Surviving Minnesota!

[Rhetts]

Having built a couple houses, we have had our fun times with the local electrical inspector. I hear MN and WI are opposites with electrical. Here in MN plumbing is no big deal but electrical is major. Wisconsin plumbing is the big ticket item and electrical is not. And to become a licensed electrician contractor or what ever you need to hire for wiring is becoming more and more of a pain. Years.

 

[jerryse]

I believe this family has to pull the feed a month before and around deer hunting season. It is definitely illegal to feed them/bait them.

Thanks Kloppers I wonder if I have to buy the spendy breaker. It is for the bathroom where I was wiring switches and lights. and the breaker has the little green test button. I've pushed that and then switched it back and forth and nothing. I've removed all the switches and fixtures and retried. Nothing. So I have an electrician call put out. I had ground wires on green screws. White with Silver. Black with brass. Black with Black. White with White. One thing...on the fixture bracket that went on the fixture box...it didn't seem to size up correctly and wiggled a bit and so I'm not sure if wires touched or came out of the wiring nut ...but that's when it popped.

Jerry I'm sure I know who inspected your garage. Was he older and in the latest style suburban?

Yep took a year and a half to get it approved . I found out from a local EL here that I drink coffee with that they have the final say and can require above and beyond at their discretion . The only thing they can not change is if the code says you shall or you shall not . I redid it several times . Requirements changed a couple of times .

 

[KlopKlop]

The house is beginning to fill with the smells of our impending supper.  Home grown pork roast, potatoes, carrots, onions all taking a bath in the crock pot.  MMmmm  can't wait to whip up some gravy and dig in tonight.  

Now I am drooling too!

 

[KlopKlop]

I believe this family has to pull the feed a month before and around deer hunting season.  It is definitely illegal to feed them/bait them during deer hunting season.

Thanks Kloppers I wonder if I have to buy the spendy  breaker.  It is for the bathroom where I was wiring switches and lights.  and the breaker has the little green test button.  I've pushed that and then switched it back and forth and nothing. I've removed all the switches and fixtures and retried.  Nothing.  So I have an electrician call put out.  I had ground wires on green screws. White with Silver.  Black with brass.  Black with Black. White with White.  One thing...on the fixture bracket that went on  the fixture box...it didn't seem to size up correctly and wiggled a bit and so I'm not sure if wires touched  or came out of the wiring nut ...but that's when it popped.

Jerry I'm sure I know who inspected your garage.  Was he older and in the latest style suburban? 

Hard to say without seeing it but I suspect you are correct about something arcing when you wiggled it in. That is the most likely time it happens, especially if you have lots of wires in the box or in a wire nut. If you did ground something out very hard Chances are the breaker is shot as that is its job. Arc fault breakers keep shorted wires from heating up and catching your walls on fire.
Calling an electrician is probably your best bet

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I've got an electrician coming out to the house at 1:00. He is my sister's relation by marriage...and retired and ice fisherman. I think he'll do a great job for me. LOL.

What a pain for your jerryse. I wonder about the good ole boy network up here sometimes. ugh. I think that guy is a bit of a power trip guy. No puns intended.

 

[jerryse]

I've got an electrician coming out to the house at 1:00. He is my sister's relation by marriage...and retired and ice fisherman. I think he'll do a great job for me. LOL.

What a pain for your jerryse. I wonder about the good ole boy network up here sometimes. ugh. I think that guy is a bit of a power trip guy. No puns intended.

When I build I will hire a electrician . I feel sure when it is finished I will see stuff approved that would never pass if I did it . All safe I am sure but yea I know when I am being jerked around .

 

[Bogtown Chick]

On the deer - sounds very similar to this place I drive by except I think it is an older lady who just likes to see them. The bad thing is that they are less than 50 feet from the highway and the woods is on the opposite side. Their house is surrounded by open fields, so guess where the deer come from.... I think it is fine they like to feed them but not at risk of me hitting deer.

I'm not a fan of yarding up and feeding deer myself. They are cool to watch...I get that...but I believe in the deer finding their own means to eat. Less interference by humans the better in my opinion. The deer getting smucked on the highway obviously not good for the deer or humans.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

When I build I will hire a electrician . I feel sure when it is finished I will see stuff approved that would never pass if I did it . All safe I am sure but yea I know when I am being jerked around .

No offense to old guys. But sometimes I wonder if that guy should retire. I wonder if he forgot what he was telling you to do to get it right ...so on and so forth during the year and a half. That would be the innocent side of it.
The naughty side being a PITA to keep his EL friends in jobs.

I will recommend this electrician to you. They wire in one or two days and they put fixtures in in one day. They work fast. And out of all of the subs we had at the house they were the most efficient. Great to work with. Nice guys all around. Mainline Electric.

 

[jerryse]

No offense to old guys. But sometimes I wonder if that guy should retire. I wonder if he forgot what he was telling you to do to get it right ...so on and so forth during the year and a half. That would be the innocent side of it.
The naughty side being a PITA to keep his EL friends in jobs.

I will recommend this electrician to you. They wire in one or two days and they put fixtures in in one day. They work fast. And out of all of the subs we had at the house they were the most efficient. Great to work with. Nice guys all around. Mainline Electric.

Thanks . I will need good references . There are some real stinkers among the subs . I have hired a few .

 

[duluthralphie]

Kloppers we have a local family that feeds the deer and they have lots of hunting land. And they usually have a prized buck shot every year...but they go through the expense of corn feeding them all year long. Total Pain in the Butt...because I have hit one of their deer zooming across to his corn source!

And many other people have too.

Finally they sort of taped up their yard with electric fence or some such that the deer need to come in from a different way other than the highway and it seems to have reduced the incidents. But all that are local ...we know when we go by to look for the deer coming off the highway by that house. Total PITA.


electrical advice:

Last night I installed two light switches--pretty straight forward--in the bathroom downstairs. Then I went to install the light fixtures so I'd have something to work by other than a utility light. All seemed to be going well and I had light when I heard a small 'pop' in the furthest of the sconce fixture and it was dark. Reset the breaker for that room nothing. unwired all fixtures and switches. Flipped the breaker (which has a green test button btw)--nothing. At this point is it a blown breaker and I need an electrician to rewire that?

Crap.

If it has a reset button/light it is most likely a ground fault or Arc protection breaker. If it is GFI, you are getting feedback through the system. Something is not grounded or water is in the system...

If it is AFCI then you have a wire nut that or screw that is just a tad loose and it is "arcing" for a mirco second..


OR the breaker is old and weak and you just over loaded the circuit.