|
StormDrain posted:Mmmm maybe. It's seriously so low on my priorities that it probably won't ever hapoen. I can just walk across my kitchen. StormDrain posted:No no no. You don't understand. This is a challenging job that Abso-lutely will take two trips to the store and I don't want to do. It will leave me in the in ruins. I do not have the time or desire to do this. Anything you tell me that is easy will not be. Do not try to convince me otherwise. Oh wow guess who got one comment on how the kitchen should have a switch on each side and ended up doing this fuckin job. New lutron caseta dimmer with a pico remote on the far side. Yes it did take two trips to the store. Yes it works and is unfinished because tearing out the existing box for a new larger one left the opening in shambles so I had to mud it in. I also discovered (remembered) the box had two circuits in it and all the neutrals were tied together. Which I am choosing to beleive was why one of the circuits tripped last week. The circuits are isolated now.
|
#
?
May 11, 2024 03:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 00:45 |
|
|
So I had 3 outlets in my preexisting half finished garage and working on finishing I discovered the one finished outlet was on its own 20 amp circuit (perfect for adding the additional outlets I had planned), but the other two outlets on the unfinished side were connected to another 20 amp circuit connected to a bunch of random outlets across the house. Currently those two outlets power the garage door opener and slow charge our electric car (I'm in no rush to add a proper car charger outlet since in 4 years of ownership charging overnight has always been fine). They never trip or have issues. Ideally the garage door opener and the car charging would get their own lines, but the electrical panel is on the opposite corner of the house and getting lines back and forth is a big deal I don't think I'll tackle anytime soon (with ducting in the way I think I'd either have to run conduit around the outside the house or run it up 2 floors to the attic from the panel and then back down 2 floors to the garage which both sound awful or expensive). Before I close up the walls/ceiling on the unfinished side I could easily swap the outlets to be on the same circuit as the finished outlet so everything is neater. OTOH, nothing currently has any problems and with the rest of the garage on a different circuit I'm less liable to trip anything running power tools. Thoughts?
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2024 09:46
|
|
|
FuzzySlippers posted:So I had 3 outlets in my preexisting half finished garage and working on finishing I discovered the one finished outlet was on its own 20 amp circuit (perfect for adding the additional outlets I had planned), but the other two outlets on the unfinished side were connected to another 20 amp circuit connected to a bunch of random outlets across the house. Currently those two outlets power the garage door opener and slow charge our electric car (I'm in no rush to add a proper car charger outlet since in 4 years of ownership charging overnight has always been fine). They never trip or have issues. Label the outlets, and maybe add another outlet to the circuit with only one outlet? You can never have too many outlets!
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2024 16:39
|
|
|
FuzzySlippers posted:So I had 3 outlets in my preexisting half finished garage and working on finishing I discovered the one finished outlet was on its own 20 amp circuit (perfect for adding the additional outlets I had planned), but the other two outlets on the unfinished side were connected to another 20 amp circuit connected to a bunch of random outlets across the house. Currently those two outlets power the garage door opener and slow charge our electric car (I'm in no rush to add a proper car charger outlet since in 4 years of ownership charging overnight has always been fine). They never trip or have issues. I think I'd prefer to have everything on the dedicated 20 amp garage circuit. The EV charger specifically I would like to be, because while it's not tripping anything now, in the future you might change what loads are on the inside of the house and have a problem. If everything in the garage is on the garage circuit, it makes it easier to manage and be aware of the load on the circuit. Plus I bet you're unlikely to be charging the car and also be using heavy power tools, and if you are, it would be easy to unplug the car to do your work. For the electricians out there, I have a question regarding 3R ratings and conduit connectors. I read something about water tight conduit hubs for 3R panels for when you're installing conduit above the lowest point of the panel. However, when googling to see water tight conduit hubs, I can only find ones for RMC and Liquit-Tight conduit. Is there an equivalent for rigid PVC conduit? SpartanIvy fucked around with this message at 16:46 on May 12, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 12, 2024 16:41
|
|
|
SpartanIvy posted:For the electricians out there, I have a question regarding 3R ratings and conduit connectors. I read something about water tight conduit hubs for 3R panels for when you're installing conduit above the lowest point of the panel. However, when googling to see water tight conduit hubs, I can only find ones for RMC and Liquit-Tight conduit. Is there an equivalent for rigid PVC conduit? I don't think there is. Everyone uses Myers hubs (or equivalent) even though it's not rated for PVC.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2024 18:37
|
|
|
Blackbeer posted:I don't think there is. Everyone uses Myers hubs (or equivalent) even though it's not rated for PVC. Yeah I tried doing this theoretically correctly on my new service feed by getting an RMC hub and then an RMC to PVC terminal adapter (metal conduit on one end threaded to screw into the hub, with PVC female opening on the other end). Then my trenching / service feed conduit contractor removed all of it (including the hub) and put in a regular PVC adapter, threaded on one end and female on the other but all PVC and with a lock nut securing the adapter inside the box, and neither PG&E nor the city inspector said dick about it. That said, I have no confidence that A) PG&E crew would give a poo poo or bother to do anything that wouldn't allow them to complete the job as soon as possible, and I know this because when I found the missing washers for the bolts that hold the service connectors onto the lugs they said they'd just have put them in without the washers (on a 320 amp connection), and B) my inspector clearly was trusting that everything was correct because the parts he did see were, in his words, so much better than the usual standard of work he's seen from electricians  . I'm not an electrician, to be clear.However this was also an underground feed coming into the bottom of the box so water intrusion is much less of a concern. I also can't tell you if the RMC hub to RMC/PVC TA is actually correct because I honestly don't remember how I got to that point, but since I was trying to do everything by code I think it might be the "right" way? I'd wait for one of the actual electricians to confirm. If you uh, want a 3" RMC to PVC term adapter, slightly rusted, and hub, I'm happy to send it for a few bucks and shipping.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2024 20:44
|
|
|
Coming in from the bottom of the box, a regular PVC male with locknut and bushing is just fine.
|
|
#
?
May 12, 2024 21:10
|
|
|
Well poo poo
FuzzySlippers fucked around with this message at 01:17 on May 14, 2024 |
|
#
?
May 12, 2024 22:16
|
|
|
Turns out my plans have to change because that outlet in the garage on a 20 amp circuit is wired with 14/2 wire. Not sure if I should undertake a big wiring project to get proper wiring to the garage or just change the breaker.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2024 01:20
|
|
|
FuzzySlippers posted:Turns out my plans have to change because that outlet in the garage on a 20 amp circuit is wired with 14/2 wire. Not sure if I should undertake a big wiring project to get proper wiring to the garage or just change the breaker. Definitely change the breaker for now to get it safe. Then consider rewiring.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2024 04:36
|
|
|
I had a handyman come over and straighten out a lighting sconce that was tilting. Now, whenever I plug something into an outlet in that room that's electrically heftier than a lamp, the breaker in the basement trips and says ARC FAULT. This is the case even if the sconce is not turned on. What could cause this? Is it pure coincidence?
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2024 19:45
|
|
|
KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:I had a handyman come over and straighten out a lighting sconce that was tilting. Now, whenever I plug something into an outlet in that room that's electrically heftier than a lamp, the breaker in the basement trips and says ARC FAULT. This is the case even if the sconce is not turned on. What could cause this? Is it pure coincidence? Nope. Arc faults are triggered by wiring problems. It's time to call that handyman back and tell him he's not done yet.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2024 19:58
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2024 00:45 |
|
|
I have a stupid question. I'm looking into serious solar/batt, at the level of "I would like to have my home permanently disconnected from the grid" (whether this will legally be possible is another matter since PG&E is an evil monopoly reinforced by the state codes, so it'll probably end up being a manual transfer switch after the meter). For the following discussion, please ignore costs - I know this will be shockingly expensive but telling me it won't pay back soon doesn't apply because you're almost certainly thinking of what utility power costs you, perhaps $0.10-$0.20 per kWH, which is not the $0.43-$0.54/kWH I'm currently paying that's scheduled to go up again soon. Also, bottom line, gently caress PG&E, I will spend extra money out of sheer spite just to never give them another dime. For this I'm estimating needing somewhere around 100 kWH storage and 60 kW inverter output with a 20-30 kW array, so not LG Resu or other ~10 kW batteries. For some context, I want to be able to run a 40A oven, 50A induction cooktop, 20-30A heat pump water heater, and two 50A car chargers all at once - not that I would be be at full load regularly, but if I do this I'm not interested in living like I'm in an off grid cabin in the woods or in an RV trying to squeeze every watt. HVAC I'd change to minisplits, so that might not be a huge load (figure two 15A 240 circuits). Since this would be fully off grid through a manual transfer switch I shouldn't need an inverter compatible with UL 1741, as I understand it, though the new NEC requirements about shutdown signals would presumably apply and I'm fully on board with that. However, it appears that most of the higher end inverters are 3-phase output, presumably because there's not a lot of demand residentially for this level of output and they're aimed at small commercial environments. My question is, what would be the best / most efficient way to hook this into resi split-phase panels? I'm presuming that wiring a few subpanels between phases (i.e. panel 1 is between legs 1 and 2, panel 2 is between legs 2 and 3) isn't necessarily great because the power is only 120 degrees out of phase not 180 and it'll also be 208V and not 240, which from what I've seen depending on equipment may be fine or things may not work. The other option seems like a giant 3-phase to split phase transformer, which sounds very inefficient. Is one of these two options really what's commonly done, or is there something else I'm not thinking of that isn't "change all your equipment to 3phase" or "just get 10 regular residential solar batteries and a bunch of 5kW inverters in parallel"?
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2024 22:09
|
|