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Thursday, December 26, 2013

Happy New Year

Now that Christmas is over it will be time to take down the lights(unless you are like my neighbor who does not take his down till July the 4th.)So I would like to mention a few tips that may be helpful in regards to safety. First off  unplug the lights before removing them you should always use  a gfi plug for your outside power source. The next thing is ladder safety make sure your ladder is on firm ground before getting on it. If your ladder is not level or is not on firm ground get a piece of ply board and place under the feet of the ladder. Always keep both feet on the ladder and do not stand on the last two rungs. It only takes a few minutes to be safe and cost you nothing unlike lost days of work or a hospital visit. Thanks for looking at my blog and check past post for more helpful tips. Have a safe and good new year.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Feed The Children Introduces Karen from Honduras

 

If you think that you might want to donate this holiday season I have made a new web page with links to charities .Here is the link.charities  
Thanks for looking at my blog and check past post for more helpful electrical tips .

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Today I would like to talk about feeders and branch circuits. What is a feeder? This your main wiring coming into your panel or disconnect and is protected by a main breaker or fuses. This is a protection for your whole home or business .A branch circuit is  smaller and like a tree branches off from your feeder coming in. If a feeder circuit trips there is no power fed through to the branch circuits because there is an overload in the entire system. If a branch circuit trips there is still power coming through your feeder but there is a problem in one part of the electrical system. If you have a problem with a tripping breaker in a branch circuit ,please do not put a bigger breaker to fix  the problem, you are just asking for trouble. I hope this  gives you a little understanding of feeders and branch circuits. Check past post for more helpful tips, Thanks for looking at my blog and give me call if you have any questions or would like a free estimate.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Today I would like to talk about electric water heaters. First thing do not turn a electric water heater on unless it is full of water, this could burn up the elements. I sometimes get calls to hook up an instant water heater .The small ones are good if you only want to get hot water to a sink and are easy to hook up. They mount to the wall and you can place a plug next to them for power. If you want to heat the whole house with an electric instant water heater that is more of a project. It requires three 50 amp breakers to power it and city permit if you are in the city limits. The nice thing about these is that you don't have to worry about running out of hot water if there are several people living in the house .Thanks for looking at my blog and check past post for more helpful tips.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

GFI Plugs

We have been getting a little rain lately ,so I want to mention gfi plugs again .If you have lights or plugs that are not working ,go around your house and make sure all of your gfi are set .If the little lite is on (this is on most new gfi's) they are tripped and need to be reset. Not all gfi have a lite so you may need to check it with a plug in tester. These can be purchased at local hardware store. Checking this before calling an electrician can save you about $100.00.Thanks for looking at my blog and check the blog archive for more helpful tips.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Today I would like to talk about what is an estimate .An estimate is material plus labor .I would rather give an estimate to the customer than do a job at a cost plus .if I give you a price before and have you to sign you are recognizing that a job will be done and for what cost. There is nothing worse for business than an argument over money at the end of the job .While I try to give the customer a good price that they can be happy with I can not break  down the price to every nut and bolt because it is to time consuming and the price I give is the price I need to  pay labor and materials  .There are not many times when I will lower the price ,so please do not ask .If you have a coupon you can give it at the end of the quote and receive the discount. I will get calls to estimate over the phone and it almost impossible to do this and if I do say a price they will just usually just say ok and hang up so I do not do this either .Thanks for looking at my blog and check the side bar for past post with more helpful electrical tips ,if you have a question about an electrical problem post it and I will try to answer it.
John S.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Monster Truck Austin tx.




Went to the car show and thought I would post my video. New  post coming soon.check past post for electrical tips, Thanks and I hope you enjoy the video. I know I had a good time,

Monday, June 17, 2013

Tripping Brerakers

occasionally I will get a call about a tripping breaker. Before you call the electrician there are a couple of things you can try. First what is not working now that the breaker is tripped. Unplug and turn off lights on that circuit. Then go and reset the breaker, by turning it all the way to the off position and then to the on position. If it resets  then it  something on the circuit is using to much electricity or has a short. A fast trip is a short while a slow trip is a circuit that is using to much electricity and causing the circuit to trip. An example would be an ac unit. I have opened another store on the web look for it at http://www.jscottstore.com if you buy something enter the code "service" and receive a 5% discount on your cart purchase .Thanks for looking at my blog and please check the archive on the right to see past post and more helpful tips.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

In this post I would like to tell you about how to replace an old style eight foot ballast with a  new electronic ballast. A new ballast will cost you between 25 to 35 dollars. The  wiring will be different on the new ballast but is easy to rewire .First off turn off the switch or breaker to the light. The power wires coming in will be wired to the socket .Cut all your wires close to your ballast you will be using them with your new ballast. When  you take out your new ballast you will notice that the wiring is different, it will have two blue and one red. The black and white wires need to be hooked up to the black and white on your new ballast. This means the power is going direct to the ballast and not the socket like before. Next the red goes to one side of the sockets and the blues go to each socket on the other side. I hope this helps you out and saves you a little money. If you click on the right of my blog you can check out my past post.
Thanks for looking at my blog and have a great day.
 
 

Monday, April 29, 2013

Arc Fault Breakers

Today i would like to talk about arc fault breakers they are similar to gfi but instead of tripping when they detect water,they tripp on heat.You might think that a breaker should do that.While it is true that a breaker does tripp on heat ,if it is down the line in the circuit the breaker may never see the heat.This is why they make arc fault breakers to detect faults in the whole circuit.An example of this is if you have ever pluged in a device and came back later and noticed that the plug is really hot but the circuit is still on.This is common with devices that use a lot of  electricity such as a space heater or ac unit.I hope this helps you out and explains arc fault breakers.Thanks for looking at my blog and check past post for more helpful tips.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Electricians

I sometimes get calls asking me how do you become an electrician.You first have to work as a helper or if in a union an apprentice .There are a certain number of hours which equals to 5 years of working 40 hours a week.This number sometimes changes so you should check with the state licence board.I think you can learn the trade in about two years but can not take the test until you have your hours.A master electrician has to sign off on your hours so if you leave one job and go to another make sure you get your hours.It would be good idea to take a class to learn how to take the test because the cost is 50.00 dollars for each time you take the test and the employer will not usually pay for this.You can also take a two year class through the Associated builders and contractors.That is what i did and found it useful in learning the trade.If you are a good electrician you can usually find a job anywhere in the state and get paid well.The average electricians can get paid between 30,000 and 40,000 a year not great but not bad either.Thanks for looking at my blog and check past post for more helpful tips.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Corpus Christi Tx

Today i would like to talk about hooking up a stove plug .New stoves come with a fourth wire that is the neutral wire this is usually for the light or the igniter .If you do not have a neutral wire you can tie it with the ground on either the stove plug or the wall plug which ever is easier.I hope this helps you out and thanks for looking at my blog and check past post for other helpful tips.John
(361)433-6039.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Breakers

I sometimes get calls to upsize a breaker because it is tripping.If you have tripping breaker it is because you either have a short or to much of  a load on that circuit.A breaker is a safety device that trips on heat,so that your wire does not burn up.What ever the problem it will not help you to upsize the breaker and can be dangerous.Thanks for looking at my blog and check past post for more helpful tips.


Monday, February 11, 2013

Electrical Trouble

Today i would like to talk about an electrical problem i get all the time.Plugs that are not working in a certain room in the house.The first thing you want to do is find the plug that still has power.Next you want to kill the power to that circuit.Remove the plug that was working and look in the back of the plug for loose wires.If they are tight you could go to the plug next to it and check the wires there.Nine times out of ten your problem is a loose wire in a plug.I hope this helps you out and if you still can not find the problem give me a call at 361 433-6039.Thanks for looking at my blog and be sure and check past post for more helpful tips.(mention this blog and recieve 10% off on all service calls.

Monday, January 28, 2013

How to Add an Outlet to an Existing Wall

  
Service Electric 361 433-6039.Say you saw my blog and get a 10% discount on all electrical work.Check past post for more helpful hints.
Thanks for looking at my blog and have a great day.