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Electrical Wiring
Ask questions here about proper wiring and electrical installation here.
4,935 Questions
How do you remove and check wiring in a wall socket?
The safest way to check a wall socket outlet is to use a plug-in "Household Socket Outlet Tester" that you can buy in most Do-It-Yourself stores.
Always read the instructions that come with it before you atttempt to use it.
What does a three phase motor look like?
A three-phase motor typically has three sets of windings arranged 120 degrees apart around the stator core. It is larger and more robust compared to single-phase motors, with a more complex wiring configuration. The motor may have six leads coming out of it, instead of just two like in single-phase motors.
A static discharge. The friction from walking on the carpet builds up a static charge on your body, and when you touch the metal doorknob, the excess charge is quickly released in the form of a static discharge, creating a shock.
The question doesn't say what type of household electrical service is being used. White wires are not used on 50Hz 230V circuits so it is probably a fan for 60Hz 120V...
If the asker of this question already knew how to use an electrician's test meter to check which wires go to where, would he or she be asking this question here...? If you get any other answer here, you might attempt to do something you shouldn't be doing, and that may cost someone a shock, a home fire, or even their life.
<><><> Without any connection diagram or installation leaflet to explain how to connect this unit, whilst the fan unit is down on the ground and completely unconnected to anything an electrician's test meter could be used to find out which wire, if any, is a grounding wire - but, it must be said here, you should only attempt to do this if you already know how to use a test meter to measure resistance.
You would be using the test meter to find out if one of the wires is a grounding wire as it would be connected only to the metal external casing of the fan unit and to the motor's frame. (But NOT to its windings - those would be connected to the motor's hot and neutral connection wires). You would use the lowest resistance measurement setting and hold one meter probe into good electrical contact with the fan unit's metal casing. Then touch the other probe first onto the thin bare copper wire and then, separately, on the thick copper wire after removing its green end cap. If you find there is no resistance to measure - just an open circuit - then the wire you are testing is not connected to the metal casing so it is not a grounding wire.
If you have found out for sure which wire is a grounding wire then you should connect it to the bare copper - or green colored - ground wire that comes within the circuit cable from the breaker panel.
Depending on which of those two wires was the one your testing found was not a grounding wire, you then have to cover any exposed copper on that wire with insulation tape and tuck it into the ceiling connection box completely unconnected to anything. (Same applies to both of those wires if you found that neither of them was a grounding wire.) The remaining two wires are probably for hot and neutral and either one could be wired to the switched hot feed and the other one to the neutral. If the fan seems to be running ok with only a hot and a neutral wire but with no connection to ground then, if the fan unit has a metal casing, using it without a connection to ground is unsafe and in many places could even be illegal. Having said all that, if you don't have a connection diagram or installation leaflet for that fan it is probably best to just dump it as "useless old scrap" and go buy either a new one or a very good second hand one that has got an installation leaflet or at least a connection diagram! <><><> As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed and what you could safely do yourself. Before you do any work yourself,
on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,
always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized
IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB
SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY
REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.
oh i love bright red
All shades of blue go great with Red, especially navy and electric
Teal is a wonderfully color as well just make sure its not too bright that it takes away from the red
Green is also a lovely color but make sure its not neon or too vibrant that it would clash,
Gold is an amazing color to fit with red
White,Black and Grey make red stand out
and especially black makes it look vibrant
Does wodden causing from a pencil conduct electricity?
The only part of a pencil that will conduct electricity is the metal band that holds the erasure and the lead graphite mixture that is used to put a mark on a page.
No, it is not safe to plug a British device directly into a 220v US NEMA 6-20 outlet using an adapter. The voltage difference may damage the device and pose a safety hazard. You would need a voltage converter to safely use the British device in the US.
Why does tungsten heat and light up but copper wire does not?
Tungsten has a higher melting point than copper, making it more resistant to heat. When an electric current passes through tungsten, the high resistance causes it to heat up and emit light. Copper, on the other hand, has lower resistance and does not heat up or emit light as significantly when used in electrical applications.
How by moving at the speed of light you can travel in future?
The laws of physics say you can't travel at the speed of light. It's impossible. You can get arbitrarily close, but accelerating an object with a rest mass to the speed of light in a vacuum would take an infinite amount of energy.
I'm going to recommend a couple of books to you that may answer what you were trying to ask. Obviously most modern physics texts are going to discuss relativity to some extent, but the Feynman Lectures on Physics is a good investment if you're interested in physics generally. Alternatively, for a more readable explanation that's not as rigorous, the Mr. Tompkins books by George Gamow attempt to explain what the world would be like if certain physical constants were different... in particular, in one he shows what it would be like if the speed of light in a vacuum was around 60 miles an hour. Finally, you might try Geometry, Relativity, and the Fourth Dimension by Rudy Rucker if you can find it at your local library.
No, it is not safe to have a wire hanging out of an outlet. If you have a four-wire connection but only a three-prong outlet, this could pose a safety hazard. You should have a qualified electrician properly install a matching outlet to avoid any risk of electrical shock or fire.
What is a set of contacts that belong to a single circuit called?
A loop refers to a set of contacts that belong to a single circuit.
Does a thin wire has more RESISTIVITy or a thin wire of the same material?
Resistivity is a property of the material only, not of the dimensions of the wire.
The resistance of a wire is the resistivity times the length divided by the cross-section area. So a long wire has more resistance, a thicker wire has less resistance, even if they are both made of copper with the same resistivity.
If you were to do this, you would likely experience a severe electric shock due to the current passing through your body. This could cause serious injury or even death. It is extremely dangerous to mix water and electricity, so it's important to never attempt anything like this.
What is the maximum amps for a sub panel?
The maximum amperage for a subpanel is typically determined by the size of the wire feeding it and the rating of the main panel. It is common for residential subpanels to be 100 or 200 amps, but it can vary depending on the specific installation and electrical code requirements. It's important to consult with a qualified electrician to determine the appropriate ampacity for your subpanel.
What do you call an element that has lost an electron?
Elements that have gained or lost an electrons are called IONS. Ones that gained electrons (non-metals) and are therefore negatively charged, and known as ANIONS, and those that lost electrons (metals), are positively charged and known as CATIONS
Why multiply single phase power by 1.732 to get equivalent three phase power?
Multiplying single-phase power by 1.732 (which is the square root of 3) gives you the equivalent three-phase power because in three-phase systems, the power is not simply additive. The phases are 120 degrees apart, so to accurately calculate total power, you need to account for the phase shift between them. The square root of 3 helps adjust for this phase relationship.
How can you convert a 6v battery to AC power?
Use an "Inverter". They make a lot of inverters for 12v but few for 6v. You could use 2 6v batteries hooked in series though. Just make sure the inverter is big enough to power what you wish. A 300 watt one will power a electric razor, or small electronics fine. A 1000 watt would power a computer or a laptop also, etc.
What does milliamp-hours mean?
A milliamp-hour is one thousanth of an amp-hour. For example: if you have a fully charged battery of 500 mAh (milliamp-hours), it is able to feed a lamp which draws a current of 500 mA for one hour. It also is able to feed a mobile phone in standby over a period of 50 hours, if it draws a current of 10 mA.
Alternative AnswerA milliampere hour (not 'milliamp hour'!) is one-thousandth of an ampere hour, which is a unit of electrical charge. The SI unit for charge is a coulomb, which is a special name given to an ampere second. So, and ampere hour is 60 x 60, or 360 times larger than a coulomb.
How do you convert 12 volts to 4 volts?
Using a voltage regulator (LM78XX come to mind), or through Pulse Width Modulation.
In the first case, the typical output power will be at 4W tops (LM78XX are typically rated at around 1A of current). In the second case it's up to the design of the PWM circuit, I guess.
A simple PWM circuit would include an oscillator (or a square signal generator, doesn't matter) driving a transistor in a predictable pattern (turning it on for 1/3rd of the time), the aforementioned transistor, and a capacitor to smooth the ripples out. If for 1 out of 3 seconds it's 12V, and for the remaining 2 seconds it's 0V, then (12+0+0)/3 = 4V. The current rating would depend on the load and the transistor's ability. For higher loads it may be advisable to drive a second-stage, high current transistor. Also, saturation concerns come to mind, but that's a different story.
There is a third option, but it's overkill in this situation -- using a transistor and a capacitor to form a resonant circuit driving a transformer. However, this type of design is typically found in applications where the voltage needs to be stepped up, not down (ie. LCD/keyboard backlights, cold-cathode lights and the like).
The bulb that glows brighter has a smaller resistance. This is because a larger current flows through the bulb with smaller resistance, resulting in it glowing brighter.
GFCI=Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter
It's an electronic circuit breaker that compares the current on two wires. If the current is NOT equal, the breaker trips and does so quickly enough to prevent electrocution in the event of a "ground fault".
Can you change the wall outlet to fit a 4 prong dryer outlet?
It's probably more difficult than you might expect.
I'm assuming you have a NEMA 5-15R outlet, and you want to plug in a dryer that has a NEMA 14-30P plug at the end of its electric cable.
The NEMA 5-15R outlet is by far the most common type of outlet in North America.
It has two flat slots (hot and neutral), and a round safety ground hole.
It is rated for 15 A and 125 V.
On the other hand, most electric clothes dryers have an electric cable with a NEMA 14-30P plug on the end.
It has two flat slots (2 hots from 2 different phases, each one 120 V from neutral, and each one rated at 30 A), an L slot (neutral), and a round safety plug.
It is possible for an electrician to "fish" a electric cable carrying the necessary phases through the wall from the fuse box to that outlet, and then pull the old outlet and install a new outlet.
If one merely did that last part -- pulled the old outlet and placed a new outlet -- without the proper electrical cables in the wall behind it, then the dryer would probably blow the fuse at the fusebox every time it was turned on.
What arrangement of three cells would result in the longest life?
A combination of regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and adequate sleep is key for maintaining a long and healthy life. Regular physical activity helps keep the body strong, balanced nutrition provides essential nutrients for overall health, and quality sleep is crucial for rest and recovery. Combining these three factors can help promote longevity and well-being.
What arrangement of three cells would result in the greatest electric current?
I haven't studied this for awhile, but... I assume by cell, you mean a voltage supply, like a battery. It depends on what else is in the circuit. If your circuit has a typical amount of resistance, then connecting the cells in series (as opposed to in parallel) will result in the largest voltage. Higher voltage means greater current across a resistor. However, if the resistance of the circuit is very low (like in a short circuit), then your batteries' own internal resistance may be the most significant factor, and batteries arranged in parallel may be able to sustain a higher current.
