I live in an apartment and don’t have any outlets outside on the patio or my front door but I do have 1 light out on my patio . My question is can I use a light socket with outlet plugs to run an extension cord on my patio to put up some Halloween lights. Or will I be creating a fire risk?

My wife and I are putting an addition on our house and are looking into USB-C built in outlets in each room, but not for every outlet. I have found several out there, but am not keen enough in electrical stuff to feel super confident making a choice. We want them to be able to charge a laptop, but don’t want to install anything that’s obsolete. Is there a “go to” choice that’s better than others or are they all essentially the same?

About four years ago, I added four LED flush-mount lights to my living room, tapping into the existing ceiling-fan feed. The existing wiring is 12/2, but I used 14/2 for the added lights after being told it would be easier to work with and fine for the small LED load.

I’ve since learned that 14-gauge branch-circuit wiring generally requires a 15-amp breaker, and I confirmed this circuit has a 20-amp breaker. Everything has worked without any noticeable issues, but I want to correct it.

I have attic access and am willing to replace the added runs with 12/2. Is that the best approach, or would changing the breaker to 15 amps be appropriate after verifying everything the circuit supplies?

Appreciate any guidance.

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Additionally

Here’s the schematic of my living room: https://imgur.com/a/FtERVWq

The fan and puck lights have separate switches. The 14/2 feeds only the puck lights and ends at the last one.

The garage is wired similarly: I tapped into the original center light and added the puck lights using 14/2.

Shared Circuits:
Circuit 01: Garage lights, guest bathroom, hallway light
Circuit 02: Living room, hall closet light

From my understanding, because the LED puck light is the the last in line on that 14/2 wire, and nothing else is passing through it, the only thing providing any load to the 14/2 are those lights. So even if someone plugs in a hair dryer in the guest bathroom, that energy isn't passing through the 14/2. Am I understanding that correctly?

I want to make sure I don't burn anything down.

Approx. 30'-40' run from box in house, underground in plastic conduit, to receptacle in accessory building.

Installed approximately 1996.

It is only a 10A circuit.

I may be interested in plugging in a level 1 charger into the receptacle; looks like I need a minimum of 15A for that. What should I look at before even considering buying a 15-20A breaker?

I will verify, but I think the only 2 things on that circuit are the plug and the garage door opener.

Gauge, material of wire, if anything else is on circuit?

Secondary question, can I create a 220 circuit on a sub box, and run all new wire out there?

Edit, this is in the USA.

I’m in a new rental, and I just went to preheat my gas oven for the first time. Discovered it had tripped the gfci outlet across the room.

The only way I could get the outlet to hold was to unplug the counter-top appliances I have plugged in to 3 other outlets in the room. With the appliances unplugged, the oven will preheat/function.

This seems a little weird to me, that appliances that are not being actively used are drawing enough power to cause this breaker to trip when the load from the oven preheating is added? But my landlord says it means the gfci outlet is doing its job. Any help?

Thanks.

So 2 times we had issues in our apartment with the power, we have 2 different meters and both times our downstairs neighbor lost power too. Our bill is out of control and I called the electric company but by the time they came to check it out they did not find anything wrong. I am 99% sure they were connected to our meter but I have no proof. Have you guys been in this situation? I can’t afford what Google says I have to pay an electrician to install a device to track our usage. My lease isn’t over for another 6 months but I feel at any point they might do it again and I can’t afford it. Any advice?

I’m removing this romex while doing demolition on my home ahead of a renovation. But the cord has these black marks on it. Initially I didn’t think much of it until I pulled it away from the insulation and saw that discoloration. Is that some kind of liquid? Or is the cord overheating? Or something else?

Idk what you call this part. Also it’s a 3 gang plate — do you have to replace all 3 of whatever those are called? 🙄 arggh sorry this is such a stupid question. Trying to get my handyman to do this but idk what to buy & there’s a language barrier.

Genuine question for the apprentices and journeymen here. I'm building a study tool for the CA General Electrician and TX Journeyman exams, and the thing I keep hearing is that most practice questions don't feel like the real exam — too easy, wrong style, or testing trivia instead of code lookup and calculations.

To test that, I built a free 25-question diagnostic: NEC lookup, load calcs, box fill — scored by topic at the end, with the article citation for every miss (TX gets the Knowledge vs. Calculations split, since Calculations is the part that sinks people). About 10 minutes, no cost, no card:

https://codepass-production.up.railway.app/?src=askelec

If you take it, what I actually want to know is whether the questions feel real — and if they don't, what's off? Too easy? Wrong topics? That feedback decides whether I build the rest of this thing or scrap it.

Disclosure: it's my project. The test asks for an email to unlock your full results and study plan — that's the only catch.

Hi everyone,

I’m from Kerala, India, and I’m facing an electrical problem at home. Please help me understand what could be causing it.

• My house lights sometimes blink when I use my HP gaming laptop charger.
• Some LED tube lights have stopped working.
• Switching appliances like the AC, TV, or fan sometimes stops the flickering.
• The same laptop charger works fine at another house.
• A screwdriver tester glows when touching the socket’s earth pin, and my electrician concluded that current is leaking to earth.
• Even after disconnecting the earth wire at that socket, the lights still flicker.
• Connecting my room’s neutral to a different neutral connection temporarily stopped the problem for two days, but it returned.

The wiring has not been properly diagnosed yet.

Could this be a faulty charger, loose neutral, earthing issue, or incoming power supply problem? What should an electrician check?

can someone pls help me in this problem😭😭

I have a maxstar 210 dx welder that I use for work. The problem is the job sites I use it at are all different, and use different outlets. The welder itself can use 480 single or 3 phase, all the way down to 120. I was wondering if there was something like a plug cap where I could quickly change to the various voltage/amperage plugins that the welder can use. Rewiring the plugs every time is getting annoying. I've looked at doing short pigtails but I feel like there should be a better option out there.

Anyone ever run into these/know what theyre called or when they were used? Just curious

I am thinking about self funding electrical installation qualifications(C & G 2,3). I am currently unemployed and over 40 so the apprenticeship route seems a remote possibility. Any advice about how to do this as quickly as possible would be greatly appreciated, I have looked at some providers for the qualifications online but I am finding it difficult to identify the good organisations from the bad. Is there anything specific I should be looking for that these training providers should offer. What is the realistic timeframe for taking a level 2 diploma, as I have seen courses range from a few weeks to over a year, both full time and part time. Thanks in advance.

Never had this happen, was testing an outlet for voltage in a tamper resistant outlet located outside a commercial shopping center. As soon as I stuck the leads in I heard the buzz of an electrical arc and watched as the outlet engulf in flames for about 5 seconds. Any thoughts?

I own an older home that still has active knob & tube wiring. I've reached out to a few electricians for quotes on replacing it, but most have explained that it's difficult to provide an accurate estimate because you don't really know what you'll run into until you start opening things up (which I understand).

The house has access to the first floor through the basement and the second floor through the attic. I'm not looking to add anything new, just replace the existing wiring with modern wiring. I also understand that they may have to do some drilling or opening of walls and that repairs could be outside the scope of the electrical work.

One company suggested doing a whole house assessment before starting. They would map out every outlet, switch, and circuit in the house for a separate fee of $950. If I hire them for the rewiring, they'll credit 50% of that fee toward the project. If I don't, I still get to keep the documentation and can share it with other electricians when getting quotes.

A second company didn't mention an assessment and instead suggested starting on a time and materials basis, working for a day or two, and then reassessing based on their progress.

Both companies appear reputable based on my research and have experience with this type of work.

My question: Is the circuit mapping assessment something that would typically need to be done anyway as part of a whole-house rewiring project? Or is it more of an optional service that might help with planning and estimating costs?

I'm trying to understand whether paying $950 for the assessment would provide meaningful value or whether much of that work would naturally be done as part of the rewiring process anyway. Would the first day or two of work proposed by the second electrician basically accomplish the same thing?

I'd appreciate any insight from electricians who have experience with knob-and-tube replacements. Thanks!

Hi, I recently went into my roof and found that the ceiling lights had been wired up like this,I just wanted to be sure it’s safe. I know it’s not the best picture but hopefully someone can still help,Thanks

In central Texas looking to get a Tesla Universal charger installed in the garage to run 48A on a 60A breaker. My main panel is outside of the house and plan on running cable thru the attic to the garage then down a wall behind the drywall. I will hire a pro but I just want to get an idea of what to expect.

I would prefer a clean look on the exterior with wire ran in the wall, but it would probably be best to run conduit from the main surface mount panel outside, 10ft up the brick, thru the soffit, 95ft thru the attic, and 6ft down a wall behind drywall. I've measured about 115ft of cable with enough to make the connections on each end.

Gemini is calling out 4g (due to length) of individual THHN/THWN-2 wire (black, red, white) all ran thru conduit except for behind the drywall. How should the conduit transitions from exterior, soffit, attic, and drywall be? It's calling for junction boxes from exterior to attic (A) and again at attic to wall top plate (B). But why not just run uncut wire the entire length? Seems like less point of failures with loose connections would be better.

I don't want to tell hired electricians "But Gemini told me this" but what is the minimum that should be done here as far as cable, conduit, and transitions?