Was cleaning the machine shop and found this under a cart. Not and electrical guy but something seems off...

Recently moved and got a new panel installed. Licenced and insured electrician, well reviewed and a someone who's known in the neighborhood.

He asked me if I wanted to get a permit, and said whatever I felt comfortable with he would do.

I was ill-advised and was told by my father it was pointless for a permit. I've come to find out I should have just gone with it.

My question is, would this be an issue if I ever plan to sell years down the road?

House built in 60s.

Montgomery county, OH

Edit: Thanks to everyone who commented!

I(27) have been working for a electrical contractor for 2 years doing only commercial work and 2 years of doing residential for another electrical contractor, both of these companies laid me off because of “lack of work” 1 week after I asked them if the can sponsor me through the SDOL to get my journeyman card. At this point I just feel like I will never be able to get my journeyman card and eventually my license and yes I have tried joining the union for more than 4 years through the lottery. Anyways if anyone is locked for an electrician or helper or knows someone please hit me up because I’m about to give up

My apartment has an indoor electric panel that looks like it’s literally 50 years old. The owner just has the outdoor unit replaced but the panel in the closet is still original I think. The research I’ve done online has me worried that it’s a fire hazard. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Edit - to say I’ve been here for 7 years

Two extra things on my meter base, first is between the meter and the can... I think this may be a suppressor but the ones I have seen before are thicker? second is mounted under the can... I have never seen this before. What are these extra things?

Hey ya'll, I don't know crap about this stuff. We're doing a panel upgrade from 100AMP to 200AMP for our 1921 home. I already knew that all the electrical upgrades were probably done by someone's proverbial "uncle" since there were no city permits or inspections on record for the entire history of the house. Today, the electricians discovered this when they began work. I'm not questioning the electrician's judgment. I'm just genuinely curious -- how dangerous is all this?

Hey guys. Home owner of 6 years and ive never touched this outlet. Shows 250v at 50 amps. Im curious if this could be used for a generator hookup? Or possibly an electric car charger?

Ill attach photos, what perplexed me was that in my breaker panel there is no breaker rated for 50 amps, so im unsure. Im thinking that the plug is rated for 50a but running at something lower? Id appreciate any insight and advice.

I'm no electrician but I can change an outlet or a switch out. I feel like the answer to this is "yes, obviously, why are you even asking?" but it's better to ask stupid questions than have stupid outcomes I think in case I'm overlooking something.

My garage has about a dozen light sockets on the ceiling. I want an extension cord reel up there and there's no plug. Is there any reason I can't just replace one of the light sockets with a cord reel?

Obviously it would be on the same circuit as the lights, but They're all LEDs that don't draw a lot of power, and having it controlled by the light switch is probably a good thing since I like to unplug everything when not in use just to be safe.

Anything I should be aware of before trying this?

Going from 100 amp to 200 amp. The written details covers a new meter base, a new 40 space panel, the permit, and the inspection. It doesn't say anything about the utility side.

Does that sound in range, or should I get another recommendation?

My aunt's stucco house has exterior light wires coming through holes drilled in the wall. No boxes (second pic).

So I broke out the stucco, installed a pancake box (first pic). Since there was less than an inch of hot wire left, I also spliced in new Romex.

Because her stucco was 3/4 inch, I used the only 3/4 inch box I could find: the orbit 3.5 inch, 3/4 deep. I removed the clamps& put in an Arlington button.

Which means I used a 5 cu box for wires that need at least 6. I feel like the biggest idiot.

Do I need to redo this? If I get a light with a large empty space for the connections, is it ok?

This is only the first of 6. For the next 5, I assume I should upgrade to a 4 inch pancake box? Since I can't find a 4 in diameter, 3/4 deep box, what's the best way to prop the 1/2 inch box? Just some washers?

I'm kicking myself.

Need to replace these lightbulbs because they are all shot. Have no idea where to start

We've lived in our apartment for 12 years and have this weird light switch that goes to nothing but is always lit up. It's recently started flashing. Should we be worried or call property management. They checked it about 10 years ago and the electrician said he was baffled.

Our insurance sent a letter this month: replace the fuse box or the policy doesn't renew. 60 amp, original as far as we know, 1912 house in tower grove south. So much for the someday list.

Two electricians have quoted it so far and they came in $1800 apart. Worse, they gave opposite answers on whether the drop from the pole has to move too, which sounds like the difference between a one-day job and the city getting involved. Same house, same box, two completely different jobs apparently.

If you've had them do a panel upgrade, what did it run you, and did the price hold once they opened the wall?

Hello all,

I am new to the sub, I have a GFCI outlet on the exterior of my house that keeps tripping, I reset the GFCI then it will work for the night then keeps tripping after working the whole night. Downstream of the GFCI is a regular outlet, that I have disconnected. The only thing plugged into the GFCI outlet is outdoor Govee lights. Any ideas what could be causing this to constantly trip?

I appreciate your help!

So I REALLY want to get into the industrial electrical field. To fill you in on myself, i am 27 and I have worked in industrial hvac for a smaller company about 6 years ago demolishing and installing units with the main focus on running ductwork. I was young and very green to the industry and didn’t understand the opportunity for the growth I could’ve made. That being said I only did that for about 14 months before I left to be back home everyday instead of only home on the weekends. I was working in my state but it was far enough away to get per diem Monday-Friday. Since I left that job I’ve worked as a machine operator, lawn and pest technician, and currently as residential foundation repair and waterproofing of crawl spaces and basements for 3.5 years. I became a crew foreman after a year (I was being pressured for that position after only being there a few months because I’m a responsible person that honestly loves learning tricks and tips to better myself in whatever I do, but I wanted to wait it out and not jump in too fast as I haven’t held that title and responsibility before). Though I left that position and stepped down shortly after a year into the position because the pay difference wasn’t much (paid by the job not really by the hours) and I could get jobs done faster since there wasn’t a set end of the day time and could get home sooner maximizing my “hourly” rate by the math. I am very work focused and I work harder than I probably need to.

All of that said I have been wanting to go into working in industrial construction. Mainly electrical since that is something I haven’t done and am eager to learn while also being a great career path I want to pursue. It also seems a lot less demanding on the body, so I can see myself not burning out from how my brain is kind of hardwired to work vigorously.

I have been researching but really just need the help of someone giving me real steps to take to make this switch. I cannot seem to find jobs on indeed, google, etc. that are available to someone without schooling or experience in the electrical field, though I’ve read a lot of people do find these apprenticeships without going to school. Is this a necessary step I should take? It’s pretty difficult to make as I do have a wife and kid and I’m the one working in my house (by choice, we love this lifestyle). I would really like to avoid this step and learn on the job as I am a very hands on learner. I am absolutely down to go to school for it, but I feel it would be harder for me without being able to apply what I’m learning as I go if that makes sense. I absolutely would further my knowledge with school knowing I will be using it everyday.

I really want to get into per diem jobs which seems to be the more difficult route to go without the experience but it has the pay that I know would keep me and my family from sinking as right now we are just getting by barely. It truthfully would put us in a comfortable position since we aren’t overwhelmed with ridiculous debt by trying to live outside our means. I just cannot save any money or do things with my family since it all goes into just getting us barely by.

I really appreciate any advice from anyone, and especially from someone who lives a similar experience who doesn’t mind to lift and give a hard working guy, who doesn’t get vulnerable and ask for help, some direction to be successful in giving his family a great life!

Seriously, any advice is greatly appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read this long post!

My mom lives in Venezuela, and she is having 5–7 hours of power outages per day. I bought her an Anker F3800 + Expansion battery. She lives in a condo, and the main breaker for her apartment in the basement is 70 amps. The whole idea was to disconnect the 4 awg cable that feeds the main panel, move it to the box I made, and move the two 220 breakers in use (oven and AC) before the ATS so it gets electricity from the grid. Then connect the ats to the main grid. My biggest concern was neutral, but it is shared. I added a 20-amp cable charge for the unit to charge right away after the electricity comes back.

The ATS is rated for 220v just in case. Each voltage protector is for 1 phase and rated to 110v, so 1 for each leg.

Any advise ??

How easy is it to DIY grounding a house? Our new house has grounding rods already in the ground but no wire connected to them. Also, how much would on average would an electrician charge for that?

ETA—I did just get the report and there is a photo of the electrical panel and a note that says “No visible grounding electrode system observed at main
panel”

I was tasked with repairing my household's washing machine and I kept getting the same error despite replacing a sensor and splicing in a new plug(? I don't even know the right terms...). is there any hope of cleaning this off enough for a splice?

Lets say the requirements are a split lighting and power chassis with their meters. Total is 60 way. Can you get away with a 600mm wide board if the poles are 60 ? Or does it need to be 1200mm wide board ?

Can NHP, Hager and Schnider can do it ?

I am running 4 new LED high hats from my center ceiling fixture (daisy chain) so had to replace my old 14.5 cu in octagon fan box with a 21.5 cu in box due to the additional cable (one in, one out, switch loop run and now the high hat feed). no problem in general and I found it easiest on the new box to have one cable per knockout to get the new box in and not destroy the wiring or ceiling. I used two nm connectors on the sides and two plastic connectors on the top. the old wiring (1980) is kind of snug, so due to the slight difference in cable path from old box to new, the two cables coming in the top through the plastic connectors have the sheath stop just short of the connector (buts right up to it). I know I need 1/4" of sheath through the connector but it's just not there. Would you cut a new hole in the sheet rock and try to unstaple the cable to possibly find a little more slack? I'm not sure I can get any additional but could try. I also dont't want to make a full mess and keep cutting more access ports into the ceiling if I don't have to of course. Other than that small aspect, the wiring is quite nice in my new ceiling box; the added size is perfect and everything is tidy. What would you suggest?

I am swapping out a center light for 4 flat can styled LEDs. Stupid me forgot to take a before picture of how the wires were hooked up and now can’t get it to work.

3 light switches with unknown, but assumed, janky wiring. All switches were working before this but I have no clue if they were technically wired correctly.

My janky DIY is the 4 yellow romex with a 4 to 1 adapter.

In the pic above, the hot is the red circled white wiring.

Just need to see if anyone can walk me through something to get it working.

Hi, I have two outdoor outlets in the front of my house and two in the back that have all been dead for a few months. They originally stopped working after heavy rain.

I have unplugged everything outside. I checked the electrical panel, but I’m not sure which breaker controls them. I also checked the outdoor outlets, but none of them have reset buttons that work.

Before I call an electrician, is there a common place an upstream GFCI reset might be? I plan to check the garage, basement, bathrooms, kitchen, laundry area, and any utility-room outlets.

Are there other likely causes when all exterior outlets go out together—failed GFCI, breaker, water-damaged exterior outlet, loose connection?

I can add photos of the outdoor outlets, breaker-panel labels, and any indoor GFCI outlets if helpful.

I have a circuit that has a beverage refrigerator, the coffee pot, and possibly the microwave on it.

I have a set of computer speakers plugged in to that circuit as the title says the speakers pop or have a static sound when something turns off (just happened) The computer is on a different circuit and it has a UPS with power conditioning between the outlet and the computer.

I checked the outlet today with my tester and it shows 120V so I don't think it's the circuit.

The draw of power drops and the pop occurs. I have a Furman EMI, RFI, Surge multi outlet device that fixes the problem so it's actually surge in the power.

Can a whole house surge suppressor limit this issue for the whole house or is it the nature of the electrical system. I should mention that the house is wired with aluminum wire. I've had the breaker box looked at by an electrician and they said the wiring is fine but a whole house surge suppressor is where the code is going. The company I have does the HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical inspections yearly, I pay for the service.

Input would be nice.
TIA

Just a regular non electrician trying to replace an outside outlet for an elderly neighbor on a fixed income. His son removed the old outlet and could not make his new one work, I told him I’d take a look at it. I believe the twisted copper wire is ground, and that connects to the green screw, but as for everything else I’m more lost than Hurley. Need some help with what wire connects to what and what wires don’t need to connect

I’m using an EZ Generator Switch on the circuit that feeds my oil furnace. I’ve converted the switch for a floating-neutral source (unswitched neutral tied back to the panel neutral bus) because my portable power station has a floating neutral.
Setup:
• Switch is a manual single-circuit transfer switch.
• Power station AC output is plugged into the EZ switch inlet via an extension cord.
• Power station AC input (charging cable) is plugged into a regular wall outlet so the battery stays topped up.
• When the grid goes out I manually flip the EZ switch from Normal to Generator so the furnace runs off the power station.
• When the grid comes back I would ideally flip it back to Normal.
Questions for the electricians here:
1. Is it safe/acceptable to leave the power station’s output cord plugged into the EZ switch inlet all the time (so I don’t have to plug it in during an outage)? When the switch is in the Normal position the output should be isolated from the load, correct?
2. Is it okay to leave the power station’s charging input plugged into a wall outlet continuously so the battery stays charged and ready?
3. What actually happens electrically when utility power returns while:
• the EZ switch is still in the Generator position,
• the power station is still outputting to the switch, and
• the power station is still plugged into mains (so it starts charging / possibly goes into pass-through)?
I’m mainly concerned about any neutral/ground path issues, possible AFCI/GFCI trips, or whether the power station’s internal behavior changes when it has AC input present while also feeding the switch. The EZ switch is supposed to prevent backfeeding the utility, but I want to make sure the combination with a floating-neutral power station that is both charging and discharging is clean.
Any practical advice, gotchas, or things I should verify with my specific power station model would be appreciated. Thanks.

TLDR:
EZ Generator Switch (floating neutral) + power station on furnace circuit. Can I leave both the output and charging cord plugged in all the time? What happens when the power comes back while the switch is still on Generator?