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FISHMANPET posted:So it's not copper, it's a silver wire so my next guess is aluminum. There's no marking on the wire except something like "Balden" and "12 duplex" and googling those words I find... automotive brake cables. More likely to be Belden.
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Aug 12, 2021 03:23
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Does anybody know why, historically, doorbells have transformers? Is it to prevent shocks if there's a wiring fault and the bell itself is live?
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Aug 14, 2021 19:26
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Is there a standard book on home electricity you guys recommend? Like, not "You are a contractor, please know how not to gently caress this up", but "This is the difference between neutral and ground, this is what the wiring diagram looks like for two switches in the same room", that sort of thing? I don't expect to be doing any wiring myself, but I like knowing how things work.
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Sep 9, 2021 20:40
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Last night I discovered my Kindle charger hadn't, so my bedtime reading was Wiring Complete. It's pretty fair; I wish the first chapter had had a basic diagram of "hot go in, neutral go out, ground go somewhere", showing an energized circuit with arrows. Good technical writing overall.
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Sep 24, 2021 17:30
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Motronic posted:I sure hope it doesn't, because that's not how AC works. See? I need a diagram.  
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Sep 24, 2021 17:50
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cruft posted:In my house, every fixture is a "no ground wire" fixture, because they didn't run ground in 1942. I'd want to see that the fixture was double insulated, though.
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Nov 19, 2021 17:07
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Motronic posted:(unless you're in Chicago, then all bets are off and I have no idea how their code work, but you're not).
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Nov 28, 2021 22:21
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What does code say about doorbell wire (max 24 volts)? Can it be run on the exterior of a house? Does it need to be run through conduit? It turns out the previous owners of my house cut the doorbell wire not just at the doorbell, which would make sense, but at the porch level, which means it would have to be refished in a very un-fish-friendly house.
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Dec 5, 2021 05:23
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Extant Artiodactyl posted:as long as the cable's outdoor rated, it's fine. hard to find specifics about doorbells in the NEC, when it comes to low voltage, they're more concerned with fire alarms and signalling circuits. it'd be nice to protect that wire, obviously, but considering that the transformer secondary side usually is just sitting there on the panel with its terminals all exposed, i don't think it's an issue. That's cool; if it's safe for me to do it, I'm good with that. e: It interests me that the electrician specifically called it "Belden wire" when talking about it to me and to his apprentice. I grew up in a town with a Belden factory, now closed. It was an auto-parts town, and all those factories are long closed. I grew up just calling it "doorbell wire"; it was what you used in My First Electric Project, as for 4-H. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Dec 5, 2021 |
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Dec 5, 2021 17:56
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As was gently suggested upthread, I've realized my electrician's proposal for replacing the doorbell wire was a hint at "I don't think this job is worth my time." (2 men, one day) This seems like a thing I can fix myself, with a tolerance for crawlspaces, spiders in my hair, and drilling poo poo. I have one major question: How do I figure out which breaker the transformer is on? It's not like there's a socket I can plug a multitester into.
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Dec 12, 2021 20:29
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Anne Whateley posted:I'm no electrician, but can you have someone ring the doorbell (or tape a pebble over it or something) and flip breakers until it stops ringing? No, the whole problem is that the previous owner removed the doorbell and cut the wire at porch level; I need to run a new wire so I can mount a new doorbell.
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Dec 12, 2021 21:42
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Messadiah posted:Can you have someone just triggering the chime at the chime itself until it doesn't chime? There should be 2 screw terminals in it which will be where the button was hooked up. I'm installing a new chime, too! POs ripped out everything except the wiring under the house and the transformer. Extant Artiodactyl posted:if your transformer is attached to the panel you can just take the cover off and see what circuit it's on. Are you assuming the panel would be labeled, showing which circuit the transformer was on? (it isn't.) Otherwise I'm not following you. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 20:08 on Dec 13, 2021 |
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Dec 13, 2021 20:06
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So, I have a question. A major electrical line is about two yards outside my window. It has a big thick ridged cylinder around it. Something is going hmmm at a semi-regular interval. Is the round thing a transformer, and is the humming normal? Cellphone picture taken intno the sun through a window screen, sorry.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-x8ZpWQSLM
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May 19, 2022 00:56
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Methylethylaldehyde posted:That's a splice box for cable tv wire. It's a low voltage signal, and most easement/setback rules for it are 'as long as it doesn't rub on things when it's windy'. It's also why it's the lowest on the pole, nothing bad is gonna happen if you bump it or grab it. Power lines are generally up much higher and have a much larger setback requirement. Thank you!
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May 19, 2022 02:20
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Inner Light posted:Barenaked Ladies fan eh? Very much so.
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May 19, 2022 04:38
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tater_salad posted:at night does this light up your room? Haven't grabbed a fluorescent bulb to check.
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May 20, 2022 03:55
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https://twitter.com/USCPSC/status/1537473976825413632
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Jun 16, 2022 17:38
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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.
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Sep 13, 2022 22:18
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VelociBacon posted: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.
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Sep 14, 2022 16:29
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slurm posted:I'm guessing you mean the part that's hard wired to the power brick and goes into the laptop? Yup. Those really are machine specific. e: And it's not USB-charged.
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Sep 15, 2022 00:59
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H110Hawk posted:Carpets give mild static shocks that go bang and are done in a microsecond.
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Sep 18, 2022 18:13
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KS posted:I have seen ground potential melt cat6, and buildings with the second vendor's equipment replace 20% of their cable plant in a year. I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Cables on fire in the racks of DC2... I watched fiber glitter in the dark after a backhoe cut. All those moments will be lost in time, like my stock options... Time to die.
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Dec 11, 2022 19:59
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Btw, antiquelampsupply.com is great for finding reproduction parts (sockets, cord, pull chains) that match the original. For instance, twin cord.
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Dec 13, 2022 02:05
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 question: What differentiates "hot" and "neutral" wires given that you're dealing with AC and current flows in both directions?
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Dec 14, 2022 03:17
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Our house is old, and the upper floor has historically been unheated, or heated by a 1950s --at latest-- portable space heater that plugs into (I think) a NEMA 220-30 outlet. Picture below. I have worried about the safety of the heater for some time; my husband loves it because it heats up so fast. I asked the electrician who was coming to do other work to rewire it; he took it to his shop and said that in conscience he couldn't repair it, because it was unsafe. The plug was partly melted, meaning that either the wall wiring or the heater itself was faulty, and of course it had no tip-over protection. I was relieved to have the unsafety of the heater confirmed. So. We have heavy-duty wiring up to the office. Is there an alternative other than a baseboard heater? I have searched extensively, and as far as I can figure high-amperage heaters are available in Europe, but not the US. There are garage-quality heaters, but they don't have tip protectors and aren't safe for household use. If we do a baseboard heater, do they have to be under the window? Constraints. The house was built in 1931. All the walls are either painted beadboard or knotty pine; neither can be easily replaced if damaged by removal and reinstallation. There is no central heating, and no ductwork. The only gas service to the house is propane, and there's no line up to the second floor. Mini-splits would have to be installed 20 feet in the air, with long supply lines down to the ground. Thoughts? 
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Jan 11, 2023 02:06
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tangy yet delightful posted:My non-wiring thought is could you just buy a heater from Europe? ebay.eu.com or whatever? I wasn't sure if rewiring the plug would be safe.
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Jan 11, 2023 02:36
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Qwijib0 posted:There are UL Listed 240v portable heaters, like this one for example e: Thank you, movax. That was helpful in understanding. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 05:14 on Jan 11, 2023 |
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Jan 11, 2023 05:12
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The issue is that I wonder if there's a way to take advantage of the existing high-power line to feed a fast-warming heater. Otherwise we'll just stick with Vornado (in a different outlet) early in the day, to be turned off as the sun warms the room..
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Jan 11, 2023 05:37
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This is all very helpful, and I'll put it in my pocket until it comes time to deal with the upstairs heat. Right now, I am focused on the roof  and the septic system  .If you're wondering why we put up with all this, Arsenic Lupin posted:I didn't even mean that as a humblebrag. Sorry.
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Jan 11, 2023 18:27
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My son's bedroom has a hard-wired 240 volt heater. The controls don't work and ! can't be turned off. I called the local electricians to have it removed and they said, yeah, we'll call you back. It's two months later, no callback. Is removing the heater and capping the wires something I can trust my handyman (recommended by the appliance store, FWIW) to do, or do I need to wait for the boys with the certification?
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Apr 27, 2023 16:22
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Motronic posted:So it this circuit a single breaker that you've turned off?
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Apr 27, 2023 16:57
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Motronic posted:Gross, it's an ancient Zinsco panel. It's maybe okay, probably not gonna burn your house down but don't be surprised if some of the breakers are "soft" (i.e. trip below their rating) and then yeah.....who knows which ones won't trip at all. I'm not sure I've ever heard of that as an epidemic Zinsco thing though. Not like it's a stab-loc.
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Jul 22, 2023 00:27
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Motronic posted:Good to know. We have very few of those (left?) on on this coast so I've not personally run into a problem/investigation where they caused an issue. Waitaminnnit, I'm as old as a Zinsco subpanel.  e: Found this list Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Jul 25, 2023 |
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Jul 25, 2023 03:30
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Idle curiosity question. We just had a hideous fixture removed from our pantry. (Thanks for the rec of the farmhouse style lights; they were perfect.) The back of the fixture looks like this:  Based on the wiring, when would you guys guess it was bought/installed?
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Aug 30, 2023 00:04
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It's cloth, all right.
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Aug 30, 2023 01:59
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With this house, it's much much more likely to be original. I mean, there's a hand built wooden ironing board - not built in, standalone - and a 220V outlet in the upstairs to run an electric heater. Plus three different obsolete vacuum cleaners.
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Aug 30, 2023 04:49
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Motronic posted:Looks like you live in California and that's a title 24 switch.
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Sep 18, 2023 03:12
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Motronic, remind me how I can identify whether my house is balloon framed? I remember something about going into the crawlspace, but not the details.
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Nov 25, 2023 01:02
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kastein posted:Yeah the ground neutral tie part confuses the hell out of me. I need to read over it again at some point. Good point. X-ray gun would probably work as well.
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Nov 25, 2023 03:01
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Motronic posted:You needed big, old growth trees to mill 20-40 foot 2x stock that was straight enough to use, and you needed to be able to get them to the site. Even if balloon framing was a good idea, we just don't have the forestry stock to do it anymore. It would have to be done with engineered lumber.
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Nov 26, 2023 20:49
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