Spyke
electricians·Electriciansbyanytimesoon

Follow up to my question about outdoor lamps

Please check out my previous post here.

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who helped me with my last question. Hopefully you can help me again...

I had a look at my setup, and the system actually has 70 lamps. That implies that each one likely draws 0.1W (if I understand this correctly) given that the transformer has a Max output of 9W.

I'm having a hard time finding lamps that fit this spec, so now I'm wondering if I could simply change the transformer. Do I risk melting the wires or burning my house down doing something like this?

Follow up to my question about outdoor lampshttps://lemmy.world/post/50329976Open linkView original on piefed.social
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electricians·Electriciansbyanytimesoon

Help! I dont understand my lighting, and need help figuring out which lamps I need

A couple years ago, I bought a string of led festoon lamps. This was a cheap purchase from a Chinese seller on Amazon, who is no longer actively trading. The strings came with a couple spare lamps, but now they have all been used up and I need to find some new ones. The issue is that the packaging has no indication of their spec, and the lamps themselves have no markings on them, so this is quite tricky.

I tried getting these. They fit in the socket, so thats a good start, but they don't light up.

Before I go out searching for something again, can someone help me figure out if it's a lost cause and I should just buy a new string or if it is possible to work out what type of lamp I require. The picture is of the plug/transformer. It's the only info I have to go off...

View original on piefed.social
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electricians·Electriciansbydohpaz42

Question About Power Supply Rating vs. Multimeter Reading (Solved)

Back story:

For the past year I have a set of LEDs in my kitchen, and recently they started turning off, changing brightness, switching to different modes all by themselves. I thought maybe the controller went bad and was failing, so I replaced it a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday they started exhibiting similar behaviors again.

So I’m wondering now if the power supply is failing and it’s causing the controller to do weird things.

I grabbed my multimeter to see what kind of voltage the power supply is putting out, and it’s giving me 52V. The power supply is supposed to give 24V output (see screenshot below), so I’m confused and was hoping someone could help me understand why I’m getting over 2x the voltage?

I do apologize if this is not the right place. I saw an askelectronics community, but their rules say no electrical, and at this juncture I believe my question is electrical. If there is a better place for this kind of question, I would appreciate a pointer to the better place.

Edit:

I am a dummy. Less so as of right now, but yeah, it was user error. So I learned today that the multimeter can read both DC and AC voltages, and my power supply is 24V in DC, while I was reading it in AC. 🤦‍♂️ Once I switched to using DC, the power supply read 24V (in multiple outlets).

View original on lemmy.world

(MN:USA) Becoming liscensed without an apprenticeship?

So I'm a refrigeration mechanic and I want to continue being a refrigeration mechanic. I love my job and I have no interest in becomming a full time electrician. However having the certs to do some light electrical work would be very helpful in my job because my state is very strict about what you can and can't do without being a licensed electrician. It is tremendously annoying that I can rewire an entire rooftop airhandler running 480V 3phase and drawing 100A without breaking any laws but I would be breaking the law if I replaced a faulty breaker in a pannel or fixed a miswired disconnect switch. I can't even run thermostat wire here without a low voltage cert. But as far as I can tell the only way to get those certs would be to quit my job which I love and apprentice for several years under an electrician. I don't want to wire up entire electrical panels or setup industrial motor drive cabinets, but being able to ocasionally replace a bad GFCI outlet or a crappy disconnect would be nice.

Is there any way to become licensed to do even light electrical work without having to quit my current job?

View original on lemmy.dbzer0.com
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electricians·Electriciansbyscuppie

Extractor fan replacement

Hi all. Looking for advice, my fan died so I bought a replacement to find it's not the same model. It's too late for an eBay return now.

I have pretty much zero electrics knowledge beyond wiring a plug 15 years ago. I work in IT so "open it, move each wire one to one, one by one" didn't seem too challenging. But I have a two wire fan to replace a three wired one. I believe I lose the timer function?

So should I just buy the right one and go with Plan A? It's a small bathroom only about three times the size of the shower cubicle. I remember being told I would need more throughput than the cheap thing in place when I moved in. This one would only stay on as long as the light is on, is that right, so not expelling moisture for a while after use?

Should I still use this one but get it installed by a professional if it's not like for like? I've identified the breaker for the lights, have bought a voltage tester screwdriver thingy, will stand on a wooden stool and hold my belt behind my back with my left hand. That's all the safety awareness I have.

Thanks in advance. UK based if it makes a difference. "Image uploads appear to be down" in my lemmy app so apologies, will try to add photos later.

View original on lemmy.blahaj.zone
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electricians·Electriciansbych8zer

How to wire bathroom fan timer

Hi all. I have a bathroom fan on a simple switch but wanted to upgrade it to a time. When I pulled the switch out of the wall I found one ground wire, and a singe wire with some of the sheathing removed to loop around the other terminal.

Can I cut the looped wire and connect it to the load / line on the timer? Then I connect the ground to the uncapped ground/neutral on the switch?

Edit: the advice worked.

I put the unlooped black wire with one of the black wires on the timer. I cut the black loop and tied the two wires to another black wire on the timer. I put another grounding wire on the metal box and attached it to ground. Likewise, I pigtailed the neutral bundle and connected to neutral.

It took a few tries to get the box to close correctly since the timer is so big, but it worked out! Thanks again all.

View original on lemmy.ca
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electricians·Electriciansbybobs_monkey

That ain't gonna file down

Bonus:

Service call for a smoking main 200a breaker. Ended up shifting the entire bussing up to get fresh bus clips, covered the top of the bussing protruding beyond the backing with a comical amount of mastic, installed a new main breaker, and told the client they need to change that service yesterday. Old 80s/90s Crouse-Hinds, those mains are garbage.

View original on lemmy.zip
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electricians·Electriciansbyvimmiewimmie

Help Finding Extension Cord, 250v, 50amp outlet?

Hello,

I'm trying to shop around for a possible extension cord for this 250v, 50amp outlet.

We'd be trying to use an electric dryer from this, but would preferably have it extend nearer a window on the other side of a garage (~25-30 ft, generous measurement). We'd likely pick up an older, used, basic dryer model, and not sure what those electrical needs will specifically be, but trying to plan ahead in case something needs to be altered.

This is the closest I've found which might work:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/VEVOR-Extension-Cord-25-ft-10-Wire-Gauge-Heavy-Duty-Outdoor-Welder-Extension-Cord-with-3-Prong-30-Amp-Power-Extension-HJLJQ10-3-25FTYCXV1/320761106

Most other cords with 3 prongs had them sort of curved/circular. Yet, this says only 30 amps.

Is there different or specific wording which might assist my search? Or would something like the above cord work for our situation?

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I appreciate any advice or directions.

View original on slrpnk.net
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electricians·Electriciansbyvimmiewimmie

Help, Locating Breaker for 250v outlet.

Hello,

Thank you for stopping to read my post.

I am trying to help my grandmother locate the breaker for a 250v outlet as she needs a new dryer in her house and is switching from gas to electric.

If the picture came through correctly, would anyone here have any suggestions on which of these might be connected to said outlet?

From what I could find online so far, it's supposedly one of the breakers with two switches attached together. I'm just not sure which, as the outlet itself says 50amps and none of these specifically list that number on (what I assume) is the amp amount marked on the switches. All the electrical at this house is so disorganized no one knows what's what right now (which I am definitely going to hire an electrician to remedy soon). And I also don't have anything to plug into the outlet to simply switch things on/off and see if power gets cut to it and she needs a dryer sooner than we'll be able to hire said electrician.

I'm hoping to test the outlet before getting her a dryer, as it just hasn't been use for almost 2 decades, which I read requires switching off the breaker for the outlet prior to connecting a multimeter but I'm limited on what I'm familiar with electrically, and money is extremely limited so trying to save her money by doing what I can before getting an electrician called in for anything significant.

Any advice, suggestions, or direction are greatly appreciated.

Either way, thank you again for taking the time.

View original on slrpnk.net
electricians·Electriciansbyentwine413

Sanity Check: Smart Light Switch, No Neutral

I was installing a TP-link HS210 3-way smart switch in my dinning room. On the side with the mains power I do have a neutral wire, but on the other switch I have no neutral wire from the wall (for that breaker). I do have a switch that's on the kitchen breaker right next to it, though, and that has a neutral and ground.

In my breaker box, both the neutral and grounds appear to be on the same row of lugs.

Running the neutral wire from the switch to the ground works, and I'm thinking it's because it's all going to the same place. This specific switch didn't explicitly say to do this, but other switches I've installed did.

Now, I could run the switch's neutral to the neutral on the kitchen circuit. I didn't at first because I had the other switch wired wrong, so I thought it was the no neutral switch causing issues.

View original on lemm.ee
8

Help securing some bare three-phase wiring outdoors

I sold my hot tub 😢. We ended up just decoupling this conduit and cutting the line. I’d like some advice on the best way to simply cap these off in a way that doesn’t become a problem later when I move out.

Not an electrician, just hoping somebody is nice enough to help out.

The electrician who installed it basically “stole” the connection that goes to the garage to install this. I’m still not exactly sure what he did behind that box, but I think I’ll have to figure that one out later.

Any help appreciated!

View original on lemmy.world
4

More weird potential offsets

Some of you may recall my previous post about a ~20V potential between my electrical ground and my concrete slab. That's still not resolved - it's currently sitting just under 10V.

Today I have a new mystery - to me anyway..

I'm sitting at my desk and notice that I got a tingle from the outer shield/shell of a USB-C cable. I got my multi-meter and measured 65V from the cable to me with my bare feet on the slab! It drops to about 16V if I lift my feet off the floor. I immediately assumed the charging brick it's plugged into was faulty, but just in case I took a more measurements and found that the another similar charger has a similar offset, the "ground" part of a TRS cable plugged into an amplifier is similar, the accessible metal shield part of a USB-A port on an ASUS ChromeBox is similar. I assume that's not normal?

This is a new slab on grade build. Ground and neutral are properly bonded - I checked a few outlets and ground to neutral is ~0.3V.

Edit - I don't think there is any safety risk - I measured 0.3μA current.

View original on lemmy.ca
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