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These are your best friend: http://www.tnb.com/ps/fulltilt/index.cgi?part=WCMB09 They are a vinyl feeling sticker with mesh in them or some poo poo. Once applied they don't come off without force. Edit: there are different books, 0-9, 0-45 or some poo poo and others. Well worth the money.
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Jul 27, 2013 00:40
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diremonk posted:Thanks for the replies about my ladder tray question. I got about half done, but haven't started working on the part that will go through the firewall. Yeah...labeling isn't your problem. Cable routing and management is. While labeling could make it better......I dunno. I typically use a standard set of fabric cable labels and have a chart on the rack to explain what is what if necessary (it usually isn't unless something else has been done incorrectly).  Sure, you could go fancier and get a machine to print what you want on the labels, but unless you're a professional cabler or are dealing with a whole datacenter the expense seems unjustified. But if you've got $600 burning a hole in your budget go for a Panduit PanTher.
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Jul 27, 2013 01:24
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diremonk posted:
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Jul 27, 2013 01:38
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Is conduit measured by internal dimensions or external dimensions? Or is 3/4" large enough for 2 ethernet cables and 2 television cables?
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Jul 27, 2013 18:07
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FogHelmut posted:Is conduit measured by internal dimensions or external dimensions? Or is 3/4" large enough for 2 ethernet cables and 2 television cables? Internal. 3/4" is indeed large enough for 2 x cat5 and 2 x coax, but pulling it might be a bitch if there are any corners. Ease of pulling depends on the conduit type too. You might want to look into mini coax.
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Jul 27, 2013 18:30
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I recently purchased a Legrand soft touch dimmer for my dining room. The dimmer specifies hot, white, and load (google that one!) for its connections. I live in an old house with interesting wiring. The particular box has only a red and a black wire coming out of it. The instructions specify white to white, black to hot, and red to load. Is it possible to have this device work with only two connections, or am I missing something? I was under the impression that wiring was pretty standard. edit: Ok I actually took a closer look and it appears that this greasy cloth insulated wire may have been white at one point. In any case, it appears unused and capped off. Are there any voltages I can check for, or continuity relationships with the other two to verify this? Kudaros fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Jul 27, 2013 |
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Jul 27, 2013 19:10
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Kudaros posted:I recently purchased a Legrand soft touch dimmer for my dining room. The dimmer specifies hot, white, and load (google that one!) for its connections. I live in an old house with interesting wiring. The particular box has only a red and a black wire coming out of it. The instructions specify white to white, black to hot, and red to load. Is it possible to have this device work with only two connections, or am I missing something? I was under the impression that wiring was pretty standard. You need a neutral and it sounds like you don't have one. Most old houses don't have neutrals run with the lighting circuits.
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Jul 27, 2013 19:15
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Would installing it require an actual electrician?
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Jul 27, 2013 19:18
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Kudaros posted:Would installing it require an actual electrician? Hold on, you might be able to get away with this. How many wires are in this box exactly and what are their colors? Do you have a 2 probe circuit tester? Touch one probe to black and the other to that capped off hopefully-white wire and see if it lights up. As for your question, installing a switch itself wouldn't require an electrician, but if you need to run new cable and comply with current electrical code, then you start to need one. Well, you could do it yourself if you have lots of time and like to buy tools you may only need once, but yes, most places in the US allow for homeowners to do electrical work. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Jul 28, 2013 |
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Jul 28, 2013 02:21
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Going crazy trying to replace a breaker with a GFCI breaker. I am confident I have found the neutral/hot pair that go to the circuit I want to protect, and I properly connected the neutral off the breaker to the neutral bus. When I try and power on the circuit it instantly trips. Is it possible I have the wrong neutral? When I was troubleshooting, I attempted disconnecting various neutrals one at a time from the panel in an attempt to verify I was working with the correct neutral, and I had the lights stay on on that circuit regardless of the neutrals being disconnected. Is this normal?
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Jul 29, 2013 04:54
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SuicidalSmurf posted:Going crazy trying to replace a breaker with a GFCI breaker. I am confident I have found the neutral/hot pair that go to the circuit I want to protect, and I properly connected the neutral off the breaker to the neutral bus. When I try and power on the circuit it instantly trips. Is it possible I have the wrong neutral? When I was troubleshooting, I attempted disconnecting various neutrals one at a time from the panel in an attempt to verify I was working with the correct neutral, and I had the lights stay on on that circuit regardless of the neutrals being disconnected. Is this normal? Make sure neutral isn't tied to ground anywhere in that circuit. If someone retrofitted grounded outlets or another grounded device, they may have bonded the two which would cause the trips. The gfci tripping in that case would be expected behavior, especially if the lights stay on as you say they do. That circuit is completed somehow.
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Jul 29, 2013 16:30
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SuicidalSmurf posted:Going crazy trying to replace a breaker with a GFCI breaker. I am confident I have found the neutral/hot pair that go to the circuit I want to protect, and I properly connected the neutral off the breaker to the neutral bus. When I try and power on the circuit it instantly trips. Is it possible I have the wrong neutral? When I was troubleshooting, I attempted disconnecting various neutrals one at a time from the panel in an attempt to verify I was working with the correct neutral, and I had the lights stay on on that circuit regardless of the neutrals being disconnected. Is this normal? If this is the case, you need to start opening all the downstream boxes to figure out where the neutral-ground fault is. Considering your lights stay on with this neutral wire lifed, I suspect this neutral is wired up to another neutral circuit somewhere- I'd start looking in light switches, especially any gang boxes with more than one light switch in them. grover fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Jul 29, 2013 |
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Jul 29, 2013 22:22
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Makes sense. I know in the bathroom the neutral in the switch is tied to two other neutrals I believe. So if one of the neutrals it is tied into is on another circuit/breaker that would cause the fault?
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Jul 29, 2013 22:55
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SuicidalSmurf posted:Makes sense. I know in the bathroom the neutral in the switch is tied to two other neutrals I believe. So if one of the neutrals it is tied into is on another circuit/breaker that would cause the fault?
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Jul 29, 2013 22:57
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grover posted:Disconnect the neutral from the breaker, and test for continuity with ground. You should have NO continuity if the neutral is properly wired downstream. If there is continuity, it means some of the neutral current is returning via the ground, and creating a current imbalance the GFCI breaker thinks is someone is getting electrocuted. Ugh. That happened to me once, but with an AFCI breaker. It took me 3 hours of going around my house including crawling around in the attic untwisting neutrals and ringing out with my multimeter until I discovered that it was a run of BX to my front door light shorting out in the middle of the run. I had to get really creative to run new MC to it without opening up my walls when my exterior walls are double masonry with furring strips. Come to think of it, you guys helped me diagnose that one back then. grover posted:Yep. The GFCI breaker measures current going out and current going back, and if the two currents are not within 5ma of each other, it trips. If half the neutral current is coming back via another neutral, it's going to trip. If his circumstance is a shared neutral instead of a neutral-ground short, then would he be able to use one of those new 2 pole GFCI breakers? Or are they for 240V appliances? kid sinister fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Jul 30, 2013 |
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Jul 30, 2013 00:11
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If it doesn't have separate switches(which it almost definitely does not), its for 240.
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Jul 30, 2013 00:41
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Pufflekins posted:If it doesn't have separate switches(which it almost definitely does not), its for 240. Are you sure? 2 pole GFCIs still have a neutral input and a neutral pigtail coming off of them, so they should be able to monitor at least one hot-neutral circuit in addition to the hot-hot circuit. I suppose my question comes down to if a 2 pole GFCI breaker can monitor both hot-neutral circuits or not. Also, don't go by the number of switches. Some regular multi-pole breakers only have a single switch, like from Square D. Then there's tandem breakers, with multiple switches in one package. They do contain several breakers, but they're all on the same phase. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 01:09 on Jul 30, 2013 |
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Jul 30, 2013 01:06
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A two pole GFCI breaker can work on both Hot-Hot and Hot-Neutral circuits. Think about how a single pole GFCI breaker works. It essentially compares the current out and current in. Now, it isn't really measuring each leg individually. It measures it all together, and ends up with the sum. If the sum is non-zero, indicating a ground fault, the GFCI trips. A two-pole GFCI works the same way. Current can goes out on one hot leg, and either returns on the other hot leg, or on the neutral. The breaker measures the current on both hots and the neutral, and if it is non-zero, the breaker trips.
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Jul 30, 2013 01:44
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Guy Axlerod posted:A two pole GFCI breaker can work on both Hot-Hot and Hot-Neutral circuits. Yeah, but a 2 pole GFCI breaker would have 2 potential hot-neutral circuits. Don't most 240V appliances with 120V features put them all on only one hot leg? Speaking of weirdo breakers, I swear I remember seeing a quad breaker. I'm not talking 2 tandems tied together, but 4 breakers in a single package. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
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Jul 30, 2013 19:11
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kid sinister posted:Speaking of weirdo breakers, I swear I remember seeing a quad breaker. I'm not talking 2 tandems tied together, but 4 breakers in a single package. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? A 2-pole tandem. 
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Jul 30, 2013 19:28
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Motronic posted:A 2-pole tandem. Nah, I'm talking 4 switches in a single breaker. Maybe I imagined it?
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Jul 30, 2013 19:46
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kid sinister posted:Nah, I'm talking 4 switches in a single breaker. Maybe I imagined it? That is a single breaker and there are 4 switches........ I'm really not clear on what you're describing past that.
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Jul 30, 2013 20:28
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kid sinister posted:Yeah, but a 2 pole GFCI breaker would have 2 potential hot-neutral circuits. Don't most 240V appliances with 120V features put them all on only one hot leg? Yes, and the breaker does not care.
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Jul 30, 2013 23:05
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Motronic posted:That is a single breaker and there are 4 switches........ Now I know! I was thinking of the old Square D tandems with switches top and bottom instead of side by side like every manufacturer makes them now.
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Jul 30, 2013 23:40
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I've been meaning to ask: is this disallowed due to, say, proximity to those water pipes/valves/the faucet below? It's all low-voltage stuff, it's just a patch panel for my receiver with a bunch of audio channels, hdmi, that sort of thing. Same story for the 1-gang panel to the right: hdmi, and a couple ethernet ports. I mean, if it's verboten, I don't really care for now to be honest, I just want to know if I'll have to rip it back out and patch that spot over when I sell.
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Aug 2, 2013 01:12
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Others may correct me, but it's my understanding that low voltage stuff can do whatever you want since it's not a safety hazard.
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Aug 2, 2013 01:34
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Okay, that was my take as well, and why I'm not going to care until I have to, but I figured I'd check anyhow. 
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Aug 2, 2013 01:46
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Dalrain posted:Others may correct me, but it's my understanding that low voltage stuff can do whatever you want since it's not a safety hazard. That's correct. LV doesn't count by code (until we start talking commercial and even then it's only smoke spread).
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Aug 2, 2013 04:17
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Always wondered: Does each circuit breaker in a tandem circuit breaker (say two 20 AMPers) offer the same quality/protection/whathaveyou of a single 20 AMP breaker?
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Aug 2, 2013 05:58
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socketwrencher posted:Always wondered: Does each circuit breaker in a tandem circuit breaker (say two 20 AMPers) offer the same quality/protection/whathaveyou of a single 20 AMP breaker? Without getting into data sheets and whatnot, "yeah, pretty much."
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Aug 2, 2013 14:37
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Dalrain posted:Others may correct me, but it's my understanding that low voltage stuff can do whatever you want since it's not a safety hazard. Almost whatever you want... There are some restrictions, like low voltage can't share the same raceway as mains voltage, and you need to use box dividers if they share the same wall box. That's actually a good idea as it helps reduce crosstalk and interference.
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Aug 2, 2013 17:59
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kid sinister posted:Almost whatever you want... There are some restrictions, like low voltage can't share the same raceway as mains voltage, and you need to use box dividers if they share the same wall box. That's actually a good idea as it helps reduce crosstalk and interference. Yeah but the reason for that isn't to protect the low voltage stuff, it's to keep people who think they're working on just low voltage stuff from electrocuting themselves.
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Aug 3, 2013 05:26
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:Without getting into data sheets and whatnot, "yeah, pretty much." Interesting- thanks.
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Aug 3, 2013 15:41
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I have a leak under my kitchen sink, so I was emptying everything out. I noticed that the power for the garbage disposal is just some romex that comes out of a hole in the wall, shared with the PVC drain line. That isn't up to code, is it?
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Aug 4, 2013 15:21
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Guy Axlerod posted:I have a leak under my kitchen sink, so I was emptying everything out. I noticed that the power for the garbage disposal is just some romex that comes out of a hole in the wall, shared with the PVC drain line. That isn't up to code, is it? It could have been for the time/area....but probably not. It should be at least MC if you're hard wiring to the disposal, but more typically it's an outlet as most disposals come with a plug.
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Aug 4, 2013 15:39
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I'm in the process of buying a home built in 1925. From the looks of it the electrical has been revamped. That said: will a general home inspector be able to verify whether its knob and tube wiring (bad) or should I have an electrician out in addition to the home inspection? From the looks of it its in pretty good shape - but who knows.
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Aug 5, 2013 23:07
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Walked posted:I'm in the process of buying a home built in 1925. From the looks of it the electrical has been revamped. Most home inspectors are idiots and/or failed builders (or worse, failed building inspectors who are themselves largely failed builders). So whether you need someone else or not really depends on what you are trying to do. Do you need the home to appraise well because you don't have much of a down payment? Then just use an inspector the mortgage company tells you to. If not, find a proper inspector and maybe even hire other professionals for more scrutiny.
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Aug 6, 2013 01:18
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Walked posted:I'm in the process of buying a home built in 1925. From the looks of it the electrical has been revamped. Your electrical will be an amalgamation of various decades. Hopefully the service and breakers have been updated. A home inspector will not look behind anything ( like plate covers) is there an unfinished basement or attic? Thats the best shot at finding k&t. What are your fears about knob and tube? Houses built in the 20s that haven't been gutted to the studs will have live k&t SOMEWHERE.
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Aug 6, 2013 01:30
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Does anyone else have issues getting the wires to fit into the j-boxes on recessed lighting cans? I don't mean for a single can, but when you have multiple cans on the same circuit. Unfortunately this is 12g as that's what was run from the panel to the switches. I just wish they'd make those j-boxes about an 1" bigger in all dimensions.
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Aug 6, 2013 03:29
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socketwrencher posted:Does anyone else have issues getting the wires to fit into the j-boxes on recessed lighting cans? I don't mean for a single can, but when you have multiple cans on the same circuit. Unfortunately this is 12g as that's what was run from the panel to the switches. I just wish they'd make those j-boxes about an 1" bigger in all dimensions. Yup. They're tight as hell with 3 12 ga cables.
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Aug 6, 2013 04:04
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