TOTALLY RANDOM POST II

Sunshineinabag said:

had an instructor once told me that those fish feed the boreal forests in that area and have been for time in memorium.

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Fairchild? I went camping there in 1981.

I miss my bartender.

Midnite Toker said:

I miss my bartender.

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wearing of masks shortly for ozzies I think.

cover up that ugly mug, man!

..

not wrong there ol son.

OK, yes, there's a pandemic happening, but I figured finishing my long overdue wiring of bulb sockets and associated custom hangers in my cabinets was something to knock off the list of unfinished tasks.. Thus I'm up late much of this week.

I just ran into a situation I'm not comfortable with. I've done nearly all my own wiring in my shop, and it's pretty rock solid.

I've got the standard blue polymer light and fan-mount boxes; they're 4" across, and 2-1/8 inches deep. They have conveniently located 1/2" and 3/4" knock-outs for wire clamps, etc. that are RIGHT where I want my entrances and exits for the wiring. They'd be square in shape, but for the slightly rounded corners.

Inside each of these polymer boxes I'm joining 5 cords of 14 gauge wire, each with a hot, neutral, and ground. So I need to join 5 hots, 5 neutrals, and 5 grounds, with 1 larger (gray) wire-nut to each group of (5) 14 gauge (braided) wires; again, not solid wire, but braided/stranded.

I've got my group of 5 ground wires and my group of 5 neutral wires both joined as described above, with 1 gray wire-nut to each group. They were dicey enough. But now I'm getting resistance to joining the 5 final hot wires; mildly congested wires, length issues for getting enough room to play in the box, etc.

Is there another advisable method for joining these 3 groups of 5 wires each? I am trying to avoid having 3 of these polymer (make-shift junction) boxes side by side, though it would reduce the number of wires coming together in the individual current box, but....

I believe there are larger crimped wire nuts that don't thread on like what I currently have. no clue if they make them slightly larger than the gray wire-nuts I have..

Or any other ideas for bringing this together?

MR. WIZARD!!!!!!
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Edit: The substantially larger blue wire-nuts MAY do a better job holding these together, but lacking a solid (non-stranded) wire for them to wrap to, makes me a bit uncomfortable. There are also 'friction fit wire connectors that have varying numbers of ports, and MIGHT work, if I can fit 3 of those into a box, AND if I can fit 2of the braids into one port on the connector, as I have 5 braids, and the product I'm looking at has 4 ports.

Other, less desirable option, though perhaps safer, would be to bring 2 cords together on each side of the cabinets, joining them in 2 additional mid-path junction boxes, one on each opposing side, so I reduce the number of cords entering the final junction box by 2.

Sometimes there are benefits to solid copper wire, rather than using stranded/braided.

I'd be tossing some money aside at this point, but the load is low enough, I could also switch out the planned 14 gauge, and substitute 16 gauge, saving some space in the box(es), as well as in the connectors and/or wire-nuts.

But the shelter-in-place reality provides lots f time to turn hypothetical fixes into tried and proven, or tried and failed efforts.

Still no ideas?

flylowgethigh said:

Fairchild? I went camping there in 1981.

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charlene is a badass bitch!

Got some idiots to put up a fence.
I'm finally at the age and financial stability to hire someone instead of doing it myself.
These guys are cheap. They work hard. But, like I said, they are idiots.
Put in all the posts, hung boards and painted. Looks great.
Built a nice looking gate.
But then they hung the gate to the inside of the fence. Instead of making it flush with the outside of the fence. So, because of this, and the fact that they set the hinges to swing in, they had to put the catch on the gate, instead of post. So now the catches arm is sticking out of the post.
I walked thru and hit that damn latch arm right in my side. Dumbasses. I'll change it later myself.
You get what you pay for! But still I'm loving that I didn't have to put it up! Lol

"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Still no ideas?"
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Got 'em comin' out my ears but they are undisciplined.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]But, should I brave the whirlwind I may find a thought or two.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Another junction box is the best bet.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]16 gauge wire is a bad idea if you are over 14 amps on the feed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] But it's legal, and safe,r to twist 'em and solder them before wrapping well with tape.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The ground need no wire nut or tape.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Then fold them into the box as neatly as you can.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Weeze (Who used to was IBEW)
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Weezard said:

"[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Still no ideas?"
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Got 'em comin' out my ears but they are undisciplined.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]But, should I brave the whirlwind I may find a thought or two.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Another junction box is the best bet.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]16 gauge wire is a bad idea if you are over 14 amps on the feed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] But it's legal, and safe,r to twist 'em and solder them before wrapping well with tape.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The ground need no wire nut or tape.
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Then fold them into the box as neatly as you can.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Weeze (Who used to was IBEW)
[/FONT]

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Thanks Weezard.

I've bene begrudgingly considering a run to obtain 8 more of the boxes and lids; 2 per cabinet (somewhat surprisingly, the flat, non-descript polymer lids are more $$ than the nice polymer blue boxes).. (Go figger').

I'll still have 3 strands of wire per nut or connector, though I did find some crimpable nuts that MIGHT be sized correctly for my needs, and be more confident in their holding than the threaded connectors..

Tangential question: why does spell-check believe that 'crimpable' shouldn't be a word???

Anyway, covering my bets, me, my P100 mask, some nitrile gloves, a can of Lysol spray, some Lysol wipes, my wallet, and maybe a customary sidearm, are headed to the hardware store, intent on obtaining some of all of the above; 3 or 4-port friction-fit connectors, crimpable wire-nuts, larger blue threaded wire-nuts, and 8 more of the boxes and lids, as well as 3/8" or 1/2" wire-clamps for the knock-outs on the boxes..

Murphy dictates that these stumbling blocks are identified at 2:00 to 3:00 A.M. ALWAYS. Or maybe that has something to do with MY night-time surge of motivation, when dealing with dyssomnia.. Or both.

Time to wipe down, shave for the mask, gear up, and Gooooooooo!

Thanks again!

What? Shave off the natural velcro?
And I'd call the hardware store before sallying forth to see if they are open.
Unless I was patient, then, Amazon, chill, and refill the bowl.

Weezard said:

What? Shave off the natural velcro?
And I'd call the hardware store before sallying forth to see if they are open.
Unless I was patient, then, Amazon, chill, and refill the bowl.

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Yeah, they're considered 'essential' at the hardware. They were open.

I gathered everything I needed in a suitable box, and at the vehicle, sprayed down the items one at a time in the parking lot, then the box, and lastly my nitrile gloves, with Lysol spray.

I wore my more socially acceptable P100, (rather than the Darth Vader VOC P100), so yeah, a proper seal requires a clean shave; something that has likely occurred maybe 3 or so times in the last 35 to 40 years.. And it's still winter here, so I feel it on my face now (expecting 3-9 inches of snow this week-end, after 1/2" this A.M.).

Over 75-80% of customers at the hardware without masks or gloves, and the clerks without gloves, but for ONE guy, who had both mask and gloves. They have, however, put up plexiglass shields for the cashiers...

On the way there, a vehicle pulled out, running right through a stop sign, into our path of travel and right-of-way. Then, in the process of his turning, crossed the road, heading the wrong way on the opposite side, but covering both lanes. My son handled it with amazing grace, considering the wet glazed ice with fresh snowfall on it, for the greased lightning effect.

We were -right- there, in my son's cherry vehicle, and avoided what seemed like imminent carnage. I jumped from the passenger side of our rig while we were still rolling, and had a very serious session of gesticulation and diatribe with the individual and his passengers, with me looking very much like a madman. I was..

Anyway, yep, all the parts and pieces for 4 different configurations litter the table now, and I'm ready to get back at it, once one of the paths to completion seems more ideal than the rest, beyond mere mental imagery..

The MV incident got me simmering, probably cleaned some plaque from my arteries, and I found myself thinking that with as many 'less than conscious' or lacking-in-conscientiousness persons in the world as there are, I either need to stay home even -more- than I have been, or not have a firearm so close to me when such events occur. Or maybe remove the door handle on the inside of my son's vehicle's front passenger seat.

Thanks again, Weezard.

nothing beats an adventurous day moose.
well maybe a good root.

anoydas 666 said:

nothing beats an adventurous day moose.
well maybe a good root.

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Outa' rep again, noyd.

Don't know that my well-used body can handle too many more of those sorts of adventures.

The driver of the other vehicle ought to refresh their memory of the old adage about not fucking with old people, before carelessly taking to the roads again any time soon; "(we've) got far less to lose than the average person."

lol not wrong there mate.

BTW, noyd, thanks for your posts and repping folks here. I hope you're well. You seem to eat pretty well. Maybe one day we'll swap you some moose meat, Pacific salmon or halibut, for some of those Ozzie prawns. ;^>)

Large apple pie in the oven right now, made with organic Jazz apples and maple syrup, and in a bit, lake trout fillets fried in seasoned whole wheat flour, with a deluxe salad.

Yeah, this sequestering stuff is pure hell, I tell ya' ;^>)

Time to get the mask on and fetch some bacon and eggs.... It's the small things in life.

Weezard said:

What? Shave off the natural velcro?

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maybe I missed something here.....

But I've preferred shaving off my woman's natural velcro for a long time now..

..

Shaven haven