Electricity 2.0! With Help From A "Sensei."

 That means "Teacher, Instructor, or Expert" in Japanese.    And that would be My Brother.  

Eric, ( My brother...) came over to help me out with the wiring of the garage.  It was a project I had not planned to tackle just yet, but he suggested it and offered his knowledge and experience  if he could come over for a visit.   Given the fact that I wanted this project completed before the first snow,  I accepted his terms!   That... AND I  kind of wanted to show off the new old house.  And run my plans by someone who has traveled this path before me.   

So let's meet the "Expert"!

This is my brother.  He is a union Electrician from the IBEW and worked on robots at GM for many years.  He is Highly opinionated when it comes to politics and religion.  (Which makes him a GREAT addition to any gathering or party.)   

And he is slightly over  "Normal"  weight. 

So his method of teaching is less like Mr Miyagi  from the Karate Kid...

And more like a chubby Buddha  sitting on a mountain.

So I knew I would be doing most of the physical work...  Which was fine.   A small price to pay for the advice and expertise.   Not to mention that I wanted to do this myself anyway... And would have done it all alone regardless.  

But having an extra set of hands and another person to bounce Ideas off of was very helpful.  

We started Friday off with digging a ditch to the garage.  18" deep....  With 1.25" conduit.    It took pretty much all day...  There were roots and rocks and "dirt"...  Not to mention the old romex cable that the last owner buried in his attempt for power to the garage.  I pulled as much old wire out of the ground as I could, but ended up leaving several feet where we could not remove it. 

With the trench dug and the Conduit laid... (We now had to pull the cable through.   Again,  this was a task where having a second set of hands was helpful.  

The distance was well over 30 feet,  so we had to used a string to help guide the heavy cable through.   I knew this trick from Youtube.  Where you stake a small string and use a vacuum to suck it through.  

Then you tie on the cable.   Feed it through while someone else pulls on the string to keep it from binding up.  

It worked out surprisingly well!  ( I have never done it before.  Eric has done it many times.) 

With the cable through,  Eric set up shop in front of the Breaker Box. 

He wired up the breaker in the Garage and I threaded the cable through the trusses in the basement.  

All the way to the Breaker Box in the house.  (A little over 50 feet total length!)  

We then moved to the basement Box.   It took him some time to get down into my basement, but when he did,  he wired up the cable and connected the power.   Electricity now was moving through the cable.   All we had to do was flip the switches in the garage.   

This part of the project pretty much took all of  Saturday!   There were a number of reasons for this... Including the fact that we had to go to Menards several times trying to get things that we had either forgotten to pick up or needed to complete the job.  I think the third time traveling there,  things began to get a little frustrating.  

We hooked up to the existing wiring in the garage.   This meant we really did not know how the previous owners had wired things up.or where the wires went. ( You can see them in the rafters, but the set up is rather chaotic.)   So,  of course, the first time we flipped the breakers,   nothing happened!

A quick trouble shoot and diagnosis and we tried a second time.   It was dark by now.. and we were working in the dark with flashlights.   Not the best of conditions. 

Second time flipping the switch.

LIGHTS!   SUCCESS!  

Time for Beer!   We sat out in the cool evening basking in the lighted success.   IT took longer than expected, but we managed to do the "Heavy Lifting" over a weekend.  

With the Power now running to the garage,  I can wire up and instal my Garage Door Opener.   

The Opener might take require a "second set of hands," but most of the other things I think I can tackle solo.   Now that a breaker box has been installed in the garage, I can safely turn off the power and work without fear of being fried.  

Sunday morning, after Church,   Eric stuck around to trouble shoot several of the wiring set ups in the house.  We managed to get power to two of the outlets and "fix" a ancient fire wiring practice that burned houses down.  ( Two hot wires spliced together.... We disconnected one, only to shock me with the other end!)   Eric suggested we run out a new ground into the yard and disconnect the existing "Questionable" set up the previous electrician had set up.  ( Old school was not really the "best") 

So now I have a safe and secure ground leading to the box.   Several outlets now have power.   And several dangerous junction boxes have been "improved".  The plan is to slowly eliminate and replace the old conduit and wires with Romex wires.   And hopefully get power back up to the upstairs.   The upstairs outlets are not working and  are "ungrounded."  There is power going to them, but  they  will not work when you plug something in.  

This could mean that more "Demo" work is required.  But for now,  I am happy with the visit and the work that was done.   And I will now spend the rest of the week cleaning up the mess we made.   Not only are my tools in disarray...   The entire basement and Garage are a disaster!  

And I tend to like organizing stuff.   There is a zen to it when you find the time.  It also helps when you have a place to put your tools and junk.   It took me nearly a month and a half to get rid of the junk I pulled out of the basement on the last Demo project.  Now I have all of the planking from the basement stairs to toss. I doubt I will replace it with the original wood or even plasterboard. 

And now this post is getting long so I will end it here and hopefully add more to the story as I go on through the week.   The colder weather is providing me the motivation to move things along a little more quickly.   And perhaps, on those days when I am snowed in,  I will find the time and motivation to do most of the internal stuff.  

But for now....   Time to do a little more cleaning before work.   And make every second count. 

This pretty much sums up the weekend. 

Electricity 101.. Passed! With A Pop Quiz In Plumbing.

 Today I finished up the wiring of the outlets in the basement....  (Drum roll,  please!) 

And I was Successful! 

That being said, I understand a little bit more now that I have a long way until I am proficient enough to be called an "electrician."  I watch these videos of these guys who do in 20 minutes what took me two day!   Guess that is good practice if you are union and paid by the hour....  Otherwise,  you would probably get "Replaced" by a younger, faster, and "better looking" guy.  

But I was really in it for the process, after all.   And the knowledge gained... Which I would say was a success!  In addition to the passing grade of the task.  In other words:  I learned a lot! 

I would give myself a B+ at least.   There is still a lot to learn, but I think I have the basics down and can proceed with confidence to the next level (What ever that will eventually be...) Now I simply have to work on repetition and speed.   By the time I got to the last plug, I could already see that I was doing things faster.  

But isn't that always the case?   Just when you are getting the hang of something,  the job is over.   And that is why I "tried" to make it last all day.... (Wink, Wink.)

The first outlet I had a GFCI outlet to install.   Not that difficult,  except I had to tie it into all the remaining downstream outlets.  So I could not use Pigtails to speed things up.   

I also tried  (in vain...) to get the wire connections under the little plates they had on that outlet.   I think that  making a shepard hook would have been sufficient,  but I wanted to do things "right."  Meaning that outlet took me way too long.   And I realized that with that amount of effort, it surely could NOT be the correct way to hook things up.  In fact, I don't remember any of the youtube videos telling me specifically to "make sure you get the hook under the plate..."  

So after that,  it was just a matter of getting the size of the shepard hooks correct. Then I could pigtail all the other outlets... Making the connections go faster. 

Until I ran into my first snag.   I needed 4 socketed WAGO connectors.  I had three and two socket ones, but had forgotten the middle outlet box.  It was getting late so I headed to ACE hardware just down the road.  I was prepared for them to me expensive.   But considering the alternative to drive all the way back to Menards, I rolled the dice. 

They had it!   But it was in a HUGE container ( 100 count!)   I only needed three.   I did the quick math in my head and decided to buy them.  By the time I factored in gas and time,  it would probably even out.   

After wrestling with the wires in each box,  I finally was to the moment of truth where I hook everything up to the Breaker Box.  I had the power turned off to the side breaker box so I would not kill myself.  I wired up the ground and then the neutral...  And then the Hot Wire to the 20 amp breaker...

And that is when I discovered another flaw.....  I had the wrong breaker!

The amperage was correct,  it just did not fit inside the box!  ( A different style.)   I didn't even know there were different types of breakers other than the amperage.   

So off to Menards again!  This time with receipt in hand for an exchange.    

And now it gets embarrassing.... I drove all the way to Menards with one of the unused breakers so I would know what type to buy.  ONLY to realize at the store that the old breaker breaker that was not being used WAS A 20 AMP BREAKER!  I could have simply pulled it out and hooked it up to finish my project.   

But now...  I drove all the way back to Menards, returned the wrong one,  and then drove back home with the old one in my possession.  It was at this point I realized I was getting tired and making stupid mistakes.   Time to wrap this up!

I get home,  Hook up the "old/existing"  breaker, and Plug it into the box.  

Take a selfie before I turn on the power... so I would have at lease one last picture of evidence of things were a disaster.   

I throw the switch!   

Nothing happens!   That is good, right?  No sparks,  no arcs, no fires!   I plug in my tester to see if the outlets have power. 

They DO!  

All of them!  HURRAY FOR ME!

I even checked the GFCI outlet to see if it would trip like it is supposed to.  It did!  I could feel the pride about to burst out of my chest like a space alien!

So now the Sump pump has permanent power...  No extension cord running down the middle of the floor.   And I got several other outlets available in the process.   I can't wait to see how I will use them in the future.  

As time was running out,  I decided to save the clean up for tomorrow...  or the rest of the week.   Actually,  My brother is planning on coming over to see if he can help me wire up the Garage with a permanent power supply.  He is a Union Electrician, so I would have expert advice readily available.  

 And I would get to do all of the work since he can't get around like he used to .   He actually helped me today,  but over the phone.   The problem with that is that I spent 3 hours chatting with him instead of actually doing the hook up!  With him being herw in person, that might not be as big of a factor. 

And before I head out,  My "Pop Quiz" in plumbing today was a shower head replacement.   I have been under the delusion that my shower was fine... Until today.   When I swapped out the head for one of those hand held shower heads.  (The Cheapest Menards had available!)   The difference was night and day!

The old shower head was ok..... But it lacked any direction.   Which means washing the tub was a bear.   I could never fully rinse out the tub because the water only went to one section of the tub.   With the handheld shower head, I can aim water anywhere I want.   Not to mention the water feels so much better now!   I took three showers today.   Not only because I was covered in dust and sweat, but also because I just liked the feel of the water on my head.   From stinging rain to a gentle warm waterfall!  

I know that I read somewhere that you need to change out your plumbing fixtures every 5 to 10 years if you want to maintain the quality.  Water, after all, is a universal solvent. And any water outside a Lab is not 100 percent pure.   All of those dissolved minerals eventually clog up or rust out your bathroom and kitchen fixtures.   No matter HOW expensive they were when you bought them,  they will eventually fail.  

I am convinced that most of those expensive fixtures are more about cosmetic and less about quality.   I'm sure there is a bit of quality tossed into them, but if you can get good results from a cheap showerhead just because it is new,  then why pay for those ridiculously expensive ones? 

The Cat is telling me to wrap things up.   So I will plan on doing  tomorrow all of the things I did not get the opportunity to finish today.   (That is a rather confusing sentence.) All that means is that The cat is messing with my typing and I have got to make finish up and make every second count. 

Working With Electricity....Day One.

 Actually,  I did not do anything particularly dangerous today.   I spent the entire day prepping for the electricity....   Which should be tomorrow if everything goes well.   I have everything set up and ready for install.  Basically, may task today was just to get the outlets and conduit up.   And buy all of the tools and parts I would need. 

So off to Menards!   (My favorite place in the WORLD!  Currently.....)  I didn't take a picture of the Banner they have up in honor of my Business.   Nor did I record their cheers as I enter the building.    Instead I went right over to the electrical section and started buying! 

A little over $300.00 Later.... I had all of this stuff!  Now I know that that seems like a lot of money for what you see here, but honestly, I purchased several tools I probably could have gotten away without.   But I do plan on using them for future projects, so I figured,  might as well start the collection and have them available.   Besides,  I know what it is like cutting PVC with a saw...  It SUCKS!   The end is crooked and filled with burrs.   And I saw the way the PVC cutters work...  Clean strait cuts!   

I was not disappointed!  And that goes for the Cable cutters as well.   I have used these before with my Bike,  and  I can't believe I struggled with crappy wire snippers all of those years before.   The cable cutters are clean and easy.   Worth the price if you want a clean cut.  And takes a LOT less time. 

Make a hole!

I had in mind that I wanted to cut a hole through the wall and run the conduit through.   I'm actually impressed how it turned out.   And I imagine running the conduit up and over would have not only looked terrible, but would have been way more frustrating.  

Install a Box!

After a while,  the entire thing began to take shape.   I heated up the pipe and bent it in the corners rather than buying those 90 degree sections.   I have a heat gun and I have experimented on regular PVC pipe before.   The only draw back is that without a "bending tool",  the pipe can form a kink and flatten a bit.   I know my bend was not perfect, but it worked good enough for me. 

Dry fit complete!

With everything "dry fit" and set up.  I anchored the pipe  and boxes to the wall with supports.  And then I made a "Rookie Mistake"....

Through the wall!

I watched a video about glueing up the pvc to prevent water from finding its way inside the pipe.  Made sense... at the time.   I mean,   The entire point of this project was to keep the water out of the basement.   So... I guess there is a chance that if the sump pump fails or something.... Water could become a factor.  

I know the water is on the floor and not on the walls.... But Dampness?   Maybe?  

And they never really tell you when you should glue up the joints in the pvc.   So... I did it after everything was set up.  

It might not have been an issue,   But I was running ROMEX inside 1/2 inch PVC.  Even with the 90 degree turns I put in,  it was fine.   Until I got to the end coupling.   

I also made the mistake of trying to cram an entire run of cable through  the entire section.   I discovered that it was easier just cutting the wire and taking it in three sections.   I was going to cut the cable anyway to hook up the outlets.   So,  that was not really a big deal.  

Wired up!

And the only problem I had was with the last coupling.   I had to cut it off and that prevented me from finishing the set up tonight.   I was pretty "done" with the project at that point anyway, so it was a good place to stop.  

Ready for hookup tomorrow...

I also found that threading the Cable through the conduit while it was off the wall was far easier.  Note to future self for later!

So now I just have to go to Menards again tomorrow and pick up another coupler for the last box.   And then I begin the "dangerous" part of actually wiring up the outlets and hooking up the breaker to the box.  My brother ( the Electrician) was MIA today....  which was ok due to me not really dealing with the electricity just yet.   But tomorrow,  I probably will have him on speaker phone so he can walk me through the hook up process.   And call 911 if I electrocute myself!

It was a beautiful day today.   And I was able to relax and mow my lawn.   I played with the cat in the yard and chatted with the neighbor for a bit.  The only downside was that the day seemed to fly by.  But I did learn and have fun setting up the circuit.   I know it does not look very impressive, but to me, I think it looks pretty good so far.  And I'm impressed I pulled it off solo!  ( With a lot of Help from YouTube!  To be sure!)  

And I know that the satisfaction of completing the job and having everything work as planned will not be seen by anyone else other than myself.   But then again,  that is what an individuals journey through this life is all about.   The small victories that no one else sees.   Unfortunately, I think many people rarely see their own victories everyday.   Everyday,   people are blessed with an able body,  good food, shelter,  Employment,  Friends, etc.   But we take our health and safety for granted and worry about other   "insignificant" things.  

Of which I also fall victim too...  But I'm trying my best to be grateful for every day.   And All of the gifts God has blessed me with.  And I will do my best  with the time I have left...  To make every second count...