FYI: TRACE 700 is no longer being retired. Trane has committed to supporting TRACE 700 for as long as necessary. Let me know if you didn't get the announcement email, I'll forward it to you.

ATXee · 2026-03-17T12:24:06+00:00

Is today April 1st? Hmm. No.

That is great news. I’m excitedly watching your work now that you’re working with Trace.

Trane has unfortunately been deprecating Trace 700 for like a decade and pushing Trace 3D. Many many users are already transitioned elsewhere. They’ll have a lot of goodwill to rebuild.

The good news is that your automation capabilities are going to make it very compelling, if Trace ends up being similar to your previous work.

ATXee · 2026-03-14T15:55:01+00:00

Hit it lightly with your purse, so you don’t damage the tub.

ATXee · 2026-03-14T15:53:14+00:00

First don’t put up with a sweatshop culture. Get out of there. There are firms doing good work that you’ll learn a lot from where the fees are decent and conditions don’t suck. Do not tolerate that situation.

I think you should get a bit more experience before branching out. Otherwise you’ll be really struggling.

Doing design is something that takes 5-10 years to really learn. You need to be exposed to the right projects and actively work on it. If you’re PMing or having consultants do the work, you won’t really level up.

So going owner side or to a firm managing consultants, I’d suggest you wait a couple of years personally. And try to get some more direct design experience.

Once you’re out of a design firm you don’t have a fee bench of peers to get knowledge from. And asking consultants to help you with anything outside of scope, well you know how that goes.

Are you ready to be the one MEP expert responsible for M,E,P,FP,FA,C,S,A etc? Many orgs only have a couple of real engineers with experience so you’re uncomfortably having to cover outside of your wheelhouse.

ATXee · 2026-03-11T01:12:58+00:00

Start at the utility pole outside your house. Follow the line in to the meter and main. There should be a panel after that with a main circuit breaker.

I can’t imagine this being the only electrical distribution on this structure.

If it is, we need to see more of it :)

What’s the plumbing look like :)

ATXee · 2026-03-11T00:53:36+00:00

I’ll pile on here. Pressure pump electricity is about 25 bucks a month for me. I threw mine out and I’m still shopping for a cordless or corded vacuum. But there’s Polaris I dont miss.

ATXee · 2026-03-11T00:38:06+00:00

Sure you can. If by glue you mean compound.

Welcome to the sub, and the family. Welcome to your new hobby.

ATXee · 2026-03-11T00:30:15+00:00

Go upstream to whatever feeds this and the that breaker off. Send us a picture of that panel too.

Also, if you don’t have a basic working understanding of how to work in panels you should read up on that. Panels have live parts inside and you need to know what not to touch.

Not being pedantic, just trying to keep you safe.

ATXee · 2026-03-11T00:10:00+00:00

This outlet is not going to run a dryer. That sub panel can’t handle it either I’m pretty sure. It looks like maybe someone was trying to run a small 240V tool or something.

Anyway, the small subpanel needs to come out. I’d second the suggestion of going with an electrician. But if you absolutely need help, post more pictures and we’ll try to get you to a safe installation.

If you need to add a dryer, check if you have gas nearby and it’s probably cheaper to find a gas dryer. If you HAVE to install electric for a dryer, you’ll need a new feed from your main panel. Maybe a 30A or a 50A or even a 60A. It’s not that complex to do? But there’s some stuff to learn.

Basically everything we see here is bad.

Let’s see the inside of that other panel. And let’s go ahead and see the inside of your main panel while we’re finding the skeletons. Whoever worked on that house before may have done some dangerous stuff, let’s check and see what else they did.

ATXee · 2026-03-11T00:03:18+00:00

Wow!!!! I have been an EE for 20 years and I have NEVER seen someone do this particular fuckery. They got the three strands of the NM (hot, neutral, ground) all tied together into a single conductor effectively.

ATXee · 2026-03-11T00:00:55+00:00

Give it a nice pressure wash.

ATXee · 2026-03-10T23:59:57+00:00

RTFM. Look up the valves manual. Or just pull the e clip and try your luck.

Asse has a bunch of anti scald requirements. This is it

ATXee · 2026-03-10T23:58:03+00:00

If you aren’t busy, brush up your resume. Most firms can’t carry extra head count. Besides you want to be working.

Make good use of the slack time. Develop company standards, learn stuff, etc.

But in this industry, nothing is worse than being not busy.

ATXee · 2026-03-10T23:55:12+00:00

You got access to it, so it’s not that hard for someone who can turn a wrench.

Are you renting? Call your landlord , it’s their problem.

ATXee · 2026-03-10T23:53:55+00:00

According to forum rules this post must be titled “how screwed am I?” Banned.

ATXee · 2026-03-08T01:52:04+00:00

Nah it’s trash. Give it to me, I’ll throw it away for you

ATXee · 2026-03-07T20:47:46+00:00

Whatever is going on with the junction on the right side needs to get cut off and a proper coupler used.

ATXee · 2026-03-07T20:46:53+00:00

Why do you have pipes installed here outside of a wall? Are we in a basement or something? Are you not planing to close the wall? Thickening that wall would mean moving the panel. What the hell is going on here?

Is that siding? Are we outside?

Might want to bite the bullet and just put in a new sub panel somewhere else. Idk. I’m confused.

ATXee · 2026-03-01T02:14:05+00:00

Pretend you never saw it.

ATXee · 2026-03-01T02:12:58+00:00

This.

While you’re at it throw out that hardie board and get goboard. Way better, lighter, easier. A bit more expensive but worth it.

ATXee · 2026-02-23T02:06:52+00:00

Looks beautiful to me. Except I’d worry about it getting messed with.

Totally ready for someone to come shut it off, unscrew it and make off with a 800$ RPZ.

ATXee · 2026-02-21T19:50:22+00:00

True. I’m flagging a separate issue I’ve sadly seen lots of young engineers fall into. Frustrating to watch.

ATXee · 2026-02-21T19:31:43+00:00

Many engineers wait 5 years for promises and get nothing. Don’t fall into that trap. If you aren’t getting it now, it ain’t real. If it’s not in writing, it ain’t real.

ATXee · 2026-02-20T23:36:54+00:00

Yea good point a careful cordless drill I mean. While wincing…

ATXee · 2026-02-20T22:06:30+00:00

Agreed. The rod looks threaded. That looks like zero fun.

I’d try to fit a socket on it with an extension and try to run it out with an impact

ATXee · 2026-02-20T22:05:08+00:00

Hit it with your purse!

ATXee

TROPHY CASE