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It's failed. Buy a couple of them. It could also be the back stabs have failed. If all your switches are like that, and are spring loaded not screwed down, you should expect all of them to fail soon enough. They sell 10-packs of switches for a slight discount.
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Mar 6, 2023 22:56
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H110Hawk posted:It's failed. Buy a couple of them. It could also be the back stabs have failed. If all your switches are like that, and are spring loaded not screwed down, you should expect all of them to fail soon enough. They sell 10-packs of switches for a slight discount. Thanks, I’ve been replacing my outlets with tamper resistant ones and screwing those in since the outlets are backstabbed too. Guess I’ll start the switches tomorrow.
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Mar 6, 2023 22:59
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nwin posted:Thanks, I’ve been replacing my outlets with tamper resistant ones and screwing those in since the outlets are backstabbed too. Guess I’ll start the switches tomorrow. Good luck. For bog standard switches and outlets the cost and time of troubleshooting instead of just slinging a new one in there just doesn't make much sense. Basically remove cover, smell for acridness, pull out device, look for scorching or melting or both (and other obvious signs of fault such as loose wires, etc), well now it's open so you replace it. If you can, test it before you button it back up can save you moments of struggling. If it's beyond that then you can just re-use the replaced device later. If it's expensive/fancy maybe consider putting it back but you get the idea. If the problem is solved just immediately bin the <=$1 part you just replaced. You're not going to fix it. You're not going to "maybe find a use for it." You get the idea.
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Mar 6, 2023 23:10
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nwin posted:Do light switches go bad and if so, how do turn off the breaker, nut the wires connected to the switch together, and turn the breaker back on. Does light come on? e: oh there's a whole another page since that post
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Mar 6, 2023 23:27
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I have a 50A 220v single phase circuit and receptacle in my shop that I don't need, and I would rather have 2 20A 220v receptacles on the same circuit and wiring run instead. My instinct (wrong of course) was to just replace the 50A receptacle with a 20A, and add another 20A down the line where I wanted it, keeping the 50A breaker and making good use of that fat 8ga wire that's already run. My electrician buddy told me no, that's not the right way to do it, put a 50A subpanel in with 2 20A 220 breakers in, run the 2 new 20A receptacles off of that, and so that's what I'll do. My question though is why was my first instinct wrong? I understand that whatever 20A equipment was connected to that 50A circuit could overamp itself and catch on fire or w/e, but isn't this the way houses are wired? I plug 2A fans into 15A circuits all the time-isn't the same danger still present that the equipment will overdraw itself and start a fire before the breaker trips?
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Mar 7, 2023 02:12
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As I understand it, the danger isn't that the equipment will overdraw and damage itself, but the receptacle itself isn't rated for the potential to draw 50a.
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Mar 7, 2023 02:36
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Over current protection is for the whole string. If you have a fault on your finger remover that doesn't trip the 50a breaker it will melt the 20a outlet.
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Mar 7, 2023 02:47
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Is a 20A outlet even going to accept what's presumably 6 gauge wire?
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Mar 7, 2023 02:49
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devicenull posted:Is a 20A outlet even going to accept what's presumably 6 gauge wire?
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Mar 7, 2023 04:26
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:I plug 2A fans into 15A circuits all the time-isn't the same danger still present that the equipment will overdraw itself and start a fire before the breaker trips? Breakers are primarily to protect the wire in the walls where you can't see evidence of overheating until it's far too late. The equipment itself should ideally have some form of its own overcurrent protection built in.
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Mar 7, 2023 04:35
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Is there any safe way to plug a 20a 220v appliance into a 50a receptacle?
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Mar 7, 2023 04:51
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Trying to get started replacing some light switches in my new place and pulled out this monstrosity. Can anyone tell me what the heck kind of connectors these giant 5 wire-in/5 wire out connectors are? I can’t find anything about them. (USA by the way.)  There’s that blue one and then two white ones still in the box. I haven’t been able to easily pull it apart but it does seem like it might be two parts? They seem like an absolutely giant way to cut the the wires coming into the box short, and then extend the wire. Place is only around 15 years old so my guess is it’s some short lived “best practice” (something like anytime a circuit comes into a box it gets one of these giant connectors before making any other connections. (Also the twist cone looking connectors aren’t actually twist connectors. They are inserts and crimps which will be a pain to deal with. Overall I’m trying to figure out the “best” way to simplify and reduce the sheer amount of material in the box so a smart switch actually fits.
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Mar 7, 2023 07:55
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Danhenge posted:Is there any safe way to plug a 20a 220v appliance into a 50a receptacle? Maybe. Is the appliance rated for that? It's not? Then no. You would need a 50 amp plug and cord plus???....the entire path back to <whatever protection in the device> would need to be 50 amp. There exist boat and RV shenanigans that have breakers in plugs that supposedly make this safe. None of them I've seen are tested or approved by any known lab. Draw your own conclusions on that.
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Mar 7, 2023 13:19
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Motronic posted:Maybe. Is the appliance rated for that? It's not? Then no. I was thinking about the fact that you can plug a 15a plug into a residential 20a receptacle and presumably that's not dangerous. But i guess they're close enough that it's fine, you're not likely to draw enough from the device that the breaker won't trip before a fire starts. The 20a device could draw way too much current on a 50a circuit. I figure it's niche enough that it's not worth the time or expense to get the testing done. Might be fine, but it simply isn't worth burning down your shop for, especially if your insurance finds out and won't take your claim.
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Mar 7, 2023 15:32
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Motronic posted:Maybe. Is the appliance rated for that? It's not? Then no. Swap the breaker and outlet for a 20a one, pigtail some wires on to avoid the 6 gauge -> 20a outlet issues?
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Mar 7, 2023 17:35
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devicenull posted:Swap the breaker and outlet for a 20a one, pigtail some wires on to avoid the 6 gauge -> 20a outlet issues? That's easy to suggest, difficult to impossible to actually do inside of a single box on the outlet side.
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Mar 7, 2023 17:38
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I feel like they have a device to do this and it's called a sub panel. I wonder how hard I would have to look for someone doing a cord and plug sub panel.
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Mar 7, 2023 17:44
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Thanks for all the info, I learned something!
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Mar 7, 2023 18:21
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Motronic posted:That's easy to suggest, difficult to impossible to actually do inside of a single box on the outlet side. Box extensions are your friend. They make all your hair-brained schemes suddenly possible!
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Mar 9, 2023 06:44
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I guess this is the right thread to ask this. Given that Tripp-Lite turned out to be super evil, what surge protectors should I be buying now?
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Mar 9, 2023 08:15
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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:I guess this is the right thread to ask this.
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Mar 9, 2023 13:37
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kid sinister posted:Box extensions are your friend. They make all your hair-brained schemes suddenly possible! Very true, I just default to "no wall tumors" when giving advice.
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Mar 9, 2023 13:44
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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:I guess this is the right thread to ask this. Looks like they got purchased by Eaton, so the political damage has been done, but now buying a Tripp-Lite product isn't going to contribute to any of... whatever the hell was going on.
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Mar 9, 2023 14:56
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Jesus christ, Tripp-lite was donated to the federalist society and then they sold it for $1.65bn? No wonder they have unlimited funding.
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Mar 9, 2023 15:43
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H110Hawk posted:Jesus christ, Tripp-lite was donated to the federalist society and then they sold it for $1.65bn? No wonder they have unlimited funding. wait what  I mean I hated Tripp-Lite because their products always seemed....tinny, for lack of a better word, but ..... what?
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Mar 9, 2023 21:06
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I'm out of the loop. What did Tripp-Lite do?
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Mar 10, 2023 02:15
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kid sinister posted:I'm out of the loop. What did Tripp-Lite do? Wikipedia posted:By April 2020 Tripp Lite executive Barre Seid had acquired a 100% stake in the company. Seid donated the company to the newly created political advocacy group Marble Freedom Trust. The Marble Freedom Trust is headed by Leonard Leo, a longtime leader of the Federalist Society and the primary architect of the movement to reshape the judiciary with conservative judges who went on to overturn Roe v. Wade. In March 2021 Marble Freedom Trust sold Tripp Lite to the Eaton Corporation for $1.65 billion, a transaction that may have been designed to fund conservative political causes while avoiding taxes.
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Mar 10, 2023 02:21
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"may have"
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Mar 10, 2023 02:30
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Leo is using the money to create a "Federalist Society for everything." Anyway I would like a different brand name in my house now
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Mar 10, 2023 04:50
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That's it??? I was expecting they were eating puppies or something.
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Mar 10, 2023 23:13
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kid sinister posted:That's it??? I was expecting they were eating puppies or something. The federalist society is arguably worse than eating puppies.
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Mar 11, 2023 01:37
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DaveSauce posted:The federalist society is arguably worse than eating puppies.  this isn't d&d
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Mar 11, 2023 03:07
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kid sinister posted:
It’s not wrong though
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Mar 11, 2023 17:09
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OK I know I started it but let's move on from fedsoc. I will not last word it but it's going to be a deep rabbit hole where people feel passionate about it one way or another.
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Mar 11, 2023 17:27
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Lol. Aaaanyway, I thought I was going to have to either fish new 12/2 to bring 120V incoming gas range, or have some fun wirenutting in a new 1900 box, but when I pulled out the existing electrical oven there was a 4-prong NEMA 14-50 receptacle. Now my weekend project has turned into a $15 UL-listed adapter. 
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Mar 11, 2023 19:55
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Hed posted:Aaaanyway, I thought I was going to have to either fish new 12/2 to bring 120V incoming gas range, or have some fun wirenutting in a new 1900 box, but when I pulled out the existing electrical oven there was a 4-prong NEMA 14-50 receptacle. Better to be lucky than good.
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Mar 11, 2023 20:21
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Hed posted:
FTFY
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Mar 12, 2023 03:08
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I'm going to need my main panel replaced this summer and its getting close enough I want to figure out exactly what its being replaced with to order parts so I'm not fighting with supply issues. I think I've got a good handle on it but I did have 2 questions. 1. I've seen Square D QO panels recommended every time it comes up but what about their HOM line? Any concerns there? Since this is a replacement I think the full length neutral bars are going to be better, either way I'll get PoN. 2. Even if not required for permitting or inspection would you still install AFCI everywhere applicable? I still see a lot of heartache over it, especially in retrofits, but I'm not sure how much of that is from early teething issues when it was new.
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Mar 12, 2023 10:37
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Mar 12, 2023 13:40
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Elem7 posted:I'm going to need my main panel replaced this summer and its getting close enough I want to figure out exactly what its being replaced with to order parts so I'm not fighting with supply issues. I think I've got a good handle on it but I did have 2 questions. 1.) Homeline is fine. It's simply not as good, but it's fine. You don't have the same level of breaker availability (varieties of sizing, double poles, etc) and the breakers themselves aren't as good (when tested under lab conditions). They also don't have the little orange tripped flag in them. You likely won't notice the difference on a properly sized panel in your home. At some point in the pandemic I installed a homeline panel because I couldn't get the QO breakers I needed due to availability issues. 2.) I'd start with AFCI. If you continually get trips it's time to rewire. I have absolutely zero AFCI nuisance trips in 4 years in my new place which was rewired 15-ish years ago on the relevant circuits. Every time I hear a sad story about AFCIs it's someone with dumpster fire wiring. Usually old cloth poo poo that's arcing at the over-tightened clamps on the boxes where somebody got in there and moved a bunch of poo poo around they shouldn't have to replace an outlet or something. Wire/insulation has a lifespan. If it's tripping an AFCI that lifespan is over, even if it's not at the point of active starting fires right now.
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Mar 12, 2023 15:31
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