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slap me silly posted:Yes. You can also test with your voltmeter by noting which one has voltage to ground, but it looks like you will have to get a little creative to find a ground to test with. Extension cord.
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Nov 6, 2016 05:02
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I had wired the darker cable to black and the slightly lighter one to white. Turned the power back on and the receptacle tester indicates it's wired correctly. I do have a non contact voltage meter (which I used to make sure I had cut off power to that outlet). For future reference, are you all suggesting that to test which wire is active, I would turn the power back on after dismantling the outlet to test the exposed wires?
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Nov 6, 2016 11:18
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Tortilla Maker posted:I had wired the darker cable to black and the slightly lighter one to white. Turned the power back on and the receptacle tester indicates it's wired correctly.
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Nov 6, 2016 13:53
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Tortilla Maker posted:For future reference, are you all suggesting that to test which wire is active, I would turn the power back on after dismantling the outlet to test the exposed wires? You can toss a couple of wire nuts on the exposed bits for extra safety but yeah, that's a common practice. As long as you're mindful of the live wires and treat them with respect it's fine. Residential voltage isn't super dangerous. Slugworth posted:Exactly. That'll tell you beyond a doubt which is the hot. Well, usually - They can be sensitive enough to pick up current on the neutral occasionally. This is true, but generally when it happens the tester will start to ring much further from the hot wire and you'll have to get right up next to the neutral to see a false positive. Separate the wires a little and approach them from opposite sides with the tester and it should be obvious which one has the stronger field. Mimesweeper fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Nov 6, 2016 |
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Nov 6, 2016 17:08
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I have a light fixture that is controlled by two different switches(top and bottom of stairs). If the light is on for a while, one of the cover plate over the bottom switch starts to get warm to the touch. I know this is not normal, but what could the issue be caused by?
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Nov 6, 2016 20:10
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Is it a dimmer switch?
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Nov 6, 2016 21:06
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Nope. Single switch. The other is a double(two pole?) switch but it isnt doing anything weird.
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Nov 6, 2016 23:44
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Is it a switch with a night light in the handle?
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Nov 7, 2016 00:25
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Nope Removed the plate and pulled the switch out. I think I found the issue. https://imgur.com/gallery/iONWH
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Nov 7, 2016 02:29
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i was gonna suggest a loose connection or a bad contact in the switch and it looks like loose connection it is. could you move that wire around under the screw pretty easily? if it's been heating up enough to melt off the sheathing like that you should probably replace the switch. turn off the circuit, mark where the wires go on your 3-way switch (the one that goes to the odd colored screw is the important one), and cut that wire back past the burnt off sheathing. it looks like it might still be long enough to reach a new switch but if not you'll have to pigtail it down to make it longer. when installing the wires on the new switch make sure the screws are tight!! loose connections cause fires. i've seen plastic boxes completely melted by bad connections like that.
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Nov 8, 2016 09:32
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crocodile posted:i was gonna suggest a loose connection or a bad contact in the switch and it looks like loose connection it is. could you move that wire around under the screw pretty easily? if it's been heating up enough to melt off the sheathing like that you should probably replace the switch. turn off the circuit, mark where the wires go on your 3-way switch (the one that goes to the odd colored screw is the important one), and cut that wire back past the burnt off sheathing. it looks like it might still be long enough to reach a new switch but if not you'll have to pigtail it down to make it longer. when installing the wires on the new switch make sure the screws are tight!! loose connections cause fires. i've seen plastic boxes completely melted by bad connections like that. All the wiring was super loose. I replaced the switch doing the stuff you recommended. So far it seems to be a-ok!
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Nov 8, 2016 12:45
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Gray Stormy posted:All the wiring was super loose. I replaced the switch doing the stuff you recommended. So far it seems to be a-ok! That was next down the list of reasons for a switch faceplate. Good job!
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Nov 8, 2016 18:29
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I want to put a porch light on the outside of my barn, but I'm not sure what the best approach is for mounting it and still having a proper junction box and all. Here's the back (inside surface) of the wall, it's just a steel-clad pole barn, I'm going to put it on one of the flatter spaces between the ribs, ideally just below that upper 2x6: And here's the back of the light. Pretty typical. Not pictured: it has one of those little swivel mounting brackets like you'd expect to see.  The porch lights on my house appear to have those shallow little ceiling pans in a hole cut in the siding, but I'm not really sure how to approach it here, since it's a different type of construction. Do I need to build up some more structure behind where the light's going and then mount a box facing outward? I also considered using a hole saw to cut a hole for an old work box to go in that would clamp onto the steel itself.
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Nov 10, 2016 05:08
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Bad Munki posted:I want to put a porch light on the outside of my barn, but I'm not sure what the best approach is for mounting it and still having a proper junction box and all. Here's the back (inside surface) of the wall, it's just a steel-clad pole barn, I'm going to put it on one of the flatter spaces between the ribs, ideally just below that upper 2x6: Since it's still exposed on one side, you can't use an old work box. You should mount a ceiling box with hanger if your rail spacing allows for it. You could also cut and mount another piece of wood to attach a new work ceiling box to.
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Nov 10, 2016 07:02
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kid sinister posted:Since it's still exposed on one side, you can't use an old work box. You should mount a ceiling box with hanger if your rail spacing allows for it. You could also cut and mount another piece of wood to attach a new work ceiling box to. How about this?  I don't know how I missed those particular boxes yesterday.
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Nov 10, 2016 21:20
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Looks perfect. Don't forget to nail it in.
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Nov 10, 2016 22:08
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Oh, sure, NOW you tell me. And do you suppose I should cut the hole before or after install everything? Just kidding, I can't find my hole saws
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Nov 10, 2016 22:12
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Bad Munki posted:Oh, sure, NOW you tell me. And do you suppose I should cut the hole before or after install everything? Just kidding, I can't find my hole saws Well, considering that it's generally easier to cut a hole in something without something else in the way, I would hold the box up, trace it, then take it down and cut the hole.
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Nov 10, 2016 22:22
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Where's your sense of adventure.
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Nov 10, 2016 22:24
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Bad Munki posted:Where's your sense of adventure. For best results, install the box, wire it up, and turn the breaker on before you cut the hole to install the light.
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Nov 10, 2016 22:27
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Since I'll be cutting metal, I assume I should put the garden hose on it for lubrication/cooling?
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Nov 10, 2016 23:12
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Bad Munki posted:Since I'll be cutting metal, I assume I should put the garden hose on it for lubrication/cooling? No, you fool, that's dangerous! You want something nonpolar like oil or gasoline.
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Nov 10, 2016 23:24
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Mimesweeper posted:No, you fool, that's dangerous! I highly doubt his water comes from the north or the south pole...
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Nov 11, 2016 01:45
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So, I'm soon going to be getting some estimates for a service upgrade. We have 100A service, but our panel currently has some water damage (AC condensate line broke above it, and water was draining into it for years... previous owners didn't do anything about it). Even though we have all gas appliances, I'm thinking it makes more sense to go to 150/200A service while we're having the panel swapped. I can see us having some electric car chargers in the future, and it doesn't seem to make sense to just get a 100A panel installed now and have to get all that work duplicated later on to upgrade. I'm wondering if there's anything I should have done to future proof for a possible future solar install? I'm not really certain solar will happen, but I really hate doing things twice.
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Nov 11, 2016 01:48
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devicenull posted:So, I'm soon going to be getting some estimates for a service upgrade. We have 100A service, but our panel currently has some water damage (AC condensate line broke above it, and water was draining into it for years... previous owners didn't do anything about it). Get a solar survey done. They're often free. You can get panels now which are "solar ready." Mid sentence here I got a spam telemarketing call trying to sell me solar. I would go to 200A for just the reasons you mentioned, I did with our 1250 sqft house w/ gas appliances.
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Nov 11, 2016 03:25
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devicenull posted:So, I'm soon going to be getting some estimates for a service upgrade. We have 100A service, but our panel currently has some water damage (AC condensate line broke above it, and water was draining into it for years... previous owners didn't do anything about it). Seconding get 200A service for now, and maybe a garage subpanel if you're really going to be doing electric car charger upgrades in the future. The last time I was corrected on it in this thread, Tesla's latest chargers now draw up to 100A. That's one charger by the way, not for all your car bays. edit: I'm assuming that your panel is in your basement? How hard would it be to run new cables from your roof down to the basement? Do you have an external wall where you wouldn't mind the cables showing, or an empty internal wall where you could potentially run cables all the way from the basement to the attic/roof? kid sinister fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Nov 11, 2016 |
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Nov 11, 2016 05:42
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Two for one - electrical and fire! (yeah, I know we have a fire detection thread, but I didn't want to wake it up after its nearly 2 year slumber). My power goes out fairly frequently. Usually just a blip here and there, rarely out for more than 30 seconds. It's enough that I keep a UPS on my desktop PC, and another UPS on my modem, router, and an LED desk lamp. I've noticed that as soon as the power goes out, I get a few chips - the kind you associate with a low battery - from my smoke detector, and it'll do so for about 5 minutes. It's a hardwired detector, with no provision for a battery (wtf? took it off the wall to confirm). There's another battery-only smoke detector about 6 feet away from it. A few days ago (and several times since I moved in, really) I woke up to it going apeshit for about 10 seconds, longest it's been out (that I know of) since I moved here is about 5 minutes). Couldn't figure out why it went off, then stopped.. nothing burning, no smells, battery powered detector wasn't making a peep (tested recently, has a new battery). Only oddity I noticed is the clocks on my microwave and coffee maker had been reset. Last night my power was out for about 20 minutes, while I was awake. When it came back on... the smoke detector again went apeshit for about 10 seconds. Any idea WTF? Is this just normal for one without a battery backup? I'd never seen an AC powered one without a battery backup, but I looked up the model # on it, and nope.. no place to put a battery (they made a version that did have that provision though). Or should I just go ahead and replace it with one that actually does have a battery backup? It's line voltage, not interconnected to anything, though the building does have a (pull station only) fire alarm. When the place was built, only one was required, AFAIK. The detector itself is right at 10 years old, building is 32 years old. Rental property, and getting them to fix anything is as pleasant as giving myself a vasectomy, but I don't mind dropping  on a new one (I'll be doing that soon anyway, it's old enough to be replaced). I just want to know why the hell it's doing this. I know it's not the building fire alarm shrieking - there's a sounder for it in my hallway near the smoke detector, but that's a very different sound.
randomidiot fucked around with this message at 14:06 on Nov 11, 2016 |
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Nov 11, 2016 14:03
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kid sinister posted:Seconding get 200A service for now, and maybe a garage subpanel if you're really going to be doing electric car charger upgrades in the future. The last time I was corrected on it in this thread, Tesla's latest chargers now draw up to 100A. That's one charger by the way, not for all your car bays. No basement, panels on an exterior wall with the meter on the opposite side. I guess I should have phrased my question better: Is there anything that I should have installed between the meter and panel that would make a future solar install go easier? H110Hawk posted:Get a solar survey done. They're often free. You can get panels now which are "solar ready." Mid sentence here I got a spam telemarketing call trying to sell me solar. I would go to 200A for just the reasons you mentioned, I did with our 1250 sqft house w/ gas appliances. Nah, solar is definitely a few years out for us at this point. The last thing I need is to show interest and have to deal with the solar companies harassing me even more then they already do.
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Nov 11, 2016 14:39
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Yu-Gi-Ho! posted:Any idea WTF? Is this just normal for one without a battery backup? I'd never seen an AC powered one without a battery backup, but I looked up the model # on it, and nope.. no place to put a battery (they made a version that did have that provision though). Or should I just go ahead and replace it with one that actually does have a battery backup? It's line voltage, not interconnected to anything, though the building does have a (pull station only) fire alarm. When the place was built, only one was required, AFAIK. The detector itself is right at 10 years old, building is 32 years old. Are you sure it doesn't have a 10 year lifetime lithium battery in it? That is the new hotness (and what I think everyone should install) as detectors only live for 10 years. If there isn't a newer date written on for installation tell them flatly it's an expired detector and your renters insurance is complaining. Which they will once you ask them about it. Otherwise I don't know if they make them with capacitors in them for transient power outages?
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Nov 11, 2016 16:48
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Just double checked. It's actually 14 years old.  It's a Kidde 1235 ionization detector. I can't find anywhere that a battery would go, and the mounting plate has a warning about it not functioning without AC power. I managed to find the manual for it and it mentions nothing about a battery. e: the red wire is capped off. Only black and white are connected. It's the only hardwired detector, but there's a battery powered detector in the bedroom on the ceiling. I've confirmed that one has a good battery, but I can't check to see how old it is.  Good tip about the insurance. This place is notoriously cheap, but they require that all tenants be insured. It's not something I'd mind replacing myself, since it's a life safety device and isn't that expensive. But it'd be nice if they'd do it. randomidiot fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Nov 12, 2016 |
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Nov 12, 2016 06:58
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My heater failed the other day, so I've been relying on space heaters as a temporary holdover and will be until the new one can be installed early next week. When I unplugged one of them before going to sleep last night (not comfortable leaving them on unattended) the plug and the wall outlet (behind the unit, not in the path of the hot air) were rather warm. Not uncomfortably hot, but noticeably warm. At what point should that be concerning? That heater had been running on its medium setting (which being a 1500w unit I assume means about 1000w draw) for hours at that time so obviously some heat seems reasonable, but honestly I don't think I've ever run such a high draw electric device for more than a few minutes at a time so I have no idea what's normal.
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Nov 12, 2016 15:31
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devicenull posted:No basement, panels on an exterior wall with the meter on the opposite side. Unless the spot where your panel and meter are located is extremely tight, probably not. wolrah posted:My heater failed the other day, so I've been relying on space heaters as a temporary holdover and will be until the new one can be installed early next week. That sounds like par for the course for a space heater.
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Nov 12, 2016 19:28
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I decided to replace the existing super unintuitive dimmer switches in my basement with some sliders that would be less likely to confuse our guests. Figured it would be a super easy swap-both new and old switches are even the same brand- but of course I was wrong. The house is just over 100 years old, pretty sure the basement was done 10-15 years ago. Most of the electrical throughout the house was also redone around that time, though occasionally we find old stuff. The dimmers we're replacing are 3-way switches at either end of the basement. The old dimmers have just three wires- red, blue, and black. The new dimmers have red, black, green, and red/white. None of the wires in the wall are colored to match, which is par for the course. Obviously the red/white is the traveler, but where was that on the old switch? Can't seem to figure out how to arrange things. Do I need to get a pro out here to trace the wires? Please say no. Here are some pics. What we have in the wall- next to where the dimmer switch goes is the stairwell light switch, still with its original cloth covered wire.  Old dimmer:  New dimmer: 
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Nov 12, 2016 21:50
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Melicious posted:I decided to replace the existing super unintuitive dimmer switches in my basement with some sliders that would be less likely to confuse our guests. Figured it would be a super easy swap-both new and old switches are even the same brand- but of course I was wrong. Is there a junction under the tape around all those yellow wires, or was that just to group them together? There are a handful of 3 way wiring methods. The bad news is that you're going to have to figure out which you have. You might not be able to put in a modern dimmer, depending on the 3-way method they used. Does your new dimmer require a neutral? You don't need a pro to trace this amount of wires, you can probably do it yourself. Do you have a circuit tester or multimeter? And what's up with the red wires in your first picture? We can't see into the box, the plain switch is in the way. edit: Also, that might not be cloth covered wire on the old switch. "Cloth-covered" meant that the wires themselves were covered in cloth too, not just the outer sheath. That looks more like 1950s NM.
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Nov 13, 2016 00:05
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Blue and red were your travellers on the old switch, red/white and red are the travellers on the new one. No neutral needed. Consider the red/white to replace the blue. Your old switch had a green (ground) wire at some point, but it was removed when it was installed. If there's no ground wire in the box (I don't see one), there's not much you can do with it except attach it to the box (if metal) or cap it off. Black will go to power on one switch, and the light on the other switch. Unfortunately, unless you took pictures, it's going to be trial and error to figure out which wire is which.
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Nov 13, 2016 06:21
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Thinking of replacing my thermostat so took the a look at the wiring behind it. I only see two color-coded wires: Red and White However, the Red wire is connected to the "W" terminal and the White wire to the "Rh" terminal. Thermostat and heating seem to be in working order. Could it be that whoever wired this simply switched the wires and now I'm stuck with 'unconventional' color coding? What would happen if I just switched white to "W" and red to "Rh"? I only have a gas furnace.
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Nov 13, 2016 15:03
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Tortilla Maker posted:Thinking of replacing my thermostat so took the a look at the wiring behind it. If your thermostat is just the dumbest type, those wires being swapped wouldn't matter-- R is voltage to be supplied to the proper terminal to call for heat/cool, and W is the terminal you would supply voltage to if you wanted heat. With just a single stage furnace, the only possible combination is connecting r to w to call for heat, so on a dumb thermostat that just bridges connections it wouldn't matter which terminal the r and w were connected to since there's only one possible combination. If you swapped them it would still work.
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Nov 13, 2016 15:46
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Yeah, if it's just a single-zone heat setup with no ability to run the fan separately then a mechanical or battery-powered thermostat shouldn't care which way the wires are hooked up. Something like a Nest that draws power from the lines won't be happy unless it's right, but anything else will be fine.
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Nov 13, 2016 16:36
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Slugworth posted:Theoretically the box is grounded, but if not, a non contact voltage meter would do the trick.
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Nov 14, 2016 05:19
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wolrah posted:Yeah, if it's just a single-zone heat setup with no ability to run the fan separately then a mechanical or battery-powered thermostat shouldn't care which way the wires are hooked up. Something like a Nest that draws power from the lines won't be happy unless it's right, but anything else will be fine. The Nest is usually smart enough to figure out if you've swapped wires.
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Nov 14, 2016 05:44
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