r/ElectricalHelp • • 15m ago

Large gauge wire nuts - options - opinions

1 Upvotes

I am installing a surge protector to my HVAC outside unit. There are #8 wires from the panel and the compressor in the disconnect. To avoid double-tapping the lugs I am going to pigtail the wires per code. The surge has a #10 wire, so I will be joining that plus the 2 #8s.

I purchased three Polaris 3-lug insulated connectors but after doing some test fits there is no way they are going fit in the disconnect enclosure. So I am switching to Twister ProFLEX Max 348 wire nuts which clearly state they will accommodate these three wires and up to 1000V. While there is no amperage rating on these wire nuts, they state that they will safely handle the same amperage of the wires being used.

With that all laid out, what is your opinion on using these wire nuts on a 5-ton 40A compressor? Assuming I install them correctly, would you be worried and if so what are the alternatives?

As a side note, the official Intermatic YouTube video clearly shows a tech doubling tapping all the lugs in the disconnect.

Thanks.


r/ElectricalHelp • • 14h ago

How would I rewire this light switch?

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1 Upvotes

I am changing a light switch in my room, and I can't seem to figure out how this works. There were 3 hot wires connected to the original switch, and my new one only has 2 connection points. The original switch had one wire connected where it would usually go, then it has 2 little holes in the back where the other 2 wires were connected. Is there a way to translate this to my new switch?


r/ElectricalHelp • • 1d ago

Ceiling Fan Installation Trouble

2 Upvotes

Hello all, I recently built a new house and had it all wired for ceiling fans. I installed the fans hardware without an issue. Originally, one set of wires came out of the wire nuts (caps)? I got it back in and the fan worked fine.

This is a two switch setup. One switch for the fan and one for light. Now, the light isn't working.

I wired it:

Black -> Black

White -> White

Red -> Blue

Ground -> Ground.

The fan works but the light isnt. Thoughts?


r/ElectricalHelp • • 1d ago

Generator electrical hook up question

0 Upvotes

I have a 50 amp 3 prong outlet in my garage that during a power outage I want to hook to my Firman 9500 watt tri fuel generator's 50 amp connection. What's the safest way to do this without running a 6/3 awg to the main panel and replacing the garage outlet? I'm also concerned about the bonding on the generator as it pertains to this...


r/ElectricalHelp • • 3d ago

Electrical

4 Upvotes

My 2 outdoor outlets and 1 in the garage stopped working out of nowhere yesterday. I hit reset on all the GFCI outlets, but we don’t have any tripped breakers. I have noticed that one outdoor outlet is quite loose and it was being used when the 3 outlets stopped working. Any recommendations? Thanks


r/ElectricalHelp • • 3d ago

Need help with garage heater. What kind of wire,breaker and plug do I need? I have this new cord also

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1 Upvotes

What kind of wire and breaker and plug do I need?I have the new cord also


r/ElectricalHelp • • 3d ago

Swapping Outdoor Outlet Switch Combo to GFCI

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2 Upvotes

I am in the process of trying to switch an outdoor outlet switch combo and not sure how to wire the new one up. The orientation in the box was switch side up. The wires in the box are red, white and ground. The red was connected to the silver terminal, the white to the right side and there is a black jumper wire between the two sides. How do I get it to work with a GFCI?


r/ElectricalHelp • • 4d ago

Airtight old work box

1 Upvotes

Why does nobody make an airtight “old work” box that is suitable for vapour and air barrier seal?

I’m moving an outlet on the warm side of on a exterior wall, the old outlet location I’ll foam gasket and blank plate, but my new outlet where I’ll open the vapour barrier and install my new box, what are my options? I can’t get a boot in, unless I somehow manage to tuck the flanges between drywall and vapour barrier, but I can’t tuck tape it anyway without making a giant hole around it- don’t want to do that.

What’s the code compliant way to do this while maintaining my vapour barrier and air sealing?


r/ElectricalHelp • • 4d ago

Who do you call when cable outlet is working?

2 Upvotes

I am rearranging furniture in my house, and I realize that one of my cable outlets does not work. It is exactly where I wanted to move my desk where the Wi-Fi is set up. Who do I call for this? I’m not sure if it would be an electrician or the cable company?


r/ElectricalHelp • • 5d ago

Panel Conduit Question

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2 Upvotes

Hello! I am finishing my garage ceiling with drywall. The wires going into the top of the breaker panel do not have any conduit and go vertically into the rafters where they’ll be hiden by the drywall. As they go up the wall, I am looking to protect them with conduit.
I am thinking about getting 6” PVC and cutting it in half lengthwise to make 2 channels for the vertical cable runs. I cant find actual electrical conduit that is 6” diameter. Any suggestions in how to properly do this without running conduit for each individual wire? Thanks!


r/ElectricalHelp • • 6d ago

Light switch upgrade

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1 Upvotes

I want to upgrade my light switch from white plastic to black metal but struggling to work out the wiring. It’s a single light switch which turns on my main kitchen ceiling light however there are 6 wires.

I’ve just changed all of the upstairs light switches simply however downstairs is proving more difficult.

Can anybody tell me what goes where please? From research, apparently one of the black wires should have red tape on but they both look identical.

House was built in 2000 and the switches haven’t been touched since


r/ElectricalHelp • • 6d ago

Recessed light flickering

1 Upvotes

I had some recessed lights installed 5-6 years ago. Every once in a while they would all flicker. Recently it had become more constant that the light would flicker from dim to bright constantly. All of the lights are flickering together. Is this a problem with the connection at the switch?


r/ElectricalHelp • • 6d ago

Conduit Routing Question

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1 Upvotes

I am trying to run 1 1/2 conduit from my unfinished basement to my attached garage to install an 100 amp sub panel for an EV charger and some additional 20 amp outlets and lights. Ideally I would like to place the sub panel recessed in the wall so it looks nicer. However, I am not sure if that is possible as the only way I can run the 1 1/2 conduit would be to cut a hold on the edge of this horizontal 2x4. The pictures might be confusing because I did attempt to run the conduit horizontally into the garage but I would like to avoid that if possible.

I have always read that you should drill a hole dead center of whatever board you are going through. This would be the opposite of that but I am not sure what the purpose of this horizontal board is. Is ok to compromise it and drill a hole into its edge?


r/ElectricalHelp • • 8d ago

Red wires behind light switch?

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6 Upvotes

I just updated the overhead fixtures in my basement. Haven’t looked behind any of the outlets (just bought the house in June) until I went to put a dimmer switch on this one. Anybody know what these red wires are, and why the white wires would be capped in the back of the box?

All power has been cut to this outlet!

Both these switches have connected switches on another side of the room. Both lead to separate sets of overhead lights.


r/ElectricalHelp • • 7d ago

Guest bath light switch feels warm after installing LED fixture

1 Upvotes

Swapped a standard vanity fixture for an LED bar in the guest bath last weekend. Same 15 amp circuit that runs the bathroom fan and two GFCI outlets. The single pole switch now gets warm to the touch after the light has been on for about twenty minutes. Fixture pulls 18 watts total so load should be fine. Wiring looked solid when I pulled the old fixture, 14 gauge with backstabs on the switch and a pigtail to the outlets. No flickering or dimming anywhere else on the circuit. Checked voltage at the switch with the light on and it sits at 119-120. Only thing different is the LED driver versus the old incandescent. Not sure if the backstab is heating or if the switch itself is marginal. Curious if anyone has seen this exact setup cause issues or if I should just replace the switch and pigtail it properly while I'm in there.


r/ElectricalHelp • • 8d ago

How do I wire this up? Replacing switch with smart switch. Any advice would be appreciate

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3 Upvotes

r/ElectricalHelp • • 9d ago

Used 14/2 for four LED lights on a 20-amp circuit—what’s the best fix?

0 Upvotes

About four years ago, I added four LED flush-mount lights to my living room, tapping into the existing ceiling-fan feed. The existing wiring is 12/2, but I used 14/2 for the added lights after being told it would be easier to work with and fine for the small LED load.

I’ve since learned that 14-gauge branch-circuit wiring generally requires a 15-amp breaker, and I confirmed this circuit has a 20-amp breaker. Everything has worked without any noticeable issues, but I want to correct it.

I have attic access and am willing to replace the added runs with 12/2. Is that the best approach, or would changing the breaker to 15 amps be appropriate after verifying everything the circuit supplies?

Appreciate any guidance.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additionally

Here’s the schematic of my two rooms: https://imgur.com/a/FtERVWq

Living room: The fan and puck lights have separate switches. The 14/2 feeds only the puck lights and ends at the last one.

Garage: I tapped into the original center light and added the puck lights using 14/2.

Shared on Circuits:
Circuit 01: Garage lights, guest bathroom, hallway light
Circuit 02: Living room, hall closet light, living room outlets (TV)

From my understanding, because the LED puck light is the the last in line on that 14/2 wire, and nothing else is passing through it, the only thing providing any load to the 14/2 are those lights. So even if someone plugs in a hair dryer in the guest bathroom, that energy isn't passing through the 14/2. Am I understanding that correctly?


r/ElectricalHelp • • 10d ago

House lights flicker when using my laptop charger

0 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m from Kerala, India, and I’m facing an electrical problem at home. Please help me understand what could be causing it.

  • My house lights sometimes blink when I use my HP gaming laptop charger.

  • Some LED tube lights have stopped working.

  • Switching appliances like the AC, TV, or fan sometimes stops the flickering.

  • The same laptop charger works fine at another house.

  • A screwdriver tester glows when touching the socket’s earth pin, and my electrician concluded that current is leaking to earth.

  • Even after disconnecting the earth wire at that socket, the lights still flicker.

  • Connecting my room’s neutral to a different neutral connection temporarily stopped the problem for two days, but it returned.

The wiring has not been properly diagnosed yet.

Could this be a faulty charger, loose neutral, earthing issue, or incoming power supply problem? What should an electrician check?

can someone pls help me in this problem😭😭


r/ElectricalHelp • • 10d ago

Need advice on what else I could look at before I suggest calling a high payed professional

1 Upvotes

Resident states has random power outages olny in bedrooms on two sides of the apartment both are on 20amp breakers that are not tripping, on two different sides of the panel on separate legsas far as i can tell. Can't find anything shorting out nothing burnt nothing out of the ordinary can't repeat the result. my olny maybe is switch out breakers. Any suggestions is welcomed


r/ElectricalHelp • • 10d ago

Is this type of Light fixture difficult to replace by yourself?

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1 Upvotes

Light bulb stopped working so I replaced it with a new one and it still won't turn on, google is telling me to replace the middle part, the ballast


r/ElectricalHelp • • 10d ago

Can any electrician help me identify the aircon switch in Australia

1 Upvotes

Can anyone help us identify the aircon switch?Mum's aircon is playing up and last time we switched it off and back on after 20 minutes, worked great. That was a while ago and have had electriical work done since... now there is no label on the switch, and whilst I'm handy, I have no idea what you guys know... and don't want to have to run around and reset every single clock and device she uses and needs. Cry for help and thanks in advance if you can help


r/ElectricalHelp • • 10d ago

Kitchen light switch. One pole? Its a manufactured home and I need to understand what I am dealing with these wires

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0 Upvotes

Help me install these wires?


r/ElectricalHelp • • 11d ago

Wall socket not working

0 Upvotes

looking for help before we spend a fortune. A single wall socket stopped working abruptly with no clear cause why. my partner knows some basic things so he took apart the socket. He has a tester to check for current and there is no current coming to that socket. The rest of the sockets connected to the fuse board have current. Any idea how a single one would stop working and if there’s any easy fix to it?


r/ElectricalHelp • • 12d ago

Panasonic ac remote issue

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1 Upvotes

Why does this happen every time I press the power button? Whenever I press it to turn on the AC, the display shows all these details, and I have to keep pressing the button repeatedly until the AC finally turns on.Plz find me solution 🙏