“It just goes to show ya. It’s always something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.”
I began to have a problem a few years ago with my yard light. It was winter time and the light started strobing, flashing on and off, making like a ’70s disco. The snow and cold prevented me from looking into it at the time so I turned the light off. Spring time came and I turned it on and it worked perfectly, for a couple years. Recently it started the disco scenario again, I tighten up the connections and it worked fine but only for a couple weeks. I took down the light, tried it indoors by covering the light sensor and again I worked correctly. Rehung it and it didn’t work. Ran an extension cord out and it was back in operation.
Uh-huh. I’m onto something, it’s not getting power. What could it be? I took the switch and outlet apart, cleaned and checks the wires, all looked good. Put a meter on the incoming line and aha! No power!
Now it’s time to jog the memory. Let’s see, I installed the light about 25 years ago. I pigtailed it from the garden line…but the garden fixtures still have power. Hmmm. It has to be an open between the garden line and the light switch. Damn it! It’s a short run but I can’t remember exactly how it goes. Does it run under the raised flower bed? I remember when I hooked it up (before the flower bed was there) I’d put the connection inside a box, to protect the connection. I’d used waterproof wire nuts to make the connection. If the connection was bad why would I still have power in the garden? Surely the line hadn’t broken (open rather than a short).
After a lot of contemplating and whining to no one in particular it looked like the line had to be dug up. Where? I know generally where it goes. I had buried the line in a hand dug trench 18 inches deep when I installed it. I was also a lot younger too.
I turned the power off to the garden and starting at the light pole seemed to be the best solution. Digging carefully I found the line and could get some direction. OK, now I can see where it’s headed. Surely there won’t be any sharp turns, I would have went the shortest, straightest way, right?
I moved about 5-6 feet and started digging, and I dug a second trench. I didn’t find the cable but I knew I had to expand my trench but which way? I dug on one end for a while, then the other. Finally I found the elusive cable. It is the white spot on the right end of the trench.
Now I had two reference points. I moved another 5-6 feet and started digging again. This time I didn’t have to dig as much before I found the cable. Again. it’s the white thing in the middle of the picture.
Now I have three reference points. I moved again and started with the shovel routine. I thought I might be getting close to the connection so when I found the cable I started following it and very quickly found the box. It wasn’t the box that I had remembered but a piece of PVC with the connections in it.
I pulled it out, somehow it was packed with dirt on both ends. I cleaned out the dirt, pulled the connections out and right away noticed that one of the wire nuts looked like it had burned.I opened all the connections and couldn’t believe the corrosion on every wire. Now I get to be an electrician. First to the hardware store (of course). I need emery cloth tape and three big waterproof wire nuts. I cleaned off the corrosion, figured out what went where and re-assembled the connections
and slid them back into PVC. This time, however, I put floor tile over the PVC and capped the ends with small tile pieces to keep the dirt out.I turned the power on, tested both the yard light and the garden outlets. Now all I had to do was fill the holes and convince Mrs Fourscore she had married the right guy. The hole fill up was the easier part. Now it just has to work for another 25 years. I pity the fool that has to figure this out again.
I’ve also left a couple puzzles around my place for the next guy. And I’m sure I haven’t yet found all of them from the previous guys.
A prior man-of-the-house at our house lacked a healthy respect for the power of electricity – a cheap extension cord through a hole in the bathroom floor in lieu of a proper outlet was among his atrocities.
One of my big frustrations in our current place was when I went around and updated all the outlets. They had ran new wiring, but reused the old two-prong outlets. Instead of just leaving the unused ground wire, in almost every box they snipped them back as far as they could reach. So I now have three-prong outlets but almost none of them are actually grounded.
Are the boxes metal or plastic?
I hate that when that happens. Fortunately my electrician gets to sleep with the missus so he did things right. I do have a couple unused switches but they’re in a place where modifications may be warranted and easy to work with.
WHY!?!?
Wait, that was an electrician that did it??
Plastic. And this would have been a DIYer. I’m rural NoDak. We don’t need no stinking electricians or codes!
The crazy thing is he put up new sheetrock, installed new electric boxes, ran 3 wire romex…and reused the old two prong outlets and the old light switches.
🤦♂️
Since it’s new boxes, at least GFCI receptacles will fit.
That’s awesome!
Getting it done!
Very Amish
Sounds like one of those one hour jobs that turns into a 10 hour job. I had something similar happen with my pool pump this year. Early in the season I found the outlet next to the pump is no longer waterproof, and has to be replaced. Meanwhile I ran an extension cord to the house, and it kept tripping the GFI. I took a close look at the pump, and found a lot of dust and lint in the motor housing. And also a wire going into the housing that was stripped and possibly touching the housing. Fixed those things and the pump worked fine all summer.
We just closed the pool, and when I reeled in the extension cord, I found the female end was charred and melted. Oops. Better get that outlet replaced.
Oh god I hate those, having been voluntold into helping my dad on a bunch of such jobs.
*burns code book*
Huzzah!
I pity the fool that has to figure this out again.
I’m currently that fool, trying to figure out what the previous owner did around here.
At our gym we have outlets and switches that seemingly don’t go to anything. We had an uncle who’s a retired electrician spend the day troubleshooting. He figured out some of it, but there are still mystery switches.
It’s been many years since I heard–or thought of–the term “yard light”. Is it a Minnesoda locution? I never heard it anywhere else.
It’s used in NJ.
Pretty sure that how it appears on our electric bill here in OR.
Used in Louisiana. I cant speak for elsewhere, they use all kinds of incorrect words for coke so who knows.
You know they make solar powered lights, right?
Solar doesn’t work so well when there’s only 8 hours of sunlight and the sky is cloudy for days on end.
Don’t they require sun? Too many trees and dark, short, winter days.
I’m testing a set right now at my house now. I tried a two sets in a marine environment and you got one season out of them during two years.
I be curious if they do any better in a more benign environment. I still don’t expect more than a few years out of them.
I’ve thought of putting some out by the garden, make it easier for the critters to find their way around at night. Then I changed my mnd…
I’ve had several that didn’t even last a summer, some that died over a winter, and one that has survived more than a year. They really seem much more on the disposable side.
I have a solar powered address marker. It has never worked. Solar, wind, electric motors for IC applications….well, you know where I am going with this.
The previous owners of our house had sold grass put down in the front yard – right over the drain pipes that put gutters run to. So now, every time it rains hard, they back up and wash away the much by the house. I have to go out there and try to gently dig holes in the yard to try to find the ends of those pipes.
I think I love Thomas Massie even more now that he’s getting black pilled on the bullshit theater in Congress.
https://x.com/TRHLofficial/status/1833471468996366423
Of course MSM will quickly ignore or “fact check” this.
The most impressive part of that speech is that he did it without dropping a dozen f-bombs. He’s a better man than I.
I had to turn it off. I was getting light headed from the erection.
If that lasts more than 4 hours, watch a Kamala speech.
I dont want to see the camera on Massie. I want to see the other members there rolling their eyes and giggling while he speaks.
The staffers you can see are just playing on their phones.
That is about what I figured. Our tax money.
No batter how bad you think it is, it is orders of magnitude worse.
The sad part is few will ever see this short speech or if they do understand what he means. Those who will see it and understand it are part of the problem or the few like ourselves who can only rage and waive our fist at the sky.
https://x.com/nottinakotex/status/1833295567763738835
Hah!
(It’s a parody account ridiculed the hateful dyke governor here)
He will be missed!
https://x.com/AnthonyCumia/status/1833274423870214438
Last time I wired the garage for lighting: Friend looks over the work – “That’s not…not really up to code.”
Me: “You mean down to code, right? A house fire is the worst thing I can think of. They scare the shit out of me.”
Friend: “Yeah, I guess so. Hey, when I get ready to…”
Me, interrupting: “Yes, I will help you.”
One of the nice things about building from scratch is there is no previous owner to deal with.
You only have one person to curse at and you know his name?
Did your wife insist on overly complex colors for each of the rooms?
After a lifetime of renting, there is not a single wall painted white in the house.
We choose paint colors and flooring together without initiating divorce proceedings.
That was one area I left completely alone. Which is why we have changed half of those colors since that day, along with her now hating the flooring she picked out.
And it is money spent to save the marriage.
*looks at half pallet of sample cans, gallon “approved” colors in garage that were unapproved, unpainted upper half of house and all trim*
Yeah… maybe it’ll get done before the fall rains start
Narrator: 1″ expected to start tonight
Respekt! I know exactly what sort of rocky soil you have, because I have the same.
Ugh. We had clay – a fucking nightmare. I dug a 75 foot long trench to bury drain tile for the sump pump. Of course it went through pretty much every service so I got to do the damn thing by hand.
Never again.
Actually, it’s pure beach sand here. Comes in layers, different colors so easy digging. A mile north it’s clay, it’s as if the glacier just dropped different places. I put in 2 wells in the garden, hand dug 12 feet and the water started coming in, drove a point down another 5-6 feet and had all the clean Hamm’s beer water needed.
I remember Hamms
Reach for a Hamm’s
Pull tabs!
Drop it in the can and try not to choke on it when you take too big of a swig.
I don’t remember that commercial, but I do remember this one. Back when a bear could sell beer and a camel could sell smokes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8njwKklop_w
I remember a very old beer commercial. It was a “talk show” format with several people sitting in comfy chairs with one guy (presumably) in a gorilla custom.
Someone poured a bottle of beer into a glass on the coffee table and everyone stared at it. Then the “gorilla” picked up the glass and drank it.
It was prohibited (and may still be) to show a person drinking beer in any beer commercial. That’s why that Hamms commercial shows a guy with a freshly poured mug, but they cut away before he drinks from it.
The ’70s were awesome in our memory but occasionally I think “Oh yeah. Jimmy Fuckin’ Carter.”
Biden/Harris make Jimmy look like a fucking genius.
I hate trying to remember what I did a few months ago to trouble shoot something, never mind 25 years.
It’s great when things are fixed, thanks Fourscore.
The crazy thing is he put up new sheetrock, installed new electric boxes, ran 3 wire romex…and reused the old two prong outlets and the old light switches.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A penny saved is a dollar burned.
Rework is like setting money on fire.
Do it cheap, do it twice.
I prefer to say that I love doing it so much I’ll do it twice.
Never time to do it right, always time to do it twice.
I am an amateur electrician, I have replaced the ballast in most of our florescent lights.
Once after doing so, the last light in a row of 3 8′ bulbs wouldn’t work. I had already replaced that one, but I went into it anyway.
Everything looked fine, so I put it back together.
Went into the one closer to the box and discovered that my idiot electrician had somehow neglected to tie the wire going to the next light into the others.
I put it together properly this time and just told the wife I fixed it. Luckily she is easily impressed.
Only good thing is my idiot mechanic and idiot electrician work cheap.
I’ve slowly started replacing my fluorescents with LEDs as the ballasts start croaking. You basically pull the guts and run straight 120V to the LEDs which have built in transformers. You can keep the same housing.
Significantly more light and so far good durability.
I looked at that, but 12 8′ bulbs are ridiculously expensive compared to 6 ballasts.
I’ve filled my shop with the 4′ LED shop lights from Harbor Freight. They put out a ton of light and I’ve had no issues with them yet. And they’re cheap! Can get them on sale for under $20 each.
think the 8′ ones were around $90 apiece and I needed 12 of them.
We didn’t install a single fluorescent fixture in the house when we built it. I truly hate fluorescent lighting.
Try them at 3200k, much warmer light than typical LED
There is no reason to install fluorescent fixtures at this point. LEDs come in a wide variety of color temps now. It’s easy to find a good LED with a warmer color temp.
How much does Harris hate the Internet?
https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1833539331505770508
Once she wins that kind of Russian disinformation will be banned.
We’ll, she really isn’t Willy’s daughter…
My jaw will hit the floor, or hers will?
Good stuff Fourscore!
I would absolutely have hit the line – it’s one of my superpowers.
I was thinking that too, when he was digging to find it.
I’ve had to convince my wife to make sure I’m present when she tries her hand at putting up or replacing light fixtures. The best way was by having her present when I was mansplaining how and what I was doing when I replaced my kitchen fan.
I needed her help with finding the right breaker for the light/fan, she closed it and the light was off, I checked with a circuit tester and confirmed it was off. I then made sure the switch on the wall was off. I then started to pull out the pig tailed wires and then a shower of sparks went off. Unbeknownst to me the previous owner used the fixture box for a junction on a different circuit. One of the bare ends of the ground wire from the light/fan was pushed into the wire nut and shorted out the live circuit as I was removing the light wiring.
The live circuit was pushed in behind the myriad of wires for the smart fan and light, so I didn’t see the other wire pair.
Afterwards she admitted that she would not do any wiring alone or without my supervision. The new fixture was installed after finding the additional breaker and also trimming and properly securing the the junction wire nuts.
I was replacing a ceiling light with a fan for my sister-in-law. I was abruptly surprised to find the contractor had switched the white wire as opposed to the hot (black) wire.
Might say I was taken back!
WTF? When you say ‘contractor’ I instantly wonder “Was he sober?”
That’s a rather shocking thing for him to have done.
I hope he conducts himself properly in the future.
It was a strange set up. The rural land owner was dying from cancer. He built 3 spec houses side-by-side, I think he did most of the work himself, (with “low cost labor). It was in Texas, after all. Houses were austerely built but serviceable for a family of 7 (VN boat people) with modest incomes. There was also some grant money involved on the builder’s end. I later installed sliding glass doors in the kitchen, nice deck in the back and a smaller one in the front.
Somehow, as I remember the payments were tied to her income.
Oh yeah, the guy died shortly after the houses were finished
Paging Swiss and pre-1971 Switzerland.
Swiss city councilor apologizes for firing gun at a Mary and Jesus poster
https://apnews.com/article/switzerland-councilor-gun-madonna-poster-4afd5921f843c60dc668cd2f4e7c85e2
Lol. Fuck you, coward. Own it – no one cares if Christians are offended.
Now that is the proper response to the proggie insanity. Want to destroy our culture and society? Do so at your own very real peril.
Good article on Spiked on the Lab Leak denial within government and Academia. It outlines all of the evidence, censorship, convenient coincidences, and justifications for the COVID origin big lie.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/09/10/there-is-now-no-doubt-that-covid-leaked-from-a-lab/
It was obvious from the start what was going on. How many years later are we talking about this? And the fucking scum bags in govt have been making noise about reinstituting the measures they already admitted had no effect whatsoever aside from destruction.
If people lay down for this shit, if the people that did it aren’t made to pay then as far as I am concerned the lot of them can die from ass cancer.
If they are that fucking stupid and cowardly then why have them around?
Your search for the wire is exactly what I have to go through every time I want to put in a new plant in the yard. They won’t make it without drip irrigation here in Tucson, so I have to go find the buried main line for the drip irrigation system.
Did I mention how rocky the soil is here? Its rocky. I’m pretty sure they just poured our slab directly onto the granite bedrock.
I have an undying hatred for in wall splices, so I feel you here. What is sad is that I actually like doing electrical work and, while not an electrician, I am licensed (in CA) up to 600 volts, ac or dc. But trying to figure out what some joker did in some unknown spot if infuriating.
And yes, I was livid when I opened up a wall in my house and found hot K&T in there, when there was no line from the box to any of the old wiring.
Official debate drinking game rules. I’ll post in the PM Linx as well.
https://www.racket.news/p/official-donald-trump-kamala-harris
No way I’m following all of those, I may as well call in sick as soon as I walk out the door this afternoon.
I’m not drinking but I do think those are funny.
I do like the show. Kind of a Hunter S. Thompson being a bad influence on a more innocent and optimistic guy
vibe.
Kind of, but Taibbi is also super jaded after getting canceled, reporting on the Twitter files, and the FBI coming to his house while he was testifying in front of Congress.
Uh, No. No person, no matter how hard a drinker could stay conscious for more than a few minutes. Likely there will be hospital trips and coroner’s phones ringing off of the hook all night.
The “funny because it’s true” award goes to:
You must finish your bottle and arm yourself if a technical breakdown or broadcast interruption takes place in the middle of a one-sided debate.
First comment:
“Joseph Hirsch
53 mins ago
I predict Kamala will start strong, talking about her rough childhood in Selma, Alabama, during which Donald Trump, Bull Connor, and Vladimir Putin sicced German shepherds on her to keep her from entering a schoolhouse where she simply wanted to learn.”
snort.
So, I always said I don’t mess with electricity or water, but … I have been known to do little fixes like outlets and light fixtures.
Things I learned
Plumbing Don’t lick your fingers
Electricity It’s faster than you are
Plumbing snakes bite
Shit rolls downhill
Paydays on Friday
Assume the circuit is live until you put a meter on the wires