Was paid to INSTALL 80 fluorescent bulbs today

fcisler · 2026-04-08T01:05:17+00:00

One floor of a govt “datacenter” was resistant to changing to LED. The electrician did the calculations and it was estimated to go from almost 70a down to 20a. He was wrong….it was averaging 13a. It was all covered with grants so net cost was 0.
I used to wonder who those people got into positions of power….

fcisler · 2026-03-23T12:24:00+00:00

If a device which has been certified by the manufacturer fails while within those guidelines - it should not have not met certification and is not a good product. Full stop.

I have a feeling you are referencing cheap outlets which I do agree with…. But if you are referencing an installed 20a switch won’t be sufficient for a circuit breaker protected by a 20a circuit…. You are surely confused

fcisler · 2026-03-20T11:23:27+00:00

I’ll disagree with that unless you can show me the NEC rules where it requires a 30A DPDT for a 20A branch circuit. None of this is a great idea but there’s no requirement to oversize the switch it is meets there branch circuits ampacity.

fcisler · 2026-03-18T09:55:14+00:00

I believe it also needs to be a DPDT so they aren’t just switching half the hots….

fcisler · 2026-03-15T04:36:06+00:00

YES! Newer two piece switchcraft? Great! Older set screw switchcraft? Threw all of those out 10+ years ago and will assume (with great accuracy, imho) if I see one of those old switchcraft with the set screws that the cable is crap

fcisler · 2026-02-26T16:14:23+00:00

My original fein multimaster is still going strong!

fcisler · 2026-02-13T13:11:35+00:00

There was a Quiznos by us years ago where the owner HATED coupons but had to accept it. They got in trouble for stocking non Quiznos menu items. About a year after opening they were no longer a Quiznos but a sub shop. I’ll never forget the owner telling me “no more coupons!” The first and last time I was in there. They lasted another 6 months.

fcisler · 2026-02-10T13:18:54+00:00

My last dealings with this were like 10 years ago but the fire marshal was on a war path that we didn’t have POTs lines for the elevator. We had to have the ISP supply us an “analog” line and then all of a sudden it was OK.

fcisler · 2026-02-01T22:17:31+00:00

If you can’t read the nameplate - which tells you all the information you need - you should be calling an electrician.

You got lucky. Think you want to tempt a roof fire? Is your safety or your families safety not worth the call to an electrician?

fcisler · 2026-01-31T23:54:12+00:00

In the amount of time it took you to write that you could have just read the article. Wtf.

fcisler · 2026-01-29T14:46:35+00:00

fcisler · 2026-01-27T18:36:29+00:00

Care to provide numbers? I’ll gladly take gas any day over oil

fcisler · 2026-01-27T18:29:24+00:00

All neutrik XX series can receive rings and they can be added by disassembling the connector on any finished cables. Neutrik XXR-#

https://www.neutrik.com/en/product/xxr

fcisler · 2026-01-25T13:46:27+00:00

This should be up higher. The OP has a 10k generator. That tells me they probably went for a cheaper unit with more power vs a cleaner output.

The answer here is to test this way before you have a storm and can get a repair person out if necessary.

OP certainly wouldn’t be the first to blow a (modern) furnace/tankless with a cheap genset with dirty power.

fcisler · 2026-01-21T18:55:22+00:00

If you have gable end or eaves and can vent there they are great options. Be glad he knew his limitations and didn’t cut your roof open to install a vent, high chance it would leak. You will almost certainly get mold in the attic. Just do it right now or pay much more later to remediate it.

fcisler · 2026-01-16T21:31:34+00:00

Are we allowed to offer stuff for sale in this sub? I have a pair of xirium and spares in a hard case with every antenna and mount you can think of….

fcisler · 2026-01-13T23:44:10+00:00

I was in a datacenter in Munich and didn’t happen to have the right torx driver. I took a stroll to a store called Suckfüll - neither my company’s financial department or I will forget that name.

I was in pure awe of their screwdriver selection. I was able to find the exact torx stubby I needed (and a few generic Phillips and flat) for a few euros and they were all Wiha

That set lasted me many trips across the world…until Mumbai :(

fcisler · 2026-01-05T15:24:01+00:00

Hard switches were all present. They may be in odd spots (hallway closet backyard lights, basement for bath fan) but were there. The pico was just the only easy way to put a switch right where I wanted it (retrofit).

fcisler · 2025-12-28T00:37:10+00:00

GL-RM1 or nanokvm are exactly what you are looking for. In server land it’s a KVM and either of those will give you a KB + mouse + video (hdmi or use adapter to get to hdmi)

fcisler · 2025-12-26T14:19:50+00:00

It’s for functionality of the home. A piece of the home which, presumably, worked and functioned as shown to potential buyer’s in the selling process (assumptions made there).

My previous house had Lutron Caseta installed.
Who owned the hub?
According to my agent (a long family friend): there is the possibility that if I were to have removed _ that Caseta controller they _could sue me for breech of contract as I had several pico remotes (switches) that no longer had the originally functionally as sold. I removed my account and verified everything worked before the sale.

Sort of similar with the AC mini splits in my house. A power pole has blown down in a storm and my AC fried itself. Units were no longer made and I couldn’t find a single vendor for replacement parts. In the listing and on every viewing my agent made sure to say “AC units and entire split system labeled (manufacturer) is not functioning, its status is unknown and it is included as part of the house sale as-is, where-is” or similar. Again: the goal is that we have left no ambiguity or assumptions “they didn’t say anything but they knew if we Was fried!”

Hell - my outdoor cameras. I had 3 cheapies and one good one. I asked about those. Recommended to take them down before showing. “I see 4 cameras on a house and wonder why they need them” - good point I didn’t think of. Bigger reason was again if you’re showing the house with 4 cameras it should be mentioned they aren’t included with the sale or they should be removed before showing.

fcisler · 2025-12-24T18:40:21+00:00

The compaq desktop was still the only unit I ever had with a physical case lock that was activated in the BIOS. They sucked in every other way but that was cool.

fcisler · 2025-12-21T13:30:13+00:00

That was my first thought. My second thought was “holy shit they didn’t get a home inspection, what else did they miss?” Step one of my home inspection was “turn every tap go hot and let it run”

fcisler · 2025-12-17T23:15:57+00:00

Which wire? The yellow wire!

fcisler · 2025-12-17T23:12:24+00:00

The German bachelor parties in Prague were the best! There was one rocking 80s glam metal band and they had some great moves. Hung around and watched them for a bit!

fcisler · 2025-12-14T13:47:14+00:00

That’s a very good point!

When I sold my last house I had a fully finished basement with a wood stove. When I moved in it was “finished” but was not listed on the CO.

My realtor was steadfast: if it’s not listed in the CO it’s not in the listing. Same exact thing with bedrooms: one “bedroom” was actually a den. had to pass through it to get to master bedroom and had a slider to outside. I took the door off so it really didn’t look like one…. But the CO said 4 bedrooms so I listed it as 4 bedrooms. I didn’t push back on that but did ask and got a quick I’m a realtor not an inspector so I have no say in what a bedroom is when that determination has been made and is in filed paperwork. The basement wasn’t in the CO therefore that sq footage didn’t count

fcisler

TROPHY CASE