John Gaughan

170 reputation

bio	website	johngaughan.net
	location	Cleveland, OH
	age
visits	member for	1 year, 6 months
	seen	yesterday
stats	profile views	4

I am a professional software developer in the Cleveland, Ohio area.

	170 reputation	bio	website	johngaughan.net	visits	member for	1 year, 6 months
6 badges		location	Cleveland, OH		seen	yesterday

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1d	comment	What should I check when troubleshooting a doorbell? Please see my update to the question. There are two black and one green wire coming out of the transformer. One of the black wires should have been neutral: I wired both to hot. I found this out while removing the wire caps to remove the transformer. Wiring one of the blacks to neutral made it work. This was all my fault because over a year ago I replaced the junction box for another reason and did not wire it back the way I found it. I broke the cardinal rule of writing down how everything was wired to begin with before making my changes.
1d	accepted	What should I check when troubleshooting a doorbell?
1d	revised	What should I check when troubleshooting a doorbell? Added solution info.
1d	comment	What should I check when troubleshooting a doorbell? FYI I should have known better but the erratic voltage was due to it being miswired. I will update the question with more information.
2d	revised	What should I check when troubleshooting a doorbell? added 414 characters in body
2d	comment	What should I check when troubleshooting a doorbell? I was having a difficult time getting a read, my multimeter was jumping all over the place when connected. So I figured it was getting something.
2d	asked	What should I check when troubleshooting a doorbell?
2d	comment	How do I wire a bathroom exhaust fan/light to two switches? Aside from mixing wire gauges as bcworkz pointed out, 14/2 is absolutely the wrong gauge to use in a bathroom anyway. Before rewiring my own bathrooms, my wife's hairdryer would easily trip the breaker when there was load from something else on the circuit (both bathrooms were on one circuit, I guess it was ok in 1980 but not 2010). That was with 20 amps, let alone 15.
2d	comment	Why would my TV image turn black when electrical appliances turn on? HDMI is electrical, it does not transfer "light." However, it is a parallel interface that is very sensitive to voltage drops, synchronization issues (there are many little wires in that cable), etc. Motors need to be on their own branch circuits precisely because of issues such as this: the spike of current to start the motor can interfere with other devices or even trip a breaker if the circuit is shared.
Mar 1	comment	Why won't the GFCI-protected devices in my kitchen work even though they seem to have power? Why are those devices on a GFCI-protected circuit? Motors are normally not GFCI protected for two reasons. One, the voltage spike when they start can trip the GFCI. Two, the purpose of GFCI is to protect you from stuff like dropping an appliance in the water. That won't be happening with a garbage disposal or dishwasher.
Apr 18	awarded	Teacher
Apr 18	comment	Do I need to install dry wall in my basement? To your last point about being easier to cover/paint, it is also much, much cheaper. A 5 gallon bucket of concrete paint will cover a small area and cost $100. A 5 gallon bucket of regular latex drywall paint will cost slightly more but cover all the drywall in your basement with two coats and have half the bucket left over.
Apr 18	answered	How do I treat crumbling lath and plaster in my bathroom?
Dec 29	comment	What should I look for when choosing a stud finder? I agree, get an ultrasound stud finder. I picked one up years ago for a few dollars and it has been flawless ever since. I haven't even had to change the battery and it has been at least 8-10 years. I just used it today to mount a TV on the wall, and both studs I drilled into it detected the edges precisely 1.5 inches apart.
Dec 28	comment	Which floor should be done first when updating a multi-family residence? I can't really answer the question directly, but I can give some advice. I would install access panels, like what you see in some houses behind the shower. Normally, that allows access to the bath plumbing in case there is a leak or a valve needs to be replaced. In this case, you could add a panel in the wet-wall that could allow you to replace pipes to the other floors. It might need to be larger than your typical panel, though.
Dec 28	comment	How do I relight the pilot light on my Magic Chef stove? I think Michael's answer is a good one: if this is a spark ignition system, there is no pilot and there is (probably) nothing to worry about. Modern stoves do not use pilot lights because of the risk of fire. Pilots are notorious for going out, and leaking gas into the kitchen. While a small amount, it can be dangerous. Modern stoves use sparks to ignite burners, and a glow plug to ignite the oven. If your stove is old enough to have pilot lights and is having issues lighting, then it might be worth investing in a new stove.
Dec 28	comment	How do I crimp an F-connector onto RG-6 cable? Also, I did pick up a few extra tools such as the "round" cutters, an all-in-one stripper that cuts pre-measured amounts both around the wire and the sheath, and the compression tool itself. I spent a few more dollars on the Klein brand, and my electrician brother approves.
Dec 28	revised	How do I crimp an F-connector onto RG-6 cable? added 319 characters in body
Dec 28	comment	How do I crimp an F-connector onto RG-6 cable? I would also like to point out that I was using dual-shield connectors on quad-shield cable. I thought they would work with both, but I was mistaken. So you were correct that I did have a mismatch between cable and connector.
Dec 28	awarded	Scholar