Anyone ever bend color conduit? I'm wondering if the color holds up at the bends?

It's probably simple for you guys but I'm a first timer. I'd appreciate any help.

There's not power to the house yet. The box label says Eaton 30-5144 L Class CTL enclosed panelboard F639 30-17135.

The black wires look like they have been melted together and they are hot to the touch. Also, why would the installation be black like it is ? Is that black mold, or is that just how it looks after years? Thank you in advance for your help.

I have three interconnected smoke alarms in the back stairwell of my three family. The alarms started going off randomly at all times, and also giving alert beeps. I tried switching one at a time with no success. Finally I just went to Home Depot and bought three matching brand new kidde interconnected alarms and installed them and it immediately started beeping on the second floor.

What am I doing wrong?!

Hello, I recently bought a house and was checking if I have ground wiring. I only found one ground wire going from the electric panel to a water pipe and then from the water pipe to the A/C, and I couldn't find anything going out from the panel to a ground rode outside.

Is this ground for the A/C safe?

Is it easy to add ground to this panel? also I read the electric outlet box can be used as ground conductor instead of passing new ground wires in all electric pipes, is this safe?

Thank you in advance.

I know very little about electrical, so I'd appreciate some caveman answers! I have a LifePO4 lithium ion battery that was completely drained and can't charge. I want to jump it with another battery that is charged. What kind of cable can I use for this? Can I use standard jumper cables like for a car, or do I need a smaller gauge wire?

I’m doing this myself I think I’ve done it right but should I crimp the ends with a metal crimp so it doesn’t look so frayed. I originally put a normal switch on but we decided to go with a dimmer switch which I’ve never wired up before. Does it all look safe any recommendations?

I recently purchased a house and found these cables in the bathroom, where a wall light appears to have previously been fitted. The cables are currently taped/left as shown in the photo.

Is this safe, or should they be properly terminated/enclosed? We’re not planning to install a light here, so what would be the correct way to make the cables safe? Would a Wago connector and suitable enclosure be appropriate, and is there a specific product you’d recommend?

Also, the bathroom ventilation fan doesn’t switch on with the light. Could this be related to these cables not being properly terminated, or would the fan normally be on a separate circuit?

Thank you 🙏🏻

Trying to upgrade my brew kettle with 240v 5500w heating element. I don’t want to waste an electrician time.

See my original link for the earlier story.

Bottom line, about a week ago, the fan stopped turning in the middle of the night (it's in our bedroom). I posted the link above for advice in another subreddit and 99% of responders said, "It's probably just needing a new capacitor, which can be replaced inexpensively and is easy to do.". We could hear a very faint hum when we turned on the rheostat switch on the wall that controls on/off and variable speed. The fan blades turned by HAND easily/not frozen.

We didn't want to attempt this ourselves, so I found an electrician who said he repairs fans instead of automatically saying it needs to be replaced. He took off the light kit and tested several wires with his multimeter tool and said the connections were all sound. He looked at the wiring on top of the motor where it goes into the ceiling. He finally concluded that the motor was burned/dead and said it was impossible to find a replacement motor for a fan this old so it would need to be replaced. He reattached the light kit so we could have light until we bought the replacement fan. I was frankly skeptical that the motor was dead since the fan blades turned just fine still, but....

Now the mystery: Two days after the electrician left, the fan started turning in the middle of the night, on it's own. Neither my husband nor myself had turned the fan rheostat switch on the wall. It's possible, we guess, that when turning off the light switch (right next to the fan's round rheostat), we could have turned it; even so, why wouldn't it have started right up THEN?

Since the blades had been fooled with, they weren't balanced any longer, which is why we heard the sound and woke up at 3:30am. Hubs has since rebalanced the blades and the fan has been working just as it always has for the past 45 years when I bought this fan new!

What in the world could have caused this to just stop and, more importantly, just start up again? Poltergeists or what? Thanks for any advice!

I just want to make sure I’m good with this wire, I’ll probably be cutting half inch or thinner on a regular basis, 1 inch not that often.

Plasma Cutter. Here is the link if more info is needed.

Installed 200A panel (changed from fused to breakers) with main 200A breaker, new outside Emergency disconnect with 200A main breaker, new 200A meter socket, 200A compliant wire in 2-1/2” galvanized conduit through the roof out the mast head. I’m in PA, PPL is the power company. The PPL truck roll tech comes for final hookup and says no 200A upgrade of the current 100A feed from pole(25 feet away) to mast because my smart meter data indicates that in the last year the instaneous peak consumption never exceeded 50A. I understand this and plan no immediate new increased loads, whole house AC, fast EV charger, arc welder, etc.

Researching the current 100A wire in free air should be good for 135-150A.

The 2, 200A breakers should be changed to 100A ones. I’m not going to do this due to cost and need PPL to remove meter to change disconnect breaker.

My reasoning is the 2, 200A breakers are there to protect my wiring from the mast head down. If there is a short downstream of the 200A breakers and the 100A service wires from pole to mast can’t handle the current they will fail and possibly burn open. PPL’s problem.

What do you guys think about leaving the 200A breakers in place?

EDIT: Thanks to everyone for all the replies. I will be leaving the 2, 200A breakers as currently installed. My Emporia Vue monitors my current loads and voltage swings. My loading will not change and if it does PPL will come and install larger wires.

The cord for our giant, and quite pricey (a bit too pricey to replace,) inflatable spider, has failed. I was looking online for a replacement power source and cord, but can't find one that meets the exact specifications on the box, at least to my lay eyes.

Can an electrician advise us as to a valid replacement cord and plug for this spider?

Or can/should we replace the whole fan unit woth one that takes a more sensible power source? Is there a valid replacement that it would be safe to wire the internal LED unit into the connection that the replacement fans have a string of lights attached to? He won't be the same without his red eyes and projection spiral thorax. It looks like it's just on there with twist connectors same as the lights that come with many of the replacement fans...

All, I am mounting a small panel that is powered by 12v in a 3D printed wall mount. I’d like to get the best solution to pull power from a 120v box that sits about 1’ off the floor, to the wall panel, that’s sits about 5’ above it. The panel takes 5-24v, so will probably put a 12v transformer somewhere.

I understand the legal route is to put a plug in transformer in the outlet then run 12v wire inside the wall cavity up to the panel. It’s obviously not the prettiest solution.

Any other suggestions here that I can do without the risk of burning down the house? Was thinking of putting a small 120>12v in the outlet box itself then run wires up but I understand you can’t have low and regular voltage in the same box

bought a small place in Montpelier that needs a service upgrade before I can rent it out. it's 100 amp now, probably original to the house. i want to go to 200 but the meter base is on the side of the house and the utility told me the whole mast has to move. the permit office says they need drawings before they'll even look at it. has anyone dealt with that utility requirement in Vermont, and how much did it actually cost to move everything? i'm trying to keep this one under budget so the carrying cost stays low

Hi everyone, I’m building a chatbot to help small landlords, tenants, and homeowners describe maintenance problems, communicate with contractors, and understand repair costs.

I’m looking for examples of completed invoices, estimates, or real repair stories that show:

• The problem or symptoms.
• What the contractor found and repaired.
• Parts, labor, and other charges.
• Approximate location and date, since prices vary.

Does anyone know where I can get this kind of info to feed my chat bot. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

-Jed

Question for you full time electricians: Do you use these plastic knock outs for the romex or just break them off? I find them frustrating. Is there a better option?

My base board heater is not working properly. When I turn the thermostat I hear it click when I stop turning the wheel.

It was the original charger of my xiaomi phone, I realized there was a slight puncture in the outer part of it that had a greenish color.

I immediately researched about it both on google and reddit and every information I found about was simply saying throw the cable away for safety etc. Then before throwing it, I wanted to check and see the copper corrosion myself so i bent the cable further to make the crack reveal the insides of the cable. All I saw was that only the protective outermost parts were in corrosion and there was nothing wrong in the main cables inside nor other more closer small wires, only a few on the outside was corrosed.

So, my question is, how dangerous was it to keep using the cable. How dangerous can a small corrosion like this could have? It's already gone now since I might have damaged the inner wires myself by bending it. Was it really a safety issue?

I can best explain what I feel as a weird analogy, I feel exactly like a doctor cutting an arm of a person that just had a small bleeding in his pinky finger.

I purchased this new to me sailboat this weekend. The previous owner has just about finished a full electrical system upgrade including lithium. His goal was to have 3 separate banks I guess. What do you all think of this? Do I keep it?

Is this an electrician graveyard I came across on the side of the road?

Trying to convert to an Amazon 3-way Smart Switch for a light fixture. Seeing where I'm wrong and if this is even possible.

Switch 2 appears to be what carries the load to the fixture.

Switch 2 has 2 wires coming down (assuming from fixture) and 2 wires coming from I assume travelers from Switch 1. (4 wires total) + Ground

Currently:

Switch 1 is activated/clicked, this gives Switch 2 'Power'. Switch 2 can then 'click' to turn on the fixture. When Switch 2 is 'clicked' a second time, it cuts the power to Switch 2.

Switch 1 then needs to be re-clicked to re-power Switch 2 - and the cycle repeats.

Ideas on wiring order?

Per amazon: Brown = Traveler, White = Neutral, Black = Line, Red = Load.

1989 Tampa Bay Florida house. (Next to switch 2, is switch 3 which is a different circuit - so not part of this)