Miscellaneous Electric Tips

Pashuteh Yid-

1)Reading light-

d) Lath-and-plaster (commonly found in older houses) is stronger than sheetrock. Also, the odds are good that your screw will go thru a wood piece of lath which will hold a lot better than sheetrock.

e) Speak to the salesman at the store you buy the reading light re: its weight and support requirements.

2)Ceiling fixture-

a) Fixture boxes should always be secured to a beam.

b) For heavy fixtures or ceiling fans make sure you use a box that is properly secured and can support the weight and vibration. You may want to get a fixture box with expandable brackets so that it can be attached to two beams (especially since attaching a box flush on a beam may cause the box to protrude below the ceiling). In a finished space this can mean some chopping and patching.

3)Shelves-

a) Depending on the weight of the shelves and their loads, you can use anchors, toggles or go straight into the studs.

Pashuteh Yid-

Sounds like you answered your own question.

Many (possibly most) people are more capable than they think they are.

The best case scenario for finishing a basement is when you start off with a completely unfinished space, high ceilings, even floor, and no outside water seeping in.

2) Have completed the floorplan and priced all the materials you plan on using.

3) Understand the amount of time needed to complete this project.

4) Understand the amount of effort needed to complete this project.

6) Have spoken directly to other non-professionals who have done their basements (elements of 3 and 4).

Pashuteh Yid-

The wiring is exactly the same.

The Best Bubby-

Thank you for the kind words.

anuran-

a) Did you mean the shell was wedged into the fixture? That would sound similar to jamming a penny into a fuse box when a fuse blew (something that supposedly was often done in the old days).

anuran-

“I noticed a circular from the IBEW local advertising a seminar on aluminum wiring for home construction. I don’t really trust the stuff, but they claim it’s fine if you do it right. Any thoughts? “

Wikipedia has a pretty good listing on aluminum wiring (old and newer alloy), the issues and problems that can occur with it, and specialized switches and outlets made for it.

Pashuteh Yid-

First of all, you did exactly the right thing by getting a getting a pro when you found the wiring more complicated than you were comfortable with.

The explanation below is based on the assumption that you have a “switch before” arrangement – the electricity goes to the switch boxes before it goes to the fixture. It also assumes there are no additional splices in the switch boxes.

The setup you described as I understand it is three switch boxes ganged together, with each switch controlling one or more fixtures.

There should be four cables in the box – one hot/neutral going into the box, and three going to the fixtures.

The switches/fixtures are wired as parallel circuits like so:

Hot

|    |   |

s1   s2  s3

|    |   |

f1   f2  f3

|    |   |

Neutral

The way this is accomplished is:

1) Three pigtails (short pieces of wire) are spliced to the hot wire in the switch box. A larger wire nut may be needed for this splice – some large wire nuts look a bit like a deflated balloon. Additionally, care must be taken to ensure all wires in the splice have good connections.

(Your previous setup probably had the three dimmer leads spliced directly to the hot.)

[An alternate arrangement that uses jumpers from switch to switch by using the screw terminals and connector holes in back of the switches won’t be discussed here.]

2) Each pigtail’s other end is connected to a switch’s screw terminal.

3) The other screw terminal is connected to the black wire of a cable going to a fixture.

4) The white wires returning from the fixtures are spliced directly to the neutral in the switch box.

I also seemed to see one group of multiple white wires all twisted together…

This sounds like “4)”, above.

…with some copper wire wrapped around all of them seemingly to hold them together.

I’d have to see this to understand, but it doesn’t sound right.

Also, when there are multiple switches for one room (many lights) in one box, is there always a bunch of spaghetti connecting them together, rather than one cable per switch?

It may look that way, because of the need to connect each switch to the one hot coming into the box, as well as the fact that the neutrals from the fixtures end up spliced together.

How are multiple lights in a room normally handled?

Generally, as I described above.

I assume they are on one circuit, but I turned off the main before beginning work.

They are almost definitely all on one breaker. You can just flip breakers until all the lights you will be working on are off. (It is uncommon but not unheard of to have circuits from more than one breaker in the same box, so you should make sure all the lights go off.)

I understand they are probably in parallel, but my question is in practice, do you always see these kinds of splices in a box, or are there dedicated wires for each area of the ceiling connected to dedicated switches in the box

The cable from the switch to the fixture will be dedicated.

Your arrangement is probably a single two-conductor cable going from each switch to a fixture box. There will probably be a splice in the fixture box to an additional cable if more than one fixture is on the line. (“Probably” and not “definitely” because there can be two separate cables to two separate fixture boxes with the splice after the switch in the switch box.)

If you have outlets or other fixtures running from your switch boxes it can be more complicated. I omitted possible three-conductor cable arrangements from the explanation above because I don’t think it’s likely you have such a setup (it would be likelier with two switches).

Overloaded boxes are not uncommon (more connections and cables than code allows), which can certainly give it a “spaghetti” appearance (not that that’s what your box has).

Switch boxes are sold in differing depths – deeper is always better if you have room for it, to allow more room for wires, splices, and bulkier switches (timers, dimmers).

Pashuteh Yid-

…I don’t have shimush (practical experience).

The most important thing is safety. With experience you will become faster and more proficient at doing the job neatly (i.e. technique for tucking the wire neatly into the box before closing it, running the wire within the breaker panel, etc.)

However, when you have to plan for multiple connections on one line or box, you can’t screw multiple 14 gauge wire onto one screw. I doubt it would fit or hold properly.

This is a common no-no. One wire per screw terminal is the rule for switches, outlets, fixtures and breakers.

I’ve seen this violated by do-it-yourselfers and occasionally contractors.

It is also a code violation.

…I see that the use of these caps is industry standard for everything, and not considered shoddy.

Here’s a little experiment: Splice two or three wires together and screw a wire nut onto the splice (use loose wires – I’m not suggesting you try this with existing house wiring). Try to pull the wire nut off (don’t unscrew it, pull it). You’ll be surprised at how firmly it’s gripping the wires.

My questions are when you have to connect multiple wires (3 or more in one splice) what is the best way. You mentioned a wire nut. Please explain what that is in more detail. Also, when working with caps, do you twist the wires first, or simply place them side by side and twist the cap over them. Do they make caps meant for multiple wires together?

“Wire nut” and “cap” are synonymous.

A splice, whether it’s two wires, three or more, must always have the wires securely twisted together before the wire not is fastened. For a two-wire splice I’ll use a wire stripper (not a knife) to expose about 3/4″ – 1″ of copper and twist them securely together with a lineman’s pliers. More wires in a splice will require longer exposed copper. The splice needs to be long enough to not only be secure from parting, but have a good connection. Using only a wire nut w/o twisting the wires together is asking for trouble; the wires may part or – much worse – overheat due to a poor connection and the resulting resistance. Wire nuts of different sizes are sold – use one appropriate for the gauge of wire you are using (in household wiring 12-guage [20 amp] and 14-guage [15 amp]

nnnnnn-

“can u explain watts, amps, and volts“

Think of a stream 10 feet wide, in which the water runs at 5 miles per hour.

Let’s say that every second 100 gallons of water flow past a specific point.

Increasing the speed of the water to 10 miles per hour would be analogous to increasing the voltage.

Widenening the stream to 20 feet, while keeping the flow at 5mph would be analogous to increasing the amperage.

In both cases, we will now have 200 gallons per second flowing past that point.

Wattage is the total electric power. You derive this number by multiplying amps times volts.

The amperage needed by a hundred-watt bulb that uses standard U.S. household current can be derived as follows: 110(volts) * ?(amps) = 100(watts). The amperage required is .90909 amps.

A transformer that raises or lowers voltage is simply changing the voltage and amperage numbers, but the wattage remains the same.

A couple of unrelated side points:

a)

A water-heating system’s radiator will need two pipes; one to bring the hot water and the other to take the water back to the boiler for reheating.

A steam-heat system will only have one pipe; to bring the hot steam. As the heated steam enters the radiotor, the cold air escapes thru the valve located on the opposite end of the radiator. Once the hot steam reaches the valve, an expanding part in the valve pops up and cuts off the flow of escaping steam. Once the steam cools, it condenses into water, and trickles out of the radiotor thru the same pipe as the steam entered. It is then returned to the boiler for reheating.

Common problems with steam heat systems are:

-Valves that don’t cut off when the hot steam hits them. If you see steam escaping from a rediator’s valve, try tapping it gently to see if this will jar the mechanism into closing.

-Steam leaks along the pipe’s joints.

(the above two problems can result in leaking steam, dripping water, and the boiler running dry too quickly).

-A radiator’s air release valve installed on the same side of the radiator as the steam pipe. This causes the valve to close before hot steam has entered the entire radiator, and the room will not heat (or take too long to heat).

b)

A/C current doesn’t really run thru a capacitor, but for all practical purposes it’s as if it does. A capacitor prevents more than a certain amount of current from building up on each side of its plates. With DC current, that amount builds up, and then no more can get by. With AC current, since the electrons are basically vibrating back and forth (rather than moving in one direction), nothing builds up on the capacitor’s plates.

c)

“Pashuteh Yid”s theory of attaching a large metal plate to a bulb, on the side opposite the hot wire, and seeing the bulb light up slightly is correct (at least with AC; I never tried it with DC). I know this because I once fixed a circuit where the neutral had detatched from the neutral bus bar in the breaker panel, and when a light switch was flipped on for that line, it glowed dimly.

YW Moderator-80-

nnnnnn-

That’s an interesting theory, but it isn’t how it works.

A 100-watt bulb in a sixty-watt-max fixture will light up, in all likelihood to its full luminescence.

As with any electrical appliance, it will attempt to draw the full amount of juice it needs to work properly from the circuit it’s hooked up to.

Here are the hazards of using a bulb whose wattage is higher than what the fixture’s rated for:

1) The bulb itself burns much hotter than a lower-wattage bulb. This can cause the fixture (or the ceiling, wall, etc. that it’s installed in) to melt, get damaged, or even ignite.

2) It can cause the insulation of the fixture’s wiring to melt or become brittle, also causing a fire hazard. Since the fixture is damaged, this hazard remains, even after switching to an appropriate bulb.

3) By drawing more current than the fixture is designed for, it can overload the fixtures wiring, causing it to become hot. The heat can damage the insulation, and if it gets hot enough, start a fire.

4) One should never overload any extension-cord, appliance, or circuit – it’s dangerous and a fire hazard.

Here is a complete list of when it’s OK to install a bulb whose wattage is higher than what the fixture is designed for:

Never.

I’ve even seen properly installed and used fixtures whose wiring was damaged and/or brittle due to the heat generated by the bulb(s) – kal v’chomer the damage that can be done by overloading.

Please – don’t even think of overloading a fixture with high-wattage bulb it’s not designed for.

YW Moderator-80-

I’d agree, but it wouldn’t mean much – I’m afraid I have no clue regarding ions, electrons and their effect on a person’s health.

(note, I didn’t start a thread titled “miscellaneous health tips” – although I do have a theory that one shouldn’t let the potato-kugel level of one’s blood get too low.)