Search results

Hi, I am looking at a low voltage wiring problem. I have been asked to install low voltage stair lights on a soon to be poured concrete stairway. There are sides rising up above the stairs, to be made of concrete. The client wants the lights in the side, lighting the steps. Can I...

Was installing a receptacle today in a bathroom, using the power to an abandoned wall heater. Went to panel to look for a breaker marked "wall heater" but found none. Tried to trip breaker by holding hot to metal box (metal conduit) and only got a heavy buzz in the wire as I insisted...

I'm looking at a situation in a food prep area in a sandwich shop. They don't have required exit signs over the doors. In the food prep area the panels are flush with the walls. I need to run MC from the new exit signs (2) to the panel. The walls are covered in FRP (Fiberglass reinforced...

I have wired up a Jacuzzzi that it turns out is set to draw 36amps. I used 8ga NM for part of the run, which for no reason that I can comprehend, is rated at 40 amp. I propose to use a 40amp breaker to protect the circuit. I am not troubled by running the wire steadily at 36amp, I really...

I'm looking at extending some circuits, and intend to satisfy the requirements for AFCI by putting an AFCI receptacle at the end of the old circuit and at the beginning of the new wiring. The circuits are 20 amp. Can I use 15 amp AFCI receptacles in 20 amp circuits the way I would use 15 amp...

Hi. Am I right that the current code forbids the use of NM in residential structures over 2 stories tall? What other restrictions on NM in multi family structures? Thanks.

I'm Helping a guy install a sub panel in his free standing garage. It will be a 30 amp service of 10ga running in 3/4" conduit 2' underground. The panel will be a main breaker arrangement. We need a ground rod, yes? For the ground bond between the main panel and the sub panel may I use 12ga?

I just finished helping a friend energize a second-hand Jacuzzi. A few issues: The Jacuzzi came with two hots and a ground, but no neutral. I have a two pole GFI protecting the Jacuzzi, but I only assume that the GFI will function fully without a neutral on the load side. I should mention...

I am looking at a project where I will be joining 8-3 nm to thwn in conduit. In calculating the size box necessary, how many cubic inches does each piece of 8ga need? And the ground will be 10ga, how many cubic inches for 10ga?

A friend wants to energize his new Jacuzzi, 50 amp 240v. I am thinking of running 8-3 nm under the house then going directly into plastic conduit for the section that needs to go underground. The nm is marked for interior use, am I violating code by running it in conduit underground?

I'm about to put in a replacement panel, and in this jurisdiction, if a permit says the work is worth more than $1000, the owner is forced to put in a full set of smoke detectors and co detectors. The house is heated by a (desperately old) wall/floor furnace in the living room and hall...

So, deep into it again. Yesterday tore out a 100 amp pushmatic (bulldog) panel and roughed in a 200 amp Murray. There is a large separate garage destined to be a man cave, getting a 50 amp sub panel. Dug (well, not me) a 40' trench and dropped in three lengths of conduit. One of them...

Hey guys, I'm tasked with installing a sub panel in an out building. The customer does not need more than 50 amps out there, the largest tool he will be using is a 30 amp 240v welder. Here's the tricky part. I need a master breaker in the panel, of course. It is my understanding...

OK, here is another one. House built in the late '30s. Several additions. Pool in the back yard. Garage with rooms below opening out to pool. The two buildings have four, count them, four panels! Two each! What is the current main panel (and is VERY close to the pole) is a newish...

Got a call to investigate an arc of electricity where grounding conductor to water supply coming into house was interrupted. Apparently there is a ground rod as well. I want to guess that some large item is leaking volts into the ground loop. If I find an electric stove, that is my first...

1) Just had a short debate with my local inspector on a job I am bidding. The house is from 1947 and the wiring is all in steel flex conduit. He told me that flex conduit cannot be used as the ground for more than 6'. I always understood that to apply when the ampacity of the circuits...

Hey, I am looking for a recirculation pump that only works on demand. I want to mount it under the kitchen sink (the furthest distant from the water heater) where I have power. And I want for it to only run if I tell it to. I want for it to push the cooled hot water into the cold...

Hey guys, I'm an electrician with nothing but respect for plumbers. Hard work that requires brains, from what I see. Help me out with my toilet? It has been in place for about 11 years. The main flush comes from a jet at the front, the bottom of the bowl. This shoots straight at...

Arc fault breakers have earned a reputation for being finicky and trip happy, and all the while being difficult to troubleshoot. Possibly that is overblown. Hopefully, now that the technology is about a decade on the market, the manufacturers are coming to terms with the issues, assuming...

I just walked thru a '50s era house, about 1100 sq ft, no ac (but will desperately need it) three wire circuits in conduit, all four of them (circuits), the kitchen outlets and half the house outlets are on one circuit....the panel is a six space zinsco with no main breaker.... The new owner...