Home Depot

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I have to tell this story as I find it quite amazing. A friend of mine was installing an electric furnace in his garage with an upstairs apartment and it called for an 80Amp Double Pole breaker so I'd made him a list of the few things he needed I didn't already have so he went to our local Home Depot and when he entered the electrical aisle a guy working the department offered a hand helping him find what he needed. My friend showed him the list and he began to run through everything and when it came to the breaker he handed my friend a 40Amp Double Pole and my friend said well I need an 80Amp and the guys says "that will work, 40 and 40 will give you your 80 that you need". You can only imagine the look on my face when I showed up to wire this thing up and he told me that story............I was quite upset. Nothing against Home Depots because there isn't a doubt in my mind things like this happen at all stores of it's nature from time to time but it's always one of the stories you have to share with people. I told my friend atleast it wouldn't have caused a fire or anything but it wouldn't worked out to well for him so we went back and got the correct one.....unfortunetly the guy wasn't working that day as I would've loved to hear his in depth explaination of why it would work.
 
awc said:
I have to tell this story as I find it quite amazing. A friend of mine was installing an electric furnace in his garage with an upstairs apartment and it called for an 80Amp Double Pole breaker so I'd made him a list of the few things he needed I didn't already have so he went to our local Home Depot and when he entered the electrical aisle a guy working the department offered a hand helping him find what he needed. My friend showed him the list and he began to run through everything and when it came to the breaker he handed my friend a 40Amp Double Pole and my friend said well I need an 80Amp and the guys says "that will work, 40 and 40 will give you your 80 that you need". You can only imagine the look on my face when I showed up to wire this thing up and he told me that story............I was quite upset. Nothing against Home Depots because there isn't a doubt in my mind things like this happen at all stores of it's nature from time to time but it's always one of the stories you have to share with people. I told my friend atleast it wouldn't have caused a fire or anything but it wouldn't worked out to well for him so we went back and got the correct one.....unfortunetly the guy wasn't working that day as I would've loved to hear his in depth explaination of why it would work.
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Priceless:grin:
 
awc said:
..."that will work, 40 and 40 will give you your 80 that you need...
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Another math story (not HD but he could probably work there):
Customer had a 1" water line but needed more water for some irrigation he wanted to add. After looking over his site, it was determined a 2" line would be adequate. The customer was told he needed to have his 1" line replaced with a 2" inch line. He did not want to pay the 2" tap fee and wanted us to just add another 1" line.

We tried to explain adding another 1" line was not the same as a 2" line. He went ballistic: "Boy, who do you think you are talking to? You trying to tell me 1 and 1 don't equal 2? You city boys think you can come out here..." The conversation was pretty much over. He got his 2nd 1" line and as far as I know, is making do with it.
 
mivey said:
Another math story (not HD but he could probably work there):
Customer had a 1" water line but needed more water for some irrigation he wanted to add. After looking over his site, it was determined a 2" line would be adequate. The customer was told he needed to have his 1" line replaced with a 2" inch line. He did not want to pay the 2" tap fee and wanted us to just add another 1" line.

We tried to explain adding another 1" line was not the same as a 2" line. He went ballistic: "Boy, who do you think you are talking to? You trying to tell me 1 and 1 don't equal 2? You city boys think you can come out here..." The conversation was pretty much over. He got his 2nd 1" line and as far as I know, is making do with it.
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You mean I can't use two 14's for a 30a circuit?!?!?!?
 
480sparky said:
You mean I can't use two 14's for a 30a circuit?!?!?!?
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I guess I would have to if I were a "15-ampere". I'll double-check with the expert at Home Depot first.:D
 
mivey said:
I guess I would have to if I were a "15-ampere". I'll double-check with the expert at Home Depot first.:D
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I mean, instead of running a 10-2 to a water heater, run two 14-2s instead.:roll:
 
480sparky said:
I mean, instead of running a 10-2 to a water heater, run two 14-2s instead.:roll:
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Two 14 = 28 which is almost 3 times as much as a 10 so I'm guessing you are all wet on that water heater thing there.
 
480sparky said:
Try 15amps + 15amps = 30amps
14AWG + 14AWG = 10AWG.
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You're trying to pull some of that fancy math aren't you? Everybody knows 14 + 14 = 28. This ain't some of that pie are square stuff is it? Everybody knows pie are round. Cornbread are square.
 
mivey said:
You're trying to pull some of that fancy math aren't you? Everybody knows 14 + 14 = 28. This ain't some of that pie are square stuff is it? Everybody knows pie are round. Cornbread are square.
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No, brownies are square.

I don't know how many times I've heard the argument that two 14's can carry 15 amps each of a 30 amp load.:roll:
 
480sparky said:
No, brownies are square.

I don't know how many times I've heard the argument that two 14's can carry 15 amps each of a 30 amp load.:roll:
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That would be a first for me. Who made this argument: HO, plumber, please don't say an electrician?
 
480sparky said:
I don't know how many times I've heard the argument that two 14's can carry 15 amps each of a 30 amp load.:roll:
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I have seen one of the HVAC contractors around here do this several times
 
mivey said:
That would be a first for me. Who made this argument: HO, plumber, please don't say an electrician?
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Actually, an electrician.

I first heard the argument in apprentice school. It was a question on a test, whether it was allowed or not.

Makes for an interesting discussion....:smile:
 
O.K., I'll bite, how does that differ from multiple conductors in a parallel run?

I didn't say I would do it this way, but really, how does it differ?
 
480sparky said:
Actually, an electrician.

I first heard the argument in apprentice school. It was a question on a test, whether it was allowed or not.

Makes for an interesting discussion....:smile:
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So what was the answer???...:smile:
 
mdshunk said:
Other than the crinkled up conductors, it does look well-done for the most part. The guy who made that display might make more than you do, in fact. Home Depot is paying beaucoup bucks to electrical tradesmen to work in their sores.
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At the Borg store here the electrical guy gets 15 an hour and he has a Masters License!!:confused:
 
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