Author Topic: Can I fix this? (Read 64436 times)

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #50 on:** July 20, 2011, 11:44:55 PM »

Quote from: seeker_two on July 20, 2011, 05:13:46 PM

Do not attempt to do this unless you have someone else hold your beer......

....and, do not attempt ANY action that cannot eventually be attributed as "fistful's fault".....

Well, who do you think is responsible for the broken chain in the first place?

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #51 on:** July 21, 2011, 12:39:36 AM »

Mrs. Smith,

I really, really hope you don't try this yourself. Please find somebody who seems credible, and who feels comfortable doing this himself (or herself), who will be physically present to give you instructions, or do a little show-and-tell.

That way, you will survive to (carefully) fix/replace the next light fixture that breaks. It's not the sort of thing that's terribly complicated or difficult to learn, but it can be dangerous, and you need a little basic instruction.

230RN · « **Reply #52 on:** July 21, 2011, 02:39:38 AM »

^ Huzzah! "Good sense" is now The artist formerly known as fistful's fault.

280plus · « **Reply #53 on:** July 21, 2011, 06:14:38 AM »

I used to teach basicv electricity and we had these boards with different components for wiring together in different configurations. Well, I used to get to bug the boards for troubleshooting practice. They would give me their completed, working board and I would make it not work and give it back to them to figure out. The VERY FIRST THING you were supposed to do was ohm it out across the hot/nuetral/ground of the three pronge plug to make sure there were no shorts. What I liked to do, usually to the guy that gives me the most crap, is take a single strand of multi-stranded wire and run it across the H/N lugs using those little holes they have in the ends. So when the victim plugs it in there is a large but harmless arc that dims the lights and makes the guy crap himself. Now if you really didn't like him you might increase that to 2 or 3 starnds instead of one. Increasing both the spark and hilarity exponentially. Never got past 3 strands because 3 REALLY dimmed the lights and I was already famous for such activities and things like explosions so I kept this one on the down low.

RocketMan · « **Reply #54 on:** July 21, 2011, 07:21:25 AM »

Quote from: Monkeyleg on July 20, 2011, 10:46:05 PM

That assumes that some home handyman didn't replace some wiring somewhere along the line and color-code the wires opposite of what they should be. The voltmeter is your friend.

Very true. I had a house in Colorado Springs that had been wired by a dunce. Fixed whatever I found, but I don't know if I found it all.

RocketMan · « **Reply #55 on:** July 21, 2011, 07:23:23 AM »

280plus, you are a cruel, cruel person. No wonder you fit in well here.

280plus · « **Reply #56 on:** July 21, 2011, 07:52:27 AM »

Yup,,,

But I got the effer that made me miserable for three months and I got him reaaal gooood... Bwahahahahahahhaaaaa....

280plus · « **Reply #57 on:** July 21, 2011, 07:53:51 AM »

He cleared the floor by at least a foot.

AmbulanceDriver · « **Reply #58 on:** July 21, 2011, 08:02:11 AM »

*hehehehe* that's awesome 280!!!

MrsSmith · « **Reply #59 on:** July 21, 2011, 09:07:14 AM »

I'm convinced! While I'm sure I'm quite capable of learning to do this the right way (I learned to tune up my vehicle, but there was little risk of bodily injury), I'd rather have someone who knows what they're doing actually show me. Y'all did a great job of explaining things and I thank you, but I'll use the "beer as lure" method of repair this time.

Scary thing is, I think I actually learned a thing or two from this thread... Next time Fistful breaks something I don't know how to fix, I'll just throw it out for you guys. The entertainment value is priceless.

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #60 on:** July 21, 2011, 09:58:57 AM »

Quote

Yep, before I rewired, I had light blue, red and orange wires, only occasionally a black and/or white. And according to the polarity tester , the house should have burned down the first time someone threw a switch....

That's why, after thinking about it and reading the comments from Mrs Smith, I think she should have someone with a bit more knowledge replace the fixture.

It seems simple, but mistakes can be costly. A neighbor of ours had some wiring in the unheated second floor of the house, and the heat/thaw cycles caused the wires to move. Two of them moved to the point where they touched, and a fire ensued that took out a good portion of the upper part of the house. I realize we're talking about mistakes that should be immediately apparent, but there are some mistakes (wires not properly fastened) that can manifest themselves later.

As for shocking stories (pun intended), my father repaired TV's and radios in the 1950's as a side job for a time. He was working on one and accidentally touched the capacitor. He was on the other side of the room in .2 seconds.

Ben · « **Reply #61 on:** July 21, 2011, 10:10:40 AM »

Quote from: MrsSmith on July 21, 2011, 09:07:14 AM

I'm convinced! While I'm sure I'm quite capable of learning to do this the right way (I learned to tune up my vehicle, but there was little risk of bodily injury), I'd rather have someone who knows what they're doing actually show me. Y'all did a great job of explaining things and I thank you, but I'll use the "beer as lure" method of repair this time.

Scary thing is, I think I actually learned a thing or two from this thread... Next time Fistful breaks something I don't know how to fix, I'll just throw it out for you guys. The entertainment value is priceless.

What is all this talk of beer bribes in all the posts here? Whiskey - it separates the amateurs from the professionals.

MrsSmith, if you do end up getting someone to help you, take the opportunity to label your breaker box. Pain in the butt now, but pays off big in the future.

I'm fairly handy with most stuff around the house, but have always been jittery when doing anything with electricity. It takes me like four times as long to do a minor electrical repair compared to anything else, because 75% of my time is spent making sure I won't electrocute myself. :)

AmbulanceDriver · « **Reply #62 on:** July 21, 2011, 10:15:19 AM »

Ben I'm much the same way. I don't like the big blue sparks and smoke, etc.....

Dick, I did some work on a TV my in-laws gave me (known problem, easy fix) and let me tell you, I kept eyeing the big caps near the power supply VERY suspiciously. I just knew they wanted to reach up and bite me.... Oh, and I also made sure to ground the tube itself. Because that's nothing more than one ginormous capacitor.....

230RN · « **Reply #63 on:** July 21, 2011, 01:02:32 PM »

When I first moved into my farmhouse, the barn and storage shed were wired with single wires on porcelain standoffs --double cotton-covered (they used to call it "DCC" wire) solid wires.

The switches were also those old porcelain rotary switches you sometimes see in old, old movies from the 20s. The outbildings weren't connected to the mains any more, so I brought power out to the barn and wired up the milk room to use as a machine shop.

I really wish I'd removed and kept some of those old switches and standoffs and some wire when we moved out. They'd probably be worth something to a collector nowadays.

Balog · « **Reply #64 on:** July 21, 2011, 02:56:16 PM »

Quote from: RocketMan on July 20, 2011, 09:51:31 PM

Uh, not exactly. Come on AJ and dogmush. You need to give safe advice, or not give it at all.
You want the hot to connect to the center contact down inside the socket, the neutral to the outside shell of the socket. It's a little thing called "safety". You do not want the shell of the socket to be hot. There's too much of a chance of coming in contact with it while changing a burned out bulb, should you forget to trip the breaker first. (The shell of the socket is the threaded part the bulb screws into.)
MrsSmith, connect the black (hot) wire to the brass colored screw, the white (neutral) wire to the silver colored screw, and the ground wire (green insulated or completely bare) to the green tinted screw (assuming it is a screw-connected socket). If it has wires coming out of it, just match the wire colors and wire nut them together per what Monkeyleg said. That will put the hot side on the small center contact in the socket, and the neutral on the socket shell. In a properly wired home, the neutral leg is tied to ground in the circuit breaker box and has no voltage on it.

It is never a good idea to assume the colors are done correctly. I've seen hot whites, neutral reds, and some where all legs are white lamp cord

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #65 on:** July 21, 2011, 03:07:42 PM »

Quote

It is never a good idea to assume the colors are done correctly. I've seen hot whites, neutral reds, and some where all legs are white lamp cord

Our last house had what the electrician called a "back feed". The black wire was hot, but I got zapped by the neutral as well. I measured it, and it was delivering 120 volts.

Tallpine · « **Reply #66 on:** July 21, 2011, 03:30:32 PM »

Quote from: Monkeyleg on July 21, 2011, 03:07:42 PM

Our last house had what the electrician called a "back feed". The black wire was hot, but I got zapped by the neutral as well. I measured it, and it was delivering 120 volts.

Put the black and white together, and you would either get 240v, or nothing if both are on the same phase.

wmenorr67 · « **Reply #67 on:** July 21, 2011, 03:32:30 PM »

Quote from: Balog on July 21, 2011, 02:56:16 PM

It is never a good idea to assume the colors are done correctly. I've seen hot whites, neutral reds, and some where all legs are white lamp cord

Now you are beginning to sound like an Interior Decorator.

AJ Dual · « **Reply #68 on:** July 21, 2011, 04:09:05 PM »

Quote from: Tallpine on July 21, 2011, 03:30:32 PM

Put the black and white together, and you would either get 240v, or nothing if both are on the same phase.

That would always make me LOL at Star Trek. People, machines, warp drives, transporter malfunctions would "get out of phase" and then get stuck in some sort of interdimentional space they had to be rescued from.

I was always sitting there thinking, "Well, then that should just mean they can/can't run the dryer, the AC, or the electric stove is all..."

MrsSmith · « **Reply #69 on:** July 21, 2011, 05:50:10 PM »

Quote from: Ben on July 21, 2011, 10:10:40 AM

What is all this talk of beer bribes in all the posts here? Whiskey - it separates the amateurs from the professionals.

MrsSmith, if you do end up getting someone to help you, take the opportunity to label your breaker box. Pain in the butt now, but pays off big in the future.

I'm fairly handy with most stuff around the house, but have always been jittery when doing anything with electricity. It takes me like four times as long to do a minor electrical repair compared to anything else, because 75% of my time is spent making sure I won't electrocute myself. :)

Regarding whiskey - agreed.
Regarding breaker box - will do, grudgingly, unless I can convince handy friend to do it for me

Regarding jittery around electricity - likewise.

Don't worry Monkeyleg, I won't get a wild hair and try to tackle it myself after a few cocktails. That would probably go the same way that taking apart my camera to see how it worked after a few cocktails went. I now have a firm rule that if it requires tools or involves anything that costs more than $100, I don't touch it after a couple drinks. But that might be a funny thread. Stupidest/funniest thing you've attempted after the consumption of adult beverages. I, of course, couldn't post because I'm an angel.

230RN · « **Reply #70 on:** July 21, 2011, 06:20:54 PM »

"taking apart my camera to see how it worked"

That reminded me of a scene in The Simpsons where Homer is down in the basement fixing a camera. Big screwdriver in one hand poised atop the camera, big hammer in the other hand poised atop the screwdriver. Homer's ready to hit the driver, makes a couple of preparatory strokes with the hammer while saying to himself, "Easy, Homer... Eaaasy."

Balog · « **Reply #71 on:** July 21, 2011, 06:53:00 PM »

I remember that. It was an electric drill motor and screwdriver/drill bit chucked up iirc.Funny stuff. :)

RocketMan · « **Reply #72 on:** July 21, 2011, 09:32:16 PM »

Quote from: Balog on July 21, 2011, 02:56:16 PM

It is never a good idea to assume the colors are done correctly. I've seen hot whites, neutral reds, and some where all legs are white lamp cord

Very true, that. I've run into it a few times myself.

RoadKingLarry · « **Reply #73 on:** July 21, 2011, 10:10:15 PM »

Quote from: 280plus on July 21, 2011, 07:53:51 AM

He cleared the floor by at least a foot.

One of the jobs I had after I got out of the Navy was working at a place did did repair on (now) old 3270 terminals and monitors. the monitor was disassembled and set into a test fixture and then powered up for testing.
On rare occasions a really bad one would have a nasty arcing fit in the high voltage section making lots of nasty noises.

A fun thing to do was to sneak up behind someone with a roll of bubble wrap and give it a big twist as they hit the power switch.

Peeled a few off the 20' ceiling.

280plus · « **Reply #74 on:** July 22, 2011, 12:56:50 AM »

We used to walk up behind guys working on electrical and go "ZZZZZT!!" really loud. Most would jump, some would get pissed off.

News:

Author Topic: Can I fix this? (Read 64436 times)