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1500 questions
14
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3 answers

What is the purpose of a watt regulator in my ceiling fan?

The lights on my harbor breeze fan stopped working this morning. When I came home from work, I got the ladder and took down the lights. I don't have a multimeter but I saw that there is this Watt Regulator (pic below) in the fan. I traced the wires…
user209
14
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8 answers

How to detect whether there is a signal on TV cable

I'm not receiving TV in my room and the cable guy has determined that there is no signal on my coax outlet in the wall. There is a signal in other rooms, so there must be a broken or disconnected cable somewhere in the house. Now the owner and I are…
Bart van Heukelom
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3 answers

Can I use old abandoned iron pipe as electrical conduit?

I have an older house (1920) and I have been planning on doing some rewiring to get rid of some k + t stuff. Anyway, I just noticed today that there are some irons pipes that used to be part of the heating system. (they are no longer connected +…
A.R.
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2 answers

We built a pergola, is it safe?

We found a pergola design that we loved and copied the design but now that it's (mostly) up we are questioning its stability and safety. The 2x6 beams are notched 3" to fit together, which I have read makes them equivalent to 2x3's. We love this…
Cindi
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4 answers

Re-painting drywall after patching leaves tones

I patched a few scrapes and small holes in the drywall, then got a can of color-matched paint in the hardware store (I took a sample with me, they color-matched it and prepared the paint). It is a white color anyways. However after I applied a first…
Mark
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14
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7 answers

Is running over your extension cable with an electric lawn mower dangerous?

I'm currently about to buy a lawn mower, but don't know if I should take a fuel, electric with cable or battery one. I'm leaning more towards electric with cable, because it's cheaper than battery and the price and the raising price of fuel won't…
Fredy31
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14
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7 answers

How to spray paint parking lot stripes by hand and avoid overspray

Our home owners association's community parking lot lines are wearing off, about 5 lines, and I'm interested in respraying it instead of calling a professional. I bought a Rust-Oleum Professional White Paint Spray, and I'm not sure how to avoid over…
Iancovici
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6 answers

How do I get crisp, clean edges in the corners where two paint colors meet?

I am about to renovate my room. A part of this plan includes painting all but one wall and the ceiling white, the other wall will be bright green. My walls are lightly textured and if this makes any difference, the original surface under most of the…
L.B.
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14
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4 answers

Why is this shared-neutral wiring bad?

Summary: I have this wiring situation in my home. I gather it's not up to modern code, and I experienced why it's bad (got shocked), but I don't understand why (physics/electricity) it happened. In the diagram you can see that there are two phases…
Phrogz
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14
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5 answers

Are tin roofs "permanent"?

My house has a tin roof over a porch. The house is about one hundred years old, and the tin porch roof is original, as far as I know. My question is whether the tin roof (which is currently in good shape -- no rusting or leaks) will last…
painter48179
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14
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11 answers

Knowing where to drill holes in steel plate?

I have a concrete floor and I made two holes to bolt a 1/4"-thick steel plate. The problem is that the steel plates haven't been drilled yet. How can I determine where the holes will be drilled in the steel plates so they match the holes in the…
rbhat
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What are the uses of the various schedules of PVC pipe?

I had a plumber come out the other day to do some work and I offered up some spare PVC that I had leftover from various projects and he told me that it was schedule so-and-so and wouldn't be appropriate/durable for the task I had in mind. I had…
JohnFx
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14
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8 answers

How do I measure the thickness of something with a lip or frame?

I'm looking for a device like vernier calipers (ie 0.1mm resolution or thereabouts is fine), but in more of a C-clamp configuration which allows me to measure the thickness of some object's face where there is a thicker frame, lip or ridge around…
pcdev
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5 answers

Can different gauges of wire be used on the same circuit?

My father-in-law is a builder. He has put in 20 amp and 15 amp breakers, and ran 12-2 as the home runs to the switches and the first outlet to make them hot. He then ran 14-2 to feed the rest of the outlets, lights, and ceiling fans. Is it okay that…
Mikey
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14
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3 answers

How do I shift a door's latch hole and strike plate up or down half an inch?

I have a few interior doors that do not latch closed because the bolting mechanism and latch hole are vertically misaligned. If I remove the strike plate I can extend the size of the latch hole, but then one of the screw holes of the strike plate…
Henry
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