put all your equipment on double-conversion UPS units, (as opposed to consumer grade line-interactive like APC Smart UPS and every other lesser-priced consumer model on the market). Even a good line interactive UPS will help, too.

grover fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Dec 27, 2010

chedemefedeme
May 25, 2007

Until then I need your help
figuring out the logistics!
But is a Type-1 SPD really recommended on my home when while reading to educate myself on these pretty nifty little devices I find it repeatedly stated that a Type-2 SPD should be used on buildings without lighting protection because Type-1 SPDs rely on lightning protection within 50m of the building?

I could be understanding something wrong here. I don't run a data center but rather a decently busy tech-shop. These machines aren't under a requirement to operate 24/7 but I'm in a pretty lightning active area and have already had indirect/inductive hits here twice in two years that destroyed some equipment.


Edit: I love reading up on things. This somehow lead me to come across the power conditioning and transitional quality advantages of double-conversion constantly on-line UPS units. Unfortunately it seems these are harder to come by. They arent hugely more expensive but I cant find any on newegg?!

chedemefedeme fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Dec 28, 2010

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

chedemefedeme posted:

As a computer tech who's home office is sometimes powering thousands of dollars of computers I don't own....tell me about this $35 whole house more effective surge protection.

I've found through observing numerous client failures that it's true the little surge protector plug strips do almost nothing. Tell me about affordable, more effective solutions.
You might also be interested to find out that some SPDs also offer coax and phone line protection, and by extension protect cable internet and DSL equipment from surges over their lines. They make ethernet surge protectors too, but most of those are for fast ethernet and only offer protection for pairs 2 and 3 while pairs 1 and 4 aren't even connected internally. Well, I suppose that would protect those wires technically, but yeah, they won't pass thru a gig signal. There has to be gig suppressors for all 4 pairs by now, I just haven't looked too hard.

And are you sure that those weren't just power strips?

Three-Phase
Aug 5, 2006

by zen death robot

chedemefedeme posted:

Edit: I love reading up on things. This somehow lead me to come across the power conditioning and transitional quality advantages of double-conversion constantly on-line UPS units. Unfortunately it seems these are harder to come by. They arent hugely more expensive but I cant find any on newegg?!

I saw a small double-conversion Eaton unit (like 2kVA) at work. I think they cost several hundred dollars. The UPS units I'm typically around are double-conversion, 208/120V or 480/277V units with a separate battery storage cage storing a hundred or so jars, and the units are rated from around 50kVA to 250kVA.

Ah, that's the nice part of running medium and high voltage circuit breaker logic and trip/close coils on 125VDC. No UPS needed, just a battery charge controller.

Three-Phase fucked around with this message at 12:37 on Dec 28, 2010

Canuckistan
Jan 14, 2004

I'm the greatest thing since World War III.





Soiled Meat
I need a manual transfer switch for my home generator. I also have an old style fuse box and may as well get a new breaker box installed while I'm at it and I think there's breaker boxes with the transfer switch built in, right?

Ideally I'd have a new breaker box that I can switch any individual circuit to the generator as needed and perhaps a watt meter so I know when I'm hitting the limit of the generator.

Any recommendations?

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:

Canuckistan posted:

I need a manual transfer switch for my home generator. I also have an old style fuse box and may as well get a new breaker box installed while I'm at it and I think there's breaker boxes with the transfer switch built in, right?

Ideally I'd have a new breaker box that I can switch any individual circuit to the generator as needed and perhaps a watt meter so I know when I'm hitting the limit of the generator.

Any recommendations?
There are a couple ways to do this. One way is to stick an MTS between your meter and main panel, and manually load-shed by opening up breakers you can't power before you start up your generator. (Not really a DIY project.)

Another way (favorite of retrofitters) is to rearrange breakers in the panel so that the generator is on top, and use a sliding piece of sheet metal as an interlock that turns your panel into an MTS. This is often a DIY project.

A third way is to install a subpanel (fed in either way above), and refeed everything you want on generator from this subpanel. This also allows you to use a reasonably sized (and priced) ATS and an auto-start generator if you so desire.

Be aware that upgrading your fuse panel to a modern breaker panel will require you to bring your entire house up to code with grounded outlets, etc. You can do virtually all of this DIY. There's nothing really inherently unsafe about fuses, but they're horribly inconvenient and the electrical system for your house is likely woefully out of date and not up to modern safety codes, and a modern breaker panel will be able to support modern wiring standards.

grover fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Dec 30, 2010

Pope Hilarius
May 3, 2007

How can I go about burying my homes electric hookup? There are two wires running up to my house that are connected to the overhead lines on the street. We had to cut down a large tree in the front of our property and now the lines are much more prominent and are detrimental to the value of the home. Is there a type of professional service that will do this service for me? The wires would have to be buried at least 100', along a slope.

chedemefedeme
May 25, 2007

Until then I need your help
figuring out the logistics!
Unless you have a meter on the pole at the street the only people who may touch the actual wires are the electric company's linesmen.

If you want a big DIY project you can probably bury the conduit yourself (ask someone here who knows more than me the requirements for size, material type and depth required for your type of service and location) or pay a contractor to come and install the conduit.

You will then pay the electric company to come out and re-run your main service lines through the conduit.


This could get costly.


Edit: Are there also telecommunications/television lines in the air along this route? You'll need a separate conduit for those two items. They may go with each other in one smaller conduit for them, but just not in the larger one for your main electric service. Whether or not you must call the telco/cable company to move these is also dictated by whether or not their service box is at a pole at the street or on the side of your house.

Another edit: Be darn sure of where your water, gas and sewer lines are. My water line runs underground on almost exactly the path my electric lines are in the air above.

chedemefedeme fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Dec 30, 2010

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Sorry, this is long and ranty, but I think it belongs here.

Anyway, currently living with parents... they had a kitchen remodel done around 5 years ago - new counters, new sink, new appliances, and added an instant hot water tap at the sink. They wound up removing the hot water tap about 3 weeks later when a hose popped off it and flooded the front half of the house... did I mention they had hardwood floors put in during the remodel?

I never asked where they got power for the tap, since I didn't live here at the time. I assumed it was plugged into the live half of the garbage disposal outlet.

Last night the dishwasher acted like it was stuck in drain mode - it was started around midnight and I noticed it running around 2:30am. Google revealed that this model dishwasher has a drip pan under it and if it senses water in it, it automatically switches to drain. It's supposed to shut off after awhile, but didn't. It was also making a lovely burnt copper smell.

Killed breaker, attempted to remove front panel. Start cussing up a storm when I discover that when they redid the floors, they never put anything under the dishwasher.. it's sitting on concrete, with a hardwood floor and molding in front of it. Got the cover off, find standing water under the dishwasher. Immediately thankful I killed the breaker, as I discovered the cover was off the junction box, the ground wire wasn't connected, the outlet for the hot water tap had been spliced into the 16 gauge! power cord to the dishwasher with 14 gauge romex (20 amp breaker), and the neutral wire going into the dishwasher was melted. The romex was also laying in the water, part of it was zip tied to the water inlet. Also lots of soot in the junction box and evidence of arcing.

Cord and plug for a dishwasher is accepted here, as long as a switch is installed nearby. But something tells me a permanently installed outlet is not supposed to be supplied by a cord.

Not sure if the dishwasher is a loss yet or not - the anti.. flood.. whatever you call it, functioned like it was supposed to. Something is leaking under there and appears to have been leaking for quite awhile. The wiring from the junction box up into the door is melted. It's a nice expensive Bosch that's been about as reliable as a Yugo, and has had some recall work done on it to.. prevent fires.

I've ripped out the additional outlet and romex and disconnected power to the dishwasher. We're going to try and figure out how the hell to get it out later today, both to see where it's leaking from and to see if we can salvage the wiring inside it. But hey, they were nice enough not to attach the dishwasher to the counters or cabinets, so that's one less thing to deal with. :v: I'm just gonna take a stab in the dark and guess that they went with the lowest bidder like usual, and didn't check to see if they were licensed or if any permits were pulled...

I also seem to remember at least one GFCI outlet in the kitchen before the remodel, the one old outlet remaining also has a GFCI Protected sticker on it. No GFCI outlets to be found in the kitchen, and no GFCI breakers... :suicide: Mom also told me this morning that the dishwasher sometimes "tickles" her if her hands are wet, woulda been great to bring that up 5 years ago with the installer.


Click here for full



Click here for the full

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 13:24 on Dec 31, 2010

chedemefedeme
May 25, 2007

Until then I need your help
figuring out the logistics!
Hoooly crap. This is one of the finer examples of the gaping, vast distance between "does it work" and "is it right".

Creeped me the heck out with the tingling/tickling part though. Water seeping under the hardwood for a while, bare feet in the house perhaps, and an ungrounded arcing circuit...you may be lucky to still have a mom.

I'm fairly sure first order here would be gfci in the kitchen. Good lord.


Question for the code current, on this topic: do dish washers go on gfci in most areas? Does their higher amperage make this a challenge as common kitchen gfcis are 15a?


I edit all my posts: if the house flooded once, this leaked making the second water incident then the gross electrical negligence...is it time to pursue the contractor or was this done partly diy?

chedemefedeme fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Dec 31, 2010

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:

chedemefedeme posted:

Hoooly crap. This is one of the finer examples of the gaping, vast distance between "does it work" and "is it right".

Creeped me the heck out with the tingling/tickling part though. Water seeping under the hardwood for a while, bare feet in the house perhaps, and an ungrounded arcing circuit...you may be lucky to still have a mom.

I'm fairly sure first order here would be gfci in the kitchen. Good lord.


Question for the code current, on this topic: do dish washers go on gfci in most areas? Does their higher amperage make this a challenge as common kitchen gfcis are 15a?
Dishwashers are not required to be on GFCI if they're built-in equipment (as most are) and have a dedicated outlet, which is also required for built-in equipment. Proper grounding is the most important thing you can do. Note: GFCI are not required, but not prohibited either. I put them on pretty much everything in my house for safety's sake. Some people complain about appliances like this nuisance-tripping as they age, but IMHO, there is no such thing as a nuisance trip, just failing appliances that need to be replaced before someone gets killed.

I had a table saw once that gave me a few tickles, despite everything being plastic. I tore it apart to discover the idiot assembling it had pinched some of the wires, and driven one of the screws holding the power switch on right through the hot lead. Which I tended to brush when turning the switch off, while effectively grounding myself by leaning on the metal top with my other hand. I bitched about it and they sent me a replacement power cable, but eh. I always operate my tools from GFCI outlets, btw, this one included.

kid sinister
Nov 16, 2002

chedemefedeme posted:

Another edit: Be darn sure of where your water, gas and sewer lines are. My water line runs underground on almost exactly the path my electric lines are in the air above.

Call 811, they will send guys out in the next few days to mark your buried utility lines for free. This is also good advice if you're digging a hole in your yard for a tree, bush, mailbox, pond, etc.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

chedemefedeme posted:

I edit all my posts: if the house flooded once, this leaked making the second water incident then the gross electrical negligence...is it time to pursue the contractor or was this done partly diy?

It was all "professional" in that contractors were paid. I learned today that most of the work was done on the side though, and the guy who did all the electrical is nowhere to be found, and the company he worked for is gone as well.

Same guy also installed the recessed lighting in the kitchen. Went up in the attic today to see how well that was done, but couldn't find them at all. Pulled the bulb out of one along with the trim, discovered that the fixtures are just sitting in the openings and not attached to anything, they're only being held in place by the trim rings. They're Halo H7T's, which from what I could find, are not meant to contact insulation. They're buried under at least 20 inches of fiberglass.

He also installed outlets outside - one has wires outside of conduit (all purple THHN, looks like 16 or 14), all of them are GFCIs. One used to constantly trip every time it rained, it no longer works at all. I have no idea what breaker it's on, so it's kinda hard to kill power to it without taking down the whole house.

Got the dishwasher out today though. Turns out the supply line has been leaking for who knows how long, whoever put it in had extended the original line and it was leaking there. The cabinets have soaked up most of the water, so they're pretty much hosed. The wiring isn't as hosed up as I thought though, it looks like the neutral got pinched and arced. I should be able to just cut out the burnt section and be good to go, though mom, as usual, has called a few places asking if it's safe to do so, and every single one has asked how old it is. "Oh, 5 years old? It's worn out, you need to buy a new one from us right now! Yes, dishwashers only last for 5 years, just like all other major appliances" and she's taken it as gospel. She now wants to rip out all the appliances and replace them, again.

Nemico
Sep 23, 2006

Just a note if you're going to replace those H7Ts with different Halo fixtures: The IC ones will have an I in the part number, and will be silver, not white on the outside of the can.

Ex: The H7RICT http://www.cooperlighting.com/commo...Family&id=11428

These should take the same baffles and trims as the H7Ts, so you shouldn't have to rebuy them if you keep them around.

Three-Phase
Aug 5, 2006

by zen death robot

some texas redneck posted:

He also installed outlets outside - one has wires outside of conduit (all purple THHN, looks like 16 or 14), all of them are GFCIs. One used to constantly trip every time it rained, it no longer works at all. I have no idea what breaker it's on, so it's kinda hard to kill power to it without taking down the whole house.

I think you can buy 120V tracers were you plug in one unit at the outlet, and then you can use the other half to determine which breaker feeds that outlet.

Or it could be as simple as getting a buddy, a voltmeter, and shouting back and forth "IS THAT IT?" "NO!".

eddiewalker
Apr 28, 2004

Arrrr ye landlubber

Three-Phase posted:

I think you can buy 120V tracers were you plug in one unit at the outlet, and then you can use the other half to determine which breaker feeds that outlet.

Or it could be as simple as getting a buddy, a voltmeter, and shouting back and forth "IS THAT IT?" "NO!".

I plug a cheap boombox into the outlet I'm trying to track down, then flip off breakers till the music stops.

edit: Oh, it doesn't work. Nevermind.

eddiewalker fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Jan 1, 2011

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Nemico posted:

Just a note if you're going to replace those H7Ts with different Halo fixtures: The IC ones will have an I in the part number, and will be silver, not white on the outside of the can.

We're not really in a financial position to replace anything unless absolutely necessary - I think instead, we're just going to somehow get to that section of the attic and move the insulation away from the fixtures. It's all blown in, and the fixtures aren't actually attached to anything. I was able to remove the trim and push a fixture up and to the side today, and just used a (gloved) hand to brush the insulation away. Not the ideal solution, but it'll at least make them safe. A friend suggested maybe building a cage out of chickenwire or something similarly flexible.

As for the outlets.. the one in question is in the backyard, it's in a group of 4 duplex outlets. Two of them used to be constant (those are the dead ones), two are switched for a fountain and associated lighting. All the wiring runs in the same conduit, and the conduit goes into the attic by the garage. I'm 99% sure that they got power either from the garage door opener outlet or the attic light.

edit: Got the dishwasher wiring fixed as best as I could - had to remove a section of burnt wire. The wires won't reach the junction box bolted to the DW anymore, but I don't have a cover for it anyway. Dishwasher turns on and runs fine, but apparently I managed to crack the flex drain pipe :suicide:

edit2: dad went to get a hose coupler, with a section of the 5/8" drain hose so he could find a coupler that fit. Lowe's guy: "Use this 3/8 coupler and tighten the poo poo out of it" - Dad tried that and turned it on, promptly draining the dishwasher inside a cabinet. Replacing the hose isn't an option as the dishwasher has to come out, come apart, and it uses a Bosch specific press-fit connection at the motor that nobody seems to carry.

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 19:22 on Jan 2, 2011

FogHelmut
Dec 18, 2003

I have a wall switch that controls an outlet. What I want to do is make the wall outlet permanently on, and install a light fixture in the ceiling controlled by the switch. Cutting holes, fishing wire, etc isn't a problem. I just want someone who knows what they're talking about to tell me if this is reasonable or not.

Here is what the box behind the switch looks like now:

I hope I used the right symbols


Click here for the full 674x907 image.



Here is what I want to do with it

Click here for the full 695x944 image.


Will this burn my house down?

edit- The light fixture it under the big giant text that says I made the diagram with trial software.

babyeatingpsychopath
Oct 28, 2000
Forum Veteran


FogHelmut posted:


edit- The light fixture it under the big giant text that says I made the diagram with trial software.

Looks good to me. Hopefully, there's enough room in that switch box to do everything you want.

Note: the "short" prong on outlets is the hot wire, the "long" prong is the neutral.

Whatever color you have (red/black/etc) should be on the short prong, center of fixture, brass screw, etc. White should be long/shell/white screw.

FogHelmut
Dec 18, 2003

babyeatingpsychopath posted:

Looks good to me. Hopefully, there's enough room in that switch box to do everything you want.

Note: the "short" prong on outlets is the hot wire, the "long" prong is the neutral.

Whatever color you have (red/black/etc) should be on the short prong, center of fixture, brass screw, etc. White should be long/shell/white screw.


I can always stick a bigger box in there if I need to. I didn't know which side of the outlet was what, but the back of the outlet has "black" and "white" written on it next to the holes/screws anyway.

ValhallaSmith
Aug 16, 2005
Fun don't burn your building down times at a charity I do some IT work for. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9ek3obo8bY and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9ek3obo8bY .

TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

I have a conundrum that I think I already know the answer to but would like confirmation on.

My house is from 1967 and the panel is located in a bathroom closet. I know both of those are big no-nos these days and if I want to remodel the bathroom (I do) then I need to fix the panel location.

Behind the wall that the panel is in is a hallway which would be an OK location for the box. Would it be possible/safe to remove all the wiring from the panel except the mains coming in from the meter, shut off the main breaker so the panel isn't hot and rotate the panel 180 degrees so it's now facing the hallway and its back is toward the bathroom?

I know that to do this type of work correctly I should have the meter pulled (and upgrade to 200A service at the same time) but I spoke to my electric company and if I have them pull my meter I am going to have to relocate my meter box, pass an inspection and have them run new line from the pole.

Also, the wire between the panel and meter is aluminum and I have 100A service.

Thoughts or ideas?

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:

TouchyMcFeely posted:

I have a conundrum that I think I already know the answer to but would like confirmation on.

My house is from 1967 and the panel is located in a bathroom closet. I know both of those are big no-nos these days and if I want to remodel the bathroom (I do) then I need to fix the panel location.

Behind the wall that the panel is in is a hallway which would be an OK location for the box. Would it be possible/safe to remove all the wiring from the panel except the mains coming in from the meter, shut off the main breaker so the panel isn't hot and rotate the panel 180 degrees so it's now facing the hallway and its back is toward the bathroom?

I know that to do this type of work correctly I should have the meter pulled (and upgrade to 200A service at the same time) but I spoke to my electric company and if I have them pull my meter I am going to have to relocate my meter box, pass an inspection and have them run new line from the pole.

Also, the wire between the panel and meter is aluminum and I have 100A service.

Thoughts or ideas?
Shutting off the main breaker doesn't change that the lines coming in from the meter are still hot. You'd have to have the poco secure the meter. You might also have issues with requirements that the panel be as close as possible to the service entry; worst-case is that you install a service disconnect outside your house by the meter, and run afresh from there.

chedemefedeme
May 25, 2007

Until then I need your help
figuring out the logistics!
Hey grover. That brings a question to my mind. The house I grew up in has the service entry with 200a breaker on the outside wall of the home closest to the street service, but every single circuit in the house is on a breaker in a sub panel in the garage, which is on the opposite side of the home from the service entry. (Home built in 1993 and had some fairly questionable electrical issues within the first year but no major ones since.)

Outside is literally only the main breaker. The convenient part of this setup was not going outside on the occasion that you needed to turn off a breaker or that something tripped.

When they built my new home 2.5 years ago the panel and all breakers were put in the box on the outside wall closest to service entry. I have no inside/garage panel. I'm not particularly miffed about this but it has been somewhat inconvenient when doing projects. The panel location is at the exact point furthest from all doors on the home possible, making it somewhat humorous as I jog laps around the house whenever I'm trying to quickly test something.

Not a big deal, as even my DIY loving self doesn't mess with things but a few times a year, but I've always wondered if my electricians were saving a buck or if there is some code about placing the main breaker bank closest to the service entry and main breaker as possible.

This home (2008) has never had any electrical issues, contrary to the 1993 home. The electricians were competent and the work was well thought out and easy to deal with when I've decided to change things. Maybe a simpler setup like this is just better?

Edit: Downside to outside panel...I didn't seal a joint as good as I should have a few months back and found two midsize geckos living inside the panel, with a third one dead (fried?). I've sealed it up sense but that was a somewhat annoying function to having it outside.

chedemefedeme fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Jan 9, 2011

TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

grover posted:

Shutting off the main breaker doesn't change that the lines coming in from the meter are still hot. You'd have to have the poco secure the meter. You might also have issues with requirements that the panel be as close as possible to the service entry; worst-case is that you install a service disconnect outside your house by the meter, and run afresh from there.

Yeah, I'm aware that turning off the mains doesn't stop power coming on the line. It was more to make sure the panel wasn't hot.

The reason the meter has to be relocated is because the PO put up a fence restricting access to the meter and installed a deck underneath the meter, again, both big no-nos. In order for them to pop the meter back in the meter base needs to be replaced with a box with a disconnect and relocated to the opposite end of the house.

The added bonus is that I discovered all kinds of fun stuff in the basement after removing a whole slew of formica paneling they had tacked to the studs.

Sounds like I've got a lot of reading and work ahead of me to fix the wiring in this house. Awesome.

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
TouchyMcFeeley- I think my reply here answers your questions, too. There's no substitute for reading up, though! If you plan on doing a lot of electrical work, I highly recommend buying a copy of your local code book, and read relevant chapters cover-to-cover before starting any work. For most of the US, it will be International Residential Code (IRC) 2009, which includes all the electrical, plumbing and other building codes relevant to single-family residences.

chedemefedeme posted:

When they built my new home 2.5 years ago the panel and all breakers were put in the box on the outside wall closest to service entry. I have no inside/garage panel. I'm not particularly miffed about this but it has been somewhat inconvenient when doing projects. The panel location is at the exact point furthest from all doors on the home possible, making it somewhat humorous as I jog laps around the house whenever I'm trying to quickly test something.

Not a big deal, as even my DIY loving self doesn't mess with things but a few times a year, but I've always wondered if my electricians were saving a buck or if there is some code about placing the main breaker bank closest to the service entry and main breaker as possible.
Building codes require everything to be as incredibly inconvenient and costly as possible :eng101:


The main service disconnect is the first piece of overcurrent protection in your house; there is no fuse or anything protecting your meter or the cables that run from the meter to your panel. There's a fuse on the transformer, but it lets a LOT of energy through before it blows, which burns houses down. NEC thus requires the run between your meter and the first service disconnect be as short as possible, to reduce the risk as much as possible. Most inspectors want this to be nippled directly back-to-back, but will let you run it a couple feet if there really is no other way.

Sounds like your service entry used to be on the other side of the house, but was moved at one point. When it was, they did the easy route, which was put a service disconnect outside by the panel, and then just run a feeder to the existing panel location.

grover fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Jan 9, 2011

TouchyMcFeely
Aug 21, 2006

High five! Hell yeah!

I was thinking about my situation and had an idea:

Would it be possible to put a 200A panel in my basement on the foundation wall where the meter would be relocated to, use it as the new main panel and convert the old panel to a sub-panel?

I know the panel in the bathroom still needs to be addressed but I think going this route would allow me to get most of the electrical work done prior to having the meter pulled.

I have a copy of the NEC 2011 pocket guide that I've been flipping through but haven't yet purchased a copy of the IRC.

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:

TouchyMcFeely posted:

I was thinking about my situation and had an idea:

Would it be possible to put a 200A panel in my basement on the foundation wall where the meter would be relocated to, use it as the new main panel and convert the old panel to a sub-panel?

I know the panel in the bathroom still needs to be addressed but I think going this route would allow me to get most of the electrical work done prior to having the meter pulled.

I have a copy of the NEC 2011 pocket guide that I've been flipping through but haven't yet purchased a copy of the IRC.
So long as the new panel location meets all the other requirements then, yes, this should work just fine. Might be in your NEC pocket guide, but I don't have it my Dr. Watts NEC pocket guide. Basically, must be accessible- if your basement is a real room and there's 36" of room to work, than it's probably just fine. NEC goes way more in depth than what you really need; IRC has all the relevant NEC codes and is a lot easier for a DIY to digest.

You might even want to consider installing a manual transfer switch for a generator when you're doing all this.

grover fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Jan 10, 2011

chedemefedeme
May 25, 2007

Until then I need your help
figuring out the logistics!

grover posted:

Sounds like your service entry used to be on the other side of the house, but was moved at one point. When it was, they did the easy route, which was put a service disconnect outside by the panel, and then just run a feeder to the existing panel location.

Moved at my old house or new house? Both were built new and only ever occupied by my parents (1993 house) and me (2008 house). Service was never moved.

Nemico
Sep 23, 2006

How much are the code books in the states, anyways? Here in Canada I sell them for $150.

grover
Jan 23, 2002

PEW PEW PEW
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:
:circlefap::circlefap::circlefap:

chedemefedeme posted:

Moved at my old house or new house? Both were built new and only ever occupied by my parents (1993 house) and me (2008 house). Service was never moved.
Your 93 house. Is it a cookie-cutter house, where the panel is in the same location in every house regardless of where the service entry is?

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

chedemefedeme
May 25, 2007

Until then I need your help
figuring out the logistics!

grover posted:

Your 93 house. Is it a cookie-cutter house, where the panel is in the same location in every house regardless of where the service entry is?

Ah, this it may be. It was a custom home, but the floorplan was not 100% original when my parents chose it before modifying it. You're saying they just centralized the breaker panel in the design and put the service wherever it should go. That makes sense.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply