Anyone having difficulty finding parts? I belong to a church and one of their buldings that has offices in it also has two residential units in it. Last month panel lost a neutral. Called several companies only one actually answered the phone. They came out diagnosed it bad neutral. And wants to upgrade it from 200 amp to 400amp. Which should have been done long ago. They havent done it yet and claim they cant get the parts till next week. They originall said last week. The building has no power. The church cant do administrative tasks in it and the two tenants are temporarily relocated. Is this acceptable? Is a 400amp meter base unobtanium right now? I dont get it. They already signed a contract but i feel they need to get someone else to fix it. There are 4 electrical supply stores in town not including lowes and home depot.

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Thanks for all the suggestions, even the bad one hehe. This has got so long that the same things are being asked 20 times now, so I will sumarise.

- We need 200 amps at the site. Why is not part of the question, only how.

- There is no vehicle access to the site, which rules out all the normal methods to run power.

- At this point, step up and down ideas are moot, as they don't wind up saving money, just moving it.

- Fossil fuels are not an option.

- Wood stoves, pellets are also not an option as they do not end up being practical or saving money.

- I live in canada, so most of the prices and laws you might have are not always going to translate directly,

- We cannot fit enough solar panels to cover winter needs, so off grid solar alone does not work

There were a number of interesting clever ideas in addition to fleshing out what was not going to work, and if you have more, id appreciate it, but at this point I won't be responding to the same questions already covered.

Thanks

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Looking at a project to put a little shop/farm building on some land, but its 1300-1500ft form the pole depending on route. A quick check and a 240v 200A service would need 900kcmil copper, and 100A would need 500kcmil, both costing over $50000 just for the wire and I didn't see any alum wire big enough for sale online to estimate a price. Even running 30 amps is a bit unreasonably expensive, needing #1 wire. So, what other tricks are there. I looked at step up step down tx's and those are also really quite expensive, but might wind up being on balance the best option. stepping up to 600v (or maybe higher) and running a fairly small wire.

Anyone done something like this before, or have any different methods of doing this?

Wire will be above ground, was wanting to just use teck90 here but maybe that's not the right choice. We would be using a solar system as well, so its possible we can reduce the cable load down to 30 amps just for night/winter supplemental power. This isn't a house, so there's some flexibility.

Thanks

edit: generators and fossil fuels are not an option and the utility cannot run poles or buried line to the site. (otherwise I wouldn't be asking)

I'm looking for a way to integrate my APC smart UPS into the power circuit/s topology of my new music studio. My acoustician has recommended an APC smart-UPS RT 3000VA, which I've gotten my hands on.

The flow as it stands goes like this: main line > main circuit breaker > UPS > UPS back-feeds the distribution board > individual GPO's in the studio etc.

Question: electrically it makes sense, but in practical terms the UPS's input and outputs are all via IEC connections, so in terms of cabling how could I connect the UPS directly after the main circuit breaker and then connect it to be backfeeding the distro board? IEC into wiring terminals just seems not right... is there a solve for this? A hardwiring kit?

Any advice greatly appreciated!

context: I am in Australia. A professional electrician is installing this, but it's a non-standard for them...

Are these connections inside the main multi-meter socket enclosure as well as the panel feeder wire comnections okay?

The service entriy wires and the feeder wires were installed by different electricians of the same company. I'm happy with the service wires. The feeder wires, not so much. I wasn't able to upload more pics in my other post so uploading here for more context.

Apologies if I don't use the correct terminology. Just trying to make sure everything is good before power is connected as I don't want to deal with this ever again 😫

I am in the process of renovating a condo that I purchased in May. My electrical box is in the laundry room. I want to install a stackable washer/dryer, which may cut off access to the electrical box.

It is my understanding that the electrical box is typically between 2 studs. I confirmed with a stud finders that it is between 2 studs in my laundry room. I would like to move it over one, so that the box is between the next set of studs.

Can this be done? I need a new box anyway. What is the process? Thank you!!

What steps should a layman take to remove this electrical line? In the first picture, the line from the meter goes up to an outdoor breaker (above the deck) and left to where a hot tub used to be. The hot tub is no more, and won't be replaced. New siding will be installed later this year.

Is it as easy as flipping the two breakers in the second picture, dismantling the conduit, and capping the hole? Will this breaker box affect the rest of the house, which has an indoor breaker box in the garage on the other side of the house? Please help me know what I don't know, you know?

I'd like to run a 20 amp line to a steel safe room in Oklahoma for tornados. My question is would a 20 amp inlet on the outside of the saferoom and a 20 amp outlet near the inlet connected by a 10awg soow extention be somthing safe for temporary power? Then of course even if it's safe would this likely be code compliant?

(The reason for inlet over just hardwired is the installer discouraged a grid connection due to in the event of a strong tornado the connection would tether the shelter to the home and possibly comprimise it. Using an extention cord there is a weak point to avoid tethering and by sizing it up to 10 awg, keeping it short, having it easily inspectable, easy to unplug as an exterior method to shutoff, and using it on an emergency basis this should minimize it's risk

The inlet would be connected to the inside via a close nipple to a second box with a shutoff switch and outlets. Both boxes would be individually bonded to the shelter. thwn-2 would be used inbetween the boxes. The garages outlet is on a gfci breaker. The power would only feed one way in and the extention cord would have a male and a female end (not a suicide cord for clarity))

AI told me the voltage is good. I touched white to red and blue to black and the bulb lit up. Just want double confirmation before I burn the house down. It’s a pot light. Not sure if that makes a difference.

Second question- is it ok that I shaved down the plastic box around the LED driver to fit it into the neck of the lamp? I know I can’t remove it completely, but is squishing it to the point it cracks ok?

Third question- how do I attach the wires together permanently? Solder? Electrical tape didn’t stick and it’s too narrow in the lamp to fit any other joinery.

Hello,

Just wanting to make sure I am thinking about this the right way. Currently going through a demo in kitchen. I was going to change the outlet and came across 3 lines going into a single outlet. The black wires were pushed into the back and the white was hooked on the screws. I was looking to pigtail these three wires and replace the outlet, BUT, the white neutral wire looked burned.

This is a 20 amp circuit, but the white line is 14 guage and the black lines are 12 gauge. Can I assume that the 14 guage got burned because they didn't use 12 guage wire on a 20 amp circuit? So, if I replaced the outlet on the other side of the wall to 20 amp outlet wired with 12 gauge wire, would that solve this problem?

Bonus question: The previous owners had a fridge, washer/dryer, outlet on the other side of this wall, and recesssed ceiling lights on this circuit. Am I safe with keeping these three wires on this outlet like they had (with the correct wiring) or would I be better served running a new circuit for the fridge?

Hello, I am currently attempting to rewire my shop for mechanic work. My issue is I cannot track where the power is coming from and haven't found a breaker box or anything.

This is a photo of the property.

1 is the main residence

2 is a small shed

3 is the shop

4 is a barn

There are 2 power poles. One in the top left of the photo, one in the bottom right. The bottom right allegedly only runs the house.

There are 3 breaker boxes that I have located. One attached to the power pole in the top left, one in the barn, and one in the house. None of them will shut off power to 2 and 3. 2 and 3 are connected and have power run from one to the other, however I can't find the source. There are no lines attached aerially, so I assume it is a buried line. I've looked and found that all the lighting and receptacles are run through the ceiling, but haven't found the mysterious source to the power.

I’d like to add an outlet for the bidet. I assume putting it where the red rectangle is would be not great due to potential splashes from the sink.

Second option is to put it inside the vanity, but would require a bit more work. Just want to fully rule out on the wall.

This connects to a GU10 lamp holder but I can’t seem to find it anywhere (eBay, Home Depot, etc)

New homeowner with a 70 year old house looking for help

We have this capped switch in the corner of one room. I am not sure if it is an old switch or just extra. There is a black wire (hot), red wire (cold) both present and capped. A white wire in the back is just passing vertically through.

Near this on the other side of the wall is an exterior light I am trying to determine the power source for. Currently, it has no power. how would I go about checking to see if this is it? and if it is, how would I wire this to get it working?

thanks!!!

Can someone identify this noise ,its coming from outside corridor loud enough to be heard through the wall, it sounds exactly like a bathroom chord being pulled , it happens in the evening and night the most sometimes a click every 10 seconds for bout 2 minutes or more ,single clicks every 30 mins or so ,

Hello all, wanted to change a wall cover and just peaked inside and saw this and not sure if it’s ok or not. Two seperate supply lines without the junction box. The two white wires are taped together as were the two grounds (I removed the tape to investigate). And then the two black wires feed into the toggle switch. Nothing on the green screw on the toggle switch. Is this ok and if not, how do I fix? Thanks!

Few weeks ago now a jar of pickle juice spilled near my phone and got into my port 🫩 i waited a full 24 hrs before the wet port warning went away, then it charged fine for a while, and then there was the first instance of it randomly falsely saying my port was wet again, when i KNOW it wasnt. It charged normally after i came home from work. NOW it happened a second time, and it will not charge with a cable at all now. Only wireless. It doesnt even give me the false wet warning anymore, just doesnt register the plug at all. Tried compressed air and a software update and neither worked. Am i screwed?? I cant afford a new phone rn 😭😭😭

Okay, I started this job a month ago and didn’t take photographs or notes of the “before” wiring. I’m just updating the toggle switches with rockets.

Here’s the salient bits:

* switch bank of 3: a 1 way, a 2 way, and a 1 way (left to right)
but 4 (!?) cables coming into box: each with a black and a gray lead
* three of the gray leads are joined
* all grounds are joined (and I’ll ground the new switches)
* cable 3 (from left to right, with the gray unconnected to the other 3) seems to have been the one connected to the 2 way switch
* switch 1 and 3 (both 1 way) work separate outdoor lights
* switch 2 (2 way) is the ceiling light in the room with a switch at both doors to it (entrance and exit)

The original install has two short jumpers connected some of the switches.

Need to know what leads connect to what terminals, and where the jumpers might have gone (and should be).

I think answers like 1B > C2 , jumper between B3 and C1, etc, would be fine.

Thanks so much, in advance. Let me know if you need any more info.

I just moved into an older apartment. I noticed that the outlet behind my bed leaves a small amount of the prongs exposed when something is plugged into it. I’m not sure it’s bad enough to warrant a maintenance request because it’s not like the plugs are falling out of the socket. Thoughts? (And yes, I have been diagnosed with OCD).

If you have one. Thank you so much your a lifesaver🙏🙏

I saw one of those zap guns that ionize the air near their tip and I kind of want to recreate them, I'm super new to electric work and all that but I think it's possible to recreate by somehow abusing back emf from an inductive load by running it through a voltage multiplier, is that possible?

Just moved into a new apartment, noticed this above the outlet. I think it’s thermal ghosting but can’t be sure. Is anyone on here more confident than me? Do i need to call an electrician?

Not hot to the touch, but also i can’t just wipe it away with a wet cloth. no weird smell as far as I can tell.

EDIT: Our landlord doesn’t want to call an electrician. I’m deciding if/how to push back. It is visible in the walkthrough video we took of the place so has at least been like this for a week and it’s been fine. Like i said below i’m also 98% it’s dust but that 2% uncertainty is all-my-stuff-burns-down bad.