G
Guest
YeaI meant the mini stove thingy
-
As of today ICMag has his own Discord server. In this Discord server you can chat, talk with eachother, listen to music, share stories and pictures...and much more. Join now and let's grow together! Join ICMag Discord here! More details in this thread here: here.
How to determine whether outlets are on the same circuit?
- Thread starter clowntown
- Start date
Okay, fuck. Bad news. The box in question housed TELEPHONE LINES. Now now, before you flame me for being so stupid as to not being able to distinguish a phone box to an electrical box, it's a rusted box that has multiple conduits running into it just like an electrical box would, and is the only box in that room (where the washer & dryer reside).
Now I'm totally stumped. I've looked around parts of the building where I could, but see no boxes of any type, and don't really see any wires leading up to anywhere meaningful from the power lines going into the building from the poles. Fuck, I hope it's not in a locked room somewhere, or something. I live on the ground level, but there is also a basement level with a long hallway that also houses more units (looks more like some sort of evil dungeon down there), with some numbered units that are locked by padlocks (as opposed to door knob or bolt locks), and some with regular knobs.
What do I do now? My options are:
1) Borrow a meter from an electrician co-worker, but how do I explain this need? He should know that I know nothing about electrical stuff, so what's a good excuse for a random layman to want to borrow a multimeter?
2) Somehow convince the landlord to tell me where the breaker box is -- what's a good excuse to use w/o sounding like I'm up to something, and with least amount of hassle possible (because if it's too much hassle and a non-emergency, it likely won't get done)?
3) Trip the breaker and force someone to come out and possibly show me where it is. What's the easiest, safest way to do this? Just overload the outlet with a bunch of high-power devices?
Fuuuck... nothing ever goes as planned...
Now I'm totally stumped. I've looked around parts of the building where I could, but see no boxes of any type, and don't really see any wires leading up to anywhere meaningful from the power lines going into the building from the poles. Fuck, I hope it's not in a locked room somewhere, or something. I live on the ground level, but there is also a basement level with a long hallway that also houses more units (looks more like some sort of evil dungeon down there), with some numbered units that are locked by padlocks (as opposed to door knob or bolt locks), and some with regular knobs.
What do I do now? My options are:
1) Borrow a meter from an electrician co-worker, but how do I explain this need? He should know that I know nothing about electrical stuff, so what's a good excuse for a random layman to want to borrow a multimeter?
2) Somehow convince the landlord to tell me where the breaker box is -- what's a good excuse to use w/o sounding like I'm up to something, and with least amount of hassle possible (because if it's too much hassle and a non-emergency, it likely won't get done)?
3) Trip the breaker and force someone to come out and possibly show me where it is. What's the easiest, safest way to do this? Just overload the outlet with a bunch of high-power devices?
Fuuuck... nothing ever goes as planned...
stonewall
Active member
Code 230-70(b).
Location: In a multiple-occupancy building each occupant shall have access to his disconecting means.
Call the landlord and ask him where it is located. If he questions why, tell him because it is your right and you are a safety freak. I would guess it is inside your apartment somewhere, but it may be on the first floor in a room with common access.
Location: In a multiple-occupancy building each occupant shall have access to his disconecting means.
Call the landlord and ask him where it is located. If he questions why, tell him because it is your right and you are a safety freak. I would guess it is inside your apartment somewhere, but it may be on the first floor in a room with common access.
G
Guest
find your electric meeter look under it
There seriously must be some electrical room that I am unaware of, because I see no electric meters in sight inside or out. I mean, there HAS to be electric meters because I get my own electric bill, and on that electric bill it has "Meter #" on it, etc. Plus, how else would they know how much electric I use w/o one? But I don't see any meters for anyone. Weird!
But no, I'm not about to bust out some legal code to my super-lazy landlord. Although he'll probably finally get around to showing it to me, it won't be without extreme hesitation and without pissing him off to a great deal. I really don't want that.
I think my solution is to ask PG&E, instead! Why didn't I think of this...
But no, I'm not about to bust out some legal code to my super-lazy landlord. Although he'll probably finally get around to showing it to me, it won't be without extreme hesitation and without pissing him off to a great deal. I really don't want that.
I think my solution is to ask PG&E, instead! Why didn't I think of this...
BudGood2006
Member
Who cares if you piss him off? He can deal with it, it's part of being a landlord. I just enjoy pissing off landlords anyway, lol.
BudGood2006
Member
Hehe, true, but still, wtf, bein a landlord is more than just accepting a rent payment every month. Thats basicly his job, fuck it, make him work a little harder one day (or his lackey maintenance man). I would say, call him, tell him your power has tripped and you need the maintenance man to come out, unless he can tell you where the breaker box is. Tell him it's a medical emergency or somethin, like for an oxygen machine. He'll prioritize it just so he doesn't get sued!
Xtbudda
Member
You are not even growing yet. So just plug all kinds of crap in, a hair dryer, everything you can imagine, your having a slumber party, blow the fuses and tell him, you need it reset, WHERE IS IT. If he comes over and it is inside the unit where you are, he wont see anything. There is no law against accidently plugging in too many things.
Or tell him, the electric company is reading the wrong meter or something and you want to check your meter readings.
Even if you have to wait till he gets there, it will be worth knowing.
You take the risk any other way, and its asking for trouble.
Or tell him, the electric company is reading the wrong meter or something and you want to check your meter readings.
Even if you have to wait till he gets there, it will be worth knowing.
You take the risk any other way, and its asking for trouble.
Currently brewing up some ideas on how to approach this better.
G
Guest
just tell them you tripped it(but dont trip it)then when they come to flip your trip...you can help them figure out which one tripped....but none did...say your sorry at least you know where the box is so they dont have to come next time..
I feel like a retard for not having thought of that... "I think I tripped a circuit, that outlet over there isn't working now when it worked the other day... can you tell me where the breaker is so I can reset it myself?"
Only fucked up thing might be if he grows, too, and is reading this.
Only fucked up thing might be if he grows, too, and is reading this.
Last edited:
G
Guest
that would be funny
Oh yeah, so I went with the latest plan which was saying I tripped the breaker, when I really didn't. So he tells me over the phone to knock on his daughter's door, who lives on-site, and she would give me access to the electrical room to reset it. Wasn't so hard, I just made it sound like it was.
Edit, edit: Argh, I accidentallyd eleted all that info. Anyways, got 2 x 20a and 1 x 15a in my unit. WOoot!
Edit, edit: Argh, I accidentallyd eleted all that info. Anyways, got 2 x 20a and 1 x 15a in my unit. WOoot!
Last edited:
BudGood2006
Member
So do you have access to the electrical room now? I would still try to figure out which outlets are controlled by which circuits, so you can know which outlets to use in order not to overload any circuits. Remember, only use a circuit to 80% of it's capacity, so for a 20A circuit only use 16, a 15A only 12.
More or less, yes. The daughter seemed like a very nice, cooperative person, and promised to help me figure out what's connected to what later on in the week when she has some more time. I interrupted her in the middle of something... she was told that I had an emergency electrical outage LOL.
Yeah, I will definitely keep that in mind. In fact, I'm going to treat all circuits as if they were 15A since I'm not going to trust the (probably) half-assed electricians who might have done the work here, who may not have laid the correct guage wire for the 20A's. Or is it so easy to get 20A wire that it shouldn't be something to worry about?
Yeah, I will definitely keep that in mind. In fact, I'm going to treat all circuits as if they were 15A since I'm not going to trust the (probably) half-assed electricians who might have done the work here, who may not have laid the correct guage wire for the 20A's. Or is it so easy to get 20A wire that it shouldn't be something to worry about?
Last edited:
