All Forum Posts by: Loren Thomas

I agree with his assessment. I came across one of these in my own house last year. I didn't cut any wires but I did throw it in a dump run I started and I could hear it for 2 weeks in our driveway, under other crap, in the rain.

Cost varies way too much for me to give you a solid answer here.

A local electrical contractor is going to be your best bet.

Subpanel or service? full kitchen? What heat source? Ventilation? 

John,

Are you asking what I think it'll cost to outfit a shipping container as a living space? There's a lot of variables there

Hello,

You can run power for a flood light off of almost any outlet or switch. Make sure you use the same size wire as what you're tapping in to. Also I'd use and LED lights to reduce the chance of an overloaded circuit.

Ok there's a couple of red flags with your picture there. 

While it is true you can't "double tap" a breaker, you can wire nut multiple wires together and run a a wire (pig tail) from that wire nut to the breaker.

You have peanut breakers (2 handles) in a few spots, you should to confirm that the black and red wires from the same cable are NOT on the same peanut breaker and are NOT on the same phase. If they are on the same, the neutral can become overloaded. I can't tell by your pic if this is an issue, but it's something to look for. Typically, if you have 2 cables, each with a black and red, put the 2 blacks on one peanut breaker, and the two reds on a peanut breaker either directly above or below the one with the black wires.

On the right side, I see a lot of neutrals under one screw. No bueno. Each neutral needs its own screw, how it is now can create a lose connection.

Same side, I see a bundle of ground wires on one screw. Also no bueno. You can have 2 ground wires (up to #12) on the same screw.

Right side, 3rd breaker down, appears to have 2 difference size wires. 

Something insignificant, its always black then red. Black on top, then red.

I'm in agreement with most of this. Most small dwellings don't need 200A. 

I do not agree that fuses are more reliable than breakers. Not to mention most fused systems don't have ample grounding. It's nice to reset the breaker if it trips than buying and replacing fuses.

Hello, grab a voltage meter and check for the correct voltage. Standard outlets should be 120v and the larger appliances are probably 220v if they are electric. If your saw is running at partial speed, you may have a neutral wire lose somewhere.

Hello,

Alright so your verbiage here makes the questions kind of hard to follow. When you say 110 Amp and 220 Amp, do you mean volts? 

Seems to me a proper set up would have an electrical panel in each unit from it's own meter.

In my area I don't know if you could even get away with installing 100 amps. Even a small 4 plex would easily overload. There's just more technology that gets plugged in now. If you are talking about 100 amps per unit you should go with that.

The no ground is a touchy subject. There's some things that can be done but more often then not, it makes sense to just replace the system. More reliable long term anyways.

If you've been told local code buy an electrician in your area, I'd take their recommendation.