Electrical Fixes & Suggestions

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traderfjp
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Post by traderfjp » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 8:19 am

OK. I want to make sure that I'm legal in case of an insurace claim. Maybe those of you who know code can help me. Here are my concerns.

1. I wired in a rheostat last year. I used a metal electrical box mounted to the outside of an interior wall and attached the rheostat to the front of it. Then I used heavy orange elctrical cord and wired that to the rheostat. One side is male the other side is femal so I can plug my combustion blower into it. Should I have used a different type of wire? I feel safe with it because the wire is heavy guage and it's grounded but................

2. I bought a UPS and I want to use it for my stove. My plan is to remove the battery and intall two marin batteries. I don't want this in my living space. My plan was to install the UPS in the basement right under the stove. It will be very difficult to run a wire through the floor. I wanted to use an extension cord and run it outside through my outside air hole that already exists and into the basement via a vent that lets air into the basement.

Thanks

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 10:10 am

I think....and I'm no expert here....I think the rheostat sounds OK IF: What you're running with the rheostat is OK to run on a rheostat. Some motors aren't. It'll make the motor, or the rheostat heat, possibly to a dangerous level. I'd run it for an hour, if one or both are HOT, I'd discontinue.

The run the extenson cord outside is a no-no. You're asking a temporary thing to do a permanant job. You'd have to have a metal box at each end and use UHF wire or more likely wire through a steel conduit. What's the floor made of that a nuclear powered electronbeam drill won't go through? :)

My $.02. I'm not an electrician.

 
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Post by traderfjp » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 1:23 pm

It's not that I can't drill through the floor. I have 3 pipes coming up between the floor pad, in the corner and where the pipe is for the basebaord heat. There isn't much room for a wire. I might be able to drill it but I take a good chance of nicking one of the copper pipes. It's in a corner and very tight. Under the floor pad is harwood floors ad I don't want to drill through the tile, pad and floor.

 
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Freddy
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Post by Freddy » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 3:18 pm

Use one copper pipe for the positive, one for the negative! Wooohooo! Let the sparks fly! :yearight:

A drill stop? You can do it! There's plenty of holes now, one more won't hurt. Beeeee careful!


 
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Post by traderfjp » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 5:24 pm

Can u say swiss cheese. I guess I need to get the wire in the wall or use conduit. It might be easier to still route the wire from the outside and use conduit. I guess my problems pale in comparison to yours. Thanks. Is plastic conduit OK for outside use?
Last edited by traderfjp on Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 7:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 
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Post by billw » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 5:40 pm

In PA plastic conduit is good for outside use. I ran my wiring for my hot tub with it. Not sure about NJ.

 
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Post by CapeCoaler » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 5:40 pm

Unless you are using sealed batteries...
Batteries make gasses that need to be vented outdoors...
Run a proper wire in the wall cavity...
No more holes in the nice wood floors...

 
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Post by traderfjp » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 5:43 pm

I actually didn't make any holes in the hardwood. Picture the corner of a room and where the pipe would come up for baseboard heat. I drilled next to that pipe for the coils in my stove. That is why it's so tight and hard to drill another hole for a wire. is it safe to have two marine batteries in a boiler room that has a vent.


 
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Post by Freddy » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 7:31 pm

As long as there's no open flame within a couple of feet of the batteries they should be fine. The newer "sealed" abtteries aren't really sealed. They can give off hydrogen, but under normal charging they do not. It used to be you had to add water to batteries all the time. That's because when they charged & gave off hydrogen, water went with it. Finally they figured out that batteries shouldn't be charged so fast. The sealed ones never (rarely) need water because they do not move much vapor during charging. What little hydrogen comes off is not too often an issue.

 
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Post by ntp71 » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 8:44 pm

Just curious about the UPS part.

How long will the batteries last based on the total power being used by all of the motors and fans?

I am considering doing the same thing, but I am waiting for everything to come in and do a calculation.

Neal

 
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Post by traderfjp » Sun. Sep. 14, 2008 8:51 pm

It was a very long time but I don't recall the exact numbers.

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