Electrical Terminology - Please Read Before Asking For Help!

I've only been here a short while but I've seen enough posts from  non-professionals that are difficult to understand because they are not  familiar with electrical terminology that I thought we needing something so they can better communicate with us what the problem is.



I created an image with the basic items you'd find in a house thinking  if we all got together and created a thread to help the non-pros explain  their problems we could ask for it to be a sticky requesting non-pros  read it before asking their questions.



Let me know what you think and suggest any additions, changes, etc you think would help us help them.







      

Hi all,



I have read a few posts here about others having problems with receiving a shock while touching the faucet or water from the faucet in certain rooms. Today I experienced this problem in my kitchen. I was able to narrow the problem down to one breaker on my box, specifically one set of outlets. My question is can a faulty outlet cause this to happen?



I currently have the breaker in question flipped off until I can replace the outlet and see if that fixes the problem. There haven't been any changes to the electrical or plumbing in quite a while. This happened completely out of the blue.



Any advise that you might have would be greatly appreciated.



Jess
      

Hi all, this is my first post, so...my kitchen was just renovated and the electrical outlets are on the walls and I wanted them in plugmold under the cabinet. Why didn't it happen?  Long story, but I'm doing it myself now.  The electrical receptacles are on 2 separate circuits with a gfci receptacle on each and neither circuit has a receptacle outside the kitchen where I can put the gfci's, so I'm putting gfci breakers in the panel instead. I've run into a different problem on each circuit that'd like some advice on.



Circuit 1: this is a 20 amp circuit.  I have to plug this circuit's neutral wire into the gfci breaker, but I couldn't see which neutral wire matched the hot wire (buried in mess of wires) and I don't have a continuity tester so I just pulled one neutral at a time (tedious) until the circuit failed, but it never failed. So I did this again for every neutral...same result. This circuit shares a few boxes with other circuits so I'm wondering if the neutrals on different circuits are tied together somewhere, and if so I'm pretty sure, but not completely, that that's not going to work with the gfci breaker.  So I didn't install that gfci breaker since I'm not confident it would actually gfci (yep i verbified gfci).  What do you think?



Circuit 2:  this is a 20 amp circuit.  This circuit currently has the refrigerator, gas stove and range hood, and then a gfci in front of 3 electrical receptacles, which already sounds bad since I thought the kitchen receptacles required 2 dedicated circuits. I replaced that breaker with no problem, but it tripped after a few minutes and continued to trip every few minutes. I haven't changed anything else on that circuit yet and it's never tripped before, but now it is, so I put the old breaker back for now. The current gfci receptacle is only protecting the 3 outlets since the appliances are ahead of it. I know you wouldn't normally want the appliances gfci protected, so do you think the refrigerator motor may be a problem?  Do I need the appliances on a separate circuit?  What would you suggest I do?



Thanks, and if you're wondering "why all the effort?", it's partly because I'm meddlesome, partly because I'm bored, and partly because the backsplash tile is to be on showcase, not the electrical receptacles.
      

I am going to try and shed some much needed light on doing your own electrical work in The Great Police State of New Jersey. I will continue to add to this thread as time permits. Please do not PM me as I would rather respond to your questions and comments in this thread so that others may benefit as well.



Currently New Jersey is using the 2008 NEC for all new construction.

For any work falling under the Rehab Subcode - 2005 NEC.

The 2011 NEC has not been adopted yet.



The NEC as written is not the the electrical code for NJ. The Electrical Subcode can be found in the Uniform Construction Code of New Jersey (UCC). Currently the UCC has adopted the 2008 NEC with modifications which can be found here on page 67. While none of the modifications are severe changes from what is in the book, it still needs to be stated.



One of the modifications reads as follows;



3. Chapter 2 of the electrical subcode, entitled "Wiring and Protection," is amended as follows:

i. Section 210.8 (A)(2) and (5) of Article 210, entitled Branch Circuits, is deleted; it is replaced by Section 210.8(A)(2) and (5) and the exceptions in the National Electrical Code 2005 as follows:

"210.8(A)(2) - Garages, and also accessory buildings that have a floor located at or below grade level not intended as habitable rooms and limited to storage areas, work areas, and areas of similar use.

Exception No. 1 to (2) - Receptacles that are not readily accessible.

Exception No. 2 to (2) - A single receptacle or a duplex receptacle for two appliances located within dedicated space for each appliance that, in normal use, is not easily moved from one place to another and that is cord-and-plug connected in accordance with 400.7(A)(6), (A)7, or (A)(8).

Receptacles installed under the exceptions to 210.8(A)(2) shall not be considered as meeting the requirements of 210.52(G).

210.8(A)(5) - Unfinished basements: For purposes of this section, unfinished basements are defined as portions or areas of the basement not intended as habitable rooms and limited to storage areas, work areas, and the like.

Exception No. 1 to (5) - Receptacles that are not readily accessible.

Exception No. 2 to (5) - A single receptacle or a duplex receptacle for two appliances located within dedicated space for each appliance that, in normal use, is not easily moved from one place to another and that is cord-and-plug connected in accordance with 400.7(A)(6), (A)7, or (A)(8).

Exception No. 3 to (5) - A receptacle supplying only a permanently installed fire alarm or burglar alarm system shall not be required to have ground-fault circuit-interrupter protection."



What this means is that we are reverting back to the 2005 NEC for these sections when wiring a new building.



When wiring an existing building the Rehab Subcode needs to be reviewed. Currently all work being performed under the Rehab Subcode must comply with the 2005 NEC. This includes the installation of AFCI devices, which in most cases are not required.



Permits and inspections are regulated under the UCC. Everything anyone needs to know about the Construction Department can be found in the UCC. The Rehab Subcode can also be found in the UCC.



THe Rehab Subcode comes into play if you are performing work on an existing structure.



To check if someone has an EC license go here.



For electrical contractor licensing requirements go here. New Jersey does not reciprocate with any other state.



Electrical contractors laws and regulations here.



List of inspectors by municipality here.



Online permit forms and application here. Note: All municipalties are required to accept these forms. If a town refuses them, call the DCA @ Phone: (609) 292-7898, (609) 292-7899, Fax: (609)-633-6729 and complain.



Assorted DCA forms here.



Home Improvement Contractors information here. List of licensed HI contractors here.



Fire Alarm, Burglar Alarm and Locksmith info here.



Home Inspectors here.



After reading this perhaps you will have a new found respect for what contractors go through everyday in order to work in this great state.





To be continued...,



I would like to know if this information has helped anyone. Please post a thanks if it does. Thanks
      

OK, here is my problem.  I live in a newly constructed house.  They are building a new house right next door.  I am seeing a power flux (dimming) in my lights whenever any of the following occurs:



- I turn on the A/C in my house

- I turn on the washing machine in my house

- the compressor next door kicks on (for their nail gun and/or other tools)



The compressor next door is hooked up to a temporary post on the street.  I have had my electrician come look along with the utility company.  The utility company says that the house is getting plenty of power.  So now, short of getting another electrician in here, trying to figure out what the problem could be (and if my electrician, who is the one who did the wiring during construction, doesn't know what he's doing).  Most of the lights in the house are 60W if that matters.



Any thoughts on what the problem might be?  I would think that given the proper wiring that I shouldn't see any kind of power flux.



Thanks for the help in advance.
      

Hey,

I'm located in Ontario/Canada and I'm in the process of installing some recessed lights in my uninsulated basement. I was going through the electrical code and noticed that in an 8in^3 electrical box, it is only permitted to have 2 wires and 2 wire nuts.



I have 3 wire nuts (ground, neutral and hot) and two wires coming into each switch.



It seams odd that the light box would not be sized correctly considering its CSA approved. Have any of you come across a similar problem ?



As a side note, I'm also finding it hard to jam 6-8in of cable and 3 wire nuts in this small box !
      

I have a home that I only use from time to time.  At Christmas one of the GFCI outlets kept tripping.  This outlet has a TV/reciever/cable box/xbox/lights, etc. on the load side.  When I reset it, everything would be OK for 20 minutes or so, then it would trip.  I did not have time to investigate the problem so I just left it.  When I returned a week or so ago, the outlet was tripped and would not reset.  As soon as I pushed the reset button in, it would pop back out.  I replace the GFCI outlet but that did not help.  I removed all load outlets and inspected them.  Everything looked OK.  Anyone have an idea.  The strange thing to me is that the problem seemed to get worse over time.  (I.e. it stayed reset for 30 minutes at Christmas and now it will not reset at all).  Ideas?  Thanks in advance.
      

So we just bought a circal-1930s house, and one very large project looming is redoing the eletrical. The house has a mix of BX, cotton-wraped romex, and some very cracked romex running around the house. combine that with some very odd additions for outlets, bad light switch placement, it's just going to be a large project.



My father in law, a licensed electrician, has promised to do the rewiring of the house this summer. The problem is I plan to do some major renovations in the coming years (namely the kitchen).



I am already drawing up floor plans now so I can stategically think of where to put needed outlets, but should they be installed at this time? Is it worth the headache to install new outlets now and put them in their proper locations when the reno comes?
      

After my electrical panel was replaced I noticed that my ceiling fan light was dim.  My fan works fine on all speeds but the light is dim.  It is a Hampton Bay model MKV with a remote control.  Wondering if it could be a relay problem with the unit??
      

I just bought a couple of Hunter Stratford II 44" ceiling fans from Home Depot, and I've run across a problem in the installation. The downrod screws into the motor housing, and the manual says it is normal for 2-3 threads to remain visible when done. Well, both of mine started off easy enough, but I ended up with more like 5-6 threads remaining visible. This means only 4-5 threads secure the downrod to the fan, which amounts to 1 cm or a little less. There is a set screw that comes in from the side, and while it will touch the downrod, by design it does not go through the downrod. There is a "coating" on the threads inside the motor housing which I guess is a thread-lock adhesive. I'm going to call Hunter tomorrow to ask if this is all OK, but I'm curious if this is SOP for ceiling fans. Does it sound safe and secure for a fan to mount to the downrod simply by screwing in 1 cm or a little less with some thread-lock adhesive, further secured by a set-screw that applies pressure to the downrod but doesn't go through it?