(Part 2) Best products from r/askanelectrician

Probing in the socket will work usually but be careful you don't cross 2 metal sections and create a short. On bulbs that have a side and a base the base is always positive. You can just connect the black lead to an unpainted part of the frame for ground.

If piercing it can be better to get some of these to pierce with. The smaller the hole the better. Electrical tape works although liquid electrical tape is nice for patching pierce holes.

The in wall receptacles / outlets are more expensive apparently, didnt recall that.

MOES WiFi Smart Power Wall Outlet,15A Divided Control 2 In-wall Socket with USB Interface,Smart Life/Tuya APP Remote Control Timer and Counterdown,Compatible with Alexa and Google Home,No Hub Required
Link:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R3R5PWS/

$27 -$2 cupon for one in wall double outlet (with usb port) 15a

Lots around 30$ or so, I know I've seen 2 packs for less than 40 total, but didn't see one.

I've had good luck with any that use the Tuya smart/smart life app. Make it google and alexa as well.

They do make 220v plug ones...
Any way, I'm done for now! Good luck

Wow, yes, you are indeed in way over your head.

Go old-school. Borrow every book on home electrical repair from your nearest library. Search amazon for home electrical repair books. There are many available used for a dollar or two, especially in home repair book series' from Home Depot or Black & Decker, etc. Example: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Complete-Guide-Wiring/dp/1589236017

Read them through, and then read them through again. A 20-year-old home electrical book will not have up-to-date safety code information, but it will at least give you the major concepts and guidelines, and the groundwork for asking more informed and complete questions here.

For outlet issue: an outlet tester is a good first step, but it is only the very simplest tip of the iceberg. There are still all kinds of other things that can be wrong, when the tester shows good. It's like looking at the gas gauge on the car-- tells you if you have gas; doesn't tell you if your transmission is busted.

The outlet tester only tells you if the wires were hooked up in the right order. It doesn't tell you if your circuits have the capacity to run everything you want. Learn about circuit breakers and check the breaker panel for ones that have overloaded and shut off, when the outlet goes out.

Good luck!

oh my goodness!!! what a great little gadget. I had no idea something like this even exists. I checked Amazon Canada but there are so many of these, and the instruction videos shows them sticking it into the hole of the wall plug. Yeah of course it has electricity inside. Will it work on any surface like a lets say a metal countertop that is "live" for whatever reasons???

I am going to buy the one a little expensive because it seems to be a reliable brand as per the reviews. Please let me know what you think and tell me if it will work on any conducting surfaces??

https://www.amazon.ca/Fluke-1AC-A1-II-Volt-Alert-Non-Contact-Voltage/dp/B000EJ332O/ref=sr_1_5?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1518252273&sr=1-5&keywords=non+contact+voltage+tester

How about that one please??

Thanks for your reply.

Would this cord be suitable?
US Wire 74100 12/3 100-Feet SJTW Yellow Heavy-Duty Lighted Extension Cord
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0020YKLQW

This is the ac I am using.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/spt-spt-14000btu-cooling-only-white/4485302.p?skuId=4485302

Pics of cord and side of ac.
https://imgur.com/a/2yFIk

Also, the manual says to not use an extension cord with the ac?
There is a test and reset button on the ac cord if that makes a difference.

2 and 3 are off and everything is already accounted for as far as I can tell.
5 and 6 are what I originally posted.

Does the circuit breaker make a sort of buzzing/crackling sound before it trips?
I had the ac on cause it gets to warm cause of the mining and I heard that and immediately shut off the ac.
There is a small humming now that I hear, but it could have been there before and I just didn't notice it until I heard the buzzing. Its noticeable enough that I think I would have noticed it.
Update: The humming went away after a while. Everything has been fine and I only run the pc and ac at separate times when mining.

How much would hiring an electrician for this cost? What would I look for when searching for one that knows what they are doing?
Thanks again, I appreciate everyone taking the time to help out and answer questions for everybody else that has no clue. :)

Looking through the options I can't really find an affordable, convenient option for this that wouldn't be a chinese product with little support and that wouldn't be a huge headache.

Without knowing about the specific family of home control/ app economy you use its hard to recommend any of them at all but I can tell you what I would do for the highest quality experience and ability for expansion.

Buy a contactor like this. Put it in a box, put the plug into the box, put a light switch on the wall, tie it into the coil of the contactor. Get a generic wifi light switch that works on 110 that ties into Google or Amazon that's cheap and easily replaced.

This is the best full product I could find but it's zwave so you'd need a hub, it costs twice as much as putting a contactor in and you have to hardwire it anyway.

To be fair though I'm in industrial automation so my solution to most problems is to put relays in it

You need a tool called a non-contact voltage tester, like this...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0775PCSQ4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_kKOFAb6F1NWBK

You might find a cheaper one, it's a simple tool. Some have to be turned on, others don't. You just get it near the stove and it'll light up if there is electricity.

I could walk you through how to test it with your multimeter, but with the level of knowledge you demonstrate in your original post, I don't think you could do it safely.

If the stove is live, which it sounds like it probably is, you're protected by landlord-tennant law. It's unsafe, they have to fix it.

Really appreciate the info, I am working on a project similar to this one, and this one but with much less LEDs. Ideally I'd like to run 900 individually addressable LEDs, all controlled by a Teensy using these LED strips. I know it's a bit ambitious for my skill level, and I am slowly working up to assembling the project. Got any advice for me before I fry myself?

Use one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/GE-54276-Polarized-Handy-Outlet/dp/B002DN6QX2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1523400350&sr=8-2&keywords=light+bulb+receptacle

Easiest, cheapest way to do it. Surprised a smart, superior guy like you couldn't figure that out on your own ;)

I suppose you could do that, but it's definitely not ideal. You'd be essentially drawing power for up to 10 devices off of one outlet if you plug the 10 switch PDU into one of the outlets of the power conditioner. I assume it would probably be ok since both devices are rated at 15A, but I can't find any information on what one individual outlet on a power conditioner/strip is rated for.

If you're absolutely dead set on getting the 10 switch PDU and you still want a minimum level of filtering and surge protection, I would probably get something like this Furman power strip and plug the PDU into it. It still offers a standard level of EMI/RFI filtering and standard level surge protection and it's only $34. Plus, it has a built in circuit breaker so it would shut off in the event that anything did get overloaded. Along the same vein, this one has slightly better filtering and better surge protection for $43 and this one is the top-of-the-line one for both filtering and surge protection for $90. I would go with one of those if you want the filtering. (probably the $43 one if it were me)

Alternatively, you could forego the filtering and just get one of these for $10. That would at least give you the surge protection. The difference being, without the filtering you might notice a hum in the speakers or pick up radio stations in your equipment, etc. The filtering just lowers your noise floor to some extent and helps keep unwanted interference out. If you never use a microphone or electric guitar/amplifier you might not need it (except for the speakers). I would say surge protection is a must though.

Edit: I just found this two-outlet surge protector that has almost double the joules rating for surge protection as the $10 one-outlet surge protector I mentioned earlier and it offers EMI/RFI filtering (probably not as good of filtering as the Furman ones, but it still has some). That would probably be a good choice also.

Sorry for the wall of text, there are just so many options!

Sometimes you can disassemble the part where the cord enters the unit and reinstall the cable (use a new short extension cord).

If not:

Solder and Heat shrink FTW.

You will want to slip a large piece (about 8”) over all three wires and slide it well away from the solder area (soldier gun is hot enough to shrink it). You will then want to use small diameter tube about 2” in length for each of the wires. Strip about 1/2” on both ends of the wire and make sure you have about 3-4” of wire to play with on one end of the splice (so you can slide the small tube away from the solder area).

You won’t be twisting anything. Look up on YouTube how to solder wires (too difficult to explain....much easier to understand when you see it done).

Once the solder is finished....slide the small tubes over the splice. Shrink them. Now slide the big tube over everything. Shrink it. Enjoy.


Edit: less elegant but also effective:

Use a large piece of shrink tube (same as above) and 3 heat shrink butt crimp connectors (like these:

https://www.amazon.com/Heat-Shrink-Butt-Connectors-16-14/dp/B07M9JQ6RW/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?adgrpid=68042739517&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIncG5yYDC4wIVhv5kCh2qjAT6EAAYASAAEgK4O_D_BwE&hvadid=338989923295&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9031339&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=b&hvrand=6338190271234502865&hvtargid=kwd-423957319905&hydadcr=14668_9772399&keywords=14+awg+crimp+connectors&qid=1563574411&s=gateway&sr=8-3)

It's a garbage power supply. Buy a decent one. Definitely make sure you don't overload it with too long of a strip. A 5 meter 12V strip usually needs 60W. Any fraction smaller than that and you can get a smaller power supply. If these words don't mean anything to you then you need to get learning on youtube.

I've had good luck with the 30W and 60W versions of this:

https://www.amazon.com/LEDwholesalers-Waterpoof-Suppply-Transformer-3207/dp/B0034GUEY4/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=led+wholesalers+power+supply&qid=1574379699&sr=8-7

I am not an electrician but just went through the same challenge and found a solution. I have been swapping out the dimmer switches in my house (built in 1959) for new smart switches. I realized that there are some switches that do not require a neutral wire.

Lutron Caseta Smart Home Dimmer Switch, Works with Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and the Google Assistant | for LED Light Bulbs, Incandescent Bulbs and Halogen Bulbs | PD-6WCL-WH | White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KLAXFQA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kBT2DbJ69HVY7

Maybe an electrician on here can explain this better, but these switches basically leave a trickle of power when turned off to keep the switch working.

wow thanks - does this one seem as good as any?
https://www.amazon.com/Non-Contact-12V-1000V-Flashlight-Adjustable-Sensitivity/dp/B01N99D3MS/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1519612636&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=Dual+Range+Non-Contact+Voltage+Tester&psc=1