Wacky things at home?

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I forgot one. When we bought our first house I noticed in the garage that the were just two red wires run over the joists and figured out that they were being used as travelers for a 3-way. No big deal I'll fix them later.

8 years later when we sold the house it came up on the home inspection report. "You're going to fix that right?" "Why?" "Aren't you the Electrical Inspector for the city?" "Yep" "well isn't that a code violation?" "That's funny, wan't it a code violation when I bought the house?"

It just always worked so I never really paid much mind to it.:roll:
 
cowboyjwc said:
I forgot one. When we bought our first house I noticed in the garage that the were just two red wires run over the joists and figured out that they were being used as travelers for a 3-way. No big deal I'll fix them later.

8 years later when we sold the house it came up on the home inspection report. "You're going to fix that right?" "Why?" "Aren't you the Electrical Inspector for the city?" "Yep" "well isn't that a code violation?" "That's funny, wan't it a code violation when I bought the house?"

It just always worked so I never really paid much mind to it.:roll:
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Yeah - I have a few of those - including that service I plan on doing right someday - I can reach the drop from my new deck, and back door.... :roll: Open J boxes in the garage I walk past every day... With the cover sitting right there 3' away.
 
When the kids were in potty-training, they wouldn't go into the bathroom without the light on (it's a creepy bathroom). By the time either I or my hub would turn on the light it was too late. After too much of this I requested that the light be left on: denied. I went into the attic and hardwired it on. It's got a cfl that's been on now for 4 years.
 
What I'd like to build is a cat food dispenser that dispenses 1/5th of my fatter cat's food at 5 times throughout the day. The problem is the skinny one eats whatever he doesn't eat in one sitting. She doesn't have a weight problem so I have a food bowl up high for her that the fat one can't get to. I keep that bowl full of food at all times.
 
marti smith said:
When the kids were in potty-training, they wouldn't go into the bathroom without the light on (it's a creepy bathroom). By the time either I or my hub would turn on the light it was too late. After too much of this I requested that the light be left on: denied. I went into the attic and hardwired it on. It's got a cfl that's been on now for 4 years.
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Why didn't you just open the switch and take the conductors off the switch and tie them together?
 
One I just built: I got a big honkin' battery charger from one of our old plants. It was made in the '40's, it's covered in rivets with big Westinghouse gauges and rheostat knobs on the door. Looks like a prop right out of Frankenstein.

I wanted to use it as a neat-looking cabinet, but I added some effects: I back-lit the gauges, and took two porcelain insulators from some old PTs and mounted them on top of the cabinet with two stainless rods coming out of them. Then I put a rectified neon sign transformer inside the cabinet connected it to the stainless rods.

Now when you hit a hidden switch, you have a real Frankenstein effect: A Jacobs-Ladder arc of electricity climbs out of the insulators towards the ceiling. Good conversation starter.

-John
 
I made a hand grenade out of a 480v - 24v 40va transformer yesterday, but it didn't serve a useful function, and it was kind of a one-time deal. Luckily, it wasn't in my hand at the time, but I was seeing spots for a few... :)
 
marti smith said:
When the kids were in potty-training, they wouldn't go into the bathroom without the light on.
I went into the attic and hardwired it on. It's got a cfl that's been on now for 4 years.
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jaylectricity said:
Why didn't you just open the switch and take the conductors off the switch and tie them together?
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Actually, with incandescents, this would have been a perfect use of the diode-across-the-switch idea.
 
benaround said:
George, Don't get in so much of a hurry that you hurt yourself.
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I hear ya, but it was slow and deliberate. Tried to replace an old transformer with an old one for a temporary fix. Apparently, the other old one wasn't any good either. Little wisps of smoke, and after about fifteen seconds -boom!
 
The night-time routine includes locking the doors and making sure the lights are off in the garage and outside the house. Got tired of having to open the man door to the garage to see if I forgot (for the umteenth time) to turn off the garage lights. So I took a spare door chime transformer and wired it into the end of one of the fluorescent lights, and put an illuminated doorbell down near the floor by the man door inside the house. If the doorbell is lit, turn the lights off. A guest asked if it was for the mice to use when they wanted into the garage...
 
I just installed a suicide cord on the Christmas tree,.(two male ends) ,.. wife started the lights from the top:roll: Now I hope my insurance co. ain't logged in ;)
 
Not too long after moving into where I now live, I noticed some of the stray cats liked

using an area of my yard as a kitty litter box. Not in my yard kitties ! This is what I came

up with.

One wall switch/ motion sensor combo wired to an air compressor blow down solinoid that

had an adjustable time set on it. I set it outside hooked up to the air compressor,it didn't

take long to start hearing pssssssstttt, meeeoow. Needless to say the problem was taken

care of in a short time. I also scared the wits out of myself a couple times before I took

it apart.
 
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