Look Who it Was Random video

A Shocking Experience...

358 views · Published 29 November 2014 · 7:49 · Indexed 14 November 2026

Channel: jaykay18 · 2014 · Howto & Style

Watch on YouTube

Originally recorded November 19, 2014.

Sometimes things don't work out the way you planned.  When I put a plug and outlet for the boiler in, I had to put a lot of thought into it because none of the wires were labelled, and there were a bunch of them.

After getting everything sorted out, I realized everything should work perfectly, until I got a nasty surprise when changing out the pump that leaked.

It turns out that although everything was done correctly and metered and tested, one of the prongs on the plug was live; I found out when I held the plug and happened to lean on the pipe (which is obviously grounded).

The reason for this was because of one thing I didn't count on:  They used one wire for 2 purposes.  Older homes were wired in a very strange fashion.  I can tell you that all the stuff at Club Jay is wired to the same circuit for the TV in the living room, which also handles the outside lights.  This same circuit continues into the garage for the opener.  What's more, these areas are at opposite ends of the house.  But for some reason they used to wire homes in this fashion, nobody has been able to tell me why.  Perhaps it made sense at the time, or they were looking to get the most out of each circuit.

The thermostat for the main floor has 3 wires in the box, white, black, and red.  The white is simply neutral, and is tied together with the other neutral just to carry it downstairs.  That leaves the black and red wire.

Normally, you would send power up on one wire, and back down (switched on or off) on the other, but the original design used the black wire for 2 purposes:  It not only sends power to the thermostat, but also sends power to the box in the ceiling in the basement to provide power for the entire boiler and the other thermostat.  They used this black wire for double-duty, as one leg of the thermostat and to provide power for then entire boiler.

That means there aren't enough wires to make this work properly.  One prong of that plug is live because they shared that black wire.  I need my own power coming into that box, which then goes out to each thermostat and back into the box.  Then there are 3 wires coming out:  Neutral, and hot for each of the 2 pumps.

This would all work great if it weren't for one little thing:  The switch at the top of the stairs, which must remain operational.  If I bypassed it and went directly into the box in the ceiling, I could make it work, but the switch at the top of the stairs wouldn't be functional, and it needs to be.

Eventually there will be another part to this video of running the new wire so it will all work right.

I'm also told that they used to wire boilers on the same circuit as, say, the living room light, or the kitchen light.  That way, if that light didn't work, you'd know immediately that if a new bulb didn't fix it, your boiler was out as well, you'd have no heat/hot water, and possibly might be looking at frozen pipes.

More from this channel