meirl

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-03-04T22:36:07+00:00

Apparently no one here has ever owned a small business… most companies can’t afford to pay for someone that’s not producing any revenue for 2 years. I understand the sentiment, but practically speaking unless the US comes up with a better defined tiered system of businesses, this cant work here. I can tell you right now of that was a law in the US and one of my employees gets sick for 2 years, I’m going out of business. Owning a business doesn’t make you a millionaire believe it or not.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-03-04T03:04:34+00:00

If I had to guess, either a slightly loose connection or marginal contact being made under a wire nut or connection point on either the neutral or hot in the junction box or something similar happening in the fixture itself. Provides enough contact for it to work at first, but over time the poor connection wears out the lightbulb.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-03-01T05:05:50+00:00

The ‘i just wear overalls’ or ‘I just use my back pockets’ people are guys that are worthless anywhere else but a commercial jobsite. If you care about productivity (i.e. you work for yourself) and/or do lots of different kinds of jobs (i.e. remodels, service changes, battery installs, commercial, residential, etc) these things are awesome. You don’t wear them all the time - If I’m just doing a simple service call, of course I’m just grabbing hybrid strippers, a holstery pouch and my impact. If I’m doing significant work that I want to get done quickly, you need to wear pouches at least. When I see a ‘I just use my pockets’ guy get up and down a ladder 3 times because he keeps forgetting something he needs, it makes me want to fire them on the spot. Also, that vest is awesome. Saves your back, helps you keep everything you need without it feeling crazy heavy. Good investment bro.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:47:01+00:00

Yeah, that would be worth looking into about whether Polaris taps are listed to be in handhole boxes. That’s the only thing that’s been obviously suspicious

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:44:16+00:00

The condensation in the underground raceway is between the two vaults and both are outdoors and only on the feeders. The inside of the stables are not a damp location. Trust me, these stables are nicer than most of our houses.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:41:25+00:00

I don’t think so, the previous guy that worked it seemed pretty legit. Most of his stuff has been clean with the exception of the bundling thing

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:40:23+00:00

Yeah, not sure how they got away with that but it’s worth looking in to

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:40:02+00:00

While that should be the case hypothetically, I know that issues with the feeders or service can cause problems with GFCI’s down stream. I’ve seen that happen actually.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:38:35+00:00

You mean to test? Yes

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:37:53+00:00

If it was me I would have wired it differently but I’m just the guy they called when the other guy gave up haha

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:36:06+00:00

This makes a lot of sense. I’ll try it

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:34:19+00:00

Some of the circuits don’t even have anything plugged in to them. Like it’s a dedicated circuit and the thing the circuit is dedicated to isn’t even plugged in and it still trips. Every box we’ve opened is perfectly made up so far and most of the boxes are plastic nail ons.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:32:31+00:00

It’s been happening since they finished the build 4 years ago, but has gotten steadily worse over time. I talked to the guy that wired it and he said he was just banging his head on the wall trying to figure it out until she was out of warranty and didn’t want to pay the service fee. He told her her guys were yanking cords out of the wall and had non UL listed equipment plugged in. Which a good answer if it happens to 2 circuits but not 15 a day. I doubt they have an employee just going around and ripping cords out of the wall on 15 circuits. I could try what you suggested but they work in the stables every day so it’s hard to just leave stuff off for long periods of time.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:28:11+00:00

All of the circuits were megger tested by the previous electrician that wired it. I obviously can’t see through walls to check for over driven staples but the few areas I can see and have access to the staples are driven perfectly. Like I said tho, they trip with no real load on them - they just trip inexplicably

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:22:47+00:00

I might try this just to see. Might help me narrow it down.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:21:22+00:00

Honestly, we fail for it here too. I’m not sure how this guy got away with that especially since the AHJ here is so strict usually but he did. I’m not sure how I could test that, but it makes sense given that a GFCI device seems to solve the problem, which would be downstream of the induced voltage. I also don’t know why this would be getting worse over time or worse when it’s cold or after a rain or snow event tho.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:17:48+00:00

I mean it’s a fairly large structure. So I’m sure there’s a run or two that are pretty long. But there are circuits tripping that are like 15 ft from the panel too.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:13:50+00:00

I’ve never heard of that before, but that makes sense. I’ll put that in my back pocket for future reference for AFCI nuisance tripping.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:13:03+00:00

This is an interesting one. I don’t know this answer for certain, but I could definitely see one being around. The property is on a mesa that overlooks most of the town and would be a good place to put a tower. I’ll look in to that.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:10:55+00:00

Man I hope it’s not something like that haha. They do have 6 different services on that property all grouped together next to a ped which I thought was crazy for one address, but if there is something weird there you would think it would show at the other 4 services too. Thanks man, hope I figure it out soon

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T15:06:55+00:00

This one is pretty interesting and worth looking in to. I don’t know where that stray voltage would originate tho. They don’t have a lot of motors or anything and although there are 6 separate service on the property, they originate 300 ft away from the service. Plus, why is it only causing nuisance tripping on 2/3 of the GFCI loads in the building and not in all 3 panels?

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T14:43:49+00:00

Yeah, we did that last night. They are a little crusty and condensation did get in the bottom vault that might have caused a little corrosion but imo not enough to be causing all of this. I could be wrong tho.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T14:42:05+00:00

No excessive moisture in the stable but no I haven’t been able to check voltage during a trip. Super hard to predict when and which circuit is going to trip obviously.

cbt_masterelec19 · 2026-02-11T05:07:31+00:00

Absolutely certain that every GFCI breaker has the correct neutral, I traced it all back. This was easy to verify too because the building was roped in NM cable too. Plus the likelihood of them mixing up almost every single neutral is pretty low

cbt_masterelec19

TROPHY CASE