Working for an employer right now who says they will pay for my ET card and classes should I take this while I wait on the IBEW apprenticeship. Get some hours logged and experience? In CA

OAL is 9" on the tool, tip to tip.

Hi all, we have this light switch that has stopped working when we click the buttons. Usually if you click the buttons the light comes on, 1 is bright 4 is dimmest. If I click any of them at the moment no light in the room comes on. We get a little red dot next to number 2. Can we have some help how to get it working again? Thank you!

Old house with a lot of DIY projects from previous owners. Do I need to hire a professional to bury these? They power the carport lights and outlet.

Is it that straight forward? Will I burn my house down? Should I get a professional?

For context, I live in WA state. I’ve been looking to start working in the electrical field for a few years now but haven’t landed anything so far. Two years ago in spring I got my trainee card but it expired before I found any work. To renew it I had to take X hours of classes at the local union hall and have to pay about $70, which I’ve struggled to justify since my money is already tight and I’ve gained new expenses since this summer, and because if I don’t find work before the two years is up I’ll have to renew it again.

Now I’m trying to kick my own ass and apply to places, and am wondering if I should just renew my trainee card anyway, even if I don’t get any work, or leave it expired until I get hired somewhere? I would tell any potential employer that I have the means to renew it but haven’t yet since money has been tight and I already have enough class hours to renew. Just wanted to get folks’ opinions. Thanks!

I have five LEDVANCE Value Classic A 100 bulbs (13W, 220-240V AC, E27). I removed only the outer plastic diffuser, leaving the LED boards and internal circuitry intact. They still work normally (I think).

I'm planning to mount them in a small DIY space bucket (growbox for plants) using E27 bulb holders, with a 2mm transparent polystyrene sheet (PS 6) about 5cm below the LEDs to prevent accidental contact.

My questions:

- Are any parts of these LED boards likely to be live at mains voltage?

-Would the original bulb holders and a physical barrier be sufficient, or is the exposed assembly inherently unsafe?

-What electrical and fire risks should I consider with five 13W bulbs running for several hours?

- How can I make this work without buying anything else?

I'm looking for practical electrical safety advice, especially from electricians familiar with LED bulbs and driver-on-board designs

Hello, I would like to replace the video intercom in my building, which uses an 8-wire system. Do you know if there is a modern alternative compatible with an 8-wire setup, or is it strictly necessary to redo the building's wiring? Alternatively, is an interface required? Thanks in advance!

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Hi everyone! I'm trying to replace two ceiling lights in my house, and this is my first time doing anything electrical, so I could really use some guidance.

I tried to hore an electrician and the lowest quote I got was $1,700, which i can not afford. My current light is a Kichler LED flush-mount ceiling light, model 43870WHLED30 (120V, 12.5W).

I've attached pictures showing the light, mounting bracket, and wiring inside the ceiling box.

I'm trying to figure out:

1. How do I safely disconnect the old light from the existing wiring?

2. What do I do with the red wire inside the ceiling box? Does it need to be disconnected or left alone?

3. Can I install a different brand of 6-inch LED flush-mount light using the existing electrical box?

4. Would I need to replace the mounting bracket?

5. Is there an exact replacement available at Lowe's, Home Depot, or Amazon? Do I need to get the exact one or can I get something more cost effective?

I understand that I need to turn off the breaker and verify that the power is off before touching any wiring.

I'm hoping to do this myself, but I don't want to mess anything up or create a safety hazard.

I'd really appreciate any advice, especially from electricians or anyone who's replaced this particular fixture.

Thanks in advance!

I am just a simply layman wanting to save the 150 bucks it would cost having someone do this for me. Iv switched out simple outlets and switches before but this one is slightly more complicated to me. Here’s what I got. The switch on the right is the bathroom fan switch. I want the timer to go there. My question is do I connect it to the neutral? The current switch here is not directly connected the neutral

The timer I have says in the instructions that if not connecting to a neutral to make sure it’s grounded. (Which I thought everything is supposed to be grounded anyway?) and if I’m not going to use the neutral, what do I do with the neutral wire that came attached to the timer I have?

Hi there,

I was trying to replace my existing single pole switch with a Lutron Caseta smart switch PD-6ANS and ever since I made the replacement the light bulb stopped turning On correctly. The light stays on briefly for few seconds and then turns off. I can turn off the light switch and then on again and the light bulb behaves in the same way again.

Could someone tell me if I messed up my light socket somehow when I replaced the light switch with the Lutron?

Here are my debug steps:

1. I checked all the wire nuts and they're all set correctly. I removed and reconnected these multiple time and it's still behaving the same.

2. I tried LED as well as incandescent bulb to no avail

3. I checked with multimeter and I'm getting 120V AC at the hot and to the load when I turn on the switch.

4. I reverted back to my single pole switch and the light bulb now behaves this way with my previous switch. This tells me I may have damaged the light socket somehow

5. Two other switch next to this switch on the same breaker all work fine

The mess of twisted wires in the middle were taped to hell. That’s what was underneath should I not be worrying about any of this? Just tape it back up and connect the black and white wires?

Hello all, I am looking for your practical advice for my kitchen appliance dilemma. We have a microwave (above the range) and a gas range. The gas range died and we would like to replace it with another gas range. They are both plugged into the same 120V/20A circuit. Have been since we bought the house. House was built in 2003.

When researching new gas stoves, I realized that many of them ask for a dedicated 15 or 20A circuit. I was also surprised to find out the microwave we have been using in the same outlet with the old gas range also specifically asks for a dedicated 15A or 20A circuit as well.

I called an electrician to ask for a quote for a new circuit to be added. Told him my situation and he was like, ummm, that should not be necessary if it is a gas range. He asked for the specs of the stove, the microwave and a picture of the breaker. The added published operating amperages of both the new range and the old microwave would be 19.2A. I have not heard back from him yet, but regardless, I would like other opinions.

I understand the manufacturer recommendations are there for a reason. But clearly, they are ignored all the time, intentionally or not. So what am I to do? What are the real risks of putting both appliances on the same circuit? Besides tripping the breaker, I mean.

Thank you so much in advance!

Replaced the outlet and everything is back to normal. The house itself was built in 94 and has copper wire .

What caused this outlet to out of nowhere burst into flames and should I be worried about the brand new one?

By the way it is my computer room of my home office and I tested the amp pull and everything is way under spec. Also the outlet had absolutely nothing plugged in it!

We can't get cable here, so we have Starlink for satellite service. The nearest I could put the Starlink dish is about 1,000' from the house, out in a field, on what I call the Outpost (yeah, really bad pun). I buried fiber optic cable and 1/0 lines 2' or more deep out to the Outpost. I have this box from Altelix on the post. The AC line goes to a j-box, connects to 14-2 direct bury cable that goes to a GFI outlet (in a weather proof outlet box) and, coming out of the outlet box, more of the 14-2 that goes into an Altelix weather proof box. The box has a heater and a fan. Inside the box is the Starlink router and a fiber to ethernet converter.

This has worked for about 4 1/2 years, but I ran into an issue last night. Internet went out and I went out there to press the Reset button on the GFI outlet. (I'm used to that - I have to reset it several times a summer after thunderstorms.) It wouldn't reset. I traced it down to the Altelix box. I've done some rewiring to keep my internet connection temporarily, but I need cooling and heating. (Temps here range from a high of 105°F to a low of -5°F - but those highs and lows are extreme.) The box is in the sun, I can't remember the max temp (I had a Raspberry Pi in there with a temp sensor for a while), but I haven't had issues. I'm not sure if a heater is needed, but the Starlink router and the fiber converter are intended for interior use.

I need a replacement for the Altelix box. I was also thinking of putting up a couple pieces of plywood to shade the box from the sun. I thought about just buying a new box from the same place, but considering the purpose of that box is to keep the parts weatherproof, and it's working in the environment it's meant for, costs over $400, and lasted only 4 years, I'm not sure I can depend on the same brand. But I did look over where I ran the wires and it looks like it may not have been a full tight seal (I used caulking to fill the hole the power line ran into). I'm wondering if that could have led to moisture in there that might have led to condensation. In my limited ability, I can't think of what else would be tripping the GFI other than condensation.

What I need help with - finding or making a replacement. I'm not sure if I should go with this brand again or something else. When I search for variations of the words "weather proof box for electrical equipment," all I get are j-boxes and similar. I'm not getting boxes that are big enough for components to fit in, so I'm having trouble finding other brands.

I've also wondered about building my own - but I'm not sure what the specs would be for or what kind of heater I'd need. (I figure I can find fans.) And I'd have to write my own software for temp control - unless this is something enough people do that there are parts and kids for this kind of thing.

ADDENDUM: Two points to add, both just occurring to me:

1) I would think the seal around the power line would make no difference, since this has a fan on the case for temp control, so a seal around a wire wouldn't be an issue. (The fan has a screen over the outlet and the outlet has a small hood over it to keep rain out.)

2) I do have access to a 3D printer, so I could custom print parts for a container.

Can someone identify where I connect the ground and neutral from a Reliance transfer switch. There looks to be two ground data on either side of this Eaton electrical panel and I’m not sure if the ground and neutral can be connected to the same bar. A few of the circuits do have CFCI breakers. Thanks

So I have this led strip installed and when I am touching it, it's lighting up a little.

A few things to note-

1. First I thought that it is electricity leaking through and me being a conductor is completing the circuit but weirdly it is only happening when I am touching those resistors?(not sure if they are that... the black ones soldered), not when I am touching the copper poles...
2. The LED is not switched on, infact not even plugged in. Yup! There is no connection to the socket what's so ever. Also it's sticked on marble(Not a very good conductor).
3. Then I thought it might be static but it remains on even after quite some time rather than slowly dying down.
4. The whole strip is not lightning only adjacent 2-3 bulbs of that resistor.
5. The flicker is due to camera flicker and LED's although very very dim are not flickering.
6. I checked through my multi-meter but was unable to detect any current anywhere on the marble.

Can anyone help me diagnose wtf is going on and how to rectify it?

the earth prong is made of only plastic and I feel its only there to open the safety shutter in outlets, I have to be able to plug this into a two prong outlet ( shown in the second pic) is it safe to do that?