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#116432 08/13/05 09:43 PM
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 214
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Member
First off I'm also 15 and have been doing electrical work with my dad all summer.

I think that it's great that young teenagers are getting into electrical work if they learn it now they can either turn it into a career, or at the least install recepticals and switches in their house later in life saftely. Almost all my friends would have no idea which end of a screwdriver to hold, much less which wires to hook up in a panel!

#116433 08/14/05 02:44 AM
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 247
T
Member
When I was 13, we added a second story, and my dad and I did all the electrical. 3 bedrooms, bathroom, darkroom, stairway, entry. I did over half the work, with a copy of the 78 NEC close at hand.
Yes, I actually read major portions of the NEC at that time..

Everything was #12 NM, using PT-70 type crimps (the bare copper crimps that look like a .22 short), with lots of electrical tape (my dad didn't like wire nuts.)

I installed a 3-way in my bedroom for the overhead light, a switched outlet for a reading light, and a switched outlet with pilot for the stereo on the other side of the room, with switches at the bedside.

My brother's room was similar, without the stereo outlet.

3 ways for the upstairs and downstairs hallways, stairs, and attic lights.

GFCI for the darkroom/bathroom, GFCI for the entry/outdoor plant lights.

30A 4 wire feeder for the upstairs subpanel, with 3 circuits for the bedrooms/etc, and one stubbed up to a box in the attic for future
expansion.

We even had to replace the service mast to raise the drop to the second story level.. our next door neighbor pulled the meter, and helped my dad move the live drop (our neighbor was at the time a supervisor with the municipal electrical utility, before he retired a few years later.)

Everything passed inspection, except that we never got the final done until my parents finally sold the house 16 years later.. on final, the inspection turned up one(1) outlet with polarity reversed.

I learned quite a bit that summer, and started doing theatrical lighting a year later.

About the only thing I would have done differently, would have been to use wire nuts, and to not use the back-stab connections. We did use Leviton outlets, and not the cheap junk that I see at Home Depot these days..

#116434 08/14/05 08:25 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
P
Member
Quote
Just had a mental picture of your mom waiting in the hall for the lights to change, then turning left into the kitchen!

Designate both as one-way, then she could do a left on red! [Linked Image]

Ian, I guess you're familiar with these websites?

http://www.trafficsignals.net/
http://www.signalfan.com/



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 08-14-2005).]

#116435 08/16/05 10:02 AM
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,498
T
Member
My first attempts at house wiring were at the age of 6. Under supervison of my dad I moved a light switch that was too high up the wall. That meant chiseling a channel for the cable and hole for the new box, putting in the box and cable and hooking up everything. Finally I put a blank cover on the old switch box and that was it. A few years later I already rewired the entire room. There are some things I'd do differently now (like my plastering skills weren't that impressing back then, and now I'm tall enough to run the feeders horizontal and not sloping downwards even though the range stands in the way), but generally the wiring is up to code and looks a lot better than what was there before.

#116436 08/16/05 10:18 AM
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 329
I
Member
That is sharp looking work. Good to see more youngins geting in on it thes days. It seems anymore that if it doesn't say GameCube or XBox on it these days kids have no interest or clue for that matter. It's refreshing to see that there are still a few that like to get there hands on, as well as doing there homework. I can really relate to these kids. Personally I am self taught and have been doing electrical all of my life. It is said (jokingly I hope) that I was born with a plug in my hand.

--I can really relate to this kid,
Changed that to these kids. Din't realize that there were so many here. Props to all of ya---

[This message has been edited by IanR (edited 08-16-2005).]

#116437 08/16/05 04:16 PM
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,691
S
Member
Props go to my mom for teaching me how to inter-connect basic electrical devices (lampholders, extension cords, plugs, switches, etc.) when I was a youngin', in addition to a bit of faucet/pipe work and very rudimentary carpentry. [Linked Image]

#116438 08/17/05 11:58 PM
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 812
Member
Okay I think I have some explaining to do.

"Ian,
Just had a mental picture of your mom waiting in the hall for the lights to change, then turning left into the kitchen!
Alan"
I've done that before.
"ps. How do you keep digging up these old gems? It must take hours."
Put it this way, I get really BORED.

"Designate both as one-way, then she could do a left on red!

Ian, I guess you're familiar with these websites?
http://www.trafficsignals.net/ http://www.signalfan.com/

Yes I am very familar with those websites.

Forgot to add this into the mix: I had to help my dad replace our MH's service panel, due to the old one arcing and threatening to take my home to the ground. Also had to help install an dedicated circuit for a new Window A/C. Now, just waiting for nice weather to turn off the "half-house" circuit to turn off the bedroom A/C and replace the bathroom, outdoor, and kitchen recepts with GFCIs.

Ian A.


Is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
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