Super Handyman: Be safe when working with wiring

Electrical connections need to be made in a secure way so they will not fail or become a fire hazard. There are a variety of methods one can use, but some may work better than others. Here are instructions for the most common methods.

Never work with wiring that is “hot,” or still hooked up to an electrical supply. Make sure the circuit is turned off or disconnected.

Lightweight wires, like the type you might use for speakers, can be joined very easily. You need to strip the insulation off the last ½ inch of the wires. Slip a heat-shrink fitting over one wire and slide it past the end. Then lay one wire end over the other in an “X” pattern. Bend each wire at the halfway point of the stripped portion and wind it back onto itself, creating a secure connection. Now pull the connection sleeve over the connection and secure it.

For most household electrical connections, wire nuts or twist-on connectors are your best and safest choice. They come in different sizes and are rated for joining specific sizes and numbers of wires. Check your wire gauges, and choose the correct wire nut for your connection. You must strip about ½ inch of insulation from the wires. Grab both wire ends with pliers and twist them together in a clockwise direction, then screw on the wire nut. Make sure both wires are firmly installed, then wrap the whole thing with electrical tape for an extra layer of protection.

Some connections will place a solid wire and a stranded wire together, like for a light fixture or a ceiling fan. Strip both wires of insulation to about ½ inch of exposed wire. The stranded wire should be a little longer than the solid wire. Wind the stranded wire around the solid wire, then install the wire nut.

They even make wire nuts for outdoor connections. These have a little silicone sealer or grease inside the nut to protect your connections once installed.

There are other methods for joining electrical wires, but most are not as safe and may not pass an electrical inspection. Be safe, not sorry!

Dowel increases torquePower to the screwdrivers! You can have more power even if you are using a nonpowered screwdriver. Take a look at your screwdriver and see if this little trick will work for you. Drill a hole right through the center of the handle. Then you can insert a dowel through the hole, halfway. Now you have a handle that you can use to get more torque, and more power, on the screwdriver.Squeeze out groutIf you have ever grouted tile, then you know it can be a little messy. But that#146;s half the fun, right? Well, if you have a small job to do and want to avoid some of the mess, try putting the mixed grout into a squeeze bottle, like the type that dishwasher soap or condiments come in. Now you can squeeze the grout directly from the dispenser right into the grout line between the tiles. If you get any on the tiles, just wipe it clean. It#146;s a simple way to get the job done, with much less cleanup needed afterward.Super hintsŸ Make the switch to CFL and LED bulbs, especially for your outdoor fixtures. These bulbs last a whole lot longer and so will need to be changed less often, and they cost a lot less to run. You can leave them on all night long without worrying about them burning out or costing you a fortune.Ÿ I#146;ve used plastic dropcloths to cover a doorway when sanding. This works pretty well, but the plastic can blow around and release a lot of the dust I am trying to keep from getting to the rest of the house. I#146;ve discovered that if I use a damp sheet instead of the plastic, the dust stays in the room. The sheet traps more of the dust and doesn#146;t blow around as much. You can mist it with water when it starts to dry out.Ÿ Plastic grocery bags can be recycled and used around the house for things like trash-can liners. Stuff them into an empty tissue box, and they will be easy to get to when you need one but out of the way when you don#146;t.Q. We have a hurricane lamp that has been in the family for years. We still use it on occasion, and I want it to last. I have found that the metal cap, which seals the glass bowl and feeds the wick through, has become stuck. How can I loosen it to refill the glass bowl?A. Try spraying the joint with penetrating oil or even WD-40. Let it sit so the lubricant can work its way into the joint. Sometimes a little heat can be applied to the joint to loosen things up. The metal will expand slightly and allow for some movement. Once you get the two pieces apart, run the threads with petroleum jelly before screwing the top back on.Q. We just painted our family room, and we have some leftover paint. Can we use that paint to paint the metal surround that covers the fireplace?A. It would not be a good idea, in most cases. This area will get very hot, and most paints will not do well #8212; in fact, the heat could be a fire hazard. You would do better to use a paint that can handle the high heat levels. Check with your paint dealer to see if it can provide you with a high-temp paint that would match or coordinate.Q. I have a small power washer and was getting ready to clean my front driveway. I had the bleach out and was ready to start when my neighbor came over and stopped me. He said he had heard you never should use bleach in one of these. Is he just pulling my leg, or is that a problem?A. He#146;s right. You should not use any cleansers other than the ones recommended by your power-washer manufacturer. Many chemicals, including bleach, can damage the inner parts of these units. They may not cause damage the first time you do it, but eventually these parts can break down. Reader tipsŸ Neither of our bathrooms has a power vent in it. We wanted to add some ventilation, but a table fan was the best we could do. We borrowed a drill and drilled a series of holes through the door so that air could flow in and out through the door when it was closed. We covered up the holes with a louvered vent cover to make them look better. This really seems to help, and it took very little expertise and money to accomplish. Perhaps it will last until we can afford to hire someone to put in a real vent.Ÿ My vinyl flooring is in pretty good shape, except in one corner. It wants to curl up, and it just won#146;t stay stuck down. I finally got the hair dryer, heated up the adhesive again, then pushed the vinyl flooring on top and put a stack of old books on top of that. I left it like that for a day, and it seems to be staying down this time. I am so glad that it worked. I didn#146;t really want to have to replace that portion of the floor.Ÿ We have a fireplace that we use every winter. The past couple of years I had not had it cleaned or inspected. I wanted to save some money. But this year, I called the guy to come and do this. He found a large amount of buildup inside the flue, and some cracks in it as well. Had I not had the inspection and repairs done, it#146;s possible that it could have started a fire within our walls. The cost of the work was nothing compared with the cost of our home and, possibly, our family. Make the call. You may be just as glad as I was. It#146;s not worth the risk.Ÿ Our new home is a lot smaller than the old one, as we have downsized during the past few years. Our washer and dryer are now in a hallway by the back door. It#146;s not easy to access them, and I ended up putting them on casters so I can easily move them when I need to. The casters were easy to put on, and because they lock, it#146;s not a problem with the vibration of the washer. This made it so much easier to keep them in this small area.Ÿ My local home-improvement store offers weekly classes for free on things like painting and tiling. I#146;m a single mom and love to learn about home repairs and improvement. These classes are great because you can learn how to do all kinds of things around the house. I#146;ve also found some great demonstrations on many websites. I feel much more secure knowing that I can fix things that go wrong around my house and save some money in the process.ShoptalkŸ Fiskars has some great garden tools. Now it has a great Garden Bucket Caddy to hold and organize them. The Garden Bucket Caddy is made of durable, easy-to-clean canvas, has nine deep pockets and is made to fit around a five-gallon bucket. There are places for all of your hand tools, seeds and other items, and the bucket is the perfect place for soil amendments, plants, weeds, compost and other things. It even has a lifetime warranty. Check it out at hardware stores, home center and other places where garden supplies are sold. To find out more, visit www.fiskars.com.Ÿ The Clog Hog is an accessory tip that can be installed on any pressure washer to be used to unclog household drains. The jet nozzle has one forward-firing jet and three backfiring jets that pull the high-pressure line deep into clogged drains to bust even the toughest of clogs in lines up to 4 inches in diameter. Check it out at www.cloghog.com.Ÿ Write to Al and Kelly Carrell in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006 or visit the Carrells#146; website at thesuperhandyman.com.$PHOTOCREDIT_ON$© 2011, Cowles Syndicate Inc.$PHOTOCREDIT_OFF$