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Terence McCann

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Everything posted by Terence McCann

  1. Haven't seen it myself Brian but if you Google it you get a ton of information.
  2. Isn't that a State?
  3. Well, like Mike said, you have to wait for a second or two before the outlet will trip with a Suretest. If the outlet isn't grounded the Suretest will state that after powering up - "error no ground". If you got the "wiring OK" message AND waited while holding in the GFCI button and it didn't trip there might be a problem with the meter. Did you try and trip it with the 3-light tester?
  4. As Richard stated it won't trip a GFCI on a two-wire system ie. K&T. On two wire systems you have to press the test button on the outlet to get it to trip. How old was the home?
  5. I haven't tried that John but I'm sure it would work. You'd end up having a potential difference between the ground of the outlet which, is also now the netural.
  6. That's pretty cool - too bad they didn't do something with the couplings.
  7. No, it operated that door. Home owner said she just used the remote to open/close. Stuff like this never fails to amaze me & as I type this I'm still shaking my head. Funny stuff.
  8. I've seen a few garages with the photo-eyes mounted up around the ceiling. However, I've never seen the push button up there until today that is. Nice job too, wiring was pretty straight, staples etc.
  9. Isn't lichen due to moisture and not enough sun to dry things up? Like what you might find on the North side of a tree?
  10. John, no they don't. I use them just to mark problem outlets. Randy, I use the suretest on a few outlets in the home just as a double check for bootleg grounds. For the majority I use the 3-light.
  11. I use the Sure Test along with the simple 3 light tester. I test every outlet in the home (makes for a little hunting somtimes to find the GFCI that tripped). I also mark problem outlets with little blue stickies that can be purchased at Office Max.
  12. That's interesting that their prevalent in you area. The standing order around here, for many years, was just to pour some motor oil in the trap. I never assume anymore
  13. I don't think that's a trap primer Chris. I've never seen a trap primer up here except for commercial HVAC applications where the trap is buried in a chase. Have you seen many in your neck of the woods?
  14. Natural gas does not automatically produce CO. This only happens when there is a problem with combustion air, proper draft or both. It's only when natural gas burns incompletely that it becomes a problem. From Natural Gas.Org: When we say that methane is combustible, it means that it is possible to burn it. Chemically, this process consists of a reaction between methane and oxygen. When this reaction takes place, the result is carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), and a great deal of energy. Chemists would write the following to represent the combustion of methane: CH4[g] + 2 O2[g] -> CO2[g] + 2 H2O[l] + 891 kJ Source: Duke Energy Gas Transmission Canada That is, one molecule of methane (the [g] referred to above means it is gaseous form) combined with two oxygen atoms, react to form a carbon dioxide molecule, two water molecules (the [l] above means that the water molecules are in liquid form, although it is usually evaporated during the reaction to give off steam) and 891 kilajoules (kJ) of energy. Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. Coal and oil, the other fossil fuels, are more chemically complicated than natural gas, and when combusted, they release a variety of potentially harmful chemicals into the air. Burning methane releases only carbon dioxide and water. Since natural gas is mostly methane, the combustion of natural gas releases fewer byproducts than other fossil fuels.id="maroon"> I have a pdf that talks about it as well, I'll see if I can scrape it up.
  15. You can feel, with your hand, spill over by the hoods too. I always give the stack some time to warm up before I check for proper draft. Hot water tanks have a habit of back drafting a bit before the flue/chimney gets warmed up (at least up North).
  16. There is a spot on top of the furnace for the evap coil but it looks like there is black tape over the holes where the suction & liquid line would go. From your pictures it looks like there is no ac at present. Did you set it to cooling and check discharge air temperature? If so, what was the room temperature and what was the discharge air temperature? PS: You have a humidifier on the side but the overflow drain goes to the floor and not into the condensate pump. PSS: If you did the inspection on 7-17-09 then the date on your camera is incorrect
  17. In the real world I don't think there would be a problem. I'm not sure I'd even mention it. Only problem I see would not being able to leak check the line set should a leak occur but you can always run a new line set [i was going to say "however, you can always run a new line set" but I see that's not acceptable[:-dunce]
  18. Are you suggesting that the amount of Radon found in a home and the risk of lung cancer are inversely proportionate?
  19. Not me Kurt, I use the Sun Nuclear continuous monitor.
  20. It takes 12 hours for a home to reach saturation equilibrium for Radon. It's urban legend that the home will have higher readings because it's been closed up for a long period of time. As long as the windows are closed 12 hours prior to running the test, and the remaining time of the test, you'll have accurate readings. Radon mitigation systems, that are properly installed, do a great job at lowering the levels. The before and after test results are proof of that.
  21. What you have there is a chiller. Both lines are cold because there is chilled water running through the pipes, not Freon. You have the normal condenser, compressor and then a chiller barrel in which water flows on one side and Freon is on the other. You then have a circ pump that takes the chilled water and pumps it to the HVAC unit(s). These units typically have a slab evaporator that the chilled water flows through. The control for these evaps can sometimes be a 3-way mixing valve that is thermostatically controlled. They like to use 3-way mixing valves to keep a constant head on the pump so that it doesn't cavitate. The inside unit is known as a fan-coil unit. Simply stated it's a fan with a water coil. I would imagine that the unit is used for both heating and cooling so I would think there is a boiler present too. The fan-coil units typically have a strap-on thermostat that is attached to the supply water line to the water coil. When the thermostat senses hot water it changes the room thermostat to direct operation for heat and when it senses chilled water is changes the operation to reverse acting. What Kurt said is spot on - it's long in the tooth and will need replacement soon. The original manufacture is not important. IMO, Trane screw chillers are the best that can be purchased. The slant-six of chillers.
  22. Anyone partner with ServiceMagic for leads? Any feedback?
  23. I wouldn't be worried about the extra heat but the acidity of flue gas might have an adverse effect on the fins. The vent would have to be discharging right on the unit though.
  24. Not sure if this will help or not however, it's a pretty decent PDF. http://www.allstyle.com/installationMan ... Manual.pdf
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