Skip to main content

New answers tagged

0 votes

How should my ceiling fan's switch circuit be connected in this outlet box?

If you connected the panel and fan white and blacks together and the fan works and the switch does nothing then the switch isn’t in the circuit or the switch is shorted internally. From the outlet box ...
Joe V's user avatar
  • 19
0 votes

How should my ceiling fan's switch circuit be connected in this outlet box?

You are missing another black wire. The whites all tie together. The ceiling fan black great to the switch and another black should go from the other side of the switch and tie together with main ...
Joe V's user avatar
  • 19
9 votes
Accepted

Breaker trips when plugging into wall outlet(receptacle) directly, but not when using extension

Do the PC plugs feel looser in the wall outlet than in the six socket extension? I would turn off the breaker and double check there is no power. Remove the face plate and see if the outlet is loose ...
crip659's user avatar
  • 28.3k
0 votes

Breaker trips when plugging into wall outlet(receptacle) directly, but not when using extension

Two things are probably at play here. With everything else plugged in, the inrush/ start-up current is enough to trip your breaker. That is, your load is borderline. And you should distribute the ...
Rohit Gupta's user avatar
  • 7,052
-1 votes

Breaker trips when plugging into wall outlet(receptacle) directly, but not when using extension

The extension is acting like a buffer, or providing a more resistant current flow, or a different current pathway that somehow avoids tripping the breaker. This is actually similar to my situation ...
MethodicalMind's user avatar
3 votes

Why do we ground receptacles to their metal boxes?

Code requires that the metal box itself remain grounded, even if the receptacle or other device is removed. NEC 250.148. Given that all switches (and better receptacles) are "self-grounding&...
Harper - Reinstate Monica's user avatar
5 votes
Accepted

Kitchen half-wall/pony-wall receptacle height

There's a maximum height above the countertop specified in code, but no minimum. Therefore, here are the relevant considerations as I see them: I'd want them up as much as possible to avoid splash ...
isherwood's user avatar
  • 144k
1 vote

Will running bare wire to this part of the box properly ground my receptacle?

If the ground (bare) wire is long enough, you make a loop around the grounding screw in the box, then continue to the outlet. In your case, the bare wire is short. Make a couple pigtails (short pieces ...
Cheery's user avatar
  • 8,646
5 votes
Accepted

Why do we ground receptacles to their metal boxes?

If the hot wire accidentally comes in contact with the metal box, having a grounded metal box will close the circuit and trip the breaker, telling you that something is wrong and to check the wires. ...
Cheery's user avatar
  • 8,646
20 votes

How can I get around 16 electrical receptacles in a small area with the least amount of wiring?

The standard method for providing power to equipment racks is a vertical multiple outlet strip mounted to the rack rails inside the cabinet on one side (with signal wires on the opposite side to avoid ...
MadMonty's user avatar
  • 1,874
6 votes

How can I connect 120V outlets to a #10 cable on a 30A breaker?

You could change the breaker to a 20 amp. Then splice to #12 cable in a junction box in the garage and run #12 cable to wherever you want outlets.
RMDman's user avatar
  • 38.2k
5 votes

How can I connect 120V outlets to a #10 cable on a 30A breaker?

Most subpanels expect two hots, which you don't have. You can use a regular subpanel but can only use half of the breaker spaces (most simple setup). From the top it will be the first space, skip the ...
crip659's user avatar
  • 28.3k
3 votes

How can I connect 120V outlets to a #10 cable on a 30A breaker?

Yes, if you want a 20 or 15 amp outlet from a 30 amp supply, you need a subpanel between them with a 15 or 20 amp breaker.
keshlam's user avatar
  • 32.1k
7 votes

Is this screw inside a 2-prong receptacle a possible ground?

The metal circles are knockouts, for wire entry at the other end of the box, just like the knockouts where the two existing wires enter the box. It's difficult to see the screw you're pointing at, but ...
Steve Summit's user avatar
11 votes

Is this screw inside a 2-prong receptacle a possible ground?

Almost assuredly not. To my untrained eye, that looks like knob-and-tube individual wires coming into that box. In addition to the very low chance of those actually being grounded, there's not a ...
Milwrdfan's user avatar
  • 5,254
1 vote

Adding an outlet from an existing switch outlet

Mark the black wire going to the receptacle with red tape to indicate "switched-hot". That's for convenience/easy understanding, and is not a code requirement. Mark the white wire in the ...
Harper - Reinstate Monica's user avatar
8 votes
Accepted

Should I GFCI-protect a bathroom light and fan?

Don't put the light on the GFCI Putting a bathroom light on a GFCI is unwise, because you don't want the bathroom light to go out when the GFCI trips because your significant other dropped their ...
ThreePhaseEel's user avatar
0 votes

Adding an outlet from an existing switch outlet

One of the 2 black wires tied together with a white wire (In the red wire nut) is constant hot. It is there that you can tie in a hot to another outlet that will be constant hot. ( The white goes to ...
RMDman's user avatar
  • 38.2k
3 votes

Adding an outlet from an existing switch outlet

All the neutral wires connect together. That's all of the white wires except for the white wire that is combined with two blacks in the red wire nut that is hanging out of the box. Switched hot is the ...
manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact's user avatar
3 votes

Installing GFCI with two white & 1 black wires

With the power off, remove the wire nut on the 3 white wires. Discard the "pigtail" that goes to the GFCI. You now need to determine which cable is the "Line", ( power coming to ...
RMDman's user avatar
  • 38.2k
0 votes

How to fix this outlet stub up through concrete?

2" should not be a problem. Making new holes in boxes is specifically allowed by code. I would expect an electrician to be aware of that, and to have the necessary tools. Cutting holes in ...
Jasen's user avatar
  • 23.2k
1 vote

How to fix this outlet stub up through concrete?

They will have to knock a hole in the concrete big enough for the electrician to insert his box and then mud around it. Tell the electrician to get a PVC adapter if he needs a smaller pipe. He should ...
RatTent's user avatar
  • 114
3 votes

Australian 240V cord came to the U.S

If you hook that up to a typical US home 15A 120V outlet, then no matter what you do it's going to get less than half the power it was designed for, which will make boiling water slow if it happens at ...
keshlam's user avatar
  • 32.1k

Top 50 recent answers are included