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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What will cause my main breaker to trip?
It’s totally random, sometimes the dryer running will throw the breaker. Sometimes it will be a hot shower, sometimes it’s washing our hands in the sink. It’s unpredictable what will throw the breaker....
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Replacement fan+light switch wiring
I am in the process of updating/modernizing the switches in our home (DIY - I am not an electrician) and I have replaced an old fan/light switch with a knob for the various fan speed with a Lutron ...
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My electrician left a spliced cable outside a junction box. How big a deal is this?
I'm having some electrical work done to run existing lines through the joists so we can hang drywall on the ceiling. Some of the existing cable runs were too short so the electrician added a larger ...
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Why would a smart switch not turn on if seemingly wired correctly?
We have floodlights that I would like to put on a timer using a Geeni Tap smart switch. I killed the power, uninstalled the old switch. Gang box has 2 black wires, a white wire, and a bare copper wire....
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Correct wire and conduit to extend a 30 amp circuit 350 feet?
I'd like to check my plan before contacting an electrician. I plan to install a 30 amp RV connection in a wet environment approximately 350 feet away from a 200 amp distribution panel. Based on ...
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correct wire and conduit to extend a 30 amp circuit 350 feet [duplicate]
I'd like to ask a question here before contacting an electrician. I plan to install a 30 amp RV connection in a wet environment approximately 350 feet away from a 200 amp distribution panel. Based on ...
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Attach 2-2-2-4 SER cable to bottom of ceiling joists
I am running 2-2-2-4 SER aluminum service cable perpendicular to overhead ceiling joists in an unfinished basement. What do I use to attach the cable to the bottom edge of the ceiling joists? I have ...
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LED ceiling light flashes when another light is turned on
I have a circuit with 3 Leviton smart dimmer switches that control 3 different LED ceiling lights, 1 on/off bathroom fan, and 1 on/off LED light. Whenever the 1 on/off LED light is turned on, 1 and ...
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GFCI outlet or centralized differential circuit breakers
Looking at the North American electrical regulations, I come across the concept of GFCI protection in electrical outlets. In contrast, in the IEC regulations, differential protection is comprehensive ...
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Installing 4 baseboard heaters on a 20A double pole circuit
I am looking for some help with configurations on installing 4 baseboard heaters on a 20 amp double pole breaker with 12/2 wires. My current set up is all four baseboard heaters are hooked up to one ...
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Schedule 40 strapping ideas
I have some schedule 40 conduit on the side of my house that was never really installed properly. The 2 inch conduit at least has an expansion joint in place, but does not have any strapping. The 3/4 ...
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Connecting 4/0 feed wires to a 200A Challenger Main Panel: Can I use these lugs?
I have two 200 Amp Challenger Main panels in my garage. I am running 255ft of AL wire (4/0 4/0 4/0 2/0) through an underground conduit to a new 200 Amp Square D Homeline subpanel in an outbuilding.
...
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3way switch where one switch ends up using a white on the common, the other switch the white is connected to another white
The switch where the two whites are connected n tucked away, the black n red from the same cable are connected to the brass, the remaining black is connected to the Blk common screw, the lower switch, ...
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Could service wire going into the meter be copper or aluminum?
Does the service wire going to meter coming from the electric company have to be copper or it could be aluminum?
I'm a homeowner and will like to know because I don't want to be screwed by any ...
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Refrigerator on its own circuit (non-AFCI) is triggering a separate AFCI circuit breaker
I have been dealing with a phantom AFCI breaker trigger for the better part of a year. The circuit controls bathroom fans and lights for part of my home. For the last year, at some random interval, ...
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Can I use a larger bus bar in this panel?
As a followup to this question of mine, I'm now uncertain if I can add another dual-pole breaker to this subpanel at all.
The bus bar on the left side has only one slot left, and the right side is ...
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Existing service panel has grounds on neutral bus and neutrals tied to grounding lug!
Opened this panel which serves a well pump on my property and was surprised to find the grounds bolted to the neutral bus bar, and the neutrals wired together to the grounding lug. I am pretty sure ...
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replacing lamp post; can underground electrical wire be in concrete?
I'm replacing an old lamp post. Am digging out the old one. The wire seems to be at least or around a foot down, instead of a few inches. I'm not sure if the old pole had a hole in the side, about 12-...
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Off Grid Solar System - 250 amps of Inverter capacity - What load center do I use?
I have four Sol-Ark 15k inverters (Although I'd like to size things so that I have room to add more in the future if needed). Each inverter can supply up to 62.5 amps of continuous power. So 62.5 ...
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How to connect 3 wire cooktop to 4 wire power supply
I would like to connect my new 3 wired 208/240V cooktop, to a 4 wire power supply. The voltage of the new cooktop is the same as my previous one, with the only difference I can see being that the new ...
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Go-to method for securing multiple NM-B runs
.Hey, all!
Looking for code compliant ideas for how to secure 3-4 new NM-B runs in the basement. I'm a big fan of bridle rings for low voltage. Are bridle rings kosher for 120 or 240v? Maybe a large ...
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Cook top wiring different than outlet wires
I recently bought a home and noticed the cook top wiring that was installed was never connected, the wiring from the outlet is Black, White and Red. However, the cook top wires are Black, White and ...
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Outlet no ground but upsteam grounded
So I tested an outlet and I get 120v on Hot-Neutral and 0 on either Neutral-Ground or Hot-Ground. I found the previous outlet upstream (verified by disconnecting the hot and checking for power ...
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If I have a CL200 meter and 200 amp main box can I add a 200 amp subpanel?
If I have a CL200 meter can I add a 200 amp sub-panel to my metal garage? If so what gauge wire do I need?
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Can I use the wire shown in the fluorescent light to power LED lights that are 110 V and a vent fan on the same switch [duplicate]
enter image description here
In the ceiling, I have a fluorescent light I want to use the wire coming to the electric to the fluorescent light to power my vent, fan and LED light strips and take the ...
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Installing new window a/c heater unit rated at 16 amp. Can I use 12/3 wiring or 14/3 wiring?
Installing new window a/c heater in new family room rated at 16 amp for the heater, can I use 12/3 wiring?
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Mysa thermostat(s) and 2 baseboard heaters
I'm having some problems hooking up my baseboard heaters (1500w) to Mysa thermostats.
They are both on the same breaker. Currently they are operated by 2 thermostats that are on the same separating ...
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Ground has power
Half of circuit works other half doesn't, until I use ground wire instead of neutral with black wire. Why does white wire read only 53V? All wires are hooked up the way they were previously and there ...
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Kitchen light switch controlling master bedroom power
I had a handyman out here to open up/widen the doorway into the kitchen. As part of that job he had to relocate some switches and plugs over a couple inches. Now my kitchen light switch controls the ...
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Electrical Code Compliance Question
UPDATE:
First. Thank you guys for your responses. My apologies for the picture issue. I couldn't figure out how to put them in the post originally so I created the link. These should be better.
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Adding additional outdoor outlet
USA, Alabama. Looking for some input on adding an outdoor outlet that’s branched off an existing GFCI one. The current setup is pictured below - the extension cord pictured goes to some string lights (...
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How should this UL-listed boiler cutoff switch maintain Class 1 separation?
The Guard Dog RB-122E Low Water Cutoff is UL listed, it requires 120V AC and is capable of switching 24VAC on the control side of a boiler.
It is a self-contained metal enclosure with knockouts for ...
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UK ampacity limits for appliance power cord versus house wiring
In the UK, are there higher current limits for short hard-wired appliance power cords than for in-wall wiring?
I see for example that a 4mm2 wire requires a 32A circuit breaker. Say you have a 38A ...
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For a HVAC condenser rated for minimum of 26Amp and max fuse 40 AMP what should be the disconnect sizing 30 or 60 AMPs?
For a HVAC mini split condenser rated for 240v and minimum of 26Amp and max fuse 40 AMP what should be the disconnect sizing 30 or 60 AMPs,
I am looking to hookup the mrcool 27k condenser which is ...
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Amana refrigerator evaporator fan (that spins OK when hardwired to AC) won't spin inside refrigerator despite 125V input voltage
My 23-year-old Amana BRF20VW refrigerator/freezer stopped chilling food today. I investigated and the evaporator fan (which also circulates cold air to the refrigerator) won't run. Nothing unusual ...
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How can I simultaneously disable an inverter (that draws big currents) when switching off another circuit?
I have the setup below in my cabin. Currently I have to manually turn off the inverter for the 220V as well as the main switch when leaving the cabin. I would like the main switch to control both, by ...
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Wiring 3x PIR Motion Sensors to 1x LED RGB strip which a remote override?
Before I go down the route of using a aurdino and coding I was wondering if I could hardwire instead.
Primary goal: Install 3x PIR motion sensors around my bed frame and link up to 1x LED strip so ...
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Electrical code for adding an outlet that is "full"
I've added an outlet in the past to another circuit when the outlet had a space to "jump" wires off to another outlet. But the outlet that I'd like to use as a source to add another outlet ...
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Should I install an IKEA induction hob on single or three-phase power?
I'm planing to buy an IKEA kitchen. We want to switch to electricity so we want to buy the FÖRDELAKTIG for a 60fm cabinet.
The diagram shows how to install with single-, two- or three-phase power but ...
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How can I hide this low voltage wire for my Nest thermostat?
Our HVAC is too old for a C-wire or C-wire adapter. I installed this to keep power to the thermostat. Would it be up to code if I put a recessed wall outlet in and then ran the wire behind the wall ...
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Do all circuit breakers move to the offset position when they shut off the circuit?
I was running the vacuum cleaner in my bed room this morning and suddenly the outlet went dead. I went to the power box and saw that all the circuit breakers were on. I then turned off the circuit ...
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Motion sensor switch replacing regular switch for laundry room light - what went wrong?
I have a laundry room with a single ceiling light fixture operated by a single pole wall switch. I removed the switched and saw a single black wire that was spliced and I saw an orange wire tied to ...
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Can a 25 amp breaker be used on #12 wire to feed a fridge receptacle?
I'm hanging new cabinets in a kitchen and was told by the owner that the refrigerator keeps "popping" the breaker. It is not on a dedicated circuit. It shares the outlet with living room ...
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13A UK plug - wiring safety
I have an older tumble drier with a BS1363 13A plug on it. The wires are starting to come out and be exposed.
Is this really unsafe? Should I attempt to fix this one or buy a new one? I tried undoing ...
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Electrical Upgraded Wiring to Detached Garage? Future Proofing
I'm having a new power line run out to a detached garage that is about 50 feet from the main house and another 25 feet to the box inside to the main panel, so a total run of about 75 feet. Currently I ...
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Primo Water Dispenser Suddenly Tripping Circuit Breaker
I have a top loading Primo water dispenser. Model # 601130, found here on Home Depot's website, as I couldn't find this particular model on an official Primo site.
Listed on back of dispenser:
Model: ...
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Ceiling Fan 3 Way Wiring and Removal of Old Light Switch
I have a ceiling fan that has a separately wired 3 way light kit. My new ceiling fan powers the light kit, so I don't need the 3 ways for the light so I want to hook the ceiling fan to the 3 way. Then ...
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14 volts on bare copper ground wire at light switch with breaker off & low volts on hot wire with breaker on
so I have two light switches on each end of our hallway that controls the hall lights (3 way switches). For years it hasn't worked or one of the switches were bad, because you could wiggle it, and the ...
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Fridge on same circuit as space heater?
The owner's manual for our fridge specifies that it should be on a dedicated 15A circuit. I understand that this is considered best practice, although not strictly required by the NEC.
However, our ...
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Proper wiring for two 2-gang boxes on one circuit
I have a system in my bathroom that was causing a flicker in one of my lights, so I investigated and found a wiring setup that I was unfamiliar with, so I thought that it was the cause of the problem. ...
