Pvc Vs Emc Outdoor Wiring Under Deck

I'm planning to add some deck stair lighting this spring/summer to our newly finished deck, and knew I was going to go with low voltage. Then it had me thinking...I would also like to run low voltage in place of where we had originally planned to place solar lights along our sidewalk that's beside the deck (lights here will be embedded in river rock). Anyways, I know to steer clear of the HD and Lowe's brands, but I don't really know where to begin for quality lighting. I want the transformer to be rather large since it will have to handle larger runs, and be able to handle additional lights that may be added on down the road. Plus I want a timer/photo sensitivity built in. I was curious if anyone had any specific brands to recommend? I did see Kichler recommended in a few searches I made here, but any others?



Any general recommendations would be appreciated as well (i.e. buying a kit vs buying the transformer, wire, lights, connectors, etc. separate).
      

good morning and thank you in advance for your help! i am installing trex LED deck lights in my deck. trex clams that thier 60watt transformer is the only transformer that can be used with thier lights. i'm guessing because they want me to spend $160 on thier transformer. actually i would by it if they sold it without the timer (i just don't need it). i see Dekor makes a 60 watt, 5 amp transformer that looks just like the TREX one. anyone know if the trex LED lights and transformer are made by DEKOR and re-named? any thoughts on other transformers that will work with trex led deck lights?



thank you,



Bill
      

I just ordered some Arlington Siding Mount Kits with built in electrical boxes to install some lights on the outside of my garage. 



So, the issue is, the mount kits' built in electrical boxes are only 6.8 cu each and I'm wiring the lights up with two 3-way switches.  The source is at the first switch, then on to the two lights and then to the second switch.  There is not enough room to do the splices and connection in the built in boxes (I'm using 12awg, but even if used 14 still not enough room), so my plan was to wire everything to a central junction box inside the garage between the two lights and make the appropriate connections there. 



I'm attaching my rough sketch of the planned connections (omitting ground wires).  Can you guys please confirm this is correct?    Thanks for the help!



To clarify the drawing, blue is white (neutral) and the blue with black tape coming off second switch is marked as hot.  (I'll also mark it as hot in the J-box).  Yellow Triangles are wire-nuts.
      

Our pool was installed 10 years ago and we need to change the 3 underwater lights because they are leaking. The cable for each light box goes through a conduit and up to a "deck Box" or junction box per code so water from pool can't run up to the box. In order to change the lights we need to locate the box and pull the wires out, then feed the wires through for the new light. The problem is that one of the boxes seems to be missing. That light sits under a stone waterfall and there is a planting area behind the waterfall. Ive searched under all the bushes and even done a bit of digging but cant find the box. I'm wondering if there is some smarter way to locate it.



I tried a metal detector but there were too many false alarms from every metal scrap the work men left behind. I was wondering if there is something that could be fed through the conduit to junction box that would send a signal allowing it to be located. I know the cesspool guys use something like that and thought maybe an electrician might have a similar tool.



The new lights are completely different than the old ones so we can't just change out one. if we can;t change this light we can;t change any of them and the whole project goes down the drain. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
      

I'm planning to use some round, 20 cu. in. ceiling mount boxes for lighting in my garage.  I want to run 12-2 into the box and then branch out out to two other seperate light boxes. 

Can I have 6 12 awg conductors and 3 12 awg grounds in a 20 cu. in. one box?
      

Hello All



So I have a beginners question.  I am remodeling my basement.  The existing electrical is fine, but all of the boxes were hung from the old wood paneling (not mounted to the studs) using some sort of hooks/pins.  I had a friends dad (who is a master plumber) come in, and he said those pins are fine for occasional use, but should not have been used everywhere.



Should I mount the boxes to the studs?  If so, should  the boxes be flush with the studs, or should they be 5/8 extended out, so they will be flush with the Sheetrock?



My gut says 5/8 out, but watching youtube clips I only hear flush with the studs.  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks.



-K
      

This is kind of a complicated question, but I  think I have figured out how to do it right.  I wanted to run it by some folks here before going to the city code enforcer.  See the attached diagrams for details.



I  am planning a fairly elaborate lighting scheme for my home theater  area, mostly because I plan for the theater automation to be a hobby for  me. (I'm an electrical engineer)

 

I want to have banks of lights that I could later choose to group  differently onto dimmer switches.  For example, I have six can lights.   Some people I have talked to think I should dim the front four together  and back two separately.  Some think I should dim the front two together  and back four separately.  Some say I should dim them all together. 



So I decided I'd run each group of two cans to a junction box, run  the switches to a junction box, and then wire the switches to the lights  in the junction box - then I could later change it if I decided it should work  differently.  In addition, this would keep the junction boxes the  dimmers were in free from extra wires, since I plan to buy nice dimmers  that are fairly deep and would take more space in the switch boxes.  And  if I find that using switches differently would make it more intuitive,  I can change which switch controls which lights easily after the fact.   This would also allow me later to possibly control the lights with an  automated system.

 

There are some track lights and rope lights, as well as a couple  receptacles that would all come back to the junction box where they'd be  connected to the switches/dimmers.



I am bringing in power from  two circuits to balance the lighting.  I plan to put some of the lights  on one circuit and some on the other.  The second circuit has some other  stuff on it already, so it has less load left over, so most stuff will  go on the first circuit.

 

Also to save on wiring and make running wire easier, I was planning  to use 14/3 wiring where possible.  Any given 14/3 wire would  always be connected to only one of the circuits (no shared neutrals).



The attached files show my exact plan for each circuit. Note they both  share the junction box in the upper right corner of the pictures, they  also share the switch banks.  This allows me to decide which switches  control which lights, as well as decide which lights will be powered on  which circuit to balance them properly.  Note that the track lights are  each 2 circuit track, that's why I'm running 14/3 to each.

   

See the attached files for circuit #1 and circuit #2



I am running 14/3 NM to the switches.  I was planning to have two  switches share one 14/3 cable.  I am also running 14/3 to each group of  two light groups that I want to control separately.



I've also attached a diagram from the perspective of the junction box.



I also attached an example circuit on how I plan to use the 14/3 wire.

   

Here are some other decisions I made:



- The junction box will  be PVC 8x8x4 (256 cu. in.)  All the wires coming into the box add up to  70 cu in. so the box should be plenty large.

- All the grounds from both circuits will be tied together

  - The neutrals for both circuits will always be kept completely separate (NO shared neutrals)

- No 14/3 wire will ever carry power from more than one circuit (this would violate the shared neutrals anyway)



Even  though this is kind of elaborate and for hobby, I want to be sure to do  it safely and up to code.  Does anyone see anything wrong with  my plan?

 

Thanks,



Daniel
      

I am going to install some can lights throughout the house soon.  I have one light in the center of each room that is already wired up.  I will be patching the existing light boxes up to run the new can lights, utilizing the wiring that is already present. 



When hooking the extra lights up should I use 12/2 or 14/2 wire for running them in parallel?  There will probably be no more than 3 or 4 can lights per room ran with CFLs.  The current lights that are in each room take up to 3 bulbs per fixture.
      

I recently purchased the Meco 9359 electric BBQ since I cannot have gas or charcoal grills in my condo. The instructions recommend plugging into an outlet with at least 15 amps. The grill itself has a 1500 watt rating. The outlet on my deck (15 amps) is shared with the 2nd bedroom, the bathroom and one outlet in the kitchen. Out of all these recipticles, the one in the kitchen is the only one with something plugged into it (an emergency flashlight that lights up when the power goes out). The



My father, God love him, sometimes cries Armageddon when things aren't 100% perfect in his eyes and is recommending that I return the grill. Is there an inherit danger using this grill in the outdoor outlet based on what I've listed? The outside outlet is not GFCI, would replacing it with one help?
      

I have an older home (100 yrs) and I would like to upgrade the 100 amp service to 200. My question is when it comes time for the inspector to visit and inspect the new work, could the original wiring of the house be part of the inspection and result in a "fail" of the inspection.

To elaberate, the old wiring is romex and BX yet in the basement it is not run very neat and I see many places where I would add a staple or three. Some of the junction boxes don't have covers etc. Basicly fairly messy.