Circuit Breaker Question

[Charlie Foxtrot]

I've got an old Milwaukee right angle drill and some Planetor bits.  Made a lot of holes with that combo.  Planetor bits were great.  A sharp bit could eat through anything wood almost effortlessly. 

One time I was drilling a 2x4 that had a panel tub on the other side.  I was aiming for a KO in the tub and trying to be careful to stop before I hit metal.  Oops!  Too late.  The bit caught the metal, and the handle, with my hand firmly attached, swung up and I ended up punching myself in the chin.  Didn't know I had such a mean uppercut.

Ahh, those Milwaukees... I had a 3/4" Hole Hawg that got me in lots of trouble. Loved that fitting on top that let you thread in a cheater bar that your guppy could use to help counter the torque of that thing.

Fired one idiot who turned loose when the bit hooked up.  Fired him on the spot as I wasn't quite sure I was going to live. 

 

[Chris in Santa Cruz CA]

When it comes to electrical stuff, it pays to be conservative and future thinking.. 

Right now, I have four runs (circuits) that are wired from the service panel to a junction box in the attic two using 12 gauge (yellow) wire, and two using 14 gauge (white).  They will probably never be used, but the cost at the time when the new panel was being put in was $50.00  Maybe in the future with a kitchen remodel or recessed lighting etc...  it will make the job a lot easier.

As for being conservative, if the code says 10, go no more than 5.  Insurance companies get real weird when it comes to electrical fires, especially with new construction/installation.

You didn't hear it here but if you want a fire to look accidental, an electrician is kind of a like using a locksmith/alarm expert to help you steal stuff

 

[d'ranger]

Did anyone mention that breakers wear out - go soft?  They should have a hard click, if they are mushy have to be replaced - by the same type. That part isn't rocket science. 

 

[Ventucky Red]

You didn't hear it here but if you want a fire to look accidental, an electrician is kind of a like using a locksmith/alarm expert to help you steal stuff

That is why they get real funny...  

 

[Jules]

WHOLEY FUCK BATMAN

a 40 Amp 220 Breaker is a pair of 40 Amp Breakers Locked together so if one leg trips it kills the other

a pair of 20 Amp breakers makes a 20 Amp 220 Breaker (But Only if switches are bridged)

if you Don't Fully/Completely understand That yer Not qualified to reset a breaker if tripped

Wasn't commenting on amps, only the handle tie, Batman.

 

[Jules]

Ahh, those Milwaukees... I had a 3/4" Hole Hawg that got me in lots of trouble. Loved that fitting on top that let you thread in a cheater bar that your guppy could use to help counter the torque of that thing.

One time we had to drill through some old brick, about 10' up.  My partner went up the ladder to do the drillling and it quickly caught, almost throwing him off the ladder.  I grabbed a full stick of 3/4" rigid and screwed it in.  I'm on the ground, he's up on the ladder, and I'm holding the end of the pipe for when it got hung up again.  When it did, it bent the pipe but my partner was saved.  Some of the crazy things we had to do to get the job done make me laugh now.

 

[Charlie Foxtrot]

....Some of the crazy things we had to do to get the job done make me laugh now.

Some of the crazy things we had to do to get the job done make me wake up sweating. 

We used the 10' stick of 3/4" rigid trick far more than we should have. But it was the 3' cheater bar that walloped me under the machinist shop when the maroonic guppy let go.    

Still, I lub me some Milwaukees. I've got my '80 era 3/8" drill motor in my home work box today.  Still kickin' after all those beers. 
 

 

[Jules]

Some of the crazy things we had to do to get the job done make me wake up sweating. 

We used the 10' stick of 3/4" rigid trick far more than we should have. But it was the 3' cheater bar that walloped me under the machinist shop when the maroonic guppy let go.    

Still, I lub me some Milwaukees. I've got my '80 era 3/8" drill motor in my home work box today.  Still kickin' after all those beers.

Yeah.  Most people will never know the circus acts we had to do to get the job done.  Still. I would never trade it for another profession.

Anyone who never spent time in the trades cannot appreciate how fun, and crazy, it can be.  I think of all the stories I've conveyed over the years and all the laughter it produced.  Still cool.  Puts a smile on my face... forever.

 

[Charlie Foxtrot]

Yeah.  Most people will never know the circus acts we had to do to get the job done.  Still. I would never trade it for another profession.

Anyone who never spent time in the trades cannot appreciate how fun, and crazy, it can be.  I think of all the stories I've conveyed over the years and all the laughter it produced.  Still cool.  Puts a smile on my face... forever.

Yeah.

I used my electrical job to fund my schooling. The degree it paid for got me a job in aerospace - which persists to this date.

However, my last project as an industrial electrician was to install the first 200 hp 5 axis CNC milling machine on the West Coast; a huge, ungainly West German contraption, lorded over by a huge, ungainly West German. Twenty years later, the mill was still spitting out parts. In aerospace, most of my work doesn't last 20 minutes as the layers of management start to put their imprimus upon it. 

Sometimes I think I made the wrong career choice. 

 

[Chris in Santa Cruz CA]

Yeah.

I used my electrical job to fund my schooling. The degree it paid for got me a job in aerospace - which persists to this date.

However, my last project as an industrial electrician was to install the first 200 hp 5 axis CNC milling machine on the West Coast; a huge, ungainly West German contraption, lorded over by a huge, ungainly West German. Twenty years later, the mill was still spitting out parts. In aerospace, most of my work doesn't last 20 minutes as the layers of management start to put their imprimus upon it. 

Sometimes I think I made the wrong career choice. 

Getting up at dawn as a 15 y/o and mixing mud for a bricklayer and bringing it to him in pails you had to go down a ladder 10 feet into a soon to be basement. Frontwards over and over again for two weeks. 

 

[dyslexic dog]

Getting up at dawn as a 15 y/o and mixing mud for a bricklayer and bringing it to him in pails you had to go down a ladder 10 feet into a soon to be basement. Frontwards over and over again for two weeks. 

Try tending two bricklayers laying on scaffold. If you didn't get mud to them quick enough, they threw shit at you.

 

[Charlie Foxtrot]

Getting up at dawn as a 15 y/o and mixing mud for a bricklayer and bringing it to him in pails you had to go down a ladder 10 feet into a soon to be basement. Frontwards over and over again for two weeks. 

Lemme axe you, Chris. Would you give up that experience? I don't think so. 

I'm not being any more of an ass than I usually am. I had some (a lot) of carp jobs as a pup; including digging deep ditches by hand for high voltage conduits - which I hated with a white hot passion approaching that of 'Murican Lite Beers. It must have changed me. As an aerogrunt, my capacity for work was commented on. "Well duh, Easy Money, I'm not on the dumb end of a shovel."  

We're getting a lot of Gen Zeros into the workforce now. It's obvious that they've never done anything harder than mashing buttons on their X-Boxes. To their detriment.

 

[Fat Point Jack]

One time we had to drill through some old brick, about 10' up.  My partner went up the ladder to do the drillling and it quickly caught, almost throwing him off the ladder.  I grabbed a full stick of 3/4" rigid and screwed it in.  I'm on the ground, he's up on the ladder, and I'm holding the end of the pipe for when it got hung up again.  When it did, it bent the pipe but my partner was saved.  Some of the crazy things we had to do to get the job done make me laugh now.

Bro was a Pipefitter (Local 597, Chicago).  He was working in one of the old refineries and the boss told him and his buddy to get a valve out that was put together 90 years ago.

Boss, "So Jim, how did you bend that 48" Rigid pipe wrench?"

Bro, "Well, you told us to get that valve out.  We put a 4 foot cheater on it and it didn't move.  We got a bigger cheater and it still wouldn't budge.  So along came the Operating Engineer with a back hoe.  He put the bucket on the handle and we got the valve out and bent the wrench."

 

[Point Break]

Back when I started in the FD, a lot of guys came from the trades or vets. It gave us people with work ethics that weren’t afraid to work hard, get dirty and appreciated the job. Many continued in the trades as “side jobs” to make extra $. In fact a couple guys ,literally built their own houses and many if us would help on days off for beer, pizza and learning as payment. I gained a real appreciation for the trades, the hard work and skills necessary. Although I love working with my hands and making “stuff”, I wouldn’t want to do it for a living. Seems like that introduces a component of working for people that are not very pleasant in order to make a buck and the pace necessary to maintain sufficient volume to make a living that detracts from the enjoyment of making and fixing stuff. 

 

[RedTuna]

Yeah.

I used my electrical job to fund my schooling. The degree it paid for got me a job in aerospace - which persists to this date.

However, my last project as an industrial electrician was to install the first 200 hp 5 axis CNC milling machine on the West Coast; a huge, ungainly West German contraption, lorded over by a huge, ungainly West German. Twenty years later, the mill was still spitting out parts. In aerospace, most of my work doesn't last 20 minutes as the layers of management start to put their imprimus upon it. 

Sometimes I think I made the wrong career choice. 

You had me at 5-axis.  One of my first projects after moving from jet engine test to the overhaul shops was to set up line boring on TF39 compressor variable stator vane cases.  Damn, was that a mind-fucking cultural shift from what I'd been doing, but we figured it out and saved million$.  Do you speak ASME Y14.5?

And nah, you didn't make a wrong career choice.  My blue collar background gave me street cred with the jet engine mechs and machinists.  And management was only briefed/given enough information to make the decisions we'd already made.  Learning NLP in the early 90s helped, too.

Bro was a Pipefitter (Local 597, Chicago).  He was working in one of the old refineries and the boss told him and his buddy to get a valve out that was put together 90 years ago.

Boss, "So Jim, how did you bend that 48" Rigid pipe wrench?"

Bro, "Well, you told us to get that valve out.  We put a 4 foot cheater on it and it didn't move.  We got a bigger cheater and it still wouldn't budge.  So along came the Operating Engineer with a back hoe.  He put the bucket on the handle and we got the valve out and bent the wrench."

Man, that brings back some memories.  If only we'd been able to get a back hoe 75 feet up. 

 

[Jules]

Bro was a Pipefitter (Local 597, Chicago).  He was working in one of the old refineries and the boss told him and his buddy to get a valve out that was put together 90 years ago.

Boss, "So Jim, how did you bend that 48" Rigid pipe wrench?"

Bro, "Well, you told us to get that valve out.  We put a 4 foot cheater on it and it didn't move.  We got a bigger cheater and it still wouldn't budge.  So along came the Operating Engineer with a back hoe.  He put the bucket on the handle and we got the valve out and bent the wrench."

Then there was the time we couldn't pull wire through a 2" conduit.  The truck act didn't work so the foreman got the operator of a backhoe to come over and help. 

He pulled the wire, and the pipe, right out of the ground.

 

[Jules]

Sometimes I think I made the wrong career choice. 

Probably not.  While I did things I could have never experienced in the white collar world (my dad had me pegged as the one child to join him in his law firm) there were more times that what I did made me miserable.  I often said if, after I die, I found myself hanging fluorescent fixtures from a concrete ceiling, that I'd know I was in hell.

 

[Ventucky Red]

Getting up at dawn as a 15 y/o and mixing mud for a bricklayer and bringing it to him in pails you had to go down a ladder 10 feet into a soon to be basement. Frontwards over and over again for two weeks. 

Worked for a stonemason for a few summers...  schlepping stones, scaffolding, mixing mud - still, remember 3 parts sand, 1 part lime 1 part cement...  and then mixing the pointing mortar...  the work this guy did was on old SE Pennsylvania homes with lots of stonework and the pointing had to be just right to blend in with the existing work..  you dare not screw that up..  one was one scoop yellow bar sand, one scoop regular brown sand, one scoop white sand, 1/2 scoop white cement, 1/2  scoop regular cement, and two cups (yes there was a measuring cup) of maroon plaster/stucco tint..   had to be mixed dry before adding the water..

After that summer I had some pipes where my arms looked like Popeye's after eating some spinach.

Try tending two bricklayers laying on scaffold. If you didn't get mud to them quick enough, they threw shit at you.

They were probably getting paid piecework

Back when I started in the FD, a lot of guys came from the trades or vets. It gave us people with work ethics that weren’t afraid to work hard, get dirty and appreciated the job. Many continued in the trades as “side jobs” to make extra $. In fact a couple guys ,literally built their own houses and many if us would help on days off for beer, pizza and learning as payment. I gained a real appreciation for the trades, the hard work and skills necessary. Although I love working with my hands and making “stuff”, I wouldn’t want to do it for a living. Seems like that introduces a component of working for people that are not very pleasant in order to make a buck and the pace necessary to maintain sufficient volume to make a living that detracts from the enjoyment of making and fixing stuff.

The guy that I worked for was Italian but spoke fluent German, most of our conversations, or should I say his barking orders were in German and he taught me a little Italian along the way...   He always told me it is good to know a trade but get an education - this work is good but you don't want to be doing it when you 50... 

 

[Charlie Foxtrot]

I often said if, after I die, I found myself hanging fluorescent fixtures from a concrete ceiling, that I'd know I was in hell.

And if I'm using a Ramset to nail those eff-ers to the ceiling, I know I'm in heaven. 

 

[Point Break]

And if I'm using a Ramset to nail those eff-ers to the ceiling, I know I'm in heaven. 

You just like things that go “BANG”.  :lol: