Home Improvement Today?

Any better way to protect wires in stud walls from future drywall removal? Is conduit allowed in wall? Plastic flex loom? Just trying to give a bit more protection than the nail plates provide.

 

there's really no way to protect romex beyond the nail plates. it's rated as it comes, installing it within a tube/pipe alters the rating as it can't get rid of heat the same way. you would need to entirely replace all of the runs with something else.


i'm near chicago, so most of our local building codes require conduit and prohibit romex. entirely possible to change to, but requires different boxes and fittings.

if you're talking about this stuff when you say "plastic flex loom"
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Carlon-...-Tubing-Conduit-Coil-Blue-12008-025/202688856

that is no better than romex. only benefit is that wires could be pulled in later after the fact. there's no cut resistance, so hitting that in a wall with a sawzall has the same result as a 'raw' romex wire..

 

You could use FMC but unless code is requiring something more why?

 

I appreciate your help/comments with this! This is the best pic I have with all the wires out of the way.

 

don't give the plumber a sawzall

 

Any rules broken here? Max wires per stud hole maybe? I don’t want to drill more in this wall if I can avoid it. But there is one very close to the panel box.

 

This is what I have scrap of. Thinking for the heat pump since the wire is so expensive and I’ve taken all the pains of running it twice now cause it was bare wire in the stud bay and 3 junctions for a 50’ run. But not sure about the thermal concerns with 6/3 in that. And I’d either have to drill the studs bigger or use 14.5” sections in each stud bay.

I usually use a hand saw or hole saw w light touch when cutting drywall to avoid this. But I’ve screwed through it before too.

 

This will be tomorrow, but none-the-less.



Finally replacing the Mansfield I have in my bathroom now. It just doesn't flush well and due to the flushing mechanism is noisy as Hell. I really wanted to go with the American Standard I put in a co-workers house, but the space between the flange and the end back of the toilet is shorter on the Kohler. My heat register is behind the toilet and I really don't want to cut it apart. I have about 8.5" of room and the Kohler is exactly that. The American standard has more than an inch longer than that. I know the Kohler doesn't flush as well, but in my situation it's the easiest route for me to take. I did remember to buy a flange repair kit in case I need it. I also like that the Kohler came with a wax only ring, not one of those wax with plastic horns.

 

if using the FMC, you need to run individual insulated conductors through that. i'd have to check the cross sectional area's, but i think you'd need to run a 3/4"-1" FMC for a 6/3, which is going to be close to a 2" hole in those studs you don't want to drill anymore.. and that would only be for minorly increased cut protection. fmc isn't going to stop screws at all, really just hand-saw damage. sawzalls will go right into it

best option really is just to have a near-completion picture of where everything is so you know where to not cut.

i see why it didn't make sense before. that's a combination meter/panel combo. maybe you saw earlier where i said that the neutral/ground is combined from the meter to the first breaker? this is a UL-listed condensed version of that. any wall-mount panel has the capability to be either a main panel or a sub panel, as they can be installed in either location. but a meter/panel combo, there's no space for any additional panel to be installed between the meter and panel, so they omit the capability to be a main or sub panel, and it's a main panel only.

the lower bar is the neutral bar, upper bar is the ground bar, but because it's all in the meter socket, the entire housing is considered the neutral and ground. what makes the lower bar the neutral bar is the silver diagonal strap running off of it towards the meter connection. that strap is a supplemental neutral connection that directly connects to the utility connection that will also be bolted straight through that strap and into the metal enclosure.

there's nothing you need to do between those terminal bars, all the rules say the enclosure is the conductor between them.

yea, shouldn't be more than 2 wires per 7/8" hole. but i know plenty of inspectors that allow 3 wires per hole. as long as they're all drilled centered in the 2x4's they pass through, they meet code for distance from each side, and don't require nail plates.

but that's the minimum to meet code. the only thing keeping you from putting nail plates on every single hole all the way across is the expense of the nail plates and the time to install them.

 

Thanks again! So glad I don't have to take if apart again. I do wish it was a wider box, rather than this long narrow one. It's a lot of wire going down that one space.

 

Ok, fact check me?

Hood - 15 circuit (ok to use 12/2 or must use 14/2?
Gas range - as above?
Plugs are 20’s, fridges are 15’s as is sump pump (I’m running 12/2 to it though since it’s a long run.)
microwave is 20 w 20 single plug receptacle.
I think a few more circuits attached and I’m good to go. All the old one are alive and new 3 way switches for kitchen lighting run. I have two orphaned splices to take care of next and pantry lighting.

 

You can use 12/2 on a 15a circuit, but with the cost of wire that's pretty wasteful, unless you have a surplus of 12/2...

Gas range would be fine on a 15a breaker. Those might draw 2-3 amps running.

Fridge if by itself 15a is fine, but if it's sharing something (not exactly code like) 20a...


I like 14/2 or 14/3 wiring and 15a circuits. Much easier to pull and then wire in a box. However, there's cases of needing 12ga.

 

hood and gas range can go together on a 15A. hoods are around 4-8A, gas ranges have a clock and igniter--maybe 2A max.
good on the plugs, fridges, and microwave.

the sump, really only needs a 14ga 15A circuit unless it's well into 200-300' away. running 12ga doesn't hurt, just extra expense.

the 'orphaned splices', just make sure they're accessible for the finished product. sometimes you can dump them in a nearby outlet/switch/light box. but don't leave ever leave them buried in the wall for later. it's a code, safety, and troubleshooting issue.


as far as running 14/2 and 14/3, the cost of 14/3 is double the cost of 14/2, the main cost savings is in the labor to run it-- it also requires the use of a 2-pole breaker as well, which can be slightly more expensive than two 1-pole breakers.

 

I just double checked this. At my local Home Depot, 100’ of outdoor 12/2 in grey is $88 and 100’ of indoor 14/2 is $85. I figure sump pumps deserve grey jacket wire . I do hope 100’ is enough for it, I’ll end up using most of it but I can run it directly since it’s in the crawlspace.

Yeah, orphaned wire after relocating nearly everything in the kitchen becomes a mild pain. One marriage is in the box where disposal power will go and two are facing the garage as receptacles. One of those is a 20 amp line which used to feed the house vac and now feeds my workbench and garage stereo so that’s a lucky break. The other feeds the garage opener and a few additional receptacles so that is pretty clean now, just need to get the garage fridge on a dedicated circuit. So down to two remaining orphans which I think I’m going to stuff in the pantry where it’ll be accessible but not visible.

For the oven, can I stuff the 4” metal box in the wall? It was surface mounted before.

 

as long as you can mount the box to a stud. just don't leave it free floating in the wall.

 

Anyone open the salt tank lid on their water softener and have a HUGE STANK?

Phew.

I guess I need to dump, clean and renew?

Screw it, threw in a couple cups of bleach.

 

Dang what kind of alien witches' brew are you growing? lol. Salt kills everything.

I clean my salt tank after every 4 or 5 refills, 1000 pounds give or take. Never any smell to speak of, but plenty of dirt from the cheap salt I buy.

 

Never any stank, but mine puts too much water in the brine tank (it's 23 years old, so it's definitely worn out) so it makes the solar salt looks like a science experiment

Still works, so I don't really want to spend the money to replace it...

 

My shallow well (50 feet or so) - has H2S bacteria for sure. Somehow they can survive the salt, I guess!

Has anyone every bleach bombed a well?

Our other systems work fine, none of that gets in the house.

 

My friend has a 25' well and has bleached it occasionally, but I have never personally done it. I've thrown a couple gallons in my cistern, but never my well.

I assume you have a UV light after your sediment filter?