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Quick (hopefully) question. Previous owner of house, for their "wall mounted TV", simply cut a vague square in the drywall and ran an extension cord and HDMI cables through it down the wall (right above what used to be a wood fireplace, now gas + ducted!) and to the little cubby where media equipment was. No bueno. What I want to do: * put in a quad RJ-45 wall box for various streaming devices (easy enough, have all the stuff to do this) * put 1, maybe 2 conventional outlets on the wall, and run Romex down the wall to the little cubby area (where existing outlet was poorly installed, but at least it's being fed properly by a Romex line from... somewhere My question is, I also have a rather nice Furman PST-8 conditioner that I actually want to run the things plugged above on the wall (i.e., LG OLED) off of. A male to male power cable scares the poo poo out of me and is generally a terrible idea. What is the proper way for me to connector-ize getting Romex coming out of the wall to a male AC plug? Is there some kind of psuedo-standard recessed female receptacle I could use (like a wall mount IEC C13?). That circuit by definition cannot be live until I plug it into a source, so it having exposed male pins is likely fine. I feel like what I'm asking here is a connectorized / field-jointed way to get from Romex to 5-15P. tl;dr — I wish to go NEMA 5-15 Outlet -> Romex -> (?) -> NEMA Receptacle on a power conditioner. What should I do for the (?)? Also, jesus, fishing cables I feel like is impossible. I cannot tell how the wizards did anything at this place. I'm afraid of giant flexible drill bits but as far as I can tell, they did not have to do drywall cuts to run some cable which is amazing. e: this is the conditioner, I don't think it is reasonably small enough to locate behind the TV nor is it (of course) a good idea to tuck it into the wall... e2: Maybe I'm a dumb dumb and could just use the same kind of thing I've seen on boats, a recessed male outlet? movax fucked around with this message at 01:23 on Jun 3, 2020 |
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Jun 3, 2020 01:15
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H110Hawk posted:Looking to declutter the MIL's kitchen countertop and I basically need either 3 outlets or 2+USB-C to power her google wifi puck (5V/3A, USB-C) + charge iDevices. Previously I've never trusted whatever garbage was out there as an integrated in-wall device, as they were either so poorly made they didn't "handshake" to the higher charging rates on common devices (samsung, apple) thus leaving them to charge at basically 500ma, or they were from ShadyImporterInc and lacked a UL stamp, or the UL listing was definitely fake. Don’t kitchen outlets have to be GFCI these days? Probably should just go with a nice Anker dual USB-C wall wart, I have Atom PD 2s everywhere.
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Jun 21, 2020 18:56
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H110Hawk posted:There is gfci upstream. You’re a genius. I kinda gave up on the idea because I didn’t have that, but I guess I could always add it. The Leviton is the one that I was gonna buy FWIW, in that case before I just kept the wall warts. Only other idea I vaguely had was trying out some fancy LV junction box with USB-C keystones but that might not exist.
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Jun 21, 2020 19:02
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opengl128 posted:Aside from their sloppy rear end work, and everything else mentioned, if this is how they left what you CAN see, I'd be really concerned about what you can't see. The panel could be a horror show, and I'd check to make sure they didn't backstab those outlets. Creeping on this thread lately, and reading some catchup, why are backstabs bad? Even the modern Lutron outlets and switches have them. I backstabbed a bunch I did at my place recently (stripped wires to appropriate length and all), should I go back and switch to bending the wire in a “U” and screwing them down?
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Jul 4, 2020 02:18
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Motronic posted:So there are two different kinds. Ah, thanks, got it. In updating a lot of my outlets and switches, none really had the grounds connected which was surprising considering that it was right there in the goddamned box. Since I’m going through and painting, I’ll unstab the ones I stabbed when I get to taking off the faceplates and will just do the screwdriver tightened ones for the new switches and outlets I’m putting in.
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Jul 4, 2020 17:35
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I've been sitting through arc flash training for the past two days. I just have to replace a few words with 'motorcycle' and/or 'firearm' and poo poo stays the same. Wear your gear, know what the gently caress you're doing, trust no one, treat as always live until confirmed, etc.
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Jul 31, 2020 17:52
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DaveSauce posted:I'm convinced that you have a GFCI in your garage that you haven't found yet, and it's the first stop in the "F Gar" circuit. Look behind everything... tool boxes, refrigerators, cabinets, benches. Yeah — I think it always comes down to human factors in the end. Complacency is a hell of a thing — strikes all the time in aviation too, that 142nd time you do the checklist and decide to skip it next time is the one where you end up doing a belly landing. I'm working on designing / building a MW-scale hydrogen system, so it's a fun combination of high voltage and combustible gas! High voltage / high current DC is awesome.
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Jul 31, 2020 21:28
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SpartanIvy posted:I'm a Milwaukee slut myself, but Ryobi makes good tools for most non-professional applications. I regret not going Milwaukee, mostly because they have more brushless tools, but Ryobi has been kicking out more brushless tools now which is nice (I realize they're the same parent company). They gateway drug that poo poo though — "Huh, well, already have the batteries, so yes, I will buy this $30 Ryobi electric caulk gun, and this Ryobi hot glue gun!!!!" Ryobi seemingly finally released a plain brushless hand 1/2" drill, so now I have a full BLDC set of drill, hammer drill and impact driver. Tool-wise though, I swear by Wiha (for screwdrivers / 'bigger' tools) and then Xcelite and a few others for smaller things (embedded systems like stuff, small hand tools). Good quality stuff.
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Aug 3, 2020 17:46
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External breaker panels are a thing? That is loving insane to me, but now that I think about it, a lot of TV where they do poo poo to the breakers outside the house before breaking in suddenly make sense. I grew up in MI and now live in WA — could not imagine any homeowner tolerating an external panel in either place.
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Aug 5, 2020 06:23
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Is it worth it to do a LV switch to a relay somewhere to switch those, or is that a pain under code? ~100 mA of 24 VDC to fire some cheap (relatively) 50 A relays seems nicer than running a shitload of 8 / 10 AWG cable...
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Aug 24, 2020 08:29
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Any recommendations for surface mount raceway that doesn't suck rear end / fall apart? Looking to cover up my garage sensor wires (tiny) and then a single Cat6 cable to an AP on the ceiling in the garage (I'll probably end in a surface mount box, or be lazy and just run a stranded cable because it's not in wall) — so it'll be upside down. There's tons of choices, but I figured I'd check for personal experience with non-poo poo brands.
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Aug 28, 2020 02:46
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Elviscat posted:EMT, or if you're feeling fancy, Rigid. The garage is finished right now, but on one of the walls, it's all concrete so any outlets and stuff I add will need metal conduit (FMC) run anyways. So you're suggesting just do conduit + pipe clamps along the ceiling? What's the grey conduit stuff I see around sometimes that isn't the usual FMC? (Just thinking about putting a long metal run near a WiFi antenna and torching performance). (Also to be clear, everything is going to be low-voltage — there's already an AC outlet on the ceiling for the garage opener)
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Aug 28, 2020 03:23
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Elviscat posted:That's schedule 40 PVC conduit, that'd work just fine, it likes to sag though, so if you use it on a ceiling strap the heck out of it, it is super easy to work with, and provides surprisingly good mechanical protection. Bathroom goon dude basically made joist a trigger word for me, but I don't think they'll mind some small holes attaching clamps / straps to support the conduit.
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Aug 28, 2020 03:28
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Motronic posted:I think he's confusing "Wago" with the spring clips type ones. Do they actually save space over wire nuts? I have an old 3 gang box that I’ve now replaced every switch with a Caseta and it’s a motherfucker getting that poo poo all in there. I’m almost tempted to kill this box off somehow and replace it with the deepest old work box I can find. e: Seriously, 5% of my time is spent doing the actual electrical bits, the other 95% is swearing at getting Decora plates / switches to all fit into their goddamned gang boxes. e2: Casetas actually have stranded wire leaving them, not solid, so that makes using the Wagos harder... are ferrules kosher in NEC? movax fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Sep 11, 2020 |
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Sep 11, 2020 18:55
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El Mero Mero posted:So one week into hooking it up and I've been pretty pleased. Hardware seemed to be reasonably high quality construction and the kit was well designed (except the wire nut they included was too small). This looks pretty sweet, but, are there any versions of these that don’t dump all your data off to the cloud? It looks like a bunch of LEMs strapped to a micro (without googling FCCID, ESP32?) with a ton of ADC channels, and then it uploads to some web service. It does have a UL listing, though...
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Sep 12, 2020 18:05
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Double-check me on this, but if they are Lutron Casetas, they don't need internet to function because it's all ClearConnect (Lutron is simultaneously technically advanced and I love them, but also in some ways, stuck in the 1990s when it comes to segmenting products from the masses, but maybe that's brand protection) — the Pico remotes may retain their specific programming and not need the hub to function.
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Sep 14, 2020 17:28
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Motronic posted:That seems like the worst of both worlds. If you're doing the wiring just put in proper smart switches. I mean, code aside, what he's suggesting (I think) is a pretty common use-case for the Pico remotes and they even sell a kit for it — if you have a house with existing light switches, and you've installed Lutron smart switches, and want to add an additional switch somewhere, you just put a faceplate + Pico on the wall and pair it to that switch. I've done that in a few places, but assuming of course that the initial installation of the switches meets code, and adding a low-voltage extra switch somewhere isn't even covered by NEC.
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Sep 14, 2020 18:09
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I'm slightly confused as to how a box I have was wired. I blew it up to a 4-gang (so much more room for activities!) and just need to restore this connection to wrap it up. The switch that was attached here used to control an outdoor outlet on my balcony (which is not GFCI, which I feel like I should fix). Box has 6 14/2 Romex coming in, which best I can tell: 1-3: from the bottom, all bussed together, likely the input/source + branches off to other poo poo nearby 4: from the top, off to light fixture A 5: from the top, off to light fixture B 6: from the top, off to outdoor outlet... and it turns out other stuff. Existing toggle switch had unknown purpose when I moved in, and when we finally went to use the outdoor outlet, some neurons clicked and I went to toggle that switch and hooray, the outdoor outlet works now! I then replaced it with a Lutron Caseta switch, and then noticed when I turned off the Caseta switch, the LED string plugged into the outdoor outlet still had a faint glow unless I yanked the FASS on the front of the Caseta, and then it would go completely off. Weird, but sometimes odd poo poo happens with these smart switches, I figured. Didn't recall it happening with the mech switch. Anyways! So, on contestant #6, found that it's black wire goes off and feeds downstream loads / another outlet near my fireplace — so that's plugged into a Wago in the box with the lines from the bottom 3 inputs. The white wire, when I opened the box, was not tied to a neutral, and went to the toggle switch. Maybe it's a traveler? I think this is now frowned upon code-wise, but maybe it was kosher then. Here's the weird part — holding my NCV up to the white wire, it's also reading hot. So... how was the original switch ever suppose to work, if it switched between this white wire, and line? Is it a traveler hitting something downstream? I can toss a toggle switch back in for simplicity sake / testing, but it seems... odd if it's just going to make/break a connection between two already hot conductors. Place was built in 1984, for reference. At least every box has neutrals in it though!
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Sep 21, 2020 20:37
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movax posted:I'm slightly confused as to how a box I have was wired. I blew it up to a 4-gang (so much more room for activities!) and just need to restore this connection to wrap it up. Well, put in a switch and tested it out... on, circuit tester reports OK. Off, circuit tester reports... open neutral. So I’m beginning to think now the old mechanical switch just sat between there and switched in/out the neutral. With the Lutron switch... I’m not actually sure if it can do that. But more importantly... is this OK by code? Feels like a hazard if it wasn’t a grounded outlet. e: I’m actually confused again now; with a PD-5ANS (Caseta smart switch) installed, turned ON, outlet reports OK. Turned off, outlet reports open neutral. So... how the poo poo is it working when the switch is “on” if it’s not connecting the load wire to neutral? movax fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Sep 22, 2020 |
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Sep 22, 2020 03:35
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Elviscat posted:So it's probably a switch leg, neutral is reading hot with the NCV because something is plugged in to one of the outlets, so the neutral is at 120v potential (return from whatevers plugged in" Yeah, sorry — I figured out a bunch more and I think I at least know what's going on, but not why. I "know" what 5/6 cables coming into the box do — one source, two fixtures, one to the outlet right below the box (95% sure) and one to some other load. At least, that's the way it was wired up when I cracked it open, so pretty confident there. The 6th one is the weird one I'm talking about. My initial assumption was that it was wired to the exterior outlet, because flipping the switch there turned on/off the load out there. I did the following things in the course of loving with it: 1. Black: NC, White: Neutral — unexpectedly, another outlet in my living room stopped working, exterior outlet stopped working. 2. Black: Line, White: Floating — all outlets inside worked as expected, exterior outlet not working. NCV indicated white wire is hot. 3. Black: Line, White: to load terminal of a PD-5ANS-WH switch (that switch connected to line + neutral) — when switch is on, everything reports OK / works. When switch is off, exterior outlet indicates an open neutral. The behavior that clued me in was a LED outdoor lighting string glowing faintly even when the switch was "off". If I only plug in the outlet tester, it goes between "all good" and "open neutral". If I plug in the outlet tester, and the LED string (so, looks like not only half the outlet is switched), the tester goes between "all good" and "all off". I'm hoping there isn't a hosed up scenario where the other outlet in here is getting a neutral from "somewhere" else. I feel like if I tie black to line, and white to neutral, everything will function as expected minus of course the ability to switch the outdoor outlet.
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Sep 22, 2020 05:25
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corgski posted:Electrical engineers are to electricians like computer scientists are to system administrators Not all of us!
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Sep 23, 2020 08:38
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freezepops posted:Has anyone had good luck with a motion detecting light switch? I recently installed a Leviton IPS02 on Sunday and its already failed after switching my 100W incandescent entry light for all of 48 hours. As this is the second Leviton electrical device that has given me issues, I'd prefer to buy a different brand. I've been really happy with all my Lutron stuff — I have Maestro motion lights in my house and they are rock solid. Using them in the stairs and bathrooms and not a single problem, though I don't remember off the top of my head if they need a neutral or not.
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Sep 30, 2020 07:07
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I've mounted some server racks / wall-mount racks for my networking hardware + UPS in my garage, against my concrete walls down there. I'd like to run the power cables now all tidy like, UPS to an outlet (already installed), and then the other rack's contents to the UPS. All of these cables are either "fixed" (like the UPS's pigtail) or regular IEC-style cords used for computers and other equipment. It's not Romex, but I want to run them along my walls to keep them tidy. I was thinking of trying to keep them clean inside conduit, but since they have plugs on them, the diameter size will have to be artificially large. Is there a "right" way to do this, or am I over thinking it and I should just stick with some adhesive mounts + zip-ties and call it a day? Maybe raceway / wire ducts, w/ concrete screws to keep them in place? I'll have some Ethernet as well, which would be easier to get through conduit / tubing, but for the same reason (plugs pre-installed on patch cables), should I just do zip ties + adhesive as well?
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Oct 5, 2020 04:25
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devmd01 posted:Get a roll of velcro, not zip ties. Makes it a lot easier to mess with the cabling when you don’t have to go get the bag of ties and some snips. babyeatingpsychopath posted:I got some big heavy paper mailing tubes, cut them in half, and screwed them into the wall for a very inexpensive cable tray. With some paint, they look semi-pro. If it's just sitting on concrete wall, then construction adhesive will be plenty to hang the tube on the concrete. Do ensure to paint them, though. Paper glued to concrete turns back into pulp in short order. Got it, that's kind of what I figured — I have Snake Tray 401 for a long horizontal run, but maybe I can get some of that plastic stuff for inside the mech room. No issue in mixing AC / Ethernet / etc in there as long as they are all the "external" (i.e., not Romex) / UL-listed consumer stuff, right? If I have leftover raceway from the other parts of my house, I might separate off the Ethernet just to be conservative. They make corner pieces to join up raceway, right? I'm going to exit from the bottom of this, go horizontal, and then a 90 degree bend vertical to the Snake Tray / something up there.
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Oct 5, 2020 19:22
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DaveSauce posted:I dunno if there are exceptions for residential, but in industrial this is usually a big No Way. Reason being is most Ethernet cables I've seen don't have insulation rated for 120v, even if they're UL listed. All wires/cables in the conduit/raceway must have insulation rated for the highest voltage carried by ANY conductor. Yeah, I was recently doing some stuff at work where I had 1000 VDC present and it was a pain to find Ethernet cable that was actually rated for that. Since it wasn’t an “installation” per se, I just ended up putting in some separate NMT-like tubing, added an extra layer of high-voltage shrink and kept it as far away from the HVDC as possible. I guess it’s the raceway that triggers it, huh? In residential, if it’s just cords on the floor it probably matters less, or if it’s organizing under a desk or something like that. I definitely have a mix of DisplayPort, USB etc cables with AC cords to my monitors. Industrial I can see those cables being untouched for 20 years, carrying a lot of current and having insulation potentially degrade.
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Oct 6, 2020 05:25
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I forgot if I asked before, but speaking of neutral chat, I have a switch box just a few feet above an outlet that controls some outdoor lights and well it doesn’t have a neutral. Easy enough to fix, but just to confirm, you can’t run bare THHN through a wall cavity, right? Use Romex? ... as I post this, I now need to go look what they did originally because it only has one wire run up there.
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Nov 15, 2020 22:53
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angryrobots posted:I've run into similar land use/permitting type stuff at work, but OP should probably clarify that. I would really hope this isn't a legal possession vs. squatters rights type situation. Hold my beer while I hit this 2/0 zipline 
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Nov 18, 2020 01:17
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Elviscat posted:Is my service wired correctly? Man, I just cannot wrap my head around how "small" those wires are feeding a 200 A panel... my sense of scale is warped by using 2/0 and friends for 400 A HVDC runs into bus bars... those could each feed a house.
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Nov 20, 2020 08:10
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I'm trying to make heads and tails of some low-voltage wiring in my place and I'm so very confused / beginning to suspect that in the course of many renovations, nothing makes sense anymore. What I'm relatively sure about... * At one point, there was an Aiphone Intercom System installed * There is a hard-wired security system installed * There's some hard-wired stereo speakers in almost every room Both of these I thought were original from the 1980s, but the security system's 2nd panel in the master bedroom has Cat 5e cable going to it... which did not exist in the 1980s. I'm pretty sure now that drywall was ripped out many times over, as I can't explain how stuff was added and stapled down where I've found it. Anyways, in trying to trace out some of the security lines, whoever installed it used some pretty high-quality permanent marker and tape, because it's still legible 20 years later. One loop looking thing I saw dropped into my mechanical room is labeled "Telephone Loop for Power". Additional wires down in the mech room area are labeled "Intercom Power", an unlabeled Cat5/8 conductor cable, and then some garage door sensors (4 conductor, Cat3 I think). What is that loop usually for, if.any of you guys are low-volt versed as well? I really want to re-use the existing cable where I can because running new Cat6A in a 30 year old, 4 story place without cutting holes in drywall is really, really hard, but with my toner setup, I just can't find where some of these pairs may be wired together. For example, a 4 conductor grey cable at my doorbell has continuity to green/white green on a Cat5 pair in the kitchen, so somewhere someone made a connection. Would old low-volt connections just be drywalled away / sealed away somewhere? If you were an electrician in the 80s, when intercoms were the rage, where the gently caress would you have put any kind of junction box for it?
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Jan 3, 2021 06:58
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Also, double post, but unrelated, I've got some old looking outlets in my mech room / garage, probably the original almond outlets from initial construction in the 80s. It's almost therapy for me now to go and replace stuff around the house (have been purging backstabbed almond loose switches / outlets and replacing with new Lutron Decoras / TR receptacles / etc) so I don't mind proactively replacing it. A few of them look almost scorched, but it might just be dirt and grime since these are just all piled up near the water heater and stuff. I want to replace the light switch in there with a lighted one (plus probably add an emergency light in there) because it's a PITA to find in the dark, but for the outlets, are there any specific types I should look at that are more dust resistant / "industrial" than others? Their junction boxes are already plastic, and I was vaguely considering replacing with metal + going metal faceplates on them, but figured I would ask here. Sorry don't have a pic handy. Do I need to GFCI these? They're a good 5-6 feet off the ground, but not sure if NEC now says that everything in the garage has to be GFCI or something like that. Also, do I have a "burden of fixing poo poo", as a homeowner, if I discover something? My GFCI receptacle in the garage is a 20 A, but the Romex going into that box is all white... and there aren't 20 A breakers in my panel that could go to this. I mean, if someone plugs in a 20 A device, the breaker will trip upstream, but seems weird.
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Jan 3, 2021 07:06
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Motronic posted:It's unlikely that there is an intentionally buried junction box, even for low volt. Yep, that's the exact model I have and what I've used to sniff stuff out so far. There's an area of drywall on the ceiling above my mech room that I suspect is blocking me some access that I need to try and hunt down where more of the wiring is. The telephone loop I found I wonder if it was run, but never used; it's literally a loop hanging down by the water heater, so there's no power or anything being injected.
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Jan 3, 2021 21:19
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Motronic posted:Is that anywhere near the POTS demarc or a splitter for phone lines? Right across it basically - it's dropped on the wall opposite the breaker panel which is also where CATV and the POTS demarc / box is. I just don't see any evidence of a cable ever having existed from the demarc to that loop; maybe they figured someone in the future would cut it and splice it into the POTS demarc if needed. They must have sourced the power for the security system from the same little box that sourced intercom power, which was one of those lovely little metal boxes with a lead-acid battery in it + a wall-wart, so there was no need to run off the telephone power at the time, but dude left the wiring there if needed. Piggyback question (as I finally have relaxed enough to start looking at this right before work starts again...), any specific recommendations for emergency lighting? I just want a commercial-style fixture that I can wire to AC with a built-in battery (ideally something replaceable / not pure e-waste once battery dies) to light up a small 6x8 area or so. There was some really misleading poo poo on Amazon for a bulb that could also be an emergency light, but turns out you have to unscrew it and put it into a base. This looks cheap and fits the bill: https://www.amazon.com/LIT-PaTH-Emergency-Lighting-Batteries-Qualified/dp/B07P1C6NF1 and not immediately burn-down-house level of quality.
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Jan 3, 2021 22:05
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Motronic posted:That sure does look cheap. Good point; IIRC, Lithonia is a known brand + I think they (Acuity) also makes Juno, which my house is already full of... I saw this show up in suggested: https://www.amazon.com/Lithonia-Lig...09735976&sr=8-5. Thoughts? And, thanks for mentioning the screw terminals... I was wondering what "remote light" meant and that makes sense! opengl128 posted:Do yourself a favor and install a motion activated switch. I put one in the garage and the laundry room in the basement, huge quality of life improvement there. I have them all over the place upstairs, especially in bathrooms... they're awesome, until you need the loving thing to stay on, or you're behind a dryer door loading your stuff for longer than a minute and the lights turn off. Then again, I guess I could set this one to 30 minutes instead of 1 or 3 minutes which would achieve the goal of not having to scramble for the switch, and not have them stay on overnight on accident.
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Jan 4, 2021 05:56
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STR posted:It's very possible the second keypad was added on at some point, and the installers used CAT5e. (that said, many residential alarm systems specifically state NOT to use shielded cable for anything) Keypads were/are Moose MPI-775; definitely some vintage late 80s/early 90s ICs on it. I actually don't know how many phone jacks I have, but certainly less than 10, most likely 5. The MPI-775 is so old that the keypad to keypad interface seems to be all discrete signals, not even anything serialized. It doesn't seem to be Cat5e leaving the main panel, so... somewhere, it got junctioned to newer cable. Spot on re: the garage wires, they're certainly for sensors but the sensors were never installed. I have a Tailwind smart opener that has a hardwired / mounted reed switch, so I'm wondering if I can just splice into that. I'm thinking of doing a Honeywell (ugh, but, seems to be the best option) Lyric system from AlarmGrid as a replacement, as it's HomeKit compatible and Abode just looks skeezy at this point judging from user reports in terms of service. They (Honeywell) make a little module that will convert hardwired sensors for integration with a newer system, so I'm thinking I'll just place that where the master keypad used to be to inherit the hardwired sensors. Bummed the Lyric is Wi-Fi only as I'd much rather prefer hardwired, but can't win them all. On the speakers side of thing, I think I can explain the odd placement of the wiring in that the kitchen was remodeled at some point, including significant drywall work, as sticking my camera into the walls, I see date codes of 2016 on the Romex and some drywall segments. I succeeded in fishing a new Cat6A line to the front panel j-box where the intercom used to be, and got a 802.3af to 24 V PoE converter from Ubiquiti, so I can power my G4 Doorbell now from one of my switches, so that's cool. Of course, now I find that the Wi-Fi signal there is poo poo, so I hope someone releases a nice PoE, hard-wired doorbell soon because I am so ready. +1 for Klein Flex Drill Bits. I also discovered the single wall cavity where all of my wiring exits from the panel in the basement...without a pilot hole and inspection scope, would never have known. I have started a OneNote notebook for the house logging all my findings and drawings... in a just world that would add some not insignificant amount value to the price if I sell in the future, but just looking out for the next person(s), if that happens... movax fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Jan 4, 2021 |
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Jan 4, 2021 18:10
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STR posted:Oh yeah, that's very much an 80s system (1984 I think). Old enough that it only has 2 zones, loses all of its settings anytime it completely loses power too. Someone spent the money to move that keypad when it probably would have made more sense to just tear that ancient thing out. Ahh — poo poo, the keypad is on a really odd spot in the wall right now in the master bedroom. That would make sense if it was moved from somewhere else during reno, and Cat5e was used to extend it. Still not sure where the junction is, unless it actually was just extended and placed in a box that was buried behind drywall later. Maybe I'll see if my toner can follow along the wall. I find it semi-insane / aggravating that apparently the modern Honeywell remote sensors are actually "Wi-Fi" / 2.4 GHz instead of 315/433/some other ISM frequency; I was reading some kind of post where the Lyric controller does a psuedo site-survey and tries to pick the least congested channel. Like, goddamn, I obviously don't trust it to do a good job of that and two, I don't need more ISM poo poo in that band. Lutron by far has been the most impressive and reliable "home automation" system I have used and I have the Casetas everywhere — 315/433 MHz is beyond perfect for it because of the licensure of the band and not allowing continuous transmission. 1000% worth the cost of the single Ethernet (also an amazingly good choice) based hub and I would never suggest another switch to anyone if the Caseta fits the bill. Anyways — I need to confirm which of those hardwires still work, and then figure out what remote sensors to need — what actually is a "zone" in security system parlance? I see poo poo with 32+ zones for a home and can't possible conceive needing 32 independent security zones unless I'm not actually understanding what a "zone" is. I only have two entries, front door and a rear floor level sliding glass door, and then a few windows that are close to ground level. They seemed to really nail most of it with the initial install, as it's got front door, some windows, indoor and outdoor siren (have not been able to find the outdoor siren, where do people usually put those?).
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Jan 4, 2021 23:09
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Motronic posted:Old school security system zones are a concept of secure spaces. So consider like, you've got door sensors, window sensors and motions in your house. Great, that's a zone. What about your garage? Well, you have a man door that goes to your house, plus another door. Is that another security zone? Maybe. You might want it like that because then you cen get in to the garage and arm/disarm the system and not have to tie into the garage door or be on the clock when opening one and pulling into your garage. So maybe that zone doesn't auto-arm, or doesn't arm at all and only has glass breaks on it. And let's say you have a special use area like a wine cellar, gun safe, etc. Something of high value that is not normally open. There's another zone. Ahhh, that makes sense! And... yes, found a resistor underneath some tape; so, probably not as useful as I'm hoping here, sadly. I think a few of the hardwired sensors are really really nicely embedded in door jambs / frames, maybe I can do some isolated cutting / splicing to convert those to wireless...
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Jan 5, 2021 01:32
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shame on an IGA posted:Seeing it clearly presented as a logic circuit instead was what made it click for me. Yep this is exactly it — no one ever draws it as a loving circuit and it's that simple — 2x SPSTs in series.
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Jan 8, 2021 05:14
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If you go full Caseta on every switch in the circuit then it’s very easy; mixing and matching them into a circuit with mech switches is more aggravating. I converted a few three way switches in my house and I just picked one to put the physical switch in, and then shorted together the traveler in the other box, and put a Pico remote in.
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Jan 10, 2021 20:59
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I'm installing some cameras (UVC-G4-Bullet) outside. These are PoE cameras and I'll be using solid CMR Cat6A to make the runs. Here's where I plan to put them. The surface is "stucco"-y but I don't think it's "true" stucco.   My neighbor (all conjoined townhomes) luckily / unluckily has had the following for awhile, which gives me a peak into what I should expect to find in mine. I think they've got an extra piece of wood there, but even if I do, my flexible bit will deal with it:    Is that basically wood with stucco paint / mix on it? My plan:
Am I making this too hard / doing dumb poo poo? Is that stucco, "stucco" / the EIFS stuff I've heard so much about? It's at least downwards facing / can't get rained "on" necessarily but it's still the first major cutting / drilling I've done exterior, so I want to check before I do something monumentally stupid. e: Oooh, also! That grey thing, I have been told, should be a photocell that is controlling my exterior lights. It obviously doesn't work because loving things are on 24/7, and I can't seem to find the breaker that controls it (mildly concerning, but code-wise... there _has_ to be a breaker somewhere, right?), but I want to address this at some point. To fully test, do I need an incadescent lamp pointed right at it, or will a LED be sufficient to test that it reacts to "Daylight"? movax fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Jan 14, 2021 |
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Jan 14, 2021 03:59
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Elviscat posted:That's Hardie Board siding or a generic equivalent, sucks rear end to cut through but less so than true stucco/lathe. STR posted:Before you touch that photocell, check with your HOA, since you don't have any control over the lights. They may be responsible for it, and may get upset if you touch it. You may want to check with them about the camera too - with it being conjoined townhomes, they may be responsible for everything outside, and may get snippy if you drill holes. This is more common in a condo vs townhome, but it's worth checking before you risk getting fined to oblivion. No worries re: the HOA; there's only six units here and my neighbors are appreciative that I'm putting in security cams and looking into this. As far as HOAs go... pretty lucky. I asked around, and turns out each of our units is split up and wired to a different part of the common lighting; i.e., unit 1 has awnings, unit 2 has the stairs, unit 3 has the driveway, and so on. So, my unit has the stair lighting which is also not behaving as it shoud... so I'll find the breaker that does that, and then ask my neighbor for permission to kill the breaker running the awning lights so I can fix his photocell too. I finished up this stuff this weekend, except for actually plugging in the cameras... belatedly discovered the existence of the micro slim run cables from Monoprice, so ordered 6" patches of those. Not too worried about the PoE side of things because it is 48 V, 99% of the run is bigger wire and it's just last little bit here where wire size drops. One of them went fine, I jigsawed a cut for an old work box (not that it gets super cold in Seattle, but it felt weird putting it "outside" even though it's installed in the ceiling) and then mounted a gasket and outdoor-rated metal plate over it. Will just leave a keystone floating around inside the box to go from the solid run to the patch cable. That's what you meant by "electrical retro box" right? The sealing part is actually kind of amusing to me because... well, I found out there wasn't actually any wood / material between my garage and the location of this box, just some insulation. Maybe long ago someone cut out a chunk there, but seeing as that metal grating is out there (why?), I guess this at least will resist water getting into the junction box proper.  The other one... well, I tried using a proper outdoor box (I wanted that camera down 1" or so from flush and figured it would be a good way to do it, this guy here: https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-Gang-Weatherproof-Box-Three-1-2-in-Threaded-Outlets-Bronze-5320-2/202056215), but it's mounting features drove me to find a spot near some wood so I could mount to it. Long story short... ended up looking like rear end, and it's cantilevered which doesn't feel right either to me. Another old work box seems like it'll be the sturdiest thing to mount in there, but... does anyone make them with the "wings" on some other side besides the top/bottom, or do I just need to modify one by cutting off the stop and hoping it still works? I'm right up against some wood (  ) so... one of the wings won't be able to clamp it's in normal spot. Then... I'm struggling for the right term (box extender, surface mount box, ?) but I'd like something like this (https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-42777-1EB-Surface-Backbox-Single/dp/B00332F4J4/ref=psdc_11042041_t4_B00332F4I0) but obviously more outdoor intended. Above picture, but just a inch or so lower would be the goal.Generally, what the hell are the boxes / plates called (I've seen extension box, raceway starter and a few others) where you want to transition from a regular in-wall junction box to surface mount raceways? I'm thinking I want to use that when i patch the drywall I cut inside my garage for a clean look. e: Is it as simple as something like this? I'm more or less stuck with the location (patching HardieBoard / siding does not sound appealing) so converting it to a one-gang seems like the best option to me. movax fucked around with this message at 08:56 on Jan 18, 2021 |
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Jan 18, 2021 08:46
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