Wiring Project of the Day

 
rberq
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Post by rberq » Sun. Jan. 08, 2017 5:59 pm

Rob R. wrote:New project - my garage has always been powered via a single 20 amp circuit breaker. This includes all lighting, a full size refrigerator, and a pool pump. Honestly I am surprised the breaker has never tripped when using a vacuum, etc.
When I bought this house it had the old fashioned 60 amp entrance with those big plug fuses that look like shotgun shells. We ran an electric water heater, electric range, electric clothes dryer, dishwasher with a heating element, and the rest of the house. I still don't understand why the fuses never blew when we toasted bread along with everything else. :?: :?: :?:


 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Jan. 08, 2017 6:16 pm

If your water heater was on a timer, and you never used more than a couple burners on the range, I could see how you could get by...but it must have been pretty close. Hopefully someone didn't "fix' the fuses with a penny behind each one.

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Jan. 15, 2017 2:41 pm

Rob R. wrote:New project - my garage has always been powered via a single 20 amp circuit breaker. This includes all lighting, a full size refrigerator, and a pool pump. Honestly I am surprised the breaker has never tripped when using a vacuum, etc. The wire feeding it is ancient, and there are signs of overheating in one of the junction boxes. Time to split the load on two circuits, and eliminate the old wire & splices. I am also going to add an outlet and lights to the attic over the garage. Hoping to have this wrapped up in the next week or so.
Still haven't finished this. Pulling wire through the basement, through the foundation, and up through a stairwell in the garage took longer than I expected. Had multiple obstacles, and I pulled LOTS of old nails and staples out along the way. I scrounged through my boxes of stuff that dad gave me years ago and came up with a 100' roll of 12-3, a new 20 amp double breaker, and a few junction boxes. Some of the areas are pretty crowed with other wire runs, so I decided to make things a little easier (and less expensive) by using up the 12-3 rather than buying and pulling two pieces of 12-2. The end result will be a multi-branch circuit with each side of the garage on its own 20 amp circuit.

I sure wish I knew who wired some of the things in my garage, I would like to whip them with a piece of BX cable. I found one 4" octagon junction box with 7 pieces of 12-2 going into it, the wire is packed in there so tight that I don't even know how they got the cover on. The wire that feeds the outlet for the pool pump had the ground cut off, and it was a back-stabbed outlet. :mad:

 
rberq
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Post by rberq » Sun. Jan. 15, 2017 4:22 pm

Rob R. wrote:I sure wish I knew who wired some of the things in my garage, I would like to whip them with a piece of BX cable. I found one 4" octagon junction box with 7 pieces of 12-2 going into it, the wire is packed in there so tight that I don't even know how they got the cover on.
Probably made all the connections then used a rubber mallet to pack everything in. I've been tempted ... :|

 
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Jan. 20, 2017 5:50 pm

For the first time the 100+ year old stairs and attic over the garage are well illuminated! Made a good spot for some incandescent bulbs I had kicking around. The one in the stairwell is a 200 watt Phillips, and the two upstairs are some "True Tuff" brand 100 watt bulbs. Not sure how old they are, but all say Made in USA. Things are still kind of a mess up there, I had to pull all everything away from the outside wall to run the new wire, and still some old wire to remove and a few staples to add...but at least it will be easy to see when I do it. :)

Garage is now two circuits, and I added a ground fault outlet. Better than it has ever been.

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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Aug. 06, 2017 10:06 am

A few years ago my wife and I bought a used full-size refrigerator for the garage. It is very handy to have for drinks, and all the extra food that comes with hosting summer BBQ's. The only practical place to put it in the garage did not have an outlet nearby. I said no big deal, I have this nice 6 ft "appliance rated" extension cord, and that is the perfect length. I plugged it in, and the fridge has been cold ever since. I was a bit surprised at how loud the compressor was when it ran...as in, if this thing was in my house it would be a problem due to the noise. We did not pay much for the fridge, and it was nice and cold, so I didn't fret about noise. Fast forward to last week when my wife bought me a Kegerator for my birthday. We slid that in next to the old fridge, and I decided it was time to take advantage of the extra circuit I installed last winter (see posts above) and to install an outlet. Put the new outlet in, plugged everything in, and....I thought the big fridge had died. For an entire day I would check on it every hour or so to see if I could hear it running. Finally, when the wind died down and the kids were somewhere else, I could hear it run. It is just as quiet as the new GE fridge I have in the house - and the Kegerator is totally silent also.

Needless to say, I threw that "appliance rate" extension cord in the garbage! I can only guess that the fridge has been suffering from limited power / low voltage? It is totally silent now. Hopefully it runs for a few more years. Lesson learned.

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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Aug. 06, 2017 10:20 am

My wife purchased another chandelier. This one was made in 2013, and the customer cancelled the order prior to delivery. It has been sitting in the warehouse ever since, and she was able to purchase it for an excellent price. The lucky part is that it just happened to have the same finish (I forget the name, but it is a metallic antique bronze type finish) as our other fixture, so home it came. The wiring was easy, but making sure the junction box was up to the task of holding this thing was what worried me. Raco says the box can hold 50 lbs of static load...and someone long ago screwed the junction box right into a ceiling joist, so up went the light. The frame was cast in Italy, and the crystal is from Swarovski in Austria. All I need now is a higher class house to put around the light!

Naturally no one local had the right bulbs, so I had to steal some out of a different light to keep us out of the dark until Amazon delivers the new LED's.

This is how it looks now:
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I will follow up with another picture once it has a full set of the right bulbs.


 
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Post by KLook » Sun. Aug. 06, 2017 8:43 pm

That is one expensive light.....and it looks great.
I have been reading this thread and chuckling, I have been into another fix up and sell home for a realtor and it has aluminum wiring......and it has been "upgraded" and it is not something I would live in for one night. I should document the things I am seeing and write a book someday.....

Kevin

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Aug. 11, 2017 9:33 am

Got the new bulbs installed. Love the white light, but will probably install a dimmer switch to calm things down a little.

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Post by freetown fred » Fri. Aug. 11, 2017 10:55 am

Now that thar is pretty uptown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

 
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Post by lsayre » Fri. Aug. 11, 2017 12:10 pm

freetown fred wrote:Now that thar is pretty uptown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
I'm not sure of that. The dining room in the century house I grew up in had one just like it, and my parents bought that very inner city Cleveland, OH house for $6,800 when I was 6 years old.

It does look mighty nice though. Brings back some great memories.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. Oct. 20, 2019 7:17 pm

This past Thursday we had some strong winds, and a tree limb smashed my mercury vapor dusk-till-dawn light. I decided to go with modern technology and replace it with an LED fixture. I got a Honeywell fixture from Amazon for $60, and wired it up. 42 watts vs 175 watts - I was skeptical, but once it got dark I was impressed. Instant on, no ballast hum, and plenty of light. I will say that it is NOT as bright as the mercury vapor light, but it is more than adequate.

Now I have to fixture out what to do with the box of new mercury vapor bulbs out in the shop.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sun. May. 24, 2020 12:34 pm

As we get ready to start another pool season, I checked our equipment over and discovered some wiring damage. I appears that there was a poor connection at the receptical, which caused it to overheat. I also found some discolored wire on the motor end. There was already a heavy duty switch in place, so decided to remove the receptical and hard wire the motor. I don't think it would have made it through the season like this.

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Post by Sunny Boy » Sun. May. 24, 2020 12:46 pm

Rob R. wrote:
Sun. Oct. 20, 2019 7:17 pm
This past Thursday we had some strong winds, and a tree limb smashed my mercury vapor dusk-till-dawn light. I decided to go with modern technology and replace it with an LED fixture. I got a Honeywell fixture from Amazon for $60, and wired it up. 42 watts vs 175 watts - I was skeptical, but once it got dark I was impressed. Instant on, no ballast hum, and plenty of light. I will say that it is NOT as bright as the mercury vapor light, but it is more than adequate.

Now I have to fixture out what to do with the box of new mercury vapor bulbs out in the shop.
I replaced a standard 100w incandescent light bulb with a 100w equivalent white LED bulb (5000Kelvin type) in a back porch light fixture. It has a weather shade over the top, otherwise it's just the bare bulb.

I was amazed at how much farther the light reaches across the backyard than the 100 w incandescent it replaced. Lights instantly and just as bright even in below zero temps. And at about 1/4 of the electricity used.

Dinning room light looks great , but a dimmer is a good idea if you don't want glare headaches halfway through dinner.

We have a ceiling fan with several LED white bulbs in the kitchen of our Saratoga house. The brightness is great for working in the kitchen, but any time spent facing toward the lights and it gets a bit too much for me.

Paul

 
rberq
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Post by rberq » Sun. May. 24, 2020 2:22 pm

Sunny Boy wrote:
Sun. May. 24, 2020 12:46 pm
LED bulb ... lights instantly and just as bright even in below zero temps.
Incandescent bulb wouldn't last in my garage door opener, due to vibration I think. Compact fluorescent lasted OK but took forever to get bright at low temperatures. LED works great, and probably LIKES low temperatures to cool the base.


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