xrated

I honestly don't remember them having a Black and silver. As far as I know they've been the silver and gold screws for a long time. That doesn't mean that they never were, but I sure as hell don't remember them like that?????? And yes, neutrals in switch boxes are becoming or maybe ARE the norm now, and it's for the reason that you mentioned....smart switches need them.

Beats the shit outta me....never seen that before.

In the industrial and commercial electrical industry, phase marking tape is used a LOT. An example is point A to point B via a run of conduit for a 3 phase device. So you pull in three Black conductors in the conduit but you mark them with phasing tape before pulling them in the pipe. Leave one of them black, then mark the other two, one with yellow, one with brown. If the run is long enough, many times we would set up three spools of Black wire and phase mark them. On shorter runs, where you can cut off the amount you need from one spool, you just cut three runs and mark them after each one is cut...then pull them in. And I agree, somebody skipped an important step when they were doing yours and left the tape marking off.

Update: I finally got around to putting the new Amazon "link belts" on my stuff. The bench grinder was a bit of a pain because there wasn't enough room to turn the belt material inside-out and do the connections, but I made it work. It's actually such a tight fit in that area that the outer surface is just ever so slightly touching the grinder housing.....and that makes a little noise. The drill press was a 15 minute job from start to finish, including getting the length close to the old worn out belt, then putting some WD40 on the adjusters, to installing and adjusting the belt tension and locking it down. It runs as smooth as a baby's butt and hopefully will last another 70 plus years. The drill press, as I stated before was my father's, and it was purchased before I was born in 1954...

Here is a page that may explain it a bit for you. And something to keep in mind, on the three way switch itself, the terminal that is marked as "common", refers to that TERMINAL.....as opposed to the other two terminals (not counting the ground) which are the switched legs for the travellers. https://www.electrical101.com/3way-switch-wiring-using-nm-cable.html And as you can see in the picture to the right of that page, if the incoming line comes into where the actual fixture is located (as opposed to a switchbox), then the white wire can be used as the hot wire feeding the downstream switches...BUT....it is supposed to be marked clearly with BLACK TAPE and that should be at both ends of that cable run.

I checked the drill press this morning and the belt on it isn't quite as bad as the bench grinder belt, but still needs to be replaced. It's the same width as the bench grinder so I went to the Amazon link you provided and found the 1/2 wide belting and ordered a 10' piece of it. That will be more than enough for both items and I should have a bit leftover. Both items have tension adjustment capability, so hopefully, there will be no issue with either. The belt piece should be here on Tuesday next week. Thanks for the link Oscar!

Harbor Freight carries the 1/2 size and that is what I need for the bench grinder, plus HF is in town. I'll have to check my drill press too, before I order anything. Basically the same scenario.......it was my Dad's and he passed away in 1976 and I have never changed a belt on either item...so the drill press may be in need also. If that's the case, and it's 1/2 also, then a 10' piece would be a better option.

This is the first I've ever seen of the Accu-Link...Link Belt. I have a bench grinder on a workbench that was my Dad's and he passed away in 1976. The belt on that is literally going to let go anytime now and I was looking at it the other day. The pulley is in the middle, between the two grinding wheels so disassembly of the grinder would be required to put a new belt on. Not terrible, but hey, why make it harder than it needs to be. I'm going to buy one of the Link Belts at Harbor Freight and just cut the old belt off.

There are a few manufacturers that will custom build your RV, based on needs/wants, but those are almost always the high dollar, premium manufacturers......think hundreds and hundreds of thousands of $$$. And reason is, you basically pick one of their existing floor plans.....length, how many slides, any appliances or devices that are not normally offered in their lineup, then their engineers go to work moving things around like walls, electrical lines, plumbing lines, drain lines, CATV outlets, etc and making sure that everything has a place and is in a workable location.....all without overloading the existing frame/chassis/axle/springs etc and turning it into a custom job. It's basically a "one off", so you can imagine the cost of doing something like that, but the people that have that kind of money, want what they want, when they want it.....and they're willing to pay for that.

There is ONE glaringly obvious answer to this entire post of questions and answers...............HOTEL or MOTEL! Done, finished over with!

I've been there done that. That last time, about 4 or 5 years ago required a trip to the E-room for some stiches. I finally learned my lesson from that one. Anything that is small enough that I have to hold it in place with my other hand while trying to hammer it......I use a pair of Channellocks or Vise grips and keep my hand out of the way. It's just a shame it took me 65 years to learn that lesson.

It just depends on what you are going to use them for. In my case, I HAD to have it for my application. I bought a 15Kw peak (12Kw running) "portable" Westinghouse generator that is dual fuel and uses the NEMA 14-50 setup. I am using it for backup power at the house in the event of a power outage. I went the "cheap" route and instead of buying a large manual or automatic transfer switch system, I am using the main breaker lockout method and bringing the generator power into that house breaker panel via a double pole 50A breaker. With that type of setup, you have to turn the house main breaker to the off position and then slide a moveable "lockout" up into position to prevent the main from being turned back on. When you do that, it then allows you to turn on the 50A double pole breaker that is the generator input for the house panel. So when that happens, you are using the existing neutral/ground bonding inside the house breaker panel instead of having a neutral/ground bond in the generator itself. It is completely up to code from NEC doing it this way, and of course is a lot less expensive that doing the manual or automatic transfer switch method. The drawback is obviously, if we aren't at home, nothing happens when the power goes out......because the generator does not start by itself and none of the switch is done automatically. For the few times that we lose power here, I decided to go that route.......plus I'm retired so I'm home a lot more than most folks that are working. The generator that I bought came with a generator neutral/grounding bond inside the generator, but the manual gives you directions on how to remove it if you need a floating neutral/ground bond......which I did. I of course saved the bonding jumper and clearly marked the generator as "Neutral/grounding BOND REMOVED.... It's a hoss.......close to 600 lbs when fully fueled with 17 gallons of gasoline, but a good set of solid wheels on it and handles for moving it outside my garage if/when needed.

I'm not going to go out on a limb here, but I know for a fact that my trailer (50A service using the NEMA 14-50 plug and recept), at the breaker panel in the trailer, there is NOT a bonded neutral ground connection. I believe almost, maybe all trailers are the same way, and that makes sense because under normal circumstances, the trailer receives it's power from a cord via "shore power". That power source, the shore power, is fed by a neutral/ground bonded supply. So if the trailer also was neutral/ground bonded that would violate the NEC rule about only ONE neutral/ground bond. So if you power the trailer from a generator that is neutral/ground bonded inside the generator, life is good. If you power it from a floating neutral type generator, you will need to provide that neutral/ground bond and many folks do that with the 120VAC plug like you pictured earlier with a wire placed between the neutral and the ground connection inside the plug. Edited to add answer to the last part of your above question..... "Wouldn't the trailer floating be a danger itself?" Absolutely yes. If there is not a path back to ground, and there is an issue with a device or even the wiring itself whereby the hot wire came in contact with some metal part of the trailer, that would cause the trailer to have, what is commonly called "hot skin". It was probably named that because in a situation like that, you brush up against the side of a trailer and some of it is metal or some part is metal, you get shocked if you become the path to ground. Depending of course on how well you are "grounded", the shock could be kind of just a tingle, all the way to full blown 120VAC travelling through your body. In those two examples, think of touching a hot skin trailer and you are wearing rubber boots and the ground is dry.....maybe nothing at all or just a slight tingle. Then on the opposite end of the scenario, you are barefoot, stand in a puddle or morning dew on the grass or whatever and you touch that same thing......possibly the full 120VAC from the hot skin, through you, and to ground.

You lost me on that one......the "plug in the trailer" part of it. Can you explain in more detail please.

LOL.......that's an easy one......a bonding plug for the generator. Do you have an EMS system for the trailer........Like a Progressive or some other brand, or is this needed for EV charging? Just to be sure, here is a picture of a "Wiggy" whose brand name is a Wiggington. It reads AC voltage, DC voltage and also shows polarity on the DC side of things based on the little red piece under the plastic cap. If your test leads are on correctly (Red to Pos. and Black to Neg), the cap will show RED. If you reverse the leads or someone has hooked up the DC supply backwards, it will flip to Black, as long as you have the leads connected correctly. And it obviously is not a No contact voltage tester.......but your already knew that.

I know the pain of getting shocked all too well. I got hit with a single phase of 480V to ground (my little finger on my right hand) one time, very early in my career (circa 1981) as an Electrician. It was TOTALLY unexpected as my working buddy and I were doing some work on a........get this.....250V DC control board. So how did 480V appear on a 250VDC control board? Trust me, that was my question. It seems that someone, well prior to me being there, had a need to use one of the 250VDC relays on the board for an ON/OFF switch for a 408VAC water control valve. So, they found a 480V source, ran a lead over to a set of normally open contacts on that relay, and used it for turning the water control valve on and off. No where on the 250VDC board was there a sign, warning, nothing stating "multiple voltage sources....Danger". Oh, and the best part, no one updated the schematic drawings of it either, so obviously it did not show up on any prints that we had. And to top it off, as if it needed more fucktardery than I've already described, The 250VDC relay that had the contacts for the 480VAC valve, was an open relay with zero covering over the actual contacts. That happened on the midnight shift, and trust me, I was waiting for the boss to arrive in the morning to start his shift and we had a very good "come to Jesus" meeting about what happened that night. It was corrected by the time I came in for my midnight shift the next night, and the print also was updated.

Although the "Wiggy" has proven to be a very reliable test device over the years, one of them could have gotten me killed back in the 90s. I was still working in the Steel Mill and every Electrician there carried a Wiggy tester with him. They had leather pouches for them with belt loops and most of us just put the leather pouch on our tool belts with the tester on one side and our actual tool pouch on the other. While testing a 480V 3 phase circuit one day, to see if the power had been removed (we had turn off a 3 phase disconnect, but it was not properly IDed), I pulled the Wiggy out of the pouch and placed the leads on the lines to check for voltage. Zero volts being shown. My working buddy said......I'm going to check them with mine too. When he did, DAMMIT man.....480V phase to phase on all three lines. As it turned out, that by storing the Wiggy in the leather pouch over the years, one of the test leads wires had broken inside the insulation and was obviously open. That of course lead to a false belief that the 480V power was off. So the reminder here is this. Whatever device you are using to check voltage, always test if FIRST on a KNOWN live circuit. Then test whatever you are wanting to check voltage on. Then test the device AGAIN, on a KNOWN live circuit to verify that your tester did not fail. Oh, and BTW.....the devices being talked about for checking voltage without having to make actual contact with the live circuit........We have always referred to them as "Proximity" testers. I have a couple of AC, one for DC, and one for testing magnetism. The magnetism one was pretty handy for checking solenoid valves on hydraulic circuits or basically any electrically operated solenoid type valve.

Absolutely Genius idea, and the $$ savings to boot. Let us know how it works for you and if you've applied for a patent yet! 😂

My modified terminology for pretty much everything on Amazon in regard to specs, changes the original statement of "Trust, but Verify" .......to....."NEVER Trust, and ALWAYS Verify"

Any LFP battery worth it's weight in salt would have a BMS AND a low voltage cutoff as part of that same BMS. LFP lower cutoff should never allow a cell to go below 2.5V or 10 volts for the battery. They are recoverable at that point, but if for some reason the BMS's LV cutoff failed to stop the LV, it's almost certain the cell(s) would be ruined. And the opposite of that is the High Voltage cutoff. It should stop any cell to not go over the 3.65 volt level or 14.6 volts for the battery.

LOL........"test/torture" comment. Have fun testing/learning. I remember back when I did the initial, and so far the only top balance on my cells after I built them and can remember thinking......this is the true test of the "quality" of my build, the cells, and all my newly made connections. With a bit of tweaking, my final top balance resulted in in three of the four cells hitting the 3.65 and the other hitting 3.64. After pulling the balance charger off of the battery and letting it rest, all four cells were the exact same voltage. Even today, two plus years later, after a full charge on the battery (I use 14.2 volts as the max, not 14.6) I will see them settle down and usually end up with .002 volts to maybe .003 volts differential between the highest cell and the lowest cell reading. That number is perfectly acceptable and personally I would not get too concerned unless the differential voltage gets somewhere north of .050 volts while they are charging, and/or doesn't drop down to .010 volts after resting. Like I stated above, mine usually hit the .002 to .003 volts after a charge and then a resting period. I usually check that out after about 4 hours of resting after a charge.

Not having a BMS for them would be a no go for me...Dead Stop! The group of cells that went to 4 volts is likely toast. If they are in fact LFP chemistry, they are "safer" than Li-ION battery as far as fire/explosion but I'd never try to use them without a BMS. The DALY brand BMS that I bought is one of the cheaper ones out there and IIRC, the 200A Smart version that I bought (smart meaning BlueTooth equipped to communicate with the DALY app.) was still over $100. You would obviously need something much larger for a BMS for starting a car/truck. If the battery was "newish" it might be worth buying a BMS for it, but considering it is not, plus you know that at least one set of cells has been WAY overstressed with 4+ volts, I don't think I'd be doing it. And the small internal printed circuit board could possible be a balancer board....but that is just a wild ass guess on my part.

No, I'm not confusing the two. Generally speaking, LFP batteries intended purpose is what is typically called Deep Cycle type batteries. Having said that, will they crank engines over?......the answer of course is based on the load current for the starter, and just how much peak or pulse current that they can provide without triggering the controlling BMS that is built into them. Mine for example, will easily start the onboard Onan 5500W generator with absolutely zero (no pun intended) issues. That starter on that generator will normally pull in the 100 to 110 amps while cranking the engine to life. And as far as my DIY battery cells, the data sheet does say that for a "peak pulse", it can do 2C for 30 seconds. The key to that number though is that the standard 1C discharge rate is equal to 250 amps. So yes, the cell itself is capable (so they say) of doing 500 amps for a max. time of 30 seconds.....but again, we are talking about a BARE CELL.....not a completed battery that is controlled by a BMS. And here is the important thing to remember in this conversation....Just ONE of my Four cells, is larger than the ENTIRE NOCO battery in question here, and the battery of course is comprised of 4 LiFePO cells internally connected in series to to get to the nominal 13.2V of a LFP battery. So if ONE of my cells can produce 500A for a peak time and the entire NOCO battery is smaller than one of my cells, it is simply not realistic that the NOCO is able to produce a 500 amps....even at Peak or Pulse. As Carlos stated earlier though, it really doesn't matter that much if all the advertised ratings are being greatly exaggerated. The battery's purpose is likely sized to be able to start a motorcycle, garden tractor, snowmobile, jet ski, etc. Those engines just do not have the starter current draw of say a car/truck engine or maybe a boat engine with a 350 cu in V8 motor in it

My purpose was not to assign blame for bad/wrong info, just to point out the obviously errant information.

Hopefully, the BMS would stop it, but it may take several milli-seconds to happen