Can I move the main breaker and the electrical meter? I feel this is a no-brainer (in that I should probably get someone more qualified in to do this) but I thought I'd ask some opinions.

I've just moved into a new place and one of the rooms is just big enough for me, my desk and my computer. It's my cave and I love it.

Only problem is, the mains breaker and the electrical meter are at the door and in a position that I'm likely to damage them accidentally one day...or just through wear and tear by passing by them frequently.

Is it an easy enough job to move the breaker and the meter up a bit, or should I just get someone in? I can wire plugs, fit sockets to the wall and that sort of thing - but this might just be a step too far.

And what sort of effort would it take a professional? Should it take him long / be expensive?

I'll give the same answer I give to most electrical questions like this, call a professional.

Unless you have the knowledge and ability to handle any and all possible complications, this is a job well suited for a trained licensed professional.

EDIT:

As Mike B points out, there are also permit and other legal issues involved here.

The only two cases where some professional intervention is required are

if you decide to access the meter terminal block and the block is sealed - breaking the seal can cause legal trouble later
if any changes to the wiring need approval in your jurisdiction or if you rent the apartment and don't know how the landlord feels about rewirings.

Having said that, the job is quite easy - you need to just lengthen the wires paying attention to the following:

all connections must be super tight - every loose wire connection can overheat under load and can cause a fire
you can't connect copper and aluminiul wires directly - use terminal blocks for that
pay extra attention to not confuse wires and to not connect them improperly - in some cases you won't notice confusing non-phase wires until an electric shock hazard situation occurs
new wires should have right cross-section - it should be at the least the same as of existing wires you lengthen.


How do I baby-proof open stairs? I'm trying to baby-proof my staircase, but the stairs have no risers. (See image below.)

I am in a rental, so I don't want to spend the money on cutting, staining, and nailing up plywood.  I am thinking maybe corkboard, or using my staple gun to run a long cloth material down the underside.  I usually go over the top on things like this, but we will only be in the house for two more years probably, so I am looking to go the cheap and fast route.

How about using baby gates to keep your baby off the stairs entirely?

I would recommend using wire mesh and cable ties. It may look a bit ugly, but it'll work and it would also keep toys from falling through and making your kid try to push through to get them. (He probably couldn't push through but could hurt himself trying)


What could cause a temperature variance between our kitchen and the rest of the house? Our newly remodeled kitchen holds a temperature that averages about 5 degrees cooler than the remainder of the house. The house thermostat is set at 70 degrees, and the kitchen has been as low as 63. The furnace servicemen measured the temperature of the outside wall at 65 degrees. They believe that is a bit cool, even for an outside wall. They increased the furnace fan speed, but it has not helped. I am wondering if the drywall contractors neglected to install insulation before they attached the drywall. Could the lack of insulation on one outside wall and one wall between the kitchen and garage account for the temperature difference? I should add that we are new owners of this house and have no history or way to discovery if this was true of the house before we moved in or had the kitchen remodeled.

Increasing the fan speed is an indication of a not-very good furnace serviceman.  Whatever that did, it did it everywhere in the house, so the kitchen would have the same relative temperature.

An energy consultant can help you, and bring an IR camera that can "see" if a wall is insulated.  You'll also want to "balance" the vents, which means turning down dampers in overheated rooms.  You can sometimes add floor insulation to bring up a particular room's perceived temperature.

The space under your cabinets might be extra cold, as it may be bare floor boards with no finished floor.

One likely problem----we discovered that we have no insulation between the kitchen ceiling and the roof! Thanks for all the help, Janet


Does dark exterior paint hold and transfer more heat to an uninsulated house? We are picking exterior paint colors for our stucco house. The interior walls are plaster and there isn’t insulation in the walls.

I want to stay away from dark colors because I think it will make our house hotter(we live in Southern California where it is sunny most of the year).

Is my concern valid?

If I insulate my walls, will I be able to choose dark colors?

A darker color absorbs more heat so yes it will heat the home more during the day. Your concern is valid. White is the least absorbent color and black is the most absorbent color.

It does not matter much. Yes, a dark color absorbs more heat, but it also radiates more away. It would become hotter faster during day but cool down much faster at night. A white surface absorbs less but radiates less. I would go for a white color because in direct sunlight the surface temperature of a black surface can become scalding hot, which is not fun if you accidentally lean on it or have kids around.


How to avoid window sticking to paint? Our house has several sliding windows that have a strip of rubber weatherstripping where the movable part of the window meets the frame when closed.   The most recent paint (a semi-gloss latex) is over two years old, and it still sticks like it was painted yesterday.    I've tried Amour All, which seemed to help briefly, but I'd like to find something that might last an entire season, hopefully without a buildup of gunk.

The window slides on an aluminum rail, and works reasonably well once there is the slightest gap.

Clarification:  The window slides without problem, except that the vinyl weatherstip sticks to the paint (so much that it sometimes pulls some of the weatherstrip out of its groove, and some paint is now on the vinyl instead of the frame).

There is really only one product you should use on windows and door hinges, that is dry silicone spray.  Silicone will not remain wet, collect dirt or build up with every coat or application.  Spray the tracks liberally then wipe it gently with a soft cloth to distribute the product and remove access.  I think you will be pleased with how well it works and how long it lasts.


How do I wire an old house with Cat6? I have a older home (build in the 50's) with 1/2" dry wall and then plaster on top.

I would like to run Cat6 cable through most of the house (living room, kitchen, entertainment room,etc).

So, I'm looking for pointers on how to do this.

At first glance, I could make a fairly long 'horizontal trench' in the wall, through the plaster and dry wall and then run the cable through the studs (they are wood and I would have to drill a hole).

But I'm really hoping their is a better way.

edit

I also have a finished basement (except for the furnace area).

Go big or go home. If you're going through all the trouble to pull wires through existing walls, don't pull just one. It's only slightly more work to pull two wires than to pull one. Doing the project a second time in a few years is twice as much work, though!

Think about everything you might want (IP networking, surveillance cameras, cable or satellite TV, telephone, speaker wires, home automation control signalling). Then add a bunch of extras. Cat-6 is a good choice, because it can carry most things you might want.

Consider a single conduit. During a major bathroom remodel & replumbing job, I had the plumber put conduit from the attic to the "wiring closet". He went a little nuts, putting two 4" conduits in - one for high voltage, one for low voltage. This makes it relatively easy to add a new service anywhere. Unfortunately, this was after I had finished running structured wiring.

Since a small part of your basement is unfinished, you might want to run conduit from there to your attic, and make that your "wiring closet". Then you can pull from each outlet to the attic, and easily run it down the conduit.

Star topology. Pull everything to a central location, and patch them together there. I used the space under the stairs.

How to pull up to an attic: In your attic, drill a large hole in the sill plate. It should be big enough to fit all the wires you want through it, but small enough to keep the strength of the sill plate. Avoid the wall studs below.

Cut a hole in the wall below, for the outlet.

Push a fish tape down from the attic. Have a helper watch the hole for the tape, and grab it with a bent coat hanger. They attach the wire bundle, and you pull it back up.

To push/pull from attic to basement, you can cut a hole on the floor in between, and do it in two steps. Or you can fish from both ends at the same time, using fish tapes that have hooks on the end. When they hook each other, pull the attic tape up to retrieve the basement tape. In the attic, tie on the wire bundle, then pull it down to the basement.

To pull between finished floors you need to cut a hole in the wall to drill a hole in the sill plate & fish between the floors.

See also my answer on how to pull wire to a basement or crawlspace: How do I run ethernet, speaker wire, and coax through a wall into a crawlspace?

The more holes you cut, the easier it is to pull wires, and the more fixup work you have to do.

If I had to retrofit my home I would place a high quality gutter next to my network box on the side of my house. Inside the plastic gutter I would run all of my cat5 iw (inside wire) into the attic then into the upper portion of the house. Why you ask? Well, WiFi builds up above the modem then it goes out maybe 10ft then it falls down so if we install the modem in the lower parts of the premises our WiFi upstairs will be something like -68db which is marginal to poor.

To be honest if the house has no smart panel with cat5 or better at least two in each office or living space then that house cannot be worth more than 50k in thee best neighborhood


Why does significant condensation gather on my bedroom windows overnight? When we wake up in the morning, we're observing a significant amount of condensation on the bedroom windows around the edges on the inside (inside the house not between the panes).  We had new windows installed in the spring, and we didn't have this issue last winter.

Is it likely that there's a draft around the windows keeping the windows cold?  If so, how do I detect and/or fix that?

Notes:

We have an electric radiator that we keep near the windows that we run typically for 2 hours starting when we go to bed
We have thick curtains that we draw closed when we sleep
We sleep with the door closed to block sound

I would guess that the problem is not a draft from the windows, but moisture in the room, probably caused by having two people sleeping in a closed room.

The warm, moist air in the room will hit the cold window and water will condense.  To eliminate the problem, get more air circulation - open the door, or open the window a tiny bit.  At least try it for a couple of nights to see if that solve the problem.

My guess is that the frame isn't well-insulated or the windows aren't two-paned.

Condensation is caused by things being cold, so what you basically need to find out is why the windows are cold.


How deep do I cement a 21' tall, schedule 40 galvanized steel pole? I have recently installed a new basketball goal for my kids. I now need to install a net behind it as the balls tend to end up in the neighbor's yard over and over again and it drives their dogs crazy.

I need to go up 17' with the poles (top of the basketball goal backboard with rim at 10' is 13' so I want to go up 4' over that).

I purchased two 21' schedule 40 galvanized steel pipes (3") along with #4 rebar and some 5/8" stainless steel all thread that I plan on putting through the base of the poles in a criss cross fashion to prevent the poles from turning in the concrete.

My question is how deep do I need to bury the poles? There will be no "load" on the poles as the net weighs less than 40lbs total. I have read everything from two feet to 8 feet.. My plan was to dig 4' down and 16" in diameter flared at the bottom of the hole and then plumb the poles and fill with concrete. About have way through the fill I was going to throw in 4 - 3' #4 rebar vertically then continue to fill.

My other question was the use of a solotube as opposed to just a hole in the ground with a flare at the bottom. Should I use the solotube sans the flared bottom or just dig the hole and flare it?

We live in central Phoenix so frost/freezing is almost never a problem.

Thanks

4 feet is probably an overkill. The building code in my area requires 30 inches for deck supports where the load is much greater.

You don't need rebar or a tube, just pour Quikrete mix it with water in the hole while holding (or somehow supporting) the steel poles. In 10 - 15 minutes the concrete will set enough so you can remove the supports.

overkill if you ask me.  fundamentally this is just to hold up a net, correct?  the only load on the net is going to be wind and the odd basketball.

what you need to worry about are the following:

1)  overturning moment of the net/post assembly.  this is how much force it will take you to pull or push the net/post assembly over or enough that it moves.  just ball parking here, but a 2lb basketball lobbed over the backboard and missing may hit the net with a variety of forces (angle, speed of ball impact, tautness of the net, etc), but lets say for the sake of argument its equivalent to 20lbs of force.  that means the torque on the base is going to be 14' x 20lbs = 280 ftlbs of force.   this is also assuming the wind load on the net will be pretty negligible (large openings, thin web stranding)

2)  assuming a safety factor of 4, lets work with 1200 ft lbs of force as the torque to be resisted.  if you anchor a post in the ground, regardless of how you do it, the thing resisting the torque is the soil itself (and the mass of the base/post/net assembly).  even in the loosest sand, 1200 ftlbs of force isnt very much.  you could probably just drive the post into the ground 4 ft and it would be sufficient to resist the load described above.

3)  if you do insist on using concrete (certainly easier than driving a 2" post 4ft into the ground with a post driver), you want the concrete to be installed so it is in direct contact with undisturbed ground.  the undisturbed part is the key.  as soon as you disturb the soil, compaction and liquefaction issues arise that make the post more susceptible to movement under torque or side loading conditions.  if you put in a 16" post, it will help to resist the overturning moment better (large surface area on the post to push against and thus be pushed back on by the ground).  do not use a sonotube.  sonotubes are just there to make a post smooth and slippery so frost heaving minimizes vertical displacement of posts.

4)  depth is governed by frost penetration.  always put your foundation (whatever it is) at least 18" below max frost penetration.  4 ft is pretty standard everywhere in canada.  just beware of going deeper than that as there are many services buried below ground.  call before you dig.

5)  you dont need rebar or threaded rod.  once the concrete sets up around the pipe, it will never rotate in a million years under your scenario.  the pipe itself is your rebar.  if you are worried about, just get macrofibre reinforcement added to your mix when you pour it.  you dont need it though.

6)  flared sonotube bases are just to increase overall vertical load of a concrete post in soft soils.  totally not applicable to what you are doing and will actually make your situation worse due to the loose compaction of the backfill over the base when you are done.

you may want to dial it back a few thousand notches and just use fiberglass pole whips and guy lines to hold up your net.  much faster, more flexible installation, and far less permanent.  will probably do a better job too.

hope that helps.

fyi - you never specified what size of pipe you are using.  schedule only refers to the wall thickness and burst strength of a pipe.  use 2".  its readily available, and about the biggest you want or need to be manageable for the typical home diy type.


Are there any cordless power tool systems that offer a corded option? Are there any cordless powertool systems (e.g., drills, drivers) that have a corded battery option (i.e., an adapter that fits where the battery would normally go that can be plugged in)?  I've used other electrical equipment with this arrangement (e.g., video cameras), but have never seen it with power tools.  If it doesn't exist, is there a practical reason why?

Believe it or not, they do make such things.  For example the Greenlee AC Adaptor for 18V Cordless Tools.

I have not heard of a "system" like that though.  I suspect that's related to the fact that I've never met a pro who used or even wanted one.  When battery-powered tools finally became usable, we all pledged our firstborns to whatever god made that possible and we never looked back.

Cameras, laptops, etc. can all stay in one spot for extended periods as they do their job.  Power tools (at least the kind that come in cordless varieties) are in constant motion.  Dealing with cords and sockets is a major time, safety, and infrastructure disadvantage.

If your tool stays in one spot enough to where you ponder an AC backup, you're often better off just buying an AC-powered tool for that job.  It will: be cheaper, have more power, and be more energy efficient than jacking AC to the cordless tool.

But, if you're really jonesing to do the 60 hertz shuffle ;) and you have some electronics skills, you can rig up your own AC system, a little like this guy did -- Except I would use a proper-sized DC supply and wire it to an old battery pack (¡with the battery cells removed!) instead of hard-wiring it to the tool.

There are many examples of this mod. What I like about this one is that a proper power supply where used https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPyu7ahEWFg


Best practices for disposing of waste that is diluted in water? (paint, finishes/membranes, cement, dust/particles from wet saw, etc) Usually I let waste dry up in the case of cement/paint, then throw away.

But often times waste is diluted in water. Should I bag these up and then throw away?

I do not want to put it down the sink, or bury it in dirt, or make a mess in a trash bin.

What's the best thing to do here?

Drying paint out is smart.

Most cities have a hazardous household waste disposal service at the municipal landfill, likely as part of a strategy to encourage citizens not to simply pitch mineral spirits or motor oil or oil-soaked rags or consumer herbicides, pesticides, etc.

Have you checked there?

When the waste is non-toxic I dump that water into a spot of dirt.


Vacuum Breaker Valve on Hose Bib Humming / Noise I have one of these vacuum breakers on my outdoor hose faucet.

Every time I turn it on, it creates a loud noise in the form of a hum or drone I can hear throughout the house. While I have been able to find many similar questions on the web, as good as my google-fu may be, I can't find any definitive answers to fix it...

I don't think it's "water-hammer" because the pipes aren't vibrating or shaking. So I believe it is just the valve itself. This just hooks up to a standard hose with a normal sprayer/wand on it.

Actual setup below:

Every time I left the outdoor spigots on (all have vacuum breakers), I would hear a whining sound when I turned on and off several inside water faucets.  This always let me know that I, or someone had left an outdoor spigot on.  But, it got kind of annoying after 10 years.  I had no idea it was related to having vacuum breakers on my outdoor spigots. Recently one the vacuum breakers started leaking when the water was turned on, so I tried to remove it.  It was rusted to the spigot, so I had to drill the screw out and remove it.  Spigot now doesn't leak and the humming sound is gone when I turn on my indoor faucets.  Amazing that simply removing the vacuum breaker brings such peace.  I have since removed all three vacuum breakers and life is so nice now.  Guess they are required when selling a home, but I don't plan on selling anytime soon.  Just won't be hooking up chemicals to a hose so I don't run the chance of contaminating the water supply, but otherwise a much enjoyed "fix".

I had the same issue, whenever the water was on I had a whining noise throughout the house. I removed it, whining went away. Well now I'm having another issue where it feels like someone is banging on the side of my house, scares the crap out of me in the middle of the night. I'm assuming it's the water hammer thingy-my-jigy, so I'll have to go pick up a new one and if the whining noise is there I'll deal with it rather than being awake in the middle of the night.
Hope this helps you some


How to add corner trim to a shed without exterior access? I'd like to build a 10x10 studio shed in the back corner of my lot.  I won't have access to two of the walls as they will be inches from structures on the neighbor's lot.  I can add exterior siding to the wall, before I raise it - but what can I do about the corner where these two walls join?
My only guess right now is to buy pvc corner trim, add construction adhesive, and then install the corner trim by moving it vertically down from the roof.
The end goal is to have everything watertight.  If there is a different way to do this without corner trim, please advise.

I would build the shed on rollers or skids three feet from the neighbors' walls. Finish it completely and properly, then roll or slide it into position, lever it up and slip the timbers out. A 10x10 shed should be very manageable.
Leave any unnecessary interior work for afterwards to keep weight down.

You need something more rigid than a typical trim at the corner, to allow for completion of the walls from the interior, such as a vertical steel angle cast in the foundation. Then attach the studs using through-bolts, and build the entire walls from inside.


Wiring a ceiling light fixture. Too many ceiling wires! I have one bundle which includes 4 (old black wires) and one bundle which includes 3 (old black wires) and finally I have one wire by itself which appears fairly new. How do I identify my black/white and ground wire to hang my ceiling fixture?
Please Help!!!

If it isn't labelled, and isn't color coded, you will need to use a meter and do a lot of experimentation with the switches and circuit breakers to figure out what's going on. This is somewhere between annoying, messy, and dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.

If you need to ask this question I STRONGLY recommend that you bring in someone more experienced to deal with this. You are not looking at a homeowner-friendly situation.

The old wires are all black, both the hot and the neutral. Probably one bundle is hot the other neutral. Don't know about the new wire.

Post a picture maybe?

What used to be there? How was it connected.

Use a Neon test lamp to figure out which is hot and which is neutral.


How do I recognize which socket cover (fused or 3-pin) connects to which outlet? I have two power outlets in this room, one is a normal 3-pin (UK) plate cover and the other is a fused (switched) plate cover (much like the one below).

I've know removed them and wish to put them back, but unfortunately I do not remember which one goes where. The outlets both have the same wires coming out (one live, one neutral and one earth).

Is there a way to tell them apart? Are they actually the same thing and I can swap them over?

It's a switched outlet to connect to something else (a washer, dryer, ceiling fan etc) so there should be another set of wires going from this switch to whatever it's supplying.

The incoming 'hot' cable can be the same one that goes to the socket, it's a 13A switch so can be on a regular ring main

"The outlets both have the same wires coming out (one live, one neutral and one earth).

Is there a way to tell them apart? Are they actually the same thing and I can swap them over?"

You are considering connecting a live wire to safety earth. LETHAL. LETHAL. LETHAL.

Sorry, but you should not be doing this work yourself. It is illegal to, is one thing, because you are not qualified. I could live with that if it didn't matter, but it is clear that you don't understand what the wires are doing in the installation. Electricity can kill people and there is far more to even a minimum standard of electrical safety than you aware of.  Please, get an electrician in.


Can I unwarp sliding pocket doors so that they move freely once more? We have a pair of sliding / pocket doors where one side is painted and the other side is mostly taken up with a mirror.

Well, the color was atrocious so we painted one side, but didn't get to painting the mirrored side yet (have to remove the mirror, paint, reinstall...). This means the doors have warped as the weather changed, and aren't sliding freely in their tracks any more; they bind on the trim around the opening.

Is there a simple way to fix this? I could sand down the trim so it has a matching convex shape, but that seems like a kludge. Un-bow the doors somehow?

I had the same problem, and was able to resolve the problem by counter-bending the door.  You can try it in the frame, or you can remove the door and use some wood you might have laying around.  If you do it in the frame, you won't be able to operate the door while you're working on it, and it will probably take a few days. But the idea is to stick some wood or something to make the door bow the other way.  You'll need to be creative so you don't scrape-up the door. If you can figure a way to counter-bow the door by hand, then slip the scraps of wood in there, that would be good.  Maybe put the top and bottom scraps in there, then get someone to heave on the middle section while you slipped another scrap of wood in there.  Trying it in the jamb might take longer because you can't get that much of a counter bend in it, due to the frame only being so wide.  Taking it out of the jamb might be faster, since you can get more of a counter bend, but obviously removing pocket doors can be tricky.

For better results, I suggest you use two shims on each side like this:

(source: aac-research.at)

My door is painted on both sides, I drilled an array of holes to assist with the moisture; will increase hole density or diameter if this doesn't work.


Is sump pump supposed to discharge back onto property or onto the street curb? I have a sump pump in my basement that discharges several times a day. Currently, it discharges water right next to my front steps. I read that sump pumps should discharge at least 10 ft away from the the home to avoid damage to the foundation. Mine is definitely too close to my house, and I am getting water in the basement, possibly from my own sump pump discharge. I called my town to get a permit to run my sump pump under the sidewalk in front of my house so it discharges out to the gutter. They told me this was illegal and that sump pump should discharge back to my own property. This doesn't make any sense to me, especially since almost all my neighbors and even the town library run their sump pumps under the sidewalk and discharging water to the gutter! I have seen other towns do the same setup. I want to go to back and tell them this. If However, if I tell them that my entire block has their pumps to the curb, what might happen? Might they come and fine everyone? Can I make a case for myself that I should be allowed?

You cannot make a case for yourself saying just because others do it you should be able to (just try that with a cop when getting pulled over for speeding)

What I have done in the past is to run the drain line to the curb and fill the last foot with gravel, when there is enough water it flows through the gravel and over the curb direct draining was not allowed, but this was legal, a big nosed neighbor trued to cause problems and called the city after I did this I did not get cited but several others on the block did, now every one has the same setup, makes no sense to me but if it flows out of the ground and over the curb it was legal in that city.


Can I use an LED bulb in a 3-Way fixture? Is it possible to use an LED bulb in a 3-way light fixture?  Will all three work?

Unless you have a 3-way LED bulb (and a quick search indicates that they don't exist yet), it will light, but at the brightest light level.

A three-way incandescent light has two filaments: dim and medium.  Each filament has a separate contact on the bulb's base.  The brightest light level is provided by energizing both simultaneously.  When energized, each filament is driven at the mains voltage, so applying that voltage to a standard LED bulb will cause it to produce its rated light output.

You'll probably find that (because the bulb's base is missing a contact), you'll have an "on, off, on, off" pattern as you rotate the switch, instead of "dim, medium, bright, off" like with a 3-way bulb.

This Q&A from GE, regarding CFL bulbs, should apply for LEDs as well:
http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/ask_us/faq_compact.htm#three_way

Basically, unless the bulb was designed to work in a dimmed context, and says so on the package, you should NOT use it with a dimmer or in a three-way fixture.


Replace a motion-sensor/timer with simple single pole switch I am trying to replace a motion-sensor that has a timer functionality to turn off the lights after 30 minutes. The motion sensor never worked when we moved into the house. I just want a simple single-pole switch.

I opened the box and see that the old timer-switch has three wires:
1. Red (Load)
2. Black (hot)
3. White (neutral)

I do have a green ground in the box that is open and not connected to anything.

The new switch has 3 screws - two brass and one green for ground.

What am I supposed to do? One of the brass will obviously be the black-hot wire. What happens to the red and white? Am I correct in assuming that neutral is not required for single-pole? That only red-load is connected to the brass screw? And that I don't connect the neutral coming from the wall?

Switches that do something more than just "switch", often require neutral - timers, sensors, smart switches, etc. Ordinary switches do not require neutral. You actually have the opposite of the usual problem - someone who needs neutral but doesn't have it because it was not always required to be available. So your problem is easy to fix!

Cap the neutral

This is the simplest solution. If you had only one neutral in the box then that would be the thing to do - cap it with a wire nut and a piece of electrical tape to keep it secure since wire nuts do not always hold well with a single wire.

Remove the neutral.

If your neutral, as is often the case and appears to be the case in your box, goes to a bunch of other neutrals on a wire nut, remove the neutral wire from the wire nut and replace the wire nut. Or better, put on a new, appropriately sized, wire nut, to hold all the other neutral wires together, as reusing old wire nuts is iffy at best.

Please try the below
Connect as below
To device
1:Device red wire to be connected to red wire from the board.
2:Device black wire to be connected to black wire from the board.
From device to light
1:White wire from the device have to be connected to the light
2:Black from SWITH BOARD to the second terminal of the bulb


Air pushing under basement door and kitchen sink cabinets when furnace runs Whenever the furnace runs I feel a steady draft of air pushing out from under the basement door and kitchen sink cabinets. I have a mostly finished basement with registers but not return vents in basement all return vents are on first floor. My home is about 1500 sq ft and I live in northern IL. Do I need cold air returns in the basement to stop this and to help increase the temperature in the basement.

You are supplying heated (or cooled, in season if it also does A/C) air to the basement, but not providing a return for it in the basement, so it's traveling to a return on the first floor by any means it can.
As you properly suspect, the cure for this is a return in the basement. Placing the return low in the basement will return colder air (good in heating season.) If you also air-condition you might want a way to switch to a high return vent in the summer (such as having one low, and one high and a damper to choose between them.)

Assuming you have a gas or oil furnace, it needs air to operate. The furnace is drawing in air to burn. I have added simple ducts  such a 6" diameter galvanized or boxed in a the space between floor joists to bring outside air to the furnace for combustion. The duct will need a opening on the house exterior wall. That is more efficient than using warm humidified air for combustion as you are now doing. I have made some kind of plenum at the furnace which would depend on the specific installation. Otherwise you can make problems by trying to stop all air entry to the house. ( If you have gas water heaters they need air also ,but not as much.)


Can I safely use a 9w LED bulb in place of a 40w incandescent? I bought a reading lamp that on the box says: Max 1x40W
The shop also sold me an LED light bulb that says: 9W=75W
So my question is, can I use light bulb or not? I am confused between the 75W and the max of 40W mentioned for the lamp

Yes.  The fixture is concerned with heat.  Your LED light bulb makes about 9 watts of heat.   Your fixture is rated for a bulb that makes 40 watts of heat.

With an incandescent bulb, 98-99% of its wattage turns directly into heat.  Even LEDs, 90% of their wattage turns into heat. For thermal planning, it's not worth pulling out the calculator. You're "close enough" just pretending it all becomes heat.

On the LED bulb, when it says "75 watt equivalent" it's trying to give ordinary consumers a general sense of how bright the bulb is - i.e. about as bright as an old style 75 watt incandescent.  The more proper way to say that is "950 lumens", which is a unit of measure for describing brightness to human eyes.

The answer is always YES. An LED is about 96-98% efficient. The issue is heat.
You can hold a '60' Watt equivalent light output LED bulb in your hand forever. Try that with an incandescent and you will burn yourself in 2 minutes. Even a CFL will get too warm to hold in 5 minutes.

The MAXIMUM ratings for fixtures are based on the heat that an incandescent bulb will generate. LEDS give off virtually none, and they last a very long time!

I actually use LEDs for my aquariums and have silver Mylar laying right on top of them: '400' Watts of light and only warm to the touch. Phillips only though.


Heating Bare Steel Bars I have hollow bare steel pull-up bars in my garage home gym that are virtually unusable without gloves when the temperatures drop below freezing. I would like to heat the bars in a safe way.

Description

Bar: 1 1/4" diameter with 1" diameter opening on each end, 42 3/4" in length
Mountings: 3" x 3 1/2" x 6" (LxWxH)

Limitations

I do not have access to a 240V volt outlet.

Attempts

I have already tried running a water pipe heat cable through the hollow part of the bar and securing against the pipe with pipe insulation -- it had little to no effect.

Any ideas?

I’d try a couple of heating pads from a drugstore.  They should heat it up pretty quickly using a standard 120v outlet.

Any solution that involves electricity will be too time consuming and complex for what you want to do.

Your best option is to use raw fuel. Squirt lighter fluid (naptha) over the bar and light it. Sounds more dangerous than it is.

Reminds of a story from the war. When the Germans invaded Russia and the first winter hit, all their equipment froze. The biggest problem was that aircraft would not start. It was so cold, all the oil was gelled and you just could not start the engines through that gel. So, one of the fighter units happened to have a Russian POW working as a slave for them and this guy had worked in the Russian fighter units. So, he tells them he can get the aircraft started, and they invite him to try. So, the guy gets a big jerry can of aviation fuel (which is seriously dangerous stuff, even more than gasoline, its 100 octane) and pours it all over the engine, then gets out his lighter!!! So, the Germans freak out and think he is going to blow up the plane, but he reassures them and tells them it will work and the Germans are so desperate because it is the life or death of thousands to get those boats in the air, so they say, "Fine, light it, let's see." So, the Russian guy lights the gas and the whole engine is engulfed in flames for a few seconds. After it burns out, they try the ignition and sure enough the engine starts. So, for the rest of the war, that was how the German's started their engines in sub-zero temperatures.


Will an AC compressor work upside down? If an AC system is designed to keep liquid refrigerant out of the compressor, will the compressor be ok if installed upside down? It should only be dealing with gaseous refrigerant, but I don't know if there is something in the pump design where orientation matters. I know if you invert something like a complete window AC unit and try to run it, things will go boom when liquid hits the pump.

No, a typical fixed-use AC compressor will NOT work properly in any orientation but upright.

Most designed have a sealed can containing the compressor itself with an electric motor driving a crankshaft to which a connecting rod is attached which drives the pump.  The bottom of the can is filled with lubricating oil for the bearings on the shaft and connecting rod.

If you invert the unit the oil will go to what is normally the top of the can and will not lubricate the mechanicals properly.

Here is a diagram that shows the basic layout of the parts:

AC compressor diagram

That will also depend on the design of the compressor - on my car the compressor is the lowest point...


Effect of changing the size of a pipe I've had a couple questions above the sizing of a pipe, but I'm still a little confused and can't find an easy answer.

I'll use this image to get a representation of what I'm looking to have answered.

Sizes shouldn't matter, but if they were; we'll assume the small pipes are both 1/2" and the big pipe is just 3/4". What effect does it have on the water flow to increase the pipe size (into the center larger pipe)? And then what effect does it have on the flow to decrease the size?

The shape doesn't have to be a U like this; I just figured it'd knock out two birds with one stone. It simply represents an increase and then a decrease. You can treat them separately in the answers or as a whole if it does matter.

My general thoughts, from what I have been able to read through online, is that the pressure might slightly increase when going into the larger pipe or decrease when going down. Simply because of friction though - smaller pipe has more friction towards the water than the larger pipe. If this were one piece of plumbing, would the pressure out at the right be relatively the same as the pressure in at the left?

The other thing I see if the speed of the water. Increasing the pipe size slows down the water flow and decreasing the pipe size speeds it up? Again though, if it were one piece, would this balance out and the speed out would be like the speed in?

The velocity, flow rate, and pressure will be nearly identical at the inlet and outlet of that assembly.  The only difference will be energy lost while moving through the pipe, e.g. pressure drop due to resistance.

I'd expect the pressure to Decrease as it entered the larger pipe since it can then expand into the larger volume. However, real world application would need to determine any actual effect. Since, water in motion will buffer itself when it encounters an obstacle. Like a rock in a river, water actually makes a buffer bubble behind the rock.

So, actually flowing in from 1/2" & exiting out back into 1/2" would likely show no difference than a full 1/2" bend from a 3/4" bend. But, 1" might be the limit of that buffering as the water's cavitation may actually start to fight back the flow.

Your example is commonly done daily with compression fittings being larger diameter & conversely with SharkBite fittings being smaller diameter & there's no difference felt, sure maybe there's a measureable deminimis difference but nothing noticed by a faucet user.


Why do LED Lights Flicker on Low Dimmer Setting I just wired up the following schematic and both sets of LED recessed lights will flicker when dimmed below full power. It doesn't matter what the other dimmer is set to (full power, low power, off). The flicker is very quick, it is sporadic and doesn't follow a pattern. All lights on each line are included in the flicker. When set to full power on the dimmer slider, no flickering occurs. Both of the dimmers are the same and they are listed as compatible on each set of lights. All of the wiring that I ran was 12/2 based on this being on a 20 amp breaker.

All of the LED lights come with junction boxes and screw on pigtails down to the actual light. In the set of 4 LED's on the left of drawing, I have all 4 junction boxes wired up, but only the last light is connected by its pigtail as the wife wants to wait for the countertop to be installed before deciding how many lights she actually wants over it. So I may be removing a 1 or 2 of those lights from the line.

The middle switches in each 3 gang box are simple on/off switches to run either a ceiling fan or an exhaust fan.

I am curious of what steps I should take to try and diagnose the flicker. I just rechecked all wiring connections and nothing is loose.

My thoughts are that either the three missing lights on run one are causing the flicker. Or the USB outlets sharing the neutral line are causing the flicker. Or the dimmers, even after being listed as compatible actually aren't.

Is there anything in this schematic that jumps out to someone before I start buying different switches and outlets to troubleshoot with?

LED Lights Link #1
LED Lights Link #2
Dimmers Link #3

LEDs on AC Power Don't Like to be Dimmed. Period.
(LEDs on DC can actually be dimmed quite easily - just look at an older battery powered LED device (like handheld computer games from the 1980s) and you can see the LEDs dim when the battery is low.)
But most AC powered LED lights - whether complete fixtures or Edison bulb incandescent replacements - have a driver circuit that takes high voltage AC and turns it into low voltage DC. That process does not lend itself well to dimming.
A modern dimmer is not, contrary to popular belief (including what I thought when I was a kid) simply reducing the constant amount of current or voltage. Rather, it chops up the power into little pieces and only sends some of those pieces to the lights.
With incandescent lights, only the total power really matters much. It also helps that the incandescent lights use the power "as is", where an LED light has to convert from 120V AC down to very low voltage DC. So this works fine on incandescent lights.
However, CFL & LED lights are, essentially "on or off". So dimming becomes a lot more complicated. With LEDs in particular, it takes very little power to produce light, so you often end up in one of two situations:

Flickering - The LED gathers up enough "bits of power" until it has enough to produce light. Uses that power to produce light. Waits for some more power.
Dim - This is actually what you want with a dimmer. But with LEDs this can happen even with a very small trickle of current to power a timer/motion detector/etc., with the result that "off" is never really "off".

There are technical solutions, aka "dimmable compatible LEDs" together with "LED compatible dimmers". Essentially, the LED light has to figure out that the chopped up bits of power are not a deliberate attempt at flickering the lights but rather intended to dim the lights. But despite the best efforts, sometimes they just don't work well together. As you have found out the hard way.
If both the LED fixtures and the dimmers claim compatibility, I would start by trying a different brand of dimmer to see if that helps.

LED flickers, because it is a light emitting diode (a solid state lamp).  The Lamp will only light when its power cycle is "on".  A dimmer in essence, SLOWS DOWN THE CYCLE TIME, therefore slowing down the time frame in which a cycle is repeated.  So, the lamp appears to flicker, because it is turning ON and OFF!


limescale flakes in shower pipes We live in an area with very hard water, and so the usual problems this creates.

One particular thing is that we get a lot of flakes of a chalky material building up in the shower head (We've got an "anti-limescale" shower head that you can dismantle to clean it). The shape and nature of these flakes suggests to me that they're the result of limescale building up inside a pipe somewhere in the system, then flaking off and travelling down the pipes until they get caught up in the shower head.

Is there any way I can work out where this buildup is happening, and stop it? Why does it only happen in the shower, and not in the normal taps?

If it makes a difference, it's an electric shower, wheras the other taps (bath, sink etc) are fed off the gas boiler.

A standard water softener will remove most of the calcium ( and Mg, Ba, Sr , etc) from the water supply. It will not remove existing scale in the pipes, etc. It would be expensive to remove the existing scales ; flushing with dilute hydrochloric/muriatic would do it , but not a job for the homeowner. The taps that don't plug may have no strainers; also you may have mostly "temporary" hardness. In temporary hardness , carbon dioxide acidifies the water and keeps the calcium in solution, when the water is heated the CO2 is removed, and then the calcium precipitates/scales.

Put water in a kettle. (If you're in the USA and don't know what a kettle is, use a saucepan instead, with a lid on it).
Boil the kettle and make yourself a cup of tea.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 many times. You'll notice lots of limescale in the kettle. This is because heating water causes limescale to drop out of solution. [citation needed] [but I can't be bothered to find one]

Your heating element in your electric shower heats water. Limescale is forming on your heating element, and then dropping off to come out of / block up your shower head.


Can I put a 60 amp breaker in my sub panel that also runs ona 60 amp breaker from main panel I have a sub-panel that leads from my main circuit breaker in my house. The breaker in the main box is a 60 amp leading to the sub. Is it okay to run a 60 amp break in the sub panel for an electric car charger?
I only have a couple 20 amp outlets connected to the sub panel and another 40 amp breaker for my welder. Anytime I would be charging the car, I wouldn't be using anything else except maybe one outlet for a radio.

Depends on your feeder cable
The cable from the main panel to the subpanel is feeder.
The cable from the subpanel to the EVSE is a branch circuit.
A cable can't be both a feeder and a branch circuit. That is to say, the 60A feeder can't simply be tapped and also sent to the EVSE.   It needs to go to the subpanel, and then through a 60A branch circuit breaker.
Here's the thing.  There's no such thing as a 60A feeder. Does not exist.   Either

your wiring is 55A (#6 copper NM-B or UF-B or other #6 copper rated 60C temperature) and since 55A breakers don't exist, you round up to 60A breaker.  Or
your wiring is 65A (#6Cu or #4Al of a more advanced insulation type) and you downbreakered to 60A for some reason.

The difference is that in one case, you have 55A feeder. In the other case you have 65A feeder.  You cannot provision more load on the panel than the feeder can provide which may mean 55A.
With EVSEs, you must provision 125% of the actual ampacity.  So a 48A EVSE needs 60A provisioned to it (which is not the same as a 60A breaker).   You cannot provision 60A from a 55A feeder.
Room for everything else
We can take for granted that the welder and EVSE won't be in use at the same time; #1 they need to be in the same physical space, and #2 the supply breaker will say "no way Jose".
However, we need to leave room for the two 20A circuits, and that's an imbroglio.  Code does not say "just add up all the breaker trips".
First, the NEC 2014 requirement for a 20A circuit isn't a factor, because the purpose of that requirement is to power an EVSE and you are already providing that via separate means.  So that's off the table.
(and even if you had a second EV, Tesla's Wall Connectors know how to share, and Tesla uses the same protocol as the standard J1772 connector, so it will still work with a third party EV using an adapter).
The only other guidance NEC gives us for domiciles is a square-foot calculation of 3 VA per square foot (or 1 amp per 40 square feet) in NEC 220.12. 220.14(J) tells us not to worry about it for domiciles, since it's folded into the above 220.12 calculation... it says "No additional load calculations shall be required for such outlets".  But that's intended as a catch-all for service to the entire domicile, it was never imagined for a garage subpanel.
The last guidance we have is for non-domiciles at 220.14(H) and (I)...  where 180 VA (1.5A) per receptacle is allocated.  A common duplex recep counts as 1.  A long surface conduit power strip counts as 1.  You need to do this for each of the 2 circuits, but since they are on opposite poles, you only need to count the larger.  Not a perfect solution, but Code does not cover this well.
By my math, 3 receptacles = 4.5A + the 60A provisioned to the EVSE = 64.5A.
That's OK on a 65A feeder. Though you might want to address the under-breakering of that feeder e.g. by fitting a 70A breaker.
If it's a 55A feeder, you'll need to set the DIP switches inside the EVSE to advertise itself as a 40A unit (understand how EVSE ampacity works).  That way, the EVSE derates 125% to 50A.  That + e.g. 4.5A for the receps = 54.5 amps and you're in limits.

That would not pass inspection in my state so I would say NO.
See NEC 625.41 the feeder in this case is required to be sized at 125% and the non continuous loads on the same feeder shall not be less than the sum of the non continuous plus 125% of the continuous loads.
This basic statement is throughout the code so it would not pass.
If you could reduce or tap down you may get approval.
My jurisdiction is trying to help people get into electric but this is a common stumbling block for DIY that they will not allow as the feeder is oversubscribed.


How can I attach two pieces of wood in an invisible way? I would like to attach a thin tree trunk to a flat smooth piece of wood, in order to create support for a very heavy shelf. Any suggestions on how to do it, while leaving a minimal outside marks?

Basically my question is how to attach the tubular part in perpendicular to the flat part, with no outside accessories...

I would suggest a tenon cutter.

It will mount in a drill. You put a tenon on the end of your wood of a specific diameter, then drill a hole (a round mortise) in the wood it will be attached to. The tenon slips right in. Use a little glue, and it will stay firmly there.

As well, this will yield a very strong joint. For example, look at how the legs on Windsor style chairs fit into the seat from underneath. Such tenons are also used on the braces between the legs in such chairs, where one member is tenoned into another.

How about wood dowels and glue.  https://www.ehow.com/how_2071754_fasten-wood-dowels.html

The hard part is getting the holes to line up perfectly on both pieces.  Maybe first create a jig with 2 holes the size of the dowels and spaced apart how you want.  Then use that to drill your holes on both pieces of wood to ensure the dowels will meet up.


Is there a tool that can clean the fins of a base board heater? I have baseboard radiators in a new home (built in the 50s) and the fins are filled with lint. Vacuuming isn't pulling the stuff out. Is there a tool that can help with this?

Like most projects, the undertaker isn't limited to just one tool. You have plenty of options to get those heat-sinks cleaned up.

If the heaters are really as old as the house foundation, which is likely considering this was a convenient heating method for older homes (pre-1960), first you need to remove the front cover. You might have already done that since you are able to navigate the vacuum nozzle into the heat sinks which I can't imagine doing with the panels still on. The vacuum should be used towards the end of the cleaning process, which is great to pickup loose material, but not so much to "pry" off this build up of dust in question.

Sure, you can use a small little air can, but I would save that step towards the end as well for some detailed cleaning. But to get the bulk of the debris out, I recommend a portable air compressor with a Pistol Grip Blow Gun. Similar to the air can, but with much more pressure and focused aim. If you don't have a portable air compressor, it's definitely a good investment and you will find many uses for them. Many compressors on the market today either come with a set of attachments or can be purchased separately.

For safety, of course make sure no one else is in the area, and that you wear a face mask to avoid breathing in any debris. Leaf Blowers aren't recommended indoors if they are gas powered. Even electrical leaf blowers aren't recommended as the air has a much wider landing area and they don't have as much power as one would expect.

Also, before attaching the front cover (and possibly side covers), if you notice that the fins are severely out of shape, you should use an appropriate tool to straighten them out if possible. Doing so is very easy as the fins are very flexible, hence the reason why they might be out of shape. But it may take some time straightening out fin by fin. The purpose of doing this is to provide a better heat transfer and better, well, radiation. But if they are just very slightly bent, you shouldn't worry about it too much. Technically it will reduce efficiency, i don't know by how much, but it's expected to never see these fins in perfect shape. They may even purchased brand new with slight bends here and there so It's not a major concern.

On you tube I saw someone use a steam cleaner with a nozzle to blast it off and place a towel underneath to catch run off.


LVL Floor Joist Notch / Reinforcement Question Please see image attached.
I am looking to make a notch in a 11 1/2 LVL beam spanning 17ft across my basement.

The engineered lumber should be marked with the name of its manufacturer. Each manufacturer publishes information about the size and positioning of cutouts that are allowed on a "prescriptive" basis. If you can't find a cutout or notch description in those tables then you'd need a structural engineer to design something specific for you.

The steel I beam approach you proposed may work, but it may not be necessary to go that far. It may be possible to simply reinforce the joist that is to be notched, for example by attaching a plywood or steel sheet gusset to the sides of the joist extending some distance beyond the notch.

An alternative is to cut out the marked part of the joist completely. A beam may be installed crosswise between the joists to the left and the right of the marked joist so that those two carry the load of the cut joist. Doing this is likely to require those two joists to be reinforced in some way, such as "sistering" them by installing a second joist alongside the existing joists. The "sister" might be dimensional lumber, another LVL of same or different depth, etc.

A structural engineer could help you figure the loads carried by the floor above and choose the "best" approach based on material cost, practicality of carrying materials into the space and installing them, etc.

I am a structural engineer.

You can't notch an LVL since it is an engineered lumber product.
Boise Cascade doesn't recommend this. There is a good possibility the LVL might work as notched, but a P.E. would need to perform the calculations and put their stamp on this to the building inspector.

That is a very big notch!

I can't think of any reason for such a large notch in a single joist in the middle of nowhere in your basement.
Therefore, my immediate question to you is what are you really trying to accomplish here?
You can usually put a number of drilled holes in the center of the LVL in the region you indicate if this is for piping or electrical.
If it's ductwork then you can use one or more flexible round ducts that could use drilled holes to get from one side to the other of the joist.

@Greg Hill's Idea of sistering to the adjacent joists is your best option if putting in the cripple joist (or box joists) doesn't create a problem for what you are trying to do.

Alternately you could put in a short wall under the notched LVL and create a book case or some other architectural addition there.

Off the top of my head I believe any 6" deep steel beam or channel you can find will work from a strength standpoint, but will tend to bend more than you might want.
Two channels (one on each side of the LVL) could easily be bolted through the top portion of the LVL to each other. Similar to a flitch beam.
If you do the channels you would not need to make them full length, nor would they need to bear on the original steel I-beams.


generator transfer switch install question I recently purchased a 6000 watt portable generator and need to install a transfer switch. The problem is my meter can and Service Entrance panel are back to back and the Service Entrance panel is flush mounted in drywall in my attached garage. All of the installation videos that I have watched show the SE panel being surface mounted or in an open wall.Is it possible to mount the 3 prong generator cord connector box to the meter can and run the wires through the meter can to the SE panel and then how would I interface the surface mount transfer switch to the flush mount SE panel?

No, you shouldn't feed load side equipment through the meter enclosure.

As an option, most panel manufacturers make a generator lock out slide that attaches to the panel and doesn't allow the main and generator breaker to be on at the same time. It is a simple piece of stamped steel but you panel dead-front must be modified to attach it.

In this setup, the generator breaker must be the top right or left (depending on the panel manufacturer) breaker.

Return the transfer switch and save some money.

Good luck and be careful!

I will tell you what I did for my generator hook-up. I chose 8 critical circuits; refrigerators, freezers, furnace, some lighting/ receptacles, to be powered in an emergency. I removed these circuits from the breaker panel. I tied together 8 receptacle boxes and installed 8 - 3 way switches into them. I fed the generator feed into 1 side of the 3 way switches, the other side went to the circuit breaker panel and the common went to the load. I added a small breaker panel powered by the generator, with a load wire running to an outside plug. When the power goes off I move the generator outside, fire it up , plug it in, switch the 3-way switches to the generator position and SHAZAM, I have emergency power to my critical circuits, and the circuits are isolated from the main power source by the 3-way switches. Is it code, who knows? But it works.


Sanded Grout in Stone Tile Floor Keeps Disintegrating Our house has a stone tile kitchen floor installed by a previous owner. Since we bought the home 15 years ago, we've had a problem with the grout between the tiles crumbling in certain places. I learned shortly after we bought the house that the grout had been recently repaired in spots. There were issues within the first few years we owned it, which I repaired myself with sanded grout. It crumbled again, so I brought in a professional to do it a few years back. Once again, there are portions of the floor where the grout has crumbled and worn away.

Since these repairs were done by different people with different materials over the years, I'm thinking that the problem is with the floor itself. Perhaps it shifts just enough in certain places to cause the grout to break up.

Is that a reasonable hypothesis? If so, how would I go about making a repair that will last more than a couple of years? Can (or should) I put some kind of metal separators between the tiles to keep them from shifting?

I suppose another way to determine subfloor setup, is if you have a transition to another floor. You could look there. But I suspect the subfloor is not thick enough, allowing the tile to move, causing the grout to crumble. You could try a non-sanded grout, or a siliconized grout.

I think that your problem is that the grout was not sealed. Gout is just like sand that is held in place, and it can be quite vulnerable especially on floors. Sealing the gout lines is done by just painting on. Think of this as "laminating" the sand...

here is video that explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK7v8nbkff0

You can also get epoxy grout that is sort of like grout mixed with a sealer. see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaOSmC_pUBo


Why do insulated screwdrivers have a maximum voltage that they're rated for? I have some insulated screwdrivers and the packaging says "Protects from electric shock up to 1,000 volts". But it's not like the insulation can conduct electricity at higher voltages, right?

Wrong.
At some point, any insulation will break down and either begin to conduct or simply flash over.
From Wikipedia:

  Electrical breakdown or dielectric breakdown is when current flows
  through an electrical insulator when the voltage applied across it
  exceeds the breakdown voltage. This results in the insulator becoming
  electrically conductive. Electrical breakdown may be a momentary event
  (as in an electrostatic discharge), or may lead to a continuous arc if
  protective devices fail to interrupt the current in a power circuit.

  Under sufficient electrical stress, electrical breakdown can occur
  within solids, liquids, gases or vacuum. However, the specific
  breakdown mechanisms are different for each kind of dielectric medium.

So, respect the rating on your 'insulated' screwdrivers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGXQNLq19FQ&start=290

In that video they test a 1kV rated screwdriver to destruction. It takes a surprisingly high voltage - 100kV - to get a breakdown in the insulation.

But the reason that they're rated to 1kV is that 1kV is the difference between low voltage and high voltage in many jurisdictions. With high voltage, the requirements change drastically. For instance, with low voltage, it only has to be secured against re-connection. With high voltage, it has to be grounded as well. On high voltage one person shall monitor the safety of the system, and not participate in the work.

There's quite a lot of regulations like that, which effectively makes it pretty uninteresting to have hand tools approved for more than 1kV. You don't work in the same ways, it's usually not the same people doing the work, and you need different methods due to different risks. For instance low voltage (<1kV) is only dangerous if you touch a conductor (or are exposed to an arc), whilst high voltage (>1kV) can jump airgaps.

(Those are examples from Norwegian regulation; Europe mostly has variations of it. No idea about USA tho)


What water:cement:sand ratio gives the strongest mortar? A typical mortar mix ratio is 1 cement : 3 sand. But what is the water ratio? Is it 0.5:1:3?

Would a 0.5:1:2 ratio be a stronger mortar?

Our next door neighbor has a dog that digs like a pro. The dog somehow manages to dig underneath some parts of our wire fence netting and get through. So I have thought of filling the holes with mortar.

I previously tried to fill the holes with concrete made with 0.5 water : 1 cement : 2 sand : 3 gravel, but the mix I made easily crumbled apart. Could that be because I bought gravel made of 0.5inch stones?

The less water the better, to a point. Excess water will weaken the mix. At some point in the other direction, there is not enough water for the hydration process(around 0.25:1 water:cement). In general though, to have a workable mix, there will be enough water for hydration. Use as little water as possible to make a workable mix, around 0.45:1 is fine. Don't use mortar for bulk fill, it's a waste of cement. The gravel in concrete is just filler, saving cement.

The concrete you mixed is sort of the standard DIY ratio, I don't know why it didn't work. While 0.5" gravel is a bit small, it can't be the reason for crumbling. Perhaps the cement was old? It may have absorbed enough humidity to partially hydrate, but not so much that it bound together.

The half inch stones aren't the problem.

It was supposed to be 1:1 1/2:1.

1 cement
1-1/2 sand
1 gravel

The concrete needs water - not too much - but should be a moderate amount for it to make the cement react rapidly.


How do I determine my breaker panel's maximum wattage? I'm trying to figure out the maximum wattage my breaker panel can supply. If I look at the breaker panel I see 2 large breakers, one with 40A and one with 50A (plus the test button, etc). I'm going to assume the 50A is the main circuit breaker (the kanji reads chief utility breaker I think). Not sure what the 40A is for.

It's also rated for 100/200V apparently, so by my calculations that would be 5000W maximum capability. So would running one high-end gaming PC, a microwave, aircon and a hair-dryer trip it?

For reference, I'm in east Japan which runs 100V at 50Hz.

I've taken photo's of the breaker panel from left to right, 3 photos in total for clarity of reading the kanji and figures.

On the right picture, (1) - (4) are for sockets. (Centre, South, North and ???)  (7) - (11) are for Aircon Units and (12) is for the interphone system. (5) I'm not sure of, and (6) is for an Electrical Oven Range... but this place has a gas range.

OK, I am not 100% percent sure of this, but what I understand from the labeling on one hand fits in with what I know of electricity on the other. So, let's say 98% sure.

40A : this is the circuit breaker itself, standard three-phase AC.

50A : this looks to be a residual current breaker, rated 30 mA.

So:

If something in your house has a short circuit between live and neutral and starts sparking, the 40A breaker should trip protecting you from starting a fire. 40A is the maximum draw you have.
If, on the other hand, you have a short circuit to earth -such as live current getting in contact with an appliance's external surface- then the residual current breaker cuts in.

The residual current is there mostly to protect the user from becoming the shortest path to earth, or in other words getting electrocuted. This is why it needs to be at a very low differential rating of 30 mA. It also makes sense that it has a higher current rating (50A) than the main breaker, since we want to make sure the main breaker trips before the residual current breaker gets damaged.

To complete the individual circuit identification:

(4) is for the washing machine

(5) is for the fridge

The other circuits are as the OP indicates.

To answer to original question: 40A x 110V gives you 4400 VA. Since this seems to be a 3-phase + 1 neutral setup, you will in reality have three times the current, 40A on each phase. So, in total 13200 VA.

This is not quite the same in Watts, but with a hypothetic cos(phi) value of 0.95 you should be good for some 12000+ W. You should be OK with the devices you want to connect, as long as the circuits are well balanced (equal draw on each phase). I would suppose this is so -the installation looks really professional quality- and try it out before requesting changes, since adding more power will mean changing the main breaker and the residual current breaker (as well as paying a larger monthly charge).

Hope this helps.

Ok, so this is completely rough(and most likely extreme) numbering, but might help...

If you don't already know this site (or a similar one), you can probably get more accurate numbers from it yourself:  http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

It's a wattage-per-part calculator. Not the most up-to-date, but close enough to get the range roughly right.

Some quick clicking(not particularly paying attention to it being possible to fit this in a case or not):

dual 5960x
quad TitanX
quad flash SSD (assuming raid 0)
dual 10k sata HDD (again, raid 0)
watercooling
the usual assortment of extra cards/drives/fans/lighting/...

Gives me roughly 1700-1800W.  Let's say 2000W just for the sake of argument.

Realistically, your machine is probably much less than that, assuming relatively new parts(600-800W power supply?), but that should give roughly the worst-case scenario.

I'm also going to assume for the sake of realism that the computer and the microwave aren't running constantly, and probably rarely run at the same time at all.

Even if that is too much for the circuit, you're going to find out as soon as you turn it on and it tries to pull max load. Lucky you, you have breakers... Plug the computer into a different circuit(preferably lighter-use), flip the breaker back, try again.

[Edit: Just realized it's also not a sane build money-wise, but hey :) ]


Connecting electric hob in Germany I bought this induction hob (that sits on the table top), and I need to connect it to the wires.

The problem is that there are 5 wires, the hob came with a cable that joined 4 wires into 2 pairs at the end. That cable was too short so I switched it to a longer one (same thickness, same color coding).

Here is what the manual has to say on wiring:

The built-in cable had the cables arranged in the first arrangement (32A 1N ~)

The socket in the wall looks like this:

Seeing the slight damage, and knowing that another socket in my apartment has intermittent working issues (I'll deal with that separately), I wanted to make sure that my hob won't blow up when I connect it, so I took a cheap chinese multimeter and measured the voltage on each of the pairs.
And there I was, in shock:

Blue - Brown = 230V
Brown - Gray = 150V
Brown - Black = 90V
Black - Gray = 60V
Blue - Gray = 60V
Blue - Black = 120V

So no other situation is applicable other than the first one (32A 1N ~). Except that I have a problem with that, since my main switches that I guess are for this circuit are rated at 25A, so I guess that if I'll ever use them at 30A, they will automatically switch off, so I can't use my hob properly this way.

So I have the following questions:

What's going on? Why does my cheap multimeter measure 230V on one pair, and ludicrous values (60V) on others?
What would happen if I connect every wire to its respective color (thus possibly getting 60V instead of 220-240V)?
Are the automatic switches so sensitive that they do turn off at exactly 25A? Or can they go higher than their rating?
Is it possible that wires from 2 different switches converge into the same color? (in the photo you can see 2 blue wires, 2 brown wires, and 2 striped wires, so maybe I have 2x25A)

Update and solution: it seems like the brown+blue pair have 2 wires, which means that they are connected to 2 switches: of which either is at least 16 amps. So I got my hob connected to 32 amps, completely ignoring the other 2 wires.

It is not true 3 phase as we consider it in UK, which is very dangerous and only used in industrial premises.  Green yellow is earth and blue is neutral.  The others are all 220V live feeds each coming for a separate 20amp fuses. Hence your total load on the hob or cooker can exceed 20amp, saving the requirement for thicker cables that we use for cookers in the UK.  Ensure that you isolate each circuit before working on the socket! I have just successfully wired a new hob in my new German home in Mülheim.


Adding a 100 amp main panel I have a 200 amp main panel
I want to run a 100 amp service  from the 200 to my garage.
There's  nothing  on the 200 amp panel other than security cameras  and lights.
Do I need to install a 100 amp breaker  in the 200 amp maln to do this ?

Some initial notes
You can run any amperage you please to the garage.
That thing you're running to the garage is on your side of the meter, so it's feeder not a service (that's why 310.15(B)(7) says "service and feeder").
If the garage is a separate building (i.e. if the meter is NOT mounted on the garage building), then you need a local disconnect at the garage.  It does not need to be outdoors.  The cheapest way to get a local disconnect is to select a breaker panel that has a main breaker, the size of the main breaker does not matter.  Literally anything will do, so if you like a panel with a lot of spaces and those only come in 200A, that's fine.
The wire has to be actually rated for the specific known load that you are driving, or the load calculation you have done.  But if you don't have a specific load in mind or just want to exceed those minimums, you can run any size you want.
You must protect the wire with a circuit breaker, but you get to "round up" in breaker sizes.  If the wire is rated for 115A, you get to use a 125A breaker.  There's one exception: your feeder never has to be bigger than your service wire has to be (as per 310.15(B)(7)).
Feeder in these ~100A sizes should be aluminum - it's what any electrician would use because it's 1/3 the price of copper.  The panel lugs are aluminum anyway.  (aluminum lugs are the "universal donor", they play nice with both copper and aluminum wire). So I'll be talking aluminum sizes.
Ready?
You don't need a breaker in the main panel if you simply bring over the full 200A to the garage.  Why would you do that? Well, what else would you do with it?  You don't have anything to power at the main panel if the only things on it are cameras and lights.
However the trick would be attaching 200A wires on the load side of the main breaker.  For this you'd need a main panel with "through-lugs", or a "Subfeed lug" that clips in like a regular breaker, or an actual regular breaker that is 200A. They must be made for that panel; you can't use off-brand devices (except for things UL-Classified for your panel, but nobody makes what you'd need).
But if you can do that, then you can carry 200A from the main panel to the sub on 4/0 aluminum wires.  This is allowed because 310.15(B)(7) allows 4/0 for the entire service, and you don't need any bigger than that.
There's no need to enlarge the wire for voltage-drop reasons; it isn't far enough to matter.
If you want to carry less than 200A, e.g. to save money on wire or because there's no way to get lugs of 200A breaker... then simply use a breaker appropriate for the wire size (rounding up to the next available breaker):  #2 aluminum = 90A, #1 aluminum = 100A, 1/0 aluminum = 125A.

The simplest approach is install a 100A breaker into your existing 200A panel.  Leave the 200A main panel breaker.  The 100A is just another branch circuit within that panel.  Connect the garage feeder to the 100A breaker.
On the garage side, if you have 6 or fewer branch circuits, you can avoid having a disconnect or main breaker for that building; but realistically, you shouldn't.  You don't need another 100A circuit-breaker since there's already one upstream; but you must have a disconnecting means of 6-or-fewer switch throws.  You can use a dumb switch to satisfy this and use it to supply a panel of any size inside to supply your garage loads.
            Existing Service               New Garage           New Panel
                 Panel                  Outdoor Disconnect    Inside Garage

             +-----------+
             | 200A MAIN |                   +-----+            +-----+
             +-----+-----+                   | ON  |------------|  20 |
LIGHTS ----- |  15 | 100 | --- to garage --- | OFF |            |  20 |
CAMERAS ---- |  20 | 100 |                   +-----+            | ...
             |     |     |
             | ...


Extending power from existing three-way switch circuit I have 2 circuits of 4 lights connected via two 14/3 cables to two sets of switches that on/off each circuit. Power comes in at Switch1/circuit 1. All works fine.

I want to extend power from second set of switches to new single pole switch just two feet from that second set. The new single pole switch will control one dining room light. How do i extend power to next switch so that it works independent of the other switches?

Let's go to the store and get some colored tape, so we don't lose our minds.  We don't need to distinguish two travelers from each other, so a pair of travelers can be the same color.  We do however have two sets of travelers in close proximity, and two switched-hot colors which I'm making red and purple.

So now in color:

In order to feed an additional switch+lamp combo, you need always-hot and neutral.  Do you see it in the right hand switch box? Yes, you do, but how?

Well, you've got always-hot in one cable and neutral in the other cable -- Oh wait.

You can't do that

You can't pull power off one cable and return it on another cable.  Currents must be equal in each cable.  The answer is "NO".

It would be yes if they were all wires in one conduit.  Using cable between the switch groups sinks you.

You DO have what you need at the second set of switches. Use the White wire with the black tape on it to feed your single pole switch. The other cable has the neutral wire in it, so you can use this as the return with the new lighting load you'll add.

Preliminary: Turn the circuit off and lock the cabinet door, get a battery light to work with.

Run a 2-wire(Black,White) cable between the new light box and the second set of switches.
Remove the White wire marked with black tape from the common screw of the left 3-way switch and splice it together with two short lengths ("pigtails") of black wire with the same gauge.
Reconnect one pigtail to the 3-way common screw.
Connect the second pigtail to one screw on the new single pole switch.
Connect the black wire of the cable you ran in step 1 to the other screw of the single pole switch.
Splice the white wire of the cable from step 1 in with the other two white wires that are already wire-nutted together.


Why isn't there hot water in the shower, when there is hot water in the rest of the condo? I moved into a condo two days ago, and found that while the rest of the plumbing in the house has hot water, the shower when turned to hot just has a cool trickle emanating from the tap. The cold water there works just fine (in fact very well, it's downright freezing). As I'm told that it's a condo unit issue (and hence the building won't fix it) and my landlord hasn't answered his phone in the last two days, is there anything that I can attempt to rectify this issue and not freeze myself every morning having a shower?

Sounds like there is something wrong with the plumbing in the shower wall or more than likely the shower valve or stem system.  If you are renting this isn't your responsibility.  Not sure of your state's laws but if there is an issue like this in most states you can give the owner 2 notices and a reasonable amount of time and they have to pay for your plumber.

Again if you are renting I would not fix this yourself no matter your confidence level.  Because mitigating damages will be on you.

Put something in writing to the owner.  Tell them it is the second form of contact.  Give them a date a few days out and say if it isn't fixed by that date you will hire a plumber to fix it.

check shower head by removing it with a wrench first.  turn on water and check for flow.
if still no luck, turn off water for home and check shower valve by removing either the stem or maybe a cartridge if it's a single handle shower valve :)

remember if you have hot water issue through the whole condo, then you need to check on the hot water heater and see if it's in good shape or not!


How can I get the drain apparatus out of a pedestal wash basin? I have successfully replaced two out of the three wash basin faucets in my house so far, but this one has me stumped:

As you can see from the picture, it's a pretty run-of-the-mill pedestal wash basin.  However, what this picture doesn't quite-so-adequately convey is how little clearance there is behind the pedestal to get a wrench in to drop the drain pipe:

I'm hoping someone has some suggestions on how I can get a vise grip or an adjustable wrench behind this area?  The clearance is rather small and I don't think they make adjustable wrenches small enough but with big enough mouths to properly twist a trap nut.

I have owned/installed a pedestal sink once before. The sink was mounted to the wall and the base slid into place after the plumbing was done. It was not a structural part and just covered the drain. Your's looks just like it.

there are "pedestal" wrenches...usually 1 1/4" or 1 1/2"


The inlet on my water heater is leaking. The pipe is corroded.If I clean it up is there a way to wrap this or something to apply to stop the leak? i don't think removing is an option.

If it uses flexible connections, all you need is two adjustable wrenches and a set of supply lines. Do them both, even if the other one doesn't leak yet. Braided steel is a lot easier to work with than the corrugated copper type.

You could try plumber's epoxy putty, but you'd only be delaying an inevitable catastrophic leak.

If it's hard piped and you do call out a plumber, specify that you want it re-done with flex (so that you can DiY next time).

Some thought should be given to the inspection and replacement of your dielectric fittings (or the rectification to the complete lack thereof).


Should I use 3 wire or 4 wire for a range? I am trying to do a little work and have an electrician check it.  I have a range that is a 3 prong 50amp 125/250 (looks like the 10-50R).

List of materials purchased:

50 amp Siemens Circuit Breaker
25 ft of 6/3 Aluminum wire
Staples
Cable Brackets
50amp 125/250V receptacle

I am aware that the code changed in 1999 requiring 4 wire, albeit after I purchased this stuff.  Would it be better for longevity to install 6/4 rather than the 6/3 and have the 3 prong range plug rewired?  Not even sure if you can install the 3wire, though it is an old house.

You must always follow the most recently adopted code when installing new wiring, no matter how old the house is. With that said, the cord of a cord-and-plug attached device is beyond the scope of the National Electrical Code (NEC).
Installing a new range
When you purchase a range, they will also sell you the attachment plug.  If you opt to install the stove yourself, they will ask you if you need 3 or 4 wire.  This is because if you already have a 3 wire receptacle that was installed before the code change then you are not required to update the house wiring when installing the range.
When you're ready to install the range in the house, you'll follow the manufacturers installation instruction for a 3 wire attachment plug. Once the cord is attached to the device, simply plug it in and you're done.
Installing or modifying a range circuit
If you are installing a new circuit for the range (which it sounds like you might be), or modifying the existing range circuit, you must follow all currently adopted codes.  This will likely mean running 4 conductor wire, and installing a 4 wire receptacle. Remember, the code is applied during installation, not when the materials are purchased.
Side Note: Technically, code applies at the time of inspection. However, the inspector will usually use the date the permit was granted.  So if there was a code change after the permit was pulled, but before the inspection, the inspector will usually use the old code.
If your range has a 3 wire attachment plug, you'll have to follow the manufacturers installation instructions to change to a 4 wire plug.

Pretty simple. Call a licensed and bonded electrician and pay the $100 an hour, and he should set you up right. Meaning he will pull 6-3 wire from panel to range aream set a 2 gang box, use a 4 wire range plug rated for 50 amps, and a cover plate. Then terminate 6-3 wire in panel to the 50 amp breaker.

By calling an actual licensed electrician that is bonded and insured you have just saved yourself the price of your house. Homeowners doing their own electrical work is a huge reason why houses burn down. After your house burns down and the fire marshall deems the result as your fault you will get absolutely zero from insurance company. With a licensed, bonded, and insured Electrician you have taken the responsibility off your hands.


How do I drywall when the studs are not flush? I have a problem with my bathroom. I recently had someone come and switch the door from the kitchen side to the other side while redoing my kitchen. He did a great job and the kitchen looks great. That being said he used new studs to re-frame the wall and those studs are smaller than the 2x4's used 100 years ago on the original bathroom. I do not know how to correct this issue while dry-walling.... Any suggestions would be great! Thank you i have provided a picture.

The difference appears to be about 1/4" to 3/8". If so, I'd fur it out with some 1/4" plywood strips or some 3/8" lath strips.

sawzall the old wood flush with the new wood so the sheet rock lays flush


How do I open my garage door without a remote from outside? 1993 Craftsman garage door opener; my wife must have put something up against the garage door keypad and inadvertently triggered the vacation mode button - now we're locked out.

The remote control is disabled; none of the buttons work. Checked the batteries - they're fine. Tried tripping the breaker; no change.

The problem is, the garage has no door (just the garage door) and just 2 small windows that we could fit through if i broke the glass.

Is there any way to disable the vacation mode from a remote control?

I'd really rather not break the glass for obvious reasons. If i have to do something like that, i'll cut a hole in the wall, get in, open the garage and put a door where i cut the hole.

Any other ideas?

It sounds like the controller needs to be reset and the remotes reprogrammed.  Usually this requires physical access to the opener, but if you have a hardwired remote it might be possible to pair it via the keypad. Check the manual for your opener.
But back to the problem of how to open it. If the garage does not have an alternative access there should be a manual cable release which disconnects the door from the opener chain so that you can manually open it.  Often this is in the form of a small key near your garage door.  With the key you can open the lock and pull the manual release.

(source: garage-door-automation.co.uk)
If the installation was done correctly, you have one of these you just need to find it.  If you don't have the key a locksmith should be able to open it for you.
If you do not have a manual release then I think you will have to resort to breaking a window.

To open a Craftsman Garage Door opener, simply purchase a new outside keypad, when you prepare the keypad enitially the door will open. They cost $50.00 but are well worth the money.


Where can I find information on slow blow breakers? In a previous question, the comments mentioned slow blow circuit breakers. I have done a web search and went to Square-D's website(the maker of my current breakers) and came up empty. There is a lot about curves and such but nothing that makes sense to this laymen. Can anybody help?

I don't know about "slow trip circuit breakers", but maybe I can help you understand trip curves (and circuit breakers) a bit better. Then you'll see that all circuit breakers are "slow trip".
Your basic, everyday, run of the mill circuit breaker offers two types of protection. Short-circuit protection is provided using a magnetic trip function, while overload (over-current) protection uses a thermal trip function.
Short-circuit Protection
To provide this type of protection, a circuit breaker relies on the fact that current traveling through a wire creates a magnetic field.  The breaker basically uses a solenoid to open the circuit, in the event that there's a large fault current flowing.  If there's enough current flowing, the magnetic field is large enough to pull open the circuit. This is often known as an instantaneous trip, because it can react in just a cycle or two (0 - 0.05 seconds).
Overcurrent Protection
This type of protection is provided using a thermal device, that works based on the fact that current traveling through a wire generates heat. As the current flowing through a wire increases, so too does the temperature of the wire.  A circuit breaker uses a bi-metal strip to trip the breaker, if the temperature (current) gets too high.  This is known as "long trip", or "slow trip", because it takes time for the breaker to react (0.5 - 1000 seconds).
Trip Curves
If you look at the trip curve of a breaker, you can see both types of protection in action. You'll notice a slow arcing motion leading down the chart, this is the "long time trip" portion of the chart.  As the current increases, the time required for the breaker to trip decreases. Eventually, the breaker hits the instantaneous trip threshold. At this point the breaker trips within a cycle or two. This can be seen at the bottom of the chart, where the curve levels off and goes straight across the bottom of the chart.

Now that we've covered the basics, let's take a look at an example.  Here's the trip curve for a 20 ampere Square-D QO circuit breaker.

Click for larger view
The vertical axis is time in seconds, and the horizontal axis is multiples of current.  I've highlighted in orange what two times the breakers rating looks like (40 amperes). As you can see, even at 40 amperes this breaker shouldn't trip for about 9 to 35 seconds. This is because it's relying on the thermal protection, and the bi-metal strip has to heat enough before it pulls the circuit open.
I've also highlighted in red what it would take to trip the breaker in one second, since an observer might consider a second "instantaneous". You'll notice that it should take between 4.5 and 8 times the breakers rating, before the breaker trips in under a second. That means your saw would be pulling 90-160 amperes, when the breaker tripped.
If your saw is pulling that much current, the problem is not the breaker, it's the saw. Increasing the size of the breaker is not the solution.
Check the saw for faults, including a short-circuit. You may also want to test/replace the breaker, as breakers can go bad.

After some more research, there do seem to be what are known as "High Magnetic (HM)" circuit breakers available. Schneider Electric describes them as

High magnetic trip circuit breakers are recommended for
applications where high initial inrush may occur and for
individual dimmer applications.

One such device would be the QO120HM Miniature Circuit Breaker. I couldn't find a trip curve for this device, but rumor has it the instantaneous trip function may not kick in until 20-30 times the rated current (400-600 amperes for a 20 ampere breaker). However, I don't think these are applicable to your situation, since there's no way the saw should draw 400 amperes when starting (or at any time for that matter, unless there's a short-circuit).

Ask him what part of the code he thought putting a 30 amp breaker would cause the violation. Ask for true curiosity, if no other reason than I want to know. :)

Is there a plug on the saw, so you can plug it into an outlet on the wall ?

If not, put a plug on the saw and an outlet on the wall. (I can see him calling foul on a hard wired 15 amp rated saw, going into a into more than a 15 or 20 amp breaker. - Which means he is either Really good, or does not understand the code well.)

If there is already an outlet on the wall, what is it? I am expecting you to tell me it is one 'standard' outlet, 2 plugs with all 4 power pins parallel with the long side of the socket (google NEMA 5-15R Duplex).
The 2nd expected option would be a 'NEMA 5-20R Duplex', in this type one of the outlet pins is a 'T' shape. This will allow both 15 and 20 amp devices.

If it is not a NEMA 5-20R Duplex, ask if having one installed with separate feeds, hot tab removed, and pig-tailed in the junction would make him feel comfortable.

This page shows the split outlet, tab removal thing well.
http://electrical.about.com/od/diyprojectsmadeeasy/ss/wiresplitoutlet.htm

A pig-tail is just a short piece of wire.
In this case it would be 2 pig-tails (12 gauge, one from the hot side of each of the now split outlets, 1 top outlet and 1 bottom outlet.

These will then be twisted together with a wire nut. Then a 30 amp breaker installed and all is happy in the kingdom's workshop.

The section of the National Electric Code that speaks of using a 30 amp breaker on a copper 10 gauge wire is  2014 NEC, Article 240 (D1-7)

2014 is the most recent edition, and I am talking about outlets or a hardwired machine rated at 30 amps.

As far as your question :P

You say the box is Square D, the follow up question is it the Homeline or QO series.

Lacking a sticker or other mark that says QO load center, or Homeline load center, here is a multiple question test for identification.

-- QO Series Clear window just below the breaker handle - If it has this is QO

This is the breaker to try, - SqD part# QO120HID - if you have a QO panel, and you are 'forced' to use a 20 amp breaker.

It will likely have the following, but missing any 1 of them is not a deal breaker, just a sanity check

Metal Box, Dark Grey / Blue

QO Series breakers will have:

Rounded edges, No lip outlining the breaker - deep enough to hold a quarter $

Just 10kA 120/240~  and  Square D logo at the bottom

cost than $5 at big box store.

If you have a Homeline - there is no equal breaker, sorry.

Hope this helps some - if I have made anything too confusing, or complex, let me know and I will do my best to ease any communication issues


Is it OK to drill one or two 2 inch holes into a load bearing header in my basement? tl;dr: Is it OK to drill one or two 2 inch holes into a load bearing header in my basement made of doubled-up 2x10s on top of 2x6s?  This area is in the center of my two-story house, and bridges over a 56 inch span that originally had no other support (but a couple of new 2x4s have recently been added).  No holes have been previously drilled in this area, but one has been drilled into a joist nearby.
Update: Since posting my question, I talked to the general contractor again.  He thinks it would be fine to drill even two 2 inch holes in the header.  His reasoning is that since he added the two 2x4s, which now bear some of the load (in yellow below), the header is now only spanning ~19 inches unsupported, when it was designed for much more.  He thinks a hole would have probably been fine even without the 2x4s, but it sounds like the 2x4s make the situation clearer.
Further questions:

Is my original plan OK?  To be more precise, It's a plan to drill a 2 1/8 inch hole and a 1 1/2 inch hole.

If two holes are too many, would just one 2 1/8 inch be fine in the area I have marked for "planned holes"?

Would it be better to try to drill a single hole in the joist with the "existing plumbing" hole between the joist and the header?  The difficulty here is that I may have to drill a larger hole big enough to fit a conduit fitting through, not just the narrowest part of the pipe (this is because of the access limitations, I'm not sure if I can wrestle a pipe with enough length after a 90° turn to cement it on the other side).

What if I asked the general contractor to beef up the new 2x4s under the header (like double them up or replace them with 2x6s)?  Would this area cease to be a "header" in that case?

Diagrams: my construction terminology is not good, so I've created some diagrams to show exactly what I mean and what my plans are.
Color code:

The darker pieces wood are fully pictured.  All are 2x6s except the header at the top, which is made of 2x10s.
The lighter pieces of wood are two newly-added 2x4s (to support a new finished wall).  The general contractor says they're bearing some of the load now.
The white pieces of wood are not fully pictured.

Front view:

Top view:

Side view:

Side view (with joists omitted):

Context: I'm having my basement remodeled, and I am planning to run conduit myself to one of the new bedrooms and the only interior-wall path to the attic (for any future needs in the rest of the house).  The routing is extremely difficult here, and going through this area is pretty much my only option.  It's also behind my furnace and only accessible from one side.  I've run my rough plan by my general contractor who's also personally handling the framing, and he thinks it's fine.  But I just realized today when making my final detailed plans that this area is much more heavily constructed than anywhere else, so I want to tread carefully.

While your local building codes may vary somewhat, please refer to this IBC document section on "Notching and Boring" of load bearing members:
Notching and Boring Standards
According to section R502.8.1, you can bore a hole up to 1/3 the width of the member as long as it is not closer than 2" to either edge of the member.  Also note that you cannot bore or notch engineered beams unless you have the modifications to the beam certified by a qualified and registered engineer.
I would proactively check with your local AHJ (i.e. building code compliance office) so that you are aware of any differences they may have from the IBC.  That will help you a lot when the time comes for the inspector to pay you a visit and sign off on the work.

Yes you are fine.   A hole can be up to 1/3 of the width meaning you are good for about 3".    I would try to center them and space them out if you go the full 2".
Also whenever I drill larger holes in joists I like to add a crosser right in the area going perpendicular from that joist to the next.   Yes this does not help with the direct load but holes this size should really have no bearing on issues with direct load.   The crossers help the deflect or movement which while super low risk still the greater chance of being an issue in the long run.
Crosser = perpendicular piece of framing, simply a 2x4 or 2x6 perpendicular to the joists.
Also based on your 2x's being married together you are allowed more than 1/3 for your hole diameter and all regs/codes usually allow this to go up to 50%.  So you would be code going through with a 4.75" hole where your picture noted (given 2x10 is 9.5" wide).