Q:I am in need of electrical wire at the moment, and i found some old headphones. Would the wire be salvageable to transport small amounts of energy (in a basic device, nothing fancy)?

Well, yeah, a wire is a wire, usually anyways. As was said above, it depends on what you want to use it for. If you want to use it to power some kind of AC appliance, I'd say it's not a good idea as the insulation on the wire may not be able to handle the much higher voltage involved. And usually headphones use something like #26 wire which can't really handle much more than a few hundred milliamps of current before getting too hot. So yes, it's just a copper wire like almost any wire. But it has it's limitations of voltage and current carrying capacity. If you want to use it to power your toatser, no. If you want to use it to power a small motor with some D-cell batteries, no problem. Use it!

Q:I am installing a surround sound system. I am placing the speaker wire inside the walls near electrical wires.

You are best off not keeping them together although the signal you would be sending is not as low as 60 Hz you could get common mode coupling that you wouldn't probably hear but would cause a sap in performance. Any time You pass any electrical signal or EMF bias thru a wire it radiates energy in a predictable pattern around a wire or conductor. Most Consumer electronics companies don't do Electromagnetic Compatibility testing on their devices, so from time to time you will run into a problem with signal interference. It would be advisable to not make the shielding or signal coupling of you devices work harder than they have to. Use good interconnects and if it is a real concern and you can't run them apart use a conduit ( metal only) as a shield around the speaker cables. Using conduit for both and keeping apart by at least 12-16 in would be the best possible solution. Also as a side note: make sure to use the proper in wall rated speaker cable applicable to you local code.

Q:I remember dialing a short 3 digit number to fix a pothole in my neighborhood (although I can't remember the number). I was wondering if there was another one I can call that could fix this buzzing' noise caused by an electrical wire by my house that's quite annoying and a bit skeptical whether I should be alarmed by it or not. Appreciate it. :)

In most cities it's 311. I believe it is in Los Angeles as well. However, the electrical lines are probably owned by your power company and my guess is that you'll have to contact them with any concerns you have or to get them fixed.

Q:i need to get some electrical wire redone in 1 of the rooms and i wanted to know about how much would it be to get the job done?

depends on the distance from the breaker box, and the condition of the walls and ceilings on the route. If the breaker box is out of space or power, then it could cost a lot. But it also depends on country and location. Bottom line, just to run wires, install new outlets, patch walls and repaint, could be US$1000 or so. If the distances are long, or the building old, or access limited, it could double. If you have to upgrade breaker box and upgrade service drop, $10000 at a guess.

Q:Hello, since last Saturday, our furnace was producing some burnt smell. It is on occassional basis but it's been happening until today (2 days). It's on and off. Can you please advise what is the problem and suggest my next step.Thanks

It could be the build up of dust particles that are in your heating ducts. Sometimes after sitting all summer when you turn the furnace on it will have a burnt smell. Be careful thoughkeep an eye on it, you should have your furnace cleaned each year before you it. And dont forget to change your filter each month!

Q:Adding an a/c to upstairs of home, need to run power cable to main power panel. What size wire shoud l use?

Probably 10-gauge. Check the electrical rating plate on the unit; it will probably say something on the order of 25 amps at 240 volts. As long as it draws less than 30 amps, 10-gauge is fine (with a dual 30-amp breaker); if it takes more, use 8-gauge with a 40 amp dual breaker. If it draws less than 20 amps (not likely, but possible), you can get by with 12-gauge wire and 20 amp breakers.

Q:What is the maximum current through the eight square copper wires

Cable bridge installation specifications inside: cable bridge multi-layer installation control cable between not less than 0.2M, power cable between not less than 0.3M, weak cable and power cable between not less than 0.5M, if the shield cover can be reduced to 0.3M, The upper part of the bridge is not less than 0.3M from the ceiling or other obstacles. Different voltage for different purposes of the cable should not be laid in the same layer of the bridge if the conditions are limited to laying in the same layer of the bridge, the middle need to add partitions. In order to prevent the human body from touching or excessively close to the charged body, or to prevent the vehicle and other objects from colliding with the charged body, and to avoid a variety of short circuits, fires and explosions, between the body and the charged body, between the charged body and the ground, Between the charged body, between the charged body and other objects and facilities, must maintain a certain distance.

Q:I understand how to connect wires together. Black to black and white to white. I have done several electrical jobs in my own home with success. However I am trying to connect my range hood to a main power supply and have been unsuccessful several times. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. In fact, I have undercabinet lights run to the same power supply and they work just fine. I know I am not overloading because I have even disconnected my lights and just tried the range hood. Any advice?

By code it must be connected. My advice if the wire is too short to be grounded to the hood is to take an additional piece of 12 or 14 gage bare copper wire and wire nut it to the ground coming from the wall (or from where it comes) and attach the other end to the grounding terminal. Don't just use any screw to ground it, it must be grounded to a Bonded screw - one that has had the paint removed so you get a good ground. While it's not (QUOTE) necessary, it IS required by code. If you choose to ignore it you MIGHT get a shock. MIGHT! Not necessarily though. But keep in mind that if something goes wrong with the electrical wiring or with a fan motor or something else, the case (metal frame of the hood) can become energized. Should you touch that and something else that IS properly grounded - guess what you will get! Shocked. Better safe than sorry. Hope this helps. 'av'a g'day mate. )

Q:After taking off the old one, I noticed there are 3 different wires coming into the bracket. One looks like it goes to an outlet, or the breaker. One goes to the switch, and one goes in the direction of the kitchen.There is a single black that was connected to the fan, and that was it. All others were capped off. Now two blacks and a white were pigtailed with each other, while the other two white were pigtailed together. My question is: How do I install the fan?And why are these wires all over?The house was built in the 70s if it helps.

I believe you have a lighting circuit that is coming into the box and leaving the box. The other cable is going to the switch. First, it is best to takes notes as you take something apart. The two blacks with the white is your hot, with the white going to the switch. This is called suicide switching. The other two whites are the neutral. Attach the black and red wires from the fan to the black wire that is by itself. This should be paired with the white wire that is spliced with the blacks. This is your switch leg. Attach the white from the fan with the other whites. Make sure all your connections are tight.

Q:Wire in the blue line, green yellow line, gray line on behalf of what does this mean?

PVC wire tube 4 points and 6 points is the type of wire tube different name, 4 pipe is the diameter of 16 lines, 6 tube is the diameter of 20 lines, two models in the laying of the line when used, Through the line of the wire less with . through the wire more than the use of . the specific 16 and 20 tube to wear a few lines, there are standard, the general tube of the total cross-sectional area of the wire should not exceed the tube Diameter cross-sectional area of 40%, but in the actual construction is not based on this standard, as long as the wire into the line tube should not be tight, to leave some space, because the wire to leave a little space to ensure the use of the wire.