I don't disagree but what's with the voodoo that if you plug it into a non-GFI outlet for a few minutes in the spring, that will keep it from tripping the rest of the summer?
I wonder if it's something about dust/dirt/grease build-up. Like when you turn on the furnace for the first time - it burns the dust off the burners. Just a guess. c.
My understanding is, a GFCI compares incoming and outgoing current - it should be the same within tiny fractions of an amp. Circuit breakers just blow at current overload. The Weber draws a ton of current at start-up, turning it into heat. The GFCI sees a tiny difference in incoming versus outgoing - due to the power going into the heating coils - and trips.
But I'm a mechanical engineer, not electrical, so hey. c.
I don't disagree but what's with the voodoo that if you plug it into a non-GFI outlet for a few minutes in the spring, that will keep it from tripping the rest of the summer?
Took me some effort to figure them out and I am still not sure I fully understand them. Such as why does our electric Weber barbecue cause a 15 amp GFCI outlet to trip but does not do that to a regular 15 amp outlet?
FWIW, I find 'text' of complicated subject more useful than most youtube videos.
My understanding is, a GFCI compares incoming and outgoing current - it should be the same within tiny fractions of an amp. Circuit breakers just blow at current overload. The Weber draws a ton of current at start-up, turning it into heat. The GFCI sees a tiny difference in incoming versus outgoing - due to the power going into the heating coils - and trips.
But I'm a mechanical engineer, not electrical, so hey. c.
Took me some effort to figure them out and I am still not sure I fully understand them. Such as why does our electric Weber barbecue cause a 15 amp GFCI outlet to trip but does not do that to a regular 15 amp outlet?
FWIW, I find 'text' of complicated subject more useful than most youtube videos.
I was a little cornfused by this too so I hit the google and ...yes it's a youtube but check it out: it says: at the beginning of the season, plug the grill into a standard outlet and run it for 10 minutes, then you can plug it into a GFCI outlet and it should be fine for the rest of the season. Unplug after each use, and turn the grill to off before you plug it in.
No idea what's going on but I'd be curious to know if this works for you.
Took me some effort to figure them out and I am still not sure I fully understand them. Such as why does our electric Weber barbecue cause a 15 amp GFCI outlet to trip but does not do that to a regular 15 amp outlet?
FWIW, I find 'text' of complicated subject more useful than most youtube videos.
In the half-decade remodel project, I take several months off between bursts of energy, so I forget a sizable % of what I had learned the previous burst... So tonight I paid a guy $30 (and a dozen farm eggs) to come tell me I'm an idiot. Wired up a circuit with 2 outlets, 3 smart switches and 3 bath fixtures, REALLY worked on not screwing up anything in the ceiling full of blown-in insulation so when I turned on the power and the breaker tripped, OH, CRAP.
Spent all of yesterday pondering it and watching youtubes because that's the font of all knowledging, and still came up empty. Just before I ripped it all out and started over, put in a call to Joe, the dad of one of Augusta's friends, and had him come look things over. He did like I did, checking the nest of wires and pigtails coming to the 3-gang smart switch, and going up to one of the fixtures. We took it apart, found nothing wrong, and he was thinking the light was just manufactured wrong inside (I paid $9 for it when a local store went out of business). I said "hm, yesterday it was the ceiling fan that was tripping the breaker whenever I tested it. Basically any time a circuit is made, it trips. Joe gave that a minute to cook and pointed to one of the outlets in the garage and said that's the GFCI and I said no, that's a garage circuit, this circuit's GFCI is on the breaker itself ("I got the most expensive ones because I don't know what I'm doing") and he cooked that some more and gave it a stir, walked over to the panel and unhooked the neutral from the neutral bar and screwed it into the breaker itself. OH right, the GFCI looks for quirks in the neutral or something so the neutral can't be shared with another circuit.
So hey. There are lights and a fan in the granny flat! Now to get the floors and walls and 3 more circuits done. Oy.
In the half-decade remodel project, I take several months off between bursts of energy, so I forget a sizable % of what I had learned the previous burst... So tonight I paid a guy $30 (and a dozen farm eggs) to come tell me I'm an idiot. Wired up a circuit with 2 outlets, 3 smart switches and 3 bath fixtures, REALLY worked on not screwing up anything in the ceiling full of blown-in insulation so when I turned on the power and the breaker tripped, OH, CRAP.
Spent all of yesterday pondering it and watching youtubes because that's the font of all knowledging, and still came up empty. Just before I ripped it all out and started over, put in a call to Joe, the dad of one of Augusta's friends, and had him come look things over. He did like I did, checking the nest of wires and pigtails coming to the 3-gang smart switch, and going up to one of the fixtures. We took it apart, found nothing wrong, and he was thinking the light was just manufactured wrong inside (I paid $9 for it when a local store went out of business). I said "hm, yesterday it was the ceiling fan that was tripping the breaker whenever I tested it. Basically any time a circuit is made, it trips. Joe gave that a minute to cook and pointed to one of the outlets in the garage and said that's the GFCI and I said no, that's a garage circuit, this circuit's GFCI is on the breaker itself ("I got the most expensive ones because I don't know what I'm doing") and he cooked that some more and gave it a stir, walked over to the panel and unhooked the neutral from the neutral bar and screwed it into the breaker itself. OH right, the GFCI looks for quirks in the neutral or something so the neutral can't be shared with another circuit.
So hey. There are lights and a fan in the granny flat! Now to get the floors and walls and 3 more circuits done. Oy.
Same here. Had the entire house professionally re-wired and brought up to code in 19, then blew 2 feet of insulation in the attic. Nobody's ever going up there again.
In the half-decade remodel project, I take several months off between bursts of energy, so I forget a sizable % of what I had learned the previous burst... So tonight I paid a guy $30 (and a dozen farm eggs) to come tell me I'm an idiot. Wired up a circuit with 2 outlets, 3 smart switches and 3 bath fixtures, REALLY worked on not screwing up anything in the ceiling full of blown-in insulation so when I turned on the power and the breaker tripped, OH, CRAP.
Spent all of yesterday pondering it and watching youtubes because that's the font of all knowledging, and still came up empty. Just before I ripped it all out and started over, put in a call to Joe, the dad of one of Augusta's friends, and had him come look things over. He did like I did, checking the nest of wires and pigtails coming to the 3-gang smart switch, and going up to one of the fixtures. We took it apart, found nothing wrong, and he was thinking the light was just manufactured wrong inside (I paid $9 for it when a local store went out of business). I said "hm, yesterday it was the ceiling fan that was tripping the breaker whenever I tested it. Basically any time a circuit is made, it trips. Joe gave that a minute to cook and pointed to one of the outlets in the garage and said that's the GFCI and I said no, that's a garage circuit, this circuit's GFCI is on the breaker itself ("I got the most expensive ones because I don't know what I'm doing") and he cooked that some more and gave it a stir, walked over to the panel and unhooked the neutral from the neutral bar and screwed it into the breaker itself. OH right, the GFCI looks for quirks in the neutral or something so the neutral can't be shared with another circuit.
So hey. There are lights and a fan in the granny flat! Now to get the floors and walls and 3 more circuits done. Oy.
In the half-decade remodel project, I take several months off between bursts of energy, so I forget a sizable % of what I had learned the previous burst... So tonight I paid a guy $30 (and a dozen farm eggs) to come tell me I'm an idiot. Wired up a circuit with 2 outlets, 3 smart switches and 3 bath fixtures, REALLY worked on not screwing up anything in the ceiling full of blown-in insulation so when I turned on the power and the breaker tripped, OH, CRAP.
Spent all of yesterday pondering it and watching youtubes because that's the font of all knowledging, and still came up empty. Just before I ripped it all out and started over, put in a call to Joe, the dad of one of Augusta's friends, and had him come look things over. He did like I did, checking the nest of wires and pigtails coming to the 3-gang smart switch, and going up to one of the fixtures. We took it apart, found nothing wrong, and he was thinking the light was just manufactured wrong inside (I paid $9 for it when a local store went out of business). I said "hm, yesterday it was the ceiling fan that was tripping the breaker whenever I tested it. Basically any time a circuit is made, it trips. Joe gave that a minute to cook and pointed to one of the outlets in the garage and said that's the GFCI and I said no, that's a garage circuit, this circuit's GFCI is on the breaker itself ("I got the most expensive ones because I don't know what I'm doing") and he cooked that some more and gave it a stir, walked over to the panel and unhooked the neutral from the neutral bar and screwed it into the breaker itself. OH right, the GFCI looks for quirks in the neutral or something so the neutral can't be shared with another circuit.
So hey. There are lights and a fan in the granny flat! Now to get the floors and walls and 3 more circuits done. Oy.
i'm short on wire nuts and i've got a project coming up
their whole product line up looks good
They are not bad, but be sure you get the right ones for the wires you are using them on. They are more expensive than a good old scotch lock, but they are more forgiving and somewhat removable.
Those look like they're designed for solid, stranded and fine-stranded. With wire nuts, solid-solid should be (but often isn't) pre-twisted, takes extra time. I bet those lever-locks cut labor time down enough to justify the $$$, certainly on a whole-house job. And rework, like adding a leg, gets really easy. c.
They are not bad, but be sure you get the right ones for the wires you are using them on. They are more expensive than a good old scotch lock, but they are more forgiving and somewhat removable.
digging around and "doing stuff" i found some wiring that looks a bit crazy
my ocd voice immediately said "step aside, we will take it from here"
appears to be overstuffed electrical boxes and jumbled wire nuttery if you will
i'm short on wire nuts and i've got a project coming up
their whole product line up looks good
They are not bad, but be sure you get the right ones for the wires you are using them on. They are more expensive than a good old scotch lock, but they are more forgiving and somewhat removable.
I hate doing electrical work so I've been staring at this project for years. The garage has one bare bulb hanging down in the back, and one outlet with a freezer and a power strip plugged in and the power strip has 3 battery chargers (mower, drill, weedwhacker) and a light to see into the freezer. It ain't good. On the same circuit is the apartment behind the garage, 2 ceiling lights, 4 outlets, etc. and nothing grounded. We had a guy come over and help me (okay I mostly offered moral support) run 50 amps to the garage and clean up a little of the rat's nest of boxes and wires on the back of the house. So today my major accomplishment was putting 2 double outlets in the ceiling, each on a separate switch. Shop lights aren't hardwired anymore (well they can be) so you just plug them in, and into each other like Christmas lights.
I'm really slow but it's all done and no fire calls went out. Next to add more outlets on 2 more circuits, then move into the apartment to wire that. Wheeha!
I hate doing electrical work so I've been staring at this project for years. The garage has one bare bulb hanging down in the back, and one outlet with a freezer and a power strip plugged in and the power strip has 3 battery chargers (mower, drill, weedwhacker) and a light to see into the freezer. It ain't good. On the same circuit is the apartment behind the garage, 2 ceiling lights, 4 outlets, etc. and nothing grounded. We had a guy come over and help me (okay I mostly offered moral support) run 50 amps to the garage and clean up a little of the rat's nest of boxes and wires on the back of the house. So today my major accomplishment was putting 2 double outlets in the ceiling, each on a separate switch. Shop lights aren't hardwired anymore (well they can be) so you just plug them in, and into each other like Christmas lights.
I'm really slow but it's all done and no fire calls went out. Next to add more outlets on 2 more circuits, then move into the apartment to wire that. Wheeha!
I have to say that the new plastic junction boxes with the built-in NM cable clamps are pretty cool. I had to replace an old metal 3 inch round ceiling fixture junction box that just didn't have enough volume to hold three 3 wire splices (ground wire was getting pressed against one pole of the built in 3 prong outlet of the light fixture). You just push your cable through past the bent tab, and you're done. Lot easier than having to use cable clamps mounted in knockouts and tightened with a screw driver.
Live and learn. 
