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thelightguy posted:He was asking for architectural lighting control, not a full blown home automation system. (And even then, you should get a high-end one that supports DMX, so you can add more lights simply by buying another dimmer unit from any one of a number of companies, instead of dealing with the proprietary, often horribly crippled and overpriced expansion options provided by most low to mid-grade home automation systems.) By that same token, I've seen Leviton and Cooper whizbang 128-channel lighting control panels in 4-star resorts, so they do make really capable stuff that could also be used in a home.
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Dec 8, 2009 12:34
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EssOEss posted:Of course, your circuit breaker might just be defective... This. Residential breakers aren't really designed to operate a whole bunch. We've been using one in switching duty for a couple of weeks and we can now tap the case and have the handle move to "tripped" without interrupting the circuit. Putting an auto-ranging max-hold meter on it as it's tripping will show you what's going on, but those aren't the types of things non-electricians usually carry around.
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Jan 7, 2010 21:12
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CharlieX posted:Does anybody make a timer that can go on/off for a set number of minutes? For example 5 minutes on, 20 off, 5 on, 20 off ect. I have a woodburner in my basement with a fan to heat the house and I would love to have it go on/off like that when I have a fire going so save money this winter. I would plug the fan for the fireplace into the timer and then it would heat my house without running all the time. (which is loud, wastes electricity, and shortens the life of the fan) I have a 24-hour timer with 5-minute increments on it. It's a plant-light timer by Intermatic, TN111C; I think I found it at Home Depot on clearance. You could get a TN811C instead; that way you wouldn't have to get another package of trippers. fake edit: hey should have hit reply a few hours ago. A thermostat is a great idea, too, even if it's not the question you asked.
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Jan 12, 2010 05:31
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dv6speed posted:I installed a florescent light fixture outside at my garage a little while ago. Most times it turns on just fine. Instant-start vs rapid-start ballast. You probably want a rapid-start if that's not what you have. Instant-start uses a massive voltage spike to start the lamp, while rapid-start uses a heating coil to preheat the electrodes. Instant-start usually aren't rated to actually start a lamp below 40-50 F or so.
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Jan 23, 2010 03:38
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dietcokefiend posted:Figured one of you guys might know the answer to this. Yep. J-box in an accessible location securely fastened to something immobile, wire nuts on the wires, cable clamps on the openings. Staple/clamp the wire within 18" of the j-box and every 3' after that. If the j-box is metal, connect a grounding pigtail to the ground wire in your cables.
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Jan 29, 2010 14:48
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dietcokefiend posted:Generally speaking the staples for the larger wire have nice plastic/rubber insulating material on them and you just hammer for the fuckers in place. You get it snug and that is all that matters. Just dont go insane with a sledge or something. Plastic-coated is fine, or just use a staple gun wide enough. Don't cut the jacket and you're good. The outside of Romex can take a pretty decent beating, and the insulation around the wires inside THAT can take a pretty good beating, too. Can't blink sideways at the stuff with a razor knife in your hand, though.
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Jan 29, 2010 23:45
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dv6speed posted:We need a "Don't burn your barn down: the industrial wiring thread." thread. 1) Motor controls are motor controls. The only difference is in the contactor going to the motor; a 3-phase will have 3 wires, a single-phase will have two. 2) A static phase converter uses some capacitors to introduce offset from your single phase long enough to have the motor start as a 3-phase motor. After that, your motor spins two-phased, so you're at either 57% power or 66% power, and loading near this creates significant heating. A rotary phase converter is just a single-phase motor with a three-phase generator attached, either wound around the same shaft or mounted to the output. This generates real live 3-phase power in your house! YAY! 3) Making one of these is dead simple. I wouldn't recommend building a static converter for a lathe. If you load it down, it overheats and dies. A rotary converter is as easy as getting a single-phase motor 20% larger (HP rated) than your 3-phase and wiring it to a suitable 3-phase generator. Another option is to build/buy/steal a 3-phase VFD. The super-cheap AC ones don't do much VF, they just vary the voltage after synthesizing 3-phase waveforms. It's basically a rectifier section, three single-phase synthesizer sections (2-8 SCRs), and a control section. The electronics megathread probably has some idea of how to actually build one that won't blow up.
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Feb 3, 2010 05:11
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Slugworth posted:I may get corrected by an actual electrician, but I was always taught that a circuit can only reliably handle about 80% of the amperage listed, due to resistance in the lines. So a fifteen amp breaker can only be trusted to hold about 12 amps before tripping. So, if you have 11 amps running consistently, all it would take is a little voltage spike (A fridge condenser kicking on), and you're outta luck. Breakers are rated by their overload current: the current that must be present for 5 or more minutes to trip. The more current, the faster the trip; breakers are all "inverse-time" devices. The number on most breakers is the 5-minute setting. That is, a 20A breaker will carry 20A for 5 minutes before tripping. Anything less and it shouldn't trip, ever. Most breakers can run at 4x or 5x rating for a second or two before tripping. "Instant-trip" zone is usually 10x-20x. So you could constantly pull 18A all day and not have a problem. You could even have a situation where you draw 30A for a few seconds and not trip; it's not until the circuit starts to pull 200-500A that the thing will instantly click. In general, when selecting circuit breaker size, you calculate the total load on the circuit and divide by .8. So if your load is 12A, you get a 15A breaker; 16A = 20A breaker. All this being said, breakers do wear out over time, and some brands suck. If you can't think of a logical reason you're pulling over 11A on a 20A circuit and the breaker is tripping, replace it. If it trips and it's new, something is about to catch fire in your wall somewhere, and maybe has already once.
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Feb 24, 2010 00:28
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grover posted:When you say breaker, you mean the breaker in your electrical panel, and not the GFCI, right? Assuming that, this sounds like your dryer was overloaded those handful of times. Stalled AC motors are essentially a short-circuit, and let WAY more than 15A of current flow for very brief periods of time. This happens every time you start any motor, but is usually very brief. Same thing as if you try to run large power tools off too long of an extension cord- it can burn out motors, as well as tripping breakers. As I described above, breakers are designed to accommodate this. I suspect what's happening in your case is that when the motor reverses when loaded with an exceptionally heavy load, it has difficulty overcoming the inertia of all those wet clothes, and takes longer than normal to reverse. I'm going to respectfully disagree with this post. GFCIs are notorious for nuisance tripping on motor loads. If it is a GFCI breaker, then replace the breaker with a normal one. Laundry rooms are only required to have GFCI within 6ft of a laundry sink. I suspect it's actually an AFCI breaker, which are much MORE notorious for tripping on heavy motor loads. As far as AFCI goes, NEC 2008, sec 210.12(B) posted:All 120-volt, single phase, 15- and 2-ampere branch circuits supplying outlets installed in dwelling unit family rooms, dining rooms, living rooms, parlors, libraries, dens, bedrooms, sunrooms, recreation rooms, closets, hallways, or similar rooms or areas shall be protected by a listed arc-fault circuit interrupter.... So, nothing in there about laundry rooms, either. I don't think a laundry room is considered a closet or other living space.
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Mar 1, 2010 14:41
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Richard Noggin posted:Yes, it's a pedestal. So...GFI or ELCI? From my research, it appears as though the difference between a GFCI and an ELCI is this: GFCI trips 4-6mA, ELCI trips 30-60mA. I don't think it matters too much, really. All basement outlets have to be GFCI anyway, unless it's a finished basement room, where it's probably going to have to be an AFCI.
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Mar 5, 2010 14:33
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dv6speed posted:If I do the digging myself, how much do you suppose it'd cost me to run a 50 amp 220v circuit underground about 125 feet? I already have a breaker and sub panel, so all I really need is cable, conduit, and entrance connectors... I think. Sorry I missed this. 50A circuit is #8 THHN underground with a #10 grounding conductor. Dedicated 220 with no neutral current means 2 #8s; if you have/need a neutral that's 3 #8s. As far as conduit: my codebook says you can run 3#8s and a #10 ground in 3/4" sch40 PVC conduit, or 2 #8s and 1 #10 in 1/2" PVC. Whatever you get, get some threaded->threadless couplings and a pair of rigid metal elbows for where you come out of the ground. I'd buy a quart of pulling lube and some pulling string as well. Run your conduit, use a vacuum to suck the string in, tie your wire to the string, and pull. The metal elbows prevent the pull string from cutting through the PVC conduit, which is a concern when pulling big wire in small pipe. Use the lube generously as well. I recommend Polywater A or Polywater CLR. I think Home Depot carries quart bottles of the stuff; sometimes they have Ideal Clearglide, which is OK. Use the whole bottle. #8 type UF is probably more expensive than conduit and wire, but it is a lot easier to run. You're still going to need to protect the cable where it comes out of the ground with rigid conduit or equivalent. So cost: (Wire, conduit, rigid 90s, couplings, lube, string) or (8/3 or 8/2 type UF, short pieces of rigid), box, breaker, outlet, tape, maybe some other misc fittings like lock rings.
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Mar 5, 2010 23:54
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Kaluza-Klein posted:I hope this is a good place to ask this. . . Do you have baseboards? If so, take them off, then run your coax at floor level. When you put the baseboard back on, all is hidden.
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Mar 26, 2010 00:19
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), or use a very long and flexible attachment to drill from the work box hole.
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GreenTrench posted:That's the GEC. If that wire is removed, it can present a serious issue to your house. The odds of a plumber coming in and removing that section of the pipe is pretty small, but it shouldn't be too hard to fix. BTW, if it's the township electrical inspector, you must fix it since he's the one who pointed it out. Even if you drive a ground rod, there's a requirement to bond all grounding electrodes in a system together. The cold water ground has to be within 5' of the first penetration out of the ground. What I'd do is get another cold-water clamp and put it up above the shutoff and run the same wire continuously through both clamps. That way you're totally set.
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Apr 1, 2010 23:46
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I hadn't considered a racking system. I was just going to fab up some stuff with 1 5/8" unistrut and a bunch of stainless 3/8" hardware. All the strength info I need is easily available for that stuff, plus, it's super-available locally through all manners of supply houses, warehouses, etc.
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Apr 2, 2010 19:53
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dietcokefiend posted:Would it be easier and more code-compliant if I just built a drat shelf up inside the floor joist area with maybe a little access panel, and placed a UPS sized for the projector in there? The code compliance is that you can't make an extension cord that exposes voltage on male terminals in normal use. You could get a piece of SO cord, wire one end to a normal receptacle up in your ceiling, and then lead the other end down through a hole in a wall plate and just have a short piece of cord with a male end exposed. You'd plug that male end into your UPS. Since it's not possible to backfeed the male end with your projector, you'd be good. There's still a fuzzy area about using SO cord as permanent wiring, however. I'll do some research and see if I can nail down a way to make this work.
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Apr 5, 2010 13:34
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dietcokefiend posted:So then we started to discuss power cables for appliances and found a solution that fits. Romex 12/14 gauge to junction box where it meets flexible 12/14 gauge wire at said box and is hard wired with twist caps. Stress reliever things for the flexible cable leaving the junction box. This removes the extension cord from the equation and replaces it with a NEC-compliant appliance cable turning the entire line into an appliance. Now I'm confused. In my mind, I see a flexible cable coming out of the wall. What's at the other (surge suppressor) end?
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Apr 6, 2010 00:40
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dietcokefiend posted:Yea flexible cable coming out of the wall. The difference being one is connected through a removable outlet connection and the other is hard wired to the junction box. Blank plates are made that have that trade size 1/2 knockout in them so you won't literally have a cable sticking out of the drywall. If you can't find one easily, you can cut a 7/8" hole in a plate fairly easily with a hole saw. Use copious distilled water as cutting fluid if your plate is stainless.
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Apr 6, 2010 02:43
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dietcokefiend posted:Awesome part about this is I already own two deep cycle batteries I keep on hand for a 1500 watt inverter when power drops. Do give those batteries a float charge at least once a month? I got some deep cycle batteries to run my electric scooter, and lead-acid chemistry is fairly delicate if you want long life. Overcharging, floating at too high a cell voltage, or not keeping the batteries charged leads to plate sulfation and no life.
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Apr 6, 2010 13:36
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Kaluza-Klein posted:Heat has been working fine, but now that we are using A/C, I have a distinct feeling that the A/C isn't turning on. The only way I can make it blow anything resembling cool air is to set the FAN to ON. That blows air that is cooler than ambient, but it certainly isn't A/C cold. You do definitely need a heat-pump specific thermostat. Normal thermostats don't have options for aux heat and whatnot. Aux heat is a set of electric heaters inside your air handler (house fan) for when it's too cold to run the heat pump effectively. Was your electric bill really high? If so, then it's possible your heat pump has been out of working fluid for a while and you've been using very wasteful electric heat all winter. Before replacing your thermostat, call an HVAC company that knows heat pumps and have them do a checkup on your unit. The $50 you spend will tell you where to send the next $100.
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Apr 7, 2010 19:00
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Mark Kidd posted:I was hoping one of our resident electricians could answer a question that was posed to me today: does code have anything to say about painting a panel cover/face? The code is silent about color. Just can't be obstructed.
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Apr 8, 2010 04:06
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kid sinister posted:In other words, it has a feature that every GFCI receptacle has built in already. We're doing remodels right now. The specs call for every receptacle within 6' of water to be a GFCI. There's one circuit for the kitchen. Six receptacles, all GFCI, all the same circuit. I love government money.
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Apr 12, 2010 06:26
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Don't post before coffee, kids. You'll read something wrong twice, then QUOTE it wrong.
babyeatingpsychopath fucked around with this message at 16:04 on Apr 13, 2010 |
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Apr 13, 2010 13:58
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tadashi posted:From what you all are saying, it sounds like it was the inspector who didn't know what they were talking about. I have to have an electrician out at my house next week, anyway. I will just have him take a look. Yes. Have him look. Make sure that the breaker isn't bigger than the "max fuse size" listed on the side of the A/C. Make sure that there's at least 10AWG wire landed on that 30A breaker. If the A/C says "max fuse 20A" and you have a 30A protecting it, your warranty will not cover you when the motor catches fire and burns your house down, even if the wire size is correct. I just checked: my A/C has a "max fuse" and "max recommended HACR-type breaker" listed. babyeatingpsychopath fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Apr 14, 2010 |
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Apr 14, 2010 18:57
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RedReverend posted:If it specifies a fuse then I believe that you have to have both. Nope. In general, AC installations are AC -outside wiring---- Outside disconnect ---house wiring--- house panel w/breaker The concept is thus: house panel breaker protects house wiring. Outside disconnect is a positive indication the circuit is off if you're mucking with the AC. If it's "fused" (a generic term that can mean it has a breaker or fuse), then it protects the unit and its wiring. The "max fuse" or "max HACR-Type Breaker" is what you stick in your disconnect. You can use either one. If the disconnect is unfused, then your house panel has to comply with the "max fuse." If the disconnect is fused, then you can put whatever the hell you want in the house panel provided your wiring supports it, and size your disconnect fuses for the unit. Example: My House. 60A breaker in the panel, with #6AWG THHN copper (65A ampacity) to the exterior disconnect. That disconnect has a 20A pull-type fuse in it, which matches the "max fuse: 20A" on the outside condenser. There's some #12AWG THHN copper in a piece of nonmetallic watertight flexible conduit out to the condenser. It also has a 20A GFCI receptacle inside to comply with the requirement for a service receptacle near AC units; nice deal. If I ever need a significantly huger outside compressor, I replace the fuse holder with (for example) a 40A holder, the wire to the compressor with some #8, and the unit with something that says "MAX FUSE 40A."
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Apr 15, 2010 00:38
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Hillridge posted:Quick mspaint: I think you've got the relay load contacts wired backwards. If the float is not normally high, then then NC will be on, so the relay will be on, so the contacts will be closed. You have NC on the relay controlling the load, so they'll be open if the float is down. Right? When the float goes up the power goes off? That means NO contacts on the relay control the power.
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Apr 22, 2010 16:47
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Briantist posted:I am helping someone convert an existing in-wall outlet, into a surface-mount outlet so that we can tap off of it to run a second outlet. The ground screws you bought are self-tapping. If even a little bit fits into one of the holes, just go ahead and ram it in there, making a nice, solid, squished-threaded-mangled metal-to-metal connection. I don't think I'd trust the surface extension screws to provide an effective ground-fault current path.
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Apr 26, 2010 01:31
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Richard Noggin posted:I'd like to come up with a better way of providing generator power to my house. My service comes into a 100A service disconnect (a single 100A breaker mounted so the switch flips up and down, instead of left and right) on one wall of the garage. That in turn is wired to the main panel, which is located on the opposite wall. Currently, when we have an extended outage, I flip the service disconnect and the main panel disconnect off, then backfeed the panel. I always make sure that both disconnects are in the off position before I do this. The "standard transfer switch, manual, one each" that I've seen are 200A SPDT switches. The "common" contact goes to your panel, one leg to your service, and one leg to your generator. They're break before make so at no point is the gen connected to the service, so there is a bit of a power blink. They are fairly pricey for humans to buy tho, I think the ones we got in for a supermarket were $600. The ATS for the next building over was the same deal, and only $1000.
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May 1, 2010 00:50
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Richard Noggin posted:Ouch. That's waaaay more than I wanted to spend. I asked around. Go to a supply house, you should be able to get a 200-amp MTS for $350 max in a NEMA 3R enclosure. That'd be rainproof outdoor-rated. Should be going for around $200-250 for an indoor surface- or flush-mount.
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May 1, 2010 19:18
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Walking Spanish posted:
On a roof or in open beams means conduit. Hire an electrician. They might tell you that digging a trench is faster/cheaper, but I don't know about your landscaping. "Tapping into" something to run something else is not good practice. If your bitchin' machinery explodes, then you'd lose your A/C, and vice versa. I don't know where your main panel is, or what "box full of wires" means, really.
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May 2, 2010 16:46
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Walking Spanish posted:I have two breaker boxes. One for the original construction and one for the addition that was put on in the 70's. The "box full of wires" is just a junction box. It was supposed to be a joke I guess V I don't know where you are. Call a real electrician. So much more information is needed about the actual physical layout of the structure, where the breaker box(es) are, what kind of service you need back in your shop, etc. Metal conduit outside. EMT with rain-tight fittings at a minimum. Don't know about your roof, though, so how to secure the conduit thereto is problematic. You may end up with an rear end-ugly EMT run around the face of your house. I look at all the threads in here and I see so much of "the previous owner half-assed this" and I don't want you to be one of those guys. Anything exterior or with conduit is best left to a professional. Amateur pipe work exposed just looks really, really, really crappy. That said, "electrons don't care what the pipe run looks like."
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May 2, 2010 23:06
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V. What would you recommend, galvanized steel conduit or plastic?
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dwoloz posted:Question: Just put the shims behind the screws? Behind the yoke at the top and bottom? Should be fine.
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May 10, 2010 12:58
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dyne posted:So I drilled a hole through a stud in an exterior wall so that there's less than 1 1/4" from the outer edge of the stud, so I believe it needs a nail plate? Is there anything I can do to avoid ripping open the exterior wall to put a nail plate there? Or can I just drill a new hole? I'd say drill a new hole. Thinking about it, you should be able to bend a nail plate to fit into the hole; it doesn't seem like WHERE the metal is is specified, just that it must exist.
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May 11, 2010 00:42
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kid sinister posted:I bought my brother's house that was built in 1956 and I'd like to legally update all it's old 2 prong outlets to 3 prong ones. Five years ago my brother had an electrician swap out the old fusebox for a breaker box, and install a new circuit for a workshop area in the basement. As far as I can tell, all of the original wiring is 14-2 with ground in a metallic-looking woven sheath. Probably. The "poked back out their entry holes and twisted together on the outside of the box" doesn't sound like a UL-listed grounding method. A green ground screw into a specified hole or a green ground clip on the screw is grounding. If it's a metallic box, then it must be grounded. If the box is grounded by all the incoming wires, which ground back at the service, then yes, you can just swap 2-prong with 3-prong. Make sure to test (with the breaker off, preferably) your neutral to ground and make sure it's very close to 0 ohms at every box.
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May 15, 2010 03:17
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kid sinister posted:You mean just a continuity test with a multimeter? Let's see. 180VA per duplex receptacle. 16A max on a 20A circuit, so that's 16A*120V/180VA= 10.6666 = 10 receptacles per circuit with no other load.
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May 16, 2010 02:00
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kid sinister posted:I got some more questions about code. 210.12(C) 1 and 2 state that bathrooms and laundries both need their own dedicated circuits for receptacles. However, in both my laundry area and my only bathroom there are only 1 receptacle in each. Would I need 20A GFCIs for those 2 areas because of 210.21(B)(1)? The bathroom circuit can serve the bathroom's lights as well, but no other receptacles or lighting. Yes, even though there is precisely one outlet in your laundry room, it needs its own circuit.
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Jun 9, 2010 00:13
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kid sinister posted:Welp, looks like I'll need to run all new wiring for that bathroom then. In that case I'll need to keep a junction for the old circuit in the box, since the bathroom isn't at the end of its existing circuit. Is this allowed? Should I bind their neutrals and grounds, or keep them separate? Multiple circuits in a box, OK. Tie all grounds together. MULTIPLE CIRCUITS, MULTIPLE NEUTRALS. New code states that if two hots are sharing a neutral, the breaker must disconnect both. Keep neutrals separate!
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Jun 9, 2010 19:20
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kid sinister posted:That "two hots sharing a neutral" reminded me of something. I was messing around with my AC last week after the condenser outside wouldn't turn on. Long story short, I gassed the ant colony inside and cleared out all the dead ant bodies keeping the relay from making good contacts. Lo and behold, I have AC again! If it's right by your A/C unit, then yes. It's not a "subpanel," but a "fused disconnect." And is there to remove power when servicing the unit. If it's within sight of and readily accessible from the location where the A/C is, then it's a disconnect. If it's on the other side of the house or something, then it's not needid.
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Jun 10, 2010 19:26
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dwoloz posted:What are the general codes revolving around wiring in a crawl space? Is conduit required? Nope. Romex is still fine (type NM). Running across joists, must go in holes at least 1 5/8" from the face. Parallel, should not be run on the bottom of the joist. I think 8/2 NM, 10/3 NM, or larger can be stapled to the bottoms of joists when crossing. It might be 8/3, 6/2 or larger. I really should pull my codebook out of the car.
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Jun 11, 2010 01:16
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kid sinister posted:Great, I try to bring my place up to code... I installed 2 combo AFCIs today for my bedrooms, hall and family room. The problem is that on one circuit, that AFCI trips when I turn my PC on. I've unplugged everything else from that circuit including unplugging the PC from its surge protector and plugging it in directly and it still trips. Right now I'm running it off an extension cord to the other GFCI, so I know I don't have a short somewhere in my PC case. Ideas? Does it trip when you plug anything else in, or just the PC? If it's just the PC, I strongly suspect weird harmonics from your power supply are draining to ground. That's typically fixed with an isolated circuit with its own neutral and ground all the way back to the panel, but I don't know if that will fix an issue with AFCIs.
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Jun 11, 2010 18:41
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kid sinister posted:
Shared neutrals. The neutrals from two circuits touching will cause the AFCI to screw up.
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Jun 12, 2010 01:09
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