Wiring Thread: This stupid safety device started alerting that there wasn't safety!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Wiring Thread: This stupid safety device started alerting that there wasn't safety!

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

cruft posted:

This just pooped up in the EV thread:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ND6CTGK/

Looking forward to reading what y'all think of it!

I am curious how long something as unsafe as this will remain on amazon. I might have reported it but I expect my report to have the same impact as pissing into a hurricane. The biggest fault is that if you unplug one end from the wall but leave the charger attached, the blades of the plug are "hot" {at least one is}. No amount of disclaimers or warnings fixed that.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2021 13:53

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 00:54

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

PageMaster posted:

Anyone know what this wire is or what clues might tell me what it is for? It's in the garage wrapped around a nail in the ceiling joist above the furnace and water heater but not connected to either. Is the only way to tell to open some walls and follow it through the whole house?

Red sometimes means smoke alarm. I can't get a sense of scale from the pic, but a hardwired smoke/carbon monoxide right there would be a good thing. Do you have hardwired smokes elsewhere?

# ¿ Jul 20, 2021 14:00

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

StateFarm hooked me up with a free Ting volltage monitor gizmo. Now the government has 2 ways to watch my electrical usage.

https://i.imgur.com/CITUUOj.mp4

# ¿ Jul 20, 2021 19:24

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

dms666 posted:

Here you go!

The old fixture which just had two wires from it (really old chandelier) just went from the black on the right to the black on the left. The neutrals and grounds are both connected together.

Wires coming off of the new fixture.

That looks like a switch loop done backwards. The proper thing to switch is the "hot" side. It looks from you picks that they are extending the neutral down to the switch and breaking it there. Electrically this works, but it is a code no no. Wiring in your new fixture to the two black wires will work and despite being "wrong" in not really a safety issue.

Making it "right" would involve finding the real neutral and using that with the white wire on your fixture and tagging the white wire that leads to the switch with tape or black paint. If you cap all the wires and carefully reset the circuit breaker you can use your NC voltage tester to find the feed wire with the real neutral.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2021 22:13

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

gwrtheyrn posted:

I'm also looking to do this. Would you typically need any additional materials (wire, wire nuts etc) or is there typically sufficient wire and connectors already in the fixture. I realize that I could probably just take it apart and look but it's getting dark and

The ballasts are nutted in (at least they were in my old 4' ones). You nut the supply straight to the lampholders for the led lamps I used and there was plenty of wire up in there...

# ¿ Aug 9, 2021 04:36

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

Honestly, the replacement tubes are Ok and do a nice wash. I put some 2'x2' panel lights in the garage/workshop and those things are the bomb. I won't be doing the fluorescent / faux fluorescent strips again.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pixi-2-ft-x-2-ft-Edge-Lit-LED-Flat-Light-Luminaire/627005044

# ¿ Aug 9, 2021 16:16

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

BonerGhost posted:

Built 1962, but this wiring was put in around 2013 (by a loving clown who clipped every cable to 3 inches). No K&T anywhere in the house, just old ungrounded nm in the few places where I didn't rip it out.

I have both an electric dryer and oven. If it's at all helpful, I've found no other weird behavior anywhere else in the house, though I still have a handful of outlets I haven't personally opened and a couple lights to map out.

Bear with me on the box count, because the wiring for this circuit meanders throughout the house. Originally it went from the panel, through a couple of ridiculous j boxes into the basement, up into what I'm calling J1 (currently a hole in the wall) where it splits to the front and back of house, roughly. I pulled a new grounded run from the panel to bypass the downstairs nonsense, so it now goes from the panel straight to J1 where I tie it in to existing wiring. Before I did that, I verified only the black wire was hot on the home run. Front of house seems to be isolated from the back of house shenanigans so I'm setting that aside for now. Power comes straight from J1 to J2 which sends three cables out to the bathroom lights and the switch. S1 sends some number of cables to J3, which is metal and shared with another circuit that powers a few outlets on this side of the house, all wired correctly per the plug in tester. The two circuits don't have bonded grounds and don't appear to have any other shared connections just from looking at it and poking (like everything else in this house, I have to dig), but I don't think either is grounded to the box. I have a handful of lights and outlets on the problem circuit somewhere downstream of J2 that I think split out of J3.

I don't know if this is the cause of the problem, but something in here seems not right. A is power in (no problems here), B is straight to Light 2 (no problems), C & D go to S1 and both get hot grounds if either is powered and the switch is on, while its mate will get a hot black wire coming back from the switch. I know that with D powered, Y is the line in (X is switch load), but I think it actually doesn't change if I connect C instead. When C or D is powered and the switch is on, W and/or Z is powered (I haven't tried pulling them apart yet), the twisted grounds are powered independently of the switch (they're not connected) and the switch ground screw is hot. With the switch off, the ground screw stays hot, but the ground conductors lose power and the black wire for C or D does too.

It's wired A + D, B + C in the pic which is the only configuration that operates both lights off the switch. A + C powers the switch box and grounds and Light 1, but the switch doesn't control it. A + D powers Light 1 off the switch, and the ground wires are all hot.

Is there a second switch? It almost sound like a three way circuit, but with only 14/2 wire instead of 14/3 for the travelers. That would explain the wandering hots, perhaps.

# ¿ Aug 10, 2021 14:27

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

FISHMANPET posted:

I've got round ceiling boxes, with wiring that's controlled by a switch, and I want to use some plug-in lights (like led bench lights or something), what's the best way to get a receptacle there? One of those single outlets with a round cover? A keyless lamp holder with an outlet? Something else? This is for a basement with an open ceiling so whatever I do can't possibly make the place any uglier than it is already.

https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-5042-Duplex-Receptacle-4-Inch/dp/B000HEHCAU/

One of these should do the trick if you are in the USA

# ¿ Aug 27, 2021 20:59

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

PageMaster posted:

What are my options for covering this exterior electrical cord? It comes out the wall (maybe from an interior box?) And then is cut before the rest runs to what I'm guessing are POs old outdoor speakers. It isn't live according to my non contact voltage tester but I don't know if that's just because there's no closed circuit and I don't want a hazard if there's kids playing out back; Can I just wrap the ends in something like black electrical tape? Is there a specific type of cap to close off the ends?

The double almost looks like coax/antenna wire (and that's consistent with the cabletv looking loop attached). Is there a TV (or at least a wall plate with a F connector) on the other side of that wall?

# ¿ Oct 11, 2021 02:37

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

Platystemon posted:

Who among us has not backfed the panel with a suicide cord?

I'm throwing the first stone. I've seen enough electrical idiots (and general idiots) and the damage they have caused to avoid joining their ranks.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2021 21:52

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

SpartanIvy posted:

If it was me, I'd hang it like a pendant light fixture and have a metal support wire that supports the outlet box to the ceiling and have the electrical wire run parallel to. Just make sure it's all grounded.

These are my new favorite Fan box. super easy to install and rock solid. Would be good for a hanging cord as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Madison-Electric-Products-MSBFAN-Adjustable/dp/B00H8NV1SM

# ¿ Oct 20, 2021 17:44

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

Kasan posted:

https://imgur.com/a/gnIoly0

I did with the second pigtail (since I also bought it from the same place). I just double checked that when plugged in (but not connected), I still get 240/120 through the pigtail.

L1 - N - L2.

Plug is facing down in this orientation, no kinks or bends in the cord. (although the orientation shouldn't matter as long as the two hots on the outside terminals unless I'm badly remembering how AC works vs DC)

Edit: Nuts are off because I haven't keep it hooked up while I try and figure out what is wrong.

In 3 wire 240v appliances that is a ground, not a neutral. By design they can trickle to earth to power the clock with 120v. Make sure the neutral/ground strap is in place and properly seated and test. It might be hiding behind the wire in the picture. Modern 240v are 4 wire and have a proper neutral.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2024 14:56

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 00:54

Harry_Potato: May 21, 2021

Blackbeer posted:

No. 3-wire 240V appliances use a NEMA 10 receptacle, which is hot-hot-neutral. The neutral is bonded to the frame.

Coffee first then post. Got it. Sorry for the miss. Make sure the jumper is intact was the thought I was having.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2024 17:16

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Wiring Thread: This stupid safety device started alerting that there wasn't safety!