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Book Description

A practical, money-saving guide to home electrical wiring

Handle residential wiring projects correctly, safely, and according to the National Electrical Code (NEC). Filled with clear photos and helpful diagrams, The Homeowner’s DIY Guide to Electrical Wiring shows you how to quickly and easily navigate the portions of the NEC that pertain to residential installations.

This hands-on resource covers basic electronics and explains how electrical service progresses through your home. It describes how to install and test electrical systems and lighting, repair appliances and TVs, and upgrade to the latest innovations such as home networking, home automation, and alternate power systems. You’ll learn the procedures used by professional electricians to create the kind of quality work that will pass inspection and add value to your home.

The Homeowner’s DIY Guide to Electrical Wiring shows how to:

  • Protect against fire and shock hazards
  • Track electrical service from the point of connection to the entrance panel
  • Follow NEC requirements for residential projects
  • Work with test equipment and installation tools
  • Use the best techniques for quality electrical work
  • Design and install indoor and outdoor lighting
  • Maintain and repair electrically powered appliances
  • Fix CRT, plasma, and LCD TVs
  • Design a data and communications network and install coax, USB, and Ethernet cabling
  • Install a home automation system
  • Install backup and alternate power systems
  • Work with smart meters

Table of Contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Introduction: Why Do Your Own Wiring?
  7. 1 Avoid Building Fire and Shock Hazards into Your Work
    1. How Electrical Fires Start
    2. Avoiding Arc Faults
    3. Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter
    4. Removing Accessible Abandoned Wiring
    5. Electric Shock
    6. Grounding and the Breaker
    7. Testing the Installation
    8. Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters
    9. Other Safety Issues
  8. 2 Basic Rules for Impressing the Electrical Inspector
    1. Mitigating Hazards
    2. Get Your NEC Now
    3. Some Variations
    4. Electrical Deficiencies
  9. 3 Basic Electronics You Should Know
    1. An Invisible Domain
    2. The Meaning of Valence
    3. Reactance and Impedance
    4. Ohm’s Law
    5. Getting Started
    6. Concealed versus Exposed Wiring
    7. Residential Work
    8. Wiring the Box
    9. Wiring the Devices
    10. Another NEC Violation
    11. Switches
    12. Wiring Three- and Four-Way Switches
    13. Three-Way Switch Loop Configuration
    14. Sizing Feeders and Services
    15. The Infamous Column C
  10. 4 All About Electrical Services
    1. Where Is the Point of Connection?
    2. Designing the Service
    3. Building the Temporary Service
    4. Bonding the Raceway
    5. Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupters, Of Course
    6. Make It Watertight
    7. Special Techniques for Aluminum Terminations
    8. Building a Service
    9. Masthead Service Construction
    10. Service Variations
    11. Grounding-Electrode System
    12. Service Sizes
    13. Underground Services
  11. 5 The National Electrical Code: Fundamental Requirements for Residential Work
    1. Understanding the NEC
    2. 2014 NEC Changes
    3. Arc-Fault Protection
    4. Some More 2014 NEC Changes
    5. Wet-Location Receptacles
    6. Some Definitions
    7. Color-Coding Details
    8. Bare and Green Wires
    9. Ampacities and Device Ratings
    10. Correction and Adjustment Factors
    11. Box-Fill Calculations
      1. Appliance Identification
    12. NEC Article 430, “Motors, Motor Circuits, and Controllers”
    13. Motor Fundamentals
    14. What Makes a DC Motor Turn?
    15. An Answer
    16. Steppers and Servos
    17. Why It Is Important
    18. A Great Invention
    19. The Universal Motor: Small, Inexpensive, Ubiquitous
    20. NEC Chapter 5: “Special Occupancies”
    21. Temporary Installations
    22. Special Equipment
    23. NEC Article 625, “Electric Vehicle Charging Systems and Welders”
    24. A Big Wiring Project
    25. Some Special Wiring Methods
      1. Rigid Metal Conduit
      2. Liquidtight Flexible Metal Conduit
      3. Liquidtight Flexible Nonmetallic Conduit
      4. Rigid Polyvinyl Chloride Conduit
      5. Electrical Metallic Tubing (Type EMT)
      6. Flexible Metal Conduit
  12. 6 Tools for Quality Electrical Work
    1. Test Equipment
    2. Electrical Installation Tools
  13. 7 Techniques for Quality Electrical Work
    1. From Service to Finished Installation
    2. Possibilities for Error
    3. Learning the Trade
    4. Some Labor-Saving Tips
    5. Comparing Types MC, AC, and EMT
  14. 8 Lighting Fundamentals: Design and Installation
    1. Lighting Control
    2. Kitchen Lighting
    3. Bathroom Lighting
    4. Lighting in Other Rooms
    5. Living Room, Dining Room, and Bedroom Lighting
    6. Outdoor Lighting
    7. Fluorescent Fixture Maintenance
  15. 9 Appliance Failure, Maintenance, and Repair
    1. Isolate and Repair
    2. An Easy Starting Place
      1. Shock Hazards in Old Equipment
      2. The Wrong Way
      3. Finding the Schematic
    3. Refrigerator
      1. Heat and Pressure Are Related
      2. The Diffuser Valve Makes It Work
      3. Refrigerator Power Supply
      4. Door Switch Problems
      5. Checking the Icemaker
    4. Washing Machine
      1. An Easy Repair
    5. Clothes Dryer
      1. Clothes Not Drying
      2. Drum Won’t Turn
  16. 10 Tackling Difficult Projects
    1. Color TV Protocols
    2. An Inherent Hazard
    3. Preliminary Diagnosis
    4. Tracking Down Intermittents
    5. Making Good Solder Joints
      1. How to Tin a Soldering-Iron Tip
      2. What Kind of Flux?
      3. How to Gauge the Heat
    6. Printed Circuit Board Repair
      1. Clearing Plugged Holes
      2. Removing a Defective Integrated Circuit
    7. What About Flat Screens?
      1. How the Gas Becomes Ionized
      2. LCD Flat Screen
      3. Other Repair Options
    8. Turning to Computers
      1. Design Strategies
      2. Laptop Battery Maintenance
      3. Going Inside
      4. Viruses
      5. Booting Up
      6. Clearing the Cache
      7. Going Deeper
      8. Apple Laptops
      9. A Final Step
    9. Submersible-Well-Pump Troubleshooting
      1. Advantages of a Submersible Pump
  17. 11 Data and Communications Networks
    1. Satellite Dish Antennas
      1. Anatomy of the System
      2. Grounding a Satellite Dish System
      3. Getting a Good Signal
    2. The Importance of Ethernet
    3. How Twisting of Conductors Helps
    4. Wire Transposition
      1. How It Works
      2. Precautions
      3. Choosing the Medium
      4. Terminating UTP Cable
      5. Ethernet Pin-Outs
    5. USB Cables
    6. Telephone Extensions
    7. Tools for Telephone Work
    8. Telephone Installation and Repair Tools
    9. Diagnosing Some Common Telephone Problems
      1. Bad Receiver Cord
      2. Can’t Dial Out?
      3. Noise on the Line
  18. 12 Home Automation and Beyond
    1. Before You Start
  19. 13 Backup Power Systems
    1. Backup Power for the Home
    2. A Transfer Switch Is Needed
    3. Fuel Options
  20. 14 Alternate Power Systems: Wind, Solar, and Fuel Cells
    1. Some Answers
    2. Wind
      1. Choosing the Site
    3. Sun
      1. NEC Mandates
    4. Cogeneration or Battery Backup?
    5. Foundations for Wind Turbines and Solar PV Arrays
    6. Fuel Cells
  21. 15 What Lies Ahead?
    1. Smart Meter Anatomy
  22. Glossary
  23. Index
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