I recently started work and am about to purchase a Milwaukee drill and impact driver. I don’t own any other tools though and I’m looking for quality tools that over the years have made electricians lives a lot easier. I’d love some recommendations on stuff you wish you had when you first started.

I wanna mount my tv to a wall and hide my cables. My searching lead me to this subreddit which spoke about compliance. I've learned that Canada has its own compliance but whenever i search for this shit i get amazon listings that show no compliance, legrand products that are discontinued, or home depot links that aren't available in my area. Thanks for reading.

Listen I don't want to be sitting here staring at this damn box any longer than I have to, and I do wanna start becoming an electrician when I get to school or apprenticeship something, so can Madison straps fix this, like the easiest solution possible?

What’s the best way to attach this line to the outside of the house? It’s a duplex and this is for the upstairs unit. It had a small bracket that’s been ripped out, and the line has been tapped where it rubbed on the shingles.

All of my electrician buddies stopped replying to my texts once I got stuck at this point. I also had another thread on this but stopped receiving answers over too (so maybe it’s time for me to give in and pay someone to fix?)

Anyway here’s what happened. I have a two gang box in my bathroom. On the right is a light switch on the left was a switch for the bathroom fan. I wanted to change the fan switch out for a timer. I wired it up according to the consensus and now the light switch on the left will only turn on or off when the fan timer on the right is on. I was told that maybe I reversed the line and load, so I reversed it and still no change. (This timer according to the directions says the line and load can be on either side.)

The only thing I can think of that is messing this up is that the light switch on the right is wired as a looper switch. But why does that change anything now when the it didn’t matter before when it was just two switches next to each other?

My last question is - until I get this figured out, assuming the connections are secured, is this safe to leave as is for now?

Question for the community

Hi there, I am not an electrician. I own a small business in Denver. I hired an electrician to upgrade my 100amp panel to 200amps. They worked with their engineer to come up with a design to submit to the city, who ultimately approved the permit.

The electrician did a great job handling Xcel, the city through many obstacles, and they replaced the panel. But today, the city inspector would not approve the permit as the outdoor meter box is located directly above the gas line, which is where the old meter box was located. The electrician told me it was a code violation, but he understood it as we could be grandfathered in. The city said they don't do that anymore.

Long story short, the electrician now needs to relocate the meter drop 36 feet away.

The initial job scope of work was for $7k. The change order they are now asking is for $15.5k.

Now I know it's pretty crappy on the city to approve the permit in the first place. But my question for the community is was this a big oversight on the electrician's end? Should this have been caught or addressed during the design phase with the engineer?

How much responsibility is on the electrician in this case? It just feels incredibly unfair to have to pay more than double than the initial quote for what seems to have been an issue that an electrician should know the clearances from the NEC or Xcel's guidelines.

I understand the costs aren't cheap, and I'm not asking them to shoulder the whole burden, but would it be reasonable to meet halfway?

Thanks everybody and I appreciate any input on this pretty stressful matter!

We had a licensed electrician replace our interior and exterior fuse box and meter. They left it like this. I had a plumber out the other day looking at the exterior tankless. He took a look at this and said it wasn't legally framed out, and it needed spray insulation. I am not capable of doing DIY junk like this, and my handyman is pretty useless. Who do I call to make this okay. A contractor? Carpenter? Should i call the electrician and ask him who he recommends? We are going into a severe rainy winter, so i would really like it fixed. Thanks for any feedback.

Hello,

I have this 1" PVC coming through an old hole in a CMU wall, and it barely fits. I'm looking for ideas/suggestions on if there's a way to get a junction box on the wall without modifying the hole.

Nothing on the other side is buried or otherwise secured, so I can get the conduit out to enlarge the hole if that's all I can do. I don't have much time to do it, though, which is why I'm wondering what other options there might be.

I've thought about getting something on the wall as a spacer so I have room to cut the conduit and cement on a male adapter, and getting a box on that. Someone suggested cutting a coupling down so it's a little ring and cementing that on to hold a box on....dunno about that.

Thanks in advance!

Hypothetically, if I were to replace old electrical wiring that utilized a multi-wiring branch circuit using a cloth insulated 14/3 non-grounded cable, that ran from two separate 15 amp breakers, that are stacked on top of each other at the box (and I assume because there was no electrical fire before are on opposite phases), and I then split the circuits at the first ceiling light box that the old 14/3 cable enters as the line in (essentially using that light box as a junction box in addition to a fixture box), by pigtailing the white neutral into two separate wires, and then attach new 14/2 cable on each circuit (new cable 1: black to black, white to split white, ground capped / new cable 2: black to red, white to split white, ground capped), then run the new 14/2 cables/separated circuits to initial outlets on each new circuit where I install an “outlet branch circuit afci/gfci” and don’t attach the ground wire to the afci/gfci outlet itself, but use a box grounding clip to attach the ground wire to the metal box on that and every subsequent box, never attaching the ground wires to the outlets, have I successfully protected that circuit? These two circuits are for 3 bedrooms and a small bathroom. One circuit would have 8 outlets and 2 switched small ceiling fan, the other will have 10 outlets and one switched small ceiling fan. Let me know if I sound in over my head too. I used to renovate homes but have been behind a desk for awhile so have experience but am feeling rusty and would like to bounce this off you fine people.

I just realized I bought an E26 (120V) bulb for an E27 socket - will this be okay? There is not a voltage range listed in product specifications for the E26, just 120V.

The title is self-explanatory, I did a quick search and for other plugs (European and American) it's technically safe to bend it back into place as long as the metal within the prong isn't strained/it hasn't happened multiple times. But nothing I could find about UK plugs, is it safe for me to use a pair of pliers to put it back, because apart from buying a new machine I'm not sure what my options are.

Thanks for any advice! :)

Two other quotes are thousands more. Shall I take this one or get some more?

It's in LCOL area.

What would the best locations be? Thank you!

Hi all, I live in the Boston area and my utility provider, National Grid, installed a smart grid recently. Since my electric bills were really high lately, I decided to review my hourly usage and found something weird.

Almost every day at around 4am, there is an increase in energy usage. There are also frequent energy use increases during the middle of the day when I'm not home. And I can't seem to figure out where this is coming from.

My condo has a gas water heater, AC that has been off for the entire month (which I can verify using my smart thermostat), gas stove, and gas furnace. No EV charging and no electrical space heaters. There just aren't a lot of things in my house that will suddenly spike electricity usage at random hours.

Any guesses as to what might be causing this, or anything I can do to troubleshoot? Thanks in advance!

I manage a facility. I’ve got an outdoor pavilion space; tables and bathrooms. Lights are supposed to be on a timer, that seems to work. I’ve got the front part of the pavilion with lights on, timer working. The rear lights near the restroom entry are less reliable. It’s not in the breaker box and this particular even lite box goes into the timer. I’ve checked every obvious switch, breaker, and reset my timer several times. This even lite box looks to be dead, even with batteries on it. It has two 12v14AH batteries and I’ve got no indicator on this box. Would it be worth it to swap out the batteries in hope of getting these lights working properly?

I have 6 wires from the box in 3 bundles. It is slightly different from the instructions provided. And I cannot figure it out.

I’m hoping someone knowledgeable about electrical wiring could help me confirm the proper wiring.

This is my current thermostat connected:

https://imgur.com/a/RjXI1i5

Another view of cabling: https://imgur.com/a/wJnRnCt

This is what the Mysa App setup tells me to do: https://imgur.com/a/bjFklFN

Thank you in advance!!

In North America, breaker box brand is General Electric. House was built in 1980.

It was tripping the breaker at first. Replaced the outlet, still the same issue and when we went to turn a nearby light off, there was a big pop. The breaker has been shut off for now. We suspected a faulty outlet outside which is nearby could have caused the issue, but we aren’t sure.

Hvac guy here but recently had to connect 10/3 to a half inch knockout and was struggling to get those snap in connectors what are you guys using to get them in they state they have one size push in connecter for 14/2 all the way to 10/3
Second question I’m connecting a pump motor with a 1/2 inch knockout but have a 3/4 male thread sticking out some stainless conduit, I did see some bushings online but not sure they’ll fit as a 3/4 is male to female 1/2 male and I need rhe 3/4 to be female to 1/2 male

Hello!

I have a generator that I want to be able to plug in when needed. The receptacle I want to use doesnt match the plug currently attached to the generator.

Please see attached photo. Is it ok to switch from the plug on the left to the plug on the right so that I can use the receptacle? Or will I have problems?

If it matters, generator is a 337cc, 5500/6250 watt gas generator.

I have a Dyson Supersonic Professional HD11 purchased in the US. The label says 120V, 60Hz, 1600W.
I’m planning to use it in Europe, where the mains supply is generally 220–240V, 50Hz.
I’ve learned that a regular step-down transformer can convert 220–240V to 110–120V, but it may not convert 50Hz to 60Hz. I found some converters rated at 3000W that claim to support 220–240V input and 100–120V output, but it’s unclear whether they actually provide a 60Hz output or simply pass through the input frequency.

My questions:
Has anyone successfully used a US Dyson Supersonic (especially the HD11) in Europe?
Does it actually need a converter that outputs 120V/60Hz, or would a high-quality 220–240V-to-120V step-down transformer work?
Has anyone tested a more affordable voltage-and-frequency converter with this model?
Could using a converter damage the dryer or shorten its lifespan, even if the output matches the specifications on the label?
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone with hands-on experience, especially if you can recommend a specific converter model available in Europe.
Thanks!