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| Author |
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| 25 new of 191 responses total. |
keesan
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response 32 of 191:
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Jan 29 14:52 UTC 2013 |
Before I could cook, Jim wanted me to 'translate' something he wrote (legal)
which I spent a half hour rewriting while he cooked instead. I now have 20
min to eat, what luxury. Today we are picking up some cheap light fixtures
to use for CO instead of spending a day going to Ikea for them now.
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slynne
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response 33 of 191:
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Jan 29 16:44 UTC 2013 |
resp:30 Off topic I know, but stay away from that Chinese Buffet on
Washtenaw. They had the most health violations of any restaurant I have
ever seen in Ann Arbor. Serious ones too. It is called Asia City and I
always always think of the "City Wok" South Park jokes when I drive by.
The health dept warnings really reinforced that.
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keesan
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response 34 of 191:
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Jan 29 17:29 UTC 2013 |
We have not been to that one. Hibachi Grill (discount through Feb 2 or so)
was better than average. Great Shanghai (west A2) was worse - the salad bar
consisted of iceberg lettuce and various colors of jello. The good ones have
daikon.
Today we discovered that someone had completely removed wooden stakes we had
put in above my two front property markers, but left behind one of the two
pink plastic ribbons that probably fell off one of them first. The crazies
were accusing us of removing their survey stake last year (which they had
buried under gravel - we dug it up and marked it with a yelow plastic ribbon
which disappeared shortly after). They pretended it was further east when
paving their driveway. So I can guess who did this.
Today we need to replace the two wooden stakes, put some flashing at the
bottom of the porch screening to block more rain and snow, figure out why one
motion sensor goes on in daytime and the other does not go on at all, switch
two switches, add two plastic bushings to conduit, wire in three switches,
pull two more wires for kitchen lighting, and start on bathroom lighting.
We looked for light fixtures at Restore but there was nothing suitable - lots
of track lighting parts and lots of fancy decorative stuff with glass shades.
No 48" kitchen sink cabinets and 99% of what they had was particle board so
we will make a 2x4 frame (which makes it easier to remove the sink later to
tile under and behind it). My very clever friend not only does cement board,
tiling, wiring, plumbing, and rough carpentry but enough woodworking that he
made someone kitchen counters and a coffee table out of his own tree. And
roofing but I don't need a roof now. I am not required to have kitchen
cabinets.
It is odd to have working porch lights with switches now.
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denise
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response 35 of 191:
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Jan 29 23:38 UTC 2013 |
Sindi, don't plan on going back to Hibachi Grill any time soon; they
closed last month [sign on the door] and haven't said if/when they will
be reopening.
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keesan
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response 36 of 191:
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Jan 30 00:32 UTC 2013 |
So where do we find another Chinese buffet?
We are putting up kitchen light fixtures (temporary). Two that I like have
holes spaced too far apart for the larger octagon boxes so I got a smaller
box with the right holes but the fixture is too big for it and we would need
a 6" bar which we don't have as an adaptor so put back the bigger box and
dropped a few screws which rolled away and are using a standard porcelain
light fixture (we have a few without the pull chains). This may be our first
8-hour day wiring. (Nope, leaving after 7.5 hours to go to the hardware
store, and we started with 1.5 hours at Restore - about 10 hours plus my
friend's one hour transportation). Chipotle chips for his supper.
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tod
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response 37 of 191:
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Jan 30 01:23 UTC 2013 |
Too many chinese buffet = too much sodium
I take the team to an Islamic Chinese restaurant called Mas. They don't
have sodium nor MSG. Great to avoid afternoon carbo coma. That
won't work for you since I'm in Orange County, though. You could see
about switching it up to healthier soups/salads somewhere, though.
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keesan
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response 38 of 191:
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Jan 30 03:36 UTC 2013 |
I don't like all the salt and grease either, but can stand it once a month
(actually it has been four times in two months already). We would go for the
lunch buffet most likely.
Today I had half a cold potato and a piece of bread and some fruit for lunch
around 4:30 pm, and got back early from the hardware store at 8:30 pm to find
that Jim was making me a hot supper consisting of half a steamed artichoke
and some leftover cooked squash so I cooked some macaroni and cheese for us
and we watched shower tiling videos on youtube.
What does the Islamic Chinese restaurant serve? Most Chinese buffets seem
to offer a maximum of three vegetable dishes - green beans, bok choy and mixed
vegetables with tofu. Hibachi Grill I think also had spinach.
My building friend thinks fruit is bad for him because it has carbs and
pesticides, but apparently cookies and chips are grown without either.
Normally we eat in a restaurant about once a year. Last year was twice before
we started building, both times with me treating Jim and another friend who
give blood together and needed to restore their energy.
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tod
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response 39 of 191:
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Jan 30 03:49 UTC 2013 |
OOh...Mac&Cheeze how I love thee...alas, that stuff will kill me.
Mas serves this awesome corn chowder soup and also thin sesame bread.
Anything with lamb is good. Mongolian beef is a favorite. String
beans with a sauce. They're like most chinese menu except they include
some great Halal. Honey walnut shrimp...crazy good. Chow mein..excellent.
The tea - always good..but wait for it to steep. And they put a full
condiment rack out with the jalapeno/fish sauce, or sweet/hot sauce, or
chili pepper jelly...and soy sauce (low sodium upon request.)
Sometimes, we go just for the corn chowder and sesame bread with a side of
tea. The most amazing thing is the price...absolutely the lowest in town.
They're closed on Tuesdays, though...
I like bok choy...we make that at home or leeks with olives and tomato.
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jep
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response 40 of 191:
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Jan 30 04:44 UTC 2013 |
Sindi, do you have a microwave you can take to the house you are working
on? It would allow you to improve your diet a lot, wouldn't it?
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tod
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response 41 of 191:
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Jan 30 06:00 UTC 2013 |
How about a jar of kimchee in the sunshine?
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keesan
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response 42 of 191:
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Jan 30 10:41 UTC 2013 |
We have microwave ovens but put the cooking stuff in the attic to make space
to work in. I offered to set one up to make my friend tea but he says he is
happy with water and does not mind the cold because he heats his house to 45
with wood. Yesterday got to 55 and he got overheated working. If I cooked
I would need to wash dishes with rainwater and I don't have the time.
Chow mein is American. In China corn is or at least was considered poverty
food. Green beans seem to be standard in American Chinese restaurants but
our Chinese friends never cooked them. The Chinese eat many different
vegetables related to cabbage, also pea leaves, a cookable lettuce (no salad,
considering what they fertilize with all vegetables need cooking). Our
friends were delighted to find fresh radish leaves attached to the supermarket
radishes.
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keesan
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response 43 of 191:
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Jan 30 18:27 UTC 2013 |
The metal pipes we put in the ground next to my two front survey stakes
yesterday (to replace wooden ones which mysteriously disappeared in the past
few days while the ground was thawed) are still there. I can't imagine anyone
but the crazies doing this.
Today we proved again that our first outside motion sensor, though it worked
when tested alone, does not work in series with another of the same brand on
the inside of the porch. The second one works in test mode but not otherwise.
The third has a wider angle and works at least in test mode and we need to
wait to dark to see if the photosensor part works.
We are now replacing the temporary under-stair light with a permanent one and
then wiring two more kitchen ceiling lights or maybe first the bathroom lights
since we had to open a junction box to replace a 2' with a 3' wire to the new
light. We were careful to place it where swivelling the fixture does not
cause it to hit the ceiling (I was not watching the first time it went up)
that we are required to put on the bottom of the stairs.
We just got another 100' roll of 14-2 wire (for 15A circuits) and are halfway
through our roll of 14-3 wire (used with 3-way switches and smoke alarms).
We bought 250' of 12-2 (to outlets and heaters). The smoke alarms go on the
lighting circuit and need to be wired together so if one goes off they all
go off, and they need battery backups too. They get wired in, unlike the ones
in rental apartments which complain loudly when the battery goes dead, but
you are still supposed to change backup batteries once a year. I will have
7 of them (all but bathrooms) because I want to know when something is burning
in the kitchen, the LR is a temporary bedroom, and you need one in the
basement (ours is a cellar under the porch not habitable but we are overdoing
things). Attics and crawlspaces don't need them.
The 2 and 3 in 12-2 and 14-3 are the numbers of non-ground wires: white
(neutral), black, and if there is a third wire, red. The current flows from
black or red to white, and if something goes wrong, over the bare (or green)
ground wire. 14-3 is also used when using one cable instead of two to feed
two porch lights so you only need to snake one cable through a porch column.
I had a glass of milk for breakfast again today because Jim wanted me to write
up something legal instead of cooking. No time to cook lunch either so it
will be some celery sticks and a piece of bread and some cheese.
Wire nuts (that connect the bare ends of white, black, red, or bare wires)
are now color coded - they list how many of what size they can hold (it is
a range). THe light fixture has skinny wire so needs orange nuts, the next
size is yellow, then red, and grey can hold up to 6 No 12 wires but the metal
boxes are not rated large enough for that (it needs 4x4x2.5") so we needed
to use two boxes side by side or one on top. I also have other colors of wire
nuts such as black, brown, ivory and white white are not color coded and
should probably not be used.
We got a 3-way Decora light switch to use in the bathroom door jamb so we
don't bump into it as easily. There is a large selection of light switches
including GFCI with nightlight (for bathrooms), dimmer switches (up to $35).
The standard 2-way switches without lighted innards are about $1 but the 4-way
are about $14 (not many sold). We have mostly 3-way because the rooms have
2 or more doors so we can walk in circles - makes the house act bigger.
There are double pole switches to switch two lights on separate circuits,
switches combined with outlets or pilot lights (a lighted switch does the same
- lighted when off).
Outlets come in ungrounded (no longer used), 15A grounded which are now
required to be tamper proof in new construction (a stupid kid will have to
poke screwdrivers in both sides to get electrocuted), which can also be
weather resistant (required on porches or outside), 20A 120V (rare, supposedly
for some appliance), and 240V outlets for air conditioners (20A). Most
outlets are duplex but you can get singles (for one refrigerator). 30A for
dryers or 40A or 50A for stoves (240V). My builder friend says there are also
motor home plugs to plug your trailer into (we don't have any of those).
It is male not female, meaning the pins stick out of it.
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rcurl
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response 44 of 191:
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Jan 30 19:40 UTC 2013 |
"The current flows from black or red to white....."
Not with AC. The current oscillates back and forth between the black and
white wires.
An interesting factoid is the average speed of the electrons at 1 ampere
in a 14 gauge wire. "Flow" is hardly the word for it...about 5 inches
per hour.
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nharmon
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response 45 of 191:
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Jan 30 20:13 UTC 2013 |
Physicists make terrible electricians. Be forewarned.
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keesan
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response 46 of 191:
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Jan 30 20:22 UTC 2013 |
The current flows "between" black or red and white?
We now have all four kitchen ceiling light fixtures up and will proceed to
figuring out how to bring unswitched power to bathroom light and how/where
to put in the two three-way switches (without colliding with the plumbing pipe
which is not yet there). One fixture per hour is our top rate (about the
same as one 3x5' cement board per hour installed or skim coated).
They all come apart again before putting up the ceiling, and we switch from
deep octagonal to shallow round boxes and from porcelain light fixtures to
$10 Ikea fixtures that will take cheap Chinese GU10 LED bulbs. My other
friend has a drywall lift we will borrow. We need to exactly place the
fixtures, cut a small hole in the drywall to match the wire location, screw
something through the drywall, fit it all together while raising the drywall.
I will understand it better when I see it. We are doing surface wiring and
holding the fixtures up by the drywall with a large round plate above.
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keesan
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response 47 of 191:
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Jan 30 20:29 UTC 2013 |
So who is a physicist? Rane is a chemical engineer and my builder a
mechanical engineer, computer programmer, and former college maintenance
person (and baker - he was trading a few dozen loaves a week for a meal
contract).
Taking apart the front hall motion sensor to attach a wire from the series
of kitchen light fixtures and switches. The sensor goes to a junction box,
as will bathroom light and switches, and living room lights and switches.
A junction box is a square (or maybe rectangular) box with a cover plate that
you make connections inside of. It has to be accessible but I think we are
allowed to cover the wall it is in with a screwed-on piece of plywood.
Ours is under the stairs for indoor lighting, and under the electric panel
for outdoor lighting (a double box with six cables total). The junction box
for outdoor power (and cellar and porches) has two outlets in it too.
From the lighting junction boxes we have cables to the electric panel.
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keesan
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response 48 of 191:
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Jan 30 21:13 UTC 2013 |
Everything hooked up - the two old lights that used to work,
with their switches, four new lights and three switches in
the kitchen. We put the breaker back on and it tripped.
Will report back when the mystery is solved.
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keesan
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response 49 of 191:
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Jan 30 21:45 UTC 2013 |
To link agora 37 to diy conference I went to diy conference and typed link
agora 37, and it is now linked to diy 53, so future generations will be able
to read about Chinese buffets.
So far the short is not in the junction box, motion sensor, or two light
fixtures. Problems stopped when the first fixture was unwired so the problem
is downstream from it (which I think means it could be anything else in the
kitchen or in series with it, which is all but one other light). The CAD
drawing shows a bunch of single and double dotted lines that include a
triangle of switches with a single fixture fed from one and three fed from
another (in a row), then solid line to motion sensor thence to junction box
thence to understairs light. ????
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keesan
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response 50 of 191:
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Jan 30 23:26 UTC 2013 |
One or more 3-way switches (two in each of two boxes) may be wired wrong.
Four wires in one box, three in another (in conduit so it is not easy to
trace what goes where). All white wires look similar. Maybe we can
trace it out and add colored tape.
At one point one switch turned on all four instead of just one light.
Now that things are 'fixed' no lights go on.
When this works we will have 350W of warm white, one yellow and one maybe dark
purple light. Jim gave us his collection of unwanted incandescents to use
for testing (and heating). 3-way bulbs, 150-200W, green, red.... I should
not need to use the space heater at all with 8 incandescent bulbs averaging
100W instead of three 40W fluorescents.
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keesan
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response 51 of 191:
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Jan 31 01:15 UTC 2013 |
My Basic Wiring book says if the lights do not work, first make sure they are
plugged in and try a new bulb, then a new switch, loose wires, or fixture.
We checked bulbs, wires, and fixtures. And all the switches repeatedly.
We got to the point where the breaker did not trip, and one switch turned
on all instead of one light, then got a pair of 3-way switches to work
properly but not the 4-way switch.
The travelers on the 4-way switch were reversed so it would turn off
but not turn on a light. Now it lets you turn on/off the dining area
light from the kitchen area. It is supposed to control the kitchen
area lights from the kitchen area.
The travelers (red and black wires connecting 3-way switches) in both
boxes also need reversing to fix this other problem. For 4 switches
So all 5 switches were wired wrong. One of the whites is a black.
This only took a few hours to diagnose (compared with a few days to
wire in the first place). We labelled the south-side-light wires
with yellow tape but that just got reversed too.
We color coded the switches - ivory for south and white for north.
The south-side light now works but the north-side ones are tripping
the breaker. One white wire was hot rather than neutral (it
was supposed to be labelled with black tape). Taped and fixed.
Now the south-side light does not go on. The travelers got themselves
mixed up in the box again. It has been a long day.
South light now works from both 3-way switches.
North lights work from 4-way switch (purple is very dim) but not
from either 3-way switch. ("What the..").
Tightening up the wires in the 4-way switch fixed it. Probably they
got loose one of the times it got taken apart. (Created a new problem
when fixing the old ones).
Just three switch boxes and a fixture to put back together.
There are only five more pairs of 3-way switches in the house ;=)
And maybe 4 more motion sensors (and 7 smoke alarms....).
The good thing about this is we are here after dark and can test the
third attempt at paired motion sensors in automatic mode. The porch
is as warm as the house so we can leave the door open to turn the
breaker on and off every few minutes.
It is not raining or snowing yet and I have cold macaroni to eat when
I get back after 10 hours here. My builder is pretty much in his
usual cheery mood. At 4 pm I promised him a bag of chips when the
kitchen lights were working. It is 8:15 now.
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nharmon
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response 52 of 191:
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Jan 31 02:47 UTC 2013 |
See, a physicist would respond to a household electrical discussion
regarding current flow with, "Not with AC. The current oscillates"
without realizing that when it comes to electrical safety, it REALLY
matters that you wire hot, neutral, and ground properly.
Thinking that current just oscillates, one might not take care and
accidentally reverse the hot and ground on some light switch. After all
it works, right? You flip the switch off, the light goes off. Flip it
on, it comes back on. But little do you know that that light fixture is
constantly being energized even when your switch is off. And if someone
goes to do some work on it, thinking the switch has turned off the
power,...well that is an accident waiting to happen.
I've done a good deal of home remodeling, but the one thing I do not
play games with is electrical. There is a right way for everything
electrical, and a LOT of wrong ways. And the wrong ways can kill you. It
always pays to have someone who knows what they're doing.
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keesan
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response 53 of 191:
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Jan 31 03:03 UTC 2013 |
You are supposed to unscrew a fuse or turn off a breaker before working on
light fixtures, not just turn off the switch.
I will make sure everything gets labelled from now on (and get my friend some
better reading glasses at the dollar store).
We turned off the lighting circuit breaker overnight to inspect everything
again in the daylight (which will NOT be morning tomorrow).
The third outside motion sensor works as designed. Or it would if we had
not turned the breaker off.
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tonster
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response 54 of 191:
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Jan 31 04:25 UTC 2013 |
Labeling really does no one any good in 30 years when the next person
who owns the home goes to do some work and electrocutes themselves
because they didn't read the label, thinking "only an idiot would make
ground hot".
It seems like you'd do well to invest in a hot plate and/or bread
machine. You could make a loaf of bread so you could have warm bread
for breakfast/lunch every day. Set it the night before so that it's
ready in the morning, or set it when you get there in the morning so
it's ready in the afternoon. Then just bring some lunchmeats or
something to make sandwiches. Seems like you're making your own
problems for meals.
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nharmon
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response 55 of 191:
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Jan 31 05:17 UTC 2013 |
resp:53 Yes, it is a best practice to turn off the power when working on a
circuit. It is also a best practice to wire circuits in the order of
neutral, ground, then hot. Or was it ground, then neutral, then hot?
See...this is when it pays to have an expert. :) The point is that some
day, someone else might be living in your home, and he/she may not follow
best practices.
As an aside, ask an electrician if he/she has ever seen a circuit breaker
stay closed in the open position. There is a reason why they carry a test
pen to verify the power is off.
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rcurl
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response 56 of 191:
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Jan 31 05:52 UTC 2013 |
Re #55: "But little do you know that that light fixture is
constantly being energized even when your switch is off." (If the switch is
wired in the netural wire.).
It is interesting that while electrical power comes to a home on two
wires, "neutral" and "hot", the "neutral" wire is connected to a solid
ground (i.e., soil) at the power entry point, usually a cold water pipe.
So the "neutral" and "ground" wire to boxes are both in effect ground
wires. This also means that some of the current serving the home flows
through the soil around the home (depending on the soil constituents and
wetness), and therefore the ground and neutral wires can be at a voltage
above "ground" elsewhere, like at someone else's home.
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