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I want to add a second switch to two of the upstairs bedrooms for controlling the fan separately from the light. Replacing the existing wiring run of 14/2 is easy. *looks at price of 50ft of 14/3* 
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Mar 22, 2022 10:51
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I had a come to jesus moment recently pricing a run of 6/3.
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Mar 22, 2022 13:39
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I thought North American goons might like this Somehow one of our AC units is causing the whole home to lose power without tripping any breakers (and cycling the main breaker does nothing). Maintenance is on it so any explanation would be for curiosity's sake at this point. Three phase is scary magic.
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Mar 22, 2022 14:20
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BonerGhost posted:I thought North American goons might like this Do you live in a condo? Same thing happened to me, there was a hidden main breaker in a locked electrical room which feeds my panel box, and it was tripped.
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Mar 22, 2022 14:34
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Inner Light posted:Do you live in a condo? Same thing happened to me, there was a hidden main breaker in a locked electrical room which feeds my panel box, and it was tripped. Yeah, even not being an electrician or having much experience outside microelectronics, my instinct says "You're 100% tripping something upstream of your panel." The fact that you're not tripping your own panel first does make me think this is not Working As Intended. Discounting of course some weird landlord chicanery.
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Mar 22, 2022 16:08
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devmd01 posted:I want to add a second switch to two of the upstairs bedrooms for controlling the fan separately from the light. Replacing the existing wiring run of 14/2 is easy. no need to get 14/3 to replace the existing 14/2. simply add another 14/2
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Mar 22, 2022 19:53
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Scrap prices are up, too. I saved my 600' of 8/3 well pump wire (3 conductor, no ground, so maybe the designation I gave is wrong). Not useful for electrical purposes because it's got broken insulation, but it should fetch a reasonable amount from a scrapper.
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Mar 22, 2022 20:18
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Inner Light posted:Do you live in a condo? Same thing happened to me, there was a hidden main breaker in a locked electrical room which feeds my panel box, and it was tripped. It is a condo. I'm pretty sure they tried the upstream breaker, but I'm not sure if that failed to restore power or it just kept tripping when the AC came on. In your case, were any other units affected? Ours was the only one with a problem here. As a temporary fix they've cut power to the AC unit until they can get a replacement or proper fix. The thing was broken all last summer which was great in a place where they stop reporting the official temp at 45°C, so it doesn't surprise me that it's making GBS threads the bed again. I take it the compressor or fan motor is probably failing in a way that makes it pull more current and tripping some overcurrent device somewhere? Warmachine posted:Yeah, even not being an electrician or having much experience outside microelectronics, my instinct says "You're 100% tripping something upstream of your panel." Yeah no trips in our place kind of sets off alarms for me too. In general the electricity seems pretty functional and safe on our complex, but I understand that's not the norm for the city. So honestly who knows, but your tax dollars are paying about $63k a year per unit for it  Edit 2: I went over to take a pic of the panel when the maintenance guys were out grabbing supplies and my husband asked, "taking pictures for the goons?" BonerGhost fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Mar 22, 2022 |
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Mar 22, 2022 21:57
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BonerGhost posted:I thought North American goons might like this Have you tried connecting the wires at the bottom? 
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Mar 22, 2022 23:36
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No it was just my unit. There is a single breaker (100A I think) for every unit separately in the electrical room. There was a very specific issue with my AC that caused the trip, workers left a live wire in the outside unit unsecured which ended up touching the metal case. But yeah there are several possible issues which can cause it to pull too much current, typically easily diagnosed by a competent HVAC tech. To state the obvious, it's also not a situation where you want to keep resetting the breaker, it's a lot of current where it shouldn't be and could cause an unsafe condition. Inner Light fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Mar 23, 2022 |
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Mar 23, 2022 00:36
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Extant Artiodactyl posted:no need to get 14/3 to replace the existing 14/2. simply add another 14/2 Oh I know, but I prefer to Do It Right. Same reason I ran fiber for the network switch trunks between the basement and second floor, overkill.
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Mar 23, 2022 12:36
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Hello wiring thread. I went to replace an old incandescent dimmer switch in my bathroom that controls two sets of lights that flicker with LED bulbs. I bought a paddle led 3-way compatible led dimmer switch. Here is where I ran into trouble. Here is the old wiring  The two black wires on screws are hot wires (tested with non-contact). There is a stab in black wire that is not hot. Bare copper ground wire is connected to a green screw. I connected it to the LED dimmer switch as shown here:  Hot wire to black, one hot wire to red. Non-hot black wire to red, ground to ground. When I connected the led dimmer switch I can dim the lights in the bathroom (they still flicker), but when I turn off the paddle a light connected to an outlet in my bedroom turns on. Additionally, the shower fan and light switches on a separate switch box no longer turn on. Definitely out of my element here so I just put it back the way it was and everything works normally again. I probably won’t mess with it again, but if I wanted to replace that switch what kind of led dimmer switch or just regular non-dimmer switch should I buy? slave to my cravings fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Mar 23, 2022 |
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Mar 23, 2022 18:37
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slave to my cravings posted:Hello wiring thread. I went to replace an old incandescent dimmer switch in my bathroom that controls two sets of lights that flicker with LED bulbs. I bought a paddle led 3-way compatible led dimmer switch. Here is where I ran into trouble. You replaced a single pole switch that had an incoming and outgoing hot with a three way switch. That's why you were losing power down the line when you flipped the switch. Try using a single pole dimmer.
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Mar 23, 2022 19:11
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Okay that makes more sense. Thank you.
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Mar 23, 2022 23:22
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Holy poo poo, the price of 10/3 uf wire almost doubled in the last 3 months.
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Mar 23, 2022 23:23
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The best time to buy wire is three years ago. The second best time is today.
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Mar 23, 2022 23:37
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slave to my cravings posted:Okay that makes more sense. Thank you. I mean, a 3 way switch should work fine. You don't need to replace it, you just wired it wrong. Best I can tell from your description is that "not hot" black needs to go on the same terminal as the hot. NOT the terminal for the traveler (which you should not use since this isn't a 3 way circuit). Understand the "not hot" back stab was directly connected to the screw terminal next to it. Just make sure it's wired that same way. Ignore the terminal you don't need to use.
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Mar 23, 2022 23:45
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Thanks, I think I was just confused by the difference between the screw/push in connections and the wire to wire connections. I did some more reading and that seems to agree with what you are saying. I might just forgo the dimmer all together.
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Mar 24, 2022 00:34
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opengl128 posted:I had a come to jesus moment recently pricing a run of 6/3. Jesus and God had nothing to do with the price I paid for 65' of 6/3 last weekend 
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Mar 25, 2022 20:20
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csammis posted:Jesus and God had nothing to do with the price I paid for 65' of 6/3 last weekend I wound up buying a 50' roll on ebay for $180. Probably stolen but it was sealed and a hundred bucks cheaper than LowesDepot.
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Mar 25, 2022 22:54
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Finally opened up the sub-panel that had a ton of excess circuits coming out of it that the PO seemed to have added haphazardly over the last 50 years. What do I find in addition to neutrals and grounds sharing the same bar? https://i.imgur.com/FoxBy4J.mp4
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Mar 29, 2022 18:38
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GEMorris posted:Finally opened up the sub-panel that had a ton of excess circuits coming out of it that the PO seemed to have added haphazardly over the last 50 years. What do I find in addition to neutrals and grounds sharing the same bar? Is this the floating neutral I've been hearing about?
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Mar 29, 2022 19:12
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Neutral and ground sharing is normal tho?
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Apr 2, 2022 17:42
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His Divine Shadow posted:Neutral and ground sharing is normal tho? Not on the same bar and absolutely not in a sub panel.
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Apr 2, 2022 17:49
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If we're talking about a main panel where you can see the ground and neutral are connected, there's no difference other than organization, right?
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Apr 2, 2022 18:18
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His Divine Shadow posted:Neutral and ground sharing is normal tho? Not supposed to in a sub-panel. Only tied at the main service entrance.
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Apr 2, 2022 18:23
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Ah I missed that
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Apr 2, 2022 18:28
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What would cause me to see 150 ohms from hot (breaker off) to ground/neutral? I was putting in some dimmers and kept seeing this when checking for invisible shorts. I traced it all the way back to the power in for the room. Is this just the phantom load of something else on the circuit elsewhere?
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Apr 3, 2022 16:17
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carticket posted:What would cause me to see 150 ohms from hot (breaker off) to ground/neutral? I was putting in some dimmers and kept seeing this when checking for invisible shorts. I traced it all the way back to the power in for the room. Is this just the phantom load of something else on the circuit elsewhere? Any load remaining on the circuit (just under amp worth of lighting maybe?) could cause this to happen.
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Apr 3, 2022 16:23
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TacoHavoc posted:Any load remaining on the circuit (just under amp worth of lighting maybe?) could cause this to happen. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. I wasn't thinking critically at the time and should have realized this. I ended up rewiring the whole 3-gang box *again*. I did use wagos this time, and they are amazing.
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Apr 3, 2022 16:57
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movax posted:Talking about these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Red-Head-1-4-in-x-1-in-Hammer-Set-Nail-Drive-Concrete-Anchors-25-Pack-35200/100129334, but with Phillips heads instead of a pin head. Regardless of either type though, I always drill the pilot hole like you're supposed too. I just misunderstood that the Phillips head was for removal purposes only, you still had to hammer them in. https://www.platt.com/platt-electric-supply/Anchors-Hammer-In-Zamac-Type/Dottie/ZA150/product.aspx?zpid=222538&reload=yes these are what I was talking about -- Zamac Hammer Drive Anchors. After grinding off a few nail-in Red Heads in my garage... and now that I know the screw head is for removal only, switching to these.
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Apr 6, 2022 16:35
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Double-posting, but just watched this video this morning and was surprised by the results: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Xpjj47vgU (WAGO vs. knockoffs) WAGO are cheap enough that I never felt the need to go for knock-offs, but drat, the grip strength on some of those is pretty bonkers. E: also, WAY-go or WAH-go?
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Apr 10, 2022 18:27
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I’ve been pronouncing it like waygu because it pisses off my foodie coworkers
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Apr 10, 2022 18:29
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movax posted:Double-posting, but just watched this video this morning and was surprised by the results: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Xpjj47vgU (WAGO vs. knockoffs) weh-go
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Apr 11, 2022 02:31
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Is there any safety reason not to have an outlet 6” off the ground? I can’t find anything about it with NEC. Flooding is the only thing that comes to mind. There a bunch of ADA minimum height stuff out there. I adding a new circuit and outlets in my garage. The easiest way to get an outlet one wall is via the basement but I only getting a hole 6-8” off the garage floor if I do that. I could just mount the box and conduit on the outside of the wall.
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Apr 13, 2022 04:56
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baseboard outlets are why I can't let my rabbit go free-range in the house and it makes me sad every time I think about it. Also it's been flooded and that was not fun to deal with.
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Apr 13, 2022 17:30
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I have a little conundrum. I have a subpanel in my garage fed by a 60a circuit/breaker from the main panel. Most of the "minor" stuff in the house is run off this sub with 20a circuits (although it includes larger minor stuff like microwave, toaster oven, ~800w heated floor, etc etc). Major stuff like AC, dryer, electric oven have dedicated circuits from the main panel. I want to add a 60a and 30a circuit for separate new things in my garage for *reasons*. Now the problem is I only have one empty slot in my main panel. So my options are split between: 1. Run a ~90a circuit from the main panel to a new subpanel in the garage and run the new 60a and 30a off of that 2. Run the 60a circuit from the main panel directly and the 30a from the existing subpanel (which is on a 60a from the main) 3. Replace main panel to get more room and run both new lines from there. #1 seems "best" but also most expensive adding a whole new subpanel somewhere #2 is the least effort/cost but I had concerns about the overall load there. I had one licensed electrician tell me it'd be fine and another tell me it would proooobably be ok but he wouldn't recommend it. #3 I think is possible but no one even suggested it so it's probably an annoying/bad option? So naturally, I come to the goons for guidance.
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Apr 13, 2022 18:03
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#3 would probably be the most expensive, though it might be a good option. How old is your existing main panel and how big is it, and do you foresee needing even more circuits in the future? It might be more expensive now, but it might save you hassle and cost in the future when you want to add new stuff. Also I'm guessing you've got a 200 (or more) amp service with that many electric appliances and no mention of needing a service upgrade from electricians, but if you've only got a 100 amp service you might want to upgrade that as well (which goes hand in hand with a panel replacement).
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Apr 13, 2022 18:17
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If you only have one slot in your main panel, then by my understanding, you're not going to be running 60A off of that slot. You need a two-pole breaker, which requires two adjacent slots in the panel, for that kind of load. The good news is that you can use a tandem breaker to put two circuits into one slot in the panel -- the tandem breaker is basically two breakers side-by-side in a compressed form factor. So that can free up some space in your main panel.
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Apr 13, 2022 18:19
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FISHMANPET posted:#3 would probably be the most expensive, though it might be a good option. How old is your existing main panel and how big is it, and do you foresee needing even more circuits in the future? It might be more expensive now, but it might save you hassle and cost in the future when you want to add new stuff. Also I'm guessing you've got a 200 (or more) amp service with that many electric appliances and no mention of needing a service upgrade from electricians, but if you've only got a 100 amp service you might want to upgrade that as well (which goes hand in hand with a panel replacement). My main is right around 20 years old and is 200a. The stuff we're doing now is "the future" stuff so I think we'll be pretty much done after that. TooMuchAbstraction posted:If you only have one slot in your main panel, then by my understanding, you're not going to be running 60A off of that slot. You need a two-pole breaker, which requires two adjacent slots in the panel, for that kind of load. The good news is that you can use a tandem breaker to put two circuits into one slot in the panel -- the tandem breaker is basically two breakers side-by-side in a compressed form factor. So that can free up some space in your main panel. Sorry to be clear, everything in the main panel is already 2-pole, so by "one slot" I actually mean enough room for one more 2-pole. Not sure if tandem breakers could still help me (replacing some existing 2-slot w/ a 1-slot tandem?) Also to be clearer, all the stuff from the main and the new circuits would all be 240v. Infinotize fucked around with this message at 18:25 on Apr 13, 2022 |
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Apr 13, 2022 18:23
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