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  1. M

    Safe electrical contact cleaner for trailer connections?

    I need to clean up some corrosion on contacts for the lights on a trailer. The plug that plugs into the back of the light assembly, for example. Is there an electrical contact cleaner you have used that won't melt or otherwise damage any of the plastic lights?
  2. M

    Good automotive battery charger?

    I'm looking to buy a new automotive battery charger. I've been researching online for a couple of hours and not finding anything that looks decent. I have a schumacher now and I am not a fan. It sometimes will be charging for what I think is too long and it might say, for example, the battery...
  3. M

    Using jackhammer at 45 degree angle?

    Hi Guys, I have to drive 40 ground anchors 12 feet into the ground using a 90 pound jackhammer. They have to be driven at 45 degrees. The spec says to stay within 5 degrees + or - of the 45 degree angle. I've never done this. Anyone have experience with this and have any tips on getting...
  4. M

    concrete slab no rebar?

    we are pouring a 5,000 sq ft slab for a tent wedding venue our concrete guy says the fiber mesh in the concrete is all you need and you don't need rebar or wore mesh in the slab. he says no one uses it any more the concrete plant suggests still using rebar even with the fiber mesh. rebar is...
  5. M

    Running sch40 electrical in floor before concrete?

    Hi All, I have a project where I need to run the gray PVC SCH 40 electrical conduit in the floor of a cement slab before the concrete is poured. I'm running 3/4 SCH 40 and will be using 12 gauge THHN. I will have circuits that will have 4 or more receptacles (boxes) on the same 20 amp...
  6. M

    Help from electrician for load calculations

    Hello, I'm filling out paperwork for the power company regarding having them run 400 amp power out to a building for me. They need a load calc. The main power draw is potentially (down the road) going to be two 20 ton 3-phase air handlers. I'm looking at this one for an example. If someone...
  7. M

    Concrete bid seems high

    Hi Guys, I have a concrete project with a 5,304 square foot (65.48 sq yards of concrete) main slab that will be poured across 2 days with half being poured the first day and the remainder the second day. Then there is a patio which is 26.75 square yards that would be poured later after the...
  8. M

    Off-Peak Electric Water heater quirks

    I learned something interesting about off-peak electric hot water heaters when you have a smart meter controlling it. When the power company shuts off your hot water heater during the day, they don't shut off all the power to the hot water heater. They only shut off one 110 volt leg of the...
  9. M

    Sensor to disable mini-split in cold?

    Hi All, We have an LG model LMU24CHV mini-split that is rated to run down to -4F. I'm not sure I trust them, but LG is telling me that if you turn it on when it's, say, -20F it won't damage the unit it just will not heat. Anyone know if it's true that it won't damage it? Second question --...
  10. M

    DIY Floor Mat for water containment?

    Hi All, We have a heated garage and end up with inches of standing water in our garage every winter. I usually end up using the wet floor vac to **** up the water and then a fan to dry the floor. I'm getting tired of that. I don't like the commercial floor mats that you can buy because they...
  11. M

    Painting Bare Aluminum?

    Hi guys, I'm going to be painting a 4 x 6 foot aluminum sign that is brand new aluminum. Its going to be out in the sun for years and years and I don't want the paint to fail. There will be vinyl lettering and pin striping applied to the painted sign. A pro sign shop is doing that part. I...
  12. M

    How to locate outlet starting from breaker panel?

    Hi All, I have a breaker labeled "Exerciser" that is in a breaker panel that has no empty slots left in it. I'm pretty sure I can pull that wire out of the panel and pull a new wire in its place. However, before doing that I would like to know what outlet I would be disabling. I see there...
  13. M

    Trace duct from upstairs to down?

    We have a 2 story home with a couple of bedrooms upstairs. I want to find where the duct work goes from the basement to the upstairs room. I can see by looking inside the duct in the upstairs bedroom that the duct travels between the floor joists from the front of the home towards the back...
  14. M

    Paint new oil pan to prevent rust?

    It seems that the oil pans on Dodge Ram's with the Cummins diesel will rust out quickly. I ordered a brand new pan. One review said the paint came off in sheets (the new pan) after a year. I want to take steps to try and prevent the rust. Should I just layer on more layers of paint and let...
  15. M

    Who needs a torque wrench?

    So I'm doing a brake job on our Toyota and I decide to use the factory tire iron to tighten the lug nuts because I broke my torque wrench. So I pull out the tire iron and the damn thing is only about 12 inches long. Maybe 14 inches long tops. Seriously....who makes a dinky short tire iron...
  16. M

    Recommendation for wood for custom doors?

    Hi Guys, I have to build some custom doors and build the door trim/casing/jam etc. These are for door openings on balconies overlooking a sort of courtyard inside our home. I've got rough openings and I need to build the rest from scratch. We're going for a look that is somewhat of a tuscan...
  17. M

    Wifi Motion detector alarm?

    Has anyone found a slick motion detector that will use wifi to send an alert to your smartphone when it detects movement? I don't need a whole alarm system. I really just need one sensor that will alert when motion is detected. Anyone found anything like that?
  18. M

    Question for the pro plumbers

    I'm cutting out a bad drain for a shower and installing a new drain before I build the shower. As you can see from the photo, because of the couplers in there I don't have much to work with. I'll have to take some measurements to see if there is enough stub somewhere to glue in a new coupler...
  19. M

    Suggestions for tricky mini split install

    We have a huge house and are going to add a mini split heating/cooling unit to an upstairs bedroom so that the room has its own temperature controls. I'll be installing it. The bedroom is framed in an attic area. On 2 walls the other side of the walls is unheated attic space. The front of...
  20. M

    Using tape around heat in bathroom fan?

    I'm installing a bathroom fan and the back side of it is open to my attic. The metal fan enclosure has a lot of holes drilled into (presumably pre-drilled for mounting) it and I want to tape all of those over so that I'm not venting heat and moisture directly into the attic even when the...
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