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New Electrical Work
Electrical work ranges from the installation of new electrical components to the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. It may also include wiring airplanes, ships and other mobile platforms.
4,938 Questions
What is the correct location to place a light switch on the wall as you enter a room?
On the wall at four feet in height, inside the room, opposite the door hinge. If there is no door to the room, on the wall at four feet in height, inside or outside the room, left or right hand side. Some locations will be governed by structure conditions. <><><> 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. 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.
What size breaker do you need for 9000W at 440V 3phase?
This formula will give you the amperage I = kw x 1000/1.73 x E x pf (pf = power factor). Take the amperage and multiply it by 125%. This will give you the breaker size that you need.
Where do I find a chart or legend of symbols used on building plans?
Generally, building plan legends can be found in the back of the blueprints; however, given the unique nature of the business, buzzwords and culture, many building plans don't include legends at all.
There are a few web sites (linked below) that help remove the mystery of architectural, electrical and plumbing symbols.
Home Depot
Slope of the volts vs resistance characteristics for fluroscent and incandescent lamps?
the resistance of an incandescent lamp is very low until it reaches its operating temperature of 6000deg K or so
get a sixty watt bulb and measure its resistance chances are its under 5 ohms
depending on the mass of tungsten it takes a few cycles at this 60 amps to get up to temperature.
voltage is constant calling the wiring a voltage source (if the wiring didnt have resistance the bulbs of higher wattages would probably burn out when starting)
fluorescent lamps have a bit of mercury in a near vacuum nearly infinite resistance when cold
it is heated to boiling with a combination of either filaments and/or high voltage
then the gas changes to plasma and its in essence a better conductor than solid metal at that temperature 9000K or so
an 8foot tube starts at 800v to 1000v and may run at under 100
depending on the ballast (preheat. rapid start. instant start)
and the power (normal,HO,VHO,SHO)
the ballast mostly limits the current the plasma can consume but is necessary to start the plasma conducting in longer tubes
On a 3 wire plug is the wider blade hot or neutral?
On a 3 wire plug (NEMA 5 configuration, 125v 2 pole 3 wire grounding) the narrow blade is the "hot" lead, the wide blade is the neutral lead, and the U shaped prong is the equipment grounding conductor (EGC). Most 2+G non-metallic-cables (NMC) are color coded for Black = "hot", White = neutral, and Bare = EGC
What size conduit do I need for 6 wire. Being hooked up to a spa?
The minimum size you can use is 3/4 conduit. The code allows for a maximum of 4 each # 6 gauge wires in a 3/4 inch pipe. You'll likely be running 3 ea # 6s, two hots and the neutral and a #10 ground wire.
What size conductors are needed to run a 400 foot residential underground electric service?
Need to know what size service is going to be installed at the end of the run.
What kind of math do you need to be an electrician?
Arithmetic and basis algebra are good skills to have. For example, Ohm's Law says Voltage = Current x Resistance. If you know Resistance and Voltage and want to solve for current you need to know that Current = Voltage / Resistance.
How many AA batteries will you need to make a 100 watt light bulb last for two weeks?
Depends entirely on the batteries - all types and brands will have a rating, usually in mWh - you need to work it out from that. You also need to allow for the rated voltage of the lamp. Educated guess - very many thousands.
Where are Lithonia fixtures manufactured?
No longer made in the USA, they have shut down their plant in Georgia after Acuity Brands purchased them and moved manufacturing outside the USA. Quality has definitely taken a huge dive.
There are zero amps in 3000 volts. A load needs to be connected to the voltage.
Five kilovolts equals zero watts. The formula you need to use is W = A x V.
What wires go where on my condenser fan motor black orange and purple?
There is an electrical drawing on the motor that tells you how to wire it.
Can a negative ground and a AC ground coexist in the same panel without problems for electronics?
By asking that question it is evident that there is a significant lack of understanding regarding the power that is delivered to your home.
The transformer that feeds your meter TYPICALLY provides "center tapped" 220 V power.
While the center tap is also typically considered "neutral", there may be some potential between the neutral of the transformer and "Ground".
The ground connection is there to protect YOU. The neutral connection is there to provide the same voltage to both sides of the 220 "leg".
Your 220V AC system will use both sides of the power coming from the feed transformer, and internally MAY use one leg to provide 110 V to specific components.
Since other devices in your home only use 110 V, they are typically only connected across one leg to the neutral connection.
Anyone who does not fully understand home wiring should hire a qualified electrician to solve electrical problems. Your life and your home are too valuable to be making serious mistakes with electricity.
How often utility poles get replaced?
This question has many variables. Some variables are; where the pole is situated, hot climate or cold climate, does the soil freeze in the winter time, soil conditions, wood used in the pole manufacturing, how well it was pressure treated or if it was pressure treated, how much wind loading the pole has to withstand. On the market now are new concrete poles that should be able to outlast any wooden pole. They of course are more expensive but in the long run less maintenance will be needed.
Are recessed lights thermally protected?
Yes, all recessed lights have thermal protection, normally a bi-metal thermal overload. They must be to receive a U.L., (Underwriters Laboratories) approval sticker and be allowed to be sold in the U.S. The overload works on heat, not current, so that if you say put a 200 watt lamp into a fixture rated for 60 watt maximum, the overload will overheat and open the circuit.
you must have to much of a load on the outlet or didnt tighten the screws holding the wires tight enough , it should not go out that quickly. if you want to wire it for recess you first have to check if you can get to the location in the attic above the switch. and you need to be able to fish a wire down to the switch up to the recesed lite. which sometimes is not the easiest job to do , better to just call in the electrician for this job
Can you tap meter and feed panel in detached garage?
No. Any connections to the detached garage have to be after the main disconnect of your house panel.
You have two options here. You can replace meter with a meter disconnect combo and have the main feed your house and add a breaker to feed the garage or You could install a 400 ap service and place two disconnects at the meter. one for the house and one for the garage.
unless you are going to have a serious electrial load in the garage you sould just feed off the panel in the house for cost effectiveness.
Can red and black be mixed up when wiring or are they interchangeable such as when wiring a range?
A person uses RED and BLACK to identify 2 hot wires. They are in essence 2 different circuits controlling the same device (range in your case). They are interchangeable YES.
What size wire would you use for a new 200 amp direct burial service?
This is a voltage drop question. A 300 MCM copper or a 500 MCM aluminium conductor will limit the voltage drop to 3% or less when supplying 200 amps for 450 feet on a 240 volt system. The cheapest of the two conductors would be the aluminium conductor. For direct burial is will have a ACWU 90 designation.
