acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Here's what I've been doing today. I've researched how to do these and figured I'd give them a try. Let me know if you see anything wrong with it, I know I mixed 12 gauge and 14 gauge wire, but I worked with what I had. I started looking at how to do these because in a few weeks we will start doing this in school, once we finish roofing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 1. Switch2. Two outlets in series3. Light with switch4. Half hot duplex5. 3-way switch setup with 2 switches total6. Soon-to-be 4-way switch with 4 switches total Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Hernandez Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Looks good, you just need to use yellow wire nuts instead of red. In the real world you need as much space in the box as possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Yeah, I had yellow, but with the 14-12 gauge mix they were tight so I used the red, I don't need red for anything else so I just used them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Yeah, I had yellow, but with the 14-12 gauge mix they were tight so I used the red, I don't need red for anything else so I just used themI'm not an electrician, however from the start of our house rebuild room by room I have been installing all new electrical ( done by my brother, certified electrician) he says never skimp don't use what you have make sure you have the proper stuff not worth make shifting/jerry riggin.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulE Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Looks like you got the right idea. How old are you? what type of school are you in? it is hard to follow some of the wires in the photos, but looks like they are all correct. the 2nd photo- the outlets are wired Parallel ( i recommend this way) Series would mean you use 2 screws instead of a wire nut. only change i would recommend is use a 3 wire for the switch leg. This way you do not have to code the white black. abandon the white, you may need it in the future for an occupancy sensor. on the 1/2 switch hot duplex did you break away the tab? a couple pointer-work on stripping the perfect amount of wire. be sure to never have any insulation under the screws. (yours look perfect in the photo)make sure the wire goes on the right direction (yours are correct) i cant tell you how often i see people put the wire the opposite way the screw turns.use quality wire nuts. ( i only buy the 3m with the rubber skirt)be careful going from 12g to 14g as you can damage the wire if you clamp down with strippers set to 14 on a 12 wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 I'm not an electrician, however from the start of our house rebuild room by room I have been installing all new electrical ( done by my brother, certified electrician) he says never skimp don't use what you have make sure you have the proper stuff not worth make shifting/jerry riggin.... yeah, I've been on a few jobs with friends, and he made sure everything was correct. I only used what I had to get an understanding on how to do these circuits. I knew exactly how to wire a switch/outlet, but not a 3/4-way or half hot outlet. Just wanted to try my hand at these circuits and get a little feedback from some people who know more than I do. These circuits will never receive power, I was just trying to learn something new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 gotcha a mock of the wiring.........awesome......good job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Looks like you got the right idea. How old are you? what type of school are you in?it is hard to follow some of the wires in the photos, but looks like they are all correct.the 2nd photo- the outlets are wired Parallel ( i recommend this way) Series would mean you use 2 screws instead of a wire nut.only change i would recommend is use a 3 wire for the switch leg. This way you do not have to code the white black. abandon the white, you may need it in the future for an occupancy sensor.on the 1/2 switch hot duplex did you break away the tab?a couple pointer-work on stripping the perfect amount of wire. be sure to never have any insulation under the screws. (yours look perfect in the photo)make sure the wire goes on the right direction (yours are correct) i cant tell you how often i see people put the wire the opposite way the screw turns.use quality wire nuts. ( i only buy the 3m with the rubber skirt)be careful going from 12g to 14g as you can damage the wire if you clamp down with strippers set to 14 on a 12 wire. I'm 16, I go to a local vocational tech school for general building construction. We build a 25x50 house and it goes to a veteran from the wounded warrior foundation. I just marked the wires because that's all I had. I broke the tab on the hot side (brass) and left the tab on the neutral (silver). I like to put the wire in a clockwise bend so when you tighten the screw, it pulls the wire in, not pushes it out. As for wire nuts, they're probably as old as me, lol, figured I'd use them for this instead of throw them away. I will try and remember to take some pics of the house tommorow and maybe post a pic of my tools so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 gotcha a mock of the wiring.........awesome......good job!thank you, was wondering how to wire a three way and found an awesome video how to, will try to post it later, once I understood how the switches work, it makes a lot of sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 all the tools in my electrical bag. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poisonfangs85 Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Awesome seeing younger guys learning the trades. Stick with it. Even if it does not end up being a career for you, the things you learn to do with your hands will be very beneficial to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Nice little bag of tools you got there, like everyone mentioned above good work on your wiring, practice makes perfect. Good to see some of the younger generation take something upon themselves actually useful other than playing video games or whatever, not that there's anything wrong with that but good to see someone your age trying to learn a skill.JimboSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Awesome seeing younger guys learning the trades. Stick with it. Even if it does not end up being a career for you, the things you learn to do with your hands will be very beneficial to you. yeah, I knew I wanted to learn to do electrical work, but the school didn't have just a course for it, so it was between hvac and building construction. Hvac does a lot more complicated work,(i.e., three ways, four ways, 2 phase,etc.) but building construction has a hands on job site setting, and I get to learn framing, roofing plumbing drywall and other things along with electrical. I also work sometimes with a family friend who learned to do electrical work in Vietnam ( I believe) and he's been doing it since. He's taken me to jobs where we ran wire thru a whole house, going back to trim sometime soon, and I've helped him at his house wire a light pole with multiple circuits (light switches, outlets, switched outlets) all in one pole, and a few outlets on a porch. He's taught me a lot and I've learned a lot on my own. I still don't know everything, but I'm willing to learn new things and methods. Any help from anybody is tremendously appreciated. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Nice little bag of tools you got there, like everyone mentioned above good work on your wiring, practice makes perfect. Good to see some of the younger generation take something upon themselves actually useful other than playing video games or whatever, not that there's anything wrong with that but good to see someone your age trying to learn a skill.JimboSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk yeah, that's just my bag of electrical tools. Lol, someday I'll take a pic of all my tools, I have sunk probably more than a grand just this year in most of them. Did a lot of work over the summer and bought them all myself, so nobody can tell me what to do with them. If anybody has suggestions on tools that I could add to my collection, please let me know, thank ypu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 yeah, that's just my bag of electrical tools. Lol, someday I'll take a pic of all my tools, I have sunk probably more than a grand just this year in most of them. Did a lot of work over the summer and bought them all myself, so nobody can tell me what to do with them. If anybody has suggestions on tools that I could add to my collection, please let me know, thank ypuYour in the right place my friend, keep an eye under the tool deals section lots of posts on some good deals on tools. JimboSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Here's the link to how to wire a three-way and how it works(watch this first)- http://youtu.be/4HJPjvGFbsw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Here's the link to hoe to wire a four-way and how it works- http://youtu.be/YGA6YLZPqio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Your in the right place my friend, keep an eye under the tool deals section lots of posts on some good deals on tools. JimboSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk thank you, and I try to keep my eye out for good deals, like my Klein line mans, blue strippers, and the larger multi bit, got them for $42 on Home Depot website. A pair of the same linesman run you $32, and the stripper and scewdriver are $25 each, that is $62 separate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Amazon Deals Permathreadhttp://www.professional-power-tool-guide.com/power-tool-forum/index.php?/topic/8120-Amazon-Deals-PermathreadBmack does a good job of posting some good knipex scores, there's a good link to a search for Amazon warehouse deals too. I do a decent amount of eBay shopping, there's some good stuff on there just know what your buying. If you don't have one for electrical make sure you get a good multimeter and a non contact voltage detector, those are very valuable, trade electricians on here will tell you flukes, they run a large chunk of change but are worth it.JimboSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 I do have an el cheapo twenty dollar multimeter I rarely use, but I want to get the flir nvct on Amazon for $30 and some change, but I don't know if I need one yet, going into winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 Amazon Deals Permathreadhttp://www.professional-power-tool-guide.com/power-tool-forum/index.php?/topic/8120-Amazon-Deals-PermathreadBmack does a good job of posting some good knipex scores, there's a good link to a search for Amazon warehouse deals too. I do a decent amount of eBay shopping, there's some good stuff on there just know what your buying. If you don't have one for electrical make sure you get a good multimeter and a non contact voltage detector, those are very valuable, trade electricians on here will tell you flukes, they run a large chunk of change but are worth it.JimboSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I checked some of the links out but nothing really caught my eye, I'll keep checking back though. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Argyropoulos Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 For mock-ups they're almost all correct The one thing I saw that would be a violation is the white relabeled and used as the return from the switch. Any time you repurpose a white as a hot, it has to be used as a feed - IOW, it has to be hot all the time. In some cases you can't use a two wire as a switch loop anymore, so it wouldn't be an issue anyway, but it's important to remember (new code requirements may dictate this so there's a neutral at the box for occupancy sensors - check the code for details). This also applies to three-way circuits. If you're allowed to use three wire instead of four wire you need to use the white in the three wire to feed the three ways. This usually means that your feed gets applied at the far end of the three way circuit and the load gets connected at the near end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Argyropoulos Posted December 1, 2015 Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 I do have an el cheapo twenty dollar multimeter I rarely use, but I want to get the flir nvct on Amazon for $30 and some change, but I don't know if I need one yet, going into winter.Don't get the Flir. Get a Fluke. The Flir will beep from miles away, making it impossible to tell which wire is hot. I've tried a bunch of different NCVTs and the Fluke is the only one I've found that performs properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acm0719 Posted December 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2015 For mock-ups they're almost all correct The one thing I saw that would be a violation is the white relabeled and used as the return from the switch. Any time you repurpose a white as a hot, it has to be used as a feed - IOW, it has to be hot all the time. In some cases you can't use a two wire as a switch loop anymore, so it wouldn't be an issue anyway, but it's important to remember (new code requirements may dictate this so there's a neutral at the box for occupancy sensors - check the code for details). This also applies to three-way circuits. If you're allowed to use three wire instead of four wire you need to use the white in the three wire to feed the three ways. This usually means that your feed gets applied at the far end of the three way circuit and the load gets connected at the near end. I'm gonna switch that out to a 12-3 in a bit, ill post pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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