Replacing LU70 High Pressure Sodium Bulb with LED?

Funny, I just replaced one of these last week for the first time.  Both the counter guy at the electrical supply counter and the bulb manufacturer ( paperwork in the package  of a high output LED bulb with the same "A" type screw base) gave the same instructions.

"By-pass the transformer and all associated hardware and wire the socket direct".  While you can just screw in the new bulb, it is not designed for a transformer and ballast(?) that the lu70  needs.   Easy job, I just didn't know there was even a transformer in the housing.   I would have probably ruined the $55 replacement LED if I hadn't listened to the pros.


Best way to wire multiple lights in multiple rooms on single circuit?

In the old days you could run neutral and ground to all the lights and a single hot throu the switch in each room to the lights in that room. BUT, since 2011 NEC code requires all 3 wires to be available in each switch box even if the neutral is just capped off (this is for remotely controlled switches - smart homes).

Here is a nifty diagram for you (source)

Seems sort of a waste though to be doing it this way now that LED and occupancy (motion/light) sensors are cheap. At minimum, installing a dual switch with one low level LED light fixture is preferable to most people and even Leviton is making inexpensive bluetooth remotes so people can have a switch wherever they put the bed. Some combination of these has greatly improved our family's quality of lighting and now it's unimaginable to have to go back to the single full light on/off scenario.

You asked for efficiency and that can be interpreted differently: do you want to save an hour on the initial installation or make living/working there efficient for years to come?


In this situation I usually remove the existing boxes completely and replace them with blue plastic remodeler boxes. These mount to the drywall using wings that fly out when you run the screws in.

By taking out the receptacle and moving the wires aside you can see how the old boxes are mounted. Often there are there are nails passing through the inside of the box. Pry those out or cut them off and gently remove the box. Carefully trim the drywall to fit the new remodeler box, and secure it using the mounting wings. You'll want to pull the cable into the new box before you fit it into the drywall.

This type of remodeler box has limited space for the receptacle's mounting tabs, so you may need to trim the ends of the mounting tabs to fit in the available space. If you don't do this they can keep your trim plate from laying flat against the wall.


Rain Water enters through tracks of sliding glass windows

The lower track of a window frame normally is supposed to have small holes at its lower edge toward the outside that allows water in the track to drain out. These are commonly called weep holes.

It is a common problem that over years dirt can collect on the bottom of the track and clog up these holes so the track will no longer drain. Look to see if yours are clogged and clean if necessary.


It is a little odd that only a few of your holes filled in with water, it may indicate something underground like a spring. More serious conditions would include hitting a sewer or irrigation line but it should be pretty easy to determine if this was the case.
Typical deck footer construction in freezing locations calls for full-depth concrete footings poured using sonotubes (cardboard form tubes) all the way to a few inches above the surface. Posts are anchored to that concrete but shouldn't be buried in it (building codes may vary).
This article explains frost heave and how to counter it. For large deck installations in especially frost-prone areas, they use concrete "bell" footings that are wide at the bottom, these help resist frost heave and upward movement. But as long as your footing is deeper than the frost line, it shouldn't be affected by the heave as it's nestled in deeper soil.
According to decks.com water in the hole is not a problem for mixing concrete. You may want to compact gravel around the concrete form tube before or after you finish it.
Finally, this article suggests putting large stones into the wet spots at the bottom so the mud flows into it and provides a good base for the concrete footing. You wouldn't want the stone layer tall enough that it puts your concrete footing above the 42" frost line though.


FAULTY MIRROR Is distorting fat to thin how do i correct this

If it's very long, I'd suspect that it's being physically distorted during the installation process since the glass itself is flexible enough to distort the image without breaking first. To correct it, you need to make sure that the mirror is as straight as possible - use shims.

If it's along a wall, the mirror may be following the contours of a slightly uneven wall. You can shim the back of the mirror in the hollow spots to correct this. Masking tape (ideally the blue kind to protect the mirror) can be used in the low spots to build up sufficient support for the glass. Thicker shims can be used if you find the hollow spots to be very thick.

It's it's in a frame of some sort, either the frame is not straight, or it is sagging/distorting too, or (if the glass is sufficiently loose int he frame) the mirror itself is just distorting as above. The approach is basically the same - shim the spots that you need to push forward.


How do I create a curved surface drain out of concrete?

Concrete is an wonderfully easy product to shape.  For your scenario, all you really need is make a form for the concrete that matches the concavity of your drain, and to set it in place when you place the concrete.

It's not clear when you say curved if the drain itself curves along its length or if by curve you refer to the concave portion of the drain.

If your drain is basically straight with a concave portion, the problem is very easy - PVC drain pipe of the appropriate diameter, plugged tight with rags and capped off with duct tape will do the trick nicely.

If your drain itself curves, you'll have to get more creative in making a form - possibly shaping one from wood.

Regardless of the shape, in this scenario you will want to suspend the form from above, so build a series of wooden supports and put hooks in the top of the form in a clean straight line and tie each hook to a frame so that the form hangs ROUGLY halfway into the trough when the frame is set over it.

You must also make sure that the form is lowest wherever the water is to exit the trough and highest at the trough's ends, so that water will flow properly in the trough.  A 1/8" drop per linear foot of trough should suffice.

What you want is a form that from its end looks like this picture, and which has the slightest tilt to it to make the water run downhill in the trough in the proper places.

(Ground - brown, frame - red, form - grey, black - line suspending form to frame)

Once your form is ready, move it out of the way, mix your concrete and fill the trough up until the concrete is high enough that the form will set down into it some.  Make sure there are no air gaps in the concrete so far.

Put the form in place, carefully making sure it settles into the concrete to the proper depth (ie: the suspending wire is taut).  Now fill the rest of the trough's sides with concrete until its just level with the soil.

Wait until the concrete begins to set.  When you can push on the concrete with your finger and not easily make a dent, remove the form, and use a wet sponge to clean up the edges where you removed it.

Viola - a concrete drain with concave drain channel!


Can I use Romex in an unfinished basement or attic?

You're referencing the wrong code section.
Nonmetallic-Sheathed Cable
Romex is covered by article 334 Nonmetallic-Sheathed Cable: Types NM, NMC, and NMS.

Nonmetallic Extensions
Article 382 covers a cable known as FlatWire, or Concealable Nonmetallic Extension (CNE) cable.

Notice that this cable has a single insulation layer over the conductors. Whereas NM cable has insulation on the conductors, and an outer insulated sheath.


How to clean wood dust without permanently clogging a wet/dry vacuum's paper filter?

Having run into the exact same problem, I might be able to make a recommendation to assist you.

There are many variations on this theme, but they are all based on the "cyclone" principle. Spinning air cannot hold particles as easily as "linear" flowing air. Physics (SCIENCE!) is your friend.

One can build one's own cyclone vacuum assistant or purchase one. Having too many projects not completed or not started, I decided to purchase one, but building one is not all that difficult. Consider searching Instructables for Cyclone Vacuum and you'll discover many options.

My purchased unit, from ClearVue Cyclones seems to be perpetually out of stock, although the much higher priced versions are available. A friend purchased a competitor's model, which had a smaller diameter cone and is experiencing poorer results.

It appears that the larger the diameter of the entry point and the taller the cone, the better is the separation. As a test, I dumped some powder coating powder on the floor. Starting with a completely clean cyclone bucket, I sucked up the powder with the shop vac attached. A problem with powdercoat powder is that it passed through all but the finest of filter material and clogs the stuff that stops it.

My shop vac bucket was clean, while the cyclone vac bucket was dead black inside.

Sawdust and metal shaving (my application) don't stand a chance. I added some bracing strips rather than use the supplied fabric strap to attach the vac to the cyclone bucket.


How can I paint furniture with a laminate finish?

Disassemble
It will be easier to work with if you can take the furniture apart, or at least break it down in to smaller pieces.  If you can't take it apart, you'll still want to remove any doors or drawers.
Sand
You'll want to sand the surfaces that will be painted, with 220 grit sand paper. Be careful not to sand too much, you don't want to sand completely through the veneer. You're just looking to remove the protective coating, and scuff up the surface a bit.
Wipe away the dust
Wipe the surfaces down with a Tack cloth to remove all the dust.

Prime
Prime the surfaces with a primer designed for laminate, or "glossy surfaces".  Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer/Sealer is one such primer, though somebody in the paint department at your local hardware store may be able recommend a better/different one.

Wait
You'll want to wait the full cure time specified in the instructions on the primer, before you start painting.
Paint
Apply 2 coats of paint (waiting the specified time between coats), with a foam brush and/or roller.  You can use any type of brush you want, but a regular brush might leave streaks while a regular roller may leave an undesired texture.
Seal
Once the paint has fully dried, you can apply a polyurethane to help protect the finish. Apply 2-3 coats with a foam or soft bristle brush, sanding between coats with 220 or 320 grit sand paper (See What grit sandpaper should I use between coats of poly?).

Put it back together
Reassemble the furniture, and touch up any spots damaged during assembly.


Three wire vs four wire feed remote sub panel

Back in the old days, grounds didn't exist at all.  Mains electrical was wired as an isolated system.  It still is, but now we've added ground as a safety shield.

When they started to require grounding, they went to pains to make sure they weren't mandating old work be retrofitted.  Old work is "grandfathered" - if it was legal at time of installation, it is still legal today.  However grandfathered work does not have the safety features now required; because of that many upgrade it voluntarily.

In some cases: dryers, ranges and subpanels, they allowed groundless connection, but attached ground to the neutral wire "since they're the same back at the panel".  That proved to have problems, as you mention in comments. Notably a simple wire break of the neutral wire can result in all things which are supposed to be grounded now  being electrified.

Now, in a subpanel, it is normal for the load not to be balanced, and for there to be say, 20A of flow on the neutral wire.  What happens when that neutral breaks?  Now the current is trying to return via the grounding rods. And at 25 ohms, which is the max resistance allowed for a single ground rod to be acceptable, that doesn't have a chance of safely earthing that much current.


Unplugged computer sparked upon touching a cold heating pipe

If it was just a tiny spark like touching a door knob after walking on carpet, then it's normal & harmless. If it was actually a flash, then something's either grounded to the plumbing & defective or a live wire's in contact with the plumbing.

Most likely, the circuit that the circuit breaker killed & is the problem circuit & must be fixed immediately as it could harm or kill someone.


First, be sure your door leaf is square. Old doors (the actual door leaf) tend to sag, where the hinge side top gap is correct but the latch side gap is wide. Also, you'll see the latch strike is low on the jamb's strike plate.
To verify your door is square, measure both diagonals. The corner-to-corner measurements should be identical. the top hinge corner to bottom strike plate corner measurement will be longer on a sagging door.
If the door is out of square, you can re-square the door, or you can re=hang the door frame to match the out-of-square door.
You've noted neither jamb is plumb, which means it is very much vertical. You should re-hang your door. You'll find lots of great instruction on hanging a door. Here are one I like:
https://www.familyhandyman.com/doors/repair/fix-sagging-or-sticking-doors/


Sorry about using this as an extension of the comment, there is no place in the comments for sketches to depict what is needed.

This is an  illustration to add to the comment I made about a wiring diagram, to help show my referral to a small sketch. It can be a simple line drawing. scanned and posted or drawn with a program on your computer, like Paint for Windows or a Mac equivalent.

It would need to be made a little more extensive to cover all floors.

It really should take an electrician with a tone box to diagnose where the wires go to and from.... But there is hope as long as the conditions are described accurately


Will a mixture of acrylic and oil stains dry?

I would scrape off as much possible (with grain, avoid digging) with card scraper (cabinet scraper).  Then wipe down with mineral spirits on a clean rag.  Let dry several days and start over.


4800w @ 220V 21.81A. 10AWG is two small.  8 awg is right on the edge using 3% max voltage drop (uglys page 50) if you want to run any lights you should be using 6AWG for that long of a run.


Self propelled mower loses power then slowly dies when self propel is engaged

My bet is you've got some build-up in the carburator from the idle season. I would try buying some gum remover or buy some pre-mix 4-cycle gas (typically high in detergents) and see if that cleans it out.


GFCI outlet consistently trips in garage

A wiring failure due to slab movement is unlikely unless the wiring is in conduit in or under the slab. Is it?

Put in a new GFCI receptacle and see if it works. If a new one doesn't work, you'll have a replacement GFCI on hand for a future failure.

Or if want to go sleuthing, turn off the breaker to this GFCI receptacle, remove the cover, remove the two screws securing the receptacle and pull the receptacle out without disconnecting it. Turn the breaker back on and see if you can reset the receptacle.

If it will reset, then this indicates that the wires are folded in the box in a way that is allowing a ground to contact the hot or a hot to contact the box (if box is metal).

If you have a standard receptacle lying around, put it in place of the GFCI receptacle see if it works. Test it with a 3-prong circuit tester.

My guess is the GFCI receptacle is bad. To test it put it in place of a standard receptacle somewhere in your house that is not protected by a GFCI receptacle or breaker.


how to keep a wet edge applying poly to the floors of a whole house

I see the pros use a large applicator, specific for floor finishing, looking a lot like a household mop. Not the old stringy style, but a sponge mop, theirs having a cotton pad instead of sponge. This way you can cover a lot of area. If any of the doors have the flooring running across the door rather than running through it, cut along one of the joints in the floor. The lap of the finish will be disguised by that joint. This will give a small bit of relief from the hustle.

If you go this route, have another person to check the progress and quality of your passes with the mop. A 4" brush is used to cut in the edges before "mopping".


Securing a toilet flange on top of ceramic tile

I see very many toilets fixed down with only silicone sealant and blank plastic plugs in the fastening holes. One was in a home owned by a guy who weighed in at 400lbs (30 stone or 190kgs)...

I've also struggled to remove toilets fixed in such a way!

I wonder if this may be a national issue though, as I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say toilet 'flange'. We call them a toilet 'pan' and they have one or two holes each side at the bottom for screws, often going into a plastic bracket inside the base.


Is this vertical crack/split in stud significant?

That crack looks fine to me. From the image it looks to be mostly superficial... I might drill a pilot hole if the screw is going dead center where the crack is, just to make sure the crack doesn't widen. If you want to err on the safe side, you can get another 2x4 stud and nail it to the side of the existing, cracked stud (this is called sistering) with some 10D nails every couple of feet and then attach this item to the new 2x4 stud.


Since it's a plug attached device, is not covered by code. However, you should still be concerned with safety while making the repair.

The safest bet here, would be to completely replace the cord. This means locating where the existing cord connects to the couch, removing the old cord, and replacing it with a new one.

You'll also want to find a cord that contains the same gauge wires as the original.  The existing cord should have writing on it, that should list the gauge (AWG).

As to where to buy a cord, that's going to depend on where you live.  You may be able to order a replacement from the manufacturer, or possibly locate one on Amazon.


I have a 3-pronged receptacle but no ground wire connected to it. Is this ok?

The grounding conductor in an electrical system provides a safe path for fault currents to travel along. It's there to prevent electrocution.
No Grounding Conductor
Let's say we have a toaster.

Inside the toaster are two conductors, a black ungrounded (hot) conductor, and a white grounded (neutral) conductor.

To heat the toaster, current flows into the heating element through the ungrounded (hot) conductor, through the heating element, out of the heating element and back to the source through the grounded (neutral) conductor.
Now let's say there is a short between the ungrounded (hot) conductor, and the metal frame of the toaster.

Since the frame is metal; and conducts electricity, it is now electrified.

If you then touch the toaster; and you're sufficiently grounded, current will flow through you to the ground.  This could lead to a nasty shock, or potentially death.

With Grounding Conductor
Now let's see what happens when we have a toaster with a grounding conductor, that is properly bonded to the non current carrying metal parts of the toaster.

There's a short in the toaster again.

However, since we have a grounding conductor this time, the current flows through the toaster into the grounding conductor and back to the source.

This creates a very low resistance path back to the source, so the current in the circuit increases rapidly (I=E/R). The increased current causes the circuit's overcurrent protection to kick in, and the breaker trips.
But the neutral is grounded?
The grounded (neutral) conductor is indeed grounded at the service entrance, however, after that point the grounded (neutral) conductor is a current carrying conductor. It's used to carry current back to the source, and so potentially always has current flowing on it.  If this conductor was connected to the toaster's non current carrying metal parts, it would allow current to flow on the metal parts of the toaster.
If there was a break in the neutral conductor further down the circuit. Current could flow through the ungrounded (hot) conductor into the toaster, through the heating element, out of the heating element and down the grounded (neutral) conductor, through the toaster's metal parts, through you, and into the ground. Which could lead to a shock, injury, and/or death.

tl;dr
The grounding conductor provides shock hazard protection, and should always be properly connected.  If there is no grounding conductor available, a ground-fault circuit interrupting (GFCI) device may be able to be used to provide this protection (see NEC 406.4(D)(2)(b)). This conductor should only carry current during a fault situation.
The grounded (neutral) conductor is a current carrying conductor, used to carry current back to the source.  This conductor carries current during normal operation.


How can I prevent frost buildup on a concentric water heater intake?

Foam plastic pipe insulation for the size of the outer pipe.
You want something closed-cell / waterproof, since it's out in the weather. Possibly an overwrap of aluminum tape to prevent sun damage.


Is my indirect fired hot water heater hooked up correctly?

Yes it's a fairly common setup. As the heated water enters it rises in the tank. The return to the boiler is still quite hot and transfers heat to the cold domestic entering the tank. If the hot from the boiler enters the bottom the heated domestic ends up close to the same temperature as the boiler return and thus is unable to transfer heat. The setup in your picture is called counterflow heat exchange and it is typically the more efficient method. The other method is called parallel heat exchange if you are interested in investigating further.


What can I do about my deteriorating basement floor with a large hole that seems to go right through to clay?

Well, lacking a picture for now (try it again, please, and don't delete the link text it puts in on the bottom - that won't show up in your post, but it will let us see the picture) If you have a concrete floor now, you can break out bad concrete until you get to good concrete, put in some crushed rock for a sub-base and pour new concrete. Depending what's going on, you may want to break out some more floor and install drain pipes and a sump pit before you backfill and concrete over it. Avoid getting too close to walls, chimneys or columns/posts when breaking things out, or call in an engineer if it seems like you need to.

OK - the lower bit of concrete with the tidy corner is presumably a footing - so don't mess with that. The floor, you can basically do as described above - cut back to a sound edge and fill in with fresh concrete, or fiddle with drainage as seems appropriate. Many older homes were built with dirt -floored basements, and a concrete floor was an afterthought, often poorly done on the cheap by some later homeowner. If you just want to plug the hole, see above. If you have higher aspirations for your basement, describe them and we'll give it a thought.


Ideally you should punch the fascia with a slotted punch then set the aluminum nail loose so the fascia is free to expand and contract without buckling. Nail about 1 inch from the top and also on the bottom of the horizontal bend to hold the bottom in. This works for vinyl too.


Can you trip a breaker from a different circuit?

I can't figure out the problem yet.  Here's what I do know. And I have to save it because I can't visit chat without losing this.

So even though this isn't an answer answer, I find when troubleshooting problem A, if there are unresolved issues B, C and D out there also, they complicate things in unexpected ways, making it much more difficult to be sure where the problem is.

The old junction box MUST remain

It is not legal to remove that junction box.  You are required to make all splices inside junction boxes, and cannot bury them inside walls (splices or junction boxes). Every junction box cover must be reachable without use of tools of any kind. You can make your extension splices inside the box, whether it has a blank cover or a receptacle.

It can have a blank cover, unless...

You need a receptacle within 6' of any point on a wall

You need to follow this wall its entire length between thresholds, (including around corners) and make sure there is still an outlet within 6' of every point along the wall.   So, within 6' of a threshold and every 12' thereafter.   This rule is because standard lamps and appliances have 6' cords, and you need to be able to route the cord hugging the wall (no cutting corners).

If you didn't have that situation before, the old situation may be grandfathered (legal now since it was legal when installed or modified). The rule with grandfathering is you can't make things worse.  So if any area of the wall lost coverage because of the move, then you need to retain the receptacle at the old position.  (You can still have the new one).

Mechanical execution of work

The lower picture looks perfectly proper. Wires must be 6" long past the cable clamp, and stick out 3" beyond the wall surface; don't get any shorter than that.

2 circuits or not?

If the first photo is of your actual box, it indicates that all wires are feeding the same socket of the receptacle.  That means we can exclude "2 circuits" or "split switched outlet".  For sure, the two blacks in the old photo are spliced to each other via the outlet.  Ditto the two whites.

This means only one circuit is in play (assuming there are not wiring defects elsewhere) and you only needed one cable, not two, to extend this circuit.  The other cable is superfluous.  At the old box, all blacks can be joined at the old box with a wire nut, and all whites ditto.  That will also reduce wire fill count to a sensible number.

If you need a receptacle at the old box, either avoid using the receptacle as a splice and use a pigtail to attach to the receptacle.  Or use a "screw-to-clamp" type receptacle which gives four wire points per side.   Do not use backstabs (as in first picture), because backstabs cause nuisance problems, with opens or arc faults; but also, backstabs can't work with 12 AWG wire, which is your yellow cable there.

The box must be large enough

For instance it appears your old box will have

four 14 AWG wires (judging by the backstabs) which take 2.00 cubic inches each
four 12 AWG wires, 2.25 c.i. Each
Pigtails are free
a bunch of grounds (which count as 1 of the largest wire) so 2.25 c.i.
cable clamps (which count as 1 of the largest wire) so 2.25 c.i.
if you have a receptacle, 2 of the largest wire connected to it.  (4.50 c.i. If yellow jacket #12 wire is involved, otherwise 4.00 if using #14 pigtails.

If you need more cubic inches, before grabbing the claw bar, google "surface conduit starter box".  It's for launching surface conduit out of a flushmount box, but if you only use it for cubic inches, I won't tell :)


Black stains and discoloration on outer foundation wall of a house - water damage?

I do not think the mold is from high water.
I would say it is more likely on a shaded portion of the home on next to an area with a lawn. notice the path in the snow a walkway on the front section? The damage to the bottom of the window  possibly from shade or lawn being watered but doubtful that it is caused from flooding, notice how it ends and the “rust” stains on the wall above the mold and to the left.
With the info in the photo I would say it’s not a high water issue.


Hissing Sound After Filling AC Unit Refrigerant

The noise could be coming from the refrigerant charge being incorrect. you did not say how old this A/C is but at some point these units are not cost effective to fix.


How to change compact fluorescent 4 pin bulb at 22 feet

What were they thinking?  I'll tell you exactly: "the last guy" installed that bulb from a boom lift or the top of the ladder and declared mission accomplished. Never thought about the feasibility of changing it from the ground in the future.

Rent a boom lift and change that fixture

Select one that has an Edison base aiming straight down, and that has a big enough hole in the shade that it can be reached.  And then, put no bulb in it and come down to the ground.

Then, from the ground using a common bulb-changer stick, install a modern LED "bulb".   Do not install the first bulb from the boom lift; that was the last guy's mistake!

If this just doesn't work out with that fixture, then take it down and put up another fixture that does, while you still have the boom lift.


Did not remove break off tab on electrical outlets replaced

If the outlets test correctly and are functioning as intended then you should leave the break off tabs alone.

The break off tabs are there so that you can power the top and bottom outlets differently.  Most commonly so that you can have one of the outlets on a switch.  A less common and generally inadvisable reason is so that you can have each outlet on a different circuit.

If you aren't trying to do either of these things then leave the tabs intact.  Older outlets often don't have break off tabs.  The only thing I would check to make sure of is that your outlet is rated to handle the amperage of the circuit.


How can I deaden the vibration noise of a box fan?

If you can access the bottom of the fan you might be able to wedge something in there to put pressure on the box and stop the vibrations, but I've found that often with fans like this, they only vibrate at certain speeds regardless of how it was mounted.   Something easy and relatively inexpensive you can try is adding a fan speed controller (not a light dimmer!) and turning it down slightly to see if this stops the vibrations.

Side note: If you want a quieter fan, a trick is to buy a larger fan then required and run it at a slower speed.


Help with untangling an ancient wiring mess

I decided to replace the fan with a new, quiet model. I'm a fairly handy guy and I'd already done the kitchen ceiling light quite easily, so I figured, no big deal.

It is no big deal. There are 2-3 wires coming down that actually go to the fan/light.  Those are the only ones you touch.  Easy peasy, and it's done.
These kinds of job are so simple they don't require a permit to be pulled.

There are 8 or 10 wires up there, all twisted together in 2 bundles. I figure one bundle is hot, the other is neutral. But the wiring is the old-style cloth-covered kind, and at this point, it all looks black. It's old.

It's a fair assumption that when you have two clumps of multiple wires, you're probably dealing with a hot clump and a neutral clump. Seems like a sensible guess; of course it's not conclusive.
Here's the important thing.  When you see that presumably-hot clump and presumably-neutral clump, that circuit is carrying current onward to some other point-of-use. "It's not yours to disassemble" is probably the best way of thinking about it.  Taking it apart won't help your project goal.

Serious, full stop, bad mojo.

Yes. Full stop. This where you exceeded your "personal minimums" and you should've buttoned it up and called for help.  But you didn't because curiosity or "get-there-itis" got the best of you.

I carefully go through the painstaking process of separating the different wires and capping them individually. All circuits are broken, and it should be safe to keep them that way while I figure out what's going on.
Except, when I turn the power back on to test the wires, I find that 3 out of the 4 rooms of my apartment no longer have power. ... my neighbor was having electrical problems in his bedroom (which shares a wall with my bedroom).

That's no surprise to anyone with experience.  This stuff wasn't broken, and fussing with it didn't advance your goal. You have to admit curiosity was your motive.

So, this clues me into the fact that the live wire is probably a circuit on his fuse box. This weekend, we plan to test his breakers as well to see if we can isolate the live wire and get it turned off.
My electrical knowledge doesn't stretch so far as to where to go from there.

No. Sit down.  You are done.
I'm about to say something I don't often say.  There are reasons.
I.  You are doing unauthorized electrical work in a rental unit.  Even if the landlord authorized the fan swap, you could have simply cut the modern-ish wires from the old fan (it's scrap) and spliced those to your new fan with orange wirenuts.  You went way past the landlord's possible permission or intent.
II. The extra work crossed the threshold between "trivial work" and "actual electrical work that requires a permit".  So you are doing unpermitted work, with consequences all their own, and those consequences fall on the landlord.
III. Most everywhere, only licensed contractors can work on rental units.  The landlord can't fix the electrical.  The landlord's handy cousin can't fix the the electrical.  The tenant sure can't!  When unlicensed contractors do work on rental units, the consequences fall on the landlord.
IV.  As you readily admit, you're well beyond your depth.  You should not have done this. The cure is not "do more".  You may think "if I can only try every combination, I'll get it" - no, you'll get an apartment fire.  Where did the rule When you are in a hole, STOP DIGGING come from? Don't people realize they are messing up?  Well... no.  People get tunnel vision, puzzle-solving mode, or get-there-itis. If it can happen to the chief KLM pilot at Tenerife, it can happen to any of us.
Now you call in the professional
Life as a consumer is funny.  I can walk into Home Depot and they will take back something I bought at Lowes, even though I damaged the packaging so it's no longer saleable. You get really used to that and it can be a total shock when others don't eat your losses for you.  This is one of those.  Simply put: This is on you.  All the way. Soup to nuts.  Simply put, you poked it, and now the consequences of poking it are yours.
You call the landlord and you ask which electricians he prefers.  You call up those guys and say you "messed up" and need one to come out PDQ. S/he comes out.  They bother your neighbor a couple times, drape wires around your apartment for testing.
Expect this to take a couple hours, if everything goes well.  The bill will be Very Ouchy if you're not in the habit of paying electricians.  You pay it on the spot. The landlord never knows the bill.  One time I had to do this with a very boutique porch light globe I accidentally smashed.  The phone call went like "You (landlord is architect) specced the porch light, right?  It's an Adams J101, do you know who supplies those?"  "Anderson Distributors in the city." "Thanks."  That was the last he heard of it.
Now it's possible it won't go well. Your poking may have brought it below condemning limits. It may have been "grandfathered" in Code and now it's not.  Or it may have been improperly wired in the first place (not least, the other tenant's power in your box? WTH? Scary!) and that must be fixed because it can't be returned to service that way.   Any of these could make this bill a fair bit bigger.  Unfortunately, that's just tough.  If it was defective before you came along and the electrican can tell your landlord that, you might get him to share costs.  That's the most you can expect.
By the way, the thing I almost never say is "hire a professional". In this case it's right for reasons I-IV above.
One last thing: Find out what the bedroom neighbor likes (cakes, tequila, Cold Stone) and get her something really nice.


If the wax seal is misaligned enough it could potentially lead to clogging, though I would also expect water on the floor if that is the case.

If the toilet was just seated poorly, then your risks are escape of gas and escape of sewage.

Frequent clogs are usually caused by an obstruction, either in the toilet itself or downstream.  Venting problems usually manifest as gurgling or slow draining versus a complete clog.


For attaching anything bigger than christmas lights to the house, the siding is just a covering of the frame. And the frame (wall studs, etc) is what you need to securely anchor to. You can either drill straight through the siding or cut some siding away and tackle it that way.

It's spooky when you cut into your house, no doubt, so the concept of "measure twice, cut once" really starts to take center stage. You can read up a bit on general tutorials, and getting it right includes not drilling into pipes and wiring that might be behind the siding running through the walls.

Regarding the side with the fence and the trees, you'll get a lot of stretch out of the ropes you use, to the point where you may want to consider guy wires. They'll be much smaller than equivalent strength rope, last much longer (probably longer than all of us), and will have much less stretch than rope even double its size. The downside is that it's a pain to work with if you're not familiar with the material.

In short:

Secure the house-portion to structural framing elements of the house using quality hardware, and weatherproof when you're done.
Consider using guy wires for both parts to keep a good look, but definitely on the longer side to minimize stretch.


Without knowing the construction it's tough to give you an exact answer. However, I would first try to determine what is emptying into it. Rain gutters, ground water, grey water, etc.? It's purpose may be to keep water away from your foundation. Are you having moisture problems in the house? Second, have you seen it overflow? In other words, is water coming up or is it simply not taking in the groundwater around that drain in your picture. You call it an overflow pipe. It may be that, or it could be there to drain ground water. In that case you might want to reset it below ground level allowing ground water to drain into it. In other words - a french drain.
If the drywell is, in fact, overflowing and causing problems the only way to resolve it is to excavate to see what's going on.
In that case, a septic company may be able to help you.


Should I use traditional 2x4 framing or 1x3 grid framing for a New England basement remodel?

You can't frame out in 1x3 especially in a basement.  It is just too flimsy and and warping with probably make it brittle.  If you want to save an inch or two (which you will never notice) then please frame in 2x3.  You won't have any issues with 2x3s (other than having to install shallow electrical boxes in some cases).

Note:  Watched the video on the grid system.  I am sorry but this just seems very ill advised to me.  I have a list of problems I have with it (these are just some off the top of my head):

it's not faster or cheaper than installing traditional 2x3 (2x4) walls
it saves you maybe 1/2 inch per wall.
my biggest peeve is that you are drilling tons of holes in your foundation.  I just can't believe someone would do this
your insulation is now a support structure since your 1x3 will bend and rest on it
not even sure if running romex behind would be code (doubt it would get passed in my area)
basement walls usually aren't flat (and if they are they don't usually stay flat).  So when framing I pop out at the bulge you would just be drywalling there.


For a professional, it's all about economy, and that doesn't mean brush price. That means project speed and finish quality.

A great brush should:

Carry a lot of paint without dropping it
Allow consistent, smooth application of the paint film
Provide very good edge control
Feel good in the hand
Offer a comfortable, secure grip
Function well with the user's preferred techniques
Last through multiple jobs without frizzing or bristle loss
Clean up easily and completely

It isn't about features, such as shape or taper or bristle material, because what's needed varies by painter and by project. It's about benefits in the way of performance that save time and money.

Just as I can't tell you what shaver or deodorant to use, I can't tell you what paint brush to buy. Try a few and learn what works for you. It's a safe bet that neither the cheapest nor the most expensive are the right one.


Depends a bit on your furnace.  If you have someone that services your furnace, ask them.

I used to use a pleated filter with a high MERV value.  The second time my furnace broke when it was well below 0 degrees, I spent some time talking with the service man.  Apparently the type of furnace I have does not draw air through these filters as well as it should.  This causes this part to burn out.

I now use the filters that are fiberglass screens and no longer have the problem.


Is it better to paint wood siding or replace it with vinyl?

I  would recommend reading up on vinyl siding. It's really not as maintenance free as its manufacturers claim - it fades and becomes brittle. And unlike wood it can't really be repaired.

Not to mention it looks pretty ugly and fake.

Also if your house has any architectural details, then they would probably be covered up by the vinyl installation, significantly reducing curb appeal and possibly valuation of  your home


Use Gap and crack sealant on the window sill

If the product your talking about is GreatStuff (which it sounds like it is), you'll want to use the window and door variety instead.

The gap and crack formula expands too much, whereas the window and door stuff doesn't expand as much.


what size should gas grill burner flames be

A hairline crack? which also burns gas?

So you should STOP using this at once, it is NOT safe.

Get it repaired by a competent person.


How would I secure a pex shut off valve to the stud in the wall interior?

Generally you would just secure the PEX with some pipe clams near the valve and that would be good enough. The valve just hangs there in mine and I usually grab a pipe with one hand when I turn it.


Using an older 200A breaker panel on a 60A feeder circuit from house?

You can use the 200 amp main as a disconnect it is fine since you will be using a 60 amp breaker in the main panel the wire needs to be sized for 60 amps. As long as the panel is as large as the service panel breaker or larger it would be code compliant.


Is a soap and water gas leak detecting solution more likely to cause rust than the store's version?

Neither should cause any problem if the solution is dried off after.


Can I use a 3-way light bulb in my 60 watt lamp?

If your fixture is only rated for 60 watt bulbs, then as you seem to understand already, anything else could overheat and cause a fire.

The manufacture of the lamp rated it for 60 watts for a reason - material types, distance of bulb, etc.  Usually there is a safety margin built in, so is your lamp going to combust the second you put a 100 watt bulb in it? Probably not, but why risk it?  The only safe thing anyone should recommend is to follow the manufactures directions.


What cut of wood should I use for door stile & rails?

In my area, we have a place called Northern Hardwood Supply that stocks many types of woods used for furniture, custom trim, etc. I'm sure there are similar suppliers in your area. If your local lumber yard does not stock thicker woods, ask them if there is a specialty house in your area.

The second item worth mentioning, is that I recommend using a hardwood for you doors. A good choice would be poplar wood. It is the least expensive hardwood, easy to work with and finishes nicely, especially if you plan to prime and paint. Soft woods like pine tend to warp or wain and check easily and aren't the best for framing long narrow stiles etc.

As far as the tools and techniques for sizing custom stock, a table saw and planner are the best.  The term "resawing" refers to cutting the thickness of narrower stock, say less than 4" with a table saw. One would set up using a feather board and a 80 tooth or hollow ground planner blade. This often gives a decent sandable cut, but not a real furniture grade finish. A planner is your best bet for a decent initial smooth finish that can be sanded to a good finish. The combination of using both is often required for custom sizing. Usually one side of your stock will have a good factory finish ready to sand, so do your DIY cutting all on one side of the stock that will not be as visible in the finished product.


Can I use an existing 6/3 cable plus an additional ground wire for a sub-panel?

No, when you retrofit a ground, you must source the retrofit ground from the same panel as the conductors come out of.
Further, such a groundless feed can be retrofitted for ground but it cannot be used in new work.
It sounds like the house was built with electric, and you went to a lot of trouble to convert to gas.  This is often done "with a vengeance" because traditional electric ranges are so awful compared to gas.  So your logic is "Why NOT burn the bridge and make it impossible to go back, since any sane person will stay gas since electric is so awful". One technology change is inductive ranges, which by all reports are turning out to be quite good.
Another tech trend is toward electrification.  Given these sea changes, I would expect in 5-10 years a new homeowner may want to dispense with the propane altogether in favor of inductive range, extended range heat pump, etc.  This may be helped along by incentives either from gov't or power company.
Therefore, given that the 6/3 "no ground" feeder is utterly useless as a subpanel feeder, and still useful to the next homebuyer for fitting an induction range (and thus, adds value to the home), my advice would be to leave it alone.
--
I note your your existing subpanel has a 2-2-2-4 feeder going to it. That feeder is good for 90A (if the existing subpanel is). So I would simply "tee" off that existing feeder with additional 2-2-2-4 to the new kitchen subpanel.  Now both old and new subpanel are sharing a 90A feeder.  That's more than plenty for a gas kitchen.


You should check for 240 between lines, but I'm guessing you have it.

When I turn on any circuit breaker connected to the one bus line the voltage to that bus and to the incoming supply line drops down to anywhere from 20 to 2 volts.

That smells exactly like a very bad connection upstream on that leg. No current, full voltage. Turn anything on, current flows, high resistance in the bad connection, voltage you see at the panel input drops.
Given it's on the input side beyond your panel input, I think it's call the power company time in most jurisdictions.


How do I install a 2 gang low voltage bracket?

I think you've answered your own question.

The first type of mount is for screwing into a stud, the second is for drywall/plasterboard.

You can still use the first type though.

Cut the hole for the switch in the drywall and then cut a length of batten just longer that the hole. Then fix this to one side of the hole inside the cavity. This is the tricky bit as you might end up having to screw into the batten through the drywall, which is going to leave you with a couple of screw heads to cover. If you can use an adhesive that should work as the bracket and light switch aren't very heavy.

Once the batten is firmly secured, fix the batten as illustrated on the web page.

However, I would first see if you can arrange an exchange.


Can a water softener be installed after a thermal expansion tank?

I don't think this should be a problem, water softeners I have seen do not have check valves in them so water can flow through both ways. It's only after a check valve where expansion capacity is needed.
Many homes do not even have an expansion tank, they are most frequently found (at least in my area) where there is a pressure regulator (which contain a check valve) installed after the meter. In that case you need an expansion tank (especially with a water heater) because of the additional pressure warmer water will create in the system which needs to be relieved. If there are no check valves in the system the entire city main can serve as the expansion tank (water flows backwards through your meter).


Another code question: can I take a 110V outlet off one leg of a 220V circuit?

There are a few concerns:
Neutral and Grounding
First and foremost to do any of this would require a neutral conductor and a non current carrying conductor known as a ground/earth.
Undersized Grounding
Most double pole branch circuit grounds are only sized at #10. This is only good for up to 60 Amps according to the NEC.  The total Amps gained with the 120 V outlets may exceed what the code allows for #10 grounding. If the existing double pole is rated at 50 Amps, than you have 10 Amps to spare before having to increase the size of the ground to a #8  If you plan on removing the double pole receptacle all together than there shouldn't be a problem with a undersized ground.
OverCurrent Protection
If the above criteria has been met and the existing double pole receptacle is protected by a double pole 15 or 20 Amp breaker then you can safely tap off the conductors at the junction box to fed other 120 V outlets.
However if the double pole receptacle is protected by a breaker greater than 20 Amps, then one solution would be to change the the double pole receptacle to a small main-lug sub-panel.  Then branch off the sub-panel so each branch circuit is protected by its own breaker.


What is the absolute minimum garage door size that will still fit a (small) car?

The door doesn't need to be much wider than the car - 10cm or 4 inches either side of the mirrors should be plenty in a straight line.  But it's conventional to make the door very nearly as wide as the garage, for ease of access especially if you need to turn.

I've got a fairly typical UK family size car, and it's just under 1.8m including mirrors.  Even a modern supermini isn't much narrower than this. I suggest you pick a car of the size you've got in mind, and Google that model plus "dimensions".  Then you have to estimate how precisely you can line the car up.  With a line marked on the ground, and leaning out of the window, I know I can get to within ±2 cm on side-to-side positioning, lined up straight, but it's slow and boring (this is lining a van up to an awning). So I've increased by a factor of 10 for safety/convenience margin.

This would lead to 2 m as a minimum width for a fairly normal car.  This would feel quite tight but be doable.  You would of course have to have the garage wider inside to allow opening the doors.  Smaller cars can need more width as they're often 3-door, which means bigger doors; this effect can be bigger than the reduction in car width.


How should masking tape be used when multiple coats of paint are being applied?

Usually the second coat doesn't need tape because you don't need to get as close to the edge. But if you are going to, you'd want to re-mask for each coat. Otherwise the paint can seep under the masking tape while it's drying or it will pull non-masked paint off when you remove it.


Can I just cap the red wire from a dual switch to install a ceiling fan without a light?

Nope, can't do it.

Code absolutely requires a wall switch in the room that works.

There's a variance that lets you have that wall switch operate a receptacle, and then you're supposed to plug in a floor lamp and leave it switched on 24x7 at the lamp (or just remove the switch knob; that's what I do).  However no, you can't have only lights which must be operated at the lamp, with a phone, what have you.

You'll either need a different fan, a light kit for this fan, a ceiling light elsewhere in the room, or the switch must operate a receptacle.  (there aren't Code police who go around checking to see if you actually plug a lamp into it lol.  But you will certainly have problems when you sell the house; it'll get redflagged and you'll have to fix it, right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the property sale).


Can two 30 ampere circuits be combined in an outlet?

No.  While it might seem safe since each circuit is load-protected for it's gauge, you can have all kinds of problems.

First:  Someone might work on the panel in the future and move a breaker and reverse the phase on one of the two circuits.  This would cause a 240v short circuit.

Second:  Any fault to ground will likely fault to only one of the two grounds which would be undersized for the fault load.

Third:  Any difference in resistance in the two circuit hots will cause a difference in current in the two lines and cause nuisance tripping of one breaker.

Fourth:  Any difference in resistance between the two neutrals will cause a difference in current that could overheat one of the two neutrals without tripping the breaker.

Fifth:  As Ecnerwal points out, The appliance should trip at 40A, but if the current is balanced on both wires, the breakers may not trip until a combined load of 60A is achieved, causing a possible unsafe condition or damage to the new appliance.


Why are you using the LOAD terminals?  You have no idea what they do, but what you do know is the GFCI is a different type of thing and the screws are even differently labeled.  I am just mentioning this because mains power can get people hurt or burn your house down.  "Not knowing" should make you more reluctant to experiment.

Pull the GFCI out of there, cover both the LOAD terminals with tape, and don't use them.   Now your project has a chance of success.

That will create another problem to solve, and the answer is "pigtail".


What causes standard door hinges to close up to a certain amount automatically?

The two hinges are not exactly one above each other, in 3D. One of them is slightly left, right, front or back, relative to the other.

As such, the line going through both hinges forms a vector in space. If this vector is not straight up, when the door rotates around it, the door will go higher or lower.

Gravity is pulling the door down. As such, it will try to go to the position where the door is lower.

(following comments, I assumed passive hinges. Do you have a hinge that is supposed to close automatically?)


Can I remove this plastic elbow inside my kitchen tap?

There is no heath issue to be concerned about from mixing hot and cold water.   You can remove that black elbow.


Do I need a separate home inspection if I've got a good contractor doing a gut rehab?

You still might want the inspection.  Even though you don't care about the electrical, plumbing, heating, wall and floor finish, you are counting on the underlying structure to be sound.  You might want to know about, for example, evidence of water damage / possible mold, rot in the sill or beams, sagging floors, possible asbestos, evidence of termites or other pests - many things you might not have thought of.

You may be able to ask the inspector to place less emphasis on the systems you know you plan to replace.


Will blown-in insulation work directly on the back of 12" square ceilings tiles?

One big one... dust.

Normally, blown insulation is above a finished sealing (drywall or plaster, which provides substantial air sealing) and a vapor barrier. You'll have persistent severe glass fiber pollution if you do this without installing a poly barrier, at a minimum.


You can make an eye splice

Instructions on animatedknots.com and many other places.


Integrate ceiling fixture into Hue system

and then wiring the Hue smart plug into the ceiling via the exposed
wires.

What?, Exposed wires, NO.
You would have to have an outlet with the Hue smart plug installed and then plug the modified chandelier wire into the Hue smart outlet. That will only turn it off and on, not control brightness, tone and color like with the Hue bulbs.

The only option I am aware of

How about their smart dimmer switch?
They DO have a E12 base candelabra bulb.
You could use an E12 to E26 adapter  and use their filament smart bulbs
Or a White and color E26 base bulb in the E12 to E26 adaptor.
Philips Hue


Is there such a thing as a vacuum sump pump? No standing water above check valve?

Sort of, but it probably doesn't work like you think. I'm guessing you want a pump that works like a shop vac. But once you put in a provision to drain off the collected liquid, the vacuum effect no longer works. One could concoct a system that alternately sucks, then drains, but I know of no such commercially available package system. Maybe something like this does exist? I'll bet it would be pretty loud!

There are vacuum primed pumps, they tend to be large, and when the first bit of air hits the impeller as the sump empties, all the remaining liquid in the suction pipe drains back into the sump. Something similar happens with the jet pump you linked to, but since the pipe is small, the volume of liquid drained back is small. But there's always the liquid remaining between the sump floor and the highest portion of the inlet opening, no matter which pump you use. Only manual vacuuming will get at that. In addition, most pump controls shut off the pump before there's any chance of sucking air, leaving even more liquid in the sump.

People typically use self priming pumps to suck out liquid from containers. These sorts of pumps all must retain a liquid reservoir in the casing from which they can re-initiate their prime. There's always some left over liquid sitting around somewhere when ever a liquid pump is involved.

It is possible to concoct a system where after the wastewater is mostly removed, potable water is added and pumped away in an attempt to flush away the remaining wastewater, so that only clean water is left standing. The reality is you are only diluting the remaining wastewater, so some small wastewater portion will always remain.

Jet pumps like the one you linked to are clever devices. You do need good water flow, and they do use a LOT of potable water. Also be aware that the integral check valve of this device will not be considered adequate by almost any building authority. Some sort of vacuum breaker will likely need to be added, further reducing available pressure and volume. These jet pumps are for removing relatively clean groundwater. The bits of food, hair, lint, etc. found in graywater will probably clog the device.


My deck dies in a funny pattern -- does that mean this board is upside-down?

It looks like that board may be right under the edge of your roof. Do you have gutters installed? It could be that whenever it rains that board is constantly saturated by roof runoff.


Definitely run the largest conduit you can obtain across the driveway. Possibly two or three or four parallel runs -- you don't know if you will eventually want to use one for low-voltage cabling, another to pass a water pipe through, etc. PVC conduit holds up very well underground and is relatively cheap even in large diameters.

You can put conduit underneath the driveway and terminate it 10' away on both sides of it. Plug the ends with putty or something else removable, and you can reduce the conduit size to whatever size you actually need in the future when it comes time to do the installation.

For such a short length of conduit, I wouldn't worry about a pull cable. You can easily run a fish tape 15-30 ft.


Need a gas cooker but have no gas supply

In rural locations in the US, propane is often used as a fuel for cooking and heating. The gas is stored in an outdoor tank and piped into the house. Propane burns hotter than methane ("natural gas"). Therefore you may need a special stove to use propane, and if you want to hook up appliances such as a water heater or clothes dryer, you will definitely need models designed for propane.

Piping for gas is a high-stakes job: if you mess it up the odds of it killing or hurting you are significant. Your local law almost certainly requires that only licensed professionals work on gas lines for this reason. With propane, there may also be special ventilation or safety system requirements. So for all these reasons you should start by calling some vendors/installers and asking for proposals from them. You want to figure out whatever is common in your area, and do that -- sticking with whatever's common will make it easier to shop around for fuel deliveries and repairs, and doing something unusual or amateur around gas lines is a sure way to scare off potential buyers if you ever sell your house. In fact, if your system wasn't installed professionally and passed government inspection, I'd be surprised if anyone would even sell you fuel.

So although this is the DIY stackexchange, some jobs are really only for professionals. Get recommendations from neighbors and call around.


What is a reasonable air-conditioning schedule to prevent humidity issues?

This question has received a lot of answers and comments, but I suspect not from people familiar with Florida who have encountered the underlying issue.  It is a frequent one in Florida because:

There are a lot of snowbirds, and Floridians who travel a lot, so houses frequently are unoccupied for long periods.
Florida is extremely hot and humid.

The biggest issue is mold, which thrives in high humidity.  The problem here isn't humidity near 100%; the issue isn't the dew point or condensation.  Mold becomes a problem way before that.  The EPA recommends keeping humidity below 60% (ideally, below 50%), to prevent mold growth.

The OP is in the Jacksonville area, where the yearly average outside air humidity is at or above this threshold throughout the day (low point of 58%, day average of 76%, high point of 89%).  House insulation acts like a thermal delay, so when a house is unoccupied for an extended period, it goes through cycles when it is cooler inside and the RH spikes.  In an unoccupied house with normal air infiltration, the inside humidity will be extremely mold-friendly.

Since RH is a function of temperature and the humidity of the outside air, it is imprecise and expensive to try to handle this by arbitrarily cycling the AC based on temperature or time.  To reliably control mold, you might need to run the AC more than required.  Also, you need a reliable way of knowing what humidity level results from your normal AC temperature setting.  If it normally keeps the house close to 60% RH and you arbitrarily bump the temperature higher while you're gone, it could result in a mold-friendly environment.

The standard solution is to install a humidistat (not very expensive and a one-time cost), which cycles on the AC only as needed to keep the humidity in a range where mold doesn't grow.

Note that, as d.george writes, this is likely to be much more regular than an occasional burst of AC.  It will be removing moisture from the air, but everything in the house will be storing moisture and contributing to the equilibrium.  How much it runs based on humidity compared to how much it normally runs will depend on the humidity level resulting from your normal AC setting, and the outside temperature and humidity while you're gone.  If your normal AC setting keeps the humidity in the 50% to 60% range, the system will run about the same amount via the humidistat.  If the normal AC setting keeps the house at a low humidity, it will run a lot less via the humidistat.

Another, or auxiliary, solution is to use a dehumidifier (probably several for a whole house), as d.george suggests.  You will need a way to get rid of the collected water so it can run for an extended period unattended.  These cycle based entirely on humidity.


There's no good way to do this. You could (in theory) get a spare electrical box, wire it into your main box such that it had access to more current than the breaker under test, and then install the breaker into that spare box, cause a short and watch it trip.

Alternately, you could install the breaker, overload the circuit in question (borrow all the neighbor's vacuum cleaners?) and watch it trip (and hope nothing goes wrong, causing a fire and burning down your house).

The first is annoying, the second is dangerous (because you have no idea if some previous owner used sub-standard wiring somewhere in your house). There is no good option for the homeowner to test these things.

While I don't think we can make too many general statements, we CAN say that the products distributed in the US are subject to various electrical codes and that the manufacturers design so that if they fail, they fail open. Realistically, you've probably got a lot more to worry about from your appliances, than your breakers.

Just buy your breakers from a reputable retailer, check for damage before installation, and you'll almost certainly be fine.


How do I choose more durable screwdriver bits?

I think the bits as basically very low quality. When you go to your favorite store, simply buy one of the contractor grade of bits like DeWalt, Kolbalt, Irwin, Vermont American etc. Be careful what kind of jobs you tackle with your light duty screwdriver. I'm sure it does not have the power to drive longer screws into hard woods like decking etc. You have to hold a lot of force against the screw in these situations or the bit will slip, spin and dull, as well as strip out the screw head.


Why do space heaters make the air smell like that?

When air contacts a sufficiently hot object, dust in the air burns, and in some cases, particles from the hot object are also ejected similar to how dry ice sublimates.  Dust can also gather on the heating filament when not in use, and burn off immediately when plugged in.

An infrared lamp with a sealed glass bulb contains the hottest point (the filament of the bulb) within a sealed glass enclosure, eliminating filament loss.  Radiant heaters are also the least likely to stir currents of air over he heater.

For those two reasons, an infrared heater is least likely to produce a noticeable smell.


what is the cause whereby compressor working gets hot and stops, after cooled down picks up

Assuming the condenser coil is reasonably clean, possibly a weak run capacitor on the compressor.  If you have made changes to the refrigerant such as you would be required to when replacing the dryer then more likely contamination with a noncondensible like air or overcharge of refrigerant.

Edit:  I have assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that you are in the US.  Voltage too high or frequency too low for the compressor rating could also cause the compressor and condenser to get very hot.


We're having to make assumptions here that this is house wiring for an single analog phone circuit (POTS) as no specifics other than "it's a phone extension" are given.

This is a four wire cable with a green/red and white/brown circuit. POTS requires a pair of wires. Your house could be wired having up to two separate phone lines if this is the only wire used. Typically older houses are wired with four wire cables, newer houses with CAT4 or 5 have four pairs (8 wires) available for phone circuits.

If it's a single line phone circuit, the green/red wires should be the only ones that need to be hooked up. What's the difficulty with connecting them back up observing the color coding? This is assuming that the socket is using screw connectors, the straight on angle doesn't allow the connection method to be seen.


How should I insulate my partially finished, currently uninsulated basement?

I have a similar setup as you.  Same Climate Zone (Georgia, USA) and similar type of basement and walls.  Since the vapor barrier could cause water condensation in the wall if you go with drywall, you'll want to remove it.  I am going to seal my wall with a heavy masonry sealer like DryLock first.  Then use foam board because it would be mold resistant.  If you use furring strips I would probably paint them too to inhibit mold growth.  I would insulate all the exterior walls.

You didn't say if you were going to refinish the area after removing the paneling, but if you do, consider waterproof/water-resistant materials like mold-resistant/mold proof drywall and PVC trim. Basements in general are notorious for water infiltration and mold damage, so this would help mitigate it.  Also, if this area is to be made into a livable, usable space where people could spend some time in, consider getting a radon test done as well.

You didn't state what material your garage door is made of.  If it is wood, I would probably just replace it with an insulated metal door.  If you have a metal door that is un-insulated, you can cut foam insulation inserts and fit them between the panels.  For looks you could also screw new sheet metal rectangles over and paint it if you don't like the foam to be visible.

Also, I'm not sure about your ceiling in the unfinished side of the basement.  You mentioned a drop ceiling.  If there is drop ceiling in that area, then use insulated drop ceiling tiles. You can make your own out of luan plywood and some thin foam insulation if you want.  if not, then you should be able to use batt insulation to insulate the ceiling joists.


Note: You haven't mentioned your jurisdiction, but it is quite likely that you might need qualified/authorized electrician to perform electrical installation changes according to the Code.

That being said, yes, in your picture you connected RCD correctly.

RCD (also called GFCI or FID elsewhere in the world) is residual current device, which means it will measure the difference in current coming in from Live side and going out to Neutral side. If that current is bigger than its sensitivity (30mA in your case), it will break the connection. Single phase RCDs (as your in the picture) do not have ground connection (just 4 connections: Live in, Live out, Neutral in, Neutral out). See failure modes below on why.

Also note that "63A" marking on RCD is not any measure of its protection, it is simply maximum current rating that is capable of operating on. If you go over that, you will destroy your RCD (which you do not want).

Please note that you also need appropriately sized overcurrent circuit breaker (MCB) in addition to RCD (or get combined RCD/MCB in one package, sometimes called RCBO). For example, if your heating cable is 1000W, you would install 6A MCB (as that is first MCB size above 1000/240). If it is 2000W you would get 10A etc. In your picture, you would preferably connect it on L input before RCD.

You also need to monthly check your RCD by pressing "Test" button (yellow in your example) and verify that is tripping the RCD.

For those interested in details, let's see failure modes of your heating cable:

there could be very damaged isolation between L and N wires in it, causing very high short circuit currents, in which case almost any MCB will trip immediately due to its electomagnetic component. RCD would not help here, as all current coming in from L is going out thorough N.
there could be slightly damaged isolation between L and N wires in it, causing higher (but not extremely high) currents, in which case your MCB (if appropriately sized) will trip after some time (seconds to even minutes!) due to its thermal bimetal component. There could also be arcing involved is such case, where additional device called AFCI might help. RCD would not help here, as all current coming in from L is going out thorough N.
there could be damaged isolation between L and protective Ground mesh. In this case, current will go to protective ground cable. In this case, RCD will trip on very small current (0.03A leakage) as not all current that entered via L exited via N. If you did not have RCD, MCB would trip only if the isolation is totally gone (not on partial damage), and then only if grounding in your object was low-impedance (which may or may not be the case). Otherwise the damaged area would overheat, leading to fire hazard or melting isolation (and thus leading to other error modes).
there could be damaged isolation on L  is such a way that is exposed but does not touch the protective Ground mesh (for example if mesh was stripped during bad installation). In that case, if you did not have RCD, and you touched the exposed L, you could die, as the current would flow from L, through your body, to ground on which you stand (especially if it was for example in bathroom, and you were wet), causing cardiac arrest. With RCD, the current also would start to flow through your body, but RCD would detect that not all current has returned via N and would trip in the matter of milliseconds, thus saving your life.


Do I need to add a vent when moving a toilet drain across the bathroom?

You must have a vent. The toilet will not flush properly without one, and there will rarely be enough water left in the bowl. You need a 2" vent to take off from the branch line within 6 feet of the toilet. It can run up any convenient wall until it is above the toilet's flood level. Then it can run near horizontally (1/4" per foot) anywhere to tie into an equal or larger vent.

There's any number of ways to properly vent a toilet, and several common ways that are technically wrong, and even more that are just plain wrong. It's impossible to suggest a good method without a lot more information.


can I run 6/3 from a 60amp breaker on my meter loop to my shop 50ft to supply 120v/220v

Yes #6 wire would be fine on a 50 amp breaker. Today’s code requires 4 wire and you will need a grounding electrode at the the shop.   I would verify that the original #4 is not serviceable prior to spending the $ on a new UF cable or putting in conduit and wires, over the years I have found several feeders like yours that were cut because the owner was afraid of 220/240v. Most don’t realize the voltage to ground is only 120v there is only 220/240 between the 2 hot’s. I had a friend do the same because he did not understand and realized his welder would not work and asked me to fix it, prior to that I wondered why someone would do this (I have seen it about 5 times) where there was no damage to the feeder.


How can I make my white LED strip light warmer?

The cheapest, laziest way (that would actually work) is to obtain some cinematic gels (they are sheets), such as those made by Rosco.   Cut them into strips or squares, affix any way practical.

The better, long term approach is to spec better LED strips.  LED strips come in a huge range of product qualities.  By and large, consumers either pay waaaaay too much for mediocre quality strips (I've seen companies charge $90/metre with a straight face), or very low prices ($7 per 5 metre roll) for "fell off a truck in Shenzhen China" quality strips.  Either one may have poor accounting for CRI, overall brightness, etc.

Aside from color temperature, there is also CRI (Color Rendering Index), a percentage scale of how close to natural or tungsten light it is.  CRI is compensated for what human eyes see, so a light can be quite uneven on a spectrum analyzer and still have a very high CRI.  Machine eyes don't see light the way human eyes do, which may be a problem if machine eyes are involved.


Restore a front load washing machine door boot

There's no good way to restore resiliency and surface integrity to that type of material for a substantial length of time. The seal itself shouldn't be terribly expensive, and replacement is the best long-term fix.


How can I connect coaxial cables to my wall?

It sounds like you're looking for "cable staples" or "cable clips" which look like this:

If you want to get fancier you can get "cord covers" which come in a lot of different styles, such as this:


Those wires that fed the old receptacle were likely disconnected in the junction box on the other end of the piece of cable you see. The electrician may have even cut the other end back so that he was able to push it out of the junction box completely, so you may not even be able to see the other end. It's pretty hard to take the old wire out, it should be stapled in place, including 6" up the wall above that hole.

Some could argue it would have been better form to trim that wire further out of sight, but the upside is you can see the electrician didn't feed the new location by hiding an illegal flying splice without a junction box at the old outlet location.

A non-contact tester might help confirm if it has been disconnected, but you might get a false positive if the other end was just disconnected and insulated but us still in the junction box near hot conductors, so a voltmeter might be needed if you get indefinite results.


Corrosion on copper pipes due to insulation (with foam)

I wouldn't bother insulating your incoming cold water pipes.  If your basement is warm, the water will warm up a little passing through it, but the solution to that -- if you need it -- is to let the cold water run for a little until you're see water that hasn't been sitting around in your pipes getting warm.  I say "if you need it" because I generally don't care what temperature my cold water is: drinking water for me comes from a pitcher in my fridge; tap water is used for washing food, mixing with hot water for bathing, or watering plants.

If you're concerned about the condensation from your pipes dripping onto things, I'd be more inclined to get a dehumidifier and run it while you've got this hot, humid weather.


Can an ordinary power drill drill through steel?

Most drill bits sold are "high speed" drill bits intended for a variety of materials including metal (but not concrete, tile, glass or extended use in plaster or plasterboard).

If the bits are fairly sharp, you should be able to use them in the steel, assuming it is not a hardened alloy.  To improve your chances, a bit of oil or cutting fluid at the cutting point will help prevent overheating. Slower is usually better.

The rust probably makes the steel weaker and easier to drill.


This happens to me often. Same brand and design. When this happens, I open the cover on the ice  bucket and knock out any ice cubes that are still stuck in the ice maker tray with a wooden spoon and then the noise stops...at least until the next time it dispenses more ice.


Something like epoxy for painting a playhouse?

I agree an epoxy coating makes sense.  West System epoxy would pretty much do what you want.  GitRot would have better penetration, but it'd be pricey and not designed for that purpose.  West System is specifically meant to be painted on.  They even sell special foam rollers.

It will penetrate somewhat, get underneath those wanna-be splinters, and tack them down.   It is sandable, but if it's not blended with fairing powder, it can be fairly hard to sand, i.e. The sander won't take material very quickly.  I would recommend one pass with sanding to remove burrs and odd bits.

If you also want to level the surface you can mix epoxy with fairing filler, then trowel on the mixture.  This is much easier to sand.

Lightly scuff-sand the epoxy, wipe off the amine blush, and you can paint it with most paints.


What does a single beep and one flash mean when using my Ames non contact tester

Non contact tester will flash over nothing - tap your palm - flashes, slides across the dashboard - flashes, falls out of your shirt pocket, flashes as it hits the floor, and never works again.

It's important to remember that non contact voltage testers are simply not dead solid reliable testers.

There are lots of circumstances that will give you a false negative - it will fail to detect voltage present.  There are not many circumstances where it will give you a false positive - usually it it lights up and stays lit it is seeing something.


The issue is more than likely the dimmer switch itself. If you've changed from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs then I'm 100% sure the dimmer is the issue. You'll need a dimmer that's LED compatible. Most LED compatible dimmers are also sufficient for use with CFL bulbs.

Note: Ensure your LED bulbs are dimmable as well.


Can I just add air to an air-over-water pressure tank?

If you have a fitting you can connect a compressor to, you don't even need to turn the pump off - pressure from the compressor should keep the pump from turning on.

I'd strongly suggest, when funds and time permit, some replumbing to put in valves you lack and considering a bladder-type tank, but for cheap and quick, if somewhat of a hassle, just draw down water until you get near 40 (but not so near as to turn the pump on) and pump up to 80 with the compressor, repeat as needed or until you have the water level you want for now. You will be repeating, given a non-bladder tank and evidently no or malfunctioning (common) venturi (aka micronizer?) valve to automatically add air. So if you don't plan on changing the tank, plan on making it easy to connect the compressor. I'd use a quick-connect coupling. Do make sure the compressor you use for this is "oil-free" - your drinking water supply could get nasty with an oiled compressor adding air (and just a bit of compressor oil) to it.

The pressure switch does not need to be submerged, by the way. It senses pressure, and does not care (or know) if it's sensing air pressure or water pressure. The "standard drill" for bladder tanks is 3 psi below the cut-in pressure when empty, i.e. 37 PSI in your case (however, it's not a bladder tank). But given no place to flush from (other than shut all water uses off, pump to shutoff, then flush from outside hose connection, which will help with the tank debris, but not anything in the pipes to the softener) and no basic filter ahead of the softener, adding air without fully draining is probably safer, since it will stir up less debris.


I want to Increase the width of my kitchen by 2 feet, Is it possible?

There is not enough info to really answer, but generally as long as your willing to loose the two feet somewhere else then yes you can extend the kitchen.

A lot depends on the type of construction and other factors, your contractor/builder will know best. Again, generally, as long as your staying inside the exterior walls, just about anything can be done.

Other considerations exist however. In some construction types plumbing is laid before the concrete is poured. In those cases it may be expensive to move something like the sink, at the same time, it may cost next to nothing to move an empty wall over 2 feet into what was going to be a closet or something.

There are possibilities, but it will depend on your floor plan, your builder, your construction type, and other factors. Your builder is the best to ask about this type of thing.


High mineral counts can be a problem, not having proper dielectric unions and my opinion CHEAP pipe. I have seen cheap pipe have 50 pinholes where the rest of the house was fine the funny thing we could still see the stamps on the pipes and it was the cheap brand that had all the leaks. Replaced those sections and 10 years later the rest of the pipes are still fine, just the thinner cheap copper was the problem.


Can a conical form for pouring shorter concrete footers be used for fence posts?

You can't escape physics and violate code, which places footing depths below frost depths.  Just be glad you're not in Alberta, I hear they must go to 12ft.

    Where restraint in the form of a building load is present, heaving pressures may or may not overcome the restraint, but they can be very high: 19 tons/sq ft has been measured, and a seven-story reinforced concrete frame building on a raft foundation was observed to heave more than 2 in

Concrete Network article on shallow footings and frost


Can I pipe roof and sump water into an unused shallow well?

You can, but it is considered an injection well and is regulated by law:

  In the United States, injection well activity is regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state governments under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). EPA has issued Underground Injection Control (UIC) regulations in order to protect drinking water sources.

You actually have to get a permit and meet specific conditions in order to operate. Not doing so is actual a violation of federal law. The reason for this is you are putting contaminated surface water into the aquifer, and potentially contaminating the drinking water of anyone else connected to that aquifer.

This would be considered a Class V well:

  Class V wells are those used for all non-hazardous injections that are not covered by Classes I through IV. Examples of Class V wells include stormwater drainage wells and septic system leach fields.

You should read up from the link above and on the Minimum Requirements for Class V Wells.

If you aren't willing to do all this (because french drains are much simpler..), you should abandon the well. I can't find EPA regulations on this, but here in Ontario, Canada you're actually required to abandon unused wells under the Ontario Water Resources Act, and I'm sure the EPA has similar requirements about unused wells. Well Aware has a good page on Decommissioning  unused wells.


How serious are these cracks in drywall and foundation?

I think you already know the answer. I'm not in construction but have seen many homes and made a lot of ceiling drywall repairs. I've never seen a ceiling crack & separate that much. And Foundation cracks! Think you need an on site inspection to find out exactly what's going on. It can be fixed. Either esthetically, correctly or both. But be ready for the cost to do it right. Good luck.


Can I modify the plug of my new bath fan to fit the non-polarized receptacle?

No, no, no!  It's polarized for a reason.

Just replace the receptacle with a polarized receptacle.  Make sure the taller slot is on the neutral side.

They look like this, note the absence of a ground pin.  There may be a green screw on the outlet nonetheless, that grounds the outlet.  It should be left disconnected unless ground is actually present in the box.  This is a current product legally sold all over in white, ivory or brown.

As a footnote, this is a polarized receptacle.  The other type, with 3 slots, is a grounded receptacle. If you really need one of those, there's a legal way to do that using GFCI's.  As such there is never a reason to break off a ground pin.


Fluorescent Light In Garage - Mounting Issues

Are you able in the garage attic?  If so you can use the existing junction box and run a wire from it to a new receptacle box where you need it.  Or two boxes for another receptacle and another light later.  If your garage is unfinished then it will be even easier.  If you cannot get to the attic you can use surface mount raceway.

The raceway comes in 5 foot sticks, and has an adhesive on it's back. You can also get clips to attach it to the ceiling and not worry about the adhesive. It's 2 pieces, front & back.  Boxes, flat elbows, tee's and many more accompanying part are available.

If your box is round you can use this extension box.  They do make these in 1 gang boxes also.  It does not have a back to it so you can put it over the box you have and run the wires through the raceway.

To terminate into the box you might use this if you have a 1/2 knockout.

For all the parts available from the company I picked, click here.

The pros on the raceway is it is not too expensive and easy to use.  The raceway is made by lots of companies so there will be different sizes available.  Different fittings and elbows and terminations should be available and some will interchange with other brands.  It should be easy to find at a big DIY box store.

The cons are that it is surface mount and it will be seen.


Will there always be studs in the corner of two walls?

Those are all reasonable assumptions. But, you never know for certain whether anything was built by someone who knew what they were doing. Or whether it was inspected.

I'd guess those assumptions are accurate 90% of the time?

Safe? Well, that depends on what you are doing in those areas. I wouldn't hang anything heavy that could fall and hurt someone if the assumption were not true (without 1st verifying the assumption).


Can I hard wire two LED shop lights to one power line?

Yes, that's fine.  They don't need to be the same.  I mean, one could  be a humdifier unit even.  Just bring the wire in a knockout on the side, and use a listed cable clamp of the type that screws into a knockout.  Don't drill a hole in the box cover, don't hack or homebrew it.

If there are also receptacles on this circuit, make sure the hardwired loads on the circuit don't exceed 50% of circuit capacity.


I doubt that the 9 inch drop is any sort of problem. After all some parts of your drainage system will have a total vertical drop which is the maximal case of drop. The main reason of specifying drop per horizontal distance is to spec out the minimal amount of drop to allow drainage flow to work.


This looks like an air admittance valve.  While not common, these can fail in an open state.  You could be smelling sewer gasses escaping from the stuck open valve.

When I had one of these stuck open, it was very obvious that sewer gasses were escaping, and I could temporary close the valve by "tapping" on it with the back of a screwdriver.  This was only a short term solution, and the valve was replaced to prevent it from happening again.


Is there any benefit to upsizing to 3/4" pipe off a 1/2" main supply?

Flow resistance, like electrical resistance, increases with conductor length. If you are going a long way (say, over 50 meters) you will get better flow by running a larger pipe. The volume is a non-issue - (static) pressure won't go down even if you install one of those giant green gas storage containers in the yard.

In no case will you get more flow than what the incoming pipe can provide, larger pipes just mean you will not lose part of this flow to resistance.

In a standard house you don't have enough piping (or demand) to make a difference.


In general, moderate silt won't damage a typical electric well pump, as there are no close clearances (virtually all are not a piston with seals, it's a set of impellers which have space between them and the silt just flows through with the water.)

Heavy sand over long periods of time can cause significant wear, but that does not look like what you show, and in any case you either have to live with it, (and replace your pump more often) or possibly reposition the pump to try and minimize it. You can use various filters to keep it out of the plumbing if it persists, but it may not persist once you have flushed things out a bit.

Are you pumping into a 5 gallon bucket inside the building? Put a hose on, run it outside, and run it for an hour or so, keeping an eye/ear on it so you can shut it off just as soon as water stops coming out, if it does.

Pay attention to when that happens, and make the occasional check of how long it takes to fill a bucket for an estimate of flow rate (which will vary over time as the water level in the well drops) and you can get an estimate of your well's recharge rate. You'll also get an idea of how the silt is progressing. If your well recharge rate is high enough, it may just keep pumping the whole hour, that's fine.

Leave it several hours or a day to fully recharge, and repeat for perhaps a week, perhaps less depending what you see for collected silt.

Your previous post has some data regarding the "volume of water in the well" which implies a 6 inch casing and counting the water below the pump (10 feet off the bottom of the well) which you cannot pump. In reality (if those figures are still accurate - water-tables not being fixed) you have about 110 gallons "stored in the well" you can access, and anything more than that you get out over a period of time informs the recharge rate of the well (typically stated in gallons per minute.) So if you pumped out ~200 gallons over the course of 30 minutes and then the water stopped, you could infer that about 90 gallons flowed in over the 30 minutes, implying 3 gallons per minute inflow. But if your pump pumps out slower than water comes in, the water would never stop - but you'd still have a number for the minimum rate of inflow you could infer. That's merely information, but it's often good information to have.

In "flushing out the well" you certainly want to pump out MORE than the "stored volume" each time, since water WILL come into the well (and if the well has not been used for a long time, the initial inflow may indeed carry some silt with it.)


Pergola : Can I use 4 - 6x6 post, with 2x10 beams sandwitching 6x6 post for 17ftx17ft

Assuming the pergola is a “lattice” type roof and not a “solid” roof, (because you mentioned 2x2 slats,) the total load on any one side would be about 1.5 psf for 2x6’s 24” o.c. plus 2.0 psf for 2x2’s 6” o.c. For a total load of about 3.5 psf.

So, the total load on the 2x10’s would be about 3.5 psf x 17’/2 = about 30 plf.

Depending on the species and grade of 2x10’s, one 2x10 spanning 17’ will support about 60 plf. So, two 2x10’s spanning 17’ will support about 120 plf, which indicates your support beams are grossly oversized.

Connection of the 2x10’s to the 6x6’s can be with 3 - 16d, which will support about 100 lbs. each nail.

Of major concern is how the 6x6’s will be supported and stay plumb.


How can I split my rg6 cable runs without losing my signal?

You cannot passively split a cable run without loss. You can split a run with a lot less loss in one leg using a device called a tap (looks like a standard splitter, except when you consult the specs). This device is used where several rooms are going to be fed from a backbone. The next leg in the backbone is fed by the low loss leg and the high loss leg forms the drop into the room. Commonly, this is used in motel suites where you start with a very strong signal and have the reliability and low cost of passive devices in the chain.

For your installation, another layout that's more common for low signal areas using antennas is to have a mast mounted antenna amplifier. This puts the maximum received signal into an active device that can boost it to a much higher level with less noise than you would get putting the amplifier further down the cable. If the mast mounted amp can boost the signal enough, then you can get away with a passive splitter down the run betwen the two tv locations. If the signal is marginally weak, then you have to put it into a distribution amplifier (technically what you have) to re-boost the signal to make up for cable loss to it to the end of the runs as a useful signal.

Putting a distribution amplifier after any length of run from an antenna pretty much always is a very miserable experience. The coax attenuates the signal, you insert this weak signal into an amplifier and you end up amplifying noise and the signal equally. If you put the amplifier at the mast where the received signal is stronger, you increase what is called the signal to noise ratio. With the amplifier at the mast, you are amplifying more TV signal than noise. If you try using a distribution amplifier only, depending on the length of the run of cable between the mast and the distribution amplifier, you may end up amplifying more noise than signal.

Signal strength is measured in decibels, a logarithmic scale. Rule of thumb is that every 3 dB of loss reduces the signal power by half. Per 100ft, RG-6/U cable has approximately 2.8dB at the low end and 6.5dB at the high end of the broadcast band, more expensive brands of cable with properly installed compression fittings can have a bit less. If you use the two amplifier method, the only loss should be the cable run.

If you use a two way passive splitter, the loss will be 3.5dB per leg. A tap could be used with the 6dB leg going to the closest tv and the 1dB leg feeding the long cable run.

To sum it up, use a quality, mast mounted amplifier from a quality company like Winegard. These come in high gain or adjustable. Adjustable is for closer stations where you need just enough amplification to overcome cable run and splitter losses.

For the runs, use Quad Shield RG-6 cable rated for 2000MHz and if you have several brands available, go for the lowest loss. Old cable runs are your worst enemy for eating signal here, rip and replace if the cable's been inherited. Compression type fittings are readily available, as are the tools to install them.

See if a quality TV Broadcast band passive splitter will work (no Radio Shack gold plated potmetal please, Phillips, Channel Master) and use one rated for 5-900MHz thru 5-1500MHz. This spec is important. Satellite splitters will not pass TV broadcast band signal, they cover 950-2150MHz.

If the splitter attenuates the signal too much, then use a distribution amplifier (5-8dB range for a passband of 54-1000MHz) in place of the splitter. Once again, Channel Master or other quality manufacturer would be good.


Replacing Cam Nuts and Locks on Store Bought Furniture

Check the "Cam Connectors" (that's what the stores call them). They can rip or split & not provide a solid connection. If there are gaps & the panels aren't sucking together tightly, then you'll need to back out your screws/pins.

The screws/pins do hold everything together yes. But, the other thing they do is splay-out the screw receiver in the drilled hole to firmly anchor the screw/pin. If screwing isn't getting them flat, then you can hammer the balls at the bottom with the head end of a nail or a nail-set or a bolt or rod.

This will let your screw/pin sit at the right height & everything will snug-up beautifully. I wouldn't install through-screws unless they aren't visible. One final suggestion is to take it all or mostly apart & apply wood glue to all seaming panels. This will stiffen the entire piece incredibly, but you won't be able to take it apart in the future.


Do they make 1.5/1.5/2 combo wye (and is that what I need)

Since it is a vent to waste transition and not a waste to waste transition -- I would consider a 1.5" to 2" reducer fitting atop a 1.5"/2" combo wye acceptable (the vent line doesn't care).


How do I avoid injuries working with a table saw?

There is, NOW, a big sign in my work area that says SLOW DOWN.

I was ripping a piece of MDF for a door panel and I mismeasured - 1/2 inch too narrow. Angry, frustrated, and in a hurry to get back to the project.

Remeasured, remarked, and mounted another panel to cut to size. Pushed the panel along the fence and didn't slow down to make sure the cutoff piece had cleared the blade.

The cutoff touched the blade and came flying back at me, hitting me in the face, hand and arm. Safety glasses saved my face, bad bruise on the arm and a cut along the side of my hand that needed three stitches.

After I got back from the hospital, the cutoff (with a big scar through it where the blade chewed it up) was left right next to  the saw with the legend, SLOW DOWN.

SPEED KILLS!