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Rufio posted:I recently got a new commercial client because their maintenance man hooked up the wire nuts after a ballast change so poorly that he disconnected the lights down the line and then couldn't figure out the problem. So by all means, maintenance men, get after it. My plumbers kids are definitely going to college after all of the DIY repairs I have converted from $0-20 into $165-$700.
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Sep 19, 2021 16:04
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:This is good information. Pretty much everywhere I've ever worked has been "don't ask, don't tell" when it comes to ballast replacements. If your maintenance guy (or you, if you are the maintenance guy) wants to replace a ballast, then they say just go for it. There are probably technical rules somewhere saying it's gotta be done by a licensed electrician; those rules are frequently ignored. Thousands upon thousands of building engineers change ballasts constantly without any electrician around; it's the norm in commercial offices in most places. In some regions this is different because of union territory stuff so people have work that just always goes to a particular trade no matter how small. I've had one building staffed with actually licensed electricians on the crew and they still weren't the ones doing ballasts 99% of the time. In my experience around the DC area, the line where you call in an electrician differs from building to building, crew to crew. HVAC stuff is basically always done by the engineers unless you're playing around in an MCC panel or something. Other stuff usually goes to electricians when permits come into it, but day to day electrical basically never goes out of house.
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Sep 19, 2021 16:20
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I spent the hour figuring out my new house's circuit layout. Pretty cool seeing how it's all wired. Seems not horrible from what I can tell. AC compressor on its own 40A double breaker, vast majority of the living room and downstairs bedrooms' lights and outlets on a single 20A breaker (I'm guessing this is the original circuit, there are two sub panels with fuses and K&T are on this circuit), a 20A breaker with nothing on it (?), a 20A breaker with the fridge and two adjacent outlets, a 20A for the OH lights, outlets, dishwasher, and disposal in the remodeled kitchen, a 20A breaker for the microwave and gas oven/range, a dedicated 20A breaker for the HVAC blower, a 20A breaker for an exterior patio OH fan and a random outlet in the basement, 40A for the garage which has its own subpanel, an old 30A double breaker unused, 20A for the attic converted to a primary bedroom/bathroom, 20A for the washer, dryer and adjacent outlet, 15A breaker GFCI (maybe? it has a test button) unused, 20A for a random crawlspace outlet and the front driveway gate. 3 blank slots. I did find one outlet that didn't work. When I plug in the outlet tested it's showing 30VAC, open ground, NEU, Any idea what's going on there?
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Sep 20, 2021 03:19
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spf3million posted:I did find one outlet that didn't work. When I plug in the outlet tested it's showing 30VAC, open ground, NEU, Any idea what's going on there? Completely open neutral, likely. That 30V is just induced voltage. Pull it out and take a look at the wires.
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Sep 20, 2021 06:22
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glynnenstein posted:Thousands upon thousands of building engineers change ballasts constantly without any electrician around; it's the norm in commercial offices in most places. In some regions this is different because of union territory stuff so people have work that just always goes to a particular trade no matter how small. I've had one building staffed with actually licensed electricians on the crew and they still weren't the ones doing ballasts 99% of the time. In my experience around the DC area, the line where you call in an electrician differs from building to building, crew to crew. HVAC stuff is basically always done by the engineers unless you're playing around in an MCC panel or something. Other stuff usually goes to electricians when permits come into it, but day to day electrical basically never goes out of house. Not disagreeing with any of this--it's good contribution to the topic--but I just want to point out that the context of my original question was that I, some rando, was asked if I could change the ballast at the dance studio. I presume these building engineers are in some way recognized by local officials as being competent to change a ballast and not burn down the building. So if you, some rando reading this thread, are asked to change the ballast at the dance studio, maybe don't do that. cruft fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Sep 20, 2021 |
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Sep 20, 2021 18:51
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I, some rando, went to a ballast bypass with non shunted tombstones for a direct wire LED conversion in my house. It is easy, but if I worked for a place and that wasn’t my job, I wouldn’t have touched it.
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Sep 20, 2021 19:14
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cruft posted:Not disagreeing with any of this--it's good contribution to the topic--but I just want to point out that the context of my original question was that I, some rando, was asked if I could change the ballast at the dance studio. Yes, that is a good point to emphasize. But you should presume nothing! Building engineering varies a lot across sites and in different states/localities. In DC, 3rd Class Steam Engineer is the most common licensure and is often a job qualification requirement even if you don't have steam or a boiler. It's not a freebie resume item and actually takes real knowledge; my union (International Union of Operating Engineers) has a 4 year apprenticeship program that spits out people who will know their poo poo and includes all aspects of the job including electrical stuff, though the licensure doesn't actually cover much outside of boiler and HVAC stuff. But lots of sites don't require any license at all and if you could talk the talk anybody with references could walk into the job. A lot of people do start at entry level jobs with next to no skills and just learn on the job. A chunk of those work their way up over time, and it's hit or miss if they end up as actually good engineers. The work itself also varies from sites where you have engineers who will do everything from wiring and programming a VFD or do trade work like carpentry and drywall, all the way to sites where the engineer does almost nothing but unlock doors and babysit the contractors who do the actual work of maintaining the building. A lot of guys who didn't come up through some formal education process and don't know much more than the typical day-to-day of their particular site end up doing more of the latter.
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Sep 20, 2021 19:23
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KKKLIP ART posted:I, some rando, went to a ballast bypass with non shunted tombstones for a direct wire LED conversion in my house. It is easy, but if I worked for a place and that wasn’t my job, I wouldn’t have touched it. It’s killing me that some lamps are powered from one end and others have the pins shorted internally and have to be powered from both ends. WTF everyone should have agreed on a convention a decade ago. Barring that, would it have killed manufacturers to put in jumpers or something to change the tube from one architecture to the other? Yes, it would kill their profit margin. It would be even cooler if everyone used external drivers (“UL Type C”), because that’s just technically superior, but whatever, the LEDs have long lives as‐is and there’s a shedload of area on them for heat sinking.
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Sep 23, 2021 02:57
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Platystemon posted:It’s killing me that some lamps are powered from one end and others have the pins shorted internally and have to be powered from both ends. I just got type A+B dual mode that I can wire drat near any way that I want. After looking at my specific lamps, decided that non shunted single end was the easiest way to do it.
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Sep 23, 2021 03:24
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My impetus for looking into my options is that I had a T12 ballast fail. Those haven’t been made in a decade so it was an easy choice to kill two birds with one stone by installing direct-wire LEDs. Some manufacturers do have otherwise identical models for single-end and dual-end wiring, but I wanted high-CRI lamps. The options there are understandably limited because fluorescents have historically been installed in locations where light quality was considered unimportant.
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Sep 23, 2021 04:20
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I've got a a cheapo led shop light that plugs into an outlet and has a pull cord to toggle it on and off. I've got it plugged into a dual function lamp base/outlet that's controlled by a light switch, so I don't actually want to use the pull cord. Like I said, it's a cheapo, so while I was putting the chain out of the way the chain broke with the light in the off position. I could just return it, but I figured I'd open it up and see what I can do.  The hot coming in goes directly to the LED strip and also the control board, and the switch sits in front of the control board. Any reason I can't just cut out the switch and hotwire so it's always on (which is what I want anyways)?
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Sep 24, 2021 00:33
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That’s absolutely fine. Cut the wires out of the crimp connectors on either side of switch and join them together with a wire nut or whatever approved connector you have around.
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Sep 24, 2021 01:35
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Last night I discovered my Kindle charger hadn't, so my bedtime reading was Wiring Complete. It's pretty fair; I wish the first chapter had had a basic diagram of "hot go in, neutral go out, ground go somewhere", showing an energized circuit with arrows. Good technical writing overall.
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Sep 24, 2021 17:30
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I wish the first chapter had had a basic diagram of "hot go in, neutral go out, I sure hope it doesn't, because that's not how AC works.
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Sep 24, 2021 17:39
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Motronic posted:I sure hope it doesn't, because that's not how AC works. See? I need a diagram.  
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Sep 24, 2021 17:50
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Motronic posted:I sure hope it doesn't, because that's not how AC works. Well, now, if we're going to be technical, this description isn't wrong, it's just incomplete. Hot go in, neutral go out. Then hot go out, neutral go in. Then hot go in, neutral go out. Then hot go out, neutral go in. Repeat 30 times per second in a 60Hz sine wave (50Hz in Yurp).
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Sep 24, 2021 18:18
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People can't even get in/out correct with DC circuits (conventional current vs electron flow), so there's no hope for AC.
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Sep 24, 2021 19:11
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And then on 240 v it's just a see-saw of hots going back and forth.
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Sep 24, 2021 20:58
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I like this oldie from the yospos smart youtubes thread. https://youtu.be/MnH_ifcRJq4
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Sep 24, 2021 21:20
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Motronic posted:I sure hope it doesn't, because that's not how AC works. Goes in, goes out, goes in, goes out  All of your AC devices are just sitting on a big 60 Hz wave of moving charge baby. 
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Sep 24, 2021 22:11
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eddiewalker posted:I like this oldie from the yospos smart youtubes thread. This is a good video.
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Sep 25, 2021 08:28
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Question on pulling wire through conduit. I have a 1/2" schedule PVC conduit (unsure if it's schedule 40 or 80) running from my main panel out to a junction box that I need to add one more 12 gauge conductor to. However, it's already got five solid 12 gauge wires in it, and no pull cord. I don't know what route the conduit itself follows underground but it's at least ~65' long, probably closer to 80' if they didn't try to run it as the crow flies. Do I have any chance at all of successfully pulling one more wire through this? Or should I just bite the bullet and pick up six spools of stranded 12 gauge and re-pull everything at once?
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Sep 25, 2021 22:04
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thats probably never going to happen. you might get lucky and use one of the existing wires to pull in two more but itd be really, really lucky.
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Sep 25, 2021 22:20
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IOwnCalculus posted:Question on pulling wire through conduit. I have a 1/2" schedule PVC conduit (unsure if it's schedule 40 or 80) running from my main panel out to a junction box that I need to add one more 12 gauge conductor to. However, it's already got five solid 12 gauge wires in it, and no pull cord. I don't know what route the conduit itself follows underground but it's at least ~65' long, probably closer to 80' if they didn't try to run it as the crow flies. Alternatively, pull everything out (attach a pull-string), add your extra wire, and pull everything+1 back in with the string.
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Sep 26, 2021 01:00
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Messadiah posted:Alternatively, pull everything out (attach a pull-string), add your extra wire, and pull everything+1 back in with the string. This is what I'd do.
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Sep 26, 2021 07:34
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Also an accomplice, beer, and lube. But enough about my weekend. Having someone to help feed the conduit while someone pulls gently on the bundle of 12awg solid seems like it would really help.
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Sep 26, 2021 16:42
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So what's the best kind of lube for pulling Romex through conduit? I'm assuming the flavored stuff is wasted here. I actually do need to do that this week when I finally stop procrastinating on installing my radon mitigation system.
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Sep 26, 2021 20:04
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Sirotan posted:So what's the best kind of lube for pulling Romex through conduit? I'm assuming the flavored stuff is wasted here. The best lube is to sell what's left of that 12 gage roll and buy some stranded thhn already jesus dude stop hitting yourself
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Sep 26, 2021 20:15
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But I only need like 3ft and I've got a ton of it already 
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Sep 26, 2021 20:18
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oh you can make it work but even for that a short a run I promise if there are any elbows you're gonna end up thinking "gently caress why did I do that" after you've wrestled with it for an hour+ to save a trip to the store and like, $6
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Sep 26, 2021 20:27
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Sirotan posted:So what's the best kind of lube for pulling Romex through conduit? I'm assuming the flavored stuff is wasted here. shame on an IGA posted:The best lube is to sell what's left of that 12 gage roll and buy some stranded thhn already jesus dude stop hitting yourself
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Sep 27, 2021 05:42
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Sirotan posted:But I only need like 3ft and I've got a ton of it already How big is the conduit and what else is going through that conduit already?
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Sep 27, 2021 21:01
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n0tqu1tesane posted:How big is the conduit and what else is going through that conduit already? 1/2" flexible conduit and it's brand new, nothing in it right now. My question was mostly a joke and I'm not really that worried though I have not yet attempted it.
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Sep 28, 2021 02:09
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quote:lots of smart people telling the truth Yeah, that was indeed wishful thinking. I picked up a fish tape in hope that maybe I could find enough room (nope). Tonight I tried to pull one of the wires out without disturbing the rest to get an accurate cable length / get a poly pull string into the conduit, and nope, that fucker is jammed in tight. Pulling everything out is the only option that stands any chance at all of working. It also lets me fix the PO's severe abuse of a shared neutral - three separate breakers sharing one neutral. Admittedly the third circuit, as they ran it, only powers a sprinkler timer, but... still. I'm also ordering some LED floodlights so I can cut the load on one circuit from 1800W of halogens to 300-600W of LEDs (depending on whether the 50W floods I have on order are bright enough). This will also let me derate the existing circuits to 15A breakers, so I actually stand a chance of pulling everything without being at the ragged edge of conduit fill.
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Sep 29, 2021 02:39
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Is there a way to mount a single switch centered in a 2-gang box, rather than to the right or the left? I'm planning out my porch rewire, including switches for my fans and such. Because it's on the porch I'm putting everything behind in-use covers. Right now I'm just putting in a single switch for each fan, but I'm going to wire it so I can easily swap out to separate switches for the fan and light. That means running 3 wires instead of 2 wires to the fans, and since I'm surface mounting boxes and putting in-use covers in, I'd like to put in a 2-gang box instead of a 1-gang box. The in-use covers I bought have a faceplate for a single switch centered in the box, but I have no idea how to actually mount the switch centered in the box. The cover attaches to the box by way of the same screws that the switch or outlet use, so I have to somehow fix the switch centered in the box. I looked in the box aisle at Menards and I didn't see anything that would do what I need, but it seems like since there's a faceplate for it, it must be possible somehow?
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Sep 29, 2021 18:18
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This page shows a couple options for center mounting in a 2 gang box, I haven't personally done it though https://www.kyleswitchplates.com/how-to-install-centered-switch-or-outlet-on-2-gang-box/
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Sep 29, 2021 18:20
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IOwnCalculus posted:Pulling everything out is the only option that stands any chance at all of working. Narrator: It did not work. I got two of the wires out after some extremely heavy pulling. The other three have broken off to stubs at both ends and aren't budging at all, and both of my attempts to attach pull cord to the wires as I removed them failed. When I ran a fish tape as far as I could to see if that freed anything up, it got wet. The wires I pulled out also had a few kinks in them and one was showing some decent discoloration on the insulation. loving POs. Unless there's One Weird Trick Electricians Hate to clear a conduit, at this point I'm going to plan on trenching a new run done right. The one plus side is that the 50W LED panel I installed last night is brighter than the two 300W halogen fixtures it replaced, so I'm cutting the load on one of these circuits down from 1800W to 150W when I finish that project.
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Oct 2, 2021 20:51
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IOwnCalculus posted:Unless there's One Weird Trick Electricians Hate to clear a conduit, at this point I'm going to plan on trenching a new run done right. got any buddies with a high volume low pressure compressor? :v compressed air works pretty well, actually. but it's a specific type of compressor, my boss knew a guy who brought one out on a trailer one time. Mimesweeper fucked around with this message at 22:19 on Oct 2, 2021 |
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Oct 2, 2021 22:17
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I actually have a 26 gallon 150psi compressor within hose range of the main panel, suppose I could give that a shot.
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Oct 2, 2021 22:32
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When I run my 240v dryer, I could hear some crackling behind my breaker panel. I put on my trusty high voltage gloves and face shield and unscrewed the panel for a looksie: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bsmynloijx7ukrp/panelArcFlash.mp4?dl=0 (right-click and pick Open Video in New Tab if it gives mime error) Obviously I'm not going to attempt to repair that, but how exactly do I explain it to an electrician so they rip me off the least? Seems like some kind of arc fault near the main breaker and/or busbar when I first start the dryer and it's pulling max amps. What is that plastic thingy next to the main breaker that's getting all glowy, anyways? Zero VGS fucked around with this message at 07:58 on Oct 3, 2021 |
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Oct 3, 2021 07:56
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