Author Topic: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?  (Read 158289 times)

Offline skyguy918

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #420 on: June 04, 2020, 10:01:27 AM »
There are all type of LED lighting strips that are used in places like kitchens. Will look to see if they have them for outdoor use.
Ther are waterproof tape lights we call them ropes
LOL. After a Google search there are outdoor strips he can use.
Thanks guys. I obviously googled first and know that it exists. The question was more whether it could be done cheaply (I'm not looking to spend hundreds here) and if anyone has specific recommendations. The ones that are sold already fully enclosed would be trickier, because then I'm locked into their pre-made lengths. And beyond that it's unclear to me which are okay for outdoor use right out of the box, and which require a kit (ie with separate housing, etc).

Offline CountValentine

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #421 on: June 04, 2020, 10:06:21 AM »
Thanks guys. I obviously googled first and know that it exists. The question was more whether it could be done cheaply (I'm not looking to spend hundreds here) and if anyone has specific recommendations. The ones that are sold already fully enclosed would be trickier, because then I'm locked into their pre-made lengths. And beyond that it's unclear to me which are okay for outdoor use right out of the box, and which require a kit (ie with separate housing, etc).
AFAIK the ones right out the box are not what you are looking for. The kits (separate 12v supply) can be cut to lengths and would work for your application.

How many strips and how long each you think you will need?
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Offline skyguy918

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #422 on: June 04, 2020, 01:56:35 PM »
AFAIK the ones right out the box are not what you are looking for. The kits (separate 12v supply) can be cut to lengths and would work for your application.

How many strips and how long each you think you will need?
In the past for sukkos, I've used shop lights with a total of 8 LED tubes, which was probably more light than needed, but now crazy bright. I would run tape/ropes along the full length (~16ft) of as few as 3 beams (or as many as the full 9 beams - depending on the lumens/ft or whatever - to get sufficient light for the space. The whole idea wouldn't be worthwhile unless I can find a way to do it for $200 or less (excluding install, which hopefully I can do myself).

Offline CountValentine

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #423 on: June 04, 2020, 01:59:44 PM »
That sounds doable. Hopefully someone will chime in that has done it. If not I will look around once a get a break from the other threads.  :)
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Offline stooges44

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #424 on: July 14, 2020, 10:21:47 PM »
I have track lighting with 4 light switches and 5 lights. Yes, that means one switch controls 2 of the lights and the other 3 have their own individual switches.

How do I get more lights controlled by a single switch? In other words, the 1 switch that currently controls 2 of the lights, how do I get it to control 3 or even 4?

I like to think of myself as handy and a DIYer, most basic and intermediate tasks around the house I can handle but this has me stumped. I looked at the track, I looked at the wires going to the switches but I don't see anything that helps me. I know that I can connect the wires of one of the single switches to the switch that currently controls the 2 lights and that would then make it control 3 but there must be some other way because as it stands now there are no "extra" wires going to the switch that controls 2.

TIA!
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Offline ElectricCPR

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #425 on: July 14, 2020, 10:28:23 PM »
You add more lights to the track🤣

Offline Yo ssi

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #426 on: July 14, 2020, 10:35:46 PM »
I have track lighting with 4 light switches and 5 lights. Yes, that means one switch controls 2 of the lights and the other 3 have their own individual switches.

How do I get more lights controlled by a single switch? In other words, the 1 switch that currently controls 2 of the lights, how do I get it to control 3 or even 4?

I like to think of myself as handy and a DIYer, most basic and intermediate tasks around the house I can handle but this has me stumped. I looked at the track, I looked at the wires going to the switches but I don't see anything that helps me. I know that I can connect the wires of one of the single switches to the switch that currently controls the 2 lights and that would then make it control 3 but there must be some other way because as it stands now there are no "extra" wires going to the switch that controls 2.

TIA!
Why not connect it at the end where the bulb is?
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Offline CountValentine

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #427 on: July 14, 2020, 10:55:16 PM »
Why not connect it at the end where the bulb is?
Never worked on track lighting but this seems straight forward. I am guessing they all go through the same electrical box.
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Offline Yo ssi

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #428 on: July 15, 2020, 12:12:48 AM »
Never worked on track lighting but this seems straight forward. I am guessing they all go through the same electrical box.
Are you saying, you never worked on track lighting, or my idea never worked on track lighting?;)
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Offline CountValentine

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #429 on: July 15, 2020, 12:18:09 AM »
Are you saying, you never worked on track lighting, or my idea never worked on track lighting?;)
Is there an option for both?  :P
How about a pic of the box?
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Offline Yo ssi

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #430 on: July 15, 2020, 12:26:51 AM »
How about a pic of the box?
+1
And perhaps of the whole fixture as well.
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Offline damiwihu

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #431 on: July 15, 2020, 12:39:25 AM »
A fellow electrician asked me to help him trouble shoot a house where the receptacles & switches were replaced. His initial concern was that there was no voltage hot to neutral for a vanity fixture. My old plug in tester indicated an open neutral. We found the receptacle where they "stabbed" the 12 gauge wire into the back of a receptacle (one of the neutrals was not connected). Another circuit indicated hot & ground reversed. We found a receptacle where the ground wires were separated (connecting the grounds solved the problem). At a GFCI receptacle for the kitchen: the black, white, & ground were wire nutted & caped off together (the was originally wired for 1 line in & 2 load sets of wires out). Other items as well!!
Is there a good tester that will correctly identify "correct polarity & open grounds or neutrals? Thanks. I am semi-retired & all of this sure had me trying to "think" again.
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Offline yos9694

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #432 on: July 15, 2020, 08:53:01 AM »
Two easy options.
1. Each switch has a line wire and a load wire. Combine the 4 line wires and a pigtail, combine the 4 load wires and a pigtail, connect to one of the switches. The other 3 switches are defunct.
2. Add another switch that will control the existing 4 switches. Remove the 4 line wires from the existing switches, combine and connect to the new switch. Attach a new wire to the load side of the new switch that runs to the line side of the existing switches and you're done. Now you have a "master" switch that controls all 4 at once, but also still have the individual switches that control 1-2 bulbs when the master is on.

I'm assuming here that you have 4 individual line wires which is very unlikely. You probably just have 1 which is split off into 4, so the actual work is even easier. Pictures would definitely help here.

Offline Zevi16

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #433 on: July 15, 2020, 09:08:09 AM »
Can anyone explain why my bathroom fixtures (installed in the past few months) are flickering slightly? - Different fuses. My recessed lighting around the house doesn’t flicker but fixtures seems to.

Offline CountValentine

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #434 on: July 15, 2020, 09:11:13 AM »
Can anyone explain why my bathroom fixtures (installed in the past few months) are flickering slightly? - Different fuses. My recessed lighting around the house doesn’t flicker but fixtures seems to.
My hallway light does this and it is a bad bulb socket but other things can cause this.
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Offline CountValentine

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #435 on: July 15, 2020, 09:12:25 AM »
Two easy options.
1. Each switch has a line wire and a load wire. Combine the 4 line wires and a pigtail, combine the 4 load wires and a pigtail, connect to one of the switches. The other 3 switches are defunct.
2. Add another switch that will control the existing 4 switches. Remove the 4 line wires from the existing switches, combine and connect to the new switch. Attach a new wire to the load side of the new switch that runs to the line side of the existing switches and you're done. Now you have a "master" switch that controls all 4 at once, but also still have the individual switches that control 1-2 bulbs when the master is on.

I'm assuming here that you have 4 individual line wires which is very unlikely. You probably just have 1 which is split off into 4, so the actual work is even easier. Pictures would definitely help here.
Do not do this unless you know where all the wires are coming from.
ETA: After thinking about this for a little bit I have a new recommendation.  :)
DON'T DO THIS!!!
« Last Edit: July 15, 2020, 09:20:15 AM by CountValentine »
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Offline Yo ssi

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #436 on: July 15, 2020, 09:30:02 AM »
Can anyone explain why my bathroom fixtures (installed in the past few months) are flickering slightly? - Different fuses. My recessed lighting around the house doesn’t flicker but fixtures seems to.
Is it a florescent?
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Offline Zevi16

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #437 on: July 15, 2020, 09:36:59 AM »

Offline CountValentine

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #438 on: July 15, 2020, 09:38:35 AM »
No
If you tap on the fixture will it flicker?
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Offline Zevi16

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Re: I need Electric Help... Any electricians out there?
« Reply #439 on: July 15, 2020, 09:39:16 AM »
No. Tried that