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tangy yet delightful posted:Thanks for all the replies. I got around to installing the wall mount today with the result being the closest outlet has two studs between itself and the wall space I'll need to power the TV from to keep things hidden. I'm going to end up running a white extension cord along my white baseboard (the outlet is in the baseboard, thanks old house) to the wall space under the TV and then installing one of the various in wall rated extension cable bridge setups. you could always get a surface mount extension box for that outlet and use wire mold covering if you wanted it to look nice / "hardwire"
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Sep 8, 2018 20:04
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Who's tried those Wago lever nuts yet? Can they be used easily for wires cut way too short in the box?
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Sep 9, 2018 03:38
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Yes, they only need aout 1/4 - 3/8 inch of stripped wire, and you can slide it on and lever it closed in a fairly tight space too. The independent levers are pretty handy since you can make the connections one at a time and leave the most annoying one until last, or do the trickiest one first while you still have plenty of room to maneuver.
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Sep 9, 2018 04:00
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RabbitWizard posted:So, are wire nuts relicts that you find in old installations or are they still getting used for new stuff? Wire nuts are standard, probably first and foremost because those lever wagos cost 3-10x what wire nuts do and it's easier to quantify that than it is to quantify the labor savings in the field... They do loving own for doing your own stuff around the house, though, and I’d demand them if I were doing service work instead of new construction. mynnna fucked around with this message at 07:54 on Sep 9, 2018 |
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Sep 9, 2018 07:46
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sharkytm posted:Yup. All the HALO retrofit cans and LED retrofit kits come with them. This confused the hell out of me when I installed my 4'x4' LED light a few months ago. I'd never seen anything but a wire nut before that.
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Sep 10, 2018 21:35
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mynnna posted:Wire nuts are standard, probably first and foremost because those lever wagos cost 3-10x what wire nuts do and it's easier to quantify that than it is to quantify the labor savings in the field...  but they beat this abomination - for example - any time
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Sep 10, 2018 21:53
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RabbitWizard posted:The Abzweigdosen I wire (most times without the lever variant) may not look exactly like this I also just want to say as someone who works on an enormous amount of German industrial machinery that ISO color codes and diagrams are superior in every way.
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Sep 10, 2018 22:01
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Why are there two sets of tan wires?
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Sep 10, 2018 22:03
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RabbitWizard posted:The Abzweigdosen I wire (most times without the lever variant) may not look exactly like this I'd say both of these have issues with box fill and missing connectors  .
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Sep 10, 2018 22:43
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angryrobots posted:I'd say both of these have issues with box fill and missing connectors I'm the complete lack of bushings in the second pic
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Sep 11, 2018 00:03
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RabbitWizard posted:The Abzweigdosen I wire (most times without the lever variant) may not look exactly like this The problem with that box isn't the wire nuts, it's the hella sloppy amateurism about the whole thing  angryrobots posted:I'd say both of these have issues with box fill and missing connectors No excuses for the second one, but the first one is a German box installed under the German code, so it's fine.
mynnna fucked around with this message at 01:00 on Sep 13, 2018 |
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Sep 13, 2018 00:50
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The jagged metal sticking into the first box pictured stands out to me. The second one with plastic tubing, does it just kinda float into the box with nothing holding it from being pulled out?
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Sep 13, 2018 08:36
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The Gardenator posted:The jagged metal sticking into the first box pictured stands out to me. The second one with plastic tubing, does it just kinda float into the box with nothing holding it from being pulled out? They are held in place with Superior German Adhesives.
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Sep 13, 2018 13:35
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The Gardenator posted:The jagged metal sticking into the first box pictured stands out to me. The second one with plastic tubing, does it just kinda float into the box with nothing holding it from being pulled out? The jagged metal is no bueno, yeah. The second one, though - the sheath is similar to something on a heavy extension cord, and I *think* the holes are basically a soft plastic that just expands around whatever you shove through them. That means there's some variation in cable size they can accept, and the elasticity helps hold onto them. Just guessing, though.
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Sep 15, 2018 02:19
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mynnna posted:The jagged metal is no bueno, yeah. Doesn't sound any worse than the blue plastic boxes everyone uses now where you just shove romex through a tab and it sort of holds it in place.
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Sep 15, 2018 03:47
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I am having some trouble with the dimmer switches in my place. There is one box with 4 switches hooked up - 2 dimmer switches that are dying and 2 normal switches. Hopefully the picture I attached is actually helpful. The dimmer switch is the black box by my finger. It has a wire coming from the black wire screw on the right, then the wire from the other side of the switch goes to that big pigtail in the red wire screw in the center front. I want to change it to a normal switch. What do I do? 
naughty_penguin fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Sep 16, 2018 |
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Sep 16, 2018 20:42
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naughty_penguin posted:I am having some trouble with the dimmer switches in my place. There is one box with 4 switches hooked up - 2 dimmer switches that are dying and 2 normal switches. Hopefully the picture I attached is actually helpful. The dimmer switch is the black box by my finger. It has a wire coming from the black wire screw on the right, then the wire from the other side of the switch goes to that big pigtail in the red wire screw in the center front. Remove the black wire nut entirely. Attach the wire that was in that nut to the 'load' screw on your new switch, this is the hot wire heading out of the box towards your light fixture. Take off the red wire nut and remove the now unconnected dimmer. Use a short piece of 12 or 14 guage wire in place of the dimmer's wire and reattach the red nut. Attach this new pigtail to the 'line' screw on your new switch, this is the hot wire coming into the box and splitting out to feed power to each of your switches. Ideally you'll need a pair of wire strippers, but you can strip insulation off wires using a sharp knife or pair of scissors if you are patient and careful. If you don't have any spare cable laying around ask a handy friend, you only need a few inches. The insulation color won't affect the wire's performance, but keeping it black will reduce confusion for the next guy to open that box.
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Sep 16, 2018 21:46
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Great! Easy. Thanks so much!
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Sep 16, 2018 22:54
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If I have a 5hp AC 120v electric motor (2 phase standard ac) that spins at say 1200RPM under load, and I would like to run it at ~600 rpm to reduce noise (primary goal here is to reduce rpm) what would be the best way to do this safely
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Sep 21, 2018 09:19
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Without knowing more specifics on your motor, using a few belts to slow down the speed will probably work the best (not break the motor). Belt reduction would need to be put in some kind of housing to prevent accidents.
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Sep 21, 2018 10:58
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I'm trying to buy a house that was built in 1964. It's been in the same family since it was new so it's never been inspected. It still has the original breaker panel (an ITE Pushmatic, if it matters). I had it inspected this week and the inspector noted that the outlet grounds are attached to the neutral bus in the panel, that there's no exterior ground rod present, and that there are ungrounded subpanels in the basement and shed. He recommended that I have an electrician install a ground rod, attach a grounding conductor between the rod and the panel, and have the subpanels modified for proper grounding. Considering the age of the panel is it likely that an electrician would modify it to accept the grounding conductor, or is it more likely that they would recommend the panel be replaced? Does the lack of an outside grounding rod constitute an immediate safety hazard? I want to replace the panel anyway but is it a problem to leave it the way it is in the meantime?
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Sep 21, 2018 16:15
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zundfolge posted:I'm trying to buy a house that was built in 1964. It's been in the same family since it was new so it's never been inspected. It still has the original breaker panel (an ITE Pushmatic, if it matters). I had it inspected this week and the inspector noted that the outlet grounds are attached to the neutral bus in the panel, that there's no exterior ground rod present, and that there are ungrounded subpanels in the basement and shed. He recommended that I have an electrician install a ground rod, attach a grounding conductor between the rod and the panel, and have the subpanels modified for proper grounding. You will have to replace that Pushmatic box if you want to bring your place up to code. AFCI breakers were never made for Pushmatics. They did get GFCI breakers though. Your grounds are supposed to be attached to the neutral in your main panel and only in the main panel. Meanwhile, the busbars for neutral and ground must be separate in your subpanels. All grounds for all panels must be attached together with wire of appropriate diameter, same goes for neutrals. You must have 2 grounding methods that must be attached together. Attachment to the power company's neutral counts as one. There are several approved methods that count as a second, among which is a grounding rod. Another one is to clamp to the metal water pipe within 6 feet of where it enters your house. It really comes down to cost. Ground is a thick wire. Long wire = more copper = more $.
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Sep 21, 2018 17:38
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Grounding rods are pretty cheap, from what I remember. They're basically 8'-long steel rods with a copper layer for conductivity. It's a bit laborious, but not hard to install one yourself if you have some bare ground somewhere near the panel. Just climb a ladder with a sledgehammer and drive that thing into the dirt until there's just a few inches sticking out. Just remember to leave the wire clamp on the rod during installation, because all that hammering will mushroom the head of the rod enough that the clamp won't fit over it. Source: I installed a grounding rod that way for my workshop, which has its own subpanel. The building department wanted the ground rod even though the workshop was tied to the house's ground, probably something to do with how far the workshop was from the main panel. 
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Sep 21, 2018 18:16
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Grounding rods are pretty cheap, from what I remember. They're basically 8'-long steel rods with a copper layer for conductivity. It's a bit laborious, but not hard to install one yourself if you have some bare ground somewhere near the panel. Just climb a ladder with a sledgehammer and drive that thing into the dirt until there's just a few inches sticking out. Just remember to leave the wire clamp on the rod during installation, because all that hammering will mushroom the head of the rod enough that the clamp won't fit over it. JFC< that's the hard way to do it. I throw mine in a roatry hammer and watch them disappear into the ground in 15 seconds.
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Sep 21, 2018 19:29
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The Gardenator posted:Without knowing more specifics on your motor, using a few belts to slow down the speed will probably work the best (not break the motor). Belt reduction would need to be put in some kind of housing to prevent accidents. Needs to be electrical some way, a diode, resistor, something? Mechanicals are fixed and can't be modified.
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Sep 21, 2018 20:30
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Hi thread - I have this single bulb fixture in the basement, it has a chain to turn on and off, and also a switch at the top of the stairs. A few years ago I was changing the bulb and it shattered. I ended up tearing the bulb base out, and now the replacement bulb doesn't work either. I am going to replace the fixture because it's ugly as sin anyway, but am wondering - if it still doesn't work, what's the chain of troubleshooting steps to determine where the problem is? Sorry for the bad cell phone photos, last minute decision to take some pics before I head out for the night.   
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Sep 21, 2018 20:31
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Motronic posted:JFC< that's the hard way to do it. I don't own a rotary hammer, and it feels a bit excessive to rent one for a job that otherwise took maybe half an hour. But fair point, if you do have one then there's no point to wearing out your arm.
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Sep 21, 2018 20:44
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Medullah posted:Hi thread - 1) Get proper clamps for all that NM going into the metal box 2) Get a multimeter (and a non-contact voltage detector) 3) Turn the breaker off, open the box and spread out the wires, then look and see what's got power
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Sep 21, 2018 20:46
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Hadlock posted:Needs to be electrical some way, a diode, resistor, something? Mechanicals are fixed and can't be modified. I'm pretty sure they make electric motor speed controllers that vary the voltage to the motor, but I think the bigger ones aren't cheap.
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Sep 21, 2018 21:00
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Hubis posted:1) Get proper clamps for all that NM going into the metal box 1) NM? I'm feeling dumb at the moment. 2) Got both already, cool
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Sep 21, 2018 21:13
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NM - abbreviation for Non-Metallic, referring to the outer sheathing on the cable.
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Sep 21, 2018 21:19
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Nevets posted:NM - abbreviation for Non-Metallic, referring to the outer sheathing on the cable. Ah yeah, thanks.
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Sep 21, 2018 21:21
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Nevets posted:I'm pretty sure they make electric motor speed controllers that vary the voltage to the motor, but I think the bigger ones aren't cheap. Ah cool, yeah I found a 15A variable fan speed controller for $25 shipped, that should solve the problem. Thanks!
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Sep 21, 2018 21:30
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Medullah posted:I am going to replace the fixture because it's ugly as sin anyway, but am wondering - if it still doesn't work, what's the chain of troubleshooting steps to determine where the problem is?
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Sep 22, 2018 04:43
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opengl128 posted:Doesn't sound any worse than the blue plastic boxes everyone uses now where you just shove romex through a tab and it sort of holds it in place. Oops, are you supposed to leave the tabs in place? I knocked all of mine out completely. Just thought romex had to be stapled within so many inches of the box
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Sep 22, 2018 04:54
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Slugworth posted:The problem is the fixture. Consider it troubleshot. Really, that's the most likely point of failure, especially with the experience with the broken base and what not. Odds are decent the little metal tabs that make contact with the bulb base are bent too far back to make contact. I wouldn't worry about pulling everything in the box apart and testing, etc. Kill the breaker, replace the fixture, see if the new one works. It probably will. If not, then its multimeter time. Yeah that's the plan for tomorrow. Was going to do it tonight but the idea of changing a basement fixture out in total darkness except a flashlight by myself struck me as a bad idea, so figured I'd do it on the light. Got the parts I needed so should be pretty easy. Tangent - I've never been a handy person and have let my house go over the last 14 years, but the past month I've actually been enjoying fixing little things with YouTube guidance. I kind of would like to learn a bit more about wiring in general, and ideally would like some place to practice. What would you guys recommend to a middle aged dude, look at some community college classes? Medullah fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Sep 22, 2018 |
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Sep 22, 2018 05:15
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Medullah posted:Yeah that's the plan for tomorrow. Was going to do it tonight but the idea of changing a basement fixture out in total darkness except a flashlight by myself struck me as a bad idea, so figured I'd do it on the light. Got the parts I needed so should be pretty easy. https://www.amazon.com/Black-Diamon...ywords=headlamp Hugely recommended
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Sep 22, 2018 05:47
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Hadlock posted:Ah cool, yeah I found a 15A variable fan speed controller for $25 shipped, that should solve the problem. Thanks! If the motor is designed to run at a single speed, you may have issues with lowering the voltage. My knowledge of this is pretty limited, but afaik: the motor could refuse to run at lower voltage, could overheat, or break. Gear and/or belt reductions would eliminate that problem, but would not be cheap and I can see the space it takes up would be an issue. A DC motor off a treadmill might be be an option if the speed controller doesn't work.
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Sep 22, 2018 06:33
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If you change the fixture and it still doesn't work, replace the switch. I spent a stupid amount of time trying to troubleshoot a ceiling fan and in the end it just needed a new switch. It costs less than a dollar so there's no reason not to try that early on.
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Sep 22, 2018 13:01
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Slugworth posted:The problem is the fixture. Consider it troubleshot. Really, that's the most likely point of failure, especially with the experience with the broken base and what not. Odds are decent the little metal tabs that make contact with the bulb base are bent too far back to make contact. I wouldn't worry about pulling everything in the box apart and testing, etc. Kill the breaker, replace the fixture, see if the new one works. It probably will. If not, then its multimeter time. Yep, was just the fixture. Thanks for convincing me to not overthink it.  Works and is good to go!
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Sep 22, 2018 20:27
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