ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Handyman or Home Owner

... Yeah, but then you have to go and find appliances and cord caps that accomodate the mirror NEMA/AMEN configuration,..could be quite costly,..re-acquiring a houseful of cord and plug appliances.. I would rather lop the cord ends off,and solder the cord to the receptacle conductors directly..sort of a hard/soft wire compromise..I have a box of single pole toggle switches that I'm returning to my supply house because the dern'd things say "off" when the toggle is up,..confuses alot of customers..and the terminal screws are on the wrong side of the switch...or could they too be a mirrored version of our old,trusty standard??

PS,... actually had a hoot driving my counter guy crazy,..I asked for a 2-gang combination toggle and duplex receptacle plate,and after he'd brought it out along with the other stuff I'd ordered,..I yelled,.."NO,..THIS IS WRONG"..he looked at me real puzzled-like,and said "ain't that what you asked for"?? I said "No,..I asked for a combo plate with the duplex receptacle on the LEFT side,now go and get me the right one,okay??"...had him goin' for a good 12 minutes...then he threw it at me...

Russ



[This message has been edited by Attic Rat (edited 10-31-2005).]

OK, either this is a joke that dense me didn't catch....or....is this for real? Hey, excuse my newb-ness (even though I've been here for...three or four years now?)

BTW, those left-hand threaded lampholders and bulbs are also commonly used for festoon lighting in construction sites in New York City. I guess they don't want the construction-workers stealing the lightbulbs.

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 10-31-2005).]

Good one, Russ!! Reminds me of my Air Force days when we'd send the new guy out to the flightline to get a bucket of jetwash......

edited to add:

What scares me the most is seeing how one local AHJ does his own electrical work....

[This message has been edited by mxslick (edited 10-31-2005).]

The reason the recp is blue is so the homeowner will know that it is on the CØ of his single phase service

who told hd it was ok to give elec advice in the first place?are they liable if there advice gets someone killed?and who is monitoring the advice the 18 year kid in the lighting section is giving?

Winnie: You had me going for a second there. I was actually trying to visualize this special ambulance outlet untill I reached the left handed screw-shell threaded subway lightbulb!. (1st year apprentice here...) I find it hard to beleive that they can get past all of the liability issues with books like these. They must have one hell of a disclaimer. They should have just shown the reversed image of an open service panel... with everything painted blue.

[This message has been edited by sponge (edited 11-01-2005).]

Just to clarify a bit: the NEMA 5-15MR was a joke. But the left handed lightbulbs are reality.

Scroll about 3/4 of the way down this page: http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/historyindependentsubway.html

-Jon

Thanks guys -- Best laugh I've had for days!

I can't get a Johnny Cash song out of my head now:

The one on the right was, on the left,
And the one in the middle was on the right....



Hey, you got a batch intended for Britain by mistake!

Jon, you and I seem to read a lot of the same stuff... I'll bet you even have a copy of "NY's Forgotten Substations - The Power Behind the Subway."

For anybody who has an interest in historical electrical work, the web site Jon posted above is a treasure trove of technical information and photos. How did they convert 11,000 volt 25 Hz power to 600 volt DC before the invention of high-power rectifiers? You gotta see it to believe it.

As a DIY homeowner who takes electical work very seriously, I enjoy reading and learning from this forum. I'm awestruck by the collective knowledge of the members here.

I can certainly understand the apprehension by the pros here of DIY'ers doing their own electrical work. Hopefully you'll find this DIY'ers work at least decent, so I humbly submit my standby generator installation (I can just hear the gasps now) for all to see:

Generator itself:



Note: The LB and galvanized pipe on the left side coming out of the house is the grounding conductor. Our code requires the GEC protected in piping and bonded at both ends. This was the same for the cold water pipe ground inside too! PITA.

Pipe work:



Left to right:

- 1" for current carrying conductors (#6) and ground (#10)
- ½" for control wires (#12)
- ¾" galvanized gas line

Here's the whole setup:



I know, those walls need a fresh coat of paint! The BX is admittedly a little sloppy, since this was a panel changeout - it WILL get cleaned up. In any event, left to right: 200A 40 panel, 200A ATS, 60A disco for genny, 200A main disco, 200A meter pan. Below the main panel is a J-box for the X-10 amplifier, and next to it is a Leviton whole house surge suppressor. (Structured media center is on the other end of the house.)

By the way, that big J-box next to the water meter (circa 1952) that the electric meter is connected to... that feeds <b>four</b> of my neighbors! I get the power first from the street.

Closeup of the ATS guts:



Yeah, I know the red in black phase are reversed (came into the meter pan that way) but does it really make a difference on single phase? That little black box mounted on the inside lower left, that's the trickle charger for the genset starting battery.

Another closeup of the ATS (low voltage side):



Note the neutral is switched -- a "separately derived" system.

Closeup of the 60A disco:



Since this is a separately derived system, notice the neutral bonding is the disco.

... fire away folks!

Joe

[This message has been edited by JJM (edited 11-01-2005).]