# black to brass....does it really matter?



## handyman99 (Aug 27, 2009)

I was working on a job on changing out some outlets. I noticed that half of the outlets were black to brass and half were not. (I independently checked the black and it was the hot wire, while the white was the neutral.) Does it really matter? I have always done black(hot wire) to brass in my past. So when I got this job I was surprised it worked for all these years. The owner of this house said that the electrical hasn't been touched for over 20 years and he never had a problem.


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## Tom Struble (Mar 2, 2007)

think it has something to do with having the proper phase when you plug something in

a sparky should be here soon to yell at you, hang in there and good luck:thumbsup:


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

I would reply, but given your track record of telling us we're all full of shît anyway, I won't bother.

Go ask your landlord. He's an Electrical God.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

As long as the brass is connected to the smaller slot on the outlet then it is correct. If both screws are silver are you gonna be lost?


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## JumboJack (Aug 14, 2007)

I can not believe this guy is back!:blink:

He has asked two of the most basic electrical questions as if they where ohms law in Chinese...


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

JumboJack said:


> I can not believe this guy is back!:blink:
> 
> He has asked two of the most basic electrical questions as if they where ohms law in Chinese...


 
Next, he'll tell us the paperboy says it's OK to put AWG14 on a 60 amp breaker.

After that, we'll find out we can use speaker wire for service entrances.

Then he'll 'educate' us about not needing boxes for switches and receptacles.

Oh, and if you flip asphalt shingles over, they'll last 100 years.


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

Why do you electricians get all the luck? Rarely does somebody post something so mind-numbingly idiotic on the framing section. This is the second time this week for this guy. I guarantee he's one of your cohorts just ****in with you guys. Nobody can be that stupid and immune to verbal abuse.


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

I just ran a stove today on 14. It didn't trip so what in the hell are you talking about? Elitist snob!


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## handyman99 (Aug 27, 2009)

I don't take the idiot reply's personal. I'm here for business. I mean I changed 30 outlets at $25.00 buck each, so I made good money. I'm only posting because I was wondering was I wasting my time making sure the "black was to the brass." I'm guessing it doesn't really matter. It's probably just some stupid thing some electrician made up.


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

mccarty.74 said:


> I just ran a stove today on 14. It didn't trip so what in the hell are you talking about? Elitist snob!


Because you have a penny in the fuse box. Now, I'll have you know that pennies DO HAVE a rated ampacity. AND, it's on each and every penny in your pocket.

That's right..... the ampacity of a penny is listed right on the penny. Courtesy of the United States Mint.

Where is it? Why, look right above Lincolns head.

I'm serious. It's there.

Go look for yourself.



























































See? I told you it was!


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## JumboJack (Aug 14, 2007)

handyman99 said:


> I don't take the idiot reply's personal. I'm here for business. I mean I changed 30 outlets at $25.00 buck each, so I made good money. I'm only posting because I was wondering was I wasting my time making sure the "black was to the brass." I'm guessing it doesn't really matter. It's probably just some stupid thing some electrician made up.


I'm calling BS on this....:no:

NO ONE is going to pay a handyman that does not know the most BASIC things about electricity that much...NO way no how.....


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

You gave yourself away there. But **** you had half the forum going for a while. If I had to venture a guess I'd say J F in retaliation? Not to mention you used the handle handyman...anything which is a toxic word around here. Could be 480sparky or Magnettica but somebody is taking us for a ride. DICK!


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## JumboJack (Aug 14, 2007)

mccarty.74 said:


> You gave yourself away there. But **** you had half the forum going for a while. If I had to venture a guess I'd say J F in retaliation? Not to mention you used the handle handyman...anything which is a toxic word around here. Could be 480sparky or Magnettica but somebody is taking us for a ride. DICK!


It's prolly not 480..He is telling the guy off...That would just be weird.:laughing:


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

I misspoke. I ran that stove, two can lights and three outlets on that circuit. If you give me the ok I might be able to throw the microwave and air-conditioner on the same breaker. Can I do that? Or should I get one of those 2 breakers in one thingy's?


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## JumboJack (Aug 14, 2007)

Gotta be someone messing with us.... BASTARD!


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

Jack, handyman 99 is full of **** for sure. Nobody is that insistent on being humiliated. But 480 is my lead suspect right now. If you've got evidence that points otherwise you need to be forthcoming.


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

No, Magnettica just surfaced for the first time in a few days. 480 has been exonerated. It's Magnettica.


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## JumboJack (Aug 14, 2007)

mccarty.74 said:


> No, Magnettica just surfaced for the first time in a few days. 480 has been exonerated. It's Magnettica.


Get a rope!:laughing:


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

We'll hang 'em both just to be sure we're rid of the problem.


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## handyman99 (Aug 27, 2009)

JumboJack said:


> I'm calling BS on this....:no:
> 
> NO ONE is going to pay a handyman that does not know the most BASIC things about electricity that much...NO way no how.....


It's funny because I don't want to paid doing electrical. I hate doing electrical. I specialize in plumbing. I've been shocked enough times. It's strange because every electrical job I get, I never want to accept the job. However, my customer like me because I'm very honest. The funny thing is most of them don't like electrician because they are not honest. An example is like the guy that hired me to change the the outlets, he first tried to hire an electrician. However, the electrician insisted that the whole house had to be rewired. When he told the electrician he didn't want the whole house rewired, the electrician told him that he was risking electrical fire and tried to scare him. The electrician still charged him $75.00 for a service charge and he didn't even do anything.

That's not the point anyway. So is it true.... since nobody can confirm that black is really to brass. That's what I though. Next time I change outlets, I'm just going to make whatever looks easier. I know that ground needs to stay with ground. That's obvious. However, the hot and neutral probably doesn't matter. Not unless somebody can really confirm and tell me why it matters.


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## JumboJack (Aug 14, 2007)

handyman99 said:


> It's funny because I don't want to paid doing electrical. I hate doing electrical. I specialize in plumbing. I've been shocked enough times. It's strange because every electrical job I get, I never want to accept the job. However, my customer like me because I'm very honest. The funny thing is most of them don't like electrician because they are not honest. An example is like the guy that hired me to change the the outlets, he first tried to hire an electrician. However, the electrician insisted that the whole house had to be rewired. When he told the electrician he didn't want the whole house rewired, the electrician told him that he was risking electrical fire and tried to scare him. The electrician still charged him $75.00 for a service charge and he didn't even do anything.
> 
> That's not the point anyway. So is it true.... since nobody can confirm that black is really to brass. That's what I though. Next time I change outlets, I'm just going to make whatever looks easier. I know that ground needs to stay with ground. That's obvious. However, the hot and neutral probably doesn't matter. Not unless somebody can really confirm and tell me why it matters.


Electrician are not honest but you are charging someone 25.00 an outlet and you don't even know where to hook the wires to?


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

Wire them backwards, for your own peace of mind. Leviton doesn't really have a reason for color coding the screws. It's just a marketing ploy to sell you on "their" electricians.


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

Jack, that doesn't work anymore. All newly installled outlets have to be tamper-proof. Even garage-door opener receptacles, which would seem to be very out of reach of children.


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## Winchester (Jun 29, 2008)

mccarty.74 said:


> I just ran a stove today on 14. It didn't trip so what in the hell are you talking about? Elitist snob!


Sure, if it was a gas stove :thumbup:


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

No, 220. Are you really telling me I can't do that?


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

It was 14/3. No good?


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## JumboJack (Aug 14, 2007)

mccarty.74 said:


> Jack, that doesn't work anymore. All *newly installled *outlets have to be tamper-proof. Even garage-door opener receptacles, which would seem to be very out of reach of children.


I bet his house does not have them...Not to mention that it is 2008 NEC code....


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

Yeah but he'll follow code. He has to.


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## chris n (Oct 14, 2003)

Oh, and if you flip asphalt shingles over, they'll last 100 years. :thumbup:

Now there is one I have not heard before!:blink:


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

Handyman99 will follow whatever advice we (or his landlord, or his paperboy, or his barber, or his neighbor, or his dead great-grandmother....) give him that makes him the most money. Or is the easiest to do. He's lazy and greedy, two of the requirements to be a hack.

And if he doesn't get the advice he wants to hear, he'll just ignore us and do it wrong anyway. Hëll, what's the difference to him? He's only in it for the money anyway. What does he care if someone gets shocked, electrocuted, or their house burns down? He's got his money in his pocket.... he won't give a fùck at that point.

Shît, if we tell him it's legal to install a 400a service with #24 bell wire, I'd be the dumbass would do it. And then proudly proclaim he charged $500.

That's the definition of a hack........ make money, safety and codes get thrown out with the bathwater, and 'professional' electricians are just money-grubbing shysters.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

You been sucked in pretty well 480......


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## stars13bars2 (Feb 13, 2005)

Mccarty,
Without a local ammendment to the NEC, garage door opener receptacles are not required to be tamper resistant, unless mounted below five and one half feet above the floor.


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

stars13bars2 said:


> Mccarty,
> Without a local ammendment to the NEC, garage door opener receptacles are not required to be tamper resistant, unless mounted below five and one half feet above the floor.


Just messing with the electricians. Seeing if I can get a rise out of them. So far I've been unsuccessful.


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## stars13bars2 (Feb 13, 2005)

99,
While it is true that even a jackass electrician can hook two wires to something and make it come on, that does not mean that the wire is the correct size or that it is the correct wire for the installation. There are multitudes of things that need to be considered for any installation. You have asked about one of the most basic requirements and when others inform you that you are not qualified to change out the receptacles, you declare that there is no need for the requirements in the first place. What you did could be, and in most places is, illegal. This is usually no big deal until someone is injured or worse and then you won't believe how quickly someone you thought was your friend will have a lawyer that will earn his pay by not being your friend. You will make his job incredibly easy by not knowing the basics about what you are doing for pay.


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## DetailHandyman (Jul 21, 2008)

480sparky said:


> Next, he'll tell us the paperboy says it's OK to put AWG14 on a 60 amp breaker.



How about if you use two 14s? Then it's like a 7 or something... :whistling


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

DetailHandyman said:


> How about if you use two 14s? Then it's like a 7 or something... :whistling


No. when you parallel, you invoke the Square Root Rule. So it would be AWG 3.74.:shifty:


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## DetailHandyman (Jul 21, 2008)

480sparky said:


> No. when you parallel, you invoke the Square Root Rule. So it would be AWG 3.74.:shifty:



Damn it...I'm such a hack....:shutup:


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## WNYcarpenter (Mar 2, 2007)

dirtdiggler...........


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## JumboJack (Aug 14, 2007)

480sparky said:


> No. when you parallel, you invoke the Square Root Rule. *So it would be AWG 3.74*.:shifty:


And that stuff is hard to find..You'll end up running all over town trying to find it.


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## stars13bars2 (Feb 13, 2005)

There is so much more to the Code than most people realize. They hear one part and think they know it all. You can actually protect 14awg copper with a 110 amp breaker and still be 100% Code compliant. 

Hint: It has something to do with the asterisk beside the part that says you can use a maximum 15amp breaker on #14 awg copper.


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## Magnettica (Dec 19, 2006)

mccarty.74 said:


> No, Magnettica just surfaced for the first time in a few days. 480 has been exonerated. It's Magnettica.


Huh? 

I have this screen name and that's it. 


For the most part this is a serious website and I highly doubt people come here with phony screen names just to mess with people.


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## mccarty.74 (Jul 4, 2009)

My apologies Magnettica, I refuse to believe someone is as willingly ignorant as handyman99. But I see escalation in stupidity every day.


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## Speedy Petey (Sep 30, 2003)

Why are threads like this allowed to continue. 

The handyman character is obviously either a hack or a troll. Either way he deserves none of the attention he seeks.


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## mikeswoods (Oct 11, 2008)

If this guy is for real he's in for a bad day when he forgets to snap off a tab on a switched outlet.







He's just playing with us?


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## Magnettica (Dec 19, 2006)

mccarty.74 said:


> My apologies Magnettica, I refuse to believe someone is as willingly ignorant as handyman99. But I see escalation in stupidity every day.


No problem. Sometimes I do post if I've had too much to drink but never have I hidden behind another screen name just to act like a jackass. What was the thread about again?:shutup:


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## 480sparky (Feb 1, 2009)

Magnettica said:


> ..........What was the thread about again?:shutup:


A jackass.


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## bradgunn (Aug 13, 2009)

I have to confess to you before you find out: Handyman has _another_ question posted, I'm trolling late night, found his question, and took him seriously. I actually tried to help: now you guys are going to find it and tear me up as well. All I can say is, I posted my retraction before I saw all this.


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## bradgunn (Aug 13, 2009)

I can hardly wait until tomorow morning. Blood in the water.


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## cyezza (Aug 19, 2009)

handyman99 said:


> It's funny because I don't want to paid doing electrical. I hate doing electrical. I specialize in plumbing. I've been shocked enough times. It's strange because every electrical job I get, I never want to accept the job. However, my customer like me because I'm very honest. The funny thing is most of them don't like electrician because they are not honest. An example is like the guy that hired me to change the the outlets, he first tried to hire an electrician. However, the electrician insisted that the whole house had to be rewired. When he told the electrician he didn't want the whole house rewired, the electrician told him that he was risking electrical fire and tried to scare him. The electrician still charged him $75.00 for a service charge and he didn't even do anything.
> 
> That's not the point anyway. So is it true.... since nobody can confirm that black is really to brass. That's what I though. Next time I change outlets, I'm just going to make whatever looks easier. I know that ground needs to stay with ground. That's obvious. However, the hot and neutral probably doesn't matter. Not unless somebody can really confirm and tell me why it matters.


I think your brain is wired in reverse polarity, that's why your doing it backwards


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

No blood in the water here. Closed for good.

*I wonder how much insurance handyman has, when the inevitable happens, and he manages to get a nice fire going, or God forbid, even gets a kid killed by playing electrician. *


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