Home Repairs Tips & Trick

Whats wrong with this circuit?

/u/A-s-L-a-E-t-a-n — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 21:34:17 -0500

this is what i wanted to make, its not working, why?

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Are goof rings for octagon rework boxes a thing?

/u/notcoveredbywarranty — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 21:33:25 -0500

I'm installing a pair of wall sconces (very light ones) using octagon rework boxes, with the swinging tabs. I used the template provided with the rework box and it installed nicely. It turns out that the diameter of the back of the sconce is smaller than the diameter of the ears on the top/bottom of the rework box, plus you need to cut a bigger hole to get the swinging tabs into the wall cavity.... So now I have exposed box at the top and bottom, and exposed holes. What are my options for a goof ring? Or a octagon box trim ring? (Yes, I'm a journeyman, but I've only ever done industrial)

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Just a CW2s Workcart.

/u/Zubidobedoo — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 20:55:41 -0500

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Entering my 4th year as an apprentice

/u/Ok-Rhubarb1194 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 20:40:00 -0500

So I'm about to be a 4th year apprentice soon and I can pretty much do almost everything regarding electrical work such as pipe bending, pulling wire, undergrounds, and panel work. But I find myself questioning my capabilities within regards to taking leadership and navigating on the job site. I still have to ask what to do and where to start and it makes me feel incapable sometimes, what would be some good tips to improve on this and not have to rely on someone so much to find tasks?

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Check it out

/u/fryedaddy1989 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 20:37:46 -0500

I'm a cabinet :,(

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Looks good!

/u/cparisxp — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 20:28:21 -0500

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How do you strip a cord without cutting the wire insulation inside?

/u/Ibelievenobody — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 20:18:58 -0500

I’m referring more for cords that don’t have a string or something to refrain from cutting wires.

I always worry about cutting the insulation, and will usually tape around where I stripped just incase.

I use my knipex strippers (but usually to sharp), so I’ll use a knife instead.

Am I missing something?

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Maybe were you in a similar situation ,any advice?!

/u/josuefavian — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 20:13:52 -0500

i wanted to become an electrician cuz the money , the possibility to become contractor and having my own business blinded me by that time . I'm currently 4th months into the trade at the beginning was making good money cuz the OT but finished the project and the check came down.. change company from $18/h to $20/h but still no money in my bank account i'm living in miami very expensive city and big monthly expenses. Struggling with money and late bills . Don't know what to do i've been thinking of change industry but doesn't really know of i'll do it i'll be at the same position "entry level " and still no money. I'm 23yo if that helps in something for you guys to know. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Questions on from going navy to being an electrician

/u/Double-Mode639 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 20:00:45 -0500

Just wanted to ask currently been in the navy for 7 years I have roughly a year and a half left. I'm thinking of a career change And becoming an electrician. Im 33 year old M with a wife and 2 kids. I'm thinking about a lot of different things. Would like advice from making this change. I do not have any prior experience. The biggest thing i'm worried about is the pay.I don't know much about the pay.The biggest thing I'm worried about is the pay. I don't know much about the pay. I'm currently in Jacksonville, Florida. When it comes to starting out.I'm currently in jacksonville florida. Any help would greatly appreciate it.I can elaborate more if there's more information needed

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Klein tools has become such a disappointment

/u/RichardofGalveston — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 18:57:24 -0500

I have had the smaller version of this crescent wrench for 8 years. I bought the larger version and the first time I use it, I am ready to throw it away.

Then I am trying to trace circuit with the Klein circuit tracer the company just bought.

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Today’s find…

/u/yaboyckay — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 18:49:45 -0500

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Which one of you clowns did it this time?

/u/Fantastic-Record7057 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 16:50:29 -0500

This is a ceiling fan but I mean seriously! WTF!??

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What’s the average amount a week yall work?

/u/not_a_expert69 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 16:19:46 -0500

The past 2 weeks got me thinking because I worked a decent amount of OT past couple weeks and this summer not a lot a week like 48-50 hour weeks but over the course of several weeks. And I was thinking like do a lot of yall work consistent OT or is 40 hours more th norm then they give OT when a project behind

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Fellas, a Klein boycott is in order.

/u/TanneriteAlright — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 15:18:36 -0500

Today, I finally had an excuse to pull out my brand new, nifty 11-in-1 stubby screwdriver. THE VERY FIRST TURN OF ITS LIFE and the grip came loose.

7 impact 11-1s have done the same thing to me in just this year alone. I've only been counting because of how often it seemed to happen last year. Half of them have also torqued themselves askew so that the bits don't fit in the main body anymore.

My awesome 7-in-1 hex nut driver? Loose grip and the heads now have to be banged on with any hard surface I can find. 4 months old.

At some point we have to speak with our wallets since they have decided that we are loyal enough customers that they can lower the quality of their products to absolutely abysmal levels and not lose a meaningful amount of profit. The drop in quality over the last 10 years is insane.

So starting today, Klein gets ZERO of my hard earned money. If you can, I hope y'all will follow suit.

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Electrical & Instrumentation tool dump.

/u/Yee_n_Aye_Guy — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 14:22:49 -0500

Bag was full of ferrules, wire, terminals and tubing bits.

Most of my daily stuff, kinda grab what I need and put it in my kunys messenger bag, so I can climb a few stories up a distillation column etc.

Not pictured:

Laptop Viator Shotgun stick Megger Fluke 744 Trex Wrench rolls Blah blah blah

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Is this normal for the trade?

/u/Weary-Adeptness1082 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 13:48:05 -0500

I work for a non union company. I am currently driving 2 hours one way for work. Been on this site for around 7 months. 5 months was driving in my personal vehicle “waiting on a company truck to be available” I get paid 1 hour of drive time which means I am still driving unpaid for 3 hours a day. At first I didn’t mind it but these hours are adding up over the months and I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of time. Also worth mentioning drive time does not count towards overtime. Is this a normal commute for a longer job (over 1 year left)? Along with this, I am expected to be there at the same time as the other electricians that live 15-30 minutes away from site, which can be frustrating at times. Any feedback helps, thanks.

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General Contractors never want to plan first, it’s just easier to call and say oops

/u/tlafollette — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 13:00:11 -0500

Got a text message from the Superintendent on a community center renovation job today, “is this box something that we need?

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How about this one then..

/u/djwdigger — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 09:39:47 -0500

This is from one of my jobs, customer took it upon himself to have masons recess the meter can into the brick because he thought it looked better. Gave no consideration to getting the underground conduit into it. Utility co said hell no lol

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Pretty cool huh?

/u/Pluto02220 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 09:00:22 -0500

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But why?

/u/Big-Dragonfruit3167 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 08:49:54 -0500

Why would you pack them all in there? Why the wood block? Why?

(Note the scorch marks from one of them blowing)

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Green Tools

/u/Zerandomize — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 07:24:20 -0500

$100 at Lowe's. Best purchase you could make on day 1 for you begginers

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The sun rise outside of my prefab shop

/u/Yung3unna — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 05:48:42 -0500

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Thoughts on Joining an Apprenticeship?

/u/Rich_Bluebird9741 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 04:27:16 -0500

Hi, currently am 18 years old and considering applying for a union electrician apprenticeship. What things should I know before getting into it? Should I watch YouTube videos to learn some basic things or just jump right into the job? Genuinely need some help because with the job market these days I'm not sure I could get a good paying job once I got a four year degree so I'm contemplating making a career out of this.

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I have no words for this

/u/djwdigger — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 04:21:59 -0500

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Im an highschool student who wants to be an electrician.I have no foundation, open for any kind of advice

/u/Asleep-Ingenuity1339 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 03:01:23 -0500

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TEM Co. 30A 125V Knife switch

/u/Mac_Hooligan — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 01:36:03 -0500

Found in an old farm house, still had the knob’n Tube wire attached. Pat# Manufactured date of 1910. Figured yall would like it.

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My First PCB in Thermal Vision

/u/TallIntroduction8053 — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 01:19:24 -0500

Sounds like that I open the thermal world with my first PCB, Wonderful : )

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Grounding electrode conductor sizing

/u/velvetham — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 00:41:56 -0500

I am building an ADU and repanelling my house. I will have a 400 amp dual meter base mounted on the house serving a 200 amp panel for the house and a 200 amp panel for the ADU. I am governed by NEC 2023. I do not have metal water pipes, gas lines, or a ufer, only ground rods. Am I correct that per NEC 250.66 (A) I do not need to go larger than #6 copper for the GEC for both the meter base and the ADU panel?

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Inside corner bend

/u/Smoke_Stack707 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 21:52:14 -0500

Sorry if this is some basic stuff I never learned but, here goes:

Let say I’m running EMT and I want to cross an inside corner that has an obstruction in it (let’s say a drain pipe or something). I know intuitively I should use the center notch on the bender and make two 45 degree bends to get across the obstruction but I’ve never been told exactly how to calculate that bend in a way that made sense to me. I always do something jank like hold a speed square on the one wall and use it to make sure my tape is going at a 45 degree angle while I butt into the other with the tape.

So how do I do this the right way? Thanks

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Need some input

/u/MrAmazing011 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 21:27:20 -0500

Customer has this sub panel in their shop, back fed through 90A breaker. Inspector called out the discoloring of the bussing and the grounds during home inspection.

Pulled breakers off, bussing is bluish/purple on the surface. Copper grounds and neutrals are all discolored dark gray, some have bluish/purplish tinting, almost like they had serious induction heating. Grounding electrode conductor also has same symptoms, but only in the panel. Outside the panel, looks good. All branch circuits work, end of line devices work, no overheating of wires or breakers under flir gun.

No Chinese drywall here, no caustic fumes, just a normal shop in Eastern Washington.

Anyone seen this before?

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How do you secure your Mod box/ pack out

/u/qnaasty — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 21:22:41 -0500

I have a lock on my modbox, switch will stop someone from opening in. But how do i stop them from rolling away with it. Being on big jobsite, it's always something in the back of your mind

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Code compliant in wa ?

/u/Antique-Witness-8910 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 20:17:16 -0500

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Pre-testing some 12.5kV 4000A bushings before install.

/u/codytheastronaut — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 19:30:51 -0500

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Why do gasoil/diesel distribution plants use explosion-proof equipment?

/u/PresentationOld1983 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 18:21:31 -0500

I’m a final-year electrical engineering student. Throughout my degree I’ve visited three wholesale diesel distribution plants from different companies. All three used explosion-proof equipment around the above-ground vertical tanks (40 and 102 m³).

According to IEC 60079-10-1, diesel, due to its high flash point (55–65 °C), is not considered a classified atmosphere and therefore does not fall into Zones 0, 1, or 2. So my question is: why do I see companies disregarding this and spending more to install Ex-rated components? What’s the justification? Is it preferable to spend more and be cautious even though the standard itself says it isn’t necessary? I’ve also seen this in lubricant depots (for cars, pickup trucks, and trucks), where they use explosion-proof installations when it clearly shouldn’t be required.

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He ruined our bond

/u/The_Ashamed_Boys — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 18:20:59 -0500

Swapping out a 100A panel for a 200A on a raised foundation. Everything was going smooth and by Saturday late afternoon, we had the new panel in, most circuits powered, ground rods set, and continuity verified through the copper water piping. All that was left for Monday was tidying up a few splices and labeling breakers.

Come Monday, we go to check grounding continuity again and got nothing. Spent two hours crawling around in a tight crawlspace chasing it down.

Turns out the homeowner spent Sunday cutting the copper line to install a water softener in the garage. He never installed a bond jumper.

So yeah…

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what do you call these where you are from?

/u/ronburgandy123 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 16:51:37 -0500

and what are they actually called

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Quality control fail/WTF?

/u/Guilty_Sympathy_496 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 16:34:36 -0500

Wiring a custom home about 6 months ago, happened to notice what looked like maybe either a melted spot or something gone wrong in the jacketing process at manufacturing but after getting a ladder and investigating further I realized: somebody fucked up….this was roughly in the middle of a 150’ 6/2 home run for an A/C unit (upsized for voltage drop). My best guess was: wire got damaged in manufacturing, some new guy or otherwise incompetent A-hole, decided to tape it, then in the megging stage (if that’s what they do/some sort of load test) the weak spot got hot and melted the tape/outer jacket. Thankfully the supply house head honcho is a good guy/Freind and replaced it including labor, but if gone un noticed would have been most likely a fire. I just saw the post about the 14 gauge hot in a 1000’ roll of MC and thought I should post this.

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No one will help me take on this job. I think my only recourse is taking classes

/u/deadbypowerpoint — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 15:21:19 -0500

This is how my 1958 bus is wired.

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How do yall clean off corrosion on your copper

/u/LousyStew322 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:50:45 -0500

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Anyone ever take apart their Greenlee knockout pump? The piston on mine is stuck (after I let the guys use it).

/u/NotFallacyBuffet — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:41:38 -0500

Should probably check YouTube University first.

Okay, so it's actually the piston assembly, not the pump.

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Finish this sentence: Being an electrician sucks, but _______

/u/hezamac1 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:30:45 -0500

“I give the best handjobs around”

“At least I can afford cocaine”

Let me hear your takes.

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New to the career!

/u/Traditional_Air_5427 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:26:42 -0500

Hey everyone! I am 23 years old and just started my first week of being an electrician helper, I’m signing up for the apprenticeship program soon!

I have absolutely no experience at all, I’ve worked most my life in different restaurants waiting tables, I decided it was time to learn a skill and get benefits lol.

Is there any tips or tricks you folks could share with me? I know I’m going to look like an idiot a bunch of times, but it’d be nice if I can minimize that!

Every bit is appreciated! Thank you!

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Exhaust Fan Connection

/u/jbtheapprentice — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:02:26 -0500

Anybody hooked up one of these Edmonds EF before? Any advice on penetration for connection? Top turbine is screwed on and rotates.

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Check ya spools entire 1000ft roll of 12/2 mc had a 14g black conductor

/u/Jeepzj1 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 12:48:24 -0500

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Solved: T8 tubes not coming on

/u/MichaelCabernet — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 12:21:50 -0500

Apparently, having other ballasts still taking line voltage on the circuit is somehow muddying the power for these LEDS, so a complete removal of all ballasts prior to powering on is in order.

Thanks for the help, everyone! :D

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Code question: generator inlet behind toolless drywall access panel

/u/foggy_interrobang — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 11:48:08 -0500

I have a unique request from a customer looking to use a plug-in backup battery with a transfer interlock, and they want to keep it close to their panel, which is in a living space. They want me to put an SS2-50R receptacle within a finished wall behind a toolless drywall access panel (press-to-open, so it's reasonably accessible for maintenance/inspection). It's an ADU, so there's not a lot of flexibility in location.

Seems like relevant code is 314.29(A) – but I'm curious what y'all think. I know it requires associated signage, etc. Would something like this pass with your AHJ...?

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New "foreman" need advice on if im being set up to fail, if i should find a new job, or if i should stick it out.

/u/babadoowaloo — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 11:35:08 -0500

So ive been at a new company for about 9 months now. When I was hired I told them flat out I was a brand new journeyman that wanted to become a lead hand so I could eventually step into a foreman role. My company seemed to like this answer and promptly hired me. They then put me on a site with a foreman who I later found out was a brand new foreman and was being mentored by an additional foreman on site. So basically Senior foreman>foreman>me>apprentices.

As time has gone on ive realized all sorts of weird stuff. For starters the job started months before they were ever actually approved for a job permit. So had us working without a permit. Despite having no finalized IFC prints we were told nothing much will change on the new prints and to just go ahead and start. We worked until we ran out of work and were then given a new set of prints again not IFCs but "closer" to IFCs. We then worked again until we ran out of work. At this point I was basically sitting around doing the odd task while the 2 foreman above me worked on as builds and planned. I then got sent off site for 2.5 months to do odd jobs to stay busy.

Come 3 weeks ago I get sent back to site and told "im a good fit for a promotion" and that they want to make me a foreman and to finish up this job. At this stage of the job the original deadline has been completely abandoned and theyre now aiming for 7 months after their original end date. We're also now on our 4th revision of the prints that have had a ton of mechanical changes and other changes added to them. Ive basically been told I'll have support and can call people if I need help.

The current prints were working off still dont have a finalized IFC tag. They have notes saying they arent for construction until theyre signed off and stamped and they dont have any signature or stamp. However the GC has told us "these are the final prints nothing more is coming."

Before this job i hadn't even drawn out as builds before. I worked under foremen who gave me tasks and walked me through their as builds for specific areas. Now as a green journeyman with no foreman experience im being told "im a good fit for a promotion" despite never having even been an official lead hand. Furthermore every time theyve changed the prints we have to comb through the old a new sets to see what theyve updated.

I dont know. Every journeyman tells me their first year with their ticket theyve got imposter syndrome but how this job has been ran is really making the hairs on my neck stand up. On one hand im down to give it a shot and learn what I can from it. On the other hand I dont understand what liability im carrying as a new foreman which im pretty stressed over. My company has also taken on more jobs than they even have employees for so I kind of worry im not actually a good fit and rather they just needed someone certified to run the job and dont actually care much if im truly experienced enough.

Id really appreciate some advice. I really like my coworkers here. Everyone has been a lot nicer than my previous companies but the flip side is they also seem A LOT more disorganized than my previous companies. That being said maybe my last companies weren't as organized as I thought and its just now im getting a look behind the curtain.

Thoughts really appreciated.

Thanks.

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Solar panels we installed today. 117 panels.

/u/PeppermintButler17 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 11:26:12 -0500

Didn't think we would finish in one day.

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any way to fix a burnt autotransformer?

/u/Spiritual-Button1592 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 11:23:23 -0500

it is burnt in low voltage area :

https://preview.redd.it/x2ix7alyywtf1.jpg?width=643&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1e3b3c9313dbe391f1bc645a1150dd1a093b978

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How To Ask Previous Employer For My Total On The Job Hours That's Going Towards My License?

/u/Flaky_Firefighter_29 — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 09:21:58 -0500

I worked for an Non-Union electrical company for around 3 months, and was let go. The real reason was because it was slow season and there wasn't any hours to work but that wasn't the reason they told me.

But my question is, I know I need 8,000 hours of documented work experience. How do I go about asking my boss for my total on the job hours. Do I just ask "Can you please provide me with my total on-the-job hours or a short letter confirming my time working there?"

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