Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-03-17
By HERMAN BAUM

II
please tell me how to wire a
circuit for controlling a light in
side my garage from a switch in
the house and also from the
garage. There is a fuse box in
the cellar which I intend to con-
meet to-" q. Y. M. writes.
Answer-This installation is
not for those who are still in the
primary grades of electrical i'm
provements, but we seem to have
many readers at the graduate
level who recently have asked for
this information.
| Wires to a garage are usually
installed underground and this is
the installation we will decribe.
IA half-inch galvanized conduit
lis buried in a trench extending
between the two buildings. The
depth of this trench Is not i'm
lportant except that it should be
clear of any normal Spading or
blowing in your lawn or garden.
The joints in the conduit should
be made up to be watertight to
prevent water leaking back into
the cellar. The trench cable that
you will install inside the conduit
lis not affected by water so that
the conduit is principally for
mechanical protection.
Outlet Box in Cellar
| A 4-inch octagonal outlet box
I is installed in the cellar. 1t is
convenient to locate this box SO
that the conduit from the garage
enters the back of the box. Ex-
cept for the trench cable used in
the conduit, all other wire may
be either the flexible metal
sheathed or the nonmetallic
sheathed type unless the building
code in your locality specifies
one or the other. A two-conduc-
tor cable is extended from the
outlet box to the fuse panel. In
connecting to the fuse panel, be
sure that the white wire is con-
nected to the ground plate.
Three-way switches are in
stalled in both the house and the
garage. Connection between the
switch in the house and the out
let box is made with a three
conductor No. IA cable. The
same size non-metallic trench
cable is pulled through the con-
duit, and in order to do this
part of the job you must have
| an electricians "flsh tape"
Two-conductor No. IA cable is
run from the switch box in the
garage to the overhead light.
All of the wires in these cables
are color coded. The two-con-
ductor cables contain one black
and one white wire. The three
conductor cables contain black,
/ a white and a red wire. When
making up the connections it is
important that the colors be con-
nected exactly as shown. For
splicing the wires. we have shown
wire nuts" being used. These
make the work easier, but If you
prefer you can twist the wires
| tightly together and then cover
the splice with a layer Of elec-
trical rubber tape and a layer
of friction tape.
Why Putty Breaks
what can / do to make putty
stay in windows? I have tried
to repair some easement windows
in my home, but the putty falls
out in less than year. The
sash are at least Is years old
which may be part of the trouble.
One thing I failed to do was to
paint the new putty. Could this
be the trouble?" G. r. T. asks.
Answer-Painting putty after
it has hardened for a week or
two will protect it and make it
last longer but that is not your
trouble. The wood in these sash
is very dry due to it's age. The
first step therefore should be to
brush linseed oil around the sides
of the frames and allow this to
Y soak in for a few hours.