How to get 240VAC in your kitchen without rewiring...

[brewman !]

As long as the proper wire has been used with the proper breaker and the main breaker in the box hasn't been changed, none of this matters. Worst case, you'll trip one of the breakers, be it the main breaker or one of the circuit breakers. Much ado about nothing.

A quick and easy way to check temps is with one of these.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...S0&_nkw=non+contact+temp+measurement&_sacat=0

 

[ajdelange]

I tried it.. it required the actual flir camera that attaches to the phone.

Of course it requires the camera. The big deal here is that you get a camera for $249 instead of paying $10 times that for a Fluke (or FLIR) standalone camera. Now just as you can reason that a $100 pH meter carrying the brand name of a reputable instrument maker (Hach) may be worth a look so can you reason that a $249 IR camera from a reputable manufacturer (FLIR) may be worth a look as in both cases they are putting technology into the hands of the public that was hitherto only available to professionals. Is this camera comparable to a $4000 IR camera? No, of course not but it appears from the specs at least to be adequate to check a breaker panel being able, according to its specs, able to resolve temperatures of a fraction of a degree.

OK, it's a new gadget (to me) and I suffer from chronic techno-lust.

 

[ajdelange]

As long as the proper wire has been used with the proper breaker and the main breaker in the box hasn't been changed, none of this matters. Worst case, you'll trip one of the breakers, be it the main breaker or one of the circuit breakers. Much ado about nothing.

Worst case a wire or contact will work loose or corrode and some point within the breaker will become hot enough to start a fire even though the current draw is not sufficient to trip the breaker. The perfect storm required to produce worst case is, of course, an improbable event if codes are followed (including using 'approved' components is panels as the code requires). But it's awfully simple to check on breaker performance with an IR photo and IR photos are now available to anyone with a smart phone as icing on the cake he bought so he could post IR pictures of his girlfriend to face book. I have a properly sized, approved breaker properly installed in a panel. It's hot. It needs to be replaced and if I can just remember to pick one up next time I'm at the Home Despot I'll do it.

A quick and easy way to check temps is with one of these.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...S0&_nkw=non+contact+temp+measurement&_sacat=0

Fraid not for the reason I gave in No. 117.

 

[augiedoggy]

Of course it requires the camera. The big deal here is that you get a camera for $249 instead of paying $10 times that for a Fluke (or FLIR) standalone camera. Now just as you can reason that a $100 pH meter carrying the brand name of a reputable instrument maker (Hach) may be worth a look so can you reason that a $249 IR camera from a reputable manufacturer (FLIR) may be worth a look as in both cases they are putting technology into the hands of the public that was hitherto only available to professionals. Is this camera comparable to a $4000 IR camera? No, of course not but it appears from the specs at least to be adequate to check a breaker panel being able, according to its specs, able to resolve temperatures of a fraction of a degree.

OK, it's a new gadget (to me) and I suffer from chronic techno-lust.

I dont believe need either though.. 2 of the breakers have been in there for 11 years with no issue and the 3rd has been in there 4 years... The panel is not hot and gives no indication of any problems. the wires connect to the breaker in the same fashion as they would be installed in any brand box the connection to the main bar is on the other end of the breaker and unless the bryant box uses some sort of special metal for the bars I think this conversation has little practical merit myself... if fact since this is the brand of breakers they sell at most home improvement stores for DIYers I believe if the was a real concern that wouldnt be the case. Looking over the electrical forums it really seems most electricians use this argument as they are trying to intimidate the average person from doing his own work. These breakers have been around a lot longer than infrared cameras I just dont see the concern here myself but thanks for the suggestions.

And nice try slipping the ph meter comment in not going to let it go huh. You know I have no issues with my $12 apparently shady brand ph meter for what I use it for. I have my buddies Hanna meter here and we are still using it for comparision. So far I still see no added value in paying more here for the same readout or damn close to it.. both were calibrated and both are finicky but both read within .1 of each other and thats good enough for me. Perhaps if I wasnt limited by my income and hobbies all these decisions wouldnt be such a compromise for me and I could take the moral high ground and buy everything directly from the single company who invented it instead of copies (legally done or not). but if we all did that here we wouldnt even have brands like Spike or ss brewing or and other apparently "copy cat" companies selling the same copied products that others like Stout invented and released to the home brewing market long before them...

 

[ajdelange]

I'm not arguing that you should or shouldn't do anything. i was just suggesting that if this was a concern to you then there is a new technology available to the homeowner that can relieve any concerns you may have in this regard.

I just went and took an IR look at the breakers in the panel I had the concern about. It was the screws on terminals of the breaker for the furnace/air handler. I loosened the screws, jiggled the wires about a bit and re-tightened the screws. 'Problem' solved. It wasn't, of course, a very serious problem. I've just gone from maybe 5 to 6 nines reliability. Worth it? Only to me in an intellectual sense as I could not explain to my family (or probably most people) the value of my 10 minutes labor.

 

[passedpawn]

The FLIR cameras that attach to phones work very very well. I've been involved in the development of much more expensive devices, but I don't recall them working any better than the miniature FLIR stuff. Pretty neat turning around and seeing your footprints on the floor where you walked.

I've got a pair of military night vision goggles next to me now. Was outside a few minutes ago looking at stars. Now there is a magical piece of tech. They're amplifiers of visible light, so not germane to this discussion.

 

[ajdelange]

Pretty neat turning around and seeing your footprints on the floor where you walked.

My HVAC guy told me that he likes to herd his kids and a bunch of their friends into a room with instructions that one of them write his name on the wall with his finger. He then chases them out of the room and reads the name from the wall with his IR imager and then tells them who wrote it. This evidently amuses them greatly.

Another amusing application is finding the dogs when they go outside at night.

Checking breaker panels, looking for air leaks, finding studs and tracing air ducts are not, perhaps, so much fun but much more practical applications