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Accidentally posted this in the electronics thread, posting it here where it belongs now. I've wired 3 Mysa 'smart' line voltage thermostats (for electric baseboard heaters) and I have one left to do and it's boggling my mind. It's 1 heater on the thermostat, it's wired single pole, I believe 240v but the neutrals are white (the old thermostat says 240v on it but that could just mean it's rated for either). Two cables into the gang, each carrying a white neutral and a black hot wire (line and load), and the copper ground wire which is well and firmly affixed to the box with the two ends screwcapped. The analog thermostat works. I cannot get the mysa to turn on, have tried reversing the line/load black cables to no avail. I have tried swapping in the other known-good mysa units and they don't turn on either. This is exactly the setup in my other room where it took a handful of minutes to finish the installation. What could be going on with this? Stolen from the Mysa instructions, this is how the analog thermostat is wired:  This is how I've wired the Mysa in (the second photo but it's basically the same thing as I understand it):  Yes I've been turning the breaker off as I've been doing this. There is another thermostat on this circuit in the other room that's working great. Is it possible this gang is wired such that the two whites aren't actually neutral? Could I have somehow wired the other Mysa into this circuit in such a way as to not allow this one to work (but the analog still works)? I'm super confused. Thanks goons.
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Apr 27, 2022 06:59
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Oh my god I think the issue is that the line wire is only hot when the other one has the thermostat on... No way right? I can't imagine both thermostats are on the same circuit in series.
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Apr 27, 2022 23:37
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GEMorris posted:Thanks for the responses, I've installed Kidde combination smoke and co detectors throughout the house, they are the type that are wirelessly interlinked. The first week we had the house (hadn't even moved in, I was just there doing some demo) I did a test of the CO detector and thought I had disabled it, but didn't, sure as poo poo, fire department showed up about 5 minutes later. I would rather burn to death than risk the fire dept being automatically dispatched to my home and then dying of embarrassment anyways.
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May 25, 2022 00:46
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CRUSTY MINGE posted:Oh, no, 750ft to the dirt road, then 1.5-2 miles from the nearest pole. Sorry but just for my own learning - what's the reason for having a wind speed indicator? Just funsies or why have one? I only ask because if he's replacing them seemingly as soon as they fail there must be some interesting reason he needs one?
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May 31, 2022 01:54
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C-Euro posted:The house I bought last year came with a few basic Hampton Bay ceiling fans installed. One of them suddenly stopped responding to its corresponding light switch and its remote control. What electrical troubleshooting can I do to diagnose the problem before just going out and getting a replacement? Everything else in the room works and there's still a readable voltage at the switch. Does it work at all? Have you looked at your breakers to see if it tripped one?
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Jun 6, 2022 05:32
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They probably also understand thermal throttling but it's still almost immediately present in some of their products. They know what they can get away with to still have people buying.
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Jun 23, 2022 21:28
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Recently picked up two portable AC units and was surprised when running both on the same circuit blew the 15A breaker. I've since found that running them on the "low" fan setting allows them both to run in AC mode and not trip the breaker. There isn't anything else on the circuit. I do have a killawatt so I'll take a look at how much they're actually pulling but the stickers on them say the rated current is 12A and the "cooling current" is 8A. I'm guessing that 12A is the absolute highest you could draw in the AC mode with the fan on the highest setting. I don't really understand current so wanted to ask here. Is this expected behavior in that 8A+8A=16A which is larger than the 15A breaker? I have other outlets in the rooms that are on other 15A circuits. Is a solution to use a very high gauge 6' extension cord from another outlet? Each AC unit has it's own resettable breaker on the plug itself. Thanks.
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Jun 26, 2022 03:57
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H110Hawk posted:Yup. And when they kick on from a dead start they hit 24a combined. It's that simple. Move one to another breaker. You need at least 14awg for your extension cord, but 12a would be better. 16awg is not enough. TooMuchAbstraction posted:It's worth noting that the recommended maximum continuous load on a circuit is 80% of its max load. That is, you shouldn't be putting more than 12A continuous load on a 15A circuit. But yes, pretty much anything with a motor will draw higher than its listed rating for a brief period while starting up. Thanks for the quick and informative responses. I'll source that extension cord. How long a cord could I get away with? Would be nice to be able to route it a little bit discreetly but it might come out closer to 10'. Also easier to find 12 or 15' cables. VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Jun 26, 2022 |
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Jun 26, 2022 05:19
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Yeah I knew that the compressor is doing nearly all the work but just trying to do what I can to drop current even a tiny bit until the extension cord arrives.
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Jun 26, 2022 09:43
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Moey posted:Alrighty, I am looking for any hints here, this kind of blends into electrocuting myself. Did you get a chance to look at any circuitboards? Blown capacitor maybe? Something failed open that should be closed? Maybe something around the exhaust where you might see condensation?
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Jul 3, 2022 00:11
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Moey posted:I didn't deeply look at the control board when I ripped off the front panel, but it was pristine looking. No fried traces or bulging caps. That would have stood out. Great work! I'll be effortposting in here in the next little while about fixing the wiring so that two rooms on the same baseboard heater circuit are in parallel and not series so feel free to repay that minor favour at that time 
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Jul 3, 2022 01:14
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insta posted:That happened in an apartment I rented. There was a thud in the middle of the night and we found the dining room ceiling fan hanging 14" lower by just the wires. Turns out properly installed wirenuts will hold up a ceiling fan. Yes this is why wiring went to the neutral wire, it's 50% more holding capacity for your fans (please don't probe me)! The market wanted better, bigger, heavier fans and a third wire was seen as essential 
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Jul 11, 2022 00:39
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What would be a 'normal' breaker amperage in a new home? My 1999 built concrete condo has 15A breakers on the normal outlets/ceiling light circuits. I suspect it's not worth the $ to upgrade them but it would be cool to be able to not have to run an extension cord across my bedroom so that the AC unit is on a different circuit from the ones in the other areas of the house. How much would you estimate I'd be looking at to have say 2-3 circuits replaced with higher gauge wiring so I could have a 20 or 25A breaker on those? Is this even a thing? I'm expecting to be told either that you don't replace certain circuits, you do them all if you're going to do it, or that it's like $15k to have 2 circuits done I guess. But I thought it was worth asking.
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Aug 8, 2022 17:35
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Motronic posted:There is no "normal". Certain outlets in certain jurisdictions are now required to be 20 A in new builds. Most outlets and lighting runs are 15A. There are no other choices for 120v outlets that I'm aware of, certainly not 25A as no 25A 120v outlets exist. The extension cord thing was a goon approved move to a 12ga cord, it's rated properly etc and yeah I had similar reservations about an extension cord like that but it's been fine. I thought I specified it in my OP but maybe I wasn't clear - was never going to just put higher amp breakers on an existing lower amp circuit. Thank you for the feedback and it makes sense that people can't give an educated guess without seeing the place. skipdogg posted:15A or 20A depending on what the breaker is servicing. My house is 4 years old, and was built to the latest code at the time. I have 31 breakers on my interior panel and 12 of them are 20 amp, and the rest are 15 amp. The 20 amp circuits are generally for appliances (fridge, disposal, dishwasher, clothes washer) and the kitchen and bathroom GFCI's, plus a couple for the furnace, and a dedicated garage 20 amp circuit I had put in. The runs to the bedrooms/living areas are all 15 amp for the most part. If 15A is the modern standard I'm not super interested in 'upgrading' the 15A ones in my place to unusual higher amp circuits. I can work around the limitations for now. Thanks!
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Aug 8, 2022 18:10
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Motronic posted:Extension cords are for temporary use. It doesn't sound like this is temporary. Yeah this is (like any 12ga extension cord probably) a 'contractor grade' super insulated/armored cable about as big around as my thumb that just crosses my bedroom for 2-3 weeks of the year so I'm not super concerned about it or damaging it.
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Aug 8, 2022 18:18
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I was expecting it to be 10x that cost so that's not too bad.
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Aug 8, 2022 18:23
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I have a general question about GFCI: It's essentially a breaker at the outlet, right? So you have a breaker there, and a breaker back at your panel, so why have 2 breakers? I get that things near water could have water get in them or whatever and trip the GFCI, but being able to reset the breaker at the outlet seems more like a convenience than a safety item. Looking forward to learning, thanks.
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Aug 20, 2022 02:49
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Thanks! Both posts super informative and it makes a lot of sense actually.
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Aug 20, 2022 03:14
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CRUSTY MINGE posted:E: I am calling electricians advertising as home solar but all of them are saying they're either out of solar, or getting away from it. So I'll keep calling other listed electricians until I get someone out there for him. I dunno your friend and I'm not trying to take a cheap shot at them but are they for some reason unable to make these calls? Maybe I missed the reasoning but I'd be hideously embarrassed to have a friend think I was so incapable that I couldn't even call an electrician myself. Anyways you're a good friend and I'm glad you aren't going to die a death of least resistance in installing that stuff.
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Sep 6, 2022 19:44
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Inner Light posted:Here is another pic with the dimmer removed, showing the bundle of white wires and bundle of red wires behind.... still confused though. I'm not an expert and not providing advice here but is there another bundle of wires tucked in the back? When I did my timer (exact thing you're doing) I believe I added a ground wire from the timer to a bundle of ground wires that was capped in the box. Not the wire that grounds the box itself.
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Sep 9, 2022 21:40
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Arsenic Lupin posted:What's the best tape to use to wind around a @#$@#$@#$ computer power supply that has broken free of its connector again? (No wires exposed yet.) Electrical tape is way too sticky. Absolutely don't use a damaged cable... If you have two monitors maybe just grab the power cable from one of them for now until you pick up a replacement. If you're saying that the port the cord goes into is too loose and the cable keeps falling out, that could be the cable (most likely) so try swapping a monitor one in there first.
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Sep 14, 2022 03:26
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e: Resolved this, thanks. Out of curiosity, is it to code to use Wago connectors in a thermostat box? They're rated appropriately (450v/32A max) but I know there's more to it than that. I'm using the standard wire nuts right now but figured I'd ask because I've got a ton of wagos and something about it seems neater to me. VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Nov 19, 2022 |
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Nov 19, 2022 19:24
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Elem7 posted:Not an expert but I'd be more worried about the wire gauge and whether or not the Wago is rated for it. Theoretically I'm told thermostat wire "should" be 18ga but I'm pretty certain its no more than 24ga in my house and my in-laws seemed even smaller than that, and I've heard of plenty of people using network cable for new installs which could be anything from 22-28ga. At the very least I'd do some pull tests with a piece of spare wire to make sure the Wago's got a good grip. That's a reasonable concern and probably why wire nuts are likely the to-code option. These wagos are rated for 12-24 AWG, I've used some smaller stuff with them but in far less critical applications.
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Nov 19, 2022 20:58
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I watched fiber glitter in the dark after a backhoe cut. I once drove a backhoe backwards over a bunch of cans that a plumber had set out to blank out spots before a concrete slab pour the next morning. I had to call him in at 7pm to redo his work and it was the closest I think I've ever come to being murdered. Will always think of it when I see a backhoe.
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Dec 11, 2022 21:48
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Motronic posted:No, that's not sarcasm. Resistant heating is described as being 100% efficient because every bit of power you put into the heating device turns into heat. We just happen to have better ways of using electricity to generate more heat using an external source (heat pump, geothermal) which are generally 200-300% efficient. By this do you mean they are 2-3x as efficient for your money as resistance-based heaters? If not, how can something be more efficient than 100%? Not being pedantic just curious.
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Jan 16, 2023 00:29
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Motronic posted:Nice. I actually got one of those acorn plugs for a project. They are.......not safe. Protected by a piece of cardboard on the bottom of them just like the olden days. When did these things get phased out? I've never seen one, I'm 37. Maybe they didn't come to Canada? Maybe by the time people lived on the west coast they were already gone? I don't know anything about this.
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Jan 23, 2023 15:20
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SpartanIvy posted:I've come to realize that I've been hammering my wire staples a scooch too tight in some instances, so now I'm crawling around with my lineman's pliers wiggling loose any staples that look a little tight. It sucks but it beats having a wire short out in several years/decades and burning my house down. Even though my AFCI/GFCI breakers should prevent that. Sorry do you mean you're using the hammer stapler like the one you slam down on something to place a staple? You're able to do that with enough precision not to impale wires?
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Feb 12, 2023 18:58
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