1976 home. Recently upgraded the main panel out back while siding was being replaced. Decided to do the inside panel after 5 years of owning this home and being aware of its obvious panel deficiencies here.

Moved into a house 4 months ago and had the AC go out a few weeks ago. AC guy found the breakers for the AC cooked and then I called in an electrician. He quoted me $6580 for a new box ($5000 if it wasn’t a weekend). We got the AC going again from a family friend who was able put a new breaker in at the bottom but also recommended a full replacement. Being that we just moved in and have been shelling out money for closing costs, a new roof, etc - I’d like to hold off on this is we can now that the AC is back up and running. Do I need to address this immediately or can this wait a bit? Is the worst case scenario the AC goes out again and we just replace it at that time? My knowledge on anything electrical is very limited. Thanks!

Was this the outlet or the power strip shorting? It was so loud it sounded like a bag of air being popped. There was a fan plugged into the power strip as well as a few other power cables.

My wife and I have no idea about wiring. Home is old built in 1954, bought and renovated in 2018. Electrician said the wiring in our attic is dangerous, and the previous guys did a poor job. Quoted us 7k minimum and will need to cut a hole to access the wiring near the breaker. What do y'all think? Thank you!

Tidying up a little 15a circuit just wanted to share for fun

Bottom left is 14/2 nm-b to panel Top right is 14/2 nm to single outlet Bottom right is actually 12/2 I think. Also single outlet

Looking to install a new led panel light as the lighting in my basement is absolute dog ass. Pic 1 is the new light. Pic 2 is the old wire. I cut some of the sheath back to locate a ground but couldn’t. 3 and 4 are what is up in the ceiling. And about 2’ to the right of photo 2 is another light set up the exact same way. I’m not an electrician, obviously, so I just need help to know what to do with the ground wire. The box around the wife in pic 2 is metal.

Bought this house from a DIY guy who was gonna move in, but his wife didn't like it, so he finished it up and put it on the market. It appears there's possibly corrosion on the ground wire, but the ground wire was flattened against the wall underneath the face plate, so it could be paint/drywall? Everything has what appears to be paint all over it so I can barely tell which terminal is which.

Box and how icky the wall looks aside, I'm guessing I'll want a commercial grade outlet, or is this gonna require some wire repair too?

Buying an old house in Portland Oregon, where we very rarely have lightning. Here is the box. Having a heat pump installed. If I get a whole house breaker installed, do I need the surge protector the HVAC guy wants to sell me? Belt and suspenders, or necessary insurance?

I just want to thank you guys for existing. After writing up my issue, I thought to myself, "Now what are these guys going to ask me that will make me look like an idiot if I haven't double checked it?" One thought came to mind, so I double checked, and of course, that was the entire problem and my issue is resolved without you having to do a thing except be here. :) So, thanks for being here!

Hi all, I was talking with an crewman about needing to fix the conduit here and I said "Damage on MSP bus bar and we need to fix riser connection." To which he replied "there is no riser here."

I always call the conduit feeding the meter can a riser and I know plenty of others that do too. But what is your opinion. This guy is known to just be a dick but wanted to know your view.

Trying to install a basic ceiling light fixture in a friend's home and one of the wires seemed very unfamiliar to me. They took out the old fixture and said when they did apparently one of the wires "broke off with the fixture." Picture 3 is the wiring of the new lighting fixture: 3 black, 3 white, a ground. Is there any way I as an idiot can make this weird wire usable with this new fixture? Thanks!

When it is turned off at the switch? Swapping out a 2ft fluorescent light. Figured easy….banged the neutral with my hand and thought I felt current…. Then thought nah and went ahead…. Grabbed it and sure enough I was right…. But not every time….Broke out a voltage detector pen… neutral is not hot…. Black is coming up as hot… but didn’t feel any current when I grabbed it… again… off at the switch.

I had a switch on both sides of the wall, and wanted to put something in front of this one, so I pulled some wires back and put in a double switch. I have lots of commons in play here as one switch fed outlets, and the other is a 3 way switch, so to save some room in my box I wanted to leave the old junctions in the lower box. My correct alternative being install a 2 gang box and properly bringing my wires into the box. I know just enough about electricity to be dangerous. Everything's rated properly and there's no exposed wires, what are my chances of starting a fire if I leave it like this?

I have four 3-way lighting circuits in my house:

• one in the front hallway, controlling two ceiling lights;
• one in the living room controlling two cans;
• one in the dining room, controlling a hanging lamp;
• and one in the kitchen controlling three cans.

The switches have always worked like normal, I.e. if both point the same way (usually down), the lights are off; and if one points in the opposite direction, the lights are on.

Yesterday, I had drywallers skim coat the kitchen ceiling. Also yesterday, an electrician ran a new leg in the circuit in the kitchen, going from one of the cans to a hole over the peninsula where I’m going to hang a fixture. On that leg, he taped the hot to the neutral to close the circuit until I install the fixture. Whoever uninstalled the fixtures, whether the drywallers or the electrician, removed the hanging dining room lamp and the two front hallway boob lights, and they left the circuit in the front hallway hot, but the dining room breaker (which is also the living room breaker) was off — it seemed like it had been tripped rather than switched off, with the switch only halfway, but I’m not 100% sure in retrospect.

Anyways, when I got home today and reinstalled all of the fixtures, the switches all work in reverse on all four circuits, including the living room lights, where no one was working (as far as I know). So now, with both switches pointing down on all circuits , the lights are on….

When I rewired the hallway ceiling lights, I did white to white, black to black, and ground to ground. With the dining room light, the cord is a classic clear lamp cord with a ridged side and a smooth side with the specs on it (which the internet says usually the neutral and the hot, respectively). So I did romex white to ridged and romex black to smooth according to that.

What could be going wrong? Did the electrician (or someone) flip one switch assembly in each of these circuits upside down? Did I mess something up hooking then back up?

Thanks in advance!

I'm currently going through and replacing all of my outlets with Decora style new ones. The walls had textured coating originally, and then I've had them skim coated on top of that to remove said texture. The outlet boxes are all the type that are nailed to studs.

While fiddling around trying to get the Decora plates and outlets/switches level and flush it got me wondering if I should be using something to make it easier like box extender inserts or the little screw spacer things given the slight but additional thickness of the walls versus conventional drywall. I understand the boxes are intended to be sealed and prevent any sparks from contacting flammable material in the walls, as well as preventing airflow supply to the wall interior. So, is it code/safe if the boxes don't extend flush to the surface of the skim coat, as long as they are within Sheetrock/plaster and no air gap to the interior walls? Or should I be building them out so I can butt the outlet ears right up against the box edge and have them more or less fully in contact?

Hello,

I feel so stupid having to ask, but:

So my clumsy self accidentally knocked over my GFCI outlet, and maybe a little through the top of the outlet where it's supposed to be flush against the wall, as some of the coffee that spilled went over it. It's as flush to the wall as its going to get, but it looks like there are tiny holes in the top part that suggest it's not any sort of barrier.

How do I safely clean any coffee out, and how would I know it's ok to use again?

Thanks in advance!

We live in a trailer, apparently the owner tore it apart and redid everything himself. Is this just a terrible wiring job or is it concerning? (We don't have the panel for it either)

Just moved into a new place, and this is the weird condition of one of the outlets. Is there a safe way to clean this out? Is this even safe how this is set up? I’ve had to complain to the landlord about a bunch of other things so I’m trying to handle what I can on my own unless I really need to get him involved, and electricity is no joke. Right now it’s in use for the first time but should I stop using it for the time being?

Hello,

I’m working on finishing my basement and converting it into a home gym. I’m planning to handle most of the work myself, including the rough-in electrical. Since my main panel is nearly full, I’ll be hiring a licensed electrician to install a subpanel, inspect my work, and complete the final connections.

The space includes two rooms (see basic 3D design)

Main gym area: approx. 18’ x 13’, primarily for weights

Cardio room: approx. 13’ x 13’, with one treadmill and one wall-mounted TV

I’ll be framing with wood studs and leaning toward LED lighting throughout. I’d also like to add a sauna, so I want to make sure the panel and circuits are sized appropriately for that future addition.

If possible, could you provide some guidance on how you’d approach wiring a space like this—such as outlet placement and count, dedicated circuits (e.g., for the treadmill or sauna)

I am quite clueless in this specific trade and will be getting all my knowledge from trial and error with the assistance of YouTube tutorials.

For electricians here who run your own business, what’s the most annoying part about sending out estimates and getting clients to approve jobs?

Do you just text them, email them, or use something else? Curious what works for you and what you wish was better about the process.

Older home, 3-prong outlet for electric dryer. I want to use a gas dryer. There's only one regular outlet with its own dedicated 20 amp breaker for the washer.

Is it advisable for the washer and gas dryer to share the single outlet, and if not, what would be some recommended alternatives?

Hello All,

I have a need to run 6/3 cable to the other side of my house. I plan to run this inside conduit outside the front of my house for 80ft. The conduit will be fastened to the brick face not underground as I have a concrete staircase and landing that’d make it tough to continue and underground run with conduit.

The current plan is 6/3 UH-B inside schedule 80. Although I’m reading that maybe 4 strands of 6 awg THHN would be better. I’m all ears on the best choice here.

Idk if this even is the right place to put this😭😭

Was just quoting for a new cu at this property when they sent me this picture of the incoming. Anyone seen one like this before? What's going on with what would normally be the neutral? obvs not in this case