BeanAnimal
Premium Member
I don't think I have ever shut off the main... but then again nobody said I was smart either.
Electricians or Handyman?
- Thread starter eidillitih
- Start date
eidillitih
Premium Member
shut off the power from the main that was on the power panel
Vincerama2
Active member
Here is my completely unqualified advice....
1) Go to HD (or wherever) and by the appropriate breaker (based on what wiring you used. 20Amp is you used 12AWG or 15Amp if you used 14AWG) (breakers protect the wiring).
While at HD, pick up this book http://www.amazon.com/Wiring-Simplified-Based-National-Electrical/dp/0971977909
it's called "Wiring Simplified" and has a green cover. Go home and read it!
2) Wire a new GFCI outlet from the place you want it all the way up to, but not connected to, the panel where you want to add the circuit.
3) Hire an electrician to check out your work, and connect the wires at the box. That way you do the time-intensive work, and he will do the knowledge-intensive work.
FWIW, wiring can be scary, but is pretty straight forward. Doing it RIGHT is another story.
My house is loaded with tube and knob wiring. Also, in my workshop, it was wired T&K with an old Federal Pacific sub-panel.
I wanted to add a porch light to the workshop and looked for a Federal Pacific breaker. I found that they cost $30+ !!! So I looked them up online and discovered that Federal Pacific sub panels were DELISTED by UL!! As I poked into it more, I discovered that the panels and breakers were notoriously crappy. So I went to HD and picked up a SquareD panel/breakers, some 12AWG Romex and that Simplified Wiring book. I figured that, since the panel/breakers were crap, and the wiring was out-dated, I might as well re-do everything. Luckily, the workshop has exposed rafters and walls (no drywall. Yes, I know romex wire needs to be enclosed in drywall if it is within 8 feet of the floor). So I rewired the entire place. Learned a lot. The thing I learned most is that I hate T&K wiring!
Now I'm insulating my attic and have to work around tons of T&K wiring. I've discovered that whoever put it in there in the first place did a GREAT job. Every connection is done precisely and cleanly...sadly, the wiring is just old (house built 1939). And to preven fire hazzards, I need to make sure my insulation does not cover the wiring. Romex is SO much easier to deal with. (In T&K, the "hot" wire runs aroud and is spliced out to other circuits, and often the "neutral" wire runs willy nilly all over the place).
Anyway, I digress...
V
1) Go to HD (or wherever) and by the appropriate breaker (based on what wiring you used. 20Amp is you used 12AWG or 15Amp if you used 14AWG) (breakers protect the wiring).
While at HD, pick up this book http://www.amazon.com/Wiring-Simplified-Based-National-Electrical/dp/0971977909
it's called "Wiring Simplified" and has a green cover. Go home and read it!
2) Wire a new GFCI outlet from the place you want it all the way up to, but not connected to, the panel where you want to add the circuit.
3) Hire an electrician to check out your work, and connect the wires at the box. That way you do the time-intensive work, and he will do the knowledge-intensive work.
FWIW, wiring can be scary, but is pretty straight forward. Doing it RIGHT is another story.
My house is loaded with tube and knob wiring. Also, in my workshop, it was wired T&K with an old Federal Pacific sub-panel.
I wanted to add a porch light to the workshop and looked for a Federal Pacific breaker. I found that they cost $30+ !!! So I looked them up online and discovered that Federal Pacific sub panels were DELISTED by UL!! As I poked into it more, I discovered that the panels and breakers were notoriously crappy. So I went to HD and picked up a SquareD panel/breakers, some 12AWG Romex and that Simplified Wiring book. I figured that, since the panel/breakers were crap, and the wiring was out-dated, I might as well re-do everything. Luckily, the workshop has exposed rafters and walls (no drywall. Yes, I know romex wire needs to be enclosed in drywall if it is within 8 feet of the floor). So I rewired the entire place. Learned a lot. The thing I learned most is that I hate T&K wiring!
Now I'm insulating my attic and have to work around tons of T&K wiring. I've discovered that whoever put it in there in the first place did a GREAT job. Every connection is done precisely and cleanly...sadly, the wiring is just old (house built 1939). And to preven fire hazzards, I need to make sure my insulation does not cover the wiring. Romex is SO much easier to deal with. (In T&K, the "hot" wire runs aroud and is spliced out to other circuits, and often the "neutral" wire runs willy nilly all over the place).
Anyway, I digress...
V
you can add a breaker single pole for 120 volt receptical.
black to breaker, white to neutral bar, and green to gound.
tie wire up with straps,and close to box.
you can purchase a tester for power to check how you did.
just go with 15 amp and 14/2 wire with ground
hope it hellps
black to breaker, white to neutral bar, and green to gound.
tie wire up with straps,and close to box.
you can purchase a tester for power to check how you did.
just go with 15 amp and 14/2 wire with ground
hope it hellps
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
uhh guys... if you read the thread you would see that he asked questions, got good answers and has already completed the work 
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
The Federal Pacific panels had several problem, but in a nutshell they a rash of fires caused by breakers that would not trip. They soon got the nickname "fire pacific". Since that time they have fixed the problems and now sell panels in Canada (or did last I checked). The NEW $30 breakers are safe, they cost alot because there is no demand for them.
Bean
Bean
The Professor
New member
Vincerama2 did you actually change the panel? Federal Pacifics are now illeagal and must be changed if there is a home inspection. The problem with them is they do not trip most of the time. You can cut a wire in half and it will not shut off. They do make replacement breakers that work but you saw the price tag for them.
hllywd
Premier World Traveler
Personally I'd stay away from a GFCI breaker. If it trips it kills the circuit. The better way is to wire separate GFCI receptacles so if one trips accidently it doesn't kill power to everything in the tank.
For example, I had 1 GFCI receptacle controlling all my outlets (similar idea to using a GFCI breaker). I went to the spring Bristol race and that night from 600 miles away my wife asks why the lights are off on the aquarium. It turned out the recep had tripped killing all power to the tank which had dropped to 64 degrees which killed my powder blue tang, and a couple hundred dollars worth of frags I had bought a couple weeks earlier. Everything is divided now with redundancy on separate outlets.
Tim
sulcata1619
New member
Professor, I could cut a wire in half on any breaker and it would not trip.
Vincerama2
Active member
Yeah, a new SquareD panel cost less than the Fed Pac breaker!!
I was at Home Depot and asked the guy there... "So, I see SquareD makes Homline and QO model panels and breakers. Since you sell both, can you tell me the difference? I see that the QO ones all cost a small amount more (like $5 more, out of $30)." In response he READS OUT LOUD the printing on the box. So I tell him "Um, I don't need you to read the labels to me, I need you to tell me the difference" so he says "Well, these ones are a bit more expensive, so that would imply that they are better. So I'd say the QO panels and breakers are 'better'". So I just said "Oh, OK. Thanks" just to get rid of him...
I ended up with the QO ones, since, you know, they were more expensive so I figured they were better!
Actually, the QO breakers had visual indicators on them...not that that is a huge plus, but what the heck.I replaced the panel, the breakers and rewired all the tube-and-knob with 12AWG Romex. I did it as "code-like" as I could. I think that even with my amateur installation, it is probably safer than the 50 year old (workshop was built in 1954) panel. The original owner did some sketchy T&K wiring in there as well, which is now replaced.
V
PS. Yeah, after I responded, I noticed that he went ahead and finished the project! Ah well.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Homeline stuff is cheaper and meant to compete with the rest of the popular residential lines put out by Cuttler Hammer and Siemens etc. If I remember correctly the homeline boxes will accept other companies breakers as well (not sure which ones). The QO series is commercial and only accepts QO breakers.
I prefer the GE panels. The price is MUCH better than the QO and the build quality is great and proven. However just about any modern panel and breaker is safe and reliable. If somebody tells you that "SqD homline" or "Cuttler Hammer" breakers are cheap garbage... they are pretty much wrong.
Bean
I prefer the GE panels. The price is MUCH better than the QO and the build quality is great and proven. However just about any modern panel and breaker is safe and reliable. If somebody tells you that "SqD homline" or "Cuttler Hammer" breakers are cheap garbage... they are pretty much wrong.
Bean
The Professor
New member
Sulcata are you saying you could cut across the hot, neutral, and ground of a wire simultaneously and the breaker would not trip? If you could do that I would love to own your pliers.
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Professor... some of the fire pacifics WERE THAT BAD! To be fair it was only a bad "batch" not all the breakers they ever made. Many of the "fires" were traced back to bad installations and/or copper to aluminum connections... but some were due to breakers that would not trip under severe overload. There are a few places on the internet you can read the whole story.
I have a few pair of "those pliers" you know the ones with the "new" hole on them where they cut through a hot, neutral, and ground while energized. Then again I have also seen 650 DC go to ground WITHOUT (what we would consider) a BREAKER being fed by a load center capable of thousands of amps. Seeing hundreds of feet of 1" copper turn red hot, then melt and sag until it burns in two is a sight to behold. That is if you can see past the blinding arc formed by the piece of trolley equipment that is causing the ground fault. Sometimes it does not even take a fault, it is common for underground track equipment to pull so many amps that it melts the wire in two.
You guys ever want to hear some FUNKY electric stories... just ask! I have seen all kinds of crazy stuff in the coal mines.
I have a few pair of "those pliers" you know the ones with the "new" hole on them where they cut through a hot, neutral, and ground while energized. Then again I have also seen 650 DC go to ground WITHOUT (what we would consider) a BREAKER being fed by a load center capable of thousands of amps. Seeing hundreds of feet of 1" copper turn red hot, then melt and sag until it burns in two is a sight to behold. That is if you can see past the blinding arc formed by the piece of trolley equipment that is causing the ground fault. Sometimes it does not even take a fault, it is common for underground track equipment to pull so many amps that it melts the wire in two.
You guys ever want to hear some FUNKY electric stories... just ask! I have seen all kinds of crazy stuff in the coal mines.
