Terence McCann

It's not funny that the ceiling was ruined or that it happened to you, just funny the way the wording came out - other than ruining a ceiling they run great. Sorry, just my left of center sense of humor.

Now that's funny.

From one of the more memorable discussion on this type of thing over at the ASHI board - this post was from Douglas: The readings that Eric, Jerry, and others are getting of several amps of current on the GEC or the water pipe electrode surprise me, but they aren't indicative of a shock hazard. We know that the service neutral carries the imbalanced load difference back to the utility transformer. We also know that the grounding electrode is a parallel path for that current, and that the currents will divide up in accordance with the resistance of each and will follow Ohm's law. What we don't have on either the neutral or the grounding electrode conductor is significant voltage. The only voltage we have is the amount of voltage drop in those conductors. In most cases, that is going to work out to less than one volt. It isn't going to shock anyone. The voltage will divide up per Kirchoff's law. I agree with Dr. Katen about the hazard arising from interrupting the path such that a person completes the circuit (rather than the neutral conductor completing the circuit). The degree of hazard depends upon the presence or lack of other parallel paths. In commercial wiring, the reason for the high number of injuries and fatalities on the neutrals of 480 volt systems is for an entirely different reason - the nature of a wye 3-phase is such that the neutral will carry the full current of any two phase conductors when the third hot conductor is turned off. As to him salting my glass of water - heck - I always have the thing plugged into a portable GFCI for that parlor trick. It would trip it before I even got to take a sip. Douglas Hansen

Good stuff Bill - thanks. [:-thumbu]

Thank's Chad.

I see these in apartments or apartments gone condo. Is it part of a multi-unit hi-rise? Are you sure it passed through r/a for the dwelling and not fresh air for the a/c condenser? Been a few years since I've seen one. BTW, Trane makes a replacement for these. Rick, I was going to Google to see what I could scare up in the way of a manual however I can't make out the model & serial number on the plate - what is it?

Oh those are really cool! Thanks a lot - I'm such a sucker for toys.

Found an email in my junk box the piqued my interest a bit eye-stick I like the concept but the price is out in left field. Should be easy to homebrew something akin though.

Whatever puts cash money in the pocket.

Frunace have a humidifier on it?

A wag - 49th week of 2001?

Being successful in business isn't rocket science. Become active in the community and meet people. After you're done meeting people get out and meet more folks. Put on PowerPoint presentations (I know lightning is going to strike me) at Realtors offices. After your done with that get active in the community and meet more people. Sponsor a little league team. Get active in the local 4th of July parade. Treat your business like you're running for office. Climb on board now before I setup a web site and start charging for this. (psst, people buy from good people)

From my report: If you replace your old furnace, your chimney may require modifications to assure that it is sized to fit your new heating system. If your chimney is too large for your new system, it may not remove combustion gases properly from your home, possibly leading to backdrafting and allowing combustion gases such as carbon monoxide to enter your home. Your old chimney may also be prone to moisture accumulation and deterioration. Mid-efficiency furnaces (80% plus) produce a smaller volume of combustion gases than traditional furnaces, and those gases are slightly cooler and therefore condense in the chimney instead of leaving in a vapor condition. If this type of system is vented into an older, un-lined chimney, it could result in chimney deterioration or back-drafting. The best approach is to reline the existing chimney with a smaller, corrosion-resistant metal liner. Re-lining the chimney can be expensive, but neglecting your chimney when you install a new furnace can lead to a crumbling or rusting chimney in a few years. If you plan to install a new furnace, be sure to ask your serviceman about proper chimney sizing to protect your home and your health. Call a licensed HVAC contractor for further evaluation. When ever I go into an older home and see un-lined chimney with a newer furnace which includes a draft inducer I always write this up. Your picture is a good example of what happens when they forget to install a chimney liner. Keep an eye out ofr orphaned hot water tanks too. We discussed this a few weeks back.

Not sure I follow the question. . . .I thought Chad asked sort of the same question. Maybe I'm confused. Grounding path from A/C unit back to main panel is via green grounding wire back to main panel via the EMT. I only see two wires leaving in your first picture.

Are you thinking of Sealtight? Where did they pickup the ground from Randy?

Well said that man.

HVAC guys leave their gauges (the good ones have glycerin) in their trucks and I never heard of them freezing.

The mulch that the neighbor was referring to is artillery mulch but that doesn't look like it. Artillery mulch leaves little black dots. Does look like mold however, did you checked these areas with the pins?

Under what conditions are you experiencing long term high voltage?

I'd be more worried about it muckin' up a gas valve than a joint leaking. We've been putting pipe joints together long before teflon tape was ever invented. Or to sell more tape.

In your report do you recommend that a fitter/plumber takes apart every joint with white tape, remove the white tape, and then uses pipe dope or yellow tape?

I think a lot of handymen install white teflon tape thinking that it is a thread sealant which it is not. I was always taught that pipe threads are self sealing and pipe dope etc. was just for lubrication. That being said I see the white tape all over the place and have never made a stink about it - much bigger fish to fry.

From my first post: To measure electrical quantities, certain definitions have been adopted. Charge is a measurement in coulombs © and represented by q in equations. One coulomb is equal to 6.5 X 1018 electrons (or protons).

Close but no cigar. One volt is the electromotive force required to create a current of one ampere through a resistance of one ohm. It results in the dissipation of 1 watt of power. Marc When you transport one joule of energy through a channel every second, the flow-rate of energy is 1 Joule/Sec, and "one Joule per second" means "one watt." Perhaps your not familiar with the term Joule.

Potty humor - finally something I excel at. I love this one: where a lack of sanitation forces people to squat in fields, on train tracks, I can see someone out there with the morning newspaper squatting on the train tracks. Must be a real drag when the bullet train is approaching. Monty Python for sure.