Wire Theft Article coming, maybe tomorrow

I will be writing an article about an estimate I was on today. I’ve been seeing vandalism / wire theft like this for 30 years. It is pretty disgusting and heart wrenching for the home owners, and it always happens in the inner city.

Z-Wave Electrical Home Automation

Sparks Electric installed a Z-Wave home automation switch, first one, what a great automation device for a nominal to moderate price. I wrote an article on it, I can’t publish it here right now but may provide a link later. I think this would be a great item for electricians and electrical contractors to install in homes for customers that need to control loads when away from home. Have a good night. Thanks for reading, Gary.

How to Recover Your Cell Phone if it Drops in Water

Here is a very practical article from Dr. Mecola’s free email service regarding what to do when you drop a phone into water. How it seems to apply more so to electricians is that just about every electrician carries a cell phone to communicate with the office, customers, and their families. Electricians also have to get jobs done on time no matter if it rains or snows. So we often find ourselves working in the rains, often light but sometimes heavy rains, especially during a storm damage repair as when a tree or tree limb rips the electrical service off the back side of the house. So whether one drops a cell phone or an electrical tester in water or if a tool or phone is exposed to a light rain for an extended period of time, our electronic tools and gadgets often get wet and can easily get damaged. Moisture in electronics and moister in electrical parts corrodes, damages, and kills those items without conscientious maintenance. So what can a person do? Dr. Mecola’s article below is good advice to open the cell phone or tester, wipe it clean ASAP, dry it out ASAP, and blow dry ASAP. The longer a person waits to perform the required maintenance, the more likely there will be damage from moisture. I would think any electrical contractor has had to deal with this problem. We here at Sparks Electric, www.SparksElectric.com
, have dealt with this for years since we specialize in being an electrical service contractor and as such, we are frequently called upon during wind, rain, and electrical storms. I can testify similar procedures like the following procedure below really helps save tools and cell phones. Here is the link to Dr. Mecola’s article from Yahoo’s news: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/06/28/how-to-recover-your-cell-phone-if-it-drops-in-water.aspx.

Here is the article: “Did you just drop your cell phone into water? According to Yahoo News, all may not be lost! Here are their suggested steps which might enable you to rescue a drowned phone:

Step 1: Do NOT turn on the phone

Step 2: Pull out the battery and SIM card

Step 3: Rinse quickly in freshwater if you dropped your phone in salt water (to rinse out the salt)

Step 4: Dry your phone using compressed air (DO NOT dry it in the oven)

Step 5: Cover your phone with uncooked rice (in a ziplock bag) for at least 24 hours (to absorb moisture)

Step 6: Turn your phone back on and see if it works!”

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading the article and my blog post, feel free to leave a comment if you woudl like to add anything to it.

++ Handyman Wiring: Another Fine Mess

Sparks Electric was recently on a residential estimate and while there, it is our custom to make a quick visual inspection. While in the garage at this home, I saw the wiring in the photo of the air compressor wiring, I just had to snap a photograph of this lethal look wiring. There isn’t anything safe here because the wiring was never installed per the NEC, the national Electrical Code, this is the electrical codes followed by an electrician. This is example of handyman wiring and what you can end up with. Fortunately, over the years that this shop tool motor has been wired, no one was electrocuted nor has the garage burned down, yet,… The home owner realizes he can’t sell the home with unsafe wiring like this so plans on having it removed before he sells the home. Still, if you decide to connect 120 volt or 240 volt wiring to any appliance or load, make sure it is wired correctly. Call an electrician and have the work done by a qualified and conscientious electrician, if you’re in the Greater Milwaukee Area, Sparks Electric at www.SparksElectric.com would be happy to come out and inspect, repair, or replace your unsafe wiring. A safely wired home can be a happier home and definitely a safer home. Thanks for reading our blog.

++Handyman Wiring Can Be Costly

Do you see anything wrong here?
When Sparks Electric visited this Milwaukee home this past Saturday afternoon, one of the first things I noticed was the greenfield and it was also pulled out of the connector. Greenfield is also known as “flexible metal conduit”, FMC. The FMC was installed for the A/C condenser wiring. Article 348 of the National Electrical Code, referred to as the NEC, lists the uses permitted under 348.12. It states: “FMC shall not be used in the following: (1) In wet locations. Being installed outdoors, this is a clear violation. Remember my comment about the flex being pulled out of the connector? It had some physical abuse. When it was pulled out of the connector, all or at least part of the ground system was lost. I say part because the copper tubing was still connected. The tubing is not considered as part of the grounding system nor was it designed for that. It is always best to have a qualified electrician or electrical contractor like Sparks Electric in the Greater Milwaukee Area to inspect, repair, or install your electrical wiring. “Safety First” is a prerequisite in any electrical wiring installation. Having a handyman install or repair your wiring to save a few dollars comes at a great cost, especially when an electrical fire starts or someone gets electrocuted. I have heard of insurance companies not covering a homeowner or business owner for work that had been installed by non-qualified personnel. Feel free contact Sparks Electric at www.SparksElectric.com or email us at info@SparksElectric.com for any electrical questions you may have. Thanks for visiting out blog post.

++Wiring Of Contactors or Lighting Contactors Practical Application By Electrical Contractors

Every now and then, a business customer wants to control a load or set of loads from a single location or a single switch. So what do they do? They call Sparks Electric, an Electrical Contractor in the city of Milwaukee, WI at 414-536-8500 to set up a free estimate for their electrical wiring needs. Controlling he loads from a single location could be at the circuit breaker panel if that is the best place to turn the loads on and off or at a low voltage switch controlling a (lighting) contactor.

An example might be a dozen or a panel full of lighting circuits in a commercial or industrial application. In that example, the circuit breakers could all be used to turn on or turn off the loads. Another application could be controlling the same lighting circuits at the entrance / exit door closest to the parking lot but far away from the circuit breaker panels or load centers. When the lighting panels are located close to the doors, that is convenient and also the cheapest method, this is usually how a space is designed and laid out when wiring. However, after one or two relocations or remodeling, things can change and sometimes the lighting is forgotten by the non electrical designer. One reason could be that the breaker panels are across the building or in a part of the building that might be less convenient to reach either first thing when the work week starts or the shift starts or maybe at the end of the work week or end of the work day. The single location for a low voltage switch near the entrance or exit could make turning the lights, or whatever load you may have, more convenient to access for the first person in and the last person out. SO that’s it in a nut shell, so first things first, call you favorite electrician and energize those lighting contactors. Sparks Electric has a web site at www.SparksElectric.com. Thanks for visiting out blog.

What are “Dry Contacts”?

Dave from Electrical Engineering has a short and sweet answer:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Electrical-Engineering-1356/Meanings-Dry-Contact.htm”>Dave from Electrical Engineering:

A dry contact is a set of 2 switch contacts, like a set of contacts from a relay or from a toggle switch, etc, that has both terminals available and neither contact is connected to power or anything else. (“Dry” = no “juice”) The contacts may be NO, normally open (also called form A), or NC, normally closed (also called form B). Form C would be a SPDT (single pole double throw) with 3 connections.

So, you can hook up the contacts to anything you want, not worrying if they are already connected to power or any other circuit.

Hope this helps!

Dave

Inspirational video, in spite of setbacks, keep working hard

++In spite of setbacks, this video is a good reminder to keep working hard, keep getting up when one falls, never give up, and don’t feel sorry for yourself when the hardships of life come your way,… http://ecmweb.com/nec/nec-chapter-9-20110501/

EC&M Moving Violation #2

**Here is another electircal code violation, not caused by a snow plow as in #1 below buy an an electrician that should have known better or at least supervised by one that knew better. I see examples like this on a regular basis. Without the proper working clearance in front of electrical equipment, it makes it more difficult and less safe for an electrician to to service the equipment and the customer. How often do you see installations that look a little funny or off? Now you have seen two of them today.
Here is the link: http://ecmweb.com/nec/moving_violations/moving-violations-2/
Thanks for reading the blog.

EC&M Moving Violation #1

Here is the first of two short videos about electrical violations, this one caused my physical damage during snow plowing. This is pretty common since the snow is usually covering up the electrical installations close to the ground. Here is the link: http://ecmweb.com/nec/moving_violations/moving-violations-1/
Thanks for visiting our blog.