Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

oldfarmer50 · October 30

jmonroe1 said:

28firefighter said:
I used to work in data forensics. My original teacher used to shoot them.

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Sulfuric acid works too but it’s smelly.

jmonroe

I understand that certain politicians swear by hammers an bleach bit.

corvette · October 30

I have a "package" policy for my primary residence, cars, and umbrella. I think it's about $5k per year for lower underlying limits and a $1M umbrella, including UM/UIM umbrella.

ab348 · October 30

jmonroe1 said:

Once you got into trouble why didn’t you ask our poster buddy @ab348 gor help?

Funny thing. When I first read @corvatte ‘s post I almost responded with a sympathy post saying I knew exactly how he felt. All this new tech is very confusing to us old dogs.

xwesx · October 30

That is an impressive comedy of errors, @corvette ! Kudos. I hope you get the laptop sorted without any more drama!

corvette · October 30

@tjc78 had the right idea... The first of the hard drives has been formatted and has three holes drilled in the platters. Unfortunately, I drilled through to the concrete in my basement, and now my drill bit is dull.

Which is about par for the course today. @xwesx - you may be interested to know that Asus' "cloud recovery" option is lacking compared to Apple's implementation. And by "lacking," I mean that Apple's actually works.

The laptop in question is only a little over two years old, but in true CCBA fashion, I'm a bit tempted to upgrade to a Surface or other laptop on the newer ARM architecture. (I think and say this as I'm typing this on a 2016-era Acer laptop that I've converted to a Chromebook using ChromeOS Flex or whatever they call it now.

)

stickguy · October 30

reminds me I need to check my policy next time it comes up for payment (February I think). Pretty sure it got jacked up quite a bit in the 3 years since we moved to NY. I will make some calls to shop around and see what kind of rates a clean record 60 something that puts less than 5K per car per year on them can get. Full coverage on both of course.

jmonroe1 · October 30

corvette said:
@tjc78 had the right idea... The first of the hard drives has been formatted and has three holes drilled in the platters. Unfortunately, I drilled through to the concrete in my basement, and now my drill bit is dull.

Which is about par for the course today. @xwesx - you may be interested to know that Asus' "cloud recovery" option is lacking compared to Apple's implementation. And by "lacking," I mean that Apple's actually works.

The laptop in question is only a little over two years old, but in true CCBA fashion, I'm a bit tempted to upgrade to a Surface or other laptop on the newer ARM architecture. (I think and say this as I'm typing this on a 2016-era Acer laptop that I've converted to a Chromebook using ChromeOS Flex or whatever they call it now. )

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Hint: The next time don’t push so hard OR use a masonry bit.

jmonroe

ab348 · October 31

corvette said:

The laptop in question is only a little over two years old, but in true CCBA fashion, I'm a bit tempted to upgrade to a Surface or other laptop on the newer ARM architecture. (I think and say this as I'm typing this on a 2016-era Acer laptop that I've converted to a Chromebook using ChromeOS Flex or whatever they call it now. )

Right now I'm grappling with a couple of other Windows issues that I cannot figure out.

In my office I have 2 laptops, a new Win11 machine and a 2013 W10 one that is on its last legs. I have gotten every file I need copied to the new one but am still not confident that everything I need to connect to it when I take the plunge and decommission the old one will work. I should be able to push through that but have zero confidence in doing it.

Part of the reason for feeling that way is the laptop I only use occasionally when I am in the LR/kitchen, a 5 y-o Win10 machine originally which was upgraded to W11 a year or so ago. It seems to work OK, but everything is different. Even simple stuff like File Explorer looks different and I can't make it look like the other ones. It sees the machine in the office, but only in Media Server view, so it only shows me music and video files on that one, and I can't find a way to let it show me documents and other types of files. Just maddening.

nyccarguy · October 31

I was just told by my IT company that my 10 year old server and counter terminals will not be upgradable to Windows 11. I'm getting a quote for new computers.

snakeweasel · October 31

tjc78 said:
1/4" drill bit will securely wipe any hard drive or USB stick

To keep this on topic with a previous topic how about the garbage disposal?

ab348 · October 31

nyccarguy said:
I was just told by my IT company that my 10 year old server and counter terminals will not be upgradable to Windows 11. I'm getting a quote for new computers.

You might be able to delay that expense if you buy Microsoft’s Extended Support Program which will provide the necessary security updates for W10 for what I believe is a fairly small cost. I’d be wary of Win11 if this is for your entire business. I find it very frustrating to deal with.

oldfarmer50 · October 31

I hate to steer the conversation back to cars but the Kia dealership saga continues.

As you recall I brought my car in for a recall on the brake lines Tuesday and found out they had lied to me about performing a recall that I brought in for last year. They said they would do both recall repairs on Tuesday but if the brake lines needed replacing it wouldn’t be until Wednesday. Well, after repeated calls with no return call they said it might be done Thursday. I work Thursday so I said I’ll pick it up Friday which gave them an entire extra day.

So just to be safe, I call them this morning (Friday) to check and after another round of no returned calls finally get told that they accidentally did the recall work on ANOTHER 2019 Kia Soul instead of mine and it might not be ready until next Tuesday. If I had wasted the trip down to the dealer before checking I would have gone ballistic.

I have very little experience using dealers for service but have any of you guys experienced this kind of incompetence and poor customer service?

corvette · October 31

@oldfarmer50 - yes, Oxmoor Ford lost my Mustang, which was ready to be picked up, on their lot, and could not find it until my service writer was back at work.

jmonroe1 · October 31

oldfarmer50 said:
I hate to steer the conversation back to cars but the Kia dealership saga continues.

As you recall I brought my car in for a recall on the brake lines Tuesday and found out they had lied to me about performing a recall that I brought in for last year. They said they would do both recall repairs on Tuesday but if the brake lines needed replacing it wouldn’t be until Wednesday. Well, after repeated calls with no return call they said it might be done Thursday. I work Thursday so I said I’ll pick it up Friday which gave them an entire extra day.

So just to be safe, I call them this morning (Friday) to check and after another round of no returned calls finally get told that they accidentally did the recall work on ANOTHER 2019 Kia Soul instead of mine and it might not be ready until next Tuesday. If I had wasted the trip down to the dealer before checking I would have gone ballistic.

I have very little experience using dealers for service but have any of you guys experienced this kind of incompetence and poor customer service?

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I never heard that excuse before. But, you gotta give them an “A” for originality.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · October 31

corvette said:
@oldfarmer50 - yes, Oxmoor Ford lost my Mustang, which was ready to be picked up, on their lot, and could not find it until my service writer was back at work.

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That might be an even better excuse. Although @roadburner wouldn’t be too surprised.

jmonroe

Michaell · October 31

@oldfarmer50 - ugh, that stinks. I’ve had average to above average service from the dealerships we’ve bought from over the years.

Michaell · October 31

For the first time in 25 years of home ownership, I wish I had a truck. Cleaning up the debris from the basement project has filled the back of the Subaru with cardboard and I’ve got a ways to go.

jmonroe1 · October 31

Michaell said:
For the first time in 25 years of home ownership, I wish I had a truck. Cleaning up the debris from the basement project has filled the back of the Subaru with cardboard and I’ve got a ways to go.

————————————————-WOW. I think the only fix for that is to un-remodel the basement.

jmonroe

suydam · October 31

I’ve had very good experiences with dealership mechanics departments. Only 1 bad one in all the years we’ve owned cars — and I scratched that automaker off my list of future buys.

ab348 · October 31

Stuff happens in service departments, like my brother’s Jeep dealer who forgot to refill the crankcase during an oil change.

oldfarmer50 · October 31

Michaell said:
For the first time in 25 years of home ownership, I wish I had a truck. Cleaning up the debris from the basement project has filled the back of the Subaru with cardboard and I’ve got a ways to go.

Doesn’t one of your poster buddies have an old rusty Silverado that his wife wants to get rid of? Maybe you could work out a deal

Michaell · October 31

oldfarmer50 said:

Michaell said:
For the first time in 25 years of home ownership, I wish I had a truck. Cleaning up the debris from the basement project has filled the back of the Subaru with cardboard and I’ve got a ways to go.

Doesn’t one of your poster buddies have an old rusty Silverado that his wife wants to get rid of? Maybe you could work out a deal

None in Colorado, unfortunately.

The first load (from the pic) has been disposed of, and the rest of the cardboard from the garage has been broken down and is in the back of the Subaru for another run to the recycling bin.

Still leaves me with a bunch of styrofoam and trash to dispose of - today is trash pickup day, and our one can is already overflowing.

tjc78 · October 31

@Michaell
Did they get your electrical problem sorted?

When we did the additional at our old house, it took me days to get rid of all the trash, and re-organize everything in the basement. We had moved so much stuff down there during construction and did so much plumbing and electrical everything was just a mess.

imidazol97 · October 31

oldfarmer50 said:
I hate to steer the conversation back to cars but the Kia dealership saga continues.

As you recall I brought my car in for a recall on the brake lines Tuesday and found out they had lied to me about performing a recall that I brought in for last year. They said they would do both recall repairs on Tuesday but if the brake lines needed replacing it wouldn’t be until Wednesday. Well, after repeated calls with no return call they said it might be done Thursday. I work Thursday so I said I’ll pick it up Friday which gave them an entire extra day.

So just to be safe, I call them this morning (Friday) to check and after another round of no returned calls finally get told that they accidentally did the recall work on ANOTHER 2019 Kia Soul instead of mine and it might not be ready until next Tuesday. If I had wasted the trip down to the dealer before checking I would have gone ballistic.

I have very little experience using dealers for service but have any of you guys experienced this kind of incompetence and poor customer service?

I don't like dealer or the repair places that sell tires and try to market all kinds of repairs once the car is back in for "free'' rotation and balancing.

My Chev dealer can only operate based on engine codes. After major expensive intake manifold replacement, they had the car a week because engine light came back on. At home I finally found it was the $30 purge valve, but it never set a code for them...

Earlier the tire store chain had put the wrong oil filter in Cruze, two times. I caught it the 2nd time because I did my own oil change. Idiots. There are two different filter housings on this small GM turbo. Different color plastic and different code name on plastic housing. One oil filter has a pressure bypass valve; other doesn't.

jmonroe1 · October 31

ab348 said:
Stuff happens in service departments, like my brother’s Jeep dealer who forgot to refill the crankcase during an oil change.

——————————————————-
And that’s exactly why I check my oil before I leave the parking lot after an oil change. I’ve already mentioned, several times, that I check all 20 lug nuts when my wheels are pulled to check the brakes at state inspection time or when I buy tires.

jmonroe

Michaell · October 31

tjc78 said:
@Michaell
Did they get your electrical problem sorted?

When we did the additional at our old house, it took me days to get rid of all the trash, and re-organize everything in the basement. We had moved so much stuff down there during construction and did so much plumbing and electrical everything was just a mess.

Yes, the one electrical issue was fixed earlier this week, but now a new one has cropped up. Everytime we fire up the new dryer, it trips the breaker. Got a lot of words from the basement folks that requires an "electrician to English" translation book. We've decided to handle the problem ourselves, and be done with the basement company.

andres3 · October 31

oldfarmer50 said:
I hate to steer the conversation back to cars but the Kia dealership saga continues.

As you recall I brought my car in for a recall on the brake lines Tuesday and found out they had lied to me about performing a recall that I brought in for last year. They said they would do both recall repairs on Tuesday but if the brake lines needed replacing it wouldn’t be until Wednesday. Well, after repeated calls with no return call they said it might be done Thursday. I work Thursday so I said I’ll pick it up Friday which gave them an entire extra day.

So just to be safe, I call them this morning (Friday) to check and after another round of no returned calls finally get told that they accidentally did the recall work on ANOTHER 2019 Kia Soul instead of mine and it might not be ready until next Tuesday. If I had wasted the trip down to the dealer before checking I would have gone ballistic.

I have very little experience using dealers for service but have any of you guys experienced this kind of incompetence and poor customer service?

Only in relation to a Kia dealership GM lying through their teeth rather than just admit they were wrong.

andres3 · October 31

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:
I hate to steer the conversation back to cars but the Kia dealership saga continues.

As you recall I brought my car in for a recall on the brake lines Tuesday and found out they had lied to me about performing a recall that I brought in for last year. They said they would do both recall repairs on Tuesday but if the brake lines needed replacing it wouldn’t be until Wednesday. Well, after repeated calls with no return call they said it might be done Thursday. I work Thursday so I said I’ll pick it up Friday which gave them an entire extra day.

So just to be safe, I call them this morning (Friday) to check and after another round of no returned calls finally get told that they accidentally did the recall work on ANOTHER 2019 Kia Soul instead of mine and it might not be ready until next Tuesday. If I had wasted the trip down to the dealer before checking I would have gone ballistic.

I have very little experience using dealers for service but have any of you guys experienced this kind of incompetence and poor customer service?
————————————————
I never heard that excuse before. But, you gotta give them an “A” for originality.

jmonroe

To me it sounds similar to a typical medical malpractice case. Oh, you mean we weren't supposed to take your Kidney, but just remove your appendix? Wrong person, wrong car, same difference.

tjc78 · October 31

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:
@Michaell
Did they get your electrical problem sorted?

When we did the additional at our old house, it took me days to get rid of all the trash, and re-organize everything in the basement. We had moved so much stuff down there during construction and did so much plumbing and electrical everything was just a mess.
Yes, the one electrical issue was fixed earlier this week, but now a new one has cropped up. Everytime we fire up the new dryer, it trips the breaker. Got a lot of words from the basement folks that requires an "electrician to English" translation book. We've decided to handle the problem ourselves, and be done with the basement company.

Always something, right? Hopefully it is an easy fix.

Michaell · October 31

tjc78 said:

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:
@Michaell
Did they get your electrical problem sorted?

When we did the additional at our old house, it took me days to get rid of all the trash, and re-organize everything in the basement. We had moved so much stuff down there during construction and did so much plumbing and electrical everything was just a mess.
Yes, the one electrical issue was fixed earlier this week, but now a new one has cropped up. Everytime we fire up the new dryer, it trips the breaker. Got a lot of words from the basement folks that requires an "electrician to English" translation book. We've decided to handle the problem ourselves, and be done with the basement company.
Always something, right? Hopefully it is an easy fix.

Seems to be - something about 3 vs. 4 wires for the dryer.

snakeweasel · October 31

corvette said:
@oldfarmer50 - yes, Oxmoor Ford lost my Mustang, which was ready to be picked up, on their lot, and could not find it until my service writer was back at work.

Someone taking a little joy ride?

jmonroe1 · October 31

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:
@Michaell
Did they get your electrical problem sorted?

When we did the additional at our old house, it took me days to get rid of all the trash, and re-organize everything in the basement. We had moved so much stuff down there during construction and did so much plumbing and electrical everything was just a mess.
Yes, the one electrical issue was fixed earlier this week, but now a new one has cropped up. Everytime we fire up the new dryer, it trips the breaker. Got a lot of words from the basement folks that requires an "electrician to English" translation book. We've decided to handle the problem ourselves, and be done with the basement company.

——————————————————
I assume the new dryer is plugged into the same 220 volt receptacle that was used for the old dryer and nobody played with it during the remodeling. There is no reason why that original breaker is now not holding the load of the new dryer. That being the case, it could well be a problem with the new dryer. I’d call the outfit that sold you the dryer before going to an electrician who will definitely charge you for a service call whereas whoever services the dryer MIGHT not charge for coming out IF it happens the dryer is good. If that’s the case you will need to call an electrician.

Let us know how it’s resolved.

jmonroe

Michaell · October 31

jmonroe1 said:

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:
@Michaell
Did they get your electrical problem sorted?

When we did the additional at our old house, it took me days to get rid of all the trash, and re-organize everything in the basement. We had moved so much stuff down there during construction and did so much plumbing and electrical everything was just a mess.
Yes, the one electrical issue was fixed earlier this week, but now a new one has cropped up. Everytime we fire up the new dryer, it trips the breaker. Got a lot of words from the basement folks that requires an "electrician to English" translation book. We've decided to handle the problem ourselves, and be done with the basement company.
——————————————————
I assume the new dryer is plugged into the same 220 volt receptacle that was used for the old dryer and nobody played with it during the remodeling. There is no reason why that original breaker is now not holding the load of the new dryer. That being the case, it could well be a problem with the new dryer. I’d call the outfit that sold you the dryer before going to an electrician who will definitely charge you for a service call whereas whoever services the dryer MIGHT not charge for coming out IF it happens the dryer is good. If that’s the case you will need to call an electrician.

Let us know how it’s resolved.

jmonroe

No, this is a new outlet that was wired during the basement finishing project. There is a subpanel in the closet under the stairs with all the breakers for the downstairs area. Outside, there are two existing panels and a new 30 amp breaker was installed and labeled "basement".

Brand new dryer as well, though I suppose it could be the source of the problem. If I were 30 years younger, I'd swap out the dryer upstairs for the one in the basement and see if that dryer still trips the breaker. Then I'd know if it's the wiring or the appliance.

xwesx · October 31

jmonroe1 said:

corvette said:
@tjc78 had the right idea... The first of the hard drives has been formatted and has three holes drilled in the platters. Unfortunately, I drilled through to the concrete in my basement, and now my drill bit is dull.

Which is about par for the course today. @xwesx - you may be interested to know that Asus' "cloud recovery" option is lacking compared to Apple's implementation. And by "lacking," I mean that Apple's actually works.

The laptop in question is only a little over two years old, but in true CCBA fashion, I'm a bit tempted to upgrade to a Surface or other laptop on the newer ARM architecture. (I think and say this as I'm typing this on a 2016-era Acer laptop that I've converted to a Chromebook using ChromeOS Flex or whatever they call it now. )
————————————————
Hint: The next time don’t push so hard OR use a masonry bit.

jmonroe

Yessir... I learned a long time ago to always place a block of wood under whatever I am drilling... even if it is another piece of wood!

corvette · October 31

@Michaell - Is the subpanel only 30A? That's not enough if it has a dryer plus the other basement loads going through the subpanel.

carnaught · October 31

nyccarguy said:

tjc78 said:

nyccarguy said:

tjc78 said:
I don't think I ever spoke about it here.... but my wife was very far into negotiations with a company in the Orlando area. We did a lot of research into what it would look like to live down there in the nice suburbs.

It honestly wasn't that much less than NJ all in. The houses were more, taxes much less, car insurance similar...

Only thing for us is we would have gone from two houses to one so there was obvious savings there. The homes we were looking at there were very, very large and down there a pool is a must have for us especially with no shore house.

The gig didn't pan out and everything was for the best, as what she got is a better position and fully WFH.
My best friend moved from Wilton, CT to Boca Raton, FL about 3 years ago. He has a knack for timing things absolutely perfectly and rarely compromises. He sold his house in CT at the perfect time and then bought a great house during a slight correction down in FL. The house in FL cost more than in CT. He said the property taxes were a wash. His auto and homeowner's insurance costs skyrocketed (more than double) in FL compared to CT and he had to drastically reduce his coverages. He lived very comfortably up in CT and despite the same income, says just everything besides the price of gas seems so expensive.
Yep - it was not the slam dunk we thought it was going to be. Now, the areas we looked at were admittedly upscale, but you need that in order to have good schools down there.
Even that, he said his kids say they don't get nearly the amount of work in FL that they got in CT. His son was a B/C or all B student in CT. He got straight As in school in FL.

So, is judging a couple of schools in comparison statistically significant, lol?

jmonroe1 · October 31

Michaell said:

jmonroe1 said:

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:
@Michaell
Did they get your electrical problem sorted?

When we did the additional at our old house, it took me days to get rid of all the trash, and re-organize everything in the basement. We had moved so much stuff down there during construction and did so much plumbing and electrical everything was just a mess.
Yes, the one electrical issue was fixed earlier this week, but now a new one has cropped up. Everytime we fire up the new dryer, it trips the breaker. Got a lot of words from the basement folks that requires an "electrician to English" translation book. We've decided to handle the problem ourselves, and be done with the basement company.
——————————————————
I assume the new dryer is plugged into the same 220 volt receptacle that was used for the old dryer and nobody played with it during the remodeling. There is no reason why that original breaker is now not holding the load of the new dryer. That being the case, it could well be a problem with the new dryer. I’d call the outfit that sold you the dryer before going to an electrician who will definitely charge you for a service call whereas whoever services the dryer MIGHT not charge for coming out IF it happens the dryer is good. If that’s the case you will need to call an electrician.

Let us know how it’s resolved.

jmonroe
No, this is a new outlet that was wired during the basement finishing project. There is a subpanel in the closet under the stairs with all the breakers for the downstairs area. Outside, there are two existing panels and a new 30 amp breaker was installed and labeled "basement".

Brand new dryer as well, though I suppose it could be the source of the problem. If I were 30 years younger, I'd swap out the dryer upstairs for the one in the basement and see if that dryer still trips the breaker. Then I'd know if it's the wiring or the appliance.

——————————————————-
A 30 amp breaker is OK to provide power for lights and receptacles in the basement but you need a DEDICATED 30 amp circuit for the dryer alone. Try turning off EVERYTHING that is using power in the basement then see if the breaker can run the dryer with no other loads on that breaker. If the breaker still trips, there is a problem with the wiring or like I said before, the dryer itself could be bad. But, from what you’re telling me, you have over loaded the breaker when you try to use the dryer.

jmonroe

Michaell · October 31

jmonroe1 said:

Michaell said:

jmonroe1 said:

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:
@Michaell
Did they get your electrical problem sorted?

When we did the additional at our old house, it took me days to get rid of all the trash, and re-organize everything in the basement. We had moved so much stuff down there during construction and did so much plumbing and electrical everything was just a mess.
Yes, the one electrical issue was fixed earlier this week, but now a new one has cropped up. Everytime we fire up the new dryer, it trips the breaker. Got a lot of words from the basement folks that requires an "electrician to English" translation book. We've decided to handle the problem ourselves, and be done with the basement company.
——————————————————
I assume the new dryer is plugged into the same 220 volt receptacle that was used for the old dryer and nobody played with it during the remodeling. There is no reason why that original breaker is now not holding the load of the new dryer. That being the case, it could well be a problem with the new dryer. I’d call the outfit that sold you the dryer before going to an electrician who will definitely charge you for a service call whereas whoever services the dryer MIGHT not charge for coming out IF it happens the dryer is good. If that’s the case you will need to call an electrician.

Let us know how it’s resolved.

jmonroe
No, this is a new outlet that was wired during the basement finishing project. There is a subpanel in the closet under the stairs with all the breakers for the downstairs area. Outside, there are two existing panels and a new 30 amp breaker was installed and labeled "basement".

Brand new dryer as well, though I suppose it could be the source of the problem. If I were 30 years younger, I'd swap out the dryer upstairs for the one in the basement and see if that dryer still trips the breaker. Then I'd know if it's the wiring or the appliance.
——————————————————-
A 30 amp breaker is OK to provide power for lights and receptacles in the basement but you need a DEDICATED 30 amp circuit for the dryer alone. Try turning off EVERYTHING that is using power in the basement then see if the breaker can run the dryer with no other loads on that breaker. If the breaker still trips, there is a problem with the wiring or like I said before, the dryer itself could be bad. But, from what you’re telling me, you have over loaded the breaker when you try to use the dryer.

jmonroe

OK, I just went downstairs and looked.

In the panel, the dryer is on a separate 30 amp breaker.

jmonroe1 · October 31

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:
@Michaell
Did they get your electrical problem sorted?

When we did the additional at our old house, it took me days to get rid of all the trash, and re-organize everything in the basement. We had moved so much stuff down there during construction and did so much plumbing and electrical everything was just a mess.
Yes, the one electrical issue was fixed earlier this week, but now a new one has cropped up. Everytime we fire up the new dryer, it trips the breaker. Got a lot of words from the basement folks that requires an "electrician to English" translation book. We've decided to handle the problem ourselves, and be done with the basement company.
Always something, right? Hopefully it is an easy fix.
Seems to be - something about 3 vs. 4 wires for the dryer.

——————————————————-
Some areas now require a 4 wire receptacle for the dryer. However, the 4th wire is NOT a current carrying conductor. The 4th wire is the ground. If the receptacle was shorted when it was installed the breaker would have tripped instantly and would not have been able to be reset, not even once. FWIW, I’ve seen dryers work perfectly well with a 3 wire receptacle even though it should have been connected to a 4 wire receptacle. Again, the 4th wire is only a ground wire. It’s connected to a separate terminal on the receptacle vs. being connected to the metal frame that the insulated receptacle is mounted to.

jmonroe

ab348 · October 31

Here’s another electrical observation I picked up last night. I was watching “This Old House” where they are documenting some of the issues where people in the Asheville NC area are rebuilding after the flooding and hurricane damage last year. This segment involved them following along an electrician installing a new outside service hookup for a relatively new home that had sustained some damage. It had a fairly new conventional meter box/mast setup but that was deemed no longer to code and had to be replaced as part of the process.

The new outside setup looked to be about the size of a 60 or 100amp interior panel box, but divided into two parts. The upper was where the meter went as usual, but with a master switch to cut off all power from the outside. The larger bottom part had space for a number of breakers. When questioned, the electrician said those were required for outdoor outlets, exterior lights, pool heaters, heat pumps, whatever. He also installed two long 6’ copper ground poles into the earth as code now required, and all connections required an anti-corrosion paste to be used between the large outside wires and the panel connectors and tightened with a torque wrench. This panel also had a large green wire which he didn’t explain very well and remained a mystery to me. Gotta love code writers.

xwesx · October 31

Michaell said:

OK, I just went downstairs and looked.

In the panel, the dryer is on a separate 30 amp breaker.

Okay, but what is the total supply power to the panel? You can have a panel with, say, 50A total capacity and have individual 50A circuits in that panel. But, if you try using both to capacity at the same time, you'll still trip the panel!

xwesx · October 31

jmonroe1 said:

Some areas now require a 4 wire receptacle for the dryer. However, the 4th wire is NOT a current carrying conductor. The 4th wire is the ground. If the receptacle was shorted when it was installed the breaker would have tripped instantly and would not have been able to be reset, not even once. FWIW, I’ve seen dryers work perfectly well with a 3 wire receptacle even though it should have been connected to a 4 wire receptacle. Again, the 4th wire is only a ground wire. It’s connected to a separate terminal on the receptacle vs. being connected to the metal frame that the insulated receptacle is mounted to.

jmonroe

Yep! That's why dryers do not come with cords: The dryer itself cares not. If you have a three-wire outlet, then use the proper cord and just wire it as such in the dryer. Even if you have an old dryer that is pre-four-wire, you can wire it with a four-wire outlet/cord by just attaching the ground to the back panel of the dryer with a self-tapping screw.

jmonroe1 · October 31

Michaell said:

jmonroe1 said:

Michaell said:

jmonroe1 said:

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:
@Michaell
Did they get your electrical problem sorted?

When we did the additional at our old house, it took me days to get rid of all the trash, and re-organize everything in the basement. We had moved so much stuff down there during construction and did so much plumbing and electrical everything was just a mess.
Yes, the one electrical issue was fixed earlier this week, but now a new one has cropped up. Everytime we fire up the new dryer, it trips the breaker. Got a lot of words from the basement folks that requires an "electrician to English" translation book. We've decided to handle the problem ourselves, and be done with the basement company.
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I assume the new dryer is plugged into the same 220 volt receptacle that was used for the old dryer and nobody played with it during the remodeling. There is no reason why that original breaker is now not holding the load of the new dryer. That being the case, it could well be a problem with the new dryer. I’d call the outfit that sold you the dryer before going to an electrician who will definitely charge you for a service call whereas whoever services the dryer MIGHT not charge for coming out IF it happens the dryer is good. If that’s the case you will need to call an electrician.

Let us know how it’s resolved.

jmonroe
No, this is a new outlet that was wired during the basement finishing project. There is a subpanel in the closet under the stairs with all the breakers for the downstairs area. Outside, there are two existing panels and a new 30 amp breaker was installed and labeled "basement".

Brand new dryer as well, though I suppose it could be the source of the problem. If I were 30 years younger, I'd swap out the dryer upstairs for the one in the basement and see if that dryer still trips the breaker. Then I'd know if it's the wiring or the appliance.
——————————————————-
A 30 amp breaker is OK to provide power for lights and receptacles in the basement but you need a DEDICATED 30 amp circuit for the dryer alone. Try turning off EVERYTHING that is using power in the basement then see if the breaker can run the dryer with no other loads on that breaker. If the breaker still trips, there is a problem with the wiring or like I said before, the dryer itself could be bad. But, from what you’re telling me, you have over loaded the breaker when you try to use the dryer.

jmonroe
OK, I just went downstairs and looked.

In the panel, the dryer is on a separate 30 amp breaker.

—————————————————
I am going to make the assumption that the dedicated breaker for the dryer is connected to the dryer receptacle with 30 amp wire (10 gage copper wire). I have seen homeowner dryer wiring using #12 wire which is only rated for 20 amps. But, the breaker only tripped occasionally due to the total loading on the panel when the dryer was turned on. Once the 12 gage wire was replaced with the proper 10 gage wire, the problem went away for good and never returned.

I doubt you are going to remove the wire on the breaker to check the gage but it is a very easy thing to do. The wire gage tool is nothing more than holes punched or drill into a piece of metal. The old style Romex stripper had it on one side of the stripper. If the wiring is the right size and connected properly that pretty much says the dryer is bad.

The other way to check the wire gage is to trace the wire connected to the breaker back to where it enters the panel. If 10 gage wire is used the outer jacket insulation will be orange. If the outer jacket insulation is yellow (20 amp wire) or white (14 amp wire) you had a shoemaker doing the wiring.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · October 31

ab348 said:
Here’s another electrical observation I picked up last night. I was watching “This Old House” where they are documenting some of the issues where people in the Asheville NC area are rebuilding after the flooding and hurricane damage last year. This segment involved them following along an electrician installing a new outside service hookup for a relatively new home that had sustained some damage. It had a fairly new conventional meter box/mast setup but that was deemed no longer to code and had to be replaced as part of the process.

The new outside setup looked to be about the size of a 60 or 100amp interior panel box, but divided into two parts. The upper was where the meter went as usual, but with a master switch to cut off all power from the outside. The larger bottom part had space for a number of breakers. When questioned, the electrician said those were required for outdoor outlets, exterior lights, pool heaters, heat pumps, whatever. He also installed two long 6’ copper ground poles into the earth as code now required, and all connections required an anti-corrosion paste to be used between the large outside wires and the panel connectors and tightened with a torque wrench. This panel also had a large green wire which he didn’t explain very well and remained a mystery to me. Gotta love code writers.

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Codes vary in different parts of the country and installations must comply with all local codes and local codes override national codes.

As for the green wire, that is ALWAYS the ground wire or grounding point for the panel. So far I have NEVER seen the green wire used for anything other than ground. I’m going to hang up my side cutters if that ever changes.

jmonroe

ab348 · October 31

xwesx said:

Yep! That's why dryers do not come with cords: The dryer itself cares not. If you have a three-wire outlet, then use the proper cord and just wire it as such in the dryer. Even if you have an old dryer that is pre-four-wire, you can wire it with a four-wire outlet/cord by just attaching the ground to the back panel of the dryer with a self-tapping screw.

All of my dryers all came with cords. At a glance, it looks like the same cord/plug used on my electric range.

tjc78 · October 31

@ab348 said:
All of my dryers all came with cords. At a glance, it looks like the same cord/plug used on my electric range.

In Canada the appliances come with cords. In the US, you have to buy them separately

jmonroe1 · October 31

ab348 said:

xwesx said:

Yep! That's why dryers do not come with cords: The dryer itself cares not. If you have a three-wire outlet, then use the proper cord and just wire it as such in the dryer. Even if you have an old dryer that is pre-four-wire, you can wire it with a four-wire outlet/cord by just attaching the ground to the back panel of the dryer with a self-tapping screw.
All of my dryers all came with cords. At a glance, it looks like the same cord/plug used on my electric range.

——————————————————-
I’m sure if you look a little closer you will see that the range cord has 3 flat blades and the dryer cord has one blade that is “L” shaped. Plus the range cord is heavier because it has #6 gage wire good for 55 amps vs. the dryer cord that has #10 gage wire good for 30 amps.

jmonroe

stickguy · October 31

This is why I don’t mess with wiring. As far as I go with household electric is replacing fixtures when I can direct swap existing wires from old to new. As I will be doing when I finally get around to putting up the 3 ceiling fans I have sitting here for all the spare bedrooms.

graphicguy · 4:33AM

oldfarmer50 said:
We were recently discussing Kia and its reliability issues. I think someone even mentioned poor dealership service. Well, i had my car in for a recall today and got quite an eye opener.

When i had the car into the dealer last year it was for a recall to fix the theft issue. Supposedly, they were to modify the wiring in the steering column such that the old “Kia boyz” hot wire trick would no longer work. They gave it back to me and even put a sticker in the window stating that the car had been fixed so don’t bother trying to steal it.

So today when i dropped it off for the latest recall (potentially rusty brake lines) the service guy says: “would you like us to do the anti-theft recall while it here”? What? I say that it had been done last year and he says:” they tried to do it last year but they didn’t have the parts”. Again, WHAT? I asked if this was so why did they tell it was done and even put a sticker on the window indicating such? I got a shrug.

So…..when I get the car back MAYBE it will be more difficult to steal and MAYBE I won’t be driving around with rusty brake lines but based on the dishonesty of this dealer I might never know.

I think both my Kias (Stinger and EV6) have been built well and have been reliable. The local dealership group, not so much. I wonder if there standard for service is lower? Sure seems that way.

Finally got my windshield replaced. I had a coupon for a free inspection from the local dealer. Not much to inspect, but took it it so they could "check the air" in the tires as it's getting colder around here. I asked them to take a look at the windshield repair as it was done by a 3rd party since they don't do them.

Yeah....they'll do it. But, they said it would cost $175 for them to inspect the work.

Ummmmm.....I just shook my head and told them to check the air in the tires.

ab348 · 5:18AM

stickguy said:
This is why I don’t mess with wiring. As far as I go with household electric is replacing fixtures when I can direct swap existing wires from old to new. As I will be doing when I finally get around to putting up the 3 ceiling fans I have sitting here for all the spare bedrooms.

Now, that's a job I would hire out and not DIY. Seeing those things mis-installed and spinning the entire unit until the wires snap, or wobbling uncontrollably, or even just getting it up the ladder to the box without incident, would make me happily pay the money.

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