Forum Member Sell's PEACH..goes back to SS ..!!!!

[BS Button]

Look,

There are two white wires and two black wires and one bare copper wire coming out of the walls to each recepticle, how should they be affixed to each unit?

BS

[colterphoto1]

Todd, normally the black wires go to the GOLD terminals and the white to Silver. Of course if it's wired backwards at the other end or anywhere in the circuit, the only way to tell if it's correct is with the tester unit. So just go get one.

Michael

[BS Button]

Todd, normally the black wires go to the GOLD terminals and the white to Silver. Of course if it's wired backwards at the other end or anywhere in the circuit, the only way to tell if it's correct is with the tester unit. So just go get one.

Michael

On the way to Home Depot...Lowes can bite me! Rushville Rocket fan...

[colterphoto1]

Ugh, I LIVED in Rushville. A more hillbilly place you will never find.

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Todd, normally the black wires go to the GOLD terminals and the white to Silver. Of course if it's wired backwards at the other end or anywhere in the circuit, the only way to tell if it's correct is with the tester unit. So just go get one.

Michael

On the way to Home Depot...Lowes can bite me! Rushville Rocket fan...

If you have wiring problems, you should think about running a dedicated circuit, even if you are going back to SS. Do you live in a one story or two story house? The only special tools needed are an electricians fish tape and a drywall knife.

A one story house is really easy. Just run romex 12 ga from the breaker box up to the attic, then down to through the wall into a "old work" box. The old work box installs by just cutting a hole in the drywall and it locks itself in.

If you live in a two story and you need an outlet on the first floor, you can run conduit around the outside of the house, at teh top of the foundation but under the lip of the walls so that it is out of sight.

I'm going to the home depot today, I think I'll pick up a circuit tester. Looks like a good tool to have.

I have an electrician question. My outlets outside and in the garage stopped working. The labeling on my electrical box is terrible and makes no sense at all. I need to re-label it. But none of them are tripped. All of my GFI's are OK too. The next thing that I can think of checking is seeing if the actual breaker is bad but I don't know which one it is yet. What can be causing this? Because all of the outlets stopped working there has to be an open somewhere and the only thing that I can think of that would cause that is a protection device like a breaker or GFI.

Chris

[LarryC]

My outlets outside and in the garage stopped working. The labeling on my electrical box is terrible and makes no sense at all ... But none of them are tripped. All of my GFI's are OK too. The next thing that I can think of checking is seeing if the actual breaker is bad but I don't know which one it is yet. What can be causing this? Because all of the outlets stopped working there has to be an open somewhere and the only thing that I can think of that would cause that is a protection device like a breaker or GFI.

Chris

This may or may not help, but I'm a believer in doing an accurate circuit diagram of the entire house. This means (1) drawing an outline diagram of each floor and room that shows all the outlets and overhead lights, (2) turning on lots of lights and appliances so you can see that each circuit is active, and then (3) flicking off each circuit breaker in turn and recording which outlets and lights are de-powered by that circuit. Be sure to include all outlets. That can really help when you need to shut off a non-working light or outlet (but check with a voltage meter, too!!). This might show you which circuit isn't operating by a process of elimination.

As you said, the gibberish written in those little spaces on the circuit-breaker panel door is essentially meaningless, and doesn't tell you a thing about where some of those circuits go! I have circuits that cover two and three floors, and having invested that time means I don't have to do a lot of trial-and-error circuit-breakering to find out which is which.

[colterphoto1]

I have an electrician question. My outlets outside and in the garage stopped working. The labeling on my electrical box is terrible and makes no sense at all. I need to re-label it. But none of them are tripped. All of my GFI's are OK too. The next thing that I can think of checking is seeing if the actual breaker is bad but I don't know which one it is yet. What can be causing this? Because all of the outlets stopped working there has to be an open somewhere and the only thing that I can think of that would cause that is a protection device like a breaker or GFI.

Chris

Chris, the problems with the one line description in the circuit box is that homeowners think in terms of rooms whereas the electrician tries to use as little wiring and stud drilling as possible so he wires WALLS full of outlets. So you have common walls for two rooms that are on the same circuit. Some rooms of the house might have outlets and lighting on two or three separate circuits (like Todd's wall of THREE circuits).

The idea to diagram the house is a good one. That way when something trips a breaker you'll know exactly where to go instead of flipping them all off and on, necessitating a resetting of all clocks and electrical devices in the house.

Also Chris, sometimes a breaker trips but doesn't look OFF. So switch the breakers OFF, then back ON and see if that doens't help you locate the tripped breaker.

Michael

[Jeff Matthews]

Todd, normally the black wires go to the GOLD terminals and the white to Silver. Of course if it's wired backwards at the other end or anywhere in the circuit, the only way to tell if it's correct is with the tester unit. So just go get one.

Michael

On the way to Home Depot...Lowes can bite me! Rushville Rocket fan...

If you have wiring problems, you should think about running a dedicated circuit, even if you are going back to SS. Do you live in a one story or two story house? The only special tools needed are an electricians fish tape and a drywall knife.

A one story house is really easy. Just run romex 12 ga from the breaker box up to the attic, then down to through the wall into a "old work" box. The old work box installs by just cutting a hole in the drywall and it locks itself in.

If you live in a two story and you need an outlet on the first floor, you can run conduit around the outside of the house, at teh top of the foundation but under the lip of the walls so that it is out of sight.

I'm going to the home depot today, I think I'll pick up a circuit tester. Looks like a good tool to have.

I have an electrician question. My outlets outside and in the garage stopped working. The labeling on my electrical box is terrible and makes no sense at all. I need to re-label it. But none of them are tripped. All of my GFI's are OK too. The next thing that I can think of checking is seeing if the actual breaker is bad but I don't know which one it is yet. What can be causing this? Because all of the outlets stopped working there has to be an open somewhere and the only thing that I can think of that would cause that is a protection device like a breaker or GFI.

Chris

Sounds like you are a nail-gun type of guy!

It can't be difficult. I think Colter suggested to check to be sure a breaker is not tripped because when they trip, they don't get flung all the way into the off position.

If it is a GFI on a nother line, that would be a strange wiring diagram. I can't imagine anyone would wire anything that way in series.

If you don't find a tripped breaker, use a Volt Meter on each breaker at the box and see what you get.

[gaspr]

Chris

Sometimes outdoor circuits that require GFI protection are wired in

such a way that the AC is fed from a normal breaker at the panel to a

GFI plug (recepticle). This plug could be anywhere. From

there all normal plugs down the line would be GFI protected by that first plug.

The trick is to find that first plug. It would have to be tripped

to shut down the rest of the circuit. Hope this helps.

[IB Slammin]

There may still be. I'm not going to get this circuit rewired, just to accomodate a tube thingy. Duke, all three outlets look fine? What next?

Button,

I am a firm believer in the dedicated audio circuit, be it SS or tube thingy. We spend $$$$ for audio components, and I believe that they deserve their own power supply. I got-off on pushing the ON button and watching the lights dim, but knew it wasnt a good thing. Started thinking about the cloths dryer being started at the other end of the house, HVAC coming on, etc. I ran 10g Romex in the attic, and fished it thru the wall. One end was hanging through the wall penetration and the other at the box. Call an electrician to make the connections if you don't feel comfortable about doing it yourself. He will charge a minimum one hour service call.

With a couple of current hungry SS amps, and an antique farm house, it was a must for me. (yea, I know it's Arkansas and I'm lucky to have electricity at all.) The wife loved it when I installed a light and electric heater in the outhouse. The rats like it also. I think that I should have a bumper rat crop next year.[]

Regards,

Terry

[Jeff Matthews]

Chris

Sometimes outdoor circuits that require GFI protection are wired in such a way that the AC is fed from a normal breaker at the panel to a GFI plug (recepticle). This plug could be anywhere. From there all normal plugs down the line would be GFI protected by that first plug. The trick is to find that first plug. It would have to be tripped to shut down the rest of the circuit. Hope this helps.

Yeah, I suppose they might wire it this way if they were saving a few cents on using GFI downstream, but it is hard to think anyone would run them in series like that.

Chris, if you find this is the case, it would be easy to re-wire them in parallel - the right way.

[LarryC]

Yeah, I suppose they might wire it this way if they were saving a few cents on using GFI downstream, but it is hard to think anyone would run them in series like that.

Actually, as I understand it, a circuit only needs one GFCI to protect the whole circuit downstream from that CI. I'm not sure it would make much sense to put more in on the downstream of that one circuit. I may be wrong, of course.

[Speedball]

Yeah, we're gonna have a SHOWDOWN here.....JM Peach vs. Mac Tube preamp (rebuilt MX-110). The only thing that worries me is that my buddy's Peach-To-Be won't wanna leave[]

I have had great fun plugging in my 110 against other very pricey preamps and came away with my MX-110 just a smilin' - but I think it will be "meeting it's match" here. Gonna be a very interesting couple of weeks here......

Audible N,

Sounds like you are in for a treat the next few weeks.......!

[Duke Spinner]

There may still be. I'm not going to get this circuit rewired, just to accomodate a tube thingy. Duke, all three outlets look fine? What next?

you need to "Side Wire" them recepticals.......

i'm home from work ... call if ya want

[BS Button]

Bought the tester thingy and just plugged it in to all three recepticles along the "long wall" in which my TV and audio gear are hooked: the TV cable also comes through this wall.

All recepticles checked out as proper or good. Two yellow lights at the bottom or "correct" Now what? Also, I just bought three new higher grade recepticles. I'll install those, as well. Oh grrreeat !!! I just broke the 75ohm connector off the back of the big screen moving it around...sheesh! this just keeps getting more costly!

[tigerwoodKhorns]

Chris

Sometimes outdoor circuits that require GFI protection are wired in such a way that the AC is fed from a normal breaker at the panel to a GFI plug (recepticle). This plug could be anywhere. From there all normal plugs down the line would be GFI protected by that first plug. The trick is to find that first plug. It would have to be tripped to shut down the rest of the circuit. Hope this helps.

Yeah, I suppose they might wire it this way if they were saving a few cents on using GFI downstream, but it is hard to think anyone would run them in series like that.

Chris, if you find this is the case, it would be easy to re-wire them in parallel - the right way.

I labeled the box in my previous house when I added several braches to the garage and backyard (I added 6 120v and two 220 - MORE POWER BABY!!!!). I plan on doing the same here. I also checkes all of the GFI's that I could find (there are several that I found, none in the garages or outside).

Next step is to correctly label all of the breakers. I have a drawing of the floorplan that I will also label and laminate and hang next to the breaker box. Then I can pull the cover and check that I have voltage comming out of the breaker that is left for this circuit.

time lapse...

OK - I'm an idiot!!![:$] I just went into the garage where the breaker box is and looked really closely at the cabinets (They were there when I bought the house). There is a GFI behind some strorage containers, and yes, it was tripped. I checked the GFI's so many times, I can't belive that I didn't see this one.

I picked up one of those tools at the Home Depot today (my wife gets so happy when she helps me load drywal in the truck). Even though I didn't use it to fix this problem it looks like a keeper.

Thanks.

Chris

[BS Button]

There may still be. I'm not going to get this circuit rewired, just to accomodate a tube thingy. Duke, all three outlets look fine? What next?

you need to "Side Wire" them recepticals.......

i'm home from work ... call if ya want

Duke,

How could ya be home from work, when ya never left for work?

[colterphoto1]

There may still be. I'm not going to get this circuit rewired, just to accomodate a tube thingy. Duke, all three outlets look fine? What next?

you need to "Side Wire" them recepticals.......

i'm home from work ... call if ya want

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT Dukester! Think about those fancy schmancy little 'quick connect' thingies where you push the wire in the back. Let's talk surface area of connection, shall we? You've got a 12 ga wire which is round, you punch it in the back of the duplex recepticle and a spring loaded flat wire comes into contact with it. That's a flat object against a round one. From a geometrical standpoint, at the point of tangency the amount of surface area in intimate contact is practically NIL! In addition, to keep from shorting out on the outlet box (if it's metal) an electrician usually has to crank the side screws down and sometimes tapes them! So why not use the screws anyway?

Yes I know those quickie things are UL listed and approved or whatever, but we're talking some CURRENT here boys! Duke is absolutely right, real men make that round eyelet out of the wire and connect using those side screws. Now there is some surface area. Crank it down REAL tight- FEEL THE POWER!

God, I wish I'd just rewired my house myself instead of trusting some idiot. Yeah I got new underground power and all new breakers (house used to be 60 amp total in fuses), but having been told that the ground wire was there by this jerk really ticks me off. I think I'll go over there this weekend and vandalize his work van. He must have had some other happy customers, three times when he was at my place, he got flat tires from screws or nails in his tires. I have a feeling that was his last 'job' at work LOL.

Just hire a licensed electrician from a big outfit and stand over him like a hawk Todd. That's the best way.`

Oh, good find Chris! That's why you should test all your GFCI's every few months, so you remember where they are!

Reminds me to move all that junk away from my power panels- should maintain 3' clear box in front of access.

That's all I got.

Michael

[tigerwoodKhorns]

There may still be. I'm not going to get this circuit rewired, just to accomodate a tube thingy. Duke, all three outlets look fine? What next?

you need to "Side Wire" them recepticals.......

i'm home from work ... call if ya want

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT Dukester! Think about those fancy schmancy little 'quick connect' thingies where you push the wire in the back. Let's talk surface area of connection, shall we? You've got a 12 ga wire which is round, you punch it in the back of the duplex recepticle and a spring loaded flat wire comes into contact with it. That's a flat object against a round one. From a geometrical standpoint, at the point of tangency the amount of surface area in intimate contact is practically NIL! In addition, to keep from shorting out on the outlet box (if it's metal) an electrician usually has to crank the side screws down and sometimes tapes them! So why not use the screws anyway?

Yes I know those quickie things are UL listed and approved or whatever, but we're talking some CURRENT here boys! Duke is absolutely right, real men make that round eyelet out of the wire and connect using those side screws. Now there is some surface area. Crank it down REAL tight- FEEL THE POWER!

God, I wish I'd just rewired my house myself instead of trusting some idiot. Yeah I got new underground power and all new breakers (house used to be 60 amp total in fuses), but having been told that the ground wire was there by this jerk really ticks me off. I think I'll go over there this weekend and vandalize his work van. He must have had some other happy customers, three times when he was at my place, he got flat tires from screws or nails in his tires. I have a feeling that was his last 'job' at work LOL.

Just hire a licensed electrician from a big outfit and stand over him like a hawk Todd. That's the best way.`

Oh, good find Chris! That's why you should test all your GFCI's every few months, so you remember where they are!

Reminds me to move all that junk away from my power panels- should maintain 3' clear box in front of access.

That's all I got.

Michael

Micheal,

I can't remember how many times I have fixed "broken" outlets for friends that did not work because os the push connection did not make a good contact. Yes, every time you install outlets, make a round eyelet and crank it down tight.

It takes me a little time to do home improvement, but I am super detail oriented so its done right.

Chris

[tigerwoodKhorns]

There may still be. I'm not going to get this circuit rewired, just to accomodate a tube thingy. Duke, all three outlets look fine? What next?

you need to "Side Wire" them recepticals.......

i'm home from work ... call if ya want

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT Dukester! Think about those fancy schmancy little 'quick connect' thingies where you push the wire in the back. Let's talk surface area of connection, shall we? You've got a 12 ga wire which is round, you punch it in the back of the duplex recepticle and a spring loaded flat wire comes into contact with it. That's a flat object against a round one. From a geometrical standpoint, at the point of tangency the amount of surface area in intimate contact is practically NIL! In addition, to keep from shorting out on the outlet box (if it's metal) an electrician usually has to crank the side screws down and sometimes tapes them! So why not use the screws anyway?

Yes I know those quickie things are UL listed and approved or whatever, but we're talking some CURRENT here boys! Duke is absolutely right, real men make that round eyelet out of the wire and connect using those side screws. Now there is some surface area. Crank it down REAL tight- FEEL THE POWER!

God, I wish I'd just rewired my house myself instead of trusting some idiot. Yeah I got new underground power and all new breakers (house used to be 60 amp total in fuses), but having been told that the ground wire was there by this jerk really ticks me off. I think I'll go over there this weekend and vandalize his work van. He must have had some other happy customers, three times when he was at my place, he got flat tires from screws or nails in his tires. I have a feeling that was his last 'job' at work LOL.

Just hire a licensed electrician from a big outfit and stand over him like a hawk Todd. That's the best way.`

Oh, good find Chris! That's why you should test all your GFCI's every few months, so you remember where they are!

Reminds me to move all that junk away from my power panels- should maintain 3' clear box in front of access.

That's all I got.

Michael

Micheal,

I can't remember how many times I have fixed "broken" outlets for friends that did not work because os the push connection did not make a good contact. Yes, every time you install outlets, make a round eyelet and crank it down tight.

It takes me a little time to do home improvement, but I am super detail oriented so its done right.

Chris