Examining My Abilities

Hello.



I recently purchased a home that has a a new grounded breaker panel but none of the outlets themselves are grounded save the hvac system in the basement. I had an electrician come and he said the fastest way to get it done is to switch the appropriate breakers to GFCI breakers in my service box and then I can change the outlets and then just put the stickers that say ungrounded etc on the new 3 prong receptacles. he called the inspector to double check and the inspector told him that he can't do it this way but he needs to find the first outlet in the loop from each breaker line and change that receptacle to a gfci and then we can change each receptacle to 3 prong in that loop.



Wouldn't just changing the breaker do the same thing? also if I did just install a Gfci receptacle on the first outlet in the loop, if it breaks wouldn't the rest of the outlets behind that gfci not function until I replaced the Gfci outlet where as a breaker would just pop and I can simply go turn it back on?



Just wanted to get some opinion from the experts as I'm willing to spend more on doing gfci breakers and am confused as to why the inspector suggested the way he did



Thanks for any help!
      

I have a single receptacle with 12/2 on a GFI (20 amp). I ran a 3 wire (14 gauge) to my other two receptacles and put a tandem breaker in the panel. Should I wire the receptacles as single receptacles on individual GFI's or split receptacles? They are more than a meter away from the sink. Also I have read the two 15 amp circuits should be on separate phases? How do I insure this?  Thanks gentlemen!
      

Hi,



Forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere - a cursory check didn't

bring up an answer, but maybe I didn't search on the right thing...



I've got to replace a baseboard heater that was located under a receptacle.



I was first thinking this is covered by the "grandfather" clause, but a bit more checking has me confused - it looks like maybe the NEC doesn't specifically prohibit this (maybe they do in the newest code book), but pretty much all manufacturers now seem to specifically say not to do this, so it would seem to be prohibited.



So what do you do?  Here's a couple of pics of where I have to put this unit:



http://www.rkgphotos.com/recent_stuf...er_corner2.jpg

http://www.rkgphotos.com/recent_stuf...er_corner1.jpg



a 1500W unit is what should go here.  just pulling the receptacle/putting on a cover plate means there's gonna be more than 12 feet between receptacles along this wall.



Its also complicated by this being both an outside wall and a common element so I didn't want to butcher it up completely.



It seemed like I could: 1) use 2 heaters with a gap under the receptacle (though the spacing kind of sucks for this), 2)pull the receptacle, put on a cover plate and forget about it (practically not a problem but violates the 12 foot rule), 3) use the receptacle box as a J box and run a line down to where the heater is and use one of those funky receptacles you mount to one end of the heater, or 4)??



Anyway, suggestions/observations would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks,

rkg

(Richard George)
      

I am looking for a wall switch to replace the one lost during remodeling.  This is for our whole house attic fan. It looked like a light switch but was metal and had a Hi/Low/Off setting.  It is a seperate box from the dial. (the dial does not turn it on or off, we have to have the switch) We have described this to three local hardware stores and our family electrician and no one knows what we are talking about.  From searching online, I see these are included when buying the entire whole house fan system, but can not find just the switch.  What do I ask for at the hardware store?  What will work?  Where can I find a replacement switch?  (I assume this fan is from the 70s when the house was built)
      

I had a previous thread about bonding my inground pool. I had it done yesterday. I set up all the plumbing for my filter and I am going to wire it up tomorrow.

This pump was wired up once before and it is being moved. All the wiring was removed when the contractors were breaking up the concrete. It has a 25 amp breaker that I am going to replace with a GFI 25 amp breaker. I am going to wire it from the breaker box to a switch (1 foot from the box) to the receptacle about 45 feet away. I am going to use 12 gauge solid wire. I am not sure which would be better. Should I use 12/3 romex and use one as the ground or use 3 separate wires colored white, black and green. Also they had the green wire going to the ground bar in the breaker box. I guess I will attach the green(ground) wire to the ground bar and then run it to the green lugs on each receptacle.  Also which types of boxes would be best to use metal or plastic. I am going to be using plastic pipe to run the wires.
      

updating an older home (1927) and would like to replace all the receptacles/switches/plates with newer Lutron style white switches, where is the best place to order these or pick them up?  Not sure if its worth shopping online or if the big box convenience negates cost difference?

Thanks!
      

New appliances coming in. No change in service, so I believe that existing wiring can be considered grandfathered. Please correct me if wrong. BTW: we're under 2005 code in my locality, but I go with 2008.



Currently, the kitchen is wired all 15-amp except for non-counter-top receptacles. (I know, opposite, and wrong, but that's the way it is)





Can dishwasher and disposal be on same 15 amp circuit? (This will be a new circuit, so perhaps I need to run 20-amp?)


Current range wiring is 3-wire on a 40 amp breaker (3-pole). Can I still utilize a 3-prong receptacle here?


Does the kitchen wiring have to be upgraded to provide for 2 SABC (currently, only 1), and 20 amp?



      

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.
      

If you have a 20 amp circuit going to your bathroom vanity, can you have two 20 amp receptacles on it, one a GFI receptacle and the other a standard 20 amp receptacle wired to the load terminals of the GFI receptacle ?



Or does the code require each receptacle to be a GFI on its own circuit ?



Arky
      

i have just installed 4 cans controlled by a dimmer switch using 14/2 wire and plan to hook into a 15A circuit. The easiest wire for me to hook into this circuit is on the load side of a receptacle that goes to another receptacle. can I cut the wire that goes between receptacles and split the hot wire so it goes to the new recessed cans ( same for the white wire) and then on to the receptacle as previous?

Thanks

Tom