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shortspecialbus posted:nut the two blacks together and just cap off the white one Yup! Or I would actually just remove that 6-inch pigtail from the neutral (white) and re-cap the two white wires back together without it. Unless you've used wire nuts before, do some test runs. You can gently caress it up. http://www.kinginnovation.com/blog-post/5/twist-on-wire-nuts-the-6-most-common-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid http://on.aol.com/video/proper-way-to-use-wire-nuts-517716782
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Jan 14, 2015 21:02
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slap me silly posted:Yup! Or I would actually just remove that 6-inch pigtail from the neutral (white) and re-cap the two white wires back together without it. I've used wire nuts before and I sort of have gone with "use a nut that seems like it's about the right size and twist it til it feels about right." I guess maybe I should be more careful.
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Jan 14, 2015 21:26
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Regarding size, there are these ones that will handle just about any situation in normal house wiring: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ideal-76B-Red-Wire-Nuts-100-Pack-30-076P/202894274 As for twisting, your "feels about right" intuition could be good already but a critical eye on it couldn't hurt 
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Jan 14, 2015 21:32
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slap me silly posted:Regarding size, there are these ones that will handle just about any situation in normal house wiring: That's about what I got. I have a couple different sizes including a bag that has many. Basically I just try a couple til one feels appropriate. Maybe I'll have someone over to look - I have some wiring work that I'm not comfortable doing that needs to get done anyways.
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Jan 14, 2015 21:48
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So things seem to be working and I'm not noticing that my house is burning down, so I think things are good for now. Got the tap mounted on one of the faceplates I covered, and it works pretty well. At least, as well as it can work considering how obnoxious phillips made this system. Overall, though, it's awesome as gently caress and all the 3rd party smartphone/ipad apps loving own. My basement lighting is awesome as poo poo now. Edit: I meant to thank everyone for help in this post. Thanks! ssb fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Jan 14, 2015 |
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Jan 14, 2015 21:58
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Ran a 4 pair Cat5 cable to the Lightning arrester, using the blue pair, and got a punch down jack on the other end. I doubled my speed to 20/10, but still not the 40/10 I'm supposed to be getting. Also I took the nuts on the terminals all the way off which was dumb because they were a bitch to get back on (had to basically pound the nut to get it to grip the teeth properly). I could try and attack the wires coming in from outside just to see if I can get any better speed out of the line.
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Jan 15, 2015 06:29
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FISHMANPET posted:Ran a 4 pair Cat5 cable to the Lightning arrester, using the blue pair, and got a punch down jack on the other end. I doubled my speed to 20/10, but still not the 40/10 I'm supposed to be getting. Also I took the nuts on the terminals all the way off which was dumb because they were a bitch to get back on (had to basically pound the nut to get it to grip the teeth properly). I could try and attack the wires coming in from outside just to see if I can get any better speed out of the line. Since "attack[ing] the wires coming in from outside" is exactly what I told you to do originally, I'm still gonna say it's a good idea. Taking the nuts off is a bad idea. Shining all the attachment hardware up until you see bright brass is a good idea.
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Jan 15, 2015 14:23
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It's a silver metal, so iron or steel maybe? Not really sure what would have been used. If it was put in during WWII was there brass/copper rationing that would have had them use iron or steel or something else?
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Jan 15, 2015 18:39
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40/10 might also be a theoretical max. There is always an asterisk or the phrase "up to".
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Jan 15, 2015 18:58
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FISHMANPET posted:Ran a 4 pair Cat5 cable to the Lightning arrester, using the blue pair, and got a punch down jack on the other end. I doubled my speed to 20/10, but still not the 40/10 I'm supposed to be getting. Also I took the nuts on the terminals all the way off which was dumb because they were a bitch to get back on (had to basically pound the nut to get it to grip the teeth properly). I could try and attack the wires coming in from outside just to see if I can get any better speed out of the line. Harass your ISP until they come and install a proper NID: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demarcation_point . They should not charge for this (at least, I was able to get them to do this with minimal convincing in the past) After they do that, get a 'whole house DSL filter' and install it. It splits your DSL signal from the rest of your (old, crusty) phone wiring.. giving you a better signal.
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Jan 16, 2015 01:36
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kid sinister posted:Sure, we'll bite. Go for it. If you can work both a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, then you can fix electricity. Tim Thomas posted:The upside with doing the Y cable is that it's replaceable: if you completely gently caress it up, pull the Y cable and connect the connectors back together. You can do this. Ok, holidays are over and my second (and final) child is home from the hospital. Wife has approved the project. Here we go. Tim Thomas posted:Go buy one of these or something like this: Ordered. quote:Go to Molex and pick out the appropriate .093 male and female connector bodies as well as cheap stamped tinned male and female contacts. Purchase at Newark/Digikey. Buy extras. Here's where that insanely stupid hand-holding comes in. By "appropriate", I presume you mean matching it to the current connectors? quote:Get a cheapo pair of vice grips to use as a contact crimper. Got those. quote:Extra points if you file the correct die into the vice grips, but it's unnecessary. No clue what that means, but we're not there yet so no big deal. I'll also save the remainder of your post since it's instructions for what to actually do with this stuff. Thanks again!
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Jan 16, 2015 02:55
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Mr. Funny Pants posted:Ok, holidays are over and my second (and final) child is home from the hospital. Wife has approved the project. Here we go. This sounds like you are about to diy your own vasectomy.
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Jan 16, 2015 04:10
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XmasGiftFromWife posted:This sounds like you are about to diy your own vasectomy. Nope, letting a pro handle that. Though if anyone has any suggestions....
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Jan 16, 2015 06:42
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Mr. Funny Pants posted:Nope, letting a pro handle that. quote:Get a cheapo pair of vice grips to use as a contact crimper.
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Jan 16, 2015 15:12
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devicenull posted:
Is DSL still a thing?
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Jan 16, 2015 16:42
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Phanatic posted:Is DSL still a thing? Yeah, it's all I can get at my house out in the country. Stuck at a lowly 9 megabit 
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Jan 16, 2015 17:03
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shortspecialbus posted:Yeah, it's all I can get at my house out in the country. Stuck at a lowly 9 megabit That's not bad at all for rural DSL. Back when I lived out in the country my DSL modem would sync at 864k/160k but performed more like 600k/100k on a good day. Warm weather meant packet loss and desyncs, according to the phone company techs the lines were stretching in the heat and since we were officially about 800 feet too far down the line and shouldn't have been sold service that's just the way it was going to be. Still better than dialup I guess.
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Jan 16, 2015 17:13
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wolrah posted:That's not bad at all for rural DSL. Back when I lived out in the country my DSL modem would sync at 864k/160k but performed more like 600k/100k on a good day. Warm weather meant packet loss and desyncs, according to the phone company techs the lines were stretching in the heat and since we were officially about 800 feet too far down the line and shouldn't have been sold service that's just the way it was going to be. Still better than dialup I guess. Well, I'm only a mile and a half away from the nearest village of a thousand people, so I'm not super far out. Fast internet was a requirement for me since I need it for work.
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Jan 16, 2015 17:51
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Phanatic posted:Is DSL still a thing? Yes. In most areas AT&T Uverse is just scaled up DSL. shortspecialbus posted:Yeah, it's all I can get at my house out in the country. Stuck at a lowly 9 megabit How far out in the country? There are no WISPs nearby? edit: actually, 9 megs would be impressive for a WISP... kid sinister fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Jan 17, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 00:58
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I replaced the terminal block on my dryer because the old one melted due to arcing (looks like one of the screws came loose over the years, now i know to check it every once in a while.) I can't get the spade connectors off of the old one and it's only just long enough to reach the terminal, is there any safety/code issue with opening it up, pigtailing new wires to the old ones a safe distance from any moving parts, and connecting those to the new terminal block? I'd be using high temperature rated wire nuts since it's the back of a dryer.
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Jan 17, 2015 20:15
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GWBBQ posted:I replaced the terminal block on my dryer because the old one melted due to arcing (looks like one of the screws came loose over the years, now i know to check it every once in a while.) I can't get the spade connectors off of the old one and it's only just long enough to reach the terminal, is there any safety/code issue with opening it up, pigtailing new wires to the old ones a safe distance from any moving parts, and connecting those to the new terminal block? I'd be using high temperature rated wire nuts since it's the back of a dryer. Nope. The code doesn't apply to anything inside appliances. Butt splices are preferred in cases like this, but wire nuts are acceptable.
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Jan 17, 2015 22:17
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:Nope. The code doesn't apply to anything inside appliances. Butt splices are preferred in cases like this, but wire nuts are acceptable.
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Jan 18, 2015 19:15
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GWBBQ posted:OK, thanks. I was always a fan of butt splices but the guys at work who know electrical better than me have been telling me to use wire nuts instead for long enough that I don't think of butt splices for line voltage stuff. I'll change it if I ever have to open it up again. Then hell, use the best of both worlds and use a crimp cap.
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Jan 18, 2015 22:47
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OK, another question. There's a light switch that, if I put in my furniture, will be behind my ikea wardrobe. Is there some product I could use to relocate that switch against my wardrobe? The hillbilly way would be to splice in 2 feet of wiring to move the switch with another wall switch, just hillbilly mounted. Is there another way to do this with less of a fire hazard? It's close enough that a wire isn't a problem, but if there's a wireless solution that would work too.
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Jan 19, 2015 01:27
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So I saw this product featured on Ask This Old House last week, thought it was pretty cool and figured I'd pass it along. http://m.homedepot.com/p/Commercial-Electric-7-in-Bright-White-LED-Ceiling-Flush-Mount-Easy-Light-54606241/204372304 Basically it will screw right into a standard keyless/pull chain lamp holder and you've got a LED light fixture. This is the only design I see currently, but I see a lot of potential here. I could see IKEA having a whole line of light fixtures that just screw right in easy as you please. It's only a simple spring loaded base away from being truly ceiling flush mount.
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Jan 19, 2015 01:45
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I think that is a rebranded ETI spin light. I haven't used them yet, though they seem like a great idiot-proof solution for closets and utility rooms.
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Jan 19, 2015 02:08
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FISHMANPET posted:Is there another way to do this with less of a fire hazard? By moving the switch properly? I'm not sure of the actual question. There are no shortcuts because it's not that hard. Worst case there's going to be some drywall repair, but you may get away without even that since it's so close. You cut a hole for an old work box and drill through the one stud in the way, then fish wire between. Attach new wire to old with marrettes and put a blanking plate on that box. Put a box in the new spot, attach a switch and put a trim plate on it.
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Jan 19, 2015 02:26
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ThinkFear posted:I think that is a rebranded ETI spin light. I haven't used them yet, though they seem like a great idiot-proof solution for closets and utility rooms.
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Jan 19, 2015 02:34
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Looking for a suggestion on a retrofit or other solution. I currently have four recessed fixtures in the part of my basement where seating and my TV are, with BR40 LED bulbs. Aside from possibly being too bright when dimmed, the light itself is too harsh. What's the best way to change this? I'm not sure if there's a diffuser that could help, or maybe just get lower lumen bulbs so that they're throwing out less light.
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Jan 19, 2015 03:07
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WeaselWeaz posted:Looking for a suggestion on a retrofit or other solution. I currently have four recessed fixtures in the part of my basement where seating and my TV are, with BR40 LED bulbs. Aside from possibly being too bright when dimmed, the light itself is too harsh. What's the best way to change this? I'm not sure if there's a diffuser that could help, or maybe just get lower lumen bulbs so that they're throwing out less light. Well, there are choices in LED retrofits, so what do you have now? If it's already the lowest lumen commonly/affordable available do you think a gimbal retro would be better in your situation (so you could direct it elsewhere, maybe towards a wall to get more diffused light)?
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Jan 19, 2015 04:15
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Motronic posted:By moving the switch properly? I'm not sure of the actual question. I don't actually want to move it on the wall, I want to attach it to a freestanding piece of furniture:  In an ideal world there'd be some kind of box I could replace the switch with, that would allow me to plug in an external switch. I could just grab a few feet of electrical wire, some wire conduit, and a box and bolt it to the side of my wardrobe, but that seems to be against all manner of sense and probably electrical code. Something wireless could work, if I could replace the switch with some kind of wireless receiver and then have a switch I could mount to the side of the wardrobe. The way I'm (trying to) arrange my furniture, there's no room on the wall for me to just move the switch to the side (and I wouldn't want to do that anyway as its a rental). Basically, I'm just looking for some way to remove the light switch from inside the wall and put it somewhere else freestanding. E: Something like this would certainly do what I need: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Heath-Zenith-Wireless-Add-On-Switch-BL-6133-LA/100654951 That's basically exactly what I need, though of it were wired it would be even better. But I understand there's probably few people in my exact situation where a remote switch would work but it could be hard wired in. FISHMANPET fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Jan 19, 2015 |
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Jan 19, 2015 08:43
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You are right, you absolutely can't wire your house's electricity to your wardrobe. Putting any other kind of wiring to a freestanding object isn't too brilliant either. Buy the cute little wireless thing, it's exactly what you want.
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Jan 19, 2015 13:47
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FISHMANPET posted:I don't actually want to move it on the wall, I want to attach it to a freestanding piece of furniture: Why go with the bare minimum when you could also make that room a smart room with a wink compatible smart switch. Then the switch is also *~your phone~* http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-P-PKG1W-WH-Wireless-600-watt-Multi-Location/dp/B00JJY0S4G
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Jan 19, 2015 15:33
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Tim Thomas posted:Use new install cans, not rejovation cans. Most new install cans either come with integrated ceiling clips that ride on the suspended track, or have a cheap add on to do so. The 6" Halo ict cans all do, and they're reasonably well made. This worked wonderfully, thank you. I ended up using LEDs the finish piece, which I assume draw far less power than any other light Bulbs. They should come out with new rules for LED fixtures.
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Jan 21, 2015 00:02
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Phanatic posted:Is DSL still a thing? Late reply, but we have 1.5/512k at work. I didn't think that was even a thing these days, but when you pick up the phone, you get the "click click click *dialtone*" that you associate with ancient phone COs, despite the area not being ancient. I'm not sure if that's our phone system (Cisco IP phone system) or the actual telco; I suspect the telco. You even hear a click if you pick up in the middle of caller ID coming through. The DSL is generally only used for credit card authentication, but the owner sometimes remotes into the point of sale system to set up new stuff. And anytime one of us needs to print from our phones or laptops, we connect to the wifi and hit up the printer. The houses behind the store can get both cable internet and fiber internet (Verizion Fios) - we're stuck with AT&T DSL. And by stuck, I mean an ancient Westell modem that I used to support when I worked tech support.. one that gave me nightmares. There's something hosed up to where we can't even cancel the service; I think the service is in the previous store owner's name still, with a password on it.
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Jan 21, 2015 12:18
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Just repainted/refloored a room, and took the opportunity with it all torn up to start installing tamper-proof outlets (not required in AZ!) I would like to relax the constant suicide watch my toddler is on. First outlet I go to replace? The box is too deep inside the wall, and the drywall hole is too big so the outlet, screwed in correctly, would be way too deep. The existing outlet had the "ears" on top bent backwards to offset it from the box.  What's the solution here? Being tamper-proof outlets, they require a pretty solid shove to get a plug in, and a wobbly outlet won't do. Seems like the options recommended online are: Outlet box extender (sounds most correct, but most expensive at about $3/each) "Caterpillar spacers" http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ideal-Spacers-25-Pack-172451L/202937111 (cheaper, but weird) Screwing a bolt in between the box and screw to offset the outlet (sounds janky)  Spinning a spare coil of wire around a screwdriver to create a shim (sounds super half-assed)  Help me not burn my house down
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Jan 22, 2015 00:59
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The boxes are too deep. Someone probably put another layer of sheetrock on and didn't extend the boxes properly (wall paper removal gone wrong? lovely plaster job?) The correct answer is to get box extensions. They are $3 a piece. To do it the right way. The boxes aren't there solely to hold your receptacles in place. They also help to prevent wire/connector or outlet failure from shooting fire into a wall cavity where you can't see it.
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Jan 22, 2015 02:22
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So I finally got around to troubleshooting the blower on my fireplace in my new house. Apparently it is a Country Flame "Fireplace Furnace". This thing. So the line voltage thermostat had power, blowers weren't kicking on. Found the heat sensor located in the overhead supply duct is bad, bypassed it and everything works. I'll get a new one. Noticed however, the motor speed controllers were wired in series with the neutral, instead of the hot. Uh, is that normal? Or should I swap that also when I change the heat sensor? Note: I haven't actually used this fireplace yet, and won't until it is cleaned and inspected by a professional. Just troubleshooting something I knew wasn't working.
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Jan 22, 2015 22:43
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angryrobots posted:Noticed however, the motor speed controllers were wired in series with the neutral, instead of the hot. Uh, is that normal? Or should I swap that also when I change the heat sensor? As long as the motor is in the same series, the speed controller can be anywhere in that same series and do its thing. That being said, are you sure that it is "in series", and doesn't have its own neutral wire? Newer types with electronics will need their own neutral wire just to power their circuit boards, even if the motor is off. That being said, switching devices are usually placed as early as possible in the circuit for safety reasons so that when the switch is off, the least amount of wire is still energized.
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Jan 22, 2015 23:01
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Nope, only two wires go into the speed controller. It's in series between the motor and neutral. I'm familiar with not switching neutrals, but motor controllers are not my area, so figured I should ask... It's definitely not newer, probably circa 1989 when the house was built. angryrobots fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Jan 23, 2015 |
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Jan 22, 2015 23:54
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