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Motronic posted:It's been very common for a long time to wire the ceiling lights of one room with the outlets of a room next to it. Or just completely separate per room. Changes in code have made some of that no longer feasible, but generally the idea is you don't want to lose your lights everywhere. Understood. I'm just trying to get started with one room so the house remains livable and I'm not worried about shocking myself on an air purifier or vacuum cleaner or something.
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May 22, 2023 20:24
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| # ? May 13, 2024 13:37 |
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Variable 5 posted:My questions: Your tentative plan has some flaws that show a gap in basic understanding. You can rewire your house from scratch yourself and have an electrician sign off on it after walking around and giving their blessing. You will need to know what code you're working under, be it 2023 (unlikely), 2020, 2017, 2014, or older... Do a bit of research (and ask specific questions here) and we'll guide you in the right direction. When I rewired my house, I installed all new devices and wired them to the new panel, had the inspector bless it, then swapped service complete from old to new, then demo'd out all the old stuff. If you're doing 100% down-to-studs remodel, this is a pretty good plan. As far as circuits go, you can wire them however you want. All lights on one breaker, each room on its own; as long as you follow code, you can wire it how you wish. In my house, I did each room its own breaker (lights and outlets) except for one outlet which is on the breaker for the room next door. That way, I could turn off the breaker for a room and still have power to work. This works well for me, but there are other ways. There are a minimum number of circuits required in a house: 2 (two) 20A kitchen circuits, on GFCI. 1 (one) 20A laundry room circuit, on GFCI. 1 (one) 20A bathroom(s) circuit on GFCI, that feeds countertop receptacles only (for 2020 code and newer). For the rest of literally everything else in the house, you just have to follow the specific rules. There's nothing preventing you from running a 20A circuit on its own breaker to every outlet in your house except for the expense involved. Take your current template as a base starting point and do some research about how you're going to achieve each step and whether or not it's legal in your jurisdiction under current code, then get back with us.
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May 22, 2023 20:34
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:snipped Thanks. This makes sense.
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May 22, 2023 20:55
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Do sump pumps require a dedicated circuit? We're looking to get our crawl space encapsulated. While I don't think we'll need a sump pump, I'm thinking of having them install a sump and run a circuit/receptacle just in case we ever need to add a pump. They'll already be running a new circuit for a dehumidifier, so I figure why not add another one just in case. I'm trying to figure out if I can use that circuit for other stuff (mainly lighting for the crawl space), or if I'd want an "other stuff" circuit added as well.
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May 26, 2023 12:31
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DaveSauce posted:Do sump pumps require a dedicated circuit? Sump pumps do not require a dedicated circuit, but they frequently get one. It would be good for it to have a circuit that's shared with something reasonably obvious inside the house so that if it trips that other thing is off so you know to check the pump. I wouldn't put it on the lighting circuit for under there, though. That's making two problems when you already have one. There's a different kind of fault protector -- GFPE; it's like a GFCI, but it's ground fault protection for equipment. It's got a higher leakage current rating, and it's ideal for stuff that you want to trip out when they start getting dodgy, but you don't want to have nuisance trip just because they're submerged. Look into having a GFPE breaker or outlet installed for the pump.
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May 26, 2023 13:08
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:Sump pumps do not require a dedicated circuit, but they frequently get one. It would be good for it to have a circuit that's shared with something reasonably obvious inside the house so that if it trips that other thing is off so you know to check the pump. I wouldn't put it on the lighting circuit for under there, though. That's making two problems when you already have one. There's a different kind of fault protector -- GFPE; it's like a GFCI, but it's ground fault protection for equipment. It's got a higher leakage current rating, and it's ideal for stuff that you want to trip out when they start getting dodgy, but you don't want to have nuisance trip just because they're submerged. Look into having a GFPE breaker or outlet installed for the pump. I was not aware that GFPEs were a thing. I'm used to higher trip RCDs in industrial stuff, but I didn't know that you could use higher trips in residential stuff. So here's a question: would the circuit/receptacles on a GFPE circuit need to be marked a certain way? Since they don't provide protection to personnel, I would assume you would want a big warning saying "don't loving touch it." I guess that's a long way of saying a GFPE circuit probably shouldn't be used for anything else, right? I don't know that a crawl space is necessarily considered a damp or wet environment, though, so I dunno what the rules would be here. Good point on the light. I suppose troubleshooting a pump in the dark is probably not a great thing, huh? There's already a light down there tied to the exterior outlets/lighting circuit, but it's just a single bulb pull chain thing. I figured adding 6-8 lights to that circuit is probably no bueno.
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May 26, 2023 13:55
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DaveSauce posted:I was not aware that GFPEs were a thing. I'm used to higher trip RCDs in industrial stuff, but I didn't know that you could use higher trips in residential stuff. I went back through the code book, GFCIs are required to be in crawl spaces and there doesn't appear to be an exception for sump pumps anymore... That's gotta be a GFCI now. I would hang the sump off of whatever is nearby that isn't required to be dedicated (so not laundry room, bathroom, or kitchen). A bedroom that's already got AFCI would be ideal. I was assuming a hard-wired pump initially. If it's cord-and-plug and under the house, then it was always going to be on a GFCI outlet. Add as many LED lights as you want to your exterior outlets/lighting circuit as you want. The circuit was probably sized for 30 60W incandescents, so you can put, amm... like, a thousand 2W LED fixtures in. babyeatingpsychopath fucked around with this message at 14:20 on May 26, 2023 |
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May 26, 2023 14:16
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DaveSauce posted:Do sump pumps require a dedicated circuit? I'd like to hear about the cost / benefit of crawlspace encapsulation, and why you chose to do it? I've got a ventilated crawlspace in the South and I know some people do it, but I'm not sure what you get.
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May 26, 2023 18:08
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I'm trying to use an old recessed light fixture for track lighting, but I can't figure out what to do about the ground that the track lighting comes with, seen here on a different installation: The recessed can looks like this. The white and black wires are easy to spot so I can either just clip those and wire them directly to the track, or use one of those bulb socket adapters.  Is the can itself grounded? Do I need to add something somewhere? I'd really rather not take the can out, there's loose insulation above it. e: fixed pics oXDemosthenesXo fucked around with this message at 05:07 on May 27, 2023 |
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May 27, 2023 05:02
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oXDemosthenesXo posted:Is the can itself grounded? Do I need to add something somewhere? I'd really rather not take the can out, there's loose insulation above it. You need to take the can apart/out. Nobody can tell you if whoever installed that can did it properly, but you're literally inches away from the box with the wires in it.
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May 27, 2023 14:06
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Could they use a multimeter in short mode? Like, probe the can itself against an outlet ground through an extension code or something.
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May 27, 2023 15:01
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:Could they use a multimeter in short mode? Like, probe the can itself against an outlet ground through an extension code or something. And then what? I get it, doing this the correct and code compliant way is inconvenient. But this is life safety stuff.
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May 27, 2023 15:13
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Pulling the can isn't that bad as long as you prep a bit. Tape a big clear garbage bag or cheap shower curtain to the ceiling to catch the loose insulation and wear an N95. You really need to get eyes-on the wiring of the can to make sure the installer didn't do something stupid like this: 
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May 27, 2023 15:29
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I have 2 welding receptacles in my garage that are wired properly to 50 amp circuit breakers in the panel. I don't weld and want to plug an electric stove into one of the outlets instead. The stove that I have has a NEMA 10-50 plug. It seems like there should be a converter plug since they are both 2 pole 240V 50 amp plugs but I can't seem to find a stove cord or converter cord that goes from 10-50 to a welding receptacle. What's the best way to fix this? Rewire the outlet? Am I missing something here that makes this a bad idea? There are all kinds of plugs for plugging a welder into a 10-50 or even a 10-30 receptacle or plugging one of those 4 prong cords into a 3 prong outlet. Removing a ground or mixing 30 amp and 50 amp hardware both seem to be worse than what I'm trying to do.
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May 27, 2023 16:10
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Replacing the outlet is the best solution.
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May 27, 2023 16:18
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NEMA 10-50's have a neutral third pin while NEMA 6-50's have a ground for the third pin. I would be wary of replacing a 6-50 receptacle with a 10-50 if all you have in the box is a ground and no neutral.
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May 27, 2023 20:55
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SpartanIvy posted:NEMA 10-50's have a neutral third pin while NEMA 6-50's have a ground for the third pin. I would be wary of replacing a 6-50 receptacle with a 10-50 if all you have in the box is a ground and no neutral. Unless my dryer receptacle is wired incorrectly, the box has a neutral. The dryer receptacle in another room is a NEMA 14-50 which has both neutral and ground and it's a fairly new electrical box that looks otherwise to code. I'm starting to think that I just need to call an electrician to replace the two receptacles with 14-50 and be done with it. I'm confident enough to mess with 120V outlets and fixtures and changing out dryer cords but I don't really like opening up the actual breaker box.
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May 27, 2023 23:48
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Qwijib0 posted:Halogen bulbs don't use a ballast, they're just a fancier incandescent. In some fixtures, they are low voltage so there's a transformer to drop the voltage, in that case you'd just find an LED replacement at the correct voltage. The specifications of your current bulb should be printed on it somewhere, most torchieres were 120v though.
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May 28, 2023 07:18
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Went to repair an extension cord where the receptacle had melted. Unremarkable, wasn’t really paying attention, then I went to plug it in to see if it worked. Felt a tingle so I looked down to see what the issue was ……. 
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May 30, 2023 02:08
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UKJeff posted:Went to repair an extension cord where the receptacle had melted. Unremarkable, wasn’t really paying attention, then I went to plug it in to see if it worked. Felt a tingle so I looked down to see what the issue was …….
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May 30, 2023 02:30
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I don't get it.
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May 30, 2023 14:18
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H110Hawk posted:I don't get it. 
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May 30, 2023 17:07
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Oh loool amazing. I was staring straight at it. This is what I get for browsing while the coffee brews.
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May 30, 2023 17:21
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Why would someone want to make that?
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May 30, 2023 18:14
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Two primary reasons, both of which are terrible: "I ran my christmas lights the wrong way and the end with the socket is where I need to plug them in" "I need to run my house off my portable generator and I'm going to use an outlet as an inlet"
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May 30, 2023 18:18
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Alternatively, you have a bonus objective to make it look like an accident
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May 30, 2023 18:30
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H110Hawk posted:Oh loool amazing. I was staring straight at it. This is what I get for browsing while the coffee brews. I'm glad it wasn't me, I was looking at it late last night and was wondering if it was something about the cable clamp cutting into the insulation or something... Nope! Just a suicide cord.
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May 30, 2023 18:53
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Yup I was thinking about it too hard, wondering if somehow the grounding was messed up and there was a bit of current coming through when you touched the metal casing...
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May 30, 2023 18:58
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My people!
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May 30, 2023 20:47
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Just make a double female cord and then keep them hooked up together with some tape!
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May 30, 2023 20:52
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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:Thanks! I look forward to trying this. Anyone figured out what the most halogen-y LED bulb is? You're going to want something in the 3000K range to mimic the look of halogen, finding enough lumens will be the challenge. Once you know the length of your current bulb in millimeters, you can head down the LED rabbit hole. At a glance I don't see anything from a brand I recognize, in the 118MM size, the most common, there's this monstrosity that comes in a 3000K version, which should get close to the lumens of the original bulb. https://www.amazon.com/Dimmable-Equivalent-Daylight-Security-Household/dp/B0B42XK4V5/ 
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May 30, 2023 22:28
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Also keep in mind CRI. Halogens and incandescents in general have a CRI of 100 meaning that they're full-spectrum light and are able to accurately render colors across the entire visible spectrum. For anywhere you intend to occupy regularly you want a CRI 90 or greater lamp, otherwise colors will look kinda flat and drab like you're under a cheap fluorescent.
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May 30, 2023 22:40
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distortion park posted:Not sure of this is the best thread to ask in. I've bought an outdoors mosquito trap that has a small fan in which is meant to run continuously. I have an existing outdoor plug socket, but it's badly placed for where I want the trap to be - I'd have to run a 10m or so cable through my garden, which seems like a lot of effort to bury and also potentially dangerous? Right finally got this all setup and working. The poster who said I should just suck it up and dig a trench across my garden was right, it was way more expensive to do a solar and battery setup just for a single 5w fan. At least I can put some lights in my shed now I guess? I initially tried to cheap out and got just a 10ah battery with a 30w panel - this wasn't enough to reliably power the fan after multiple days of cloudy weather so I bought another battery and another panel. Attaching the solar panels to the shed roof was also a pain, I decided to glue them but the glue I bought, despite being very strong once cured, wasn't quick fixing and wanted many minutes of me holding the panel down in an awkward spot, I ended up finding a way to hang them from a bolt end on the top of the roof so I could leave it overnight. It's pretty well attached now. Once I had all the right equipment and the solar panels on the roof the rest was easy, mosquito trap seems very effective in its new location. Kinda fun but not good for my wallet or the environment! The cheapo solar controllers you get with the panels on Amazon are surprisingly easy to use, and even if the instructions are in the wrong language you can look up another brands, since they all use the same part under the casing.  With the benefit of hindsight I should have: * Not done this * Ordered a nice big panel and big battery in the first place, then I could at least have done other interesting stuff with the power and would have been a lot less effort
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Jun 5, 2023 18:18
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distortion park posted:
lol, relatable, but at least you got some knowledge out of the experience
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Jun 5, 2023 19:27
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IOwnCalculus posted:Two primary reasons, both of which are terrible: What would happen if you were doing this and the power came back on?
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Jun 7, 2023 16:56
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Skunkduster posted:What would happen if you were doing this and the power came back on? Best case the generator is destroyed. Worst case your house burns down and you killed a utility crew.
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Jun 7, 2023 17:11
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Skunkduster posted:What would happen if you were doing this and the power came back on? What Shifty Pony said. Doing it right means installing an actual dedicated generator inlet so that you can power your house from a standard extension cord (of appropriate plug/receptacle type for expected loads) instead of a suicide cord. That needs to be combined with either a mechanical interlock that makes it impossible to have both the utility and generator inlet breakers closed at the same time, or a transfer switch setup that can move individual circuits from utility to generator and back.
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Jun 7, 2023 19:26
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Shifty Pony posted:Worst case your house burns down and you killed a utility crew. That's something I hadn't thought about. If you are powering your house with a generator during an outage, how far into the grid does the generator power go? Assuming a dumbass with a suicide cord just plugging the generator into the house without opening the main breaker.
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Jun 8, 2023 03:32
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Skunkduster posted:That's something I hadn't thought about. If you are powering your house with a generator during an outage, how far into the grid does the generator power go? Assuming a dumbass with a suicide cord just plugging the generator into the house without opening the main breaker. All over a bunch of wires that the linemen would be considering to be dead. It really depends on the fault, if its off at a recloser, if it's a downed wire, if and how many transformers, etc. But it could be a lot and include wires literally on the ground and other people's homes.
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Jun 8, 2023 15:34
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I want to install a new circuit in my garage to power an electric (heat pump) water heater, since my utility provides a nice big incentive for doing so that basically makes the heater itself free. All of the existing circuits in the garage are in EMT conduit that is strapped to the wall, over the drywall. So I'm thinking that I'd use 3/4" EMT, which should be big enough for the 4x 8AWG wires needed to power a 30A/220V outlet. I'd prefer not to use MC conduit, mostly for aesthetic's sake. The tricky bit is in planning the conduit run. The most convenient route would be to start at the main panel, run horizontally to midway down the wall, make a 90 to go up to the ceiling, make another 90 to go across the ceiling, then make a final 90 to go down to where the box should be installed, on the opposite wall. This route would require crossing over a previously-installed 1/2" conduit run, though. Is this permissible, and if so, how should it be done? Do I just bend the conduit gently around the obstruction?
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Jun 9, 2023 05:19
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