Professional Work

professional work... checklist

Typical Prices

Most basic troubleshooting calls including repair and installation calls are resolved less than $500. We have developed this list to serve as a guideline and to provide "ball park" estimates for common items. These costs are for a typical small to medium house in California. Difficult access and other factors could increase cost substantially. Please note: Recent construction cost increases may make some of these prices lower than you will find locally.

ELECTRICAL

• Replace existing switch or outlet $35 typical
• Replace existing outlet with GFI outlet $65 [add $15 for exterior]
• Install new Ceiling Fan/ chandelier $450 typical
  
• w/existing switch
• Safety Survey & Correction $450 typical
• New remodel lighting/power outlets: $400 typical
• $150 for each end of the residential wire.
  
• $200 for the commercial.
• Replace existing Lighting Fixture $55 typical
• Correct reverse polarity $50 [device only]
  
• Bathroom Remodel from $400
• Kitchen Remodel from $1,000 [size & finishes]
• New120-volt circuit starting from $300 [wire path & length]
• New 240-volt circuit starting from $500 [wire path & length]
• New Subpanel from $600
• Upgrade fusebox to 100amp panel from $1,800
• Upgrade small panel to 200amp main $2,400 typical
• Bring home Grounding System to compliance $400 typical

Don't try this at home...

Maintain Electrical Safety
The insulation on electrical wires can become damaged by wear, flexing, or age. Some clues that you may have an electrical problem are:

• Flickering lights. If the lights dim every time you turn on an appliance that circuit is overloaded or has a loose connection.
• Sparks. If sparks appear when you insert or remove a plug, that could be a sign of loose connections.
• Frequent blown fuses or broken circuits. A fuse or circuit breaker that keeps tripping is an important warning sign of problems.
• Frequent bulb burnout. A light bulb that burns out frequently is a sign that the bulb is too high a wattage for the fixture.
• Avoid the use of extension cords.

Aging happens but fires don't have to...

AFCI – a new type of circuit breaker that recognizes potential fire hazards and immediately shuts off the power.

Top Causes of Arc Faults

Loose or improper connections, such as electrical wires to outlets or switches
Frayed appliance or extension cords 

Pinched or pierced wire insulation, such as a wire inside a wall nipped by a nail or a chair leg sitting on an extension cord
Cracked wire insulation stemming from age, heat, corrosion, or bending stress
Overheated wires or cords
Damaged electrical appliances
Electrical wire insulation chewed by rodents

Electrical Outlets Safety

...Going against all the fire safety training I’d gone through growing up, I grabbed an industrial extension cord and power strip from the garage, and ran it through the dining room into the den. I finished setting up my laptop around 2 a.m. and went to bed.... ...After that, I got kind of lazy. I knew that I had to deal with the electrical problem, but I was dreading what it would cost to have an electrician come fix it. We lived with the extension cord running across the floor for about a week, hoping that no one would decide to drop by unannounced...

Beautiful!

Here are some photos of our work and
some photos of electrical interest!
Our service area is the 415.

Telephone: (415)877.1172

How many things can you plug into an electrical outlet before it catches fire?

What causes humming in audio systems?

Some articles claim that wiring and grounding problems account for up to 80 percent of all power quality related problems related with sensitive electronic equipments like audio/video systems.

How OK is it to replace ungrounded outlet with GFCI outlets?

Q2. Under what condition can a two-wire receptacle be replaced with a three-wire receptacle, when no ground is available in the box?

A. Where no equipment bonding means exists in the outlet box, nongrounding-type receptacles can be replaced with [406.3(D)(3)]:

• Another nongrounding-type receptacle.
• A GFCI grounding-type receptacle marked "No Equipment Ground."
• A grounding-type receptacle, if GFCI protected and marked "GFCI Protected" and "No Equipment Ground."

Note: GFCI protection functions properly on a 2-wire circuit without an equipment grounding (bonding) conductor, because the equipment grounding (bonding) conductor serves no role in the operation of the GFCI-protection device.

CAUTION: The permission to replace nongrounding-type receptacles with GFCI-protected grounding-type receptacles doesn't apply to new receptacle outlets that extend from an existing ungrounded outlet box. Once you add a receptacle outlet (branch-circuit extension), the receptacle must be of the grounding (bonding) type and it must have its grounding terminal grounded (bonded) to an effective ground-fault current path in accordance with 250.130(C).

The following vid shows a bad switch.

Smoke detector requirements

Why does polarity matter, anyway?

Is there any danger? Contrary to what many people think, reverse polarity can also be a serious safety concern. Thus the current to electrical appliances is usually switched on and off where the hot wire enters the appliance. Turning the appliance off removes any contact between the hot wire and the appliance. However, if the hot and neutral wires are reversed in the outlet, the hot wire runs all the way through the appliance with the switch off. In the case of an electric toaster, for example, I can be electrocuted by using a fork to retrieve a piece of toast, even if the toaster is off. Consider a light fixture with no bulb. If wired correctly, the only live part is the button at the base of the socket. A person is much less likely to touch this button than the threaded collar around the socket. If wired with reversed polarity, it is the threaded collar that is live! If I inadvertently touch the metal base of the bulb while it was in contact with the socket I can receive a severe shock. Have an electrician fix all outlets with reversed polarity.

What constitutes Acceptable Flicker?

Backup Power

Click here & here for generator info

Did you know that some of the most inefficient systems on Earth are the electrical grids. At night when demand goes way down, most people do not know that the turbines cannot be reduced in capacity as low as the demand goes and that electricity is literally dissipated into the atmosphere as heat because it has nowhere else to go. Imagine storing about 30 to 40 percent of that lost energy and the savings it would affect across this planet.

Helping your electrician help you!

Click here for troubleshooting guide.

Federal Pacific Electric (FPE) Electrical Hazards

SHOULD FPE STAB-LOK^® PANELS BE REPLACED?

...Federal Pacific circuit breakers have a long and well documented history of inadequate performance. The presence of an FPE panel is a "Safety Defect" . These breakers often fail to trip when overloaded which can lead to fires. For more information search the internet for "Federal Pacific electric panel".

Most electricians or electrical inspectors can only look at the breakers ("they look OK to me"), and operate the toggle ("they click on and off OK"). But the question is: will they trip properly on electrical overload or short circuit? The history of Federal Pacific panels show them to be primary safety devices of questionable reliability. It is not correct to call non-tripping FP breakers a “fire hazard”. A fire hazard is any electrical failure that causes ignition. AS circuit breaker’s function is to stop electrical processes that could (if allowed to proceed) lead to fire in the building. If an electrical fire hazard develops in the building, the breaker is supposed to trip and minimize the possibility of ignition. If the breaker is defective, fire is more likely to result. FPE STAB-LOK circuit breakers are a danger in that regard

There is no question but that the FPE STAB-LOK^® panels should be replaced. There is no practical and safe alternative.

see another link here
and here

Personnel Protection

Where are GFI outlets required for personnel protection?

Aluminum Wiring in Residential Properties: Hazards & Remedies

Click here to learn about aluminum wiring.

Small 60 Electrical Services - are they adequate?

60 Amp Electrical Services (foto is a thirty amp service in SF)

This service is certainly too small for today's standard! The real danger is that the exposed wires are energized. All electrical equipment with more than 50V potential must be protected in a listed enclosure.

The size of an electrical service can play a crucial role in your home.
Click here: is bigger really better?

Uninterruptible Power Supply Mainframe Computer

The transfer switch on the right lets you "float" the mainframes off of the battery [which is being charged]; run the load just from the utility; or just turn the whole thing off!!!

Grounding! Click to see why.

Click the drawing to see the the electrocution hazard. If the toaster is grounded the circuit breaker would trip. If there is only a two prong outlet on the appliance then the GFI protection required by code would protect the user.

Variable Frequency Drive

New booster pump (2000 gal/min) system

New pump and switch

Melted 200AMP Circuit Breaker

There was a report that half the electrical in the house was not working: no swim pool pump; dryer; half the lights not working; etc.... Turns out that the original main breaker was not installed tightly and there was arcing at one of the poles that melted right thru. We managed to fix this by the next day...

Guidelines for wiring homes

Basic rules for residential wiring...