RadTech
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Post by RadTech on Aug 5, 2011 7:10:05 GMT -5
I'm having a hard time getting my landlord to replace the hot water heater much less whole house electrical protection. I voted APC , I have 2 and never a problem especially, in brown out central here in Florida.
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selkec
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Post by selkec on Aug 5, 2011 7:13:34 GMT -5
Yeah its a pain in the ass. And to make it worse I live in indiana,. My landlord is in florida. I took tons of pics and emailed him about my driveway saying if you dont fix this you may end up fixing every car that pulls into this driveway. 6 months later I have the best looking driveway on the block
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Post by westom on Aug 5, 2011 9:28:40 GMT -5
I can see so many splices in old metal boxes. Im half tempted to run a few lines myself directly to the breaker box. I did not check the earth ground but I believe when I installed the cable I remember a ground rod. Actually that is a good sign. The fact that someone bothered to put those splices inside metal boxes (designed for electric) implies work was done by someone who cared for human life. Finding the breaker box earth ground should be easy. It will be the only bare, quarter inch, copper wire(s) that exits the breaker box. You can have a confusing mass of cable. That 'messy' does not imply unsafe. It is the details (ie how wires are connected inside those junction boxes) that define a mess. Details such as how two wires connect to each other are the only 'mess' that is bad. If the 'details' were done properly (even if wires are 1930 vintage), then you have no reason to worry much for your electronics. If lights do not change intensity when major appliances power cycle - that is another indication of 'good' wiring. I would not add wires to 'his' house. But installing a GFCI (called RCD in some parts of Europe) in the bathroom is encouraged. Especially since GFCIs are so inexpensive. If the landlord can be manipulated, a GFCI circuit breaker in the breaker box for that bathroom circuit might be better. But breaker type GFCIs are more expensive. In homes where so many wires are 'unknown', some run a 6 AWG copper wire from the bathtub's drain pipe back to the breaker box. So that a steel bathtub can never become 'hot'. Human skin loses its electric resistance when wet. Wet skin is when humans are at greatest risk. That ground wire precaution might be more important than any previously discussed plug-in solutions. Every so often, I find some wiring that ... At one point I told a friend I was cutting out the entire one circuit. He had no say. And running a whole new circuit. I did not trust any of the 'new' wires because the homeowner taped wires together inside walls. Some people have that little respect for human life. Too many say the lights work; therefore everything is fine. These human safety precautions (in some cases) mean electronics are also better protected from anomalies. But from your descriptions, it sounds like wiring does meet minimally sufficient requirements. That upgrades after 1960 were performed properly.
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RadTech
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Post by RadTech on Aug 5, 2011 11:10:21 GMT -5
Yeah its a pain in the ass. And to make it worse I live in indiana,. My landlord is in florida. I live in Florida and my landlord in Minnesota!
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Post by Nemesis.ie on Aug 5, 2011 11:47:51 GMT -5
Another Euro trivia point, in the UK and Ireland we are not allowed standard sockets in the bathroom and even the light switch has to be outside the room itself. In mainland Europe this is not the case even though we are all now on the same voltage. This is likely an historical thing as in the UK and Ireland we have 13 amp capacity in doemstic sockets versus 10 elsewhere. That said, I've sure 220/240v at 10 amps is also quite capabale of causing you some inconvenience if you are soaking in the tub.
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NorthStar
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Post by NorthStar on Aug 5, 2011 12:08:11 GMT -5
Option (a) APC H15.
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jamrock
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Post by jamrock on Aug 5, 2011 15:58:00 GMT -5
The APC H15 without a doubt.
It is built like a tank and does it's job reliably and without notice.
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