61
votes
Accepted
What is this cable in my yard, why is it exposed, and what can I do about it?
That is a Homac 600V rated splice so it's probably part of your electric service. I would be calling the power company right now and report a dig in to an exposed service or secondary lateral.
Stay ...
- 76.9k
46
votes
Accepted
How do I feed an ethernet cable through a doorway without damaging the door or wall?
You can buy flat Ethernet cables. I'm betting you could get one under the door and still allow it to be closed.
Another option is a powerline Ethernet adapter. This is a set of modules that plug into ...
- 1,662
42
votes
How can I know if one extension cable and outlet can handle so much electricity use?
The four pumps will require 9.2 amps. Your outdoor outlet has a breaker that's either 15 or a 20 amps so if nothing else is on the circuit, you'll be OK. If you have other stuff plugged into that ...
- 76.9k
42
votes
Accepted
What is the technical term for the rings that protect holes for electrical through woodwork like cabinets?
Grommets
Yeah, one-word answers are not ideal. But a quick search confirms that this is a standard industry term for these objects.
35
votes
Is it okay that my Sony TV power cord replacement has a slot for a third prong that the original doesn't?
The OEM cable does not have a ground or earth connection.
The cable on the right does.
So this will be a safe replacement for the original cable.
The ground connection will not be used and that wire ...
- 26.1k
30
votes
Is twisted and taped splice on cable, objectively any less stable than wire-nuts or terminal blocks?
Splice connectors such as US-style wirenuts and UK style terminal blocks are demonstrably better in nearly every way to the twist-and-tape method you describe.
Wirenuts and terminal blocks are more ...
- 21.1k
24
votes
Accepted
How can I repair/reattach loose cable covers to the wall?
The proper way to fix this is to install it the way it should have been installed in the first place, with a box eliminator, a.k.a. low-voltage bracket:
There are many varieties. I usually use ...
18
votes
Can I run CAT6 FTP cables parallel to electrical cable in the same conduit?
Absolutely not.
Low voltage (LV) and mains cannot share a conduit.
Further, you cannot attach anything else to the outside of the electrical conduit. So forget about ty-wrapping the LV cable to the ...
18
votes
Is it okay that my Sony TV power cord replacement has a slot for a third prong that the original doesn't?
To answer the question of what these cables are called, they are IEC 60320 (commonly called kettle plugs) connectors. If you take a look at the "Appliance_couplers" section of the linked ...
- 1,395
18
votes
How can I know if one extension cable and outlet can handle so much electricity use?
A Professional is Relatively Cheap
You’re going to spend thousands of dollars on electricity over the life of this pond:
(4 pumps)(0.276 kW/pump)(0.1319 USD/kW/hr)(8766 hr/yr)(10 yr) ≈ $13,000
If you ...
- 738
18
votes
Speaker Wires Through Wall
A small hole is totally adequate for this purpose.
If you drill neatly then a grommit is not needed. A ~3mm hole might be sufficient, just measure your wire first. A small beauty plate may help to ...
- 9,749
14
votes
Accepted
Running ethernet under ground to another building
Fiber would be ideal, but...
Bear in mind that terminating fiber is more exacting and more expensive. It requires special equipment and special skills. You can't just cut fiber with a pair of wire ...
- 5,866
14
votes
What is the technical term for the rings that protect holes for electrical through woodwork like cabinets?
The two types of grommets I use (note: none of these names are official, the official name is just "grommet" which is why there are pictures of each):
Black plastic electrical grommet I'll ...
- 4,380
13
votes
Is twisted and taped splice on cable, objectively any less stable than wire-nuts or terminal blocks?
Is a stranded wire connection, properly twisted and taped, objectively any worse/better than wire-nuts?
I have not found any objective studies that compare a properly-made twisted splice of stranded ...
- 24.1k
11
votes
How do I feed an ethernet cable through a doorway without damaging the door or wall?
If the room is adjoining, drilling a hole big enough for an Ethernet cable may not be considered "major damage". If one of my tenants asked me if they could do it I would say yes and consider it ...
- 211
11
votes
Accepted
Is it okay that my Sony TV power cord replacement has a slot for a third prong that the original doesn't?
Is this safe to do?
Yes.
Does the third prong of the new cable interact in any way with the other two?
The third pin is a protective earth connection, some appliances "class 1" require a ...
- 4,984
10
votes
Can I run CAT6 FTP cables parallel to electrical cable in the same conduit?
You can run cables parallel outside conduit. Ideally a few inches apart but in practice right next to each other is usually OK.
But you can't run them together inside conduit. Plus, inside conduit ...
10
votes
Accepted
How tight should a cable clamp be?
You want to tighten the screws so that the cable's outer insulation is just compressed a bit which should leave you with the wire unable to move in or out of the box unless you apply a lot of pressure....
- 23k
10
votes
What is this cable popping out of my lawn?
It appears to be COAX cable and it's almost certainly your (or your neighbors) CATV (i.e. Cable TV) line. These are often placed near trees and they get pushed up as the tree grows. That one is very ...
- 23k
10
votes
How can I know if one extension cable and outlet can handle so much electricity use?
The cable runs from the outlet, would be buried 1" underground,
Circuits that are GFCI protected at the source, as you intend, require at least 12" of cover, not 1". Unless they are ...
10
votes
Speaker Wires Through Wall
Simplest standard approach would be to locate a "low voltage ring" (looks like a junction box, size-wise, but has no box) directly above your speaker locations so it's mostly hidden, and ...
- 191k
9
votes
Is twisted and taped splice on cable, objectively any less stable than wire-nuts or terminal blocks?
There are a few cons to using tape: I think the most imperitive factor is that a good tape-job is difficult or impossible to verify (an inspector couldn't tell if 3 wraps or 4 were used). Also working ...
- 6,212
9
votes
Is my plan for wiring ethernet reasonable?
(Lots of) Home runs are good
You are correct that you want to run a cable to each room from the central switch. In fact, I would run at least 1 more cable than you think you will need to each room, ...
- 8,774
9
votes
Accepted
How can I get bulk riser cable back into the box?
Don't
Just coil it up and tape it to the side of the box. Then put the box away, or sell it, depending if you have any future need for cable. The coiling interior to the box to make them work is more ...
- 191k
8
votes
Accepted
how to properly remove these cable connectors
In some (not all, depends on the crimp style) cases you can use pliers (or locking pliers such as vise-grip) to squeeze an "oval" or "flattened" crimp on the long axis, and that will open the hole ...
- 191k
8
votes
Accepted
What to do on the siding around a cable going into the house
Wow, he didn't really care much about craftsmanship. No drip loop sucks; see if there is any slack where you could pull it down a bit into a gentle loop and use a zip-tie to hold the shape (don't kink ...
- 34.4k
8
votes
Accepted
What are the two-strand wires used for?
It is rough-in for central vacuum. Pipe and two wires for distant turn on vac. Some special outlets, central vacuum should be installed if you gonna use it. And hoses, connected to outlets, have ...
- 386
8
votes
Speaker Wires Through Wall
There are wall plates available with RCA jacks, 1/4" phono jacks, etc. (just listed as examples). As mentioned by @crip659, they do not require junction boxes.
Some have plaster ears, the tabs on ...
- 5,735
7
votes
Accepted
How to repair basic cable/wire issue for household appliances
There's no good way to repair just that wire, and the adjacent wires are also probably close to failure. You'll need to remove a section of cable and rebuild.
Label the cable a ways from this end so ...
- 126k
7
votes
Accepted
I have a CAT5e cable with only 3 pairs (6 wires working) and need to do POE over it
A starting note: If one pair of your cable is damaged, and this happened through some kind of physical abuse to the cable (or if you don't know how it happened), there is a very good chance that other ...
- 189
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