Trained electrician here starting an electric problem thread
>>936069
What is that contactor for? Also have some questions in a few minutes... Taking pics
Why?
>>936069
How do you waterproof a mains socket that i want to tail out into my garden for a lamp?
Am I supposed to add junction boxes when pigtailing to add new outlets?
Been wall mounting a lot of tvs.
>>936090
Contact was for outside lighting
>>936069
the lights in my basement are wired together, 5 pots. If I have bulbs in all 5 of them bulbs fail fairly quickly, 1 every 2 -3 months. With only 3 bulbs no problems.
Bulbs are 40 watt incandescent. CFL don't last at all.
is is a loose neutral or just funky wiring?
>>936092
Buy a waterproof socket
>>936098
If you have a voltage meter you might want to see if your voltage fluctuates a lot otherwise just get LED replacements
>>936069
Cheapest multimeter thats safe enough to work on mains 120/220.
>>936096
Outside lighting? Shunt trip? Why a contactor?
Anyhow, how well would a 1ph 220 motor run on 110? Im thinking it isn't a multi voltage motor, and its a commercial dishwasher found in many bars. I'm not concerned about heat and will probably disconnect the element. Everything else is 110 through a transformer. Also, if I hook 110 up to the terminal block it will put 110 to the transformer. Will this result in 55v out of the transformer? Sorry, no pics. Too lazy.
>>936103
Unless you want to die or get incorrect readings never buy cheap multimeters even though most of them will go up to 1000 volts. Fluke or Klein makes decently priced and the best meters
>>936106
>cheap
Well, I wouldn't trust a harbor freight meter, but anything from HD/Lowes that isn't store brand works fine. Home depot has some brown brand meters that work great. I have a klein as my main, and 2 of those brown ones as backups.
>>936106
I see.. Idk broski if I want advice from someone who cant read basic english.
Cheapest
Safest
For mains
Yet.. "Dont buy cheap multimeters" very fucking good. You want to remind me not to slam my dick in the door too now?
>>936104
Photo eyes can only support so many watts through it so you hook the switch leg off of the photo eye to the coil on contactor and run as many lights as you want on it
The motor won't run unless you have 220 and depending on the windings in the transformer you could get anything from 16 to 55 volts
>>936112
I use cheap southwire analog meters from Lowes
>>936113
So basically I can use everything in the dishwasher except the heat and pump.
Perfect.
>>936118
Whoops, flipped them around. Posting multiple reply links is painfully difficult in Mimi.
>>936118
What kind of meter is it?
>>936106
cheap multimeters are the best. seriously, that $10 analog shit from menards works great. I use a fluke at work, what a load of crap. laggy as shit and all those features nobody cares about. I'll take some cheap-ass piece of shit that just tells me the damn voltage and I don't care about breaking over that any day.
>>936121
A... Multimeter? It's a southwire brand. It was the 70-80 dollar one. Don't buy the most expensive one.
Every time I plug in my fridge, it blows the fuse, how do I fix this?
>>936130
Replace fuse with a nail, fuses are for losers.
>>936130
stick a penny in it
>>936131
Lol, I'm in a mobile home...
>>936133
>Mobile home
Watch out for a mixture of copper and aluminum wiring.
>>936130
Disconnect things one at a time. Disconnect the compressor first.
>>936130
Check the cord to see if any wire is showing then disconnect things one at a time
TY, I'll have to try after my kids go to bed or else they will crawl all over me while I'm checking things.
>>936069
Sometimes when I turn on lights in my apartment it blows the fuses out. Lights stay on but the main power is out. Also it sparks sometimes in light switch (doesnt correlate with blowouts).
>>936069
>bedroom has ceiling fan light
>2 light switches on each side of the room, to control the light from both sides.
>there is a third light switch to turn the fan on and off
I have a remote control dimmer from my last house, and it was fucking great.
Would I be able to install the dimmer, or is it not going to work?
And I going to get weird glitches from the second switch?
>>936103
Fluke 116
>>936129
For 30$ more you can get the top of the line brand fuck off with your jewness
>>937100
the dimmer will work fine. you'd just need to keep it always on and use the switches to turn it on and off. multi switch setups use a third terminal called the loop terminal and other gayness. a single light switch setup uses NOT logic (on or off) a multi light switch setup uses XOR logic so that flipping any switch, regardless of the state of other switches in the same circuit, toggles the light state or I guess you could fiddle with terminals to make it work. sorry just woke up can't be too helpful
>>937146
I have a klein you dimwitted fuck. If you actually read the thread you'd know that.
Hi im trying to hook a wire to plug in the wall to a switch that would to turn an exhaust batroom fan but i need it mobile what am i doing wrong? I hit the damn thing with a resister but ever time i hook it up. Gotta go hit the circuit breaker what do?
>>938439
learn english you stupid nigger
Learning marine electrician here, little experience with A.C. systems.
My boss asked me to look at his R.V. as the microwave outlet stopped working.
No power to the wires after removing outlet, only other thing on the circuit is an "aqua hot", some kind of oil/water heater, it works fine.
So, I would think the problem would be where the wiring goes into the aqua hot.
Then I pulled the breaker box and relay panel.
Two white neutrals are now brown from heat, ground covered in so much carbon they are black, melted zipties.
All solid core wire too (I thought only houses were supposed to use solid core, vehicles/aircraft/boats stranded to deal with vibration?).
Also, even though the air conditioner itself is turned off, when the breaker for it is turned on ALL the lights in the RV dim (A.C. and D.C. lights).
I asked him about it and he said one night several months ago his wife said she smelled something melting and the air conditioner somehow turned on right after that.
Wtf is going on here? I got sketched out and told him to find someone with more experience than me. All outlets tested good in terms of being grounded and correct polarity. No hotskin condition.
![1957%20Chrysler-%20Plymouth-05[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/U0jLvta.jpg "1957%20Chrysler-%20Plymouth-05[1].jpg")
>>936069
I looking at buying a house built in 1957. Pic semi-related. The main breaker was replaced at some point and is grounded but the seller does not know when the work was done. The house is mostly filled with 3 prong outlets and has had some lighting upgrades. There are still a few old 2 prongs here and there though. What are the odds that those outlets were grounded properly? If the house is still running 2 wire its a no-go from the get-go and I don't want to waste my money on an inspection. The home is in California, if that helps.
I recently tried to install a combination AFCI/GFCI breaker and after installing according to directions, the breaker will not turn on, but trips instantly when switched to the on position.
The standard breaker works fine.
What gives?
>>938712
Not OP or a professional but this is a cheap and useful way to test outlets:
http://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-RT100-Receptacle-Tester/dp/B005GYBFA4
There are some conditions it will not detect but it's still a useful tool.
There are a few possibilities:
They did it correctly, adding the ground to the new outlets and switches, etc. and tied it to neutral at the breaker box and a proper earth grounding rod-
They could have added the ground wire to the new outlets/swiches/etc. and tied it into neutral, but never put in an earth rod-
They could have also added in three prong outlets but no ground at all since as far as I know you can't buy 2-prong outlets anymore. I see this sometimes.
Personally, I would ask to take a look behind the cover of the breaker box. If you see aluminum wiring, you will want to get that replaced or spliced properly.
Mixing aluminum and copper wiring is a large contributor to house fires.
There are ways to properly join the two but I've never seen it done properly which can result in loose connections, arcing and high enough resistance to melt the wire nut or cause fires.
I actually went through this problem a week ago, lights would turn off randomly.
Aluminum and copper wasn't joined properly and worked loose. Turns out every time we slammed the door, we had the wires barely touching and arcing inside the wall. Wirenut was fucking melted.
(Professionals: If I am wrong on any of this, please correct me)
>>936092
They also sell waterproof housing to go over weather resistant sockets.
>>936095
You can but you don't need to. If you want to sell your house later you'll either need to make it a real box up to code or pull the wiring out and just patch the hole.
>>936127
>what the fuck did I just read
The $60 Klien DMM at Home Depot is ok, but I've had those fail calibrations at work after two or three years (whereas my 87's last until my guys fry them with 13kV)
>>937095
The problem is you're drawing too much current. Try not having all your lights on at the same time or turning your AC down if you need the lights on. You can also try switching to CFL's (or even LED's but they cost more). if all else fails call a professional electrician to upsize your main/panel
>>938701
Sounds like a short between the breaker and the AC unit. Just a guess. Pull a new run of wire through for that circuit.
>>938736
What load are you protecting with it and how did you determine the size?
>Mfw I'm not an electrician
>What load are you protecting with it and how did you determine the size?
>>Mfw I'm not an electrician
It's a 20 amp, protecting some overhead lights, outlets, and a bathroom. Nothing that would draw too much current. I got it because it would have been easier to install a breaker as opposed to a gfi outlet because reasons.
>>939006
Only things that come to mind are digital timers or dimmers that would cause L/N imbalance, bad or old CFL bulbs (notorious for wreaking havoc on AFCI's), or a lemon breaker. I mostly do industrial stuff, so sorry for the vague suggestions.
>>936069
So I found a fancy looking toaster on the sidewalk and decided to take it home. It only has a two prong plug which I assume meant it was non grounded. It was also missing a knob which I took as the reason for it being on the sidewalk.
Turns out its a REALLY fancy toaster (like 400 dollars fancy), and it was on the sidewalk because it was recalled for fucking shocking you if you're barefoot on a hard floor.
It's confirmed that it shocks the fuck out of you in the mornings.
Is the fix as simple as getting a 3 prong appliance cord from home depot and grounding the cable to the metal chassis inside?
>>939267
Either that or you could varnish it
No but really there is something wrong if you get proper shocks, if its real shocks and you ground it you will just blow a fuse.
If its just tingles from coupled charge buildup and you are being a big poof about it then yes ground it will work great
>>936069
Why? Just post in /ohm/
>>939096
It said something in the manual about shared neutrals, so I'm thinking it may have to do with that. I just wasn't sure if there was something obvious I was missing. Thanks for the suggestions.
How long did you train to become an electrician?
I'm currently in classes to start my apprenticeship and I'm pretty excited but I don't know shit about electrical work desu.
>>939308
It varies by area. It takes 9000 on the job hours, with three school terms(totaling 28 weeks) here(Ontario, Canada). Whole process was just a couple months shy of five years.
>>939308
Not OP, and not an electrician, but if you get tired of the union life (assuming you're in Murica) there's a lot of things electrician experience can slide you in to as well. Most of the guys I work with as an instrumentation and controls specialist are ex-electricians or ex-linemen - and they make WAY more money now. Less heavy lifting and more math. Tons of opportunities; you picked a great trade to get into.
>>939364
thanks for the heads up, i'm hoping it'll go pretty well.
>>938736
Usually happens when the neutral or ground are touching somewhere in the branch circuit... Not op, but here to help.
>>939381
>neutral or ground are touching
This. Or some lazy bastard wired a small load from hot to ground because no neutral. Some electronic switches (dimmers, touch sitches, etc.) need hot and neutral. But old switch wiring is single run of 2 conductor plus ground coming from fixture. So the trick was to put fancy switch in and attach it's neutral to the circuit ground. It works, but freaks out GFCI protection.
>>936069
The house I live in is around 10 years old.
I feel like we go through more light bulbs than is normal. Any suggestions? There aren't any other issues I have noticed and this may not actually be an issue.
>>939681
CFLs last longer, and LEDs longer even than that. If you suspect there might be an actual issue, pick up a digital multimeter ($50-80range) or analog voltmeter ($20-ish) and make sure that your outlets are at a steady 120V (or whatever mains voltage is in your country).
>>938439
Terminate plug properly. Don't be crossing polarity on the switch
>>939694
Yeah, I have been replacing everything with LEDs as they go out. There are a few "fancy" bulbs like the bathroom vanity that don't work as well with LEDs but they are definitely better. I will have to check the outlets. I have a nice digital Fluke meter at work I can use.
