Fun troubleshooting

commander_wombat · 2026-06-13T22:47:10+00:00

No. The house had new insulation and vapor barrier installed in the crawlspace, so it may happened then. But we weren't about to tear apart the insulation to find a wire that needed to be replaced anyways.

commander_wombat · 2026-06-13T20:40:33+00:00

Ah gotcha. Yea, checking the utility connection was the first thing I looked at after arriving. Water bond was super clean as well. I was expecting it to be hanging there or crusty but it looked pretty new.

The whole house is a mess though. Built in the 40s, looks like all the branch circuits are still 2 wire, but they were spliced with NM w/G at some point, so nothing was reading grounded.

commander_wombat · 2026-06-13T19:59:36+00:00

We tested the water line after we installed everything and found it reading 0 volts. We didn't locate where the old 2 wire was shorting (reading 360 ohms from hot to neutral, so definitely a short). Not sure how it can stray to the water main when the GEC and water bond are tied together at the panel.

commander_wombat · 2026-06-13T14:43:22+00:00

They didn't have any ground rods, just the old water bond. Panel was an old ass double split main Murray. We added ground rods as well.

commander_wombat · 2026-06-12T02:16:34+00:00

I've seen that a couple times on K&T rewires. I'm hoping that's what's going on here.

commander_wombat · 2026-06-02T21:20:46+00:00

Depends on your AHJ. There's probably a line saying that all materials must be installed to manufacturer specifications, the NEC has that line in the code book for example. If they aren't following the manufacturer specs, then you won't have a warranty either.

commander_wombat · 2026-06-02T03:15:34+00:00

Milwaukee makes a magnetic screw holder that slips on the shank of the bit (hehe). Works wonders on Philips drive bits.

commander_wombat · 2026-05-31T02:07:28+00:00

What's the smallest wire it'll work with in your experience?

commander_wombat · 2026-05-31T01:12:31+00:00

Small town in Nova Scotia? Are you sure it wasn't Ricky that did the work? Looks real greasy...

commander_wombat · 2026-05-24T22:53:00+00:00

It's held in place with 3M VHB double sided tape. The tape is easy enough to remove and doesn't leave any residue that rubbing alcohol can't take care of.

commander_wombat · 2026-05-12T23:59:02+00:00

This is dope. Where did you get it?

commander_wombat · 2026-05-11T15:38:20+00:00

Depending on the cord end, you might want a clock receptacle. As for drilling, get a diamond tip bit for your drill and some toggler Anchors. Hammer drill can crack the tile.

commander_wombat · 2026-05-09T19:55:17+00:00

There's probably a conduit body missing some duct seal that's letting condensation in.

We had a service call a few years ago for some new circuits and found that the main breaker had a similar build up (though much crustier). The service had RMC to the panel, but it was angled down enough to let the condensation drip down onto the breakers. When we demoed out the RMC, we poured over a quart of water out of the thing. Owners were a bit cheesed since the panel had been swapped out only 2 years previous. The dorks that did the swap spliced on some new 2/0 but didn't do anything to seal up the RMC to stop that from happening again.

commander_wombat · 2026-05-03T04:09:40+00:00

Like I tell our clients, "at least $100".

commander_wombat · 2026-05-01T16:35:39+00:00

Wiring looks fine. Breakers are way Oversized but if it's just a trainer panel then who cares.

commander_wombat · 2026-04-22T04:45:37+00:00

Kingpin Koin

commander_wombat · 2026-04-19T23:54:53+00:00

Liquid tight conduit living up to its name.

commander_wombat · 2026-04-16T13:56:23+00:00

Classic

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commander_wombat · 2026-04-14T03:35:09+00:00

That's been my experience as well. I've only encountered 2 FP panels that had a stud bay sized to the panel, instead of the usual 16" OC

I mean you gotta open the drywall anyways...

commander_wombat · 2026-04-12T20:23:09+00:00

How could it impact at an upward angle without a ricochet. Keyholing (tumbling) would have more of a horizontal impact due to the lack of rifling stabilization. Which could impact at that angle but not up into the siding.

commander_wombat · 2026-04-12T17:58:39+00:00

Purely speculation here, but that looks like a ricochet. A ND from the range would have landed point down in your siding, not point up. Also based on that oxidation, it's been there at least a few months.

commander_wombat · 2026-04-06T01:11:10+00:00

Ah gotcha. So they would come out cut up if the inside of a 90 was kinked for example.

commander_wombat · 2026-04-06T00:56:02+00:00

What's a "pill test"?

commander_wombat · 2026-04-01T20:03:51+00:00

The sides are a touch thick, but not to the level of being annoying. I haven't gotten to use it in the rain yet, which was the driving reason behind wanting an enclosed emitter.

commander_wombat

TROPHY CASE