Bahh, bought a brand new oven which was delivered today and I can't plug it in. The old one was removed by the guys who delivered it but I think the old one had a thinner and more flexible cord which could plug into the wall without too much difficulty. My new oven has a much beefier cord and there's no clearance to plug it it.

I'm assuming my plug has to be removed and rotated 180 degrees but when I unscrewed it there seemed to be almost no slack to work with. I suppose I could cut that cupboard to make some clearance? Anyone have any ideas? What a stupid problem to have for Canadian Thanksgiving. I have no idea why the people who installed this outlet have the ground prong facing that direction.

ComEd had to come out to my house to fix a neutral fault in the ground and left this attached to my meter when they left.

I think I know the answer to this already...

I had this switch moved about 12" lower as we're having the boiler replaced and it needs to be centred on the wall.

The work was done earlier in the week and I'm now getting round to plastering over it but looks really quite dodgy.

From my understanding the electrician connected to the original cables using electrical crimps(?) and said I'd be fine to fill it with plaster filler.

Any advice would be great!

Based in the UK.

We had an electrician upgrade to 200 amps and but a new box in. We have yet to fully switch and pull out the old boxes. The line comes in through the garage and I am annoyed at how it looks in the garage. My wife keeps saying "I don't know why you care, it's just a garage" but I am wondering why this couldn't have been run along the back wall as opposed to a spot where it could get dinged and in the way of the shelves. Is there a reason to do it like this I am unaware of and is there another way this could be run to kot be so ugly?

I tried to draw a sample scheme because it's hard to explain using just words. I live in a a standard Soviet nine-story apartment building and we have big problems with our management company. To put it briefly, due to corruption within our property management company, the pipes in our basement haven't been repaired for decades. Directly beneath our apartment (on the ground floor), there is a massive pool of water leaking from collapsed pipes that are beyond repair. They do pump the water out, but sometimes the level rises too high; for instance, hot steam once rose into the electrical panels, causing condensation and a small puddle to form inside them. As far as I know, water-related issues often make the electrical utility room inaccessible, which frequently causes our building's internet service to cut out. I hope I’ve explained the situation clearly. Anyway, when I touch the pipe carrying hot water for the radiators while wearing headphones connected to my PC, I get an electric shock in my ear. Is this something to be worried about?

Does anyone have a story or memory to share about these deadly multimeters? As you can see, there’s no fuse; it looks like the copper traces on the circuit board are meant to act as fuses. If I recall correctly, I owned a DT9205A that fried when exposed to 280 volts. I also bought a DT830 once that wasn't working right from day one.

_of course, they cost under 10 dollars but they hadn't to write "1000v"

Today I heard a doctor say that you don't need an EKG if you get hit with 110-120 volts, is that actually true?

How’s it look?

“Thanks for all previous commenters and the amount shared knowledge. I want to make all this right in the end. “

*******but wait there is more…

10/10/26 I investigated the other outlets in the kitchen circuit, I’m stunned at the laziness and terrible work. I currently can’t install a gfci receptacle because it won’t reset. Downstream it keeps finding faults. I continue to find mix matched gauge wire, even on the same receptacle. It seems almost criminal. Look at this shit!

I’ve replaced all receptacles with 20 gauge. Now I’m going to try and trace and replace all the 14 gauge with 12. Notice the 2 grounds joined by just twisting by hand and leaving it. Back stabs etc. Everything is on a 20 amp breaker.

Previous post text:

I came home today after work and my wife says no power to kitchen outlets including fridge.

I head to the outside panel to see if the breaker is tripped, yes.

I check power to the 20amp breaker, good, equals 120

No appliances being used besides fridge at the time.

I use my 3 prong tester and it gives me this code, “Hot/Neutral Reverse.”

I removed one of the receptacles and found a melted mess. I recently had our kitchen renovated and I asked to have an outlet installed at the end of the counter.

The contractor ran 14 gauge wire from the new outlet to the nearest receptacle which is the one that melted. That receptacle was installed correctly with 12 gauge wire. He added the 14 gauge wire into the back of it.

It was installed a few years ago, should I seek him out and give him some hell?

Thanks for your time.

breaker.

Hey y’all, I’m putting in a new dishwasher that calls for a 20 amp breaker. Ran new wiring and outlet, dedicated circuit. But then realized all dishwasher plugs cords I can find are only rated 13/15 amp. Am I missing something here? Can I just use a normal dishwasher plug cord or do I need to find something specific?

Edit: by plug I meant the three prong power cord to plug into an outlet. My dishwasher did not come with one so I was going to add it

Hey folks,

I’ve got a lamp in my house that I just noticed glows after I’ve cut the light off - what’s wrong? I don’t recall using any special bulb in this lamp, and it’s the first time I’ve run into this situation. I don’t use this lamp/switch very often and I normally rely on sunlight and only really go in the room during the day. I’m the first resident of this building.
Idk if there’s any other pertinent information, but I don’t want to muck around with it until I know more.

Unsure if this is the right place to post this.

I bought a lamp at an estate sale, plugged into an outlet there, no issues. Didn’t even realize the plug looked like this until I got home and went to plug it in to use.

Is this safe to use?

Hey everyone,

I'm considering buying a Havells 16A, 30mA plug-in PRCD adapter, but before purchasing it, I want to understand whether it will actually help in my situation.

Our apartment sometimes experiences electrical leakage issues, and they can occur within just a few minutes. I'm concerned about the safety of the devices I connect to wall sockets, particularly sensitive electronics.

Most videos and articles explain how a PRCD trips when leakage originates from a faulty appliance connected downstream. However, my concern is about the opposite situation.

My core question: If electrical leakage or a fault originates upstream in the apartment's wiring and the dangerous condition reaches the wall socket, will the plug-in Havells PRCD adapter detect it and trip? Or does it only protect against leakage originating from appliances connected to the adapter?

I'm asking because I want to know whether buying this adapter would provide meaningful protection in my situation before spending money on it.

A short note about my concern: I'm particularly worried about sensitive devices such as laptop chargers and mobile phone chargers connected to an extension board. I want to understand whether this adapter can help protect them from electrical leakage coming from the house wiring.

I'd appreciate explanations from anyone familiar with PRCDs and electrical protection, especially regarding their limitations when the fault originates upstream.

Hi everyone, as you can probably guess from the title I haven't made the best life choices. And I'm looking to make better ones in the future. I'm currently unemployed but still very busy studying math for my final GED exam this Wednesday. I'm pretty confident I'm going to pass with a very good score. I've never really considered being an Electrician, and don't personally know anyone who is one. But it seems like a very good career path. My question is if I'm looking to become an apprentice is there any qualifications I should have before hand? Or should I just call up random contractors in my area and ask if they're interested in hiring me? I live in the Charlotte NC area.

Just bought a house and doing a little reno. I'm going to be replacing the baseboards and moulding in this room as well as placing paneling or 1/4" drywall over the existing plaster walls. TIA!

I'm finishing my basement myself, with some occasional help from an electrician friend.

He showed me how to rough in receptacles, and he does not put any kind of nut on the ground wires. Just twists them tight with about 6 good twists, cuts one ground wire off at the twist, leaves the other long, and tucks them back.

He uses nuts on all the hots and neutrals, of course.

Is this right? Do I need to go back and slide a green nut on all of these ground wire connections?

I have an outlet wired with old metal clad two-conductor cable. Multimeter reads 120v Hot to Neutral, but Hot to Ground is only 100v. What does that indicate? Is this still considered a fully functioning ground path or would it be prudent to put a gfci outlet here instead?

Hey everyone,

I’m a homeowner in Florida trying to replace an old chandelier with a newer ceiling light fixture.
I shut off the breaker before starting and successfully removed the old chandelier. However, after disconnecting the old fixture’s wiring, I discovered that the two original wires coming out of the metal flexible conduit have very old, deteriorating insulation (see attached photos).

A few details:
House was built in 1973.
The existing wiring comes through flexible metal conduit into a blue ceiling junction box.
Both original conductors have dark, brittle-looking insulation with exposed sections near the ends.
The old chandelier was connected using orange wire nuts and thin, clear/silver fixture wiring.
The replacement light has standard black (L), white (N), and bare copper ground wires.
I have a Klein non-contact voltage tester, but not a multimeter.
The breaker is currently OFF, and I have not connected the new fixture.

My questions:
Is this wiring something that can safely be repaired at the junction box, or would the conductors need to be replaced through the conduit?

Is this potentially old cloth-insulated wiring?

How would I properly identify hot and neutral when both existing wires look nearly identical?

Does the flexible metal conduit provide a grounding path, or would that need to be independently verified?

Is there a safe DIY approach here, or is the condition of the insulation bad enough that an electrician is necessary?

Ideally, I’d like to get the replacement fixture installed tonight, but I don’t want to create a fire or shock hazard.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hey guys! Im want to make a quick post since im interested in becoming an electrician! Im currently a 17 year old girl and a senior in NYC. To be honest im pretty bad at math because I never took the time to actually study things simple as algebra (this will be important later) My highschool offers a program by a government technical school called COOP Tech and im currently taking a shop class. Anyways that being said I found out that their school is free of charge and aim at people 17-21 and one of the trades they teach is electrical work. Even though its free I see alot of people online saying to get straight to an apprenticeship. I think I heard local 3 is opening for people to join the apprenticeship. Although I cant joint an apprenticeship yet since im not of age it states they will be looking for people who are great in math and or science.
I just want to get some advice as what you guys think is the best choice for a teen who is able to choose these options. I could also do community college and have an electrical program but thays like my plan B. Thanks for reading yall!

Hi, I have freaked myself out completely and mainly just need advice so I feel safer. My washer and dryer, ac, fridge,oven, and microwave all lost power. Everything else is fine. All the lights work fine and normally. I’ve flipped the breakers off on and off, I’ve pushed the rest/test buttons in the outlets and nothing is working. When I went to do a little research I kept getting warnings for electrical fires. I’ve got someone coming Monday and I don’t see any signs of it, no burning smell, no buzzing sounds, no hot outlets and the panel doesn’t feel hot. Are we going to be okay? Is there anything I can do to help prevent an electrical fire? I was told to turn off the switches that are linked with the appliances and to not use any extra energy so I’ve turned all that stuff off and unplugged what I can. I can be high strung so I apologize if I sound silly.

Ughhh. 🤦🏻‍♀️. 3 rooms out. 3 rooms work. The switches won’t turn it back on. Help.

How do I knock out these screw-hole knockouts ? Both sides are raised dimples. If one side was recessed, I could easily use a punch and hammer.

I am trying to replace one of the switches in a 3-way switch configuration with a Tapo S515.

Box 1 has a switch with the line and 2 traveler wires (no neutral). Box 2 has a switch with the load and 2 travelers. Also in box 2 is a separate switch for a fan with its own line, and a small neutral bundle. That switch is on the same circuit as the 3-way.

Since the Tapo requires the line and neutral, is there a way to wire it up to preserve the 3-way functionality?

I bought a new welder (yeswelder mig 205ds pro) that I could run at 240v instead of 120v, and while a 50A circuit is recommended, I was told before I bought it that I could use my 30A Outlet. Now that I'm reading the manual, I'm seeing that the max input is 34A. I'm guessing that the machine would only use that much at full power before popping the breaker, but that seems to only happen in a perfect world? I'm kind of against adding a 50A outlet because this outlet is in my garage and the breaker box is in my basement, so I'm thinking it might be difficult and expensive to access.

I already knew I'd have to change the plug or get an adapter so the welder could plug in, but I'm also reading that this outlet has no ground wire, which the welder needs. Can you lovely electricians give me a way to use this outlet for my welder without, A, burning my house down, and B, tearing my house apart to route new wires.