r/electrical • • 2h ago

how to keep water out of open couduit?

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33 Upvotes

I've got a junction box with open conduits for power conduit trenched from my main panel to a subpanel in another building.  This area sometimes floods during heavy rain.  What is the correct way to seal the conduit to keep water out?


r/electrical • • 12h ago

If I have to see it, you all have to see it

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48 Upvotes

I’m not an electrician, but I was doing some work on this house and needed to plug into an outlet and saw this. Note, I didn’t touch the panel. This is how it was in the garage. Surprisingly my table saw didn’t trip a breaker here.


r/electrical • • 13h ago

I always wanted solar panels and battery system. But I live in an apartment, so I made a game about it instead.

23 Upvotes

I've wanted my own solar setup for years, but renting an apartment kind of kills that dream.

So I spent the last 6 months building it in a game instead.

You start with a single 50 W panel and grow into solar, wind and batteries. In the clip, I tried pushing too much power through a thin cable to see what happens. Cable sizing actually matters in the game, and undersized wire overloads.

If you could add one thing from your real solar setup to this game, what would it be?

It's called The Last Kilowatt. Steampage


r/electrical • • 1h ago

Can someone tell me if there are wrong fuses/breakers being used? My breakers keep tripping whenever I try running multiple appliances at the same time

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• Upvotes

r/electrical • • 1h ago

🚀 I Built a Custom ESP32-C3-Based Multi-Purpose Stream Deck

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• Upvotes

I've been working on my own customisable Stream Deck powered by the ESP32-C3 Super Mini, designed to control different PC functions wirelessly over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

🔥 Current Features:

- 🎛️ Rotary Encoder with Push Button — Navigate menus, select options, and control functions.

- 🔘 Custom Shortcut Buttons — Trigger keyboard shortcuts and frequently used actions.

- 🖥️ Multiple Work Modes — Switch between different profiles depending on your workflow.

- 📟 OLED Display — Navigate menus and see the currently selected function.

- 🔵 BLE Connectivity — Communicate wirelessly with my PC.

- ⚙️ Fully Customisable — Buttons, rotary dial functions, shortcuts, and work modes can all be customised.

💡 The goal is to build a flexible control centre for my PC, with features such as volume control, application shortcuts, and other productivity tools.

The best part? I'm building both the ESP32-C3 firmware and the PC-side software, so the hardware and software work together as one system.

🛠️ What's next?

I'm polishing the project and will soon upload the complete working demonstration and source code to GitHub.

This is still a work in progress, and I'm looking forward to adding more features!

What features would you like to see in a custom DIY Stream Deck like this? 👇

#ESP32 #ESP32C3 #StreamDeck #DIYElectronics #EmbeddedSystems #IoT #BluetoothLE #BLE #PCAutomation #ElectronicsProjects #OpenSource #MakerCommunity #HardwareHacking #TechProjects #DIYTech


r/electrical • • 3h ago

Need ignition System help

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1 Upvotes

r/electrical • • 7h ago

Installing conduit over existing ground

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2 Upvotes

Pasco county, Florida

Meter and panels are on the side of a steel building. Line in branches left and right, panel for the barn and panel for the house.

In the process of purchasing home and inspector reported the wiring as unsafe/unsatisfactory due to the ground coming out of the meter panel not being in a conduit. He will update the report when it is corrected. Insurance is unhappy, so we need to get this fixed soon.

Does this require a permit or is it something we can do over the weekend ourselves? I have an electrician friend but he is not a contractor.

Would pvc U channel raceway be an option, or are there other up to code options for covering the wire vs encasing it? I have enough sch80 on hand if need be.


r/electrical • • 9h ago

New fridge tripping GFCI outlet.

3 Upvotes

My new fridge and old fridge both say that the voltage is 115. My old fridge says amperage is 20 and my new one is 1.8. I don’t know if that matters but I wanted to throw that in. Where the fridge is supposed to be plugged in is a GFCI outlet and around two minutes after plugging in the new one, it keeps tripping. I plugged it into one that didn’t say GFCI and it still tripped two minutes later. Would this be something to do with the fridge, or is it something with the plugs? I’m at a loss here. We’ve been without a fridge for almost a month and I’m just wanting to get it figured out!


r/electrical • • 8h ago

Recessed LED takes longer to turn on, sometimes goes dim. Swapped the light for a spare and it’s still happening. Is this a fire hazard?

2 Upvotes

Wondering if we need to turn off the circuit (and therefore every overhead light in our main living space) until our builder will come back and fix it under warranty. Which could be a while. Thanks!


r/electrical • • 7h ago

What could this underground line be?

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0 Upvotes

Hello! hoping to get some info from people who might know what this is. This line was sticking up out of the ground and is obviously severed. I think it may be an old electrical line to the shed. Would it be ok to remove or bury?


r/electrical • • 7h ago

Fuse help

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1 Upvotes

Had a new upstairs and downstairs (Goodman) units installed In our home and have had so many problems with both in the past 3 years. The newest being the downstairs just stopped working, no fan or anything. Breaker was good so checked fuses. It had 2 non-60 non time delay fuses and 1 was obviously blown. Got 2 new fuses and put them in, had a small arc (which I think is normal) but nothing worked. Took fuses back out and saw that bottom left burnt out. Looked at manufacture label and it says 50 amp max time delay fuses only. Which was not what was previously installed. Would those fuses cause that to burn up? Do I have to go back with the exact disconnect (2 fuse), it has a 40 amp breaker in the panel


r/electrical • • 7h ago

A small bang

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1 Upvotes

When I went to install a new fluorescent tube in this fixture above the kitchen sink, there was a loud pop and a flash. Now there’s a faint burnt smell, and it won’t light up. What happened? Did I buy the wrong tube, or is this a more serious, and costly, problem?


r/electrical • • 7h ago

Would this be an easy fix?

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1 Upvotes

We are buying a house and wondering if we can fix this on our own and install electrical mast flashing; the seller wants to change something, and we think this would be easier for us than the alternative, which is cutting tree limbs on the roof and taking that risk.


r/electrical • • 1d ago

Floor guys plugged in to my panel

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453 Upvotes

We are having our floors refinished and this is how the workers plugged is their sander. Is this safe common practice or should I be concerned?


r/electrical • • 7h ago

Breaker compatibility

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1 Upvotes

Confused on what type of breaker I should use. I am swapping out 2 GFCI/AFCI combos that keep nuisance tripping. I was told for crouse hinds/murray that Siemens QP was the proper substitute. The info on this panel says GE Is okay??


r/electrical • • 2h ago

Do neutrals need to follow a “correct” path?

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0 Upvotes

Doing some upgrades to our new house and I have installed a new fan/light combo. I’d like them to work independently however the way the existing electrical is run it would be difficult to run new wiring from the existing switch. I am considering getting an outlet/switch combo and operating the fan off of that. My question is, do I need to neutrals in a “correct” direction? Or is the way I have it drawn appropriate? With both neutrals connected to the original switch circuit and simply running a hot from the outlet switch to the fan hot?


r/electrical • • 8h ago

Bathroom Fan stopped working - 75V on switch

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1 Upvotes

Replaced the original builders fan with a Nutone about 2 years ago.
Worked great - very quiet - until it went completely quiet as it stopped running.
To the best of my knowledge nothing has changed with the fan or the electrical system.

Pulled the fan/box and connectors assuming maybe I have a bad fan or a connection came loose. Runs perfectly on my bench - with 120V power.......which is why I'm here looking for pointers.

Here's the issue. I've got 75V across the fan switch and 45V across the wires that connect the fan.
Light switch in the same box on the same circuit has 120V.
GFCI receptacle in the bathroom on the same circuit has 120V across each pair.
Every other outlet on the same circuit (4 that I'm aware of) appears to have 120V (based on multimeter readings from the plugs - though I haven't pulled them all out of the wall.)

House is of the vintage that the main bathroom fan is on a 3 way switch - paired with a switch in the dining room beside the furnace thermostat. (Sure - for fun as a side quest - someone explain why they really did this 3 way switch setup.) Both 3 way switches have the same 75V.

My reading says that 75V typically means I have a loose or broken neutral / white wire before it's getting to the fan/switch.

I replaced the 3 way switch at the fan on spec and double checked all connections - no change.
I torqued down a loose screw on the adjacent light switch and apparently don't kn ow my own strength so I got to replace that single pole switch as well when it cracked - no change.
Checked and tightened every wire nut connection between the switch and fan - no change.
Checked and tightened wire nut connections at the bathroom light - no change.
Looked at the neutral connections on each of the outlets that I've pulled out of the wall - no issues.

I'm not sure how to backtrack from the fan switch to 'whatever device was before it' in the wiring sequence. Is there a way to do that when the wires are all behind the drywall?
Attaching pics of the 3 way switch at the fan. There was no grounding wire on the original switch that came out though the circuits in the box are all tied to the box ground. It was connected using the quickstab connections. On the replacement switch I pushed the wires under the screws.

Am I missing something? Pointers on next steps? I know I'm going to kick myself when this gets figured out.

Thanks........."tired of running stairs from the panel to the 2nd floor bathroom".


r/electrical • • 9h ago

200a ready meter and wiring?

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0 Upvotes

I know its CL200 But is the enclosure and the current SEU wiring rated for 200amp service?


r/electrical • • 15h ago

Am I fckd

3 Upvotes

Morning boys, I’m a 21 y/o carpenter bought my first house doing some remodeling and I can’t figure out what’s wrong with whatever the hell I’m looking at for obvious reasons, I took down the old fan the previous fan would flicker on the lights and then shut off after a second when switching it on and would have to be manually turned on by the hanging knobs, wired up the new one to see if it would work and it doesn’t. This is how I currently have it I have the breaker off until an electrician friend has a chance to come by.
Old fan was wired to the red wire


r/electrical • • 10h ago

Recessed light flickering

1 Upvotes

I had some recessed lights installed 5-6 years ago. Every once in a while they would all flicker. Recently it had become more constant that the light would flicker from dim to bright constantly. All of the lights are flickering together. Is this a problem with the connection at the switch?


r/electrical • • 13h ago

How can I (or should I) improve this kitchen outlet situation?

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0 Upvotes

This is an outlet in our kitchen. It's a GFCI on a 20amp circuit. It's a somewhat older house, so there aren't as many outlets as in a modern kitchen. This is one of two outlets on one side of the sink, where most of the countertop appliances are. Plugged in here are a toaster, Vitamix, coffee grinder, electric kettle, and small Ninja blender. Plus the empty spot occasionally used for the mixer or food processor, which are stored elsewhere. Three feet to the left of here is another outlet with a microwave and a toaster oven. I assume this is on the same circuit. We rarely use more than 2 items in both of these outlets at once, mostly the toaster and small coffee grinder together.

Is this a problem other than being an eyesore? This is a rental, and we've been here over two years without an issue. Am I correct is thinking that if it was ever overloaded, it would just trip the breaker, since none of these appliances draw a significant amount unless they are actively being used? Would a surge protector/power strip be a better idea? I have thought of mounting one under the cabinets.


r/electrical • • 13h ago

Can extra wires sit behind a flush-mount ceiling light?

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0 Upvotes

r/electrical • • 13h ago

/electrician NEC prep

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0 Upvotes

r/electrical • • 14h ago

Replaced closet light switch and now hallway lights won’t work.

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1 Upvotes

About a week ago I heard a small crack come from the closet light switch and the switch stopped working. This is the old switch and it looks like the plastic broke and a wire was just hanging there. The only thing is that the ground wire wasn’t connected and there are only three black wires in the box. I connected everything and now the closet light works but the ceiling fan and two hallway lights work. Is it possible that the wire in the back of this switch was some sort of connection that I screwed up by just using the ground screw on the new switch? If that’s a dumb question I apologize. Haha. Any tips would be very helpful. I’m leaving town this weekend and I’ll have to get back to it on Monday but I’m leaving that breaker switch off. I’ll be paranoid all weekend. Thanks in advance.


r/electrical • • 6h ago

Tried to replace switch-controlled outlet, now neither outlet or light works

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0 Upvotes

What it says in the title, pictured is the outlet I removed. The wires coming off the non-ground screws were thicker gauge. The screw pairs on each side have the little connection tab still attached. I twisted and capped the thick gauge white wires together and capped the red wire. I wired up the new outlet correctly, following the big WHITE HOT LINE GND arrows to locate my wires. If anyone could help that’d be great thank you