yay! and then, oh, crap.

[kaigou]

I got the new belt on the tablesaw, after much fussing and arguing. I got the tablesaw's outlet wired up with a replacement on/off switch (ended up using cheap lightswitch since I couldn't find a full-stop on/off toggle like I wanted, since the only ones at the hardware stores these days are for electronic items, not full-on power stuff), I got the blade cleaned of all resin per instructions (windex! imagine!), and checked every single carbide tooth for chipping (immaculate, actually, whew)... and then I started it up.

Went slow at first, so I let it keep running, and the belt stretched a bit (the belt actually supports the weight of the motor, so the motor kinda 'hangs' in the belt's loop, but okay), and then there was a strange click, a second softer click, and the tablesaw stopped working. I tried off, on, off, nothing, so I turned it off and unplugged it, looked it over, tried the reset button, still nothing, and decided I'd just call Delta on Monday and see what their customer service had to say.

About twenty minutes later I finally wandered back into the house to find my APC unit beeping. But the microwave's on, how can we not have power? OH. So that's what the click was: I blew the fuse. Apparently the garage's one wall outlet is on the same circuit as the living room (stereo, computer), hallway, dining room, front hall light, and half the master bedroom.

Makes me suddenly think of all those times I start up the circular saw and the lights in the garage dim, just a fraction. My computer is on that circuit (thank goodness for APC units).

Guess there'll be no table-sawing until I figure out how to install a new circuit in the box and put in a dedicated outlet in the garage just for power tools.

I really, really hate the wiring in this house.

Comments

[tesserae]

When our building was built in 1909 it only had lighting circuits. Somebody redid the electricity in maybe the 50s and added 1 circuit per apartment, and ran power in conduits down from the ceiling light fixtures. When I had the power redone to this unit I had them put in 8 circuits - some appliances haul so much power they really need to be on their own circuits. So yeah, your power tools undoubtedly need their own circuit... when was your house built?

(And oh, don't get me started on code requirements for outlets - L.A.'s building codes require 1 per 12', I had extra outlets put into my office area, and I'm *still* running power strips. Every blessed thing I own seems to need to be plugged in, and I assure you, I'm nowhere near as gear-fixated as most of the people I know!)

[kaigou]

The house was built in winter of 69/70. CP likes to say that someone among the electricians had just a little bit too much of the brown acid at Woodstock. Oh, the THINGS we have found in the wiring in this house, oh my.

[annotated_em]

...wow. That's... wow.

(I can hear my-dad-the-electrician ranting in my head. Funny for me, not so much for you.)

[kaigou]

The first time we had an electrician here, he had a helper with him, and it was six hours of "Bob! Come here! You see this? I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU DOING THIS." and then five minutes later, "BOB? Come here, I want you to see this..." and ten minutes after that, "BOB! Where's Bob?" and we'd poke our head into whatever room the helper was in and say, "Bob, there's something else you're going to have to swear never to do." We were like the Ultimate Learning Experience for Harried Helpers, that day.

We had the electrician come back a year later to do more, and HE REMEMBERED EXACTLY WHO WE WERE. All I did was give the address and he goes, OHHHHH. I wasn't sure whether to be complimented or distressed.

[branchandroot]

*wry* Yeah, we've had a bit of that. Two different electrically inclined friends have come in and sworn mighty curses on the head of the first electrician while they cut and spliced and so on.

[kaigou]

We like the scare the pants off friends with some of the stories of how this house has been wired. It's rather amusing to watch them eye the nearest electrical outlet with an anxious expression while trying to surreptitiously scoot as far away as they can...

[okaasan59]

That's some funky wiring.

[kaigou]

Oh, that's NOTHING. Some day I'll need to explain about the threeway hall light that is NOT, and the mysterious plugs that came up from under the rug to plug into outlets only a foot apart...