Search results

This is for household electrical power, which is typically 110-120V AC at 60Hz up to 15-20A in the United States. It was insulated with vinyl electrical tape and then shoved in the same box.

I’m doing GFCI replacement of (mostly) ungrounded electrical receptacles a few at a time in a couple of homes built in the 1950s. It’s been entertaining so far. I found a 3 connection splice in my parents’ home that was twisted around one wire, soldered, wrapped in electrical tape, and then...

It looked great. Not sure about the company’s troubled history though.

I looked up the patent that Ideal listed on its spec sheet. It states that the bus bar is riveted to the spring. So they're made of different materials (they say stainless steel) where they can be optimized for conductivity (bus bar) or elasticity (steel spring). However, I'm wondering what...

The Ideal In-Sure is spring loaded. I don't see it in the spec sheet, but it looks like there's a separate bus bar welded to the spring mechanism. The spec sheet says that it uses a tin-plated copper bus bar...

Well - about a week ago I did see a Fisker Ocean in a parking lot. It was nice looking vehicle, but it was just sitting there.

The Ideal lever connectors have this little window to see the tip of the wire past the bus bar. The label says they’re made in Austria. Overall I think the WAGO 221 is better, but I got the Ideal equivalents for less than 6 cents each. They do recommend cutting and restripping wires when...

Just a follow-up, I got these and picked it up from an Amazon Locker. https://www.amazon.com/Sure%C2%AE-Lever-Wire-Connector-2-Port/dp/B0CK53Y9DY/ I was bored enough at lunch to count them, and I counted 509, barring any errors. They’re pretty nice. A little bit thicker than the WAGO 221...

Saw them at HD and had a closer look. I guess part of the cost savings (relative to features) is that they’re made in China while regular Decora is made in the US. The design is pretty easy to see just by examining one. There’s a steel spring putting pressure against the wire inserted into...

Yeah. Even started a topic on them. https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/lever-style-electrical-receptacles-and-switches.382317/

I posted earlier where I took out some 50s era GE receptacles with a different style of backwire. There were holes in the particle board back, and they went into wings that crimped in place when the screw was tightened. I pulled out a couple, including one where one outlet was completely...

Finally did four outlets at the rental. Surprisingly I tested that some outlets were grounded through the metal box, even though there was only a two prong receptacle. Some were really nasty, using old style one time use backwire connections where the screw went down on a crimp. It’s really...

I’d seen this trailer before, but then saw it in a movie theater and it was more impressive. I’d like to see the movie in a real IMAX theater. The Blue Angels have had parts in at least a couple of IMAX movies, including “To Fly” from 1976. Don’t recall the name of the other movie.

Most supersonic flight will be at altitude though. Nice flying above thunderstorms.

One of my first interviews in the industry was a mass interview of new college grads although it as one on interviews in a hotel ballroom setting with dividers. It felt like a bunch of convention booths and it got rather loud where one interview bled into the other. After all interviews were...

Someone was bound to take a Dremel tool to one. Also to a residential grade Leviton outlet and a commercial grade for comparison. At least with the outlet, the wire goes into a hole against the contacts, and a separate V-shaped steel spring (not sure what they’re called) with a barb presses...

There isn’t much copper/brass in a switch. However, I’d think the proper comparison should be Leviton’s standard Decora switch or outlet. These cost about the same.

Nah. Ideal’s version of a lever connector. Price makes no sense as sold directly by Amazon. $25.98 for a jar of 500. About $45 for a box of 150. Maybe $7 for a bag of 10. I don’t even think I’ll need 500 in my lifetime, but it seemed like a good deal...

The holy grail of manufacturing is lower bill of materials with premium features. I’d be curious as to what it looks like inside.

Sometimes they’re the broker. A bunch of insurers no longer provide new policies or have severely limited policies in California, but their agents still do business in California where they’ll serve as brokers. My current home was initially insured through Farmers. However, the agent couldn’t...