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Hashtag Banterzone posted:I have some ugly coax cable running on the outside of my house that I want to remove. It's right near where my service drop runs. How close can I safely get to the service line without dying? I'd like to add though, often where the utility service connects to your weatherhead service wire, the connection will be exposed at least partially, watch carefully around that. So yeah, don't touch and also mind anything conductive you're holding. And use a fiberglass ladder, not aluminum.
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Mar 15, 2017 17:55
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How long can thermostat wires be before it become a problem?
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Mar 16, 2017 16:55
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knowonecanknow posted:How long can thermostat wires be before it become a problem? I've never seen it become a problem. It's 24v AC in most cases, so you aren't likely to find any kind of distance limitation unless you're doing something really odd in a commercial setting.
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Mar 16, 2017 17:05
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It's super low current too, so voltage drop will be pretty much negligible unless the wiring is ridiculously undersized. If you've got 18GA wiring with a 1A load you can go 200 feet before you've dropped your voltage 10%. I dunno what the thermostat needs to function though.
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Mar 16, 2017 17:34
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I dunno, my thermostats get all weird when I store my rotating magnet collection next to two miles of coiled up thermostat wire.
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Mar 16, 2017 17:51
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I am literally the worst at guestimating distances but even I think 200 is A LOT over for my run so I won't worry about it. I've never bought the wire before do they sell it all bundled up in the usual foot lengths and sheathed/jacketed like 12-2?
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Mar 16, 2017 19:58
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knowonecanknow posted:I am literally the worst at guestimating distances but even I think 200 is A LOT over for my run so I won't worry about it. I've never bought the wire before do they sell it all bundled up in the usual foot lengths and sheathed/jacketed like 12-2? Measure your stride until you figure out a consistent one. (Take three paces, measure, divide. Do it until the number is about the same.) Now pace off your house roughly the distance you are going to need to cover. Add 8' every time you go up or down a wall without trying to account for where in the wall you're placing something. Now add 10% to that number. You'll get much better very quickly if you try this every time you need to do a pull.
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Mar 16, 2017 20:03
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You can also approximate your stride as a yard, which is almost certainly an overestimate (unless you're running, I guess). I'd guess most houses are less than 50' across, so unless your wiring system is doing some crazy contortions you shouldn't have a 200'-long run.
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Mar 16, 2017 20:42
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brugroffil posted:It's super low current too, so voltage drop will be pretty much negligible unless the wiring is ridiculously undersized. If you've got 18GA wiring with a 1A load you can go 200 feet before you've dropped your voltage 10%. I dunno what the thermostat needs to function though. My Honeywell Lyric round thermostat will run fine on my house's wiring, but the Lyric T5 won't even boot. Of course I'm sure there's a lovely connection somewhere along the way because 24V at the heat pump turns into 20V (no load!) at the thermostat 
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Mar 16, 2017 20:54
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Well I need to go completely adjacent to a pipe and run up from the basement to the attic in this old 1905 house. Its really long and has 9-10 foot ceilings. Once i get to the attic I have to go completely adjacent again to get where the tstat is. Ill measure ish later when I get home
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Mar 16, 2017 22:14
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IOwnCalculus posted:My Honeywell Lyric round thermostat will run fine on my house's wiring, but the Lyric T5 won't even boot. Of course I'm sure there's a lovely connection somewhere along the way because 24V at the heat pump turns into 20V (no load!) at the thermostat Isn't this why they recommend installing a second 24v transformer just to power these smart tstats like the nest? EDIT: Failed edit
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Mar 16, 2017 22:34
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:You can also approximate your stride as a yard, which is almost certainly an overestimate (unless you're running, I guess). I'd guess most houses are less than 50' across, so unless your wiring system is doing some crazy contortions you shouldn't have a 200'-long run. (Fun fact my stride is a yard which makes this stuff super easy for me.)
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Mar 16, 2017 23:19
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knowonecanknow posted:Isn't this why they recommend installing a second 24v transformer just to power these smart tstats like the nest? The additional transformer is usually not to boost power but to add a dedicated power line so the device can charge its batteries without having to limit itself to the small amount of current it can harvest off the signal lines without tripping the system. Mechanical or basic AA battery powered thermostats don't really need power to operate so a lot of houses are missing that wire.
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Mar 16, 2017 23:48
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I've got a small room with a typical boob-light in it, I want to replace that with a small ceiling fan. Wiring itself isn't my issue, that's easy, but how hard is it going to be to get a box up there that's suitable to hang a fan from?
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Mar 17, 2017 03:04
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If your existing box is on a stud, it's no problem. Cut the nails or screws on the old box with a reciprocating saw and replace with a fan rated cut-in like http://www.homedepot.com/p/Madison-...SBFAN/203343431
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Mar 17, 2017 03:40
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Oh perfect. Yeah, getting the old box out shouldn't be hard, done that before, just wasn't sure what the new box would entail. Thanks!
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Mar 17, 2017 03:52
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knowonecanknow posted:Isn't this why they recommend installing a second 24v transformer just to power these smart tstats like the nest? Both of these are smart thermostats, but the round one has a AA (or AAA?) battery that must give it enough to boot up. I've never changed the battery so it has to be using what little power it can get from my wiring. The Lyric T5 doesn't have a battery and refuses to start on my wiring. It's supposed to be able to just run on any 24VAC thermostat wiring with a C terminal, which I do have. The wiring itself is tiny (20 or 22 gauge) and probably has a poo poo splice somewhere along the way. No way I can see to pull it and rerun it.
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Mar 17, 2017 17:04
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To the roofers that somehow caused a hot-ground short mid run upstairs in my parents' 1.5 story house, you suck. Now I get to crawl up in that tiny attic and route around your gently caress up.
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Mar 17, 2017 17:55
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Bad Munki posted:Oh perfect. Yeah, getting the old box out shouldn't be hard, done that before, just wasn't sure what the new box would entail. Thanks! Well, of course once I pulled the old box, things took a turn. First of all, I realized the existing light wasn't even centered properly in the space (it's a small octagon shaped area), like not even close. So I'll be moving the location entirely. Second, I don't know what the gently caress. They used some 2x4 to make a brace between the joists (they're the i-beam OSB style deals) but apparently couldn't really be arsed to even properly secure that, so it wobbles. But they installed that too far up into the joists, so when they screwed the box to it, they had to shim it down, a bit of 1/2" OSB shred clamped in between the box and the brace. Lastly--and I'm sure this was just to get my hopes up--they decided to use 14/3 instead of 14/2, so I thought, oh cool, I can just use the third conductor and use that for my ceiling fan, but the light fixture in the other sort of adjoined part of this room runs off of this fixture's feed, so I can't use all three conductors for my fan/light purposes. So I either use the third conductor and use a fan/light combo with a remote, or I'm stuck running more wire anyhow. That being said, I had to cut enough exploratory ports here and there to figure out wtf was going on that running more wire shouldn't be a big deal. Also means if I want to put a fan on the other area, it's all wired up, but we really have zero desire for that. I'll probably just put the new box up where I want it, use it as a junction box that the other light's wiring will just pass through, and run a new feeder to that box for the fan/light I'm putting in. But I'll also have to cut a new hole in the ceiling and patch the old one. poo poo, I hope I have enough slack on the original feeder. Although if I don't, I guess I'll be running wire anyhow, easy enough to run two instead of one. Anyhow, SIGHHHHHHHH, these loving goobers making my life difficult. Let it be known that the previous owner of my house should be publicly shamed and nobody should ever buy a house that this person has had any hand in constructing or finishing, this guy is the worst kind of weekend warrior.
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Mar 17, 2017 18:17
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kid sinister posted:To the roofers that somehow caused a hot-ground short mid run upstairs in my parents' 1.5 story house, you suck. Now I get to crawl up in that tiny attic and route around your gently caress up. Whoops! I was holding my breath when I had my roof done a couple months ago. The top of roof trusses are a dangerous place for electrical haha
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Mar 17, 2017 18:38
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I finally over measured and came out to 150' ill need for new tstat wires. What size wire to i need and do they sell it all bound together or am i running 5 separate wires?
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Mar 18, 2017 02:55
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knowonecanknow posted:I finally over measured and came out to 150' ill need for new tstat wires. What size wire to i need and do they sell it all bound together or am i running 5 separate wires? All comes together as thermostat wire, you want 18-5. The closest roll Home Depot has is 250ft or they sell it by the foot. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-250-ft-18-5-Brown-Solid-CU-Thermostat-Wire-64169644/202316418 Mimesweeper fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Mar 18, 2017 |
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Mar 18, 2017 02:58
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Mimesweeper posted:All comes together as thermostat wire, you want 18-5. The closest roll Home Depot has is 250ft or they sell it by the foot. perfect thanks!
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Mar 18, 2017 03:05
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I need to run ethernet cable from my server closet, which is located low and centrally in my house, to my front porch, above my garage door, and back porch. This is for cameras. I had contractors run cable to 13 locations in my house already, so there's kind of a conduit running out of the closet up through another closet and then into the attic. I have never set foot in my attic. My understanding is that it is essentially an elevated crawlspace. But, those contractors I used are not available because they are highly sought after in my area, and everyone else is going to charge me a fuckload for this. So I'm doing it myself because then I can have the job done, get some experience, and own whatever equipment I'm going to need for less than the price of a contractor. So what tools will come in handy other than a cable snake/wire puller and a power drill? Do I really need anything else? This is going to use power-over-ethernet injectors in the server closet, so I am really just running the ethernet and nothing else. I have crimpers and RJ-45s and all that, but what should I think about doing/getting before I begin, to make this easier?
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Mar 23, 2017 20:27
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signalnoise posted:I need to run ethernet cable from my server closet, which is located low and centrally in my house, to my front porch, above my garage door, and back porch. This is for cameras. I had contractors run cable to 13 locations in my house already, so there's kind of a conduit running out of the closet up through another closet and then into the attic. I'm currently running my own cable for cameras as well. If you're in your attic I do recommend a respirator--I cough a lot even being around the stuff for a few minutes. It might not work as well with walls with insulation but I use 550 cord with a nut tied to the end to drop down walls and fish wire through. Also those mechanical fingers come in handy if your measurements are a little off. Maybe someone else can chime in but I'd almost consider running some of the cord under your siding if it makes it easier.
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Mar 24, 2017 00:01
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signalnoise posted:I need to run ethernet cable from my server closet, which is located low and centrally in my house, to my front porch, above my garage door, and back porch. This is for cameras. I had contractors run cable to 13 locations in my house already, so there's kind of a conduit running out of the closet up through another closet and then into the attic. Some type of cable anchor would be helpful (I have a cable staplegun which is handy, but probably overkill for just a few cables). Fiberglass fish rods can be handy as well, but you can probably just get by with fish tape.
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Mar 24, 2017 00:27
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signalnoise posted:I need to run ethernet cable from my server closet, which is located low and centrally in my house, to my front porch, above my garage door, and back porch. This is for cameras. I had contractors run cable to 13 locations in my house already, so there's kind of a conduit running out of the closet up through another closet and then into the attic. What color is your insulation up there?
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Mar 24, 2017 01:03
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kid sinister posted:What color is your insulation up there? Took a look- It's just yellowish whitish fluff scattered all over the floor of the attic.
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Mar 25, 2017 03:46
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signalnoise posted:Took a look- It's just yellowish whitish fluff scattered all over the floor of the attic. That's either cellulose or fiberglass. If it's fiberglass, it will be itchy on your skin. Maybe try a handful of that stuff on your bare arm first before you go working up there. It will help you decide on how much to cover up while you're up there. Also, it's starting to get warm again, so you may want to do your attic work early in the morning or wait for a cloudy day. I just had to dig through an attic to fix a hot-ground short. It was blown in pink fiberglass. It was hell. Then I managed to inhale a tiny piece... gently caress fiberglass.
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Mar 25, 2017 19:00
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kid sinister posted:That's either cellulose or fiberglass. If it's fiberglass, it will be itchy on your skin. Maybe try a handful of that stuff on your bare arm first before you go working up there. It will help you decide on how much to cover up while you're up there. Also, it's starting to get warm again, so you may want to do your attic work early in the morning or wait for a cloudy day. Those sticky lint rollers work pretty well for pulling it out of your skin.
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Mar 25, 2017 19:34
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devicenull posted:Those sticky lint rollers work pretty well for pulling it out of your skin. Really??? I'll have to remember that trick. I wonder if the old trick I used in college would work. I was too broke to buy a lint roller and just used a short length of duct tape.
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Mar 25, 2017 19:38
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kid sinister posted:Really??? I'll have to remember that trick. I wonder if the old trick I used in college would work. I was too broke to buy a lint roller and just used a short length of duct tape. Yea, I never remember to cover up when I go into the attic.. Lint roller fixes it pretty well. Duct tape might remove some arm hair though!
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Mar 25, 2017 21:52
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kid sinister posted:Really??? I'll have to remember that trick. I wonder if the old trick I used in college would work. I was too broke to buy a lint roller and just used a short length of duct tape. 2" wide blue painter's tape works better: won't pull the hairs out of your arm. Totally endorsing the "wear a mask" and "do it when it's cool in the attic" that everyone else has suggested.
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Mar 26, 2017 21:33
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I moved into a 1970's era home back in August 2016, and did / had a bunch of electrical work done, including replacement of every outlet in the house (backstabs, improper grounds, and broken outlets galore), installation of ceiling lighting, and finally replacement of everything from the weatherhead down + meter socket + electrical panel by a licensed electrician who came highly recommended (this was back in November). Ever since I moved in, I've noticed that just about every light in the house, from halogen bulbs, to regular incandescent, to dimmed LED fixtures, flickers almost imperceptibly. This is across 4-5 completely separate circuits, and occurs pretty much 24/7. At first, I thought it might be an issue with the dimmer switches that were included with some halogen-bulb ceiling fans I installed, then dimmer switches that I had installed on my downstairs recessed LED modules, but I've noticed it on undimmed lights throughout the house over the past month or so. My service drop is fed directly off of a distribution transformer on the pole in front of my house, so I would think that I should be getting fairly consistent voltage from the grid. However, I have hooked up an analog multimeter to a random outlet and watched it for 5-10 minutes and do occasionally see variations in the voltage - between 117-119 or so coming in. What could be the root cause of the flickering? Based on the work that has been done, I don't feel that it is very likely to be something inside of the house like a bad connection / loose wiring. As mentioned, the panel is brand new; Eaton 40/40 with all new circuit breakers, some of which are AFCI (new / extensively reworked circuits to satisfy inspector), same w/ the meter socket. Is it possible that the distribution transformer is at fault here?
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Apr 3, 2017 15:50
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skybolt_1 posted:I moved into a 1970's era home back in August 2016, and did / had a bunch of electrical work done, including replacement of every outlet in the house (backstabs, improper grounds, and broken outlets galore), installation of ceiling lighting, and finally replacement of everything from the weatherhead down + meter socket + electrical panel by a licensed electrician who came highly recommended (this was back in November). 1970s house? Any aluminum wiring? As for your flickering, I would say that your dimmed LEDs were the culprit, but incandescents and halogens don't flicker. Your eyes might be really sensitive too. Mains electric is at 60 Hz, which some people can notice, myself included. Did old computer CRT monitors bother you? Their default refresh rate was also 60 Hz. Anyway, the first thing I would check is for loose connections in your panel.
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Apr 3, 2017 16:34
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kid sinister posted:1970s house? Any aluminum wiring? No aluminum wiring. All copper Romex, and mostly over-rated (12 gauge on 15 amp circuits driving two outlets (???). I may not have accurately explained the flickering... this isn't a regular pulsating / throbbing at 60 Hz. It is an uneven, sometimes intermittent "dip" in the intensity of the light that varies in length. Lights don't go out, the just dim for a fraction of a second. My wife notices it as well, so it isn't just me. The issue has persisted through a complete panel replacement... and I've gone through and looked to make sure everything is nice and tight, and it is. The old panel had arcing on several breaker positions due to previous water leakage, and I was highly suspicious of that being the root cause. Yet, it persists.
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Apr 3, 2017 16:48
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skybolt_1 posted:The issue has persisted through a complete panel replacement... and I've gone through and looked to make sure everything is nice and tight, and it is. The old panel had arcing on several breaker positions due to previous water leakage, and I was highly suspicious of that being the root cause. Yet, it persists. I would trace the dipping voltage backwards and see how far it goes. Could be a loose connection in your outside panel. If it's dipping on the bus work coming from the meter, call your utility and have them check their side. Everything goes bad eventually. It is always helpful if you can demonstrate the issue for the person who comes to check it. Hell just Saturday I had a half power complaint, voltage was good when I got there ("it just came back on", they said), and even checked good with our load tester in the meter socket. I was just about to seal it up and tell them to call an electrician, and noticed that the service conductors on the top side of the meter still had the plastic (under wrap?) on the aluminum. It had been like that for 5 or 6 years.
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Apr 3, 2017 17:16
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skybolt_1 posted:No aluminum wiring. All copper Romex, and mostly over-rated (12 gauge on 15 amp circuits driving two outlets (???).
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Apr 4, 2017 18:39
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I posted earlier about a future upgrade I plan to do to a basement room. Right now, there is one fluorescent fixture in the center of the room and I want to put in 4 lights as shown in the picture below using exposed EMT (because I don't want to tear out the ceiling). The problem is that the electrical box in the center of the room is a recessed box and I need it to be a surface mount box so I can run the EMT to the other two boxes that branch off to the lights. Is there a way to convert a recessed box to an exposed box without ripping out the sheetrock?
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Apr 8, 2017 23:32
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SkunkDuster posted:I posted earlier about a future upgrade I plan to do to a basement room. Right now, there is one fluorescent fixture in the center of the room and I want to put in 4 lights as shown in the picture below using exposed EMT (because I don't want to tear out the ceiling). The problem is that the electrical box in the center of the room is a recessed box and I need it to be a surface mount box so I can run the EMT to the other two boxes that branch off to the lights. Is there a way to convert a recessed box to an exposed box without ripping out the sheetrock? Yeah, you can get box extension rings that will do what you want.
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Apr 8, 2017 23:43
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