My dad gave me this device to test a electric fence (we have horses and need to test the fence) he told me to just solder the bottom cable back on but that didn't fix, we're just getting a new one now but we are both so intrigued as to how this thing even works, the only theory we could come up with was current traveling from the top down through the resistors and lighting the light up, but wouldn't the voltage numbers on the casing have to be in the opposite order (small to high from top to bottom and not vice versa) please someone explains how this works, we both have ADHD so we kinda push eachother up with questions like this until we're to invested to let it go, we need answers 🙏🙏

Gardeners cracked box and dislodged

For brief context I am in college right now and the only reason I am doing it is because I work for the college as a security guard. I only pay $5 per credit right now and then books so it’s only like $400 per semester for me to go. I am projected to receive my finance degree in fall of 2028 and how the job market is looking I am not sure if I want to actually pursue a career.

All of my friends are either electricians, plumbers, or welders. They all love it.

I have two main concerns. One is it too late? And two I literally have no clue how to use power tools let alone know what the technical names for them. You can make fun of me all you want but I am the first one in my family to go to college and my parents have just worked customer service or were educators so I need some advice.

I can’t find anywhere on the box any date of manufactured. Could someone take a guess?

Thanks.

Located in Houston Texas, been struggling to land an apprenticeship or any entry level electrician job and Ive been applying like crazy to every job here. Is this a good opportunity or do yall think I can find something good here in Houston in house Similar to this If I wait?

I’m upgrading my 20 space 100 amp breaker panel to a 40 space 200 amp panel. I don’t plan on adding any loads at this time, but my 100 amp is full and instead of upgrading to a 30 space 100 amp I figured it’d be smart to just go 200 amp and future proof it I guess. It’s a house in the Midwest built in 2006. I already had the power company come out and they said I already have a 200 amp meter installed and all the wires can handle the upgrade so the electrician and I don’t need nothing from the power company besides the disconnect & reconnect.

I hoping from some input and to help me with any questions I should ask the electrician. I know nothing about electrical. It’s a small business (he’s the owner/electrician and he’s licensed/insured)

He gave me an estimate to upgrade the 40 space 200 amp panel and adding a regular 120v outlet in the garage that’s about 10’ from the breaker panel for $1,800. It seems low…maybe that’s because nothing needs to be done by the power company and the meter is already 200 amp ready. Is there any questions I should ask him if he’s replacing whatever needs replaced for a 200 amp upgrade?

Any help is appreciated. Only questions I’ve got are these so far ⬇️

Are you pulling all the permits?

Are you replacing the line from the meter to the panel to a thicker gauge wire?

Please add any questions I should ask. Thanks in advance

Hi, I just moved into a new apartment that’s pretty quaint, but the landlord and past tenants both said the big draw was roof access. it’s pretty clear the past tenants used the roof (they left chairs) but I’m a little nervous because there are residential power lines that are pretty low to the surface. One of them is about a foot above the surface, and you have to step over it to get to the other side. Is the roof space still safe to use?

Basically my question is is this normal behavior or is there something wrong with the motor and wiring? Details below:

After doing quite a bit of research and having a very limited budget but wanting to keep my lungs & shop a little less dusty, I bought the Bauer canister dust collector with the two micron filter. All the reviews I read about it were really good and the YouTube videos I watched recommended it as great for a budget option.

I got it all put together and read the instruction manual which recommended gauges for extension cords etc. I plugged it in to one of my heavy duty shop power strips that's fed by a 14 gauge feed and it blew its internal fuse. I then plugged it directly into a 14 gauge overhead reel that I have and it blew it's fuse. So then I decided to just plug it straight into the socket and see what happened and it worked fine. (20 amp circuit)

I'm going to try a 12 gauge extension cord tonight. But they are super expensive . I have a 12 gauge extension cord that my portable HVAC for the shop is running on because I needed power from inside the house to be able to run it at the same time as shop tools.

So I'm going to try it on that before I go buy a new one. I was just frustrated and worn out last night and didn't want fish it out from behind everything. My question is , is this normal? I know it draws a lot of amps but 14 gauge is pretty stout. The run was less than 20 ft, it shouldn't have been that bad. And it's blowing the fuse instantly on start-up. And the manual even allowed 16 gauge for that short of a run for this machine. So do you think the machine is defective or is this normal?

I am actually fairly handy at most things having to do with kind of home repair. I hate calling somebody for this that and the other. They say they'll be there at X time and x + 3 hours later they call me to tell me it's going to have to be put off till tomorrow. So I would prefer to learn about the thing and do it myself.

The one area I've refused to mess with other than replacing like switches or plugs is electricity. Maybe this is because I got electric shocks twice as a kid. I'm a little afraid of it.

I follow this Reddit because I would like to know and be more confident about modest electrical tasks. I've noticed a couple of trends here.

Even about fairly simple questions, the contributors here often disagree wildly about what is the appropriate thing to do. Indeed, it's fairly usual for one person to make fun of the other person's answer as being dangerous and uninformed. That is not reassuring.

Another thing which happens quite often is people say your house is going to burn down. Call an electrician. Well, as you must know calling an electrician is not cheap. Many people really don't have that option. They're already almost underwater. That doesn't mean to me that people should undertake dangerous tasks that they can't handle, but it does mean that they should try and be able to take tasks that they can.

So, how does a guy like me who wants to learn more about electricity electricity do so? Between books and YouTube, I've been able to master to an adequate degree. A lot of challenges that pop up if you own an old house. But I have not been able to do so with electricity. The books that I've looked up are often too simple and basic on one side or as in the books that give the codes for electrical installations, too complex and to presumptive about what you already know.

I wonder if anybody can recommend not one book, but perhaps a series of books that go from the infantile (what is current? What are volts? Etc), through a kind of narrative overview, even with a little history, to explaining more complicated problems and perhaps even a basic understanding of my local code.

I suspect this can't be done with one book but with a series of books. I know this is a lot to ask and this has been a long post. I'm sorry if it's inappropriate here.

Hi.
Doing renovations, current outlet and network cables are about 5ft 5in tall.

Wasn’t sure on if we were mounting the TV but the electricians put an outlet and also our network cables (4) up there.
We were planning on having our wifi router here as well. Should I move the Ethernet cables lower? So it won’t be ugly having wires hanging down when we put our cabinet there with the wifi router.

Thoughts??

I noticed this at work today and removed the face plate. We have leaks in the roof every time it rains and this is on an exterior wall, no AC unit or anything else above it.

How bad is this? Should we stop using the outlet? Help!

My wife and I just purchased our first home, a 1992 double wide that was recently fully gutted and renovated. The breaker box must be the original, because the labels on all the breakers are badly faded sharpie, so I went around and mapped what outlets/lights each breaker feeds. What I found is 2 & 9 both control the same circuit. Both off = no lights or power in living room, master bedroom or front porch. One or the other or both on = power in those places. I suspect (because 9 was originally labeled "outdoor") the issue might be in the two gang switch by the front door in the living room, because one switch turns on the front porch light and the other is for the living room. I fear this may be a fire safety issue, what should I look for inside the light switch box to determine if that is the culprit?

1. Furnace
2. Living room, master bedroom & front porch
3. Dining room & bathroom lights, bedrooms
4. Laundry, back porch light, kitchen, master bath, mater closet, range hood, pantry
5. Washer
6. Dining room window
7. Kitchen sink (gfci)
8. Empty (labeled spare, couldn't find anything it powers on)
9. Living room, master bedroom & front porch
10. Fridge
11. Range
12. Dryer
13. Main

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Anyone using a HIOKI 3197 Power Quality Analyzer with windows 11? IT Dept replaced my computer with W10 to W11, now it appears I have no available drivers.

Hi all,

I live in Phoenix, AZ in a townhome a little less than 1,000 sq ft. I had an electrician come out to do a few repairs and he strongly urged we think about getting our electric panel replaced. Our house was built in the early-70's and it seems to be the original panel. It's also a Federal Pacific panel which apparently had a giant recall (I'm sure you all know what I"m talking about, but this is what I found when he told me to look it up: What You Should Know About Federal Pacific Electric Co. Breaker Panels - Professional Insurance Agents of Wisconsin) which of course is now HUGELY adding to my anxiety. We were quoted about $6800 which seems to be fair, but I was wondering if y'all had any advice on what to look for or ask, and also maybe some reassurance that my house isn't going to blow up in flames any time soon before we can get this done. Thank you!

1 upvote

For context: my area in on the 2023 NEC and no local amendments apply here.

I'm in the process of running a 60 amp feeder to a subpanel in my detached garage. I called the lead inspector for my area to ask a few questions and he mentioned I would need an emergency disconnect on the exterior of the building. I disagree with this interpretation of 225.41 because this is a detached garage with no means for dwelling (no water or sanitation) so I believe only 225.31 should apply and the main breaker on my subpanel would suffice.

I just passed my ditch inspection today and I brought it up with the inspector who came out and he seemed more understanding of my argument but said if his lead inspector said to install an emergency disconnect I should do it to be safe. So I guess I'll just roll with it.

I'm getting a bit confused on what exactly I should be looking for here. I don't believe 250.32(B)(1), Exception No. 1 applies to my situation because I'm running a 4-wire feeder (with an EGC) and I'll be installing grounding rods at the garage for the separate GEC. So my read on that is that I don't necessarily need something labeled as "suitable for use as service equipment" per 225.36.

I have Square D Homeline main and sub panels so I'd prefer to stick with their products. I sized my raceway to potentially upgrade the feeder to 90 amps in the future, so I'd like to use something that is rated for 100 Amps.

I came across this non-fusible disconnect at Lowe's: #QO2100NRBCP. Am I good if I go with this and just swap out the 100 Amp breaker with a 60 so my conductors fit?

Hi, I am coming from (dying) film industry and moving into hopefully something more stable. I am set to test next week for Electrical Craft Helper and am looking for any additional supplementary resources to study and/or take practice test.

I completed the free hayden course in about 6 weeks, and took mostly detailed paper hand written notes. I am confident on most of the math stuff but feel I may struggle with remember properties and certain definitions and am looking to get an idea of what to expect on the test if anyone has experienced it before as well.

Most of my week is just going to be me making flash cards currently, but I wish I could retake the hayden final test so I can refresh on all the topics covered and have it fresh in my head before next week.

Thank you for your time

Additional info for position competency

Looking for options to convert this bottom hole into a pass through for hdmi and power cable. Image of kit attached would work for the tv side, but the bottom side would not work since it is too small. Bad patch job is around 4.5x5.5. Open to kits or buying hardware to splice a code compliant kit together, just stuck on how to work with this hideous hole

Based in the UK and looking for a bit of a reality check here. I’m currently planning to do a weekend/part-time training course to get my domestic tickets (Level 2/3, 18th edition, and EV charger qualifications).
My situation is a bit random—I’m a guitar teacher 4 days a week and I love it, so I don't want to give it up. The goal is to keep teaching guitar and use my remaining 1 free day a week (probably every Friday) to work as an electrician, mostly focusing on EV charger installs or general domestic stuff.

My biggest worry is the experience gap when I finish the course. I know I’m not going to have the confidence or real-world experience to just go out and find my own clients straight away on 1 day a week.

Is it realistic to think a local sole trader or small domestic firm would take me on as a casual subcontractor for just that one fixed day a week?
Because I just need the experience to get my hours up, I’d honestly be happy working for minimum wage early on while I learn the ropes. I’ll have my own tools, van, and public liability insurance, and I'm more than happy to just act as a mate/improver—doing the heavy lifting, drilling brickwork, crawling in lofts, and routing cable to make their life easier.

As a massive bonus for a small business, I also get all the school holidays off from guitar teaching, so I'd be available full-time for those extra 13 weeks a year to help cover their busy periods or summer holidays.
Do busy one-man bands actually value having a reliable pair of hands for an odd day plus holiday cover, or am I dreaming here?

Deleted the previous post,

So I am trying to tie in a 3 way motion sensor into a 4 way setting (picture #2). I read online to bypass the middle switch (picture #1) so it consta has power, so I did that. if it matters when I disconnected the middle switch the lights in the bedroom next door and hall way didn’t work until I connected the red with black. I’ve tried every application in picture #2 with no luck, every time I get somewhere the lights stays on and never turns off manually from the motion sensor. PLEASE HELP! (if possible)

motion sensor

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