How to get rid of fleas in an apartment with carpeted floors? Long story short...we came home after 5 days away with our 1.5 year old and noticed that the wherever the cat slept or lounged there was cat hair and little particles that looked like black pepper.

A quick internet search pointed to fleas. My wife bought a flea collar for the kitty (~$50 for a time release collar good for 8 months...that hurt the wallet) and a flea comb.

She proceeded to comb 40-50 fleas off of kitty. (Awhile ago I noticed spots on kitty's neck that were scabbed over. I should have guessed that it was probably from scratching.)

I also saw a flea on the carpet and then it sprang away.

My question is, what is the cheapest, safest and most efficient way to get rid of these suckers. Is there a permanent solution? I have a 1.5 year old so I'm concerned with using chemicals.

When I lived in an apartment, we had a problem with fleas once (due to a neglectful pet owner in the building).  Getting rid of the problem was no small feat, and took a lot of work over a few days.

I started by laundering all bedding, clothing, and basically anything fabric that was washable.  Next I rented a steam cleaner, to clean the carpets. You can call in the pros for this if you don't want to do it yourself.  The final step was to spray the entire carpet; paying special attention to the edges and corners, with Adams™ Flea & Tick Home Spray. Other brands exist, this was just the one I chose which worked for me.

When using any chemical spray, make sure you have adequate ventilation. Try to avoid skin contact with chemical sprays as well. My wife had a bad reaction to the spray, where her feet swelled up quite a bit.

If you're in an apartment building; where the source of the infestation could be coming from other tenants, you'll also have to treat the other units.  If you don't remove the infestation from the entire building, you'll likely see the fleas return to your apartment.  Any outdoor pets in the building should also be treated, not only to combat the flea infestation but also for the health of the animal.

It takes some persistence and diligence to get rid of flea infestation in the home. Many Flea & Tick chemicals,collars have active ingredients which are toxic and some are even link to poor neurological development in young children, with evidence of being carcinogens along with many detrimental health impacts.
During a flea infestation problem, start by treating the cat, you can use natural flea and tick spray. Studies have even shown some  natural essential oils to be more effective than even DEET based flea products. The safe natural flea and tick sprays which are okay for cats contain cedar oil,lemongrass and hydrated silica.You can try the Midoricide Natural flea and Tick brand.
https://www.midoricide.com/collections/natural-flea-tick-repellent

Start by spraying all fabrics that can be washed including beddings, clothing, blankets with natural flea and tick spray. It's food-grade ingredients,safe around children and pets. Next wash all fabrics that has been sprayed. Now for the carpet, sprinkle foodgrade diatomaceous earth around the carpet and vacuum the carpet. Lastly spray the natural flea and tick spray on the carpet while ensuring proper ventilation. Ensure children and pets are out of the "quarantined" area during the flea elimination process.
For the cat's general skin care, using the dry shampoo mousse and the cat neem spray definitely will help to keep the fleas away while maintaining the cat's skin and coat.


What could cause a new pressure release valve to drip water? Installed a new pressure release valve on electric water heater because old valve was dripping water on floor.  New valve also dripping water.  Any ideas? Suggestions?  Water temp set at 110F, so it's not because of excess heat.  Water pressure regulator on incoming water main set at 50 lbs.  I'm out of ideas as to what could cause valve to seep water.

Did you test the valve after you installed it? If so you'll need to replace it again. The moment you test the valve you allow calcium and dirty water that can again make the valve lose its seal and continue to leak. They are very temperamental!

How the pressure reducing valve will reduce the pressure in case there is no flow. I think it is a matter of one minute tell the pressure downstream the valve equals the upstream pressure when all water taps are closed. I think the pressure reducing valve starts to reduce the output pressure when there is flow. That's why I heared from some people who have the same problem  that installing the pressure reducing valve did not solve the problem.


How do I troubleshoot a ceiling fan that suddenly stopped working? I've got a ceiling fan in my kitchen that all of a sudden stopped working one day.  No lights, no fan.  Power is still up in the rest of the kitchen, and no breakers tripped.

Is it common for a ceiling fan to stop working? It's less than a few years old. It does run a fair bit, but I'd expect the lights to still work if for instance the motor went out.

I'm not sure if that means something is wrong with the electrical inside the fan, or if it's at the connection, or perhaps even the switch.

What can I do to test that it's not kaput?

Well for starters you can check the power at the switch to see of the switch has failed. This can be done with a power line wire test probe.....but do use care when dealing with AC power. It is dangerous stuff and can injure or kill if not handled properly. If this leaves you with a queasy feeling then now would be a good time to call in a professional electrician.

If power is passing through the switch to the fan and light unit then it is a pretty good guess that something has gone wrong with the unit itself. There are many things that could happen and some of them may be dependent on just what type of ceiling fan unit this is. For example if the fan was one of the type suspended down from the ceiling on a pipe type thing and if the fan was somewhat unbalanced a continual swinging motion of the hanger pipe could cause the electrical wires to fracture and become open circuit. Without further detail as to the type of fan it would be difficult to suggest specific failures that you might expect to see.

Do note that it is common that a fan / light assembly may have separate switched power leads for the fan and for the light. However there may be a common return neutral line. Since it seems like both the lights and fan failed at the same time it is likely that the wiring failure could be in this common return line.

Just had that same problem. Found out it is the receiver in the fan for the remote. They are very sensitive to power surges, which is when my fan stopped working.


Will my wood platform support my generator? I built a wood platform out of pressure treated lumber 6ft X 4ft 2x6 with beams every 16 inches and 2x6 deck.  It is bolted into the house 2x10 on the 6 ft rear wall and carriage bolted to an existing deck on one 4ft side.  It is carriage bolted to 4 4x4's that extend to a concrete driveway.

The generator weighs a total of 500 lb.  I need to compute the weight per square inch that the platform will support.

As long as everything is joined and fastened properly a 6'x4' platform framed and decked with 2x6 will hold much more than a 500 lbs generator.

Though I don't think I'd count a driveway as a proper footing for your posts.

Generators should not be mounted on a wood deck. Check the installation manual.


Help getting rid of a mice 6 days ago, I saw a mouse run down my hall and I almost had a heart attack! It was 2:30am and I just got home from work. I knew I wouldn’t sleep if I didn’t set traps, which I had none, so I drove to Walmart at 2:30 in the morning and bought 16 snap traps! Placed 8 of them with peanut butter in the kitchen, dining room, bathroom, my bedroom, my daughters bedroom and our spare room. Yet have caught nothing and none of the traps have been touched, so I know this mouse isn’t going near them!!! Well, just a little while ago, I saw it going from my living room to my dining room! I need to catch this thing before I have a break down lol I am terribly afraid, yes, even of a little mouse! Does anyone have any idea why this is not working or what else I can do?? Please help, just want it gone and not think about this anymore!! Thank you in advance

You are better off with a piece of cheese - also traps that capture are better than the slam and decapitate. I never had any luck with peanut butter - cheese works well.

1: Do you live in an Apartment or a Separate residence?

If Apartment , Town home or Condo the issue is that you could have an entry way from one unit to the other that you will need to close off - I had an apartment and behind the stove where the power cord was there was a hole in the wall .. I taped it up and no more mouse.

2: You will need to clean the home thoroughly looking for anything and everything that the mouse can get into for food - including open boxes of cereal in the pantry.

You can nickname the mouse and it might help with you being terrified - yes a bit light - hearted .


Can I run a ground wire along the outside of conduit? I have a sub panel on back of house. From main in garage is three wire.  2 hot one neutral.  NO GROUND WIRE.  Sub has a single bar used as neutral and grounds.  Its bonded to case (Screw in).  I will add a ground only bar, a ground to earth rod and wire them together.  I cannot get the snake all the way through the conduit to pull a ground wire.

Can I run a separate ground wire alongside the conduit to the sub?

===========================================================================

Update/clarifications:

Thank you Speters.  ArchonOSX, I understand there should be a common ground back to the main, I do not have that. Currently (pre-existing),  I have a 3wire 50 amp gfci breaker for a spa in this SUB.   Its the only circuit. I was advised to Isolate the neutral bar and add a ground bar, bonding it to earth;  Where new circuits utilize the ground bar. In this config would I be protected and no SUB/main panel metal become  energized if a short occurred?

Absolutely, you can run a separate ground - they have allowed this for a long time and have recently liberalized the rules on retrofitting grounds to practically everything else.   So if you have other outlets that could also use a ground, food for thought.

The grounds do not need to follow the same route as the original wiring.  They do need to be thick enough for their purpose.  Also, other circuits can share a ground wire, as long as they originate from the same panel.

Should you do it? Absolutely!  The problem is, right now you have the NEMA 10 problem.  Normally if a neutral wire breaks, the neutral wire is pulled up toward 120V because power has nowhere to return, but we don't care because the grounding system still protects us.  Now,  if ground is also the same wire (like in NEMA 10), it too will be pulled up toward 120V - and now things which are supposed to be grounded will instead shock you!  Including switch plate screws, metal chassis of equipment, and of course, the metal chassis of your subpanel, which you will be opening directly when you realize there's a problem.  Touch that and a water pipe, and blammo!

That should not be a problem. As long as they are bonded to one common ground and have 10kOhm resistance or more it will meet code. And realistically the only real reason to have a common bond is to protect electronics. As far as protecting yourself you could run a separate ground rod and not run the other conductor to bond them all together and not be in personnel danger of a ground fault.


Can I use a PVC ball valve for the water main at the street? I noticed some water seeping up from the ground inline of my water main and to my surprise, under the grass was another valve that I never knew was there. It is PVC and about 3 feet after the main shutoff valve at the street.

It is 1" PVC with a PVC ball valve going to the water meter I assume. The valve has a pinhole leak and I need to replace it. I've replaced many sprinkler pipes before but never anything to do with the water main.

My question is do I repair this line with a normal PVC ball valve and normal PVC glue or do I need to use something else in this situation?

I would not use a PVC valve. Those components need to be heavy-duty, as they're buried and remain in place for decades. Failure means expensive water waste, time and messy effort.

Your water line is probably polyethylene (Pex), and not PVC. Pex is much more flexible and durable than PVC. This calls for clamped connections to brass/bronze hardware.

To give you some idea what I mean by heavy duty, here's what happened to one of my properties last year. My neighbor's brass shutoff valve sprung a pinhole leak. The water jet fanned out and cut through the metal over time. It created a thin slice through the coupler that appeared as though it was made with a hacksaw.

Once the leak grew strong enough it dug through the soil for several inches and ground all the way through my property's valve, with the aid of sand from the soil, creating a large divot in the brass.

I wouldn't mess with PVC unless you want to do the job again in a few years.


NEC Breaker Selection for Motor Loads In the case of motor loads connected to a long branch circuit, why does NEC Table 430.52 limit selection of an over current protection device (OCPD) to a smaller size than the branch conductor will permit?

My hypothesis is a branch conductor that is made larger to compensate for voltage drop cannot supply a larger motor load where voltage drop was the constraining factor.  Therefore, the OCPD is limited in size to add protection against motor damage from an unacceptable voltage drop.

This flies in the face of common reasoning that says branch OCPD are for protecting the branch conductors and are not for motor protection.  Separate motor overload protection is installed for that purpose.

What gives?  Is the NEC actually providing motor protection against unacceptable branch voltage drop during motor startup by prescribing these size limits on circuit breakers?

I would appreciate others' thoughts on this.

the motor overload is based on the FLA of the motor 115% and this protects the motor, in the US we normaly use class 10 overloads this measn the motor can draw 115% of the full load value on the motor nameplate for 10 seconds before it will trip out. 430.32 the conductor size is 125% these are minimum values the OCPD can be increased if needed for starting as motors generaly draw 200-800% of full load current on startup if the breaker is set two low it will trip as the time of the high current draw is only a few seconds the wiring dosent get hot but if there is a locked rotor/ or shorted phase the motor will draw enough to trip the breaker.
so the motor overloads protect the motor, circuit breakers protect the branch conductors, there are many kinds of overloads the 2 major types are electronic , and heaters, the electronic measure the current and many times are adjustable, the heaters have a small coil that is heated when it gets hot the metal in the "operator" melts and a small ratchet is released opening a switch contact that is in line with the "starter" the relay that applys line power to the motor , once the overload is cleared the heater cools and it can be reset, these are adjusted by changing the coil size that heats the "operator"

Here is an excerpt from the code:

  430.51 General. Part IV specifies devices intended to protect the motor branch-circuit conductors, the motor control apparatus, and the motors against overcurrent due to short circuits or ground faults. These rules add to or amend the provisions of Article 240. The devices specified in Part IV do not include the types of devices required by 210.8, 230.95, and 590.6.

Referring to that other problem we were nattering over; if you have 1200 feet of #4 at 240 volts during a dead short at the end of the line I calculated 623 amps of current. If it was a ground fault close to the motor and the current flowed through the motor this could be quite damaging. I don't know if a 30 amp breaker can trip much faster than a 70 but I believe the intent of the code, as is stated in 430.51, is to protect the motor and conductors from damage resulting from short circuits and ground faults regardless of what size conductor is used.

So, the code limits the size of the OCPD based on the Table FLA of the motor not the ampacity of the conductors.

IMHO
Happy Friday!


What is cheap rug backing I bought some rugs from walmart. I used one under an office chair. After a few  years I lifted up the rug and it had a ton of "powder" under neath it as if someone spiled a can of baby power under it. It was the rug backing, It seems the chair wheels pulverized the backing of the rug.
I want to buy a new rug but I do not want to have the same problem. I'm sure the dust was very unhealthy to breath too.
What is this backing called and is it just for very cheap rugs? It is hard to tell on some rugs if they have this backing from the limited pictures they give. I'm trying to find a good rug that isn't too expensive to protect the hardwood floor.
Best I can tell is that these types of rugs are called tufted rugs and the backing is latex and this is what the powder was.

I believe your investigation is correct. Jute fibers hold up fairly well but are coarse, so they coat them. The powder you found is probably latex. I don’t know if I have seen many small rugs that are not coated, but some of my larger area rugs are not. It may be a size thing to keep the smaller ones from sliding or just to hide the coarse fibers maybe both.


How to fix stinky bathroom sink? It smells like really musty water, but the water itself does not smell or taste bad at all. Only happens when I run the water, so it doesn't make the room smell, just when you fill something up or wash your hands.

I tried drain-o and it didn't do anything and there's GREAT flow so it's not clogged at all anyway.

Only thing that has worked (temporarily) is pouring pretty much everything I could think of into it. Lemon juice, draino, bleach, etc.

I'll echo the comment and say that you should make sure you have a proper P-trap installed under the sink. This trap holds water and provides a seal against sewer gases getting up into the bathroom. Without one, gases will leak in constantly, and will be displaced by water down the drain which can force the gases up into the bathroom even if normally it's not detectable.

I'll also ask if there is a proper vent for this sink. Even with a P-trap, if there's nowhere for back-flowing gases to go, they'll bubble up past the trap.

One more thing it could be is the overflow drain. Depending on the design of sink, the overflow can hold a small amount of water at the bottom where it tees in to the main drain, which can become stagnant. Run water down the drain and you'll force some air up the overflow (to make way for the water coming down), which will have that stagnant smell. To diagnose this, plug the sink and begin filling it; you shouldn't get any musty smell at first because there's no air movement. Once the water level hits the overflow drain, you will start smelling the musty smell for a while because the water is displacing the gas, which wants to rise above the water and so will move up into the bathroom. If this is the problem, you can ameliorate it with some foaming pipe snake; pour it down the overflow drain and it will clean out any caked-on gunk which contributes to the smell, and which may be trapping the water. The real fix is to make sure there's no "damming" effect of construction defects at the bottom of the overflow drain (a lip of porcelain, issues where the overflow meets the metal drain downpipe, etc).

Instead of using expensive garbage disposal deodorizers I just mix one pack of Lemonade flavor Kool-Aid (10 cents a pack) with a small amount of water.  Then pour that into the sink and let it sit for a while.  I also use a long handled brush to clean the bottom of the rubber guard in the sink because junk gets under there.


lennox furnace not working pilot light on but burner doesn't start lennox furnace, model # G20Q2E-75-C1, serial #6392H32332, pilot light lights, blower motor turns on, burner doesn't burn

Have you followed the Troubleshooting flow chart from the user manual?

Click for larger view

You'll probably want to start with this bit...

Specifically, if the unit hasn't started in a bit (over the summer), I'd try cleaning the area of the burner nearest the pilot.

Jump it, if it allows you, and check for continuity and check for 24V.


Should drywall be hung horizontally or vertically? For reasons including time, money, ease of installation, and structural strength, should drywall be installed horizontally or vertically.

Horizontal:  Pros will fit top piece to ceiling first and cutoff bottom piece for a 1/4 to 1/2 gap at floor.  The tapered joint is easy to fill.

You can also get a tapered butt joint by hanging the butt ends between studs and using a floating backer with a depressed center area that forms the "butt taper".  They are available commercially or can be homemade. This is the easiest way to get a "dead-flat" ceiling (or wall) when only the best will do.

The answer is.  It depends.

On what?  stud height, convenience and whatever the manufacturer recommends as they keep changing their minds.

At one point I was told horizontal was the right way to go.  But we had a house extension done recently and they told me vertical in general.  But they have mixed it depending on the wall so they used either.  What was more interesting was how many fixing screws they now add and how they have these bizarre recommendations that the builders have to follow but question.

i.e. in the corners something like 50mm then 50 then 50 then 100 then 100 and back to 50/50/50 in the corners.


Why does my dishwasher back up into the sink, but running the disposal allows it to drain? When my dishwasher runs the kitchen sink backs up. I have a two tub sink and only the side nearest the dishwasher with the garbage disposer backs up. Running the disposal for a few seconds causes the sink to drain.

I'm not sure what to look at to address this problem. It doesn't strike me as a clog because if it was the sink would drain poorly.

There is a very simple answer to your question.  Your dishwasher is draining into the side drain adapter on your garbage disposer. this was a common practice for many years. All the water draining from your dishwasher is being pumped into the upper basin side of the disposer. Solids from the dishwasher are blocking the drain in the disposer, so when you turn on the disposer, it grinds the waste and drains the water. This is actually the way it is suppose to work. Current codes require a separate trap for the dishwasher and not plumbed into the disposer. If you look at the side of your disposer, you will see the hose from the washer attached there.  Only fix is to install a new separate trap and drain for the washer.  Good luck.

An easy fix: Pre-rinse large gunk off your dishes before loading them into the dishwaher. DOn't expect the dishwaher to deal with lasagna and mom's meatloaf.


Does Age of Home need to be considered when encapsulating crawl space? I have had my crawl space encapsulated.  It has made a big difference in the air quality inside the home (80 years old).  However, I am now seeing cracks throughout my home in the walls closer to the top half of the walls and also on my fireplace brick.  It has been approximately two - three months since having the encapsulation done.  My concern is the cracks seen in my fireplace - the walls I can fix but the fireplace is pretty much a 'fixture'.  Is the age of my home so old that the encapsulation is doing more damage then good? Do I need to be concerned, especially with the fireplace now having a 'Z' crack going on?  Also, when will the 'cracking' stop...lol.  I appreciate all those who can help me with these questions.  Asking someone in the 'foundation' business around where I live brings all kinds of 'issues' that may or may not be true issues.  Thanks!

Encapsulated? I assume you had rigid insulation boards added to the interior side of the foundation walls. If there were foundation vents, did you have them sealed? If not, water could blow in and get trapped between the inside of the foundation wall and the new rigid insulation. It could then freeze and expand. I doubt if it could "move" the foundation wall, unless it could run down and get under the footing. (Some footings are "L" shaped not "T" shaped.) Water may have blown in the crawl space in the past, but it was dried out with the crawl space vents.

By the way, we always design walls so that the bricks are stronger than the mortar. That way, when the wall settles, the mortar cracks, not the bricks. The mortar can be repointed (scraped back a bit and refilled with mortar.)

I realize this is an older question, but the "community" bumped it back to active. Sorry Robin, but encapsulation is only a good idea for crawlspaces in the arctic and only a bad idea anywhere else.

The encapsulation problem is that it suffocates the ground and forces all moisture to the perimeter...where the building's structure is. I believe it should've never been done and has greatly increased the humidity within the walls (including foundation) as long as the encapsulation remains.

What should've been done is to simply insulate and vapor barrier the bottom of the floor joists. This, seals out the moisture and temperature changes while still letting the crawlspace breath and dry. The only thing that should've been done to the crawlspace itself is the addition of more venting for improved breathing and drying.


Can I paint over XPS insulation? I've a top floor apartment in India which gets almost like an oven during the summers which is like for 9 months out of 12. I've decided to apply under the deck XPS 50mm (nailed to the ceiling). I dont want to do a gypsum false ceiling after that, since I like to keep the height and cost low. The supplier (Supreme Petrochem) suggests to apply putty + acrylic paint over the XPS board, but I'm skeptical and dont know if that will crack. I'm thinking of just sticking wall paper over it. Any experience of such application & suggestions will be appreciated.

Dow, a manufacturer of XPS products, on their India web site, does not recommend using XPS under a roof deck.  This is due to the possibility of condensation occurring between the insulation and the structure.

As far as painting goes, US codes require a 15 minute thermal barrier over an interior foam, in the event of fire.  This could be satisfied by gypsum wallboard, obviating the need to paint.  For noninsulation interior uses, Dow permits latex paint.

Instead, they recommend using an "inverted roof" where the panels are placed OVER the waterproofing and covered with a ballast material that will weigh the panel down and protect it from sunlight.

what part of india do you live at (aka, do you get horrible long monsoon rains), and are there  any sort of cracks, etc, on the roof that may cause water to seep in? i think these are more important questions than whether you can paint XPS.

i lived most of my life in bangalore (and several years of that on the top floor of a 13story highrise), and a little judicious application of ceiling fans and air conditioners goes a longer way than trying to insulate your roof from the underside.

i fail to see how 2" of any sort of insulation under your ceiling would help in heat control. now, if you're trying to dress your ceiling up, i understand; and there are several options. not for heat control, though.


HELP! Upgrading my kitchen to ceramic tile floor So, I've decided to take on this big project.  I have a 1/2" plywood subfloor with 3/4" MDF on top.  Should I rip out my entire subfloor add a 3/4" t&g plywood then lay 1/2" plywood on top or am I able to just lay the 3/4" t&g on top of the 1/2" plywood?  If I can add the 3/4" plywood on top should I screw to the joists or glue and screw off the joists?

Two issues:

First, you need to make sure that your floor is rigid enough and planar enough for the tile to be successful. There are deflection tests to determine rigidity, and different ways of checking for planar. The bigger the tiles are, the more important these are.

1/2" plywood is unlikely to be sufficient. 3/4" plywood glued and screwed with backer board on top of it may be sufficient. An isolation membrane (I like Ditra) can help as well, as it lets the floor flex a little without popping tiles or breaking grout lines.

The second issue is floor thickness. If you go 1/4": backer board + ditra + a porcelain tile, that's about 3/4" thick. You need to set things up so the transitions to other rooms are safe; ideally they will be flush, but if not, you'll need a safe transition piece to handled the difference in level.

The installation manual for Ditra is a pretty good reference.

You should just lay some backer board on top of your current subfloor and go from there.


How to clean fireplace grout? Please see the attached photos. I'm not sure what is even in the grout but it appears stained green-brown with mildew maybe? I used an electric power drill grout brush attachment (see picture) with vinegar to no avail. Do I need to go out and buy a dremel?


Should I use 12/2 or 12/3 to wire a 220V electric baseboard heater and thermostat? When I bought my baseboard heaters, thermostats and 220V breakers I was advised to get 12/3 wire. When I attempted to install the heaters I found that the thermostats, heaters, and even breakers have connections for only 2 wires. I have since read that 12/3 is only necessary for wiring something like a dryer that uses both 220V and 110V over the same wire. My question now is, should I get 12/2 instead of 12/3 to wire these heaters?

I'd use 12/3 -- that way, the neutral is there if you need it (for built-in outlets for instance), and you can use standard color codes.  (Just about ALL /2 NM is black/white/bare.)

EDIT: As comments have noted, this isn't a good answer. Thanks for the lesson! Look at the other answers on this page for wiser advice.

12/2 would be a less expensive and more obvious-to-future-electricians way to wire the heaters. However, you can use 12/3 and just ignore one of the wires. The safe way to do that is to bond the red wire to ground at every junction. That way, if it is ever wired to current somewhere in the system, the circuit will immediately short and your circuit breaker will break the circuit.


Is this too many items on a 20 AMP Breaker? I live in a 2 bedroom 2 bath duplex, where we have issues with the lights flickering, often causing mini power surges and at times kicking a breaker.

One 20 ampere circuit supplies

3 receptacles in the living room.
3 receptacles in the dining room.
The lights and the ventilation fan in the kitchen.
1 receptacle in the hall.
3 receptacles in one bedroom.
2 receptacles in another bedroom
2 receptacles in the garage.
Front porch light.
Driveway light.

That's 14 receptacles, a few lights, and a ventilation fan.

Is this too much on one 20 ampere breaker?

Whether or not that's too much depends on what is plugged into the outlets, how often each item is used, and how many items are used together.

That seems like far too many things on one breaker to me. If I was wiring that, I would not have done it that way. Now that it's already like that, fixing it is most likely a big chore. If, and that's a big, unlikely if, you're lucky, you may have more than one wire run coming into the electrical panel to that breaker. In that case, one or more of the runs could be moved to a new breaker (assuming there's room in the panel, and I find it hard to believe there isn't). Working in an electrical panel is dangerous and must be done by an individual that understands what they're doing, be it you or an electrician. Please be careful.

If you're not lucky, there will be one main run coming off of the breaker, and it's split somewhere in an electrical box in your home. If you're so motivated, you can chase this down and find the splits. Then you could fish new wire runs from a new breaker to one of the splits.

Good luck with whichever method you chose.

That's certainly not to code.  If its an older building then it was most likely fine at the time it was built.  If it's a newer building...say 1980's or newer then it was not done to code.  Even if the Electrical Service was redone or a remodel it would have been made to be brought up to code.  If you are the homeowner you're pretty much on your own...if you have a land lord he may ultimately be responsible for a building that is not up to par.  In either case what "rjbergen" had to say seems like sound advice.  Look for wires doubled or trippled up on one breaker and try to separate them if there is enough space.


Can anyone identify what brand this faucet is? I wanted to replace this faucet and had a hard time figuring out what brand it is.does anyone know what company this is ?

The only company's it similar to is Pegasus, Cascade, and Peerless. Very nice faucet whoever the manufacturer is. Maybe Grohe?


How do I tighten/loosen this recessed nut and bolt? My bed has a nut and bolt that are recessed into a piece of wood.

The only tool I have that fits it is the tiny toy spanner that came with the bed.

The spanner does not grip the nut tightly enough to be able to turn it.

But a larger adjustable spanner/pair of grips does not fit in the hole.

How could I tighten this nut?

Update: The toy spanner did work up to a point, but now it just slips off the nut every time, as if it's too loose.

Don't underestimate what that little wrench will do, or how much torque you need to hold the bed rails together. With the lock washer, it only needs to be compressed, plus maybe another half turn at the most. The force created by the threads drawing through the nut create an incredible amount of pressure on the joining faces.

The included wrench has 2 distinct ends, one has the legs of the wrench equal lengths more or less, the other end has a shorter leg on one side. Because of the shape of the wrenches, I will assume there is little or no space to get a box end wrench around it, if there is any room behind it, then a box end wrench can be ground down enough to fit around it. A rail bolt wrench may work too, they are made to fit into even a deeper, hole. They are used for handrail assembly.

Back to the offered wrench, the one end with the short leg, in my opinion is the workhorse, the short side is always on the leading side of the turn, as in if you are turning to the right, or clockwise, the short side is on the right side. That side is shorter so it does not bottom out as quickly in the shallow hole the captured nut is in. The wrench with the equal lengths are for the nut when it is in the midway point, where the nut is being turned where the legs of the wrench will still clear the bottom of the hole. As soon as one side of the wrench touches the bottom of the drilled hole, turn it around, and use the end with the short leg to complete the turn, so to speak, then swap ends again, turn that a little, then change ends of the wrench, and repeat.

You may have tried these techniques already, but it wasn't stated in your question to what extent you tried to work with the wrench. The picture of the wrench only shows a little distortion on the short leg of the one end that would occur if the wrench is turned the wrong way. Even though there a slight distortion, having the proper orientation of the wrench to the nut, that won't matter.

Just take a pair of needlenose pliers and grab that sucker and turn. You'll only get about an 1/8 turn, but it won't take long.

My guess is the guy who told you that you are using the wrench incorrectly is probably right; have you used both sides, flipping it over and trying all the different ways? If it's catching once every 10 tries it could also be the nut is tight already and that's why the wrench is slipping off.


How to attach a monkey-bar/playground structure to the ground in my backyard? I would like to build a monkey-bar/playground structure in my backyard. It's not your standard monkeybars, but I made a 3D visualization at staktrace.com/pub/structure.html if that helps. I'm planning to buy steel tubing (1.25" or 1.5" diameter) and getting a welder to assemble it. However I'm trying to figure out the best way to actually attach it to the ground.

My plan was to dig a 2.5' hole for each post, fill in 6" of gravel, put the post in on top, and pour concrete to fill the hole. After reading some of the info on this website I'm wondering if burying 2' of a 9' or 10' post is going to be enough. In terms of "load" on the structure it's going to need to hold maybe two people swinging around (let's say 500lbs). Also given that the posts are all going to be welded together using crossbars at the top I feel like it should be pretty stable already so I shouldn't have to go that deep.

Also I've never done stuff with concrete before so I have some general questions about that.

So my questions:

Given the nature and intended use of this structure, how much of the post should be buried if I want the "ceiling" bars to be 7' off the ground?
What diameter should the hole be?
Would it be better to weld the structure first and then attach it into the ground? Or install the posts first and then weld the rest of it to the posts?

Any other advice or recommendations are also welcome.

[Edited to add: in terms of weather, this is southern ontario so it has to deal with +30 to -30 degrees C and everything in between]

I put tie-downs in my driveway to guy down my boat canopy during the summer. I dug 2 foot holes, crisscrossed rebar diagonally into the ground, poured concrete, and sunk heavy duty eye-bolts with alternating nuts and washers into the concrete. I will be doing something similar this summer with posts, sinking them into concrete, with rebar through them.

If the hole is 1 foot in diameter then each footing will be 235 pounds.

I would probably make the footings weigh triple the weight of the above ground apparatus plus any people on the apparatus.

Also I would have the top of the concrete at least several inches below the surface of the ground.


3 wire service to panel... neutral and ground wires on the same bar? I'm getting two conflicting reports and was wondering if anyone can help me. I was told that on the distribution panel, grounded conductors (neutral) and ground wires need to be separated in the distribution panel. The point of disconnect is at the meter and the neutral and ground wires, apparently, have to be separated downstream of the point of disconnect for proper grounding system. Is this true? I got a second opinion and was told that on a 3 wire service to panel, neutral and ground wires are allowed to be terminated on the same bar. Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you all!!

Whoever told you the meter was the point of disconnect was dead wrong.
The main panel or disconnect is the first means of overcurrent or disconnect. THIS is where your neutral bond must happen.

  2011 NEC

  Article 250 Grounding and Bonding

  II. System Grounding

  250.24 Grounding Service-Supplied Alternating-Current Systems

  (B) Main Bonding Jumper.

  For a grounded system, an unspliced main bonding jumper shall be used
  to connect the equipment grounding conductor(s) and the
  service-disconnect enclosure to the grounded conductor within the
  enclosure for each service disconnect in accordance with 250.28.*

In a 200amp main service most boxes have a jumper from neutral bar to ground. A wire makes a dead short. So everthing becomes one. If you put the ground wire on bus bar as close as you can it still seeing neutral so in english to a garage or a shed you run four wires to hots two nuturals. That balances out the load on two one ten lines equal current transfer thats the way i see it. Insulated and you run five wires put a ground rod in and ground the panel box caseing every one is saying Dont put a wire from ground to shed box from house. The rod is just for lighting any way i dont use one i did a test yesterday with a cellphone charger it will plug in either way so i have four wires in a one breaker panel box in garage 10 thn copper a neutral bar has to tens comming from main house breaker not grounded and two ten guage wires going to two side by side breakers a 20 for outlets and a 15 for lights i split the 220. Now all my plugs i run a third wire to ground on neutral  bar it works 15 years radio power tools never blew nothing up i ran this way my charger goes both ways in plug and it works. Now i will rest my case some people on there transformer have on the center tap on pole run a ground wire to neutral. Im big in electronic repair im a ham operator got my tech license. You talk about having tons of grounds well than a neutral wire should be two wires instead of on to balance the two hot sides. Ac current is not dc a ham antenna has ac current comming out a 1500 watt amplifier the shield is just the same size of center conducter if you roll it all up in your hand.    Have a nice day


Best way to create a simple and economic steam machine for steaming wood? I want to build a simple steam machine for steaming wood to bend.

To do this I must place the wood into a sealed PVC pipe and pump steam into it. The PVC pipe part is the easiest part. Producing steam in a simple and economic way is where I need help.

I was thinking of simply using the element from an electric kettle, but these use quite a lot of electricity - the wood must be steamed for at least an hour. I also looked at a clothing steamer, but these seem too weak.

'Pumping' the steam into the PVC pipe is not a problem, as long as the pipe is higher than the steam source, so there is no need for forced induction.

Has anyone built something like this before?

Would anyone know a way of building a simple and cheap steam making machine?

The container doesn't have to be a PVC pipe. Wood boxes were the traditional solution, and still seem to be more common among woodworkers than the PVC approach.

There are steam generators available from woodworking stores which are a bit more effective than an electric kettle. They may or may not be significantly more energy-efficient; boiling water takes the same amount of energy no matter how you do it, so the only question is how much energy gets lost to the environment rather than going into the water and being kept in the steam.

I have been thinking about building a steam box.  I figured I would pick up a couple stainless TIG welding electrodes at the local welding shop and bend them into a serpentine shape with about a half inch gap between them that would fit in the bottom of a 5 gallon paint bucket.  Make some spacers out of plexiglass so the two electrodes are spaced away from each other and held up off of the bottom of the bucket.  Connect each electrode to one side of an old line cord.  Fill the bucket with enough water to cover the electrodes by an inch or so, snap the top on (use the spout for getting the steam out of), and plug the thing in.  Adding a bit of salt or baking soda may make it boil up a bit faster.  Just don't touch the water while it is running.


Does it violate NEC to run an AC adapter's low-voltage output cable through a wall? I want to mount an IP camera in a room. The power outlet and Ethernet ports are near the floor and I want to mount the camera near the ceiling. I was thinking of cutting through the wall at the top and bottom and adding a recessed low voltage cable plate. I read that it is against code to run high voltage power wires through the wall, but the power wire I'm planning to run is an AC adapter on one end, lowering the actual wire voltage to a handful of volts. Is that allowed?

There's a better solution to this problem

Most low-voltage wall adapter outputs for low-powered ITE such as an IP camera qualify as Class II power circuits under the NEC, which means that Article 725 applies to the situation you propose.  However, the wire used for wall adapter output cables is not legal to stuff into the wall in the way you are proposing, as it's not a listed UL/NEC type CL2 or CL3 cable as required by NEC 725.135(A) and (M) (instead, it's some AWM type, at least on the adapter I had laying around handy).

So, you have two options at this point:

Run a CL2 cable through the wall

The perhaps-simplest way to do this would be to run a listed CL2 or CM cable through the wall -- two-conductor thermostat or in-wall speaker wire works, although you'll need to get jacketed cable instead of the normal unjacketed-pair stuff in order to comply fully with 725.139(E).  At each end point, you'd terminate it to a dual binding post or dual banana jack wallplate (you can get modular wallplates that can be set up this way -- look at the Leviton QuickPort line for one of many example).  You'd then chop the AC adapter's output cable in two, fit banana plugs to the chopped/stripped ends, and plug them in in the appropriate places, minding polarity of course.

Just make sure that the low voltage plate is on a separate bracket or box from the 120VAC, or that a listed divider separates the 120VAC gang from the low voltage gang.

Do it the old fashioned way

The "old fashioned way" is to use a proper Chapter 3 wiring method such as NM (Romex) cable (note, NOT flexible cord, or else it's as many lashes from an extension cord as it takes to acknowledge that NEC 400.8 is true, wise, and holy!) to run 120V power from a nearby circuit to a new receptacle located near the camera's home, which then can have the AC adapter run to it.

You'll of course want to turn off and figure out the circuit you plan to use for this, and use proper splicing and cable securement techniques.  Also, the power cable can't share a junction box with the Ethernet cable unless you shove a listed divider between two separate gangs, one for the Ethernet side and the other for the 120VAC side.

It's always safest, to consult your local building commission, when unsure about code restrictions.

At the very least, even if it isn't against code, which it probably isn't - you should exercise no less care, in ensuring that it properly routed, and protected from damage.

Outdoor cameras that come with power/video cables, often have thicker jacketing, for such installation concerns. While wall warts on the other hand, usually do not.

Also, POE doesn't necessarily have to be built-in either. There are splitter/injector kits available, that convert two cable setups, to one.


How do I wire a 4 prong plug into a an old receptacle with only red and black wires with metal conduit into metal box? I am trying to wire for a 4 prong plug into a an old receptacle pre 1972 with only red and black wires with metal conduit into metal box.

It has been used since 1964 hard wired 220B with metal conduit all the way to the box.

Warning: You'll be working around live electrical wires during this procedure. If you don't feel comfortable doing so, please contact a local licensed Electrician.

Okay, going off of what you have, you need at least a 3/4in conduit back to the panel. You are going to need to pull a white and a green from the panel to the receptacle box and install a ground stinger in the metal box to bring it up to code. The wire will need to be sized to the amp draw. If it is not a cost thing I would pull all new wire in using the old wire to pull it in.

You can turn of the main breaker to the panel, but the feeders from the meter will be hot.

  Warning: You'll be working around live electrical wires during this procedure. If you don't feel comfortable doing so, please contact a local licensed Electrician.


If neutral carries current back to the breaker panel, why doesn't it need to be connected to a switch? I've got some limited field experience as an electrical helper, but no real classroom experience yet. (saving up for school)

I am of the understanding that the neutral wire carries electricity back to a breaker panel.

I generally wire switches, as instructed, as follows:

However, this doesn't make sense to me because if the switch is in the off position, how does the power return to the breaker panel? I assume it can't be flowing through the neutral because the path to the device is interrupted by the switch, thus the circuit is not complete.

Does it flow, instead, through the ground? I've been told that the ground should never have current unless there is a severe fault, at which point there is a problem that needs fixing.

Isn't the ground the only way the electricity would return to the breaker panel in the above wiring scheme?

The switch opens (turns off) the circuit, at which point electricity is not "flowing" through the circuit. The electricity flows to the first terminal on the switch, and then just sits there.  Think of it like a closed plumbing valve.  When the valve is closed, water flows to the valve, and then just sits there.  Once the valve is opened, the water can then flow through the plumbing.

The neutral is a the completion of a circuit back to the power source/transformer.  It meets up with the ground at a main bond in the first electrical enclosure downstream of the meter or main disconnect.  It also is performed in a separately derived system via a transformer installed to change the voltage desired for circuitry.  If you have 480 volts a/c and want 120/208 you set a transformer fed with 480 and on the secondary you have 120/208 volts requiring a main bond on the secondary for fault situations to that power source.  That transformer has now become a separately derived system.  This bond brings the equipment grounding conductors, grounding electrode conductors, lightning protection conductors, and neutral together to form one path back to the power source to allow for any ground faults to facilitate the proper operation of tripping a breaker or blowing a fuse.  This main bond only should happen one time at the service entrance of a house, building, etc. on the load side of the main service disconnect.  From there on out the grounding conductor(green wire, bare wire, all metallic eqipment to be grounded) and the neutral are to be strictly separated.  If another panel is installed downstream from the main panel, then in that panel the grounding (greens, and bares) are isolated from the neutral/grounded (whites and grays).  Ground rods and your other supplemental grounging electrodes are in place to dissipate major overvoltages from power company line surges and lightning strikes.  THEY ARE NOT INTENDED TO PROTECT PEOPLE AND EQUIPMENT FROM LINE TO GROUND FAULTS!  If your system is not bonded and a fault occurs, then you have a very dangerous situation.  There is no place for the fault find its way back to the power source and create fault current situation to trip the breaker and or blow the fuse.  Basically this fault is like a snake waiting to bite if the condition presents itself because the breaker has not tripped or the fuse blown.


Standard height for kitchen sink drain exit from wall? I am in the process of a kitchen remodel and now have come to the plumbing.  My original kitchen had a 2-bowl sink and my new kitchen will have a 30" wide sink base with a 27" wide single bowl.  There also will be a garbage disposal with the new single bowl.

It is my intention to remove all the in-wall copper pipe and replace it with ABS, and somewhere in my basement I'll switch from ABS back to the original copper with a fernco coupling.  In the wall will be a simple tee that will give me a through-wall flange for the outlet of my garbage disposal.

My question is, how high off the floor should I make my drain?  I'm thinking the lower the better, that gives me more clearance for my garbage disposal, however it needs to at least be high enough that the trap is still above the floor of the base cabinet.  I have no dimensions of the base cabinet, but I'm guessing the floor above the toe-kick is ~4", and I'd need another 8" for the trap to clear, so I was guessing around 12"?

My only research brought me here, however it makes no mention of the garbage disposal and how to plan for that.

12 inches above the floor is really cutting it close. Most cabinets have a kick toe of 6 inches so you'd only have 6 inches to install and work the trap. I'd be looking at 16 to 18 inches above the floor. Good luck.

You are going to have a disposer in a single basin sink? I would never disturb all that original copper drain pipe for such a project.

Rethink this.

Disposers are not even allowed in new construction in some jurisdictions. They waste water and unnecessarily add food waste to the sewage stream. Food waste should go in the garbage.


Facade coming off wooden doors Facade is peeling off wooden wardrobe doors. Seems to happen more at certain times. Weather related?
In any case how to fix? Wood glue?

Don’t use wood glue it will not normally adhere to the laminate.
Rubber cement / contact adhesive is a good method. I have a spray that is great for this it is made for putting sandpaper on sanding disks. But it’s just rubber cement in a spray can.
For Rubber cement contact adhesives to work they need to be applied and let dry until tacky then pressed together.
I suggest the spray in this case so there are no bubbles of adhesive but a thin coat allowed to get tacky then pressed together is how laminate countertops are done.
Once the contact glue , rubber cement is applied it should not come loose again so make sure to align the piece as once stuck it is almost impossible to remove without breaking.
I have laminate rollers to push things together but this size could be done with the palm of your hand just don’t use excessive glue.

It will be hard to stick the laminate panels back on so they are smooth and flush and square, unless you have a press.    A large weight of similar size may work too.  Separate weights would give an uneven finish.
You might be able to use a single board as a spreader and then pile weights on top of that
Either way you would have to unmount the door and lay it flat.
It might be more efficient in terms of time and money to simply replace with a new door.


Should I Let my PT Fence Dry Before Installing I'm installing 300+ LF of fence in the next month or so and am getting ready to start ordering my materials.
My main question is should I dry out my PT lumber before installing, posts rails and pickets? I was considering laying it out in my garage with 2x1" spacers. I live in South Florida and it rains pretty much daily right now. Of course worried about checking and warping, kinda expecting a <.25" gap between pickets.
Thanks for the help!

On the contrary, install when while wet to prevent splitting when you install fasteners, and allows fasteners to set easier. We actually soak pickets in a trashcan full of water before installation.

As far as the footing requirement, I'd tell Florida to suck it. Set your posts to adequate depth (general rule is depth = 1/3 length of height of post), leave the concrete at the home center. Hundreds of thousands of miles of unconcreted 50+ year old fencing across the US and other parts of the world are not wrong.


Installing corrugated metal in bathroom I'm planning on installing corrugated galvanized metal as a wainscoting in my bathroom.  Is there anything I need to put behind the metal to help prevent mold/moisture from getting behind it?  The walls are plaster.

This is the picture my girlfriend pulled off of Pinterest.  I would run the corrugated metal vertically at 48 in in height.  It looked like a good idea because it would match more of my personality and lifestyle, living on a farm.  I've read where people have used it in bathroom surrounds with little issues, however I haven't found anyone who has had it installed for more than a few years.

I don't consider it any more of a concern than wood wainscot or a vanity that's not hermetically sealed to the wall. I take measures to prevent undue splashing in my bathrooms, such as using a shower curtain and teaching my kids proper behavior. With this approach you can have confidence that your nice, unique metal wainscot won't result in the fall of civilization.

I'd run a wooden cap as shown in the photo, and if you're concerned about water running down behind, seal against the wall with a fine bead of clear silicone caulk. It'll take on the colors of the wall and trim and be nearly invisible.

I disagree. IMHO this is a bad idea.

The reason we install metal roofing on plywood with a moisture barrier or on a a blanket of insulation (with double sided vapor barrier) is to keep condensation from forming on the bottom side of the metal roofing panels.  This phenomenon occurs when a warm substance (rain) hits the top of the metal and the colder side of the metal condenses.

This is exactly what is occurring in the bathroom. The warm steam from a shower will hit the metal and condensation will occur on the back side of the corrugated metal. Without air circulation, the condensation will drip, rust, etc. and soon be a problem.

This question has been around for awhile. I wonder if the OP went ahead and installed the metal panels. I wonder how they’re performing?


can I convert four-wire 250 volt, 30 amp dryer to two 125 volt dual outlet receptacles? Can I use the 10 gauge wires (red, black, white, ground)from 30 amp, 250 volt dryer receptacle for two 125 volt circuits for two separate duplex receptacles? Can I use stranded wire for jumpers, or must I use solid wire?

You could make a MWBC out of this /3 + gnd cable and install two 20 A receptacles. You would change the 2-pole 30 A breaker to a 2-pole 20 A breaker.

If the conductors are aluminum, you would pigtail with 12 AWG copper. If the conductors are 10 AWG copper, you might be able to connect these directly to the contacts on the receptacles.

I would make these to 20 A so that if you ever needed to run heavy current demand appliances, you'd have the capability.

EDIT To install a single duplex receptacle in the box, you would split the hot sides by breaking the connecting tab. The black wire would go to the hot side of one receptacle and the red to the hot side of the other.

The neutral side tab would be left intact.

What you are trying to do can already be accomplished by existing adaptors.
Here's an example converting dryer plug to split receptacle:


Repair or exchange mower tire with different part number I own the following rider:

Searching for the online parts I find the following document:

IPL, McCulloch, M95-66X, 96021002300, 2011-12, Ride-on Mower

So in order to replace the front (right) wheel, I would need to order piece number:

  532 43 65-00 WHEEL ASM (FRONT)

I am having a hard finding the exact dimension of this wheel, in particular I'd like to compare it to another model which seems to be much cheaper on internet:

IPL, McCulloch, Mowcart, 96021001200, 2010-12, Ride-on mower

  532 43 69-46 WHEEL ASM (FRONT)

Where can I find the exact dimension of the wheel, can I exchange one with the other ? Is it possible to repair the tire only ?

For reference here is what my tire looks like:

and

This doesn't directly answer the question, but is, I believe, a good alternate:

Since you've already got the wheel/rim disassembled, I'd suggest taking the tire (bring the rim with you, just for fun) to a couple of local big-box hardware stores and see if you can find a replacement that matches*. If you can't find one there, try a local lawn-mower repair guy - he's bound to have and/or know where to get a replacement tire that'll work just fine.

Actually, I'd suggest going to your local lawn-mower repair guy first, just to help support a local business. You may pay a couple of dollars more, but (most likely) get great knowledge and service. He may even remount the tire for you at low/no charge. And he may get you going today instead of waiting for something to ship to you.

Worst case scenario, he'll tell you you need to order directly from McCulloch/Huskvarna directly, but he'll likely know which one will work.

* by "matches" I mean rim diameter & width and overall tire circumference. You need to be able to mount the new tire to the rim without it rolling off, and you want the same rolling diameter on both sides of the axle or you'll be steering in one direction just to go straight. If you absolutely cannot find one with the right outside circumference, you may need to buy two (if they're not terribly expensive) and replace both front tires, or bite the bullet and get the OEM part. I can't imagine that there are too many varieties of lawn mower tires, but, who knows...

Search Google for tire size 10 x 4.00-0 and you will find lots to choose from.


A/C circuit breaker blowing after 15 minutes of runtime 20 year old Amana 3.5 ton runs for 15 minutes and then blow circuit breaker on the main panel in the house. Condenser fans running compressor is running sweating making cold air. Help.

EDIT

Two 40amp breakers toggled together one of them gets hot when it pops that breaker automatically pops the one that's connected to. This unit has run flawlessly for 20 years. It's a Square D panel with Square D breakers

I believe 22amp ZRCF42U01D MOD#

The breaker may be faulty or there may be a fault in the a/c condensing unit. Breakers are so cheap and easy to replace that I would replace the breaker, but those more knowledgeable about a/c's may know better.

Okay guys it was a defective Square D circuit breaker in the panel I changed that out after checking everything else above because I didn't believe that's what it could be but sure enough that was it thank you so much


annoying vibration, deep humming noise in home What in my home could possibly vibrate and/or make a very low humming noise?

I have been driven mad by a low droning vibration type noise for nearly two years. I have gone through testing various possibilities; Electric being the first - switch power off at circuit and still hear it. Water- turn off at stop valve under stairs, still hear it.

I hear it worse at front of house than back. Hear it upstairs too. We are in a terraced row of houses so I've been round to the neighbours either side and can hear a faint hum in their houses but nothing as bad. To me it appears very loud as been living with it for so long I am totally tuned in to it!

What can this be? Is it possible for gas lines to vibrate? Could it be a mains water issue? Someone suggested we could have a leak? Electrical problem (but had mains off and could still hear it)? Boiler issue?

We have had gas and water companies out but there was not anything obvious found by them. All appears normal. Gas meter is fine. No pressure issues with gas. No water leaks. Turned off toby in street and it was still audible.

The front room floor does feel like its vibrating but perhaps the noise I am hearing gives the suggestion of vibration (sounds like a bus engine idling in distance or the throb of engine when you are on a ferry but very low level). At night when all is quiet it's horrendous as there are no other noises to mask it. It sounds like a pump running 24/7.

Any ideas? We have had Scottish Power out as I thought it may be one of two electrical substation that are along the road. They were doing work on them when this noise was first noticeable but the new installations are supposedly meant to be quieter models. Think they are 132kv transformers.

At the same time we had to get our shower replaced and ended up withwater hammer, with pipes banging every time we turned tap or shower off. This was sorted by draining down the systm but the stop valve leaked for while after obviously not being used for years. I read about the possibilty of worn/loose washers  causing a humming noise but it sounds no louder when right beside stop tap... Hhhmmmm...

In the past 18months it has only been quiet twice really, but there was silence for a good few weeks then it returned. I don't hear a hum when I stand outside in garden or beside the closest substation but the furthest one (approx 180m away) does emit the usual hum but not at a level that you would think would reach my house...

I do not hear it in friends houses and have to escape to my parents or in-laws homes to get away from it. I went for hearing tests and I've got perfect hearing. It's not tinnitus either as it is only in my home I hear this low drone.

Any theories??? What can I try?

This would be a last resort but ridges of ledge underground that the foundation may be poured on top of can transmit vibration from hundreds of feet away if the source, (heavy machinery, road traffic, etc.),is strong enough. Can you pinpoint the area of strongest / loudest vibration? If yes what is it closest to?

An electricity meter can cause the low frequency hum, not all by itself, but it does in conjunction with the smart grid system.  The smart grid system works from either RF frequencies or pulsing low frequencies on a two-way communication system--most likely this if you are in a suburb or rural area.  You can shut off all the electricity at the breaker, but this won't solve it, because the electrical substation is still pulsing your house.  There is much more information available on this now.  I suggest googling low frequency hum and smart grid or checking out this most helpful site: sandaura.wordpress.com/.


How to check grounding connection Background: in my neighborhood the water company is renewing the pipe line, taking away the old metal pipes and replacing them with plastic pipes. The electrical network company has thus sent a letter to all the houses (built in the late '60es) advising to check that the grounding was not made by connecting to the water pipes (now this is not allowed, but it was common in the past), as this would basically leave the house with no grounding after the replacement. After this check they ask for a written communication that the grounding is ok, to be done before the replacement works begin.

Is there a way to check how the grounding is made? From the electric cabinet I just see a cable going below the floor, and I cannot wait for them to remove the pipes and then check if I still have grounding.

Your house will be grounded either by the metal water pipes as you said, by a ground rod, or rebar in your foundation (if it has it).

The most common modern method is the ground rod. Normally if a ground rod is used, it would be placed on the outside of your house on the other side of the wall your electrical panel is. Because you state that it goes below the floor, it's not likely you have a ground rod (at least not one you can see outside). You can easily check for an exterior ground rod by looking outside next to the foundation on the other side of the wall of the electrical panel. You should see a copper wire going into the ground, and possibly the ground rod itself sticking up a little bit.

You stated that your house is older, so I'm not confident that your house is grounded by any rebar in the foundation as your house probably doesn't have it. If it's grounded to the rebar, you may not be able to observe the ground connection without digging if the foundation was poured over it.

If the panel is grounded to the water pipes, and the ground wire can be seen going into the floor, I'm assuming the side of your house the water comes into is on the same side of your house that the electrical panel is on. I say this because you want to ground the water pipe as close to the entrance of your house as possible. This is so that if, for example, you replace your water lines in the house in the future. If you take off the water pipe that the ground wire is connected to, you will have an ungrounded house. By having it near the entrance, you are that much less likely to accidentally disconnect your ground. I would have thought that they would want the water line to come through the wall of your foundation, rather than the floor, but it's possible.

So how do you determine if your house is grounded with the water pipes? You can do it by observation as described above, but this won't help if you can't see where the ground goes as you can with a ground rod.  Some might say to disconnect the ground conductor from the panel and measure the impedance between the ground wire and your pipes. This won't work because the ground path could be going through rebar, a ground rod, or some other method before reaching the pipes.

Unfortunately unless you dig through your floor, you can't tell where it connects. You would need specialized meters that would test ground impedance, but even this method isn't guaranteed to pinpoint the ground connection. An electrician should have this meter though. If I was in your position, I would call my utility company (water and electric) and ask how you should determine the ground connection. Explain that your ground connection isn't visible and that it would be an expense to determine the ground location. Hopefully they will reimburse you in some way, but normally the utility's responsibility ends when it enters your house.

Turn off power
The cable you see going below the floor is the one .it should be yellow or striped yellow.trace it and when you read the ground and the cable disappears.dig around that area and there should be grounding rod down .see if it is connected to water


How can I run Cat5e cable through a completely finished house? My family and I are interested in buying a house that was built in 2002.  This house is two floors on a concrete slab with a finished bonus room upstairs so there is no attic other than above the garage.  I would like each room to have four points and I do have a 1000' roll box of Cat5e shielded cable.

What is the ideal way to run Cat5 for each room and to a com-closet when the ceiling on the first floor is finished and I don't have a crawl space?  Is there a tool that I can use to fish the cable?

This has been discussed many times on this site and maybe even a few times on Server Fault.
Step 1: The plan
Come up with a plan - how many drops per room? Where will you terminate all the wires back to? Are there clear path's from floor to floor via the walls? ie: is there an empty part of the wall on the first floor but not on the 2nd floor? Do interior walls line up from floor to floor? Running wire through exterior walls will be more difficult as they contain insulation.
Step 2: Find the framing
Get a damn good stud finder and a pencil and start marking studs and measuring from exterior walls to make sure you end up strait as you go from floor to floor. Do this in the basement also - find the floor joist for where your drops come through in the basement and mark them.
Step 3: Execute
Assuming all the paths are clear, start cutting / drilling. Use a 6 foot flexible drill bit. Cut a box on the first floor for your first set of drops. Drill down through that into the basement.
Directly above this box, cut an access hole about 6-8 inches from the ceiling big enough to get the drill bit through it - about 4 or 5 inches square (square will be easier to patch later on)
Goto the 2nd floor - cut your next box for your 2nd set of drops. Its easier to fish wire down then up, so I would start on the 1st floor, put the fish tape into the access hole at the ceiling, find it in the box hole on the 2nd floor, attach your 4 lines to it and pull the fish tape down. On the 1st floor, fish the tape up from the box hole to the access hole, connect the lines to the tape and pull down. And again, goto the basement, find the hole, fish the tape up to the box hole on the first floor, attach the lines and pull down.
Now that your in the basement, run the lines to your network closet - leave enough extra wire per drop to make sure everything reaches - rinse repeat.
When your all done, everything punched down, start patching your drywall holes.
You can do this by yourself but would be a lot easier with 2 people
Lots of time and multiple boxes of cable. 1 box of 1000 feet wont help you, you'll be fishing each line individually and if you precut them, you may waste wire; get some small boxes of 250-500 ft and run all 4 lines at 1 time.
Equipment required:

Drill
Flexible drill bit
Utility knife
Fish tape
Electrical tape (to attach network cable to fish tape)
A TON of patience.

You have to have attic access to do this.  Also the framing on your house would have to be without horizontal crosses in the places where you wanted the cabling.  You will be ripping up flooring and drywall to accomplish this.


Converting 3-gang electrical box to single This 3-gang box in the kitchen houses a GFCI protected outlet, a dishwasher switch, and a garbage disposal switch. I will be wiring the dishwasher and the garbage disposal from under the sink with a box with two switches. The plan is to remove the wall switches and connect the hots at the existing box.
I’d rather not rip out the wall to remove 3-gang and replace it with a single box that would house the outlet and also act like a junction box for the dishwasher and disposal extension. I am looking at the least “intrusive” ideas that will allow me to do that.
One thought was to cover the two spaces with a drywall and install a single plate.
Another was to somehow pry the 3-gang and drop it inside the wall, then try to install an old-work box.
Any other ideas? What would you do?
This part of the wall is already painted but I guess I’d have to do what I have to do. Should I just bite the bullet and cut maybe a 1’x1’ square, put a proper single box and drywall it, or is there a better way?

So I called my sweetie over, who is the resident chef, but knows nothing about electrical, and explained you had extra gang spaces and wanted to eliminate them.  Other than that, I did not "lead the question". The instant response: "This, please!"

See, now that's the difference between an electrician and a chef.
I've learned to be careful and avoid the "target fixation" which motivates many to do wiring that exactly complies with Code minimums... or is designed to min-max for minimum cost.  We don't work for electricity. Electricity works for us.  Usability is the reason we wire, not Code... and as for cost, most electrical stuff is laughably cheap compared to its value.

In your second sentence, it sounds like you wanted to say, "outlets", not "switches".  If so, then that is the correct approach.  These new appliances are 15 amp rated, they should have separate breakers, and can accept with 14-2 wiring.  However, municipal codes often require thicker 12-2 electrical wiring in all kitchens (referring back to older days when kitchen appliances all took 20 amp breakers), so you should check with them to find out what is acceptable.  Of course, never use GFCI outlets behind the counter (only use traditional outlets).  GFCI's are for above the baseboard (above the countertop), and on exposed walls.  When wiring GFCI outlets, only use the top of the outlet (never break the tape and use the bottom of the outlet, or you will trip the breaker).  If you do this, your wiring is a breeze, and everything will work right.


How to make a table fan noisy? This sounds an abnormal question at first, but I really would like to know how to make a normal table fan noisy (which parts to change). The reason why I want the noise is that the noise from the table fan is kind of white (distributed all over the frequency), that it hides the other noise. I have a busy street near my house. Of course, I could use a white noise generator but I also got some disturbing mosquitoes that needs to be blown away.

Thank you

I use my fan for this very reason. 'Fortunately' mine makes enough noise that simply turning it up to high works well enough so I use the fan speed and location within the house to fine tune things to my needs.

White noise from the fan is caused by the sound of air movement, especially turbulent air flow as it moves around items and itself in a pattern much like river rapids. What will tend to cause more of that is inefficiencies in the air flow. The primary items interacting with the air flow is the blades of the fan. Therefore to create more white noise, I suggest roughing up the surface of the blades so that it creates more turbulence.

The front edge of the blades is what hits the air first while the face of the blade is in contact with the air much longer. I would expect that roughing up the front edge would tend to create more loudness while roughing up the blade face would create more white-ish noise.

This could be done permanently by marking up the blades with something like sandpaper, or a grinder, or a razor knife. To do temporary, which also allows for more adjustment and experimentation, you can add tape, or even better, hot glue melt pieces on in a 'bumpy' pattern on the surface of the blades.

Note that this will be adding weight to the blades and we want to add weight to each blade evenly to keep the overall rotating fan in balance. When out of balance it will wobble and and likely make undesirable non-white noise, and tend to wear out the fan much faster due to stress on the bearings.

Interesting!  Some ideas you could try

Put a damp (not dripping wet!) cloth over the top of the fan, this might make it work a little bit harder and therefore generate more noise.  I see this suggestion a lot as a makeshift air conditioner.
Similar to above, I wonder if taping some paper or something else light weight over the fan,or in front of the fan, you might get some noise from the wind turbulence on the paper which will be broadband-ish (if you the paper is held in place quite tight rather than flapping about all over the place.   Thinking about it, a light metal baking tray in front of the fan could be great, or something wrapped in tin foil.
Loosen some of the nuts and bolts around the casing of the fan.  When they're slightly looser they will be more prone to rattling/vibrating.  One bolt rattling is annoying, but all of them rattling might be quite broadband.  Probably don't loosen the screws around the fan mechanism itself...


Can I pull a c-wire from a second nearby thermostat? I have a thermostat that controls the AC/Heat upstairs which is located on my bedroom wall. Right below that I have another Millivolt thermostat for the gas fireplace in my bedroom. If I want to upgrade the fireplace thermostat to a smart wifi that needed a c wire can I pull the 24 volts from the other thermostat? Thanks

No, same as any electrical circuit, you need a two way street on the same circuit and the c wire is only one of those lanes. The R wire is the second lane (most cases). Additionally, you risk frying your furnace's circuit board, and your fireplace blower still needs switching that converts back to millivolt.
Your solution is to pull from a transformer (install a low voltage power supply of some kind) and provide an appropriate switch relay.
See here:

Can I share "C" wire on two thermostats?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.instructables.com/Nest-Thermostat-With-Gas-Fireplace-or-Other-Milliv/%3famp_page=true

This is possible, but it will take some additional components, or a smart thermostat made for the purpose.  The main issue is that a regular smart thermostat is going to use power provided to it on the R wire and the C wire.  You can think of those as positive and negative (but it's not really because its alternating current).  When the thermostat takes an action to turn on heat, what it really does is connect the R wire to the W wire.  That is connecting 24v to the W wire, and that is just incompatible with the millivolt system.

So, yes, you can run an R and C wire from the existing thermostat to power the new one, but then you also need to wire up some additional relays to provide the signaling the millivolt system expects.  The basic idea is that the 24v that the thermostat switches would be used to drive a relay to provide the contact closure the millivolt system expects.  The relays would need to be properly spec'ed for the job.

If you happen to have a smart thermostat made for millivolt that requires 24v only to power itself, that would be very straight forward.  I just don't know if such a thermostat exists.


Installing new dishwasher with existing power cord I just bought a new KitchenAid dishwasher and was wondering if I could use the existing power cord (not hardwire) from my old dishwasher (about 14 years old). It has a ground, white and black wire to match with new dishwasher wires.

Logically, I don't see why not, but after installing the new dishwasher the first time, the pump gave out after a week and a smelled a strong electrical wire. My wife is blaming the cord but I think it's a coincidence is all.

Should I be concerned or is there any way to check definitively? I don't want to have to send another back.

Usually you can use a cord/plug with a dishwasher.

What was the cord that you used from originally?  Some people have used cords that have been cut off of old appliances and electronics, which may not be up to the task.  For example, if you cut the cord of a kettle (resistive wire) or a DVD player (low current) you may end up with problems.

You can buy kits:
https://www.whirlpool.com/-[4317824]-1001038/4317824/

Or you can reuse a beefy 3-prong cord from another appliance.  The only way I can think that the cord might cause the pump to fail is if it was resistance wire, or limiting the current.  A big percentage of appliance failures are in the first 30 days, so the pump failing and the cord are probably unrelated.

Yes you can use the same cord if still in good condition


How to remove carpet tape from flooring? I used Scotch Carpet Tape for Vinyl, Ceramic, and Hardwood. I've since removed the rugs, but the tape is stuck to the floor now.

How can I remove it?

Goof Off or WD-40 works great! Available at any hardware or grocery store.

http://www.goofoffproducts.com/


What are the black spots on my bathroom ceiling? Are they mold? My bathroom above my tub is getting some black spots on it that seems to be growing. I assume it's mold. I am wondering how should I deal with this? What should I expect it to cost?

First find out whether it is mold or not. What you do next depends on this.

Assuming it is mold you need to do two things.

Clean it off - disinfectant/bleach solution should do the job.
Find out why it's forming. This is the important bit as if you just do the first step it will come back.

The usual cause is condensation which in a bathroom means you have insufficient ventilation.

So the ultimate cure is to fit an extractor fan above the bath to remove the steam. You can get ones that wire up to the light circuit and then "run on" after the light is switched off to provide additional ventilation.

Once you've done this redecorate.

There's a paint called killz it works well for molds. U can find it in Home Depot.


What if Grout got Wet? I thoroughly scraped and re-grouted my shower and applied some sealer (standard unsanded grout and Impregnator 511 sealer), but I am worried I didn't mix/stir the sealer enough or at all (my memory/recall is really sketchy nowadays).  I am worried because I think some of the grout might be starting to erode or crumble away under squeegee action (this is about 2 weeks later).  Grout was allowed to cure for ~48 hours before applying sealer, and sealer was allowed to cure for another ~48 hours.

So...in a worst-case scenario where sealer was completely ineffective (i.e. grout is effectively unsealed) and I have been dousing the grout with water for a week or so: 1) is the potential wearing away of the grout likely in this amount of time? and 2) is re-sealing the grout after letting it dry out for several days an option regarding fixing the potential issue, or will re-grouting be required?

"grout... starting to erode or crumble away under squeegee action"

Don't blame the sealer. Your grout was not prepared and/or applied properly. Applying a sealer now may help stabilize the grout but your best option would be to... re-regrout.

Success is highly dependent on you following the directions AND your application process.

There are many variables, including how porous your grout is...you may have used the wrong sealer or not followed the application instructions, including drying time, thickness of application, etc.

I’d re-read the instructions before proceeding:  https://www.1877floorguy.com/511-impregnator-qt.html

You may want to try 511 Porous Plus before re-grouting. That seems quite drastic.


Can I increase the size of my AC compressor with the same refrigerant lines? Friend wants to give me their puron systems 13 sear 2.5 ton AC that they replaced.  It was still working fine but 10 years old they wanted to change it out.  I currently have a York 2 ton unit that was installed in 1992.  It works but I have to add Freon every 6 months or so.  Can you change out the sizes without changing the pipes and duct work, etc

You have a refrigerant leak and should probably replace the refrigerant lines regardless. Depending on the type of refrigerant, leaks contribute to ozone depletion and global warming.

A 2.5 ton unit will require a higher airflow rate (typically 350–450 cfm/ton). Your fan motor may or may not be able to be set to a higher speed by moving the jumpers.

With a higher flow rate, your ductwork will induce a higher pressure drop. This means you may not be able to actually achieve the required airflow rate.

A 2.5 ton unit may be oversized and short-cycle more often. This can lead to worse dehumidification performance (your home cools down but stays humid) because moisture condensed into the condensate tray re-evaporates before building up enough to drain.

I would first look at the unit and look for oil staining around the unit and at the indoor coil  usually when you see evidence of oil that indicates that there is a leak at that location Schrader valves go bad very easily as well I would replace those those are very common location for freon to leak from


Basement moisture on foundation issues After taking all sheet-rock down I noticed that all walls (cement block) siting under ground are moist. Some of them even ate through footers. After farther look at the house I found out that their is no insulation on the outside of the cement blocks that are under ground. On the blueprint of my basement I marked in red most affected areas or rather corners. This is walkout basement. My question is, should I try to divert water from the house by insulation/wrap and drain on an outside or French drainage on the inside? Also the whole house is on the slope and red circles are on the side that is deeper under ground. Thank you for all help.

Moisture is either coming up from below (a rising water table) or its coming from the surrounding ground water in the saturated soil.

If it comes up from a rising water table, it will enter the basement space from below through the crack between the foundation wall and slab.

It appears from your pictures that moisture is at the BOTTOM OF THE WALL. Therefore, the perf pipe needs to be installed at the bottom of the wall.

If it comes from the surrounding ground water, it COULD enter the living space through the wall, especially if the EXTERIOR side of the foundation wall is not sealed properly.
Either way the moisture enters the living space it will need to be collected and disposed. I think the best way to collect it is on the exterior side of the foundation wall in drainrock and a perforated pipe laid 6”-8” below the interior basement slab.

To keep the subsurface water from seeping through the wall, I recommend installing a moisture barrier on the exterior side of the foundation wall and install a 2” thick plastic mesh on the wall to allow water to flow down to the perf pipe. If dirt is allowed to be backfilled against the wall, the dirt could hold the moisture against the wall giving it a chance to seep through the wall.

Once collected it needs to be disposed by extending a solid pipe over an embankment or in a collection well and pumped away.

Remember, water flows in the direction of least resistance.


Do I need to change the circuit breaker for a new stove with a lighter cord? The cord on the 40 amp new stove fits the 50 amp receptacle, but I don't know if the power will be too great for the new stove.

Like stated in the comment, appliances only draw the current they need. So simply put, you're fine. It sounds like new stove uses less power than the old one.

Edit since I feel like I should explain better...
The way it works, is a 50-amp receptacle has the ability to supply 50 amps of current. It is the device that controls how much it uses. Operating normally, your stove won't use more than 40 amps of current. Chances are it will normally use less than that.

If you check the electrical code book you will see that the breaker needs to be sized to protect the appliance it is serving. So a 40 amp plug/appliance needs a 40 amp breaker. Your wiring is big enough, you just need to change your breaker to a 40 amp. As it is if something goes wrong with the appliance or cord and it draws to much power the breaker will not trip before the cord melts and starts on fire.


GFI Tripping at same time every day, I have a GFI Outlet in my kitchen.  It trips faithfully, every morning at 6:05 AM.  I have checked every outlet on the same line and nothing attaches to anything on a timer that may trigger it.  When we set clocks back or ahead, it still trips at 6:05.   Electricians haven’t figured it out.  It is a source of amusement now.  Any ideas what would do this ?

Sounds like a problem with the ground. Does it have power? If so its definitely a problem with the ground. How close is your ground rod to bedrock? Since bedrock is non conductive you could be getting an electron feedback, since the power has nowhere to go it just builds on the rod till it is strong enough to arc. #electronproblems #gotstobetheground  #youhitmewithlightning


Brown, yellow, and orange wires in a wall switch I understand that:

Black wire = hot
White wire = neutral
Green wire = ground

In the wall switch in my condo, there are 2 switches, one with red/brown wire, the other with yellow/yellow/orange wires. Can someone help explain what these colors mean?

First off -- the only guarantees found in North American electrical code are that neutrals are white or grey (but not all whites are neutral) and grounds are green, green/yellow striped, or bare.  Things that are neither ground nor neutral can be any other color -- the reason black, red, and to a lesser extent blue are common is because those colors are what you get with NM cable.

HOWEVER: in a large building like your condo, the wiring will likely be done in conduit instead, which means that you won't find a ground wire (as the conduit subs in for that) and the other wires can be any color whatsoever other than green, white, or grey.

I suspect the yellow wires are hot, by the way, as there are two of them to the same screw on the switch -- that implies that the orange is switched, going off to whatever that switch controls.  It's a lot harder to tell on the other switch, but perhaps the red is hot and the brown is switched? Note that a standard single pole dimmer or switch doesn't care which way it is hooked up -- the two brass terminals or black pigtail wires on the switch or dimmer are interchangeable and equivalent.

By the way, when you do put a dimmer in -- it'd be a travesty if you threw a nice, spec-grade switch with wire-clamp plates out in the garbage and put the cheapest builder-grade trash dimmer in in its place. Get a decent spec-grade dimmer from the likes of Lutron, Leviton, or Cooper; it'll stand a good chance of being move-in-ready for whoever you sell your condo to if/when you move out.  (The switch is good as a spare, too, if say the next person who moves in hates dimmers, or you need it for something else.)

Brown orange yellow signify phase A_B_C from your pole.
This is the typical color code for 3 phase. A qualified electrician with a volt meter can tell you what you need to know. If you dont know the significance of these colors your not qualified to work on electricity.


How do I fix the shelf support holes in my cabinets? In my pantry cabinet, the holes for the plastic brackets has gotten too large and they do not hold. The cabinets are made out of particle board. Does anyone have any suggestions?

The metric (4 or 5mm) holes can be redrilled to hold the 1/4" shelf spoons. If that does not do it, there are metal sockets for the 1/4" spoons that take a slightly larger hole, then they can be driven into place to hold the larger spoon.
If the spoons or clips already have a 1/4" hole, then you may be better off retro fitting a shelf track system. Third pic.

Instead of trying to drive nails in a tight space, use 4ga X3/4" screws instead, the cabinet will thank you for it.

The picture size is grossly out of proportion, buit the first pic is the socket that holds the spoon which is the second pic. The socket looks more like a bucket, that will hold 10 of those spoons..

I think toggle bolts...they are made to grab behind board (wall board etc.) that  has too big holes.


I need to bury an electrical wire I just removed a deck in my backyard.

Under it was some of the electrical wire that runs from my home to my garage (pictures are below).

Can someone recommend the best steps to burying this underground?

What you see in the photos is the only portion that is exposed.

Thank you!

You will need to redo this part of the run

It appears that part of the run does not meet minimum burial specifications (aka the 18" cover depth required for PVC conduit); also, that LB and several of the bends will need to go in order to avoid violating the 360° rule between pull points and keep the LB from becoming inaccessible.

As a result, you will need to redo this section of the run completely.  The first step will be to turn off the breaker in the house and disconnect the wires at the house end, then go to the garage and pull the wires out of the conduit completely from that end.  Then, you will have to excavate along the conduit from where it enters the ground down to where it meets the 18" cover depth (and a couple extra inches), as well as excavate out a 19-20" deep pit around the wide-sweep elbow below the LB, and connect the two excavations with a 19-20" deep trench in an L shape overall (draw straight lines out from where the conduits go, and then trench along those lines, yielding two trenches that  cross at roughly a 90 degree angle).

Once you've done the trenching, you can then install new conduit as straight runs of 1/2" schedule 40 PVC fitted to the existing runs using couplers at the ends and with a wide sweep elbow used at the bend.  Backfilling the trench is straightforward, and then you can pull the wires back through, probably with the aid of a pulling string sucked through the conduit with a shop-vac and a plastic grocery bag tied to the string.  Once the wires are back in  (you should have sufficient length in the existing wires to reconnect them given how much length was taken out by removing the needless depth variations), you can then reconnect them at the house end, turn the breaker on, and call the job done.

ideally that whole wire needs to be replaced with a armored cable, with enough slack to bury it in a ground a couple of feet.


My Canister ceiling light bulbs, LED 65, BR30 burn out too quickly Have kitchen canister fixtures. The bulbs 65 watt BR30 Flood, burn out too quickly - one at a time in about 3 months. Ceiling (attic) heavily insulated

Heavily insulated can lights are a Bad, Bad thing for LED bulbs - LED bulbs are already compromised in their cooling ability by being forced to fit in an envelope that is similar in shape to an incandescent bulb. Stick it in an IC can fixture with no airflow and insulation all around, and it gets hot. Heat kills LEDs and heat also kills LED power supplies (what turns 120/240 VAC into DC current and voltage proper for the LED module itself.)

Given the price of LED bulbs, you are probably not saving money .vs. using incandescent bulbs that can take the heat, or somewhat more efficient halogen bulbs that LOVE the heat if you are killing a bulb avery 3 months.

A non-bulb-shaped LED retrofit module can have somewhat better cooling designed in. One of those might last longer, though I note that ones I have specify a life of 35,000 hours in IC fixtures and 50,000 in ventilated fixtures, so even there it's definitely hurting the life.

Replacing the entire fixture with a designed-from-the-ground-up LED fixture that has effective cooling built in is the best option for long LED life. If you are not going to do that, I'd suggest looking for Halogen incandescent bulbs and not killing any more LED bulbs in these fixtures.

This maybe something for every one who is having this problems with screw in type of fixtures and this may or may not be your problem. In the socket of a can light (recessed lighting) or lamp, you have two basic parts on the inside. The socket interior, the ring of metal that makes the most connect with the lamp, is the neutral and the little metal tab, at the bottom of the socket, is the hot. The biggest thing here is that people usually tighten the lamp down to hard and the little tab at the bottom gets bent down. With the tab bent down it will not make a good connection but will light the lamp until it is to much for the lamp and it burns out. The way to fix is simple, turn of the breaker, or unplug the fixture and check to make sure it is off. With it off using a small hard flat plastic object lift the tab back out just a little(Do not Force it or it will break). With tab back in position, screw in the lamp with the tips of your fingers and stop from screwing it in to tight. Turn on the break, or plug it back in, and see if that fixed it. Another problem maybe coming from your power company. A lot of home owners in the US thinks that the power is set and it stays that way and that is not true. I have been in house where the power can go from 108v to 135v, so when you turn on the light switch or turn the knob on a lamp, you get a inrush on high voltage and the 120v lamp pops. To fix this go to a lighting supply store and ask for 130v lamps or led that should help a lot also.


Garage door opener remotes suddenly open incorrect door Both my remotes stopped working today. The wired wall button still opens the door. If I click my remote button multiple times, it opens the other garage door.

Both openers are craftsman and the one with the non-working remotes at least 10 years old, the other is over 16 years old.  The remotes have worked fine up until today.

Any clue as to what is going on? I've seen answers about interference and replacing the remotes. But, if the remote does not work, why would it now open the other door?  Thanks in advance for your help.

Has some one changed the codes? Match the remote to the operator setting, or reset both.