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I just bought a foreclosed house that was remodeled in 2003 by a bunch of amateurs. In a previous inspection of the house, the inspector noted that the grounding was not completed correctly. This is what the grounding wire for the house looks like (it's that wire attached to the pipe):  The first inspector stated that the grounding wire is supposed to be grounded above the handle for the main water shut off so it should be higher on the pipe. He said that if this was not fixed, that any plumber coming to work on the house might have to detach the wire. My inspector noted the location of the main water shutoff but did not mention any issues with the grounding wire. Is this a problem?
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Apr 1, 2010 16:34
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GreenTrench posted:Unfortunately I just switched to a company that does large scale systems. I get truckloads of panels straight from distributors. I haven't looked at racking yet, but I was thinking of using flatjacks as roof mounts since they are self flashing. Got any recommendations?
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Apr 1, 2010 16:37
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According to their manual, it's rated for 160lbs. So in an aread with no snow and 90mph winds (average wind), it can do 32" OC spacing. That's pretty weak. It's also a shared rail system, so you have to lay it out perfectly, which isn't something I'd recommend for an inexperienced individual. I almost exclusively use Unirac. Their L-feet aren't ever breaking, and usually you can do 4' spacing on them. It doesn't have flashing, but using butyl tape on the underside, and around the head of the lag screw, and putting some sikaflex in the hole, you won't have any leakage. The company I use to work for has over 10,000 of these pentrations, and there were only had something like 10 calls for leaks.
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Apr 1, 2010 22:37
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tadashi posted:I just bought a foreclosed house that was remodeled in 2003 by a bunch of amateurs. That's the GEC. If that wire is removed, it can present a serious issue to your house. The odds of a plumber coming in and removing that section of the pipe is pretty small, but it shouldn't be too hard to fix. BTW, if it's the township electrical inspector, you must fix it since he's the one who pointed it out. I'm having a hard time making out the pic, but if it's a ground clamp, is there any reason why you can't move it? Or better yet, drive a new ground rod in and attach the GEC to that.
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Apr 1, 2010 22:53
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GreenTrench posted:That's the GEC. If that wire is removed, it can present a serious issue to your house. The odds of a plumber coming in and removing that section of the pipe is pretty small, but it shouldn't be too hard to fix. BTW, if it's the township electrical inspector, you must fix it since he's the one who pointed it out. Even if you drive a ground rod, there's a requirement to bond all grounding electrodes in a system together. The cold water ground has to be within 5' of the first penetration out of the ground. What I'd do is get another cold-water clamp and put it up above the shutoff and run the same wire continuously through both clamps. That way you're totally set.
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Apr 1, 2010 23:46
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GreenTrench posted:That's the GEC. If that wire is removed, it can present a serious issue to your house. The odds of a plumber coming in and removing that section of the pipe is pretty small, but it shouldn't be too hard to fix. BTW, if it's the township electrical inspector, you must fix it since he's the one who pointed it out. Yes, that is the clamp. I just don't know a lot about anything other than low voltage electrical stuff other than the fact that some if it can kill me. Basically, that's in the code because everything coming in after the shutoff (into the house)is mine, but everything coming before the shutoff (from the street) is the city's? So it's not really a safety issue unless someone decides to move that section of pipe which carries everything to the ground? Also, I live in Georgia, so virtually everything is privatized and done through independent contractors, especially in the case of real estate. tadashi fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Apr 2, 2010 |
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Apr 2, 2010 01:58
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GreenTrench posted:According to their manual, it's rated for 160lbs. So in an aread with no snow and 90mph winds (average wind), it can do 32" OC spacing. That's pretty weak. It's also a shared rail system, so you have to lay it out perfectly, which isn't something I'd recommend for an inexperienced individual. I like the way that system looks, but when I used their guide and clicked on engineering report I got this: The data you have entered for Wind and Snow loads is outside the acceptable range for this specification guide. The Wind Load must be equal to or below 120 mph. The Snow Load must be equal to or below 40 psf. You can use the Modify fields above if you feel the automatic lookup for these values is in error. It put in 60 psf for snow automatically. Does this mean I can't use their system in my area (NH)?
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Apr 2, 2010 18:01
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I hadn't considered a racking system. I was just going to fab up some stuff with 1 5/8" unistrut and a bunch of stainless 3/8" hardware. All the strength info I need is easily available for that stuff, plus, it's super-available locally through all manners of supply houses, warehouses, etc.
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Apr 2, 2010 19:53
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What is the proper way to make one of these up to full NEC-compliant code? http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/MIDLITE-PRODUCTS-A46-W-/28-11088 Basically my projector will be on a ceiling and I would like it to have the projection of a nice surge projector and UPS. Can I have something that goes like normal outlet > 12-2 wire > male AC outlet... and then make a nice 10-12 gauge custom extension cable with male/female ends on each side to power the said outlet assembly? Basically I dont want to spend 50 bucks for something that amounts of 10 bucks or parts at Home Depot... but I also want to do it to full NEC-code compliance. The special outlet near the UPS would be this thing: http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-Motor...JC9ZT88Y0SJDXQK dietcokefiend fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Apr 5, 2010 |
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Apr 5, 2010 03:00
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dietcokefiend posted:What is the proper way to make one of these up to full NEC-compliant code? You shouldn't need a custom extension cord. Off the shelf cords will connect your UPS to this.
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Apr 5, 2010 04:16
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Would it be easier and more code-compliant if I just built a drat shelf up inside the floor joist area with maybe a little access panel, and placed a UPS sized for the projector in there?
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Apr 5, 2010 06:28
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dietcokefiend posted:Would it be easier and more code-compliant if I just built a drat shelf up inside the floor joist area with maybe a little access panel, and placed a UPS sized for the projector in there? The code compliance is that you can't make an extension cord that exposes voltage on male terminals in normal use. You could get a piece of SO cord, wire one end to a normal receptacle up in your ceiling, and then lead the other end down through a hole in a wall plate and just have a short piece of cord with a male end exposed. You'd plug that male end into your UPS. Since it's not possible to backfeed the male end with your projector, you'd be good. There's still a fuzzy area about using SO cord as permanent wiring, however. I'll do some research and see if I can nail down a way to make this work.
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Apr 5, 2010 13:34
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:The code compliance is that you can't make an extension cord that exposes voltage on male terminals in normal use. Today if I remember I will give my local county a call about this and see what they say or if its even allowed.
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Apr 5, 2010 15:24
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:The code compliance is that you can't make an extension cord that exposes voltage on male terminals in normal use. And yeah, this is one of those fuzzy areas where it may be perfectly safe but still violate some tiny code technicality.
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Apr 5, 2010 15:37
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grover posted:you can't use an extension cord to replace permanent wiring. You know, I've always wondered about that. How are things like power strips and surge suppressors up to code, since technically they're 'extending' plugs from actual receptacles?
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Apr 5, 2010 22:41
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kid sinister posted:You know, I've always wondered about that. How are things like power strips and surge suppressors up to code, since technically they're 'extending' plugs from actual receptacles?
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Apr 5, 2010 22:51
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Well I called the local permit place and spoke with an electrical inspector about the issue. Basically this was the conclusion: The things you see online that use the extension cord to plug into the male socket all break NEC code without question. You can't use any form of extension cable for a permanent circuit. Case closed on those, instant fail if I tried it. So then we started to discuss power cables for appliances and found a solution that fits. Romex 12/14 gauge to junction box where it meets flexible 12/14 gauge wire at said box and is hard wired with twist caps. Stress reliever things for the flexible cable leaving the junction box. This removes the extension cord from the equation and replaces it with a NEC-compliant appliance cable turning the entire line into an appliance.
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Apr 5, 2010 23:18
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grover posted:It's a common trick home theater people do when trying to run cables from the floor to a wall-mounted TV and don't want any cables exposed. You're not legally allowed to run an extension cord, so they do this. grover, can you explain a bit more about what this "trick" is? I'm having trouble visualizing what's connected to what, and which ends are male/female.
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Apr 5, 2010 23:45
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Richard Noggin posted:grover, can you explain a bit more about what this "trick" is? I'm having trouble visualizing what's connected to what, and which ends are male/female. The "trick" is making an extension of an outlet so your battery backup or surge protector can be located down the circuit instead of at the device. This allows the outlet behind your TV or projector to be "filtered power". Doing this without calling it an extension or using extension cords is usually the PITA. Hardwired surge protectors or battery backups are only designed at the whole house level which is way above the budget of most people making a home theater. $50 consumer UPS vs 5,000 for a multi-circuit hard wired battery backup. To work with the consumer ones you need to have a circuit plug into a standard surge protector or battery backup with an industry standard plug. Getting to that level has lots of options, only one or two is actually allowed by building code.
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Apr 5, 2010 23:58
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dietcokefiend posted:So then we started to discuss power cables for appliances and found a solution that fits. Romex 12/14 gauge to junction box where it meets flexible 12/14 gauge wire at said box and is hard wired with twist caps. Stress reliever things for the flexible cable leaving the junction box. This removes the extension cord from the equation and replaces it with a NEC-compliant appliance cable turning the entire line into an appliance. Now I'm confused. In my mind, I see a flexible cable coming out of the wall. What's at the other (surge suppressor) end?
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Apr 6, 2010 00:40
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grover posted:Surge suppressors are OK because they're a loophole! Power strips and extension cords are only supposed to be used temporarily. IIRC, it's for less than 90 days and only during construction, or something stupid like that. I never thought of the code compliance of power strips before and it got me curious. So I did some looking. Power strips are to be listed to UL 1363. I didn't find anything in the NEC about Relocatable Power Taps (the closest is Article 380 - Multioutlet Assembly), so I have to go by the standards. According to that outline, they can be used for computer workstations and the like, but they can't be used in construction sites. Nor can they be daisy chained, or go through walls, or take the place of permanent wiring. So unless I'm missing something here, power strips are fine as long as they are used correctly.
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Apr 6, 2010 01:03
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:Now I'm confused. In my mind, I see a flexible cable coming out of the wall. What's at the other (surge suppressor) end? Yea flexible cable coming out of the wall. The difference being one is connected through a removable outlet connection and the other is hard wired to the junction box. EDIT: This is the end result of the conversation that I had and a trip to home depot. This thing is a 12-2 silicone sheathed cable with a 15a rated plug.  and it powers this outlet through the smaller 14 gauge wiring  Note the old 12 gauge wire going to the outlet. That line will stay in place but not energized. It will be capped off at this junction box and the junction box that would have originally fed it. Leaving it in place for whatever future reason that may come up. dietcokefiend fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Apr 6, 2010 |
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Apr 6, 2010 01:21
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dietcokefiend posted:Yea flexible cable coming out of the wall. The difference being one is connected through a removable outlet connection and the other is hard wired to the junction box. Blank plates are made that have that trade size 1/2 knockout in them so you won't literally have a cable sticking out of the drywall. If you can't find one easily, you can cut a 7/8" hole in a plate fairly easily with a hole saw. Use copious distilled water as cutting fluid if your plate is stainless.
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Apr 6, 2010 02:43
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:Blank plates are made that have that trade size 1/2 knockout in them so you won't literally have a cable sticking out of the drywall. If you can't find one easily, you can cut a 7/8" hole in a plate fairly easily with a hole saw. Use copious distilled water as cutting fluid if your plate is stainless. The wall shown will not have drywall on that side. That is a concealed area for the most part and only accessible by squeezing around the water heater once my electronics cabinet is in place.
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Apr 6, 2010 03:31
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Holy poo poo! gently caress my previous idea I just found the perfect option that is designed to be hardwired as well: http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-APS2012-Inverter-Automatic/dp/B00006HNY1 Awesome part about this is I already own two deep cycle batteries I keep on hand for a 1500 watt inverter when power drops. 
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Apr 6, 2010 04:16
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dietcokefiend posted:Awesome part about this is I already own two deep cycle batteries I keep on hand for a 1500 watt inverter when power drops. Do give those batteries a float charge at least once a month? I got some deep cycle batteries to run my electric scooter, and lead-acid chemistry is fairly delicate if you want long life. Overcharging, floating at too high a cell voltage, or not keeping the batteries charged leads to plate sulfation and no life.
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Apr 6, 2010 13:36
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Can I ask a question about my home thermostat here? It is an old fashioned type with a separate setting for heat temp and cooling temp. There is a switch to turn FAN from ON to AUTO, and another switch to turn ON and OFF auxiliary heat (whatever that is). Heat has been working fine, but now that we are using A/C, I have a distinct feeling that the A/C isn't turning on. The only way I can make it blow anything resembling cool air is to set the FAN to ON. That blows air that is cooler than ambient, but it certainly isn't A/C cold. Setting the cool air temp anywhere doesn't seem to have any effect. I would like to replace the thermostat anyway, but I have never seen one with this auxiliary heat option. Do I need to find a new one that will accommodate that? This is also my first heat pump. I don't need a special thermostat for that, do I?
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Apr 7, 2010 18:17
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Associate Christ
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Kaluza-Klein posted:Heat has been working fine, but now that we are using A/C, I have a distinct feeling that the A/C isn't turning on. The only way I can make it blow anything resembling cool air is to set the FAN to ON. That blows air that is cooler than ambient, but it certainly isn't A/C cold. You do definitely need a heat-pump specific thermostat. Normal thermostats don't have options for aux heat and whatnot. Aux heat is a set of electric heaters inside your air handler (house fan) for when it's too cold to run the heat pump effectively. Was your electric bill really high? If so, then it's possible your heat pump has been out of working fluid for a while and you've been using very wasteful electric heat all winter. Before replacing your thermostat, call an HVAC company that knows heat pumps and have them do a checkup on your unit. The $50 you spend will tell you where to send the next $100.
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Apr 7, 2010 19:00
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Thank you bep! I will ask the gf what our power bills are. I have not a clue.
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Apr 7, 2010 19:09
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Hey if you dont need a programmable one I have the a digital honeywell from my heatpump system that you can have if you want it. I have the emergency/aux heat as well.
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Apr 7, 2010 20:25
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Are there any code or practical limitations on how closely you can space two track lighting runs? Two-bus track is out for my particular use, so I'm planning on running two individual tracks alongside each other. Good? Bad? Crazy?
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Apr 7, 2010 20:46
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Molten Llama posted:Are there any code or practical limitations on how closely you can space two track lighting runs?
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Apr 8, 2010 02:50
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I was hoping one of our resident electricians could answer a question that was posed to me today: does code have anything to say about painting a panel cover/face? One of the apartments I am renovating has the panel near the kitchen in plain sight and my new tenant volunteered to paint it if that would pass muster with the law.
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Apr 8, 2010 03:21
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Mark Kidd posted:I was hoping one of our resident electricians could answer a question that was posed to me today: does code have anything to say about painting a panel cover/face? The code is silent about color. Just can't be obstructed.
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Apr 8, 2010 04:06
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babyeatingpsychopath posted:The code is silent about color. Just can't be obstructed. Alright, that works. Thanks for the help.
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Apr 8, 2010 12:09
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For the record, I've seen some pretty crappy paint jobs on panels, some of which were a bitch to work with. Don't effectively glue the panel door shut, or keep the latch or hinges from opening properly.
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Apr 8, 2010 14:51
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I bought a new thermostat :o. I figure we need a new one anyway, so I might as well give it a shot in the off chance that it actually fixes our problem. The manual very plainly says to turn off the breaker for the heat and a/c. It does not mention the "service disconnect" which is a separate box on the outside of the house connected directly to the compressor (heat pump?) unit. Do I need to turn this off before I muck around with the thermostat? edit: The reason I ask is because the box is strange to me. There seem to be some industrial fuses behind a panel that I am not sure how to remove. I would prefer to leave it all alone if that is safe. other people fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Apr 8, 2010 |
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Apr 8, 2010 18:53
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That box outside is just a switch for working on the compressor. Basically, it's either just a great big jumper that you pull out to open that circuit, or a lever switch. If you don't see the lever on the outside of the box, then it sounds like you got the first type. Regardless, all of the fuses are inside at the breaker box.
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Apr 8, 2010 19:03
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Kaluza-Klein posted:I bought a new thermostat :o. I figure we need a new one anyway, so I might as well give it a shot in the off chance that it actually fixes our problem. Just turning it off at the breaker is fine for what you need, which is pretty much just making sure you don't break anything when you inevitibly cross the wrong wires while you're installing it.
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Apr 8, 2010 19:09
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Well gently caress me, it worked! My house is officially freezing! I really did not think that replacing the thermostat would actually help, but whatever, I'm not complaining! Thanks guys!
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Apr 8, 2010 19:48
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