/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.1255844]

Residential/commercial electrician here. Ask me anything.

[Anonymous No.1255846]

Can your dick reach your asshole?

[Anonymous No.1255850]

>>1255844
don't you sheath your grounds?
why is that wire nut two colours?
why are you still using wire nuts?
why have you stripped so much insulation from those wires?

[Anonymous No.1255851]

>>1255844
Why is Hillary Rodham Clinton so bitter?
Also what the hell happened to Kory Kluber?

[Anonymous No.1255852]

>>1255844
How many dicks have you sucked?

[Anonymous No.1255853]

>>1255844
you ever shit in someones attic?

[Anonymous No.1255861]

>>1255844
Are you kill? Or are we interrupting regularly scheduled time in your masturbatorium?

[Anonymous No.1255885]

>>1255846
Yes
>>1255850
They dont need to be
Why not?
It's the industry standard.
So I can splice them and then have enough length to cut the parts fucked up by the pliers
>>1255851
Because she's a dried up cunt
Who?
>>1255852
0
>>1255853
No
>>1255861
Still here, but yes you are

[Anonymous No.1255892]

>>1255844

ground wirenuts are supposed to be green.. what kind of piss poor training did you receive?

[Anonymous No.1255904]

>>1255892
Green wire nuts can only be used on ground wires. That does not mean that all wire nuts used on grounds should be green.

[Anonymous No.1255905]

>>1255904

well, its good practice to use the green one ON grounds because thats what a responsible electrician would do. I used to do that line of work and never half-assed shit when making up connections

[Anonymous No.1255908]

>>1255844
If you pull the power level (the one found in every house), does that mean you can work on any wire in the house after without worry? Or is there another backup wire that connects those wires in the house to the outside?

[Anonymous No.1255909]

>>1255905
Literally have never seen a green wire nut in California, ever.

[Anonymous No.1255911]

>>1255908
If you are talking about the whole panel main shutoff, yes anything should be safe, barring some hijinx like trailer trash stealing power from each other.

If you are only turning off one breaker though, you might get power on the neutral if the neutral is shared between another circuit that is still hot.

[Anonymous No.1255922]

>>1255892
>ground wirenuts are supposed to be green
wirenuts are color coded by the size and number of wires they're intended for
how many sizes of green wirenuts are there?

[Anonymous No.1255926]

>>1255844
You ever shock yourself?

[Anonymous No.1255927]

>>1255844
>I used to do that line of work and never half-assed shit when making up connections
Carrying tools for and sucking the dick of a sparky doesn't make you an electrician.

[Anonymous No.1255933]

>>1255850
>why is that wire nut two colours?
So it can be use where either a Yellow or a Red wire-nut are appropriate.
Blue/Orange and Red/Yellow covers four applications with an assortment of only two sizes.

[Anonymous No.1255938]

>>1255844
When you do a rough in, do leave six feet of wire hanging out of every box so you can sell the copper scrap for beer money?

[Anonymous No.1255941]

>>1255904
Lol your own comment has exposed your own ignorance. I'm guessing 1st year helper? My work is top notch
>>1255908
Pull the meter. Wiring systems get goofy the older they are. You never know what someone else has done.

Also bro, spring for a decent tester.

>>1255926
Many times
>>1255938
No
>>1255922
Good rule of thumb, but always double check. For example these nuts are rated for #18-#8. Tho I wouldn't recommend anything past 10.

[Anonymous No.1255985]

Thoughts, gimmicky shit?, or neat idea?...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000NGTMWS/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_10?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1


I do appliance repair and I've been debating giving them a go..

[Anonymous No.1256020]

>>1255844
Backstabbing should be against code
Shit falls out in a few months and is only done by fat lazy slobs who want to get paid to come back and fix it when the wire jiggles just an inch.

Prove me wrong

Also
>charges you $90 to walk and in reset gfci

[Anonymous No.1256055]

What country are you in?
If US is it true you use steel conduit for the entire length of all residential circuits?
Do your regs allow a short single insulated run for termination or is secondary insulation in the form of a shroud required?
MEN links in the switch board or at the pole?
RCDs required on power circuits or optional?

Aussie industrial sparky here just want to know how you do things over there.

[Anonymous No.1256073]

Can I safely join together two wires of varying thickness without setting my house on fire?

Trying to install an LED tube in a fluorescent housing.
The wires provided in the kit are too short. I only have salvaged wiring from powercords and such.

[Anonymous No.1256087]

>>1256055
Who in gods name wired the head of that acb?!

[Anonymous No.1256094]

>>1256087
The blue rock crusher at the bottom of this pic, sadly I don't have a better photo but you can guess it's total size by the fact it needs nearly 2500 Amps.

[Anonymous No.1256095]

>>1256087
>>1256094
Fuck, I miss read your question. It was wired by the board manufacturer, they were cheap and it shows.

[Anonymous No.1256147]

>>1256055
>If US is it true you use steel conduit for the entire length of all residential circuits?
Not OP but most residential wiring is not placed in conduit unless the wire is exposed (outside the building or outside of a wall)
>>1256055
>MEN links in the switch board or at the pole?
For a typical home all neutrals are terminated in the Neutral Bar inside the service panel. An Earth wire is bonded to the service panel box and the Neutral Bar.
(sub-panels are a little different)
>>1256055
>RCDs required on power circuits or optional?
According to the National Electrical Code, all 120 volt, single phase, 15 and 20 ampere receptacles in dwelling units, serving counter-top surfaces are required to have ground-fault protection. Any other kitchen receptacle would not require GFCI protection.
Local codes may vary and my city code requires GFIC for bathroom outlets and outside outlets if the outlet is mounted on the dwelling.

[Anonymous No.1256174]

>>1256147
Thanks for the info, for some reason I thought you used conduit everywhere but I might be thinking of the bongs.

[Anonymous No.1256216]

>>1256020
Op here.

Backstabbing is retarded, agreed.

>charges you

Yeah no shit. You're paying for that electricians tools, gas, insurance, TIME, knowledge. If you don't like it try not being too dumb to try the buttons on the outlet that's not working.

>>1256073
You have money for led tubes but not short pieces of wire? As long as the wire is not undersized it should be fine.
>>1255985
Somewhat gimmicky. I wouldn't trust that NCVD worth a shit, and those type of crimpers are always harder to use than a regular pliers set-up... screw cutters are always nice.
>>1256055
What This guy >>1256147 said.

[Anonymous No.1256282]

>>1256174
Some anon in US was on here a while ago saying that was his local (state?) code. Minnesota maybe I can't remember. I remember the thread because its seemed absolutely retarded to do this.

[Anonymous No.1256294]

>>1255844
why does my dick get hard at random times when i don't jerk off for a while? shit will just get hard when i'm walking around in the woods.

[Anonymous No.1256318]

>>1256294
Your prostate is full of ejaculate and getting stimulated by your shit.

Hope for a nighttime emission soon.

[Anonymous No.1256331]

What do you recommend someone should do if they want to get into your field?

[Anonymous No.1256339]

>>1255844
post a pic of your tool bag

[Anonymous No.1256348]

>>1256294
Beat that shit like it owes you money
>>1256331
(Assuming youre american) Accept that life is gonna suck during your apprentice ship. Try your best to get into a union. Go to school for it, if you can afford it. The tools that you are going to use the most, make sure they are top quality. Stuff you're only going to use every so often can be mid grade. Buy. A. Quality. Meter. It may literally save your life. For me personally, it's fluke or nothing.
>>1256339
>pic related

[Anonymous No.1256350]

>>1256339
>>1256348

[Anonymous No.1256353]

>>1256348
>>1256350
cool man thanks

[Anonymous No.1256381]

>>1256353
Also not to get all preachy on you but if you do end up working for a private contractor making shit pay, in my opinion, it's worth it to stick it out. Just put the time in and get all of your qualifications. The feild is vast and you'll be a made man. Especially if you get licensed. And that's all I have to say about that.

[Anonymous No.1256382]

>>1256348
do you really need to buy your work tools yourself in the US? (or am i misinterpreting?)

[Anonymous No.1256385]

>>1256382
Basic power tools, hand tools, and simple meters, yes. I worked at one facility that bought you all your tools. Another bought me a drill and a meter. Private contractors will have the heavy duty shit, but they will not but you anything, most likely.

[Anonymous No.1256387]

>>1256385
interesting, that's completely unheard-of in germany.
also attending to trade school is mandatory here, but you need not pay for it

[Anonymous No.1256391]

>>1256387
Honestly, I don't mind it too much. There's no way a company would spring for the tools I wanted anyway. I'm a bit of a snob and have an eye for top shelf shit. And I definitely don't want any hand-me-downs

[Anonymous No.1256396]

>>1256391
>Be fiber splicer
>decent pay, easy work when you get into it
>I'ma break away and be my own contractor
http://www.advantage-electronics.com/index.php/sumitomo-mass-fusion-splicer-kit.html (Not even a good one)

[Anonymous No.1256398]

>>1255905
I've never seen a green wire nut. The wires coming into the splice are green or bare. There is your color coding.

[Anonymous No.1256404]

>>1256387
>>1256391
>There's no way a company would spring for the tools I wanted anyway.
They recently passed a law stating that work boots are safety equipment that your employer must pay for, just like hard hats and reflector vests. No one actually takes advantage of that because your employer can just sped $20 at Payless and ruin your feet.

[Anonymous No.1256408]

>>1256396
Sooooo what would the alternative be? Do you expect me to actually believe that your employer would buy this FOR you? They would just hand over a 15k tool? No. They buy it, let you use it, and you leave it at the door when you walk out.

I mean are you seriously insinuating that when you "be your own contractor" you have to buy one of these for each of your employees that can just walk out the door with it? This post gave me a fucking brain tumor.

[Anonymous No.1256413]

>>1256408
What the fuck, you EVER get to walk out the door with your tools? They're always the company's tools over here.

[Anonymous No.1256414]

>>1256408
Also, fuckin' A, chill out fuck head, you're retarded as shit yourself.

[Anonymous No.1256447]

i see dem knipex pliers, best shit around

[Anonymous No.1256570]

>>1255909
It's pretty much a residential thing

[Anonymous No.1256572]

>>1256174
Hell, most commercial I've done allows conduit for your home runs and mc to the box/walls

[Anonymous No.1256669]

>>1256447
Yeah I'm super happy with them. I also have a pair of pic related. Superior to an adjustable wrench in every way.

[Anonymous No.1256695]

>>1256570
I love that this anon came in here insulting my work, trying to correct me and immediately got BTFO. Thanks fellas <3

[Anonymous No.1256702]

>>1255904
In this situation you know the bare wire is ground, unless the person that installed was a lunatic or a retard.


OP, when you run a wire for a switched outlet using a single romex to the switch, which do you use for hot to the switch? Step dad says white, he was a union electrician for 20 years but has been out of the game for a while. Makes sense to me because then black will be hot at the receptacle. Just want to make sure cause he's old and says things backwards, rewiring parts of my basement and want to make sure.

[Anonymous No.1256703]

>>1255844

do you work bare-handed on live circuits?

[Anonymous No.1256707]

>>1256703
Not OP but Austfag sparky here, I do all the time with 230v. It doesn't worry me and is good practice for 415v / HV work without the danger. 230 hurts like a bitch but you need to be young, old or have a health condition for it to be a serious risk, also always keep in mind your muscles will contract and the strongest ones will win so plan around this to avoid getting stuck to it.

I worked with an old bloke with dry cracked skin and he used his hand more than his tester to see if things were live, the only time it worried him was when he set off an RCD (safety switch) and had to go turn it back on at he end of the job.

[Anonymous No.1256741]

>>1256702
>which do you use for hot to the switch? Step dad says white,
Not OP but this is what I do.
I then mark it with a sharpie to indicate it's also hot.

[Anonymous No.1256816]

>>1256703
Yes. Most do.
>>1256702
Technically, they're both supposed to be black, weighed it be via black tape or black maker. But %90 of the time it's done as your step dad says
>>1256741
Yeah, this.

[Anonymous No.1256824]

>>1255844
Why do you pretend to have any actual knowledge of electricity, when you're basically an uneducated laborer who had to be taught how to use pliers?

[Anonymous No.1256843]

>>1256824
I can be dum as fuk for all I care. I make anywhere from 70-100k a year. My bed worth is closing in on 6 figures before 29 years old.Scaleable work. That's what it's all about.

>success beats intellect.

[Anonymous No.1256845]

>>1256843
>My bed worth is closing in on 6 figures before 29 years old.
damn son you be puttin wilt chamberlain to shame

[Anonymous No.1256857]

>>1256845
Net*. galaxy s7 autocorrect is a hot steaming pile of shit.

[Anonymous No.1256861]

i want to use a normal hvac thermostat to control a relay to operate a space heater.
the control coil for the relay specifies 3-24v dc. i was going to use an old wallwart transformer. do i need some type of load like a tiny indicator light in the circuit?

[Anonymous No.1256876]

>>1256861
Am I missing something? Is there anything to make you think you would?

[Anonymous No.1256879]

>>1256876
if there is no load the circuit would heat up. idk if the thermostat and relay would be enough of a load.

[Anonymous No.1256939]

>>1256816
>>1256741
Appreciate it, fellas. He did mention using a marker if you had it. He said most electricians will realize what's going on and anyone who knew what they were doing would be able to test it and figure it out quickly.

[Anonymous No.1256958]

In my old apartment in the bathroom under the sink there's a switch, hard to find unless you're crawling around looking for it.
Turn it on and the breaker blows immediately. I opened it up and the switch had neutral on one side and hot on the other, literally just shorting out the circuit when the switch is closed.
I can't fathom why this switch would exist. The building was new construction, about 5 years old. Doesn't seem to be a mistake, there's nothing else for the switch to connect to.
I don't live there anymore but I still wonder about the switch. Why the fuck would somebody install this? I asked this question once on reddit's /r/electricians and got shadowbanned.

[Anonymous No.1256974]

>>1256958
it shuts down the camera so you can rob the fridge

[Anonymous No.1256976]

>>1256939
>anyone who knew what they were doing would be able to test it and figure it out quickly.
This is why I am envious of eurofags and such where they don't let home gamers work on shit and won't even sell supplies to them.

Every time you try to do something in the US you have to just fucking test it yourself because you don't know what the fuck the homeowner has done, so the wires are just a distant hope that they are done correctly.

>>1256958
The unit probably had an option for a water circulation system that wasn't bought. And without the system there was nothing to connect the switch to so the plier monkey just terminated the cable to itself.

>>1256974
Brutal

[Anonymous No.1257028]

>>1256976
Let em fuck it up, more money for me.
>>1256958
Not sure. Pull the switch out and see if there's another set of wires wrapped up back there or something.

[Anonymous No.1257038]

>>1256879

>if there is no load the circuit would heat up. idk if the thermostat and relay would be enough of a load.

Can any sparkies confirm this? I've literally never heard of this

[Anonymous No.1257055]

>>1257038
Hvac stats are generally 24vac. The old dial style don't care it's just a Mercury switch. Minimum loads usually only apply to solid state transformers and dimmers. Also op step your splice game up that's a horrid looking ground connection and I hate working a sloppy hot box.

[Anonymous No.1257079]

>>1257055
Op here. I guarantee you that splice is absolutely perfect. Also I find it hard to believe that you can tell from that grainy pic. What is with people needing to critique anything the think they can. Are you >>1255892 this fucktard again? I bet you are.

[Anonymous No.1257242]

>>1257079
No im not that guy from the other post. Seriously you not gonna run into a loose connection with that splice but it's more likely to interfere with your device than 1 that's nearly made up and tucked away. I dislike dealing with preventable crap. Stuff a gfi in there and pull it out a few times. It won't get easier

[Anonymous No.1257253]

>>1257242
Alright tough guy, as soon as I get out of the shower I'll shoe you how a splice is done

[Anonymous No.1257259]

>>1257038
not sure if he's referring to that, but some transformers suffer from core saturation without load, which causes unnecessary heating.

[Anonymous No.1257269]

>>1257242
>>1257253

[Anonymous No.1257271]

>>1257269
The splice in question yes?

[Anonymous No.1257443]

>>1256282
It can depend on township, city, or state code for using EMT. I'm my county in suburbs of Chicago, code is all electrical shall be in conduit. The newer townships that have newer construction going up have changed this code to have basement electrical run in conduit and all else can be Romex.

[Anonymous No.1257453]

>>1257055
the thermostat i have is a new dial style. similar to the mercury switch type.
i dont think it requires 24vac. i assume it works with any power as it is only a switch. i was just going to use a 6vdc transformer

[Anonymous No.1257454]

>>1257271
Well here's the splice numbnuts. Fully splice and neat where the wire nut threads on. Say what you will about the area down the line but the 1st inch is perfect, and perfectly secure. Suck it.

[Feraldton No.1257638]

>>1256055
don't bother trying to understand it mate, everything they do is bassackwards. Just rest easy in the knowledge that the Australian system is world class and based on logic. The fact that electrical work can be completed by non-licenced 'tradesmen' means there is something wrong with their whole system.
Fucking wire nuts... what kind of system still allows that?
>tldr - different to the way we do it, must kill it with fire.

[Anonymous No.1257639]

>>1257638
While most of our regs make sense I still hate the fact that mobile installations (ie. caravans / campers) can be done without a licence. I spent a little while at Jayco caravans and was appalled to see the level of incompetence in their 230v wiring.

[Anonymous No.1257642]

>>1257638
If it is done skillfully, a wire nut will last 100+ years. Americans are the pioneers of this shit, a little respect yeah?

What do you 'roo fuckers use, out of curiosity

[Anonymous No.1257643]

>>1257638
Also it seems you have a loose understanding of our system. Since Americans are unbridled bad asses of the universe, we're not really too fond of the federal government making rules for us.

Simply put, it varies from state to state.

[Anonymous No.1257650]

Not an electrician. Just curious.. But how do you move wires around a house? Like say if a customer wanted a new socket placed in the lounge. Would you need to add onto some existing circuit and then somehow pull the cable to the new socket?

[Anonymous No.1257653]

>>1257650
Austfag sparky here, we generally run cables either in the roof or under the floor so they can be pulled out from the top or bottom and linked into. Some cunts wire like pic related to save a couple of dollars on cable and they should all be shot, making any modifications to houses like these is a cunt.
Sometimes you'll have a customer that wants to add several power points or a high load power point (eg. stove, oven, welder ect.) and you need to make a new circuit running to the switch board to avoid overloading existing wiring.

[Anonymous No.1257657]

>>1257650
OP, US sparky. Either run a wire down the from the attic or run it up the wall from the basement.

1. Cut the hole for the outlet box
2. Drill hole in like with the wall
3. Run a fish up there
>pic related
4. Pull fish through hole for outlet box
5. Attach wire
6. You're now free to run the wire as you wish in the basement.

Obviously this is a typical situation. Sometimes you have to cut walls open. Sometimes you have to get creative

[Anonymous No.1257680]

>>1257657
In line with the wall*

[Anonymous No.1257681]

>>1257650
>>1257657
https://youtu.be/0cNC4AN_us4
This guy really had it down and gave a good demo. Too bad I don't do that shit anymore.

[Anonymous No.1257683]

>>1255908
Not op but he's right that you never know. Shut main breaker off in a building at a campground before that had a live feed coming into a light from another nearby building. People do stupid things and can never assume things aren't energized

[Anonymous No.1257696]

I replaced wall receptacles in 2 rooms, 8 total, and now I have no power at any of them, hard to check breakers since they're push style and kinda broken, what could I have done that now I'm not getting power to the receptacles?

[Anonymous No.1257702]

>>1257696
>push style and kinda broken

It's near impossible to trouble shoot not being there.

You could've tripped a breaker and killed it for good. Maybe one of your splices is no good. Call an electrician.


Or if you're determined, buy a good meter and test for power on down the line until you find it.

[Anonymous No.1257707]

>>1257696
Not OP but a service electrician who lurks here occasionally. Any number of things could be wrong. You have an old Pushmatic panel? You can try seeing if any are off and worse case scenario turn them all off and on in case it tripped but still says on. Seen shit like that before.

A junction in the back of the outlet could be loose. The sheer act of pulling it out and pushing it in might have been enough to break the connection. You can be a human hair away from a good connection. As such make sure all your screws are tight on each receptacle and that none of the wires broke.

That is assuming you don't have a good meter. If you do test output of each breaker, then start at the outlets and see if you are missing a hot or a neutral. It was working, then you changed things, now it isn't.

TL;DR: Statistically if it isn't a tripped breaker it is likely a loose or broken connection somewhere.

[Feraldton No.1257935]

>>1257642
two screw tunnel connector foe earth conductors, single screw for everything else..

[Anonymous No.1257941]

>>1257935
Neat. Are you still supposed to make a splice or is the set screw sufficient?

[Anonymous No.1257980]

>>1257935
Legally you can use single screw connectors on earth now but I don't just because it feels wrong to me. They changed the regs because of all the shitty Chinese boards coming in that have single screw earth bars, instead of just banned them we lowered our standards.

>>1257941
Twist for electrical connection, screw for mechanical connection.

[Anonymous No.1258242]

>>1257454
I'm not gonna suck it, I was just pointing out that with a relatively large device like a gfi and the wires the way they are could be a potential stupid problem. That usb outlet not going to last long in a damp environment either. But you know it all so I'm sure you thought of that

[Anonymous No.1258243]

>>1257707
I usually tell people bang on the walls above outlets and if it fixes it I know I got a speed wiring issue

[Anonymous No.1258249]

>>1256861
It's not as easy as using 6vdc because the thermostat doesn't care, you would need a relay with coil voltage of 6vdc and contact ratings of the amperage you need to power the device. The t stat is not going to have a contact rating of your load unless you used an electric heat thermostat. If you make a thread with specifics and pictures I'd be able to better guide.

[Anonymous No.1258294]

>>1258242

What are you basing this assumption upon? Gfis hold up fine. LED light bulbs in vanities? Dimmers? There's an exhaust fan in there dumdum.

[Anonymous No.1258303]

>>1256282
Illinois. Huge pain in the add to run conduit for residences

[Anonymous No.1258393]

>>1255844
I have an old house and had to replace my water service. I went from copper to pex. I've noticed that the electrical was grounded to the copper which no longer makes a path to ground. Wat do?

[Anonymous No.1258404]

>>1255844
why did you make this thread a thing?

[Anonymous No.1258435]

If im running new wiring in my garage does it need to be in conduit? The walls are unfinished so i was just going to run romex through the studs to boxes.

[Anonymous No.1258461]

>>1257642
spring loaded terminals for breaker Panel and Wago 221/standard push in terminals in Crossing boxes and for lamps. Proper switches and socket in GER don't have screw terminals either, spring loaded is standard

[Anonymous No.1258493]

>>1258461
>Wago 221
patrician's choice

[Anonymous No.1258508]

>>1256391
To be fair, companies that do provide tooling and such usually try a variety of brands until the shop agrees on a mix. For example, I've primarily got Proto (Stanley), but I also have Klein stuff, various Fluke meters, Whia (which I hate), etc.
We also get clothing allowances each year ($400) and a boot allowance ($100 per year, can save up to 3 years for $300, if not used it resets).

t. ICE Tech for energy utility

[Anonymous No.1258515]

>>1258393
drive one of thsoe copper plated rods into the ground and attach to that

[Anonymous No.1258562]

Why are some tradesmen so brain dead? My house is a house of horrors when it comes to electric, gas, plumbing and building because the previous owners went with the cheapest options.

Every time I remodel a room something scary is uncovered and I end up worrying with sleepless nights because of the way everything has been installed.

Its like all the real talent packed up and left for the big cities where they can make a fortune on professional installations whilst the handymen stayed put in this town.

Again this isn't pointed at everyone in trade, some probably do a good job. Its just not been the case in my experience.

[Anonymous No.1258572]

>>1258562

residential is full of retards because anyone smart went into commercial stuff

[Anonymous No.1258575]

>>1258572
How do you find someone who isn't just going to turn up with a pair of pliers and choc blocks? Many I've had don't even test their work and leave it up to the customer to turn everything back on.

[Anonymous No.1258581]

>>1258435
Conduit yes. You can use armored wire or flex conduit too. Or finish the walls, even shittily.

[Anonymous No.1258589]

>>1258581
Or just do what the builder at our house did and string some twin and earth from the kitchen to the garage overhead using electrical tape to hold it in place.

Even better if its been nipped and you can see bare copper!

[Anonymous No.1258615]

>>1258294
Experience. im going to assume you dont have much and are a cocky apprentice. That open jaw fluke meter doesn't have a frequency option and the only pic you can come up with is a shit splice on an outlet in a bathroom that probably isn't gfi protected upstream. Ama thread, what's an acceptable frequency range? How does a dimmer work? Why do some leds flicker when using an led dimmer? Why do lights dim when I turn the dryer on? Why is my water shocking me?

[Anonymous No.1258810]

>>1258615
>>>1258294 (You)
>That open jaw fluke meter doesn't have a frequency option

Yeah? No shit. I carry it because it covers %99.99999999999999999999 of this situations i run into. I'm not carrying my $300 meter around on every fucking job you tard. Did you seriously think that was my entire tool collection? Lol. Collectively they're worth more than your car.

>And the only pic you can come up with

OH OK let me drive all over the state snapping pictures of my jobs

>is a shit splice

1st it was a shit splice. Then it wasn't, but you didn't think it could fit a gfi in it. But then I did fit a gfi sized outlet in there. Now it's a shitty splice again.
>on an outlet in a bathroom that probably isn't gfi protected upstream.

Again, there you go, making shit up. Guess you aren't familiar with gfi breakers.

>Ama thread, what's an acceptable frequency range?

Depends on the country

>How does a dimmer work?

AGAIN it depends. Do you even know enough to be specific? Incandescent? led? Even with led dimmers there are different ways

>Why do some leds flicker when using an led dimmer?

Either because they are shitty, they aren't meant to be dimmed, or the trim isn't properly adjusted and they are being forced to dim too much. Again, not specific enough.

>Why do lights dim when I turn the dryer on?

AGAIN. sustained or momentary? It's either voltage drop or a shitty neutral

>Why is my water shocking me?

Cause you suck at bonding and grounding


How about this dipshit. Ask some real questions instead of shit I can google in 3 seconds.

[Anonymous No.1258811]

>>1258810
Almost forgot

>pic related

[Anonymous No.1258814]

>>1258810
Almost forgot.

>pic related

Been at this for damn near a decade pussy

[Anonymous No.1258815]

>>1255851
>what the hell happened to Kory Kluber?
this made me sad. he goes back up in 2 hours and better be himself today.

[Anonymous No.1258831]

How do you ground an old house that isn't grounded. Ground rod, run ground wire in panel to a out, and run all new Rolex? I'm a commercial electrician but don't have much experience besides grunt work.

[Anonymous No.1258833]

2 ground rods, appropriate sized ground wire, and bind the water main and jump out the water meter and the water heater.

As for the rest of the house... If you don't know residential code, I wouldn't even attempt it. there's a shit load

[Anonymous No.1258846]

>>1258831
>Rolex
replacing all of your existing wiring with all new Rolex will get expensive very quickly.
depends how you do it in america, i think the standard you guys use is tn-c-s right? just connect ground to neutral in the panel.
if its tt and you need a rod then there is no point unless you know what you are doing and how to properly commission and test it, requires expensive high resistance testers.

[Anonymous No.1258850]

>>1255853
hahahhahha
>wipe ass with soft fluffy pink insulation

[Anonymous No.1258851]

>>1258846
No.... no it doesn't. It requires 2 8ft ground rods, 6-8 feet apart. And also, yes the ground and neutral are tied together.

[Anonymous No.1258853]

>>1258851
hahahaha
if you aren't going to test then there is no point in doing it.
if you are going to put in a ground rod you shouldn't tie neutral to ground, except you aren't testing it to maybe its a good idea after all lol....

[Anonymous No.1258855]

Let me explain more fully. In the main panel, the incoming ground and the incoming neutral are tied together. After that, in the house are seperate.

But as for the ground rods, testing is only required if you use one ground rod. If you use 2, none is required.

[Anonymous No.1258858]

>>1258853
>>1258855
Meant to quote

[Anonymous No.1258865]

>>1258855
why would you tie them together if you had a ground rod?
why would you trust the second rod if you fucked up the first one?

[Anonymous No.1258874]

>>1256396

[Anonymous No.1258879]

>>1258865
The neutral is tied to ground rods to stabilize voltage
>>1258865
It's not cause it's fucked up, it doubles the amount of contact it has to ground, ensuring that there is as little resitance as possible

[Anonymous No.1258903]

>>1255844
How do I run Ethernet cables in my wall with absolute minimum drywall cutting/plastering/painting/etc?

[Anonymous No.1258907]

>>1258903
>>1257681
This guy. Go from below if you can so you won't run into fire blocks.

[Anonymous No.1258945]

I have a question.

I have a drum sander that is rates at 27amps..its plugged into a 30amp 220v socket. The original plug on the cord is rates at 30 amps, I needed to make the cord longer and uses a male and female 15amp plug to join the 2 cords, with the original plug still in the 30 amp socket. Is this bad for my machine? Thanks

[Anonymous No.1258948]

>>1258945
Goddamn spelling....rated* used*

[Anonymous No.1258964]

>>1258945
>Is this bad for my machine?
>(27A)
It's probably gonna be bad for 15A connectors
A longer cord? How much longer?
A longer cord of inadequate wire runs the risk of fire, electrocution, and damage to the motor from starvation.

[Anonymous No.1258982]

>>1258903
Fish tape and use an existing wire to thread the shit through

[Anonymous No.1259141]

>>1258945
Switch the ends out for something rated for 30 amps. Also Use a cord that is properly rated.

[Anonymous No.1259215]

>>1257681
>>1258907
>>1258903
Anythig that doesn't require $500 worth of specialized neodymium magnetic tools?

[Anonymous No.1259245]

>>1259215
See
>>1257657

All you need is a drill, a paddle bit, black tape and a fish

[Anonymous No.1259274]

>>1259245
On most inside walls, with careful placement of the hole you don't even need the tape and fish tape.
>cut hole for box
>drill hole in top plate
>feed cable through drilled hole
>reach inside box cutout for cable
>insert through box
>place box in hole
>set wings with screws
>finish up as desired

[Anonymous No.1259380]

I want to replace the 13 year old water heater in my house. Would like to do a tankless water heater. The one I'm looking at us rated at 75A. My main panel is rated for 125A, and the main breaker in it is 100A. Should I consider upgrading my panel and/or service?

Not quite sure how to add up amps. Like, if I have a 40A oven running, and then the tankless heater kicks on, will it trip my breaker?

For reference, I've got electric oven/stove, and electric baseboard heaters.

[Anonymous No.1259434]

>>1259380
I would upgrade the breaker

[Anonymous No.1259509]

>>1257653
These people shoula all burn desu.

[Anonymous No.1259516]

>>1259434
Wish it was that easy, desu. Called my utility and I'm waiting on a phone call back to see if I have 200A service. If so, I still need to replace my panel, which takes the water heater from a Saturday to a weekend or two depending on scheduling with the power company

[Anonymous No.1259735]

>>1255892
Those are not ground wires you plum. Unless they connect to a ground electrode they are a bond wire.

[Anonymous No.1259738]

>>1255844
Thoughts?

[Anonymous No.1259740]

>>1259738

[Anonymous No.1259741]

>>1256350
Pliers? Please say you have a journeyman series set of Klein linesmans

[Anonymous No.1259782]

>>1259738
Pretty, pretty. But you need to add a No Smoking sign to meet code in CA.

Is wiring receptacles with 10 gauge always a pain in the ass or am I just incompetent?

What's the cleanest way to transition to from in-wall to conduit? Need to add an exposed receptacle to an existing circuit.

[Anonymous No.1259790]

>>1259735
What are they bonding?
You can't be picky unless you know what they are for, based on context alone they are clearly earth potential circuit protective conductors.
If there was some extraneous conductive part in the image then sure, you could suggest perhaps one of the conductors was providing an equipotential bond. But there isn't so you can't.

[Anonymous No.1259791]

>>1256350
My basic tooling for each day is:
>4 crescents (8,10,12, 6in in my pocket)
>flathead and Phillips #2 screwdrivers
>Klein 11 in 1 in pocket
>4 speed wrenches
>10 combo wrenches
>2 Allen key sets (metric, standard)
>2 needle nose pliers (1 angled)
>6 nut drivers
>2 screw starters
>3 precision screwdrivers (1 Phillips)
>1 tamperproof driver
>3 pairs locking pliers (6, 10, 12)
>wife strippers
>crimper
>lineman pliers
>wire cutters
>Fluke T-5
>Fluke 789
>knife
>tape (electrical, marking, teflon)
>Streamlight flashlight
>Fluke VoltAlert tester
>Fluke 6in1 Tap tool
>nail polish
>various jumpers

That is usually enough to get me through any job. Hell, I can practically get by with my pocket tools and Leatherman.

[Anonymous No.1259794]

>>1259791
>nail polish
protip: wear gloves for less chipping

[Anonymous No.1259806]

>>1259794

>implying I don't take care of my beautiful hands

I just use it for marking things when I'm doing calibrations. In the environment, it holds up better and longer than an industrial Sharpie.

[Anonymous No.1259864]

>>1259741
Yeah. Yeah i do. And the fucking adhesive ALWAYS dries out after a few years. Whish I would've just bought the standard, they're cheaper anyway.

>pic related

Yeah I know they're rusty. They're my back up pair. Guess why.
>>1259380
Yeah my man, I'd bite the bullet nd upgrade if gas isn't an option which I'm guessing it's not. As for adding up amps, its a whole calculation. Look up "service calculation loads". But I can tell you right now, without even doing the math, you're over the limit.
>>1259738
Red is a pretty color
>>1259782
An emt-to-romex connector. Or an emt connector in one end of a rigid coupling and a Romex connector in the other end.

And yeah 10 sucks to get under an outlet.
>>1259806
I like those soap stones and I also like paint markers. Paint markers might be easier to use in your case idk.
>>1259791
Was gonna make fun of that shiney new bag but that meters got some season on it. Respect.

[Anonymous No.1259869]

>>1259791
Philadelphia?

[Anonymous No.1259870]

>>1257269
That should be a gfci there bud

[Anonymous No.1259872]

>>1259738
>>1259740
I once saw a lug on a pole transformer glowing red hot. I would have reported it to the power company but they had this long list on their website of shit to go through to report something like that, no way to just submit an anonymous tip that shit's fucked.
It stayed that way for months before failed and got fixed. Way longer than I would have expected.

[Anonymous No.1259874]

>>1259790
It's next to a sink so it should be a gfci duplex receptacle. Uhh bonding the non current carrying metal parts of the receptacle back to the panel, which should be bonded back to the service then the service will be connected to a grounding plate or rod with a ground wire.

[Anonymous No.1259879]

>>1259870
>>1259874
When will you fucking know-nothing tards learn that an outlet doesn't have to be a gfi, it has to be gfi PROTECTED.

[Anonymous No.1259888]

>>1259874
Equipotential bonding is secondary, primarily the socket is grounded to operate a protective device under fault conditions of the accessory, not bonding to ensure induced current in conductive items cannot create a harmful potential.
I wouldn't call that bonding. Perhaps its correct literally but not in the spirit.

[Anonymous No.1259899]

>>1259864
Gas actually is an option for me, but my house isn't run for any gas appliances. Just one gas heater mounted to a wall in my living run. Kind of terrified to do anything with gas besides swap an appliance. The gas meter would have to be swapped to accommodate a tankless heater anyways, so I'm looking at waiting on a utility one way or another.

Also, I have kind of a phobia of gas. Electric just seems a hell of a lot safer to me, and I'm more familiar with it.

[Anonymous No.1259907]

>>1259879
Are you going to run a single neutral from the panel for one plug?

[Anonymous No.1259944]

>>1259864
I started carrying a white china/grease marker for marking shit. Writes on almost anything, and is secure as long as nothing smudges it.


I am usually marking on black cables and steel tension stand. Sometimes I wish I had a red or black one to mark on white shit.

[Anonymous No.1259955]

>>1259907
>for one plug?
>plug
It's an outlet.
Perhaps you should ask more basic questions first.

[Anonymous No.1260056]

>>1256350
>electrician
>no VDE instrument
Americans are disgusting.

[Anonymous No.1260068]

>>1260056
>VDE
>Relevant in fredomchinkland

[Anonymous No.1260091]

>>1260068
Yeah, electricity works totally different way there.

[Anonymous No.1260107]

>>1257271
>>1257454
Pffft you Americans and your old fashioned splices. In the EU these splices are all out banned, we use cage clamps because not even a retard could fuck that up.

[Anonymous No.1260110]

>>1260107
>we use cage clamps because not even a retard could fuck that up.

Seems to me to be an indication of the prevalence of retards there.

[Anonymous No.1260113]

>>1256396
>>1258874
don't diss the sumimoto splicers man, i use this exact splicer and it has never caused me any troubles.

[Anonymous No.1260115]

>>1260110
at least we make sure they don't burn houses down.

[Anonymous No.1260121]

>>1260107
What happens when you need 4 wires under a nut?
>>1260115
A proper wire nut splice is king.

[Anonymous No.1260122]

>>1260121
whew, who would have thought versions for 4 wires exist too

[Anonymous No.1260123]

>>1255844
Was making this thread as rewarding as you'd hoped?

[Anonymous No.1260124]

>>1260121
>>1260122
I use the 5-version a lot in my job. And they can connect to each other if you need more.

Wirenuts are for 3rd world countries.

[Anonymous No.1260134]

>>1255844
>AMA
Why does IBEW have to stand for
I
Block
Everybody's
Way
seriously sparky, get the fuck out of the way

[Anonymous No.1260137]

Is there any easier way to get 208V power in a North American home with standard 120/240VAC other than using a buck-boost transformer?

[Anonymous No.1260146]

>>1260137
What do you have that is rated for 208 and can't handle 220? Is it a three-phase device? That is what generally uses 208 volts.

[Anonymous No.1260149]

>>1260137
AC?
A fucking good old normal iron core wire wound transformer perhaps? Depends how regulated you need it to be I guess but ac-ac smps sounds kinda retarded to me lol.

[Anonymous No.1260179]

>>1260113
We have a sumitomo and fujikura at work. The more experienced guys prefer the sumitomo. The fujikura's cleaver sucks at putting the cut ends in the trash, it only gets like the center 8, the ones on the end just fuck off and become a hazard.

I meant that it's just not a shiny new one with whatever latest features they have, I think they wanted $50k for a new one. I am sure they are very comparable.

>>1260056
VDE Instrument? I tried to google it and it seemed to come up with neon-lamp screw drivers/voltage testers?

[Anonymous No.1260180]

>>1260121
>A proper wire nut splice is king.

Shame there's no such thing as "a proper wire nut splice", by definition.

[Anonymous No.1260181]

>>1260180
>Shame there's no such thing as "a proper wire nut splice", by definition.
What is temporary power applications?

[Anonymous No.1260184]

I'm a plumber who wants to get better at residential electrical repairs.

How would you suggest I get started?

[Anonymous No.1260187]

>>1260146

An industrial datacenter UPS. Yes it's designed for 208V three phase only, I checked with APC. If I try to use it on 240V it'll constantly attempt to compensate for the higher input voltage and eventually destroy the unit

[Anonymous No.1260227]

>>1260179
Insulated instrument. VDE - german safety standard.

[Anonymous No.1260254]

>>1260122
Yeah yeah blow me.
>>1260123
No you guys are all a bunch of faggots
>>1260124
Yeah well 3rd world countries AND the world's only super power, apparently
>>1260134
We ARE the end all be all of trades. Without us the only other trade that exists as we know it is carpentry
>>1260137
No
>>1260180
I make them every goddamn day
>>1260184
Take classes
>>1260227
>>1260056
What did I fucking say? Did i say that was my entire collection? Or did I say I have 10s of thousands of dollars worth of tools? The fuck outta here

[Anonymous No.1260266]

>>1259864
Yeah, I needed a new bag. My old pouch was falling apart and held together more or less with zip ties. Each time another piece of leather came loose, I would punch a couple holes and run tied through them. Finally had to lay it to rest. The meter is only 3 years old, I had a 787 for 7 years. Screen was all fucked up and scratched from abuse and I had to constantly fiddle with the selector switch to get it where I wanted it.

I've used paint markers before, but they end up rubbed off because mechanics don't give a fuck.

[Anonymous No.1260276]

>>1260266
And nail polish doesn't? Not being contrarian, honestly curios

[Anonymous No.1260280]

>>1260115
>at least we make sure they don't burn houses down.
I hope you aren't in the UK

[Anonymous No.1260286]

>>1260254
>world's only super power
>65%

[Anonymous No.1260287]

>>1259869
Ohio

[Anonymous No.1260289]

>>1260276
As far as when I've used it, and this is just me, it has lasted until the next time I worked on it. If I need it to be absolutely permanent, I'd scribe it or score it somehow to mark it for good. The only problem with that is sometimes calibration parameters change. For me, nail polish has been pretty reliable, but again, that is just in my experience. You may use it and not have the same results.

[Anonymous No.1260302]

>>1260286
>WHO
>WTO
>UN
>NATO
Let me know when your country becomes the main contributor to the largest, most influential world organizations.

[Anonymous No.1260308]

>>1260302
Land of the free. Free to get your cock mutilated as a baby, massacred as a kid and addicted to medicines you can't afford as an adult.

[Anonymous No.1260355]

>>1260308
My cock is cheese free, I can own as many fire arms as I want because I'm a free man and no government will ever tell me otherwise, and I'm not a filthy inbred, my employer pays my insurance because I made sure to make myself skillful enough to make myself worth it.

Keep trying to make your little bitch ass stack up, cause you know you can't. What country are you from that's so great? Or wont you say?

[Anonymous No.1260364]

>>1260355
they hate us cause they ain't us

[Anonymous No.1260367]

>>1260308
Here in the land of the burger, we believe in freedom and socialism. Not the government wiping our ass and socialism.

>git

[Anonymous No.1260368]

>>1260308
>>1260308
Here in the land of the burger, we believe in freedom and individualism. Not the government wiping our ass and socialism.
>git

Excuse my earlier typo.

[Anonymous No.1260379]

>>1260308
>>1260355
The best part is I can go to the ER right now and get an MRI. Just like that! I don't have to wait four months. Just tell them I have crazy headaches and BAM a $30 copay and a incredibly expensive medical service that you "advanced countries" have to wait months for.


Guess that's why the healthy fly their asses over here to receive medical care.

[Anonymous No.1260412]

I did a bit of simple work at a friend's new house and checked out the panel just to see how bad it was.
The house has grounded outlets, but in the panel, the grounds and neutrals are just connected to the same bus, and the house has no grounding rod.
The panel dates from the 70s or 80s it seems. How common was this? Of course I recommended the whole thing be replaced but that's not going to happen.

[Anonymous No.1260416]

>>1260412
It may be grounded somewhere else (water piping, transformer, etc). The grounding rod is just an extra grounding point. The neutrals and grounds don't necessarily need to be separate.

[Anonymous No.1260425]

>>1260412
The neutrals and ground as supposed to be tied together where the power company neutral comes in to the property and becomes the customer's responsibility.

The power company provides a neutral at approximately local ground potential. Then you need to ground it at your panel.

People saying there is 'no ground' are often wrong because builders usually put it in the foundation of the home, so you can't see it unless you take the wal apart. If there's a big #6 or #4 ground wire going off somewhere by itself that's probably going to a ground rod. If you suspect a grounding/neutral problem then you could take it off the neutral/ground bar and should be able to verify it has low resistance to the power company/neutral wire.

Turn off the main breaker for this operation.

[Anonymous No.1260475]

>>1259215
>Anythig that doesn't require $500 worth of specialized neodymium magnetic tools?

i bought the cheaper fish-n-pull, makes a good stud-finder, too
https://www.amazon.com/Fish-n-Pull-FNP/dp/B0112SPOFO

the most of it for fishing my empty wall cavities with coax and cat6 though was cutting the holes with those paddle bits, and the glow rods. in fact, you can also use the strong magnet from the fish-n-pull on the metal glow rod tips.

[Anonymous No.1260494]

Water heater dude here. Got it installed tonight. Hooking the wiring up, saw the old one was run with 12AWG. It was a 4500W heater, and this one is 4500W as well. The NEC recommends 10AWG. How serious of an issue is this? I plan on fixing the run tomorrow, but I'm wondering if I should take care of it ASAP or if a week or two will be fine.

Pic related, my first water heater job

[Anonymous No.1260496]

>>1260494

[Anonymous No.1260501]

>>1260494
Take care of it. The breakers gonna keep tripping and you're gonna have cold water.

4500W÷208V=21.6AMPS

[Anonymous No.1260503]

>>1260501
It's at 240V actually, not 208v. Don't know if my power fluctuates that bad, so it comes in closer to 18A. Got a 20A breaker in there, and I'm planning on keeping it there unless I can find a Seimens 25A breaker. Home Despot only has 25A in Eaton, and as far as I know, you shouldn't mix brands in a panel? Already have a couple Square D breakers in my Siemens panel, and I'd rather not throw more into the mix

I'll wire in the 10AWG tomorrow, this stuff ran a 4500W heater for the past 13 years, it'll last another night.

[Anonymous No.1260506]

>>1260503
Then whyd you even ask

[Anonymous No.1260512]

>>1260506
Cause I don't want to run wire tomorrow and was hoping to put it off til I forget about it and it becomes a non issue or an insurance claim

[Anonymous No.1260527]

>>1260254
>What did I fucking say? Did i say that was my entire collection? Or did I say I have 10s of thousands of dollars worth of tools?
Why are you so offended? I'm a service engineer and you simply not allowed to work at electric installations with non-insulated instrument here.

[Anonymous No.1260531]

I can safely daisy chain power strips if I know that all the devices that will be plugged into them, when on operating in their maximum power drawing state at the same time, will when summed together, draw less current than the trip current of the breaker for that room. Right?

[Anonymous No.1260532]

>>1260503
>as I know, you shouldn't mix brands in a panel?
But why? There are no such restrictions.
12AWG will work just fine with up to 25A, there is no rush to change it. Also you might use Ground Fault Circuit Breaker with a heater if you are worrying about your safety.

[Anonymous No.1260539]

>>1260280
kek, UK is finished
if he talks about VDE you can be sure hes german

[Anonymous No.1260542]

>>1260539
You are wrong. I'm talking about VDE and I'm Russian.

[Anonymous No.1260583]

>>1260280
I'm from Norway, most electrical fires here are caused by untrained professionals thinking they can into electrical systems.

[Anonymous No.1260646]

>>1260527
I'm not offended. Several people in this thread, for whatever reason are asking why I don't have this or that tool
>>1260531
Each outlet is rated at 1.5 amps. Load the breaker to %80 of its rating
>>1260532
This guy is an idiot, don't listen to him

[Anonymous No.1260653]

>>1257454
Those aren't twisted nearly tight enough.

t. autistic electrician

[Anonymous No.1260662]

>>1260542
>russia
>electrical safety
Lol. Banned splices and wire nuts is least of your problem.
Properly made wire splice is much safer than your fake chink cage clamp installed by uneducated uzbekistan illegal worker.

[Anonymous No.1260665]

>>1260646
What’s the difference between ground wires, and current carrying ground wires?

[Anonymous No.1260670]

>>1259380
>>1259516
>>1259899
Electrician/project estimator here. I would HIGHLY recommend going with natural gas for a tankless water heater if it's an option. Your electric bill will skyrocket, your lights will dim whenever it kicks on, it's not worth it. I can tell you right now it would be cheaper, because you'd have to upgrade the service to at least 200A to accommodate (protip, just go look on the meter, it says what it's for), based on you having all electric appliances you're putting a heavy load on the service as it is. There's a bunch of factors at play here but what we'd charge to upgrade the service on a house. Your house sounds like it's older, so assuming a basic meter and disconnect outside with indoor panel ~50ft away, one story with attic space, and then adding most likely two 40A circuits for the water heater (these are usually dual-fed circuit units) probably around $2.8k-$3.4k total not including cost of the water heater. If your panel's outside that'd save on the cost of upgrading the service, but at the same time make the water heater more difficult to run. With a natural gas tankless heater all it needs is a 20A circuit, you can either run a dedicated or jump off an existing 20A, and you can probably even shut off your gas service, put a T in the black iron pipe, then run a whip to the water heater. If you're insisting on staying electric and don't want to shell out a lot, just go with another regular electric water heater.

In my experience, tankless water heaters aren't any better than normal ones except for efficiency, the water still takes 30 seconds to heat up.

Pic unrelated, DirecTV brainlets drilled into the LB cover and ran their cable lines alongside the electric lines, at least they used silicone.

[Anonymous No.1260671]

>>1260670
Forgot to mention just the 20A circuit would probably be $200-$300 so definitely a savings there, or less if you did it yourself.

[Anonymous No.1260673]

>>1260670
>>1260671
>>1260494
Well fuck me for not reading the thread...glad you figured it out mate.

[Anonymous No.1260685]

>>1260673
>>1260494
>>1259380


OP here, yeah I was gonna suggest what you said, but if people have are that terrified of gas it's usually not worth trying to change their mind.


But yeah water heater anon, gas appliances are much more efficient, although they're not expensive upfront. And I believe they have a higher life expectancy. Could be wrong about that last point tho
>>1260653
Trust me they are. I've been through this in school. My instructor would always take the wire nuts off based on the wire he could see, but the splices themselves would invariably be tight. It's the way I hold the wire when I splice them. Very close the the linesmans and it prevents the wires behind my grip from wrapping together
>>1260665
GROUNDING conductors are non current carrying, they exist as a safety feature.

For example: if you have a metal object such as a light fixture or an appliance, and a hot wire comes loose and rest on the metal body

No GROUNDING conductor: the metal remains energized waiting to see anything that provides a path for it

With GROUNDING conductor: it creates a ground fault, meaning it gives the electricity a direct path to ground with 0 resistance. This is good for 2 reasons: 1. It gives the electricity a safe path
2. It draws an unlimited amount of amps to flow, instantly tripping the breaker

The GROUNDED current carrying conductor completes the circuit. You will have no current if the electricity doesn't see a path to where it needs to go.

That's a pretty tamed, dumbed down version of the basics.

[Anonymous No.1260735]

Stay away from my wires with your goddamn wire nuts.

[Anonymous No.1260839]

>>1260735
I guarentee an electrician didnt do that.

[Anonymous No.1261276]

>>1255844
All the electrical outlets in my house are upside down. Why is this? Are there any building codes or something like that I should worry about if I decide to put them the right way? Is the process as simple as turning off the breaker, rotating them 180 degrees and turning the breaker back on?

[Anonymous No.1261287]

>>1261276
It doesn't matter. There may have been a reason for the electrician to do it that way (ex: some do this for switch-controlled outlets), but flipping it won't matter)
Yes, the process is very simple, but you could strain the wires, so be careful about kinking and loosening connections.

[Anonymous No.1261290]

>>1261287
Thanks, I'll give it a try and see if anything explodes.

[Anonymous No.1261378]

>>1261276
>All the electrical outlets in my house are upside down.

Are you certain about that? >>1259263

[Anonymous No.1261429]

>>1260735
That's a pretty shitty way of wiring up POTS.

[Anonymous No.1261450]

>>1261287
What are the absolute most common hand tools that you use?

[Anonymous No.1261461]

>>1261276
They are upside down so that if the get pulled halfway out and something conductive falls in there it hits the ground plug, its code near me

[Anonymous No.1261480]

>>1261461
Half the things I plug in get pulled halfway out when I plug them in upside down because they aren't designed to be plugged in that way. Seems to me like it causes more problems that it supposedly solves.

[Anonymous No.1261484]

>>1261429
For bonus points: There is one jack causing a short, and he wants it fixed, and all his other jacks are in use.

[Anonymous No.1261485]

>>1255844
Have you found a way to pull hdmi and then splice the plug on?

[Anonymous No.1261577]

>>1261485
Pull cat5 and attach HDMI baluns

[Anonymous No.1261687]

>>1261485
Why would I do that?
>>1261450
I don't know if this was directed at me(op) or not, but a klien 11 in 1, diagonal cutters, linesman pliers, klien needle nose/stripper combo, fluke meter, 18 volt power drill.

[Anonymous No.1262002]

>>1261450
Kleins for everything.

>>1261484
>when the Romex jockies pierce the cable with a staple in the wall

>>1261485
Not yet, just use lots of electrical tape to round the heads off and preferably fish in conduit.

>>1261577
Wonderful, just another thing to break and another warranty call.

>>1261687
Where you from OP? Deep south here. Used to do QC for houses (fix whatever the romex monkeys messed up) but now I price jobs out and deal with the behind the scenes, two completely different worlds, I'm amazed at the disconnect between the office and the field. Is it typically like that for mid-sized contractors?

[Anonymous No.1262018]

how come i never see electricians have multi-tools in their toolkits?

[Anonymous No.1262428]

>>1262018
Probably because multitools have poor reach and no insulation. I'm a mechanic and use the shit out of mine (I've worn out three Leatherman 300s) although I have plenty of tools, but they aren't really suited to electrical work (which I also do).

Klien, Knipex etc tools are life and love.

[Anonymous No.1263523]

>>1261287
>>1261480
>not using schuko
i never accidentally pull things out or have things hit live wires, you should just make like the germans too.

[Anonymous No.1263573]

>>1262018
>how come professionals don't use shit tools

[Anonymous No.1263870]

>American Electrical Grid
>The absolute STATE of American infrastructure

AU 230 Volt master race reporting in

[Anonymous No.1263871]

>>1263870
>government has to give away LED lights because the energy sector isn't meeting demand
We were one of if not the best nation power wise but it's all gone to shit since privatization.

[Anonymous No.1263874]

>>1263871
Considering we produce most of the worlds uranium we should start up a nuclear power plant on one of the abo reserves.

Better yet, stick it up north where all the boat people land from Indonesia, build a new internment camp right next to the waste water outlets or something radioactive.

>all boat people die of mystery illnesses before they can be processed

Multiple birds with one stone

[Anonymous No.1263876]

>>1263874
I'm a huge fan of nuclear power but the greenies have too much say for it to ever happen. Dumbest thing is we have uranium mines for the fuel and old nuclear test sites to store the waste, they are fucked for a few centuries anyway so might as well get some use out of them.

[Anonymous No.1264147]

>>1263871
... if you're not in asia then no, you never were. Did a dingo eat your brain AND your baby?

[Anonymous No.1264148]

>>1263876
>fucked for a few centuries
then we put 1 more barrel in, and its another few centuries starting on that date. Bad logic bro.

[Anonymous No.1264153]

>>1255844
what's the craziest wiring you've ever seen? most dangerous? weirdest?

>>1256669
also, checked, what are they and where do I get some?

[Anonymous No.1264387]

Was gunna make a new thread but here seems appropriate.

How difficult is it to add a 120v outlet to a wall that doesn't have one already? Nearest outlet to pull from is around a corner on the far wall of another room.

[Anonymous No.1264394]

>>1264387
See the comments about pulling wire from the attic or crawl space. Depending what you're running on the circuit already and planning to add, you might need a new circuit.

I had a high end pc, projector,and stereo and needed a 15 amp circuit for all that

[Anonymous No.1264397]

>>1264394
Eh, maybe I'll just call an electrician then, doesn't sound trivially easy and I have a landlord.

I just want outlets in my closets for lights and cordless cleaning accessories.

[Anonymous No.1264454]

>>1257079
>What is with people needing to critique anything the think they can
Where do you think you are?

[Anonymous No.1264460]

>>1264148
This isn't how it works, the test sites are only radioactive for so long because of the glass created from molten sand that locks fallout in place instead of letting it travel the globe and have a negligible impact on the background radiation.
Reactor waste from modern designs is only an issue for ~100 years so we wouldn't be increasing the time the area is effected.

>>1264147
Kek

[Anonymous No.1264462]

No idea if you are still here op, but whats the estimate on having someone come to my house and fixing my electic plug box so it doesnt shoot sparks anymore? All my plugs are blackened and burnt up, and now the box shoots sparks like i am at red white and boom.

[Anonymous No.1264465]

>>1264462
>whats the estimate on having someone come to my house and fixing my electic plug box

$5 - $50,000 USD
The wide range is because I don't know what country you're in and "electic plug box" doesn't describe anything specifically.

[Anonymous No.1264466]

>>1264465
Usa, ohio. Electric plug box is what i plug my plugs into, you know a lamp or tv. Little white box with two plugs spots on it.

[Anonymous No.1264467]

>>1264466
Do it yourself, as a sparky I shouldn't be saying this but it's just a case of cutting the power at the switch board, undoing 2 mounting screws, swapping 3 terminals to the new power point, replacing mounting screws and turning the power back on.

[Anonymous No.1264469]

>>1264467
But what if it gets 2 spooky? Also this power box has a short ive been told, its fucking power to the rest of my apartment. So because of it i dont have electric in my bathroom or kitchen. Life is hard.

[Anonymous No.1264471]

>>1264469
If you are that worried then get someone out, if they charge over $200 without replacing the wiring you are being had.
Here is Australia I would charge you $50 callout + $50 for the work, if the wire is scorched and needs to be replaced you start getting at lot of variables and I might do it for free or charge a couple of hundred depending on how hard it is.

[Anonymous No.1264472]

>>1264471
I live in a agarage apartment and the plug in question is directly above the circuit breaker. Well heres to hoping it doesnt cost a arm and a leg. How long does something like this take to fix?

[Anonymous No.1264474]

>>1264472
Without replacing the wire 5 minutes, with replacing the wire based on what you just said 10-30 minutes depending if it want's to be a cunt.

[Anonymous No.1264476]

>>1264474
Well thanks for all the advice my man. Hope you dont get zapped anytime soon.

[Anonymous No.1264478]

I've never really heard anything BAD about an electrical apprenticeship. Why say life sucks during it?

I mean some of the work must get boring, repetitive, etc. But does it literally SUCK?

[Anonymous No.1264480]

>>1264476
No worries anon, good luck finding a sparky.

>>1264478
It's a good gig but commercial / industrial is much better than domestic, if you are considering it try to get into heavy industrial if you have the chance.

[Anonymous No.1264482]

>>1264480
For sure, the monotony of doing house after house after house would probably wear pretty thin after awhile. I've been wanting to get into the trade for awhile. I think doing industrial stuff in Alaska would be awesome. Though i'm basing this on absolutely nothing.

Did you do any college to also become an electrical engineer?

[Anonymous No.1264484]

>>1264466

Lay off the dope for a week or two, man.

[Anonymous No.1264487]

>>1264484
Meth never hurt me anon, so me and him will keep being best friends.

[Anonymous No.1264489]

>>1264482
Nope, I just did an apprenticeship in domestic / commercial and specialized the heavy commercial stuff until the chance to switch to heavy industrial came up.
I'm an Aussie and have worked all over the country on everything from natural gas processing plants to silver mines. It's great fun and an experience like no other but save your money while doing it as it does get old. Eventually you are going to want a wife and kids and that makes remote work hard, I have seen it end many marriages.

[Anonymous No.1264492]

>>1264489
Hmm, i'm 30 now and have yet to have any real desire towards a wife or kids. The prospect of having a kickass job and traveling all the time while simultaneously saving a shit load of money seems way better than a marriage and kids.

[Anonymous No.1264495]

>>1264492
If your 30 and don't want kids you might never want kids, for me it was ~28 that I started thinking about it.

[Anonymous No.1264824]

>>1264492
I didn't realize how brainwashed I was by years of media telling me 'lol kids, just shit factories I want MY life kthx' until I actually had a kid and realized it was the meaning of life and what joy really was.

At least you're a man and not going to turn into a cat lady though. What do old single men turn into? Creeps? Faggots?

[Anonymous No.1264922]

>>1264824
>What do old single men turn into?

[Anonymous No.1265065]

>>1264824
You're just brainwashed by a different kind of media now. Like when a mid 20 something woman pops out a kid and her whole facebook turns into mom memes about how ''you don't know life until bla bla bla.

Yawn, no thanks. I'll skip the divorce and the whole spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on kids part.

[Anonymous No.1265079]

>>1265065
enjoy ending up in an elderly home being cared for by strangers.

[Anonymous No.1265084]

>>1265065
It's not a meme or mindwashing. I experienced these sensations.

Literally there is no emotion or sensation in life that approaches holding my newborn son.

>mgtow divorce shit
Yeah that sucks. It doesn't seem to deter anyone else from having kids.

[Anonymous No.1265090]

>>1265079
I plan to take myself out long before suffering the indignity of trying to make it to the toilet on time.

>enjoy ending up in an elderly home being cared for by strangers.

Like every single old person ever? Who else is supposed to care for me in an elderly home?

>>1265084
That's great, but having children, etc isn't the meaning of life. It's the meaning of /your/ life. Or so you've convinced yourself at this current point in time.

[Anonymous No.1265113]

>>1265090
>The absolute state of hedonistic degeneracy

[Anonymous No.1265625]

>>1265113
Gb2 Facebook. I'm sure there's some Drake quotes about life and family you need to repost.

[Anonymous No.1265626]

>>1255844
I'm going to wire my house with Cat6. Any common pitfalls I should avoid and advice I should follow?

[Anonymous No.1265642]

>>1265626
Cat6 rj45 plugs are a real bitch to wire.
If you are using a central patch panel with jacks in the wall, then that's fine because you're doing work on individual wires with 110 tool. If you want to wire them directly into your router, which I would recommend if you're only doing 4 or 5, then make sure you buy RJ-45 jacks with feed-through so you can push your slack through and tighten up the twist. Otherwise it's just fucking impossible.

If you are doing more than 5 runs, you should probably get a patch-panel to terminate all your runs in your central room.

The wire in the wall should be solid/single core. The patch cables from the wall to the computer, or from the patch panel to the router should all be stranded.

The protip is to just terminate everything in order on your patch panel, then go and label the jacks with whatever port on the patch panel. Don't try to track 'okay wire 1 is the kitchen and needs to go to port 1'. Just do whatever, and later just write down 'kitchen -#8' or wherever it ends up. Write #8 on the kitchen jack in the kitchen, and write kitchen on the #8 port on the patch panel.

[Anonymous No.1265647]

>>1265642
>tried to keep plug and jack as separate terms. Still failed.
If a plug is a clear plastic thingy on the end of a patch cable, then you should make sure to buy rj-45 plugs with feed-through.

[Anonymous No.1265650]

>>1265642
Thanks m8. I'm definitely getting a patch panel as I'm planning on 2 ports per room for some redundancy.

What's your opinion on monoprice cables? I called a contractor before about doing this but his quote was something ridiculous (including 250/1k ft cable prices) and I decided I'd just do it myself.

[Anonymous No.1265653]

>>1265650
I don't have a strong opinion on sourcing cables, I use whatever they give me at work or whatever says 'cat6' at home and I don't have any analyzers I can bring home to really test it beyond just my computer and seeing if my throughput is decent or not.

cable is cheap. What I normally see is charging by the termination and footage or charging by the hour if there's a lot of shitty wall fishing/crawling.

Houses are usually pretty shit to work in because there's a bunch of crap and insulation in the attic or crawlspace already, and then you need to drill down through the sill and frame and fireblocks and fish through all that shit, or deal with patching a bunch of holes in your wall.

[Anonymous No.1265655]

>>1265650
>>1265653
So if that $250/1kft included running the cable and terminating the jack and terminating at the patch panel, that's probably fine. We charge $110 per jack unless you work out an hourly rate, which is $110 for the first, then $75 for additional. Then we don't even charge for the material though, and we will work in some pretty shit conditions to get it done.

[Anonymous No.1265656]

>>1265655
He was charging 250 for material cost alone. Looking at the prices on cables I'm guessing he was going to use plenum.

[Anonymous No.1265659]

>>1265656
that seems uncompetitive then.

[Anonymous No.1265835]

My house was built in the 1950s and my hallway light just stopped working. I don't know much about home electronics and I'm afraid of electrocuting myself. It is not a broker light bulb and not a flipped breaker.

What usually causes this? Corrosion in the wires? Is it a simple fix?

[Anonymous No.1265837]

>>1265835
Your switch might be broken or may juts have a screw loose. Or your replacement lightbulb is incorrect in some way.

You really need a multimeter to start poking around and troubleshooting.

[Anonymous No.1265838]

>>1255844
I was murdering savages in the middle east recently and one of them sold me a lamp that only takes E14 bulbs. I can't find an E14 bulb locally now that I am back. Can I just wrap aluminium foil around the base of an E12 or will I die in a fire?

[Anonymous No.1265960]

>>1265838
You can get e14s online easily bruh

[Anonymous No.1266284]

>>1265626
I wired mine and don't even use them. I would say don't bother or just run one to the tv and one to where youd put a computer if you plan on having a desktop.

[Anonymous No.1266364]

>>1264478
Waking up at 5AM.

[Anonymous No.1266379]

>>1265838

sometimes it's better to buy than to /diy/

[Anonymous No.1266403]

I have a light in my kitchen that needs worked on. When i flip the switch, the voltage is 60 volts. Its a three way switch, next switch makes it 32 volts. Its like this even with the power off i think. ideas?

[Anonymous No.1266433]

>>1256976
As someone who does a fair bit of electrical work around the house, we always follow the local and state electrical codes.
Don't know what the code says? Guess we're gonna have to find out before we keep going.
Don't have what is needed? Looks like we're not getting it done today.
Shit's not hard... just don't be cheap / lazy.


I do have a question OP, if you're still here:

I just tried to replace a light switch with a timer one, and I pull the switch out and there are only two wires in the box... no ground even.
One white, one black.

"Okay, well, obviously the black is gonna be the one with power coming in on it, right?"
Grab a tester, flip breaker back on after capping off the wires.

White's hot.

Wut.

I'm not an electrician, but all the stuff I've read says this is wrong in several ways. House was built post 2010.

You got any info on this?

Switch goes to single light fixture, no other switch controls that light but this one.

[Anonymous No.1266454]

>>1255844
How to charge metal so that when you touch it it shocks you?

[Anonymous No.1266512]

>>1255844
I've got an outdoor lamp. It typically takes the edison screw lightbulb, however, the screw-socket seems to be missing, so there's nothing to screw a new lightbulb into.

How can I repair this, where would I find a replacement screw socket and how can I install it?

I'm from the UK.

[Anonymous No.1266637]

>>1264153
Amazon. Type in those numbers on the handle
>>1264454
I didn't realize diy was plagued with the autists.
>>1264480
Low pay, all the shit work goes to the apprentice, that sort of thing
>>1266403
Even with the power off? I want to say bad breaker
>>1266433
It's a switch loop most likely
>>1266512
Here in the US they sell replacement sockets at the local hardware store

[Anonymous No.1266643]

>>1266403
What's the voltage with some load? Any significant current flow?
Does the switch have a neon indicator light? Is there another live wire next to the switched one?

[Anonymous No.1266732]

>>1266637
Shouldn't the switch loop still be grounded?
And shouldn't the switch loop be using a red and black wire? (Black for hot incoming, red for load?)

[Anonymous No.1266795]

>>1266732
Yes, but the guy was too lazy to apply tape.

Grounding may not have been required at the time it was installed.

[Anonymous No.1266853]

>>1266433
>White's hot.
>Wut.

It was covered here >>1256702

[Anonymous No.1266874]

>>1259899
Just bubble test your joints on gas and you’ll be better off than 90% of the “professional install companies”....

[Anonymous No.1266878]

>>1260685
Fwiw appliance guy here. For gas or electric dryers it’s usually the rollers, tension pulley, glides and drum seals that kill a dryer regardless of it being gas or electric.... or the vent plugs and causes the high limit to blow.... only thing more likely to break on gas vs electric is the carbide igniter if you drop or bang the dryer hard enough...

[Anonymous No.1266993]

I want to run a dedicated outlet to use only a space heater or AC window unit in my room, depending on the season. My room is in a half attic that for some reason has its own main service panel that serves the upstairs. Can I remove one floorboard, run my wire where I need it (floor joists parallel to wire run), and not worry about securing the cable, essentially leaving the cable to rest on the ceiling of the first floor?

[Anonymous No.1267094]

>>1266993
Pretty much Any wired that is run in a finished space, after the walls and floor are installed doesn't need to be fastened. What you are describing is defined as a "void", according to the NEC, and wires are allowed to "float" in voids. Reason being is that there's really no other way to do it besides ripping open floors and ceilings.

[Anonymous No.1267096]

>>1267094
I worded this pretty poorly, but what you're doing is fine
>>1266993

[Anonymous No.1267097]

>>1255844
Can you make any suggestions on
>>1267088 ?

I'm building an EDM machine and don't want to die.

[Anonymous No.1267523]

>>1267094
Thanks anon!

[Anonymous No.1267533]

>>1255844
worst things to avoid when wiring my own home, best things to use for convenience.

[Anonymous No.1267551]

I was thinking of doing an electrician course to help get a better idea of how this shit works for maintaining the business I run (very small metal polishers) and in-case I decide renovate homes with spare income.

What timescale am I looking at to learn the basics of electronics, and how much can be done as home study (Internet),

[Anonymous No.1267676]

>>1267551
I'm not the OP.

>What timescale am I looking at to learn the basics of electronics, and how much can be done as home study (Internet),

Electrician vs. Electronics are surprisingly different things to study. The former includes a bunch of code compliance and practical things (how to wire three and four way switches, how big a wire for load x, how many wires per conduit, how many wires per box, power factor, adjusting brushes, etc.) Electronics is Ohms law, components, Gain, impedance, filters, pcb design,etc.

Some, but not all, courses teach both. I wanted to learn the latter and took the Foley-Belsaw correspondence course. If I had it to do again I would study the Art of electronics (book) instead. I learned 80% of the same content in less time.

I'm interested to hear about good electrician books too.

>I was thinking of doing an electrician course to help get a better idea of how this shit works for maintaining the business I run (very small metal polishers) and in-case I decide renovate homes with spare income.

Have you looked at electropolishing? I've been reading about it and it sounds cool.

[Anonymous No.1267774]

Dear Diy,

I am restoring a lathe and am currently trying to test the motor. Referring to the images can you please advise on with what type of motor am I dealing with and would be grateful to your advise about connecting the leads.

Thank you in advance

[Anonymous No.1267776]

[Anonymous No.1267777]

In case it hasn't come through, the extent of my electrical skills go as far as changing a lightbulb

[Anonymous No.1267787]

>>1267777
Test the capacitors. Replace them if needed

Also, make sure your bearings are good. Shit should turn smooth, capische?

It's a more compressor/farm duty motor, 1/10 HP. The info plate tells you most anything you need to know.

Most motor shops will diagnose them for a small fee. Look for anybody that sells motors or look for industrial contractors with shops in the area.

[Anonymous No.1267861]

>>1267787

I couldn't wait anymore, I wired it at my best guess, plugged it, squinted and it feking worked.

I see what you mean about the bearings as there's a hump and a bump when I switch it off and as it rolls to a stop. Maybe I should open it and replace them if so.

Since the motor works though, does that mean that the capacitors are working and no need in testing them?

thanks

[Anonymous No.1267871]

>>1267861
It's likely a sleeve bearing motor judging by the oiler on the pulley. If you don't get it exactly precise it'll be fucked up so if you want to get it looked at most shops won't touch it. If it runs though the capacitors are good.

I'd say run it for now, but if you replace it with something new just make sure you get the same HP and RPM. It's likely single phase. WEG and Baldor are choice brands for replacements.

No problem happy to help.

[Anonymous No.1267938]

>>1267871

thank you for all the help

[Anonymous No.1268317]

>>1258945
>6.6kW sander.
yeah, nah.

[Anonymous No.1268331]

>>1258945
I would honestly switch all the ends for 50 amp ends. You want to be well within the rated amps. For instance on a 20 amp breaker and outlet, you only continually want to use about 16 amps

[Anonymous No.1269449]

Fifty year old house, one side keeps tripping off if you run a vacuum with a TV, or a toaster with an AC on. Intending to do renovations to the house.

What say you electrician anon? Is it safe to leave up and save costs, can we trick it somehow to adjust for differences in wattage over the years, or is it a fire hazard?