New answers tagged

1 vote

How can I safely work in my attic without a floor in place?

My approach with three feet of loose blown-in insulation (which resembles your photos); bring up a piece or two of plywood as a work platform, and a small shovel to move the insulation around. (A ...
keshlam's user avatar
  • 27.5k
2 votes
Accepted

How to deal with the mold in kitchen

That stuff is not likely to harm you unless you decide to lick it. That said what you show need a good cleaning. Use a bleach based product and a scrubbing pad. Rinse well. To keep the areas from ...
RMDman's user avatar
  • 24.9k
0 votes

What is a safe procedure for removing natural gas pipe after full service disconnect (meter removed, house intake capped)?

When we replaced the gas furnace/appliances that came with our new home we had the contractor remove every single gas pipe from the house at the same time, but also were told if we didn't that a ...
Aimee Lynn's user avatar
2 votes

Replacing old dimmer with a new one

The green wire is earth ground and should be connected to the metal box. The other two do not matter it should work either way. If not just swap them.If your metal box is not grounded you can check ...
Gil's user avatar
  • 6,909
7 votes

Melted electrical outlet

It is safe, as long as there is a cover (or the old outlet) covering the wires (even though they are taped up). I personally hate tape and would use a connector block to isolate the different wires. ...
Rohit Gupta's user avatar
  • 5,080
5 votes

Melted electrical outlet

It's safe - as long as you only have adults in your household, that can be told not to touch the wires. If you have a youngster, it's dangerous as it allows tool-free access to live wires... A better ...
vidarlo's user avatar
  • 1,800
5 votes

Do I need to install a junction box before installing a LED strip light fixture?

This would depend on the fixture and wiring in the ceiling, not the ballast or driver issues. In your old fixture, if you have NM cable and it has the proper connection to attach the cable to the ...
JACK's user avatar
  • 78.8k
5 votes

Do I need to install a junction box before installing a LED strip light fixture?

The fixture (interior part with the ballast and wiring) is a junction box. If you were planning to replace the florescent bulbs with LED florescent bulb replacements, there was no need to remove the ...
Ecnerwal's user avatar
  • 201k
4 votes

Is this two-110-to-one-220 adaptor as fire-hazard as it looks?

North American domestic power supplies are typically derived from a centre-tapped transformer with the centre tap acting as neutral (required to be grounded (earthed) in the home distribution panel (...
anita2R's user avatar
  • 41
1 vote

Is this two-110-to-one-220 adaptor as fire-hazard as it looks?

All other answers already conclude to never use such a gizmo, so I won't go into why one should not use it. However, I would like to bring up some thoughts on this strange contraption. For me, this is ...
Dohn Joe's user avatar
  • 111
7 votes

Is this two-110-to-one-220 adaptor as fire-hazard as it looks?

Possible short between receptacles. The cord assumes Neutral will always be on the right prong (marked orange). But if one of the receptacles is wired wrong way, you will create an dead short. ...
Thomas's user avatar
  • 151
2 votes

Is this two-110-to-one-220 adaptor as fire-hazard as it looks?

I am not in the US but I did electrical engineering at uni. I would not use this. First, multiple circuits in your house are likely to be the same phase, so the voltage between them will be zero. ...
teambob's user avatar
  • 161
43 votes

Is this two-110-to-one-220 adaptor as fire-hazard as it looks?

There is one more hazard to this kludge that hasn’t been mentioned yet. That is the risk of electrocution! If you plug in one of the 120 volt plugs and have a 240 volt load connected to the other end, ...
DoxyLover's user avatar
  • 12.6k
20 votes

Is this two-110-to-one-220 adaptor as fire-hazard as it looks?

DANGER! DO NOT USE THIS! There are a few different problems: Legs (a.k.a., Phases) If you connect this to two hots that are on the same leg then the hot-hot on the 14-50 connector will be 0V and ...
manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact's user avatar
16 votes

Is this two-110-to-one-220 adaptor as fire-hazard as it looks?

Leave that hunk of Chinese unlisted junk in China. Do not be the fool that orders and becomes the importer of it. It's connecting 15A plugs to a 30A or 50A outlet. So you'll trip the breakers a great ...
Ecnerwal's user avatar
  • 201k
1 vote

How can I stabilize the footing of a ladder?

Some more ideas, assuming the goal is to avoid ladder kickout... I had an idea sparked by a page to put a 2x4 near the legs and pound it in with two huge stakes into it. Maybe add some sandbags? Put ...
rogerdpack's user avatar
1 vote

Is it normal for a freestanding pergola to wobble a little bit?

A trellis or handrail can double as bracing. There's a natural high step at the corner posts by the stairs where you could add a stiffening trellis or handrail.
popham's user avatar
  • 5,144

Top 50 recent answers are included