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Popular Mechanics
June 2005
Norman Becker |
Homeowners Clinic Expert Q & A Solutions to readers' dilemmas ranging from tankless water heaters to dryer booster fans.   |
Popular Mechanics
March 24, 2009 |
How to Fix Broken Electrical Outlets Hang a power strip... Lamp plug fall-out... Finding which fuse has blown... Extension-Cord rules... etc. |
Popular Mechanics
May 2009 |
How to Diagnose Car Electrical Problems by Tracing Voltage Drops Electricity shouldn't be daunting, especially when it comes to automotive wiring. |
Popular Mechanics
March 10, 2009 |
5 Tricks to Fix Chattering, Buzzing and Flickering Lights Many small electrical problems can be easily handled by the homeowner equipped with a modest number of specialized tools and a modicum of sense. |
Boating
December 2006
Ed Sherman |
The Boat Doctor - Shock-less Therapy Troubleshoot your electronics with a digital volt-ohm meter. Many boaters own one, or should, but few know how to use it. |
Popular Mechanics
December 2007 |
5 Simple Steps to a New Light Switch in 10 Minutes With a few specific tools, you can handle the job even if you've never done basic electrical work. Here's how it's done. |
Popular Mechanics
January 19, 2010
Roy Berendsohn |
11 Shocking Home Electrical Safety Tips Firefighters recommend that if you have any doubt about fighting a fire, you're best bet is to get out of the house as quickly as possible. |
This Old House
December 2005
Harry Sawyers |
Replacing Two-Prong Receptacles Retrofit a new three-prong or GFCI receptacle into your outdated outlet box without the expense of rewiring. |
This Old House
Joseph Truini |
Electrical Upgrades, Part 3 The third home project in our series adds protection against electrocution. If your wiring is more than 20 years old, consider upgrading some outlets to GFCI. |
Popular Mechanics
October 2009
Seth Porges |
How to Make Your Own Battery-Powered Gadget Chargers There's no magic to a cellphone charger. It's really little more than a plastic-wrapped strip of copper wire designed to deliver power (stepped down in voltage and converted to DC, of course) from an outlet to your phone battery. |
This Old House
Josh Garskof |
Shocking Truths The top 10 wiring problems and what to do about them |
Home Toys
December 2003 |
New Product Makes Cordless Wall Phones Truly Cordless The Out-of-Sight PowerJack cordless phone jack provides a standard 4-wire telephone jack with a low-voltage power supply from its own built-in transformer, so you don't need to install the phone close to an AC outlet. |
This Old House
November 2007
Natalie Rodriguez |
Protecting Old Wires Overloading a home's wiring system and taking DIY shortcuts are two of the major reasons behind the 32,000 electrical fires that occur in homes each year. |
| This Old House |
No Less Than 52 Skills You Need to Survive Homeownership From pulling nails without denting trim to getting a big paint spill off your carpet -- fast fix-it advice when it's time for you to do your homeowning duty. |
This Old House
Thomas Baker |
Prevent Electrical Fires with Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupters Electronic sentinels in your outlets offer protection from electrical fires. |
This Old House
Thomas Baker |
New Plugs for Old Cords How to attach a replacement plug and save your old electric cord from the trash. |
Home Theater
July 2001
Mike Wood |
HT Boot Camp: AC Power There's absolutely nothing worse than putting together an awesome home theater system that's starved for power or buzzing with ground loops. |
U.S. CPSC
August 1, 2002 |
Electrical Testing Meters Recalled by Greenlee Textron Inc. An incompatible grommet, located in the battery compartment to protect internal wires, can cause the meter to provide inaccurate voltage and current readings. A meter that inaccurately indicates zero voltage or current creates the potential for electric shock or an electrocution hazard. |
Popular Mechanics
July 2004
Bob Freudenberger |
Repairing Power Windows What are the typical power window problems? Simply stated: drag, a mechanical failure in the mechanism, or an electrical issue. |
This Old House
John Kelsey |
Choosing and Using Work Lights Shedding a little light on the subject can be a challenge during a project. These work lights will stand up to the toughest job site. |
Popular Mechanics
November 2000
Paul Weissler |
Replacing Spark Plug Wires Inexpensive boot pliers allow you to remove stuck plug wires without damage... |
This Old House
John D. Wagner |
Burnout Busters A typical incandescent lightbulb burns for approximately 900 hours. If your bulbs aren't lasting that long, there's probably a good reason why. Here are four common problems, along with ways to fix them. |
Popular Mechanics
June 2007
Mike Allen |
How to Replace a Headlight That Doesn't Want to Be Replaced Handling the delicate replacement of a quartz-bulb headlight. |
Popular Mechanics
May 11, 2009 |
How to Fix Common Heating and Cooling Problems Appliances are meant to make our lives easier, which they usually do. Until, that is, they start leaking, heating imperfectly, burning toast they were supposed to brown, and generally malfunctioning. |
Popular Mechanics
June 2000
Mike Allen |
Fixing Power Windows Fortunately, power windows are usually one of the more reliable systems on a late-model car. And diagnosis and repair are usually pretty straightforward... |
Popular Mechanics
October 17, 2007
Mike Allen |
Whatever Happened to the 42-Volt Car? It's been just about 10 years since the auto industry was abuzz with the impending transition of automotive electrical systems from 12 volts to 42 volts. Didn't happen. Isn't gonna. Stop holding your breath. |
Popular Mechanics
January 2002
Mike Allen |
Replacing A Car Battery Once you've determined the battery is bad and the charging system and the rest of the electrical system is good, it's time to install a new battery... |
Real Travel Adventures
August 2010
Ron Pradinuk |
When You Travel Overseas Here you'll find five charged up questions about electricity you need answers for, before you travel. |
U.S. CPSC
March 22, 2002 |
ESFI Warn Flood Victims About the Dangers of Mixing Water and Electricity As the mountain snow melt begins and flood season approaches, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) are warning consumers to beware of the dangers that are present when water comes in contact with electricity... |
U.S. CPSC
June 19, 2003 |
Extension Cords, Portable Lights, and Fluorescent Lights Recalled by Homier Distributing Co. These products have three or more of the following problems: undersized wiring, improper polarization, lack of overcurrent protection, inadequate grounding, flammable plastic handles, exposed live wires, sharp metal edges, and faulty electrical connections. |
Popular Mechanics
April 20, 2007
Roy Berendsohn |
Home Toolbox Essentials: Skill Set It's amazing how many tools you need for a day's work. |
PC World
August 2001
Stan Miastkowski |
Upgrade Guide: Keep It Powered, Keep It Cool Keep you upgraded PC fully powered and properly cooled, step-by-step... |
Popular Mechanics
December 18, 2008
Ben Block |
The Quest for the Electric Car's Perfect Plug Here are problems and answers from engineers on their quest for the perfect plug for the electric car. |
U.S. CPSC
November 3, 2004 |
Schneider Electric North American Division Recall of AFCIs An AFCI is an electrical circuit protection device (circuit breaker) that detects electrical arcs from cracked, broken or damaged electrical insulation and shuts off power to the circuit before the arcing leads to a fire. An electronic component failure inside the AFCIs can cause the devices to not detect an electrical arc. Although the AFCIs will function as regular circuit breakers, they may not detect an arc fault, posing a safety risk to consumers. |
IEEE Spectrum
April 2005
Linda Geppert |
Power to the Molecules A "crossbar latch" supplies the missing piece for a nanosize alternative to the transistor. Now, researchers at Hewlett-Packard plan to knit them into a huge circuit, hoping to put the technology on the market in about 10 years. |
U.S. CPSC
June 18, 2003 |
CPSC, ESFI Warn Consumers About Electrical Hazards In The Home "Inspect and Protect!" campaign encourages homeowners to safeguard homes |
Military & Aerospace Electronics
November 2004
Janesch & Ivons |
Choosing the Right Switch System Challenges Test Engineers Despite a variety of electronic systems, for all of them automation can improve them. An essential part of automated testing is a switching system, which routes signals between measurement instruments and the device under test (DUT). |
| This Old House |
Using Extension Cords Master Carpenter Norm Abram's techniques for keeping your tools plugged in while you work. |
Popular Mechanics
January 4, 2008
Mike Allen |
Can Mechanics Be Dishonest, or Should You Just Know Better? Consumers have a responsibility to be informed about their vehicles and not to be pressured into buying new parts without a second opinion. |
Popular Mechanics
July 2003
Mike Allen |
How To Charge Your Battery Motorhomes, tractors, boats, motorcycles and other occasional-use vehicles should use a battery-maintainer style of charger to prevent battery damage. The permanent extra wiring harness makes it easy to hook up the charger when necessary. |
Popular Mechanics
September 2007 |
How to Properly Check the Juice in Your Car Battery There's more to checking a battery than simply testing the voltage and looking inside for low water. |
U.S. CPSC
September 23, 2010 |
Siemens Recalls Circuit Breakers Due to Fire Hazard The recalled circuit breakers have a spring clip that can break during normal use, leading to a loss of force to maintain a proper electrical connection in the panelboard. |
Macworld
January 2001
Franklin N. Tessler |
Back-UPS Pro 500 No matter where you live, power failures and brownouts are unavoidable. When the electricity stops, the Back-UPS Pro 500 lets you keep your Mac and as many as three peripherals going for 20 minutes, long enough to let you save your work and shut down safely... |
IEEE Spectrum
March 2013
Paul Wallich |
Putting the Meter Under the Microscope How a smart-meter kit changed my energy habits |
Home Toys
February 2005
Eugene Kowch |
Why is There a Need for an Electrical Design? An electrical design will gather all switching requirements for the home. Determine what level of control is acceptable and propose an electrical control system to meet these needs. |
AboutSafety
March 29, 2001 |
Preventing Electrocution Due To Damaged Receptacles And Connectors Damaged receptacles may physically permit improper electrical connections to be made, negating the intended safeguards designed into them. Furthermore, workers may not recognize a hazard of electrocution associated with the use of worn or damaged receptacles and connectors. |
PC Magazine
September 26, 2007
Erik Rhey |
Connected Traveler: Stay Fully Charged With the right gadgets, your devices will always stay powered up and running while you're on the road. |
This Old House
Roy Barnhart |
Removing a Broken Bulb That's Stuck When a burned-out bulb is stuck in its socket, your only option is to try to turn it until it either unscrews or shatters. |
Technology Research News
January 26, 2005
Eric Smalley |
Nano Bridge Builds Logic Researchers from the Japanese National Institute for Materials Science have given an old technology -- the mechanical electric switch -- a quantum update. |
This Old House
Harry Sawyers |
Power Rangers: Tough Extension Cords The right extension chord brings the plug to the project safely. |
