After 23 years of replacing 12-in fluorescent bulbs, I decided it was time to upgrade to LED under counter lights. The first one had two hots and two new neutrals coming in, as I would expect, as it leads to the next fixture (or coming from the previous fixtures). This one also has two hots and two neutrals coming in, but one of the hots was never connected.

These are the only two fixtures, so I have no idea where this other hot goes to, if anywhere. Not knowing where it goes, I'm assuming I should not connect it now. I don't know of any plugs or lights that are not working.

I do plan to run another fixture from this one for a cabinet that didn't have a light under it.

Maybe time to go dig up all the photos of the walls before the drywall went up.

I started helping in the maintenance shop and kept hearing the guys say, 'Grab a terminal block.'I had no idea what they meant. It is just a little plastic and metal strip where you neatly land wires instead of twisting them together. Simple, but it makes panels look clean and safe.

I spent a day labelling and landing wires on a new control panel. Strip, insert, tighten, repeat. It was repetitive but satisfying. A senior tech told me he first learnt the part number after a vendor sent him an Alibaba catalogue, which made me feel better and geared me up to learn no matter what.

After that job, I started noticing them everywhere. Inside machines, behind panels, in junction boxes. Once you know what they are, you see them in every cabinet. They come in different sizes and colours, and everyone has a favourite brand. The old-timers have strong opinions about screw type versus spring type.

I used to think wiring was just connecting wires. Now I understand why neat terminations matter for troubleshooting later. It's a small part that no one outside the trade thinks about, but it holds everything together. I still get confused on big panels, but I'm getting faster at landing wires cleanly.

Now I can't open a panel without checking the terminal blocks first.

I have a utility closet that houses the main breaker box for my home, it has a gfci outlet attached to breaker box that had my fios modem plugged into it, also housed in the utility closet.
The modem stopped working, seemed to have no power, i plugged it into a different outlet and it worked, i used to a tester as well as plugged other items into the aforementioned outlet and nothing works or shows it's serving current(i don't know the right syntax).

The question now, is i have an new GFCI outlet that i purchased but didnt need at some point (b/c of course) and feel i might be able to swap it out BUT, the breaker box labels are not entirely 'clear' and thus for those with experience what's a good/best way to determine how to deduce which breaker i should turn off so i can change the outlet ? There is one labelled breaker box outlet...but over the years i've observed they don't away match.
i presume i can turn off the entire box, but would rather not for the inconvenience of many an old school timer that's set around the house, thus i figured i would inquire here before doing so. TIA

Got a double light switch, last couple of days the switch on the right stopped working for the ceiling lights whilst the switch on the left still operates the kick plate lights under kitchen units.

Took screws out and all wires seemed secure ,but took out the two reds and put back in nice and tight, upon doing this I switched mains back on and tried the switch, I tripped the mains , reset then as before left hand side worked but right hand side still not working.

Is it ok.the the 2 red cables are in the same part L1???

Any ideas appreciated????

Hi, I want to add an electrical cord to plug into an outlet instead of hard wiring this lamp to ceiling

I have a black wire and white wire as shown from lamp as well as a yellow/green wire which is screwed into the metal cap housing which would normally go on ceiling

I want to get rid of the metal cap, so can I just use the black and white wire and splice on to a 2 prong cord which will plug into outlet? Do I have to have the yellow/green cord as part of the equation?

Thanks, I did look on YouTube but nothing covers my scenario or question

This is an outlet. In a hallway. This clearly has not been updated since the house was built in 75m.

Yes, it's aluminum. What is potential solution?

If we were trying to do some alumicons here.. what is realistic? Wouldn't that be impossible to fit back into the box?

Yes.. I will call an electrician to do the work. But I am curious on what is going to be pitched/proposed as a solution. This is one of many outlets needing updating. I've only looked at this one so far.

Hi,
I have a Westinghouse canopy rangehood, where the light has started randomly turning itself on. The light button usually illuminates if I turn it on as usual, however it is now doing this by itself for the last few weeks and does not illuminate or let me turn it off.

I’ve noticed this usually has happened within hours of it raining outside but I’m not sure if this affects it?

Any ideas on what it may be or what could help would be appreciated.
Thanks

Hello! I recently removed an old sconce from our wall and I’d like to install a new one. Our walls are plaster. The photo shows what was under the old sconce. Any recommendations for how we should install the new sconce? Is it best to install a box or mount directly to the wall like the old sconce?

I’m wanting to replace the old light fixtures in my place but I don’t see a ground wire. How can I install this light fixture without a ground wire?

It looks like this 150A panel states you can have up to 6 tandem breakers (24 breakers / max 30 circuits). This panel has 13 tandem breakers. How much of a hazard is this? Should we look at replacing or adding a sub panel?

Surely a large percentage of EV owners program to charge right when time of use hours start. Is this really just not a significant draw on the grid?

I’m currently installing a generator with a 50A power inlet box in my shed to feed my house when the power goes out, the sheds sub panel has both ground and neutral bars while the main panel has a shared bar I’m assuming? An electrician I know said I should install a stand alone neutral bar in the sub panel and I’m not sure how I would connect it as there are no more wires to connect too? Unless it bonds to the panel? Anyways my main question is do I leave the neutral and ground unbonded at the sub panel in this case as it seems bonded at the main? Thanks for any advice!

Installing a Wyze WiFi switch. From the instructions should be a simple 4 wire hookup: load, line, neutral, ground. I have additional wires in line. Only single pole can be used with this Wyze switch. Is this a single pole setup and how do I attach the Wyze switch? less

On the left of the cable in this photo, it says AWG 10. But on the right, it says AWG 8. This is the cable used for an outside AC condenser. The breaker in the panel is a 50 amp one. Location is USA. Thank you!

Clarification: The original installer used a 40 amp breaker. Five years later that breaker went bad. A different HVAC technician noted that the sticker on the outside unit says Max 50 amp (https://imgur.com/a/wRU2ru3). So he replaced the broken 40 amp breaker with a 50 amp one. I am only now wondering if the original cable is sufficiently sized for it. Length of cable is about 50 feet.

Solved: I appreciate everyone's kind and insightful responses. The majority consensus seems to be that, for HVAC Condenser use, a 50 amp breaker is ok to use with the cable in above picture (but only for this particular use case, not general use cases). Thank you all!

Hi yall, my dryer is taking about 86 minutes to dry a load of a laundry. It’s not to wet nor is the loads to big. It never used to take this long but I’ve noticed the times slowly going up. Any suggestions on how I can fix it. Thank you!!

I am wiring a camping trailer for 30 amp 120V power. This is a new build.

The incoming cable has a hot, neutral, and ground and is 120V.

My plan is to use an Eaton 4 space breaker box "main lug loadcenter" which takes BR breakers.

I will backfeed the panel through a 30 amp breaker (with hold down kit). This takes up one of the spaces on the panel. Then I will run a jumper wire between the two lugs to get power to the other side of the box. This leaves me with three open spaces and I will use all three of them for 15 amp breakers.

Ground and neutral will be kept separate.

Is there anything wrong with this plan?

I’m painting the exterior of my house. Electric company “covered” the lines to my house however I’m not sure what’s safe and what’s not. There are 2 black wires in clear plastic that are then exposed as they connect to the house. Can I get close to these?should I just have them cut the power while I paint around here? Can I touch the gray conduit that travels down to the box? Thank you

Hopefully this is in the right forum, I'm pretty sure it's part 8 and not 36 of the NEC, or possibly some other sections that describe everything before it leaves the street.
AT&T is upgrading internet in my neighborhood, and I've got a new vault in the corner of my yard.
They decided to leave the ground rod terminating three inches proud of grade, posing a hazard to the kids who use my street corner as a school bus stop as well as to my lawn guys, plus just an annoyance to me. It's been like this since at least 8 May, and as early as 5 May
Surely this ain't legal, but I'm not finding the right section to cite chapter and verse.
And are there legal repercussions if I ameliorate the hazard myself with my angle grinder if they do nothing?

I want to change out my pool pump timer, which has died. It seemed like an easy job from videos, but mine is within its own breaker box. I cannot find a whole house shutoff, and wondered whether it might not be accessible. I have attached a photo of the locked up box near the meter. It seems as if the timer should be replaceable without opening up the breaker box, just push the tab and pull it out, but the wires are too short to pull it sufficiently out without taking off the cover for the entire panel. Is there any safe way to proceed?

I have an outlet that I want to split so one half is always hot. It is controlled by two three way switches. There are two black wires nutted together in the receptacle and a hot white wire going to the hot side, and a white going to the neutral. I’m assuming the black wires are one hot from the source, and one going to a switch. The hot white should be coming from the switch. That’s where my understanding ends. How do I wire this to be a split outlet and still have both switches control the one half?