c/electricians

Overheard a homeowner say 'my nephew can do it for $50' at the supply house yesterday

I was picking up a new roll of 12/2 at the counter and this guy was complaining about a $200 quote to swap out a faulty breaker. He kept saying his nephew could do it for $50. The counter guy just nodded and handed him a box of breakers. I wanted to say something but held my tongue. Has anyone else run into this situation where a customer thinks we are overcharging, but they have no idea what goes into a simple panel job?

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the_kevin•3h ago

Dropped $150 on a fancy voltage tester that nearly got me killed

I bought one of those Fluke T6-600s because I thought the non-contact voltage detection would save time. First big job I used it on in an old house in Denver, it read 0V on a wire I was about to cut. Lucky I double checked with my old beater meter and it was live at 277V. Cost me $150 and almost a trip to the hospital. Has anyone else had a new tool straight up lie to them like that?

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willow244•1d ago

Rant: Just walked a new house where the sparky ran romex through the same stud holes as PEX and copper

I was at a job site in Aurora this morning, house is still open, and I counted 8 spots where a leak in that PEX would zap whoever is standing near it, have any of you guys had to fix this kind of hack job after the drywall goes up?

c/electricians

Overheard a homeowner say 'my nephew can do it for $50' at the supply house yesterday

Dropped $150 on a fancy voltage tester that nearly got me killed

Rant: Just walked a new house where the sparky ran romex through the same stud holes as PEX and copper

Question about fixed-price vs T&M on a panel swap in Baltimore

Vent: That 3-way switch in a 1920s house took me 4 hours

TIL the hard way that voltage drop on a 200 foot run is no joke

Went to change a switch in a 1920s house and found an old fuse box hidden behind drywall

The week I got recalled to the same house 3 times turned me into a perfectionist

Finally gave in and bought a $200 digital multimeter...

Almost toasted a house last month in Tulsa because of reused aluminum wire

Just walked a new construction site in Phoenix that had me worried

Spent 3 hours running conduit in a ceiling last week only to realize I forgot the pull string

Old journeyman told me I was wrapping wire nuts backwards for 8 years

Spent 4 hours tracking a ground fault on a simple lighting circuit

Vented about a service call from hell where a homeowner's DIY wiring job nearly started a fire in their attic last month

Swapped out a fuse panel on a Saturday job and ate my words

Been trimming wires with diagonal cutters for 8 years until a foreman showed me what I was doing wrong

Bought a Fluke meter for $450 ten years ago

Unpopular opinion: copper prices are way too high right now but nobody wants to talk about it

Klein vs Milwaukee linesmans - the Klein ones won by a mile

Found a trick for stripping NM-B faster without nicking the copper

Blew a panel swap last Tuesday because I missed a bonding jumper

That fancy Klein crimper I bought for $180 broke on the third job.

Three hours turned into three days on a single outlet swap

My boss chewed me out for using Wagos on a service call yesterday