April 21, 2015 AsktheBuilder Newsletter
Yesterday my good friend John came over to help me diagnose a pesky electrical problem. John's a fellow ham radio operator and he's a master electrician.
I'm pretty good with electric, but I was scratching my head with my problem. Someone push the Doofus Alarm button!
The electric to my shed and a post lamp at the top of my drive were not working and I thought it was a bad buried wire that passes under the driveway. The shed is on the same circuit as my post lamp at the top of the driveway.
Two other lights that I thought were on the same circuit did work fine.
Rather than bore you with all the details, the issue was a circuit breaker in the panel that had the WRONG identification on it.
You can see the label on the panel door just below. The word 'Post' refers to the post lamp at the top of the driveway.
I didn't build the house I live in. Let's be clear about that. What's more, the electrician who wired the house purchased breakers that don't have the convenient clear window that displays RED when a breaker is tripped.
Using a light tester, John quickly went through all the breakers on both panels and discovered a DIFFERENT breaker that had tripped but was not obvious. This breaker in the panel was just labeled: Garage Plugs.
The issue is there are three sets of garage plugs all of them on different circuits. It turns out the electrician put the outdoor post lamp, and my shed, on this one Garage Plugs circuit, not the one in the photo above.
The post lamp and shed had been not working since just before the ground froze back in early December, but I had no reason to use the obscure garage wall outlets all winter so I had no idea they were NOT working.
It was only in the past few days, I discovered the garage plugs were out when I tried to use my circular saw. I failed to connect the two outages thinking they would be related.
Being in a rush, I just plugged my saw into the other working garage outlets and figured I'd deal with the non-working outlets when it became a higher priority on my to-do list.
Yes, even I have a to-do list! There's always something to fix or improve around the house and right now I've got some very big fish to fry.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't trust what's marked on your panel - EVER. You may want to change out plugs or a switch and think you've turned OFF a circuit when, in fact, it still has power going to it. You could be in for a surprise SHOCK.
Handy Klein Screwdriver
John used the craziest screwdriver I've ever seen in my life to remove the screws that hold on the circuit breaker panel.
Yes, believe it or not but I don't know about every tool that's been ever made. I do my best to know about them all, but it's tough with all the new introductions plus specialty tools used by different trades.
The crank-action handle spins fast with just one hand rotating either clockwise or counterclockwise. It's ingenious technology copied from any number of things over time that have had cranks.
You can't believe how FAST you'll remove or install screws with this tool.
I've ordered one and will be taping a video for you to show you how well this tool works.
CLICK HERE to read more about it and to BUY it.
Historic Beer Bottles
Do you collect old beer bottles or know someone who does? Are you looking for a UNIQUE gift for someone who loves beer?
I've got two vintage beer bottles for sale from two OLD Cincinnati German Breweries. These bottles have the brewery logos and names cast into the glass.
I found them under a window seat in an old house I was remodeling back in Cincinnati. The workmen building the home put them there as a time capsule.
One's from Hauck and the other one Hudepohl. The vendors at Crosley Field used to yell, "Get moody with a Hudy!"
CLICK HERE to look at the HAUCK beer bottle in pristine condition.
CLICK HERE for the Hudepohl bottle.
If you're a NEW subscriber in the past few days, I'm selling a bunch of my stuff because I moved from my basement office to my smaller man cave above my garage.
Over the years, I've accumulated lots of stuff and it's time to sell it. You should do the same. I'm STUNNED at what some of my stuff is selling for on eBay.
They've made it so easy to list items I can't believe it.
I need to PURGE. My loss is your gain.
I'll bet I'll sell well over 100 items on eBay. I'm trying to load them as fast as possible.
As soon as I send this newsletter, I'll be listing a pristine FujiFilm FinePix S5000 Digital camera.
New Q and A's For You
Brick Wall Leakage Repair in Australia!
Hurricane, Tornado, Flood, Fire, Severe Thunderstorm Insurance Claim Tips
Granite Countertop Crack Repair or NOT!
P.S. I'll have TWO cool Sale items on Friday. One is for the BEST Gutter Guard - I'm still working out the details for you, and the other is the Stain Solver Deck Cleaning SPECIAL!
Tim Carter
Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com
Do It Right, Not Over!