Recent content by DavidV_NC

Thanks, everyone. I much appreciate your taking the time to help me out. I'll plan to take off the compression valve and hope I can reuse the nut and sleeve, but otherwise I'll use a sleeve puller to put all new hardware on.

Thanks for all the information and suggestions. I hadn't thought of a strap wrench. I was afraid of mangling the pipe with an ordinary pipe wrench, so I'll give a strap wrench a try, anyway. I'm trying to be aware of potential worst-case scenarios while hoping none occur... At least most of my...

I have a leaking toilet valve which I plan to replace. I just bought my first house so I'm new to plumbing DYI. I have two questions: 1. I'm thinking of using a SharkBite angle stop (http://www.sharkbite.com/product/angle-stops/) Anyone out there have good or bad reviews to share? All the...

So, just to make sure I'm following what you're saying: Take the multimeter and touch one lead to each of the two neutral wires that were sparking? Would I need to disconnect the other wires from the outlet again, or can I do it with the other wires still connected? I'm trying to avoid messing...

But the sparks aren't coming from the ground wire? They were from the neutral wires, both with and without the ground wire connected to the outlet.

DonL, I'm assuming when you say "Your copper water pipes should not be carrying current" you mean something more than just that grounding to copper pipes is unwise. Is there something about what I described that makes you think the pipes would be carrying current?

Thanks everyone. That was a lot to digest... First, Reach4, you're correct. When I said "current" I meant voltage. Still learning the terminology... Thanks for clarifying for me. The neutral wires were the ones sparking, both before and after I disconnected the hot wires and the ground wire...

I just purchased a 1970 house with aluminum wiring. I'm going to replace the old outlets with aluminum-rated ones. I just went to replace the first one and when I had the circuit breaker off and was disconnecting wires, the neutral wires started sending off sparks when they shifted. They...

It's a 200 amp panel. I know it's up to the seller to agree or disagree, but it's up to me to buy or back out. :) I just don't want the seller to refuse to fix the panel based on bad information from this electrician, if that's what it is. Most of what I'm seeing says the panels need to be...

Hello, I'm purchasing a home (hopefully) which currently has a Zinsco panel. My home inspector flagged it and we asked the seller to install a new one. They got a licensed electrician's report saying it is not necessary to replace the panel because it is in good condition. (See image below.)...