Questions tagged [electrical]
Distribution and use of electricity throughout the home. Electrical standards vary greatly worldwide, so you need to provide your location in your question or profile to ensure you get answers that are relevant to you. Posting photographs of wiring junctions or drawing a wiring diagram and posting it is also highly recommended.
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How do I get to the wall cavity above a double floor joist from below?
I am running some new romex for a couple of electrical outlets. One of the outlets is on one side of a wall in one bedroom and the other outlet is on the other side of the wall in another bedroom. ...
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Is there enough here to get a ceiling fan?
I want need a ceiling fan in my living room. I looked at a few wiki-how type articles on installing them, and it looks like they need more than 2 wires, but when I opened up the light fixture on my ...
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How to disconnect a weird looking wire
I'm renovating my Kitchen, and my stove is connected in such a way
that I'm not sure how to unplug, I added pictures that might explain it better.
I would like to either disconnect it, or make it ...
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How to make lights turn on one at a time?
So we've all seen this scene dozens of times in movies: a character flips a switch and lights turn on, one at time, down a long tunnel, or throughout a giant garage, or something like that.
I'd like ...
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How should I safely replace Central Vacuum faceplates?
The covers for the faceplates of my central vacuum system have started to break off from age. How do I safely replace these? These are technically wired for electricity right? Is this a job for an ...
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How can I make a fake ground output?
I'm having problems with my electrical oven: I get shocked when I touch it. I think the way to solve this is to connect the ground wire it has (the green wire) to ground?
The problem with that is ...
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How do I run CAT-6 cable in existing drywall? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to run ethernet cable through wall cavity
I've been interested in running a really fast hard-line network for a while, but the main deterrent has been installing the CAT-6 ...
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If DC adapters are so prevalent, why is AC used in construction by default?
I'm not sure if there's a better place to ask this or not.
Why, at least here in America, is the standard electrical system set up for alternating current (AC) rather than direct current (DC)? I'm ...
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How to chain two recessed lights together?
Disclaimer: I am one of the most non-handy people on the planet, so forgive my total "newbie" question.
We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel. I need to install two housings for recessed lights ...
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What is the best short-term solution for fused neutrals?
I have inherited a house that has been in my wife's family since 1860. I do not know when it was electrified, but it seems to have skipped knob and tube. There is a lot of fabric-covered wire, and ...
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How can I locate the doorbell transformer?
my doorbell stopped working and I tested it with a multimeter and found no current to the box. How do I locate the transformer to replace it?
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What do I do with receptacles behind built-ins?
When installing built-in furniture, what should I do about the receptacles on the existing bare wall that will be covered up by the built-in? How would I handle a receptacle covered by a bookcase ...
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Can I (and should I) remove old unused electrical wiring?
I have some old electrical wiring original to my 1946 house. In some cases it goes between my button board rock lath walls and was stapled there. Are there techniques for removing disconnected, unused ...
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U-Socket USB Wallplug
I am curious to know if this new wall USB/Receptical is even legal to install? As I got talking with friends on Facebook, the question came up about low-voltage and high voltage in one box and what ...
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My ceiling fan isn't getting the right voltage
My ceiling fan + light has stopped working. It turns out that the voltage reading at the ceiling is only 30V. I think that means that the motor on my fan isn't the problem, but that there's some ...
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Should water heater thermostats be set to the same temperature?
Should the top and bottom water heater thermostats be set to the same temperature?
I did a quick google search and saw all kinds of differing opinions. for instance, this guy seems like he knows ...
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What's wrong with my wiring?
I purchased a Hampton Bay remote for our bedroom fan this weekend. I have it installed and mostly working correctly, but there is one nuisance that still remains.
We have two switches on the wall, ...
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Do they make a pull-chain type outlet adapter for garage door openers to plug in to?
I have constant power going to both my garage door openers. What I'm trying to do is come up with a way to easily cut power to them without having to get out and climb a small ladder to pull the power ...
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1
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Single outlet resettable breaker?
Basically I have an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) which has a 20amp plug and I know that the load on the UPS will NEVER exceed 15 amp (Bought it mainly because it can attach more battery units to ...
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How important is circuit breaker breaking capacity?
All else being equal circuit breakers can have different "breaking capacity" - it's the maximum current which the breaker can disconnect and it's typically several thousand amperes. The idea is that ...
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What information do I need to select a circuit breaker?
I am having 2 new lines run in my basement to power a workbench's tools and an unrelated computer station.
I have room in my panel for additional breakers, and rather than tie into existing wiring, I ...
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Amp rating of ganged circuit-breakers
Backstory: I'm considering replacing my current tank water heater with a tankless whole-house unit. The units I see generally require a 120-amp breaker circuit.
Currently, my panel has two ganged ...
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Service mast too short
I've read that the service mast on the roof should be 12-18 inches high. The one we have is a lot shorter than that. Does that pose any safety issues? We recently purchased the house, and the previous ...
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Identify type of switch
Can anyone identify the type of switch this is? There are 4 connectors at the bottom and 3 at the top.
I've already purchased a 2 gang 2 way switch which turned out to be the wrong one (it only has 2 ...
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Running electric cables in basement shop
I am setting up a workshop in the unfinished area of my basement. I need to run a couple of electrical outlets and would like to run them along the block walls through grey PVC. Will this be a ...
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What's the correct way to pass wire to exterior electrical box?
I'm doing some remodeling in our basement, and came across the following (see pictures). It looks like the contractor simply wrapped tape around the conduit to secure the box to the wall.
How are ...
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How do I install an electrical outlet on a live circuit?
In my dorm room closet, there is a junction box with a blank plate (no outlet). Inside there are three wirenuts (hot, neutral, ground).
I know it is generally unsafe to do any work on a live circuit,...
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Does the code inspector look at preexisting work, or only at recent work?
I would like to have my service panel upgraded from 50 to 200 amps by licensed electrician, but am worried about preexisting code violations. If I had it upgraded and a building code inspector came ...
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How to install 230V Light with Light-activated-resistor?
I am trying to set up light-activated-resistors that activate a light during dark hours. I have bought a ready Chinese thing that apparently contain a driver to change from AC to proper DC output for ...
user2903
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Parallel Fluorescent Wiring
I've got a few ceiling lighting 'boxes' that have one capacitor, two ballast, two starters, and two fluorescent lamps in each. Everything seems to be nicely wired up internally and I just need to ...
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When wiring two circuits through the same conduit, what wire coloring is required?
Problem
I am wiring a septic control/alarm box to a subpanel. They are on the same post, so the wire run is through a short stretch of 3/4" flex conduit.
There are two circuits required: a 240V for ...
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Is it safe to replace a switch with a dimmer on halogen spots?
I live in Europe (so we're on 220V), and in the house we've got two halogen spots (on a transformer) on a plain switch.
Is it safe to replace the switch with a dimmer (like these)? Do the transformer ...
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Ceiling fan switch replacements
I have 2 ceiling fans that were in my house when I moved in. Both fans have recently had the pull strings torn out of the switch. I took the fans apart, and wrote down the information on the switch, ...
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What should we look for when buying a fixer-upper house?
My fiance and I are considering buying a fixer-upper house rather than an apartment when we get married.
Obviously things like location, neighbors etc. are important, but; what should we be looking ...
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There's a difference between hot/neutral AC lines in a plug, but does it matter?
Saw the good answer to this question:
Is there a difference between the two conductors in 120VAC wiring?
But I'm wondering as a followup, since the two primary prongs in an AC mains plug are ...
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What do you call a DIY AC plug?
This may the dumbest question ever, but I'm trying to replace the AC plug on a small appliance (it's European but voltage-switchable and I'm using it in the US), and I don't know what to call those ...
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What should I do about this fixture brace?
I'm preparing to hang a ceiling fan fixture in a bedroom. I need to remove an old ceiling light's electrical box and brace first, however I don't see how I can remove them. The brace has limbs which ...
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What's the best/easiest way to install and wire a wall light?
I would like to add a wall light to a wall, but I'm not sure the best way to go about doing this.
I'm thinking it will be easiest to wire it up to a ceiling light (directly above proposed placement ...
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Should I run 2 regular circuits or a subpanel to my septic site?
We're installing a septic system on otherwise undeveloped land. Eventually there will be a house near the septic system, but that could easily be years away. The electric service entrance is on a post ...
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How do I test circuit breakers?
Suppose I need new circuit breakers and buy some at a local shop. How do I test them to be sure they haven't been damaged on their way from factory and will do their job when time comes?
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How can I tell if a circuit breaker is worn out?
I was installing a light and tripped the breaker (in retrospect, should have turned the breaker off before starting). When I finished installing it I reset the breaker and tried the light switch. ...
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Insufficient voltage to dryer receptacle; what next?
I just moved into a home and I am hooking up a used dryer (which I'm told works). The dryer spins, but I get no heat.
I bought a multimeter, and it tells me that the receptacle provides insufficient ...
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Can I convert ceiling mounted octagon box to electrical receptacle?
I've installed a number of strip lights in my garage to replace the single incandescent fixture on the ceiling. They all use a 3-prong plug, not hardwired. I want to replace the incandescent fixture ...
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Why are my downlights constantly blowing?
I have a strip of 3 downlights in my living room, and I am constantly changing globes.
Usually two of the globes blow in the first day or two of use, but the third globe will last much longer (at ...
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Fix intermittent connection problem in a monorail low voltage light fixture
I have a WAC low-voltage monorail (probably a SOLORAIL model) that is about 7 years old. The rail is about 12 ft long and has four fixtures attached.
For the past 2 years, one of the fixtures has ...
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Large voltage swing on incoming main hot line- definitely outside?
So for much of last fall, I had an issue of flickering lights in my house (half of the house seemed to flicker in unison). Back in December, I called the electric company, who came out, and claimed ...
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Light fixture inside knee-wall storage
We framed knee walls in our attic and want to use the areas behind them for storage. These areas are triangular in cross-section, about 3' high at the knee wall, and of course the ceiling hits the ...
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How to tidily integrate power into an island
I'm currently running the ducts for wiring into my gutted kitchen and was wondering how best to integrate power into my island.
I've seen pop-up products like this and this that fit nicely into the ...
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Where should I place a stove master switch on an island?
We're having our kitchen redone and I would like to integrate our free-standing stove into the island unit.
Where would be decent place to put the stove master switch within this island as there are ...
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How to power 12V LEDs from a 12V AC power supply
I have a 12V power supply that I am using to power some lights in my garden. I want to also power (in parallel) a set of 12V LED lights which (of course) require a 12V DC supply. Is there a simple ...
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