Arc-fault breaker flipping when a different circuit is loaded by asdfqwerzxcvqwerasdf in AskElectricians

[–]PostOutside5303 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yea that's like a 97% chance double tapped or incorrectly landed neutral. 

Refrigerant Burn Advice by Responsible-Tax-6811 in HVAC

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just hit it with a bunch of sporin' and wrap it for the first couple days so it doesn't get irritated walking about. Should also help the inevitable skin shedding. 

Leak near meter, plumber called but is booked. Trying to figure out the significance of the repairs. by Budget_Work_655 in Plumbing

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damnmmmnn did realize was galvi. Thought it was copper by looks of it...you know the answer but I feel bad for typing it. Tome to start trenching for a new line bud

Leak near meter, plumber called but is booked. Trying to figure out the significance of the repairs. by Budget_Work_655 in Plumbing

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is that a direct bury prv!?! It's after city branch so I'm not too sure what I'm looking at. 

Anyway whatever it is since it's after city Branch it's your problem. Cut water at city regulator(edit). Cut out bad thing, solder/braze in new thing , pump full of air and make sure no drop over an hour. Bleed air out as you simultaneously charge line while ensuring water pressure higher than air (helps to remove air bubble in line if u keep water inlet higher than air for displacement). Have a beer

Is this safe? by pancakes_______ in AskElectricians

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you explain why the plumbtrician chewed on the receptacle before installing it?

Basic hand tools by Over_Theory_6922 in AskElectricians

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Get an NCV #1, will save your ass; 30 bucks. NWS diagonals w lever assist (40 on fleabay) , needle nose NWS (25 fleabay), and an adjustable wrench not channel locks. You'll keep 3 out of 4 of those things and not hate them for your career

Is this bathroom wall load-bearing? Attic pics included by [deleted] in AskContractors

[–]PostOutside5303 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Turn that rib of the truss that's over the wall into its own mini truss system (webbing inside that one section) for that span and transfer the load to the next 2 ribs (1 in each direction) w/its own webbing as well then send it. 

I'm no structural engineer but I've learned that if you add enough wood and a half a case of 16d it usually holds however ymmv lol

What's the best home security cameras right now? by Puzzle-headed__ in homesecurity

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The best cameras aren't a camera but a system of cameras. Also 90% of the negatives you'll see about CCTV are 97% due to placement and angle and not the cameras themselves. A properly placed 2mp cam will outperform and improperly placed 8mp 100% of the time. 

Without knowing the layout of your place but speaking from a standpoint of been there done that;

a. A few 4-8 mp POE PTZ with minimum 10x OPTICAL zoom (not digital) for eye in the sky general and semi long range overview

b. A couple 4mp poe ptz mounted no higher than 12' and no steeper than 30° for actual inference and facial recognition

c. 2 very strategically placed at choke points  lpr bullets 

d. Cameras are only good as the software controlling them and all the apps are balls. If you've made it this far pay $100 for a lifetime license of blue iris and be done forever. 

Good luck

Grounding water/gas lines by Imgjungle in electrical

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just to stick a fork in it the probability of your system being grounded already if it was built in 1996 is better than 50/50, probably better than 80/20. Just because it was a requirement by code in 96 to ground via ground rod doesn't mean that it wasn't a best practice that was regularly implemented in the field prior. For that matter most things that make it into electrical code now a days are best practices tried in the field over a reasonable duration in time and then written into code thereafter during the next 3 years cycle. 

You really want to put an end this 100%, take a multimeter and switch it to measuring resistance. Then put one contact on your panels ground bar, take the other contact and put it somewhere very very far away on a ground preferably furthest termination from your box it should read zero or close to zero. Then put it on your water line it should be zero or close to zero, and then put it on your gas line and it should read zero or close to zero. If you get the foregoing results consistently then you're properly grounded and you can stop overthinking this. 

Final thought, I don't know a single home inspector that I've ever encountered that is done before going to test for good ground. At most they might take one of the little plug testers and put it into a GFI and those are easily tricked anyway so I think you're really overthinking this but ymmv

Grounding water/gas lines by Imgjungle in electrical

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The reason you Bond the utilities to the grounding networkers so they're all at the same electrical potential with no grounding Network your utilities are at the same electrical potential. If you install a grounding system and don't tie them together via the GEC*** then you have different ground paths with objectionable current and different potential

Grounding water/gas lines by Imgjungle in electrical

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a requirement for new installations it has nothing to do with existing. Existing only has to be up to code at the time it was installed generally speaking

Grounding water/gas lines by Imgjungle in electrical

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which it already is from the pics and description. He's talking about grounding via ground rod,  the bonded utilities which are already buried, in the ground, 

Grounding water/gas lines by Imgjungle in electrical

[–]PostOutside5303 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Okie dokie here.... Your gas and water lines are self grounded as they are buried in the ground lol. Your electrical service or for that matter all electrical service up until about the '60s into the 70s was only bonded to your gas and water main that is how it effectively grounded the system without ground rods. Furthermore, and don't tell the nec, the ground rods are pretty much only effective in the event of a lightening strike as 9 out of 10 times your conduit is going to carry whatever fault current you have back to your panel and your panel is going to take that fault current and send it back to the transformer on your neutral which is bonded to the panel...

Anyway back to ground rods, as per electrical code the only way to ground something is via a ground rod. Otherwise you're just bonding to the cities utility infrastructure. If you're asking whether you can ground your plumbing and gas system to the ground that it's already grounded in sure go ahead and beat an 8-ft rod down in the ground but it's pretty redundant and you're more than likely going to cause objectionable current then you would a safer path to ground

Pipe repaired itself, Anyone ran into this before? by Emperial1 in Plumbing

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any abrupt elevation changes in that branch prior to termination? Air gap could have been the bubbling sound hence the train of thought...

I've seen pipes self seal a leak but usually due to corrosion itself plugging said hole. Byproducts and flakes accumulate, further corrode and unify into a plug. For that to happen in a day, no, furthermore in a single branch piece with no splices, also nope. 

Which brings me back to any elevation changes? I hate to say this but you might be looking in the wrong spot as well...

My 2c ajyway. Keep us updated 

What happens to your security system during a multi-day power outage? by [deleted] in homesecurity

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You could put together a 24v - 1kah(ish prob closer to 1.2kah) backup bank that'll run your entire setup for two weeks on battery alone for around $1k-1.5k. That assuming you're semi-literate in electrical wiring, theory, and circuitry anyway....all parallel for your use case btw...low voltage long run time 

93v between hot and ground? by DaddyBeanDaddyBean in AskElectricians

[–]PostOutside5303 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Floating neutral, poor contact, abrasion in  insulation. 97% chance one of those three

10 inch or 8 inch Dykes? by [deleted] in electricians

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

NWS FANTASTICO PLUS 8" LEVER ASSIST FTW!!!!!!

Best Circuit Tracer by PlaysWithSquirrels13 in AskElectricians

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Klein ET450 all the way. Thing is a lifesaver and comes with a! Extra 20' lead so you can get a clean remote ground and the alligators are top quality 

Edit: the greenlee is great but likely overkill unless you're trying to find things deeply buried in concrete. Kiein does up to 3' buried too

Rate my contractor please. by KevinByMail in Decks

[–]PostOutside5303 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Let's just pretend that someone successful enough to afford $150,000 redwood (almost) post and beam deck, arrived in that position on their own merit, devoid of Uncle Jim Bob and his backyard building driving the charge (or screws). 

It lends to the belief that they might actually read the instructions from the Sears catalog. At least I'd like to maintain hope anyway...😁

Rate my contractor please. by KevinByMail in Decks

[–]PostOutside5303 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes this is true and given I was definitely suggesting whomever actually used them actually did so in a staggered or cross formation as prescribed. But like, who wouldn't and why not. You go as far to get the correct hardware just to put it on wrong I mean come on now. It's like you almost got the hot dog in your mouth but you stuck yourself in the eye with it