Basic Electricity For Homeowners

[franknmiss]

Worth,
I had never heard of HVDC until recently. There is a new HVDC project (Southern Cross Transmission Project) to deliver up to 2000MW of Texas generated wind power to the southeast. The eastern converter and terminus is to be located in our county here in Mississippi to connect to TVA. And I thought Tesla had put DC out of business a hundred years ago!
Frank

[dmforcier]

Me neither. Very interesting! Who'd a thunk it?

Thanks for the link. Here's the same destination without all the yahoo encrustation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-v...direct_current

[Worth1]

I asked two BP engineers about it several years ago.
After each one gave his explanation I told them that it was the most senseless bunch of mindless made up babble I have heard in years.
Neither one of them knew anything about it or knew what they were talking about.
They admitted it after my comment and was surprised I caught them in the act of BS.
The look on the theirs and other peoples faces was to die for after I said it because I was supposed to swallow tripe from these guys.
There was another engineer standing by that almost choked to death when I said it.

[Worth1]

Low voltage DC lighting can and will be a rip off.
I told my boss the other day to do the calculations because he was thinking about it for his place.
This is also the reason irrigation controllers run 24 Volts AC to the valves not DC.

Worth

[Worth1]

Is Fluke worth the price?
My old fluke alomost died and I fixed it again today but it is cracked and looking for a new one.
My old one is a 29 they dont make anymore and it cost 200 bucks many years ago.
Something broke loose on the inside the other day and bent all of the pickups on it and it went crazy.
Today I managed to get everything back in order and by darn it works.
Looking at some if the other brands on line they are way less money but I am skeptical of them.
I have always depended on Fluke meters.
When mine went wacko the other day my boss just handed me his to use with no questions asked.
He knows I will take care of it.
Now mine is fixed I can give his back tomorrow.

Worth

[Cole_Robbie]

Is there anything significantly different about wiring a 220 circuit? I bought a 220 window AC: https://www.menards.com/main/heating...1972368&ipos=1

Amperage: 10.3 ampere
Wattage: 2330 watt
Voltage: 208/230 volt

I bought a heavy-duty 20 amp outlet, 12/2 "outdoor" wire, and a 30 amp breaker. I am going to run the wire under my trailer.

[Worth1]

I would never put 12 gauge wire on a 30 amp breaker, minimum of 10 gauge.
Is it a 220 volt 30 amp breaker double pole.
One leg of each hot has to go on a different line then ground to ground.

[Worth1]

I looked at the owners manual and it said
NEMA 6-20P


Go back and get a double pole 20 amp 220 volt breaker and a single outlet receptacle for 20 amps and you are good to go.

You dont want a double receptacle.
This is what you want.
Picture huge on purpose.

[Cole_Robbie]

ok, thank you. I did get the right outlet. I didn't understand about the double pole breaker, but I think I get it now.

[Nematode]

Flukes will last a decade or 2 and stay calibrated pretty well.
Other cheapies never got the feel right either.
When you make your living with them its not really expensive.
A meter that doesn't work when you need it, thats expensive.

[dmforcier]

I have a Fluke 'jaws' multimeter, but I don't use it nearly as hard as you. As best I recall it was about $75. $200 seems like a lot, but maybe that buys a beefy case ...
---

CR, note that the double-pole breaker takes a hot off each supply bar (both blue and black in the pic above). Each hot is 120V and they are essentially additive to yield 220V. (It's not quite that simple, but it's a good way to think about it.)

Agreed - don't use a 30A breaker on 12GA wire or outlet. From the specs a 20A breaker should be enough.

[Father'sDaughter]

My husband uses his Fluke multiple times a day, every work day, and I think he's had his current one for at least six of seven years. He had a cheaper Fluke model prior to the one has now, and the old one was added to his automotive toolbox here at home.

[Worth1]

Flukes are expensive for no reason but you have to do what you have to do.
My 29 has lasted around 20 years.
One comparable to it now is from $140 something to $199.
It isn't hard to get up into the 500 to 1000 dollar range.
As far as calibration is concerned some of it is completely stupid.
The government and some companies require it even on things that cant get out of calibration or even be calibrated.
But there is big money in it.
We started having our bench tech calibrate stuff and he was baffled at some of the stuff we had hauled in.
He said you cant calibrated it nor does it need it.
He was very smart but was against a wall as what to do.
I told him just put a sticker on it.
Really?
Yes just put a sticker on it, that is all they want to see.
He couldn't get past how stupid it was.
I told him some of these agencies will want to see calibration documentation on a 12 inch ruler.
I saw a 12 inch Starret dial caliper with a failed calibration sticker on it.
Said it wouldn't go back to zero.
That is physically impossible, that is how stupid the calibration company techs were.
You simply turn the dial face to read zero and these idiots didn't know it.

When I saw the bench tech (calibrate) our meters I asked him what he was using for a standard and what the tolerances were.
He didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about.
Well this power supply.
When was it last calibrated?
Well last year.
Who is going to calibrate it what will they use and who calibrates their stuff and when?
Does it matter with what we do?
Not really.

Then the company had us take a yearly competency test.
The person giving the test was a pipe guy that had no clue about electricity how to use a meter.
Here I am taking the test showing him how to conduct the test and how to use the stuff we were testing on.
What a frigging joke and he admitted it.
Company policy brought on by bP, the good folks that brought you the oil spill and death in the Gulf of Mexico.
Worth

[kurt]

As as side note: Our electrician,family member,has been flipping his outlets with the negative pole on top.Reason being he has as habit taken his service dog tags and would hang them on his work bench,low and behold his saw vibration jiggled his tags,as a slinky it crawls over the shelf and lands perfectly over the pos/neg poles of not so tightly shoved in outlet.Surprise,arc welded his gear to the prongs,I am laughing writing this.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by kurt

As as side note: Our electrician,family member,has been flipping his outlets with the negative pole on top.Reason being he has as habit taken his service dog tags and would hang them on his work bench,low and behold his saw vibration jiggled his tags,as a slinky it crawls over the shelf and lands perfectly over the pos/neg poles of not so tightly shoved in outlet.Surprise,arc welded his gear to the prongs,I am laughing writing this.

I dont understand what you mean by outlets and positive and negative poles?
If you mean the grounding prong that is standard practice these days to have it on the up side just for the reason you explained.
They really have gone over board with home electricity and safety.
Some of it is knee jerk reactions and I think others are to just jack the price up and sell product.
The NFPA board of directors and members are people in the business.
They used to send me stuff to join all the time.

Some of the new codes I have to say I like.
Such as supervising the 120 shunt trip power to shunt/stop elevators.
Not new now but at one time it wasn't supervised and I argued it should be.

I find the new so called child proof safety power receptacles stupid and expensive.
The GFCI stuff has gotten out of hand too in some places.

In reality between the NFPA and OSHA it has turned into a money making machine for people with little regard for common sense.

Worth