20210227

2021 Pricing




I am a fully licensed, bonded and insured California C10 Electrical Contractor.  I have been a San Francisco electrician since 1987.    I do most all work with my own hands.


















You pay professionals not just for their time, but for their expertise.  It takes years to get to the point where it takes an hour.
Service calls typically come to resolution or clear estimate in the first hour. Hourly rates are as follows:
  • Residential Service :$350 visit & 15 minute increments after
  • Commercial, Industrial, Public Works :$400 Call & 15 minute increments after
  • After 8p or emergency: Time *1.5
  • Minimum call: $150 minimum "no tools used"
  • Menu of typical prices 

    Allow some margin in appt times. I normally send an "in transit" text en route
    There is a flexible scheduling discount available.



Experience is an asset that is enhanced by time.
We are troubleshooting experts.



20210215

+professional.wk

Are you a professional? Click here =)




"A professional handles money and accounts very carefully."

20210214

Using NEMA 14-50 outlet to charge your Tesla?

We provide a no-cost Lifetime warranty on hardwired Tesla Wall Connectors we install.



While an existing NEMA 14-50 outlet will work to charge the car, you would need to purchase the $35 adapter from Tesla to make it work, they are not provided with the vehicle.  Tesla does not recommend installing a new NEMA 14-50 outlet to charge your car.   

Tesla Wall Connector Installation is what professionals recommend, and it is for a number of reasons.



First off, the electrical code has changed to require all new NEMA 14-50 outlets be installed on GFCI breakers. The Tesla already has one on-board to protect itself, and if you have two GFCIs on the same circuit, they tend to trip each other, making for a very unreliable charging setup.   

The GFCI breaker also adds ~$180-$240 to the cost.

Second, the maximum charge rate for a Model S on a NEMA 14-50 outlet is 23 miles of charge per hour. The Wall Connector on a 60amp circuit will give you 34 miles of charge per hour, so 50% faster charging.

Third, the reliability of charging on a NEMA 14-50 outlet is limited by design and quality of the outlet your electrician buys. There is a $15 (Leviton brand) residential grade NEMA 14-50 outlet sold at Home Depot that is not sufficient to support daily vehicle charging. The Leviton outlet has fiberglass insulators that tend to melt out after a few months of vehicle charging. The outlets are not designed specifically for EV charging; they are designed for plugging in RVs and range ovens. Ranges will pull max power once in a while when we roast a turkey, but EV charging will be pulling maximum amperage for hours on end every night. For this heavy use, we recommend an industrial grade NEMA 14-50 outlet, by one of these three brands: Hubbell, Bryant, or Cooper. These use glass or ceramic insulators and should last 3-5 years before they, too, eventually need to be replaced. At $80 – $150, they are not cheap.

Fourth, installing a Tesla Wall Connector lets you keep the mobile connector that comes with the car in the car. If you are using the cord that comes with the car to charge at your home every night, you will need to unplug it and take it with you every time you travel, which is time consuming and will wear out your plug faster. Most owners in this situation end up purchasing a second Mobile Connector Bundle to keep in the car as a backup, which is ~$300. Many folks expect to save some money by installing the NEMA 14-50 outlet instead of the Wall Connector, but that usually doesn’t end up being the case in the long run.

So for faster charging, a more reliable charging setup, a future-proofed design (the Gen3 Wall Connector gets OTA firmware updates), and a better looking unit, the Tesla Wall Connector is our only recommendation. I have attached the Gen3 Wall Connector installation guide as a reference.

I hope this helps!

Jonas Clausen | Tesla Installation Project Manager
47700 Kato Rd. | Fremont, CA 94538

Shared with Jonas Clausen’s permission
 
From Brillance Electric

In January of 2018, National Electric Code was updated to require all exterior and garage plugs to be GFCI protected. This development has been the cause of problems for electric vehicles. EVs can trip the GFCI when they piggy back “communication” signals through the circuit during the charging process. Cord and plug connection used to be a viable wiring method before the introduction of these new regulations, but, at this time; the NEMA 14-50 cord and plug connection is not a viable method for Electric Vehicle Service Equipment.

What this means: In short, due to being overall safer and more customer-friendly, we will only install EV Chargers that are hardwired.  Here’s a brief list of the benefits of direct wiring:

  • Safer. 
  • Fewer Issues, Less Maintenance
  • Fastest charging
  • Lower Cost (both initial and long term)
  • Better Looking Installation
  • Follows most manufacturer instructions and requirements
  • Code Compliant
  • We are so confident in this wiring method, we provide a no cost lifetime warranty on Tesla Wall Connectors we install
  • We do not install Nema 14-50 outlets for EVSE at this time and we suggest, at minimum, to upgrade any legacy 14-50 outlets being used for Electric Vehicle Service Equipment to ceramic devices

20090210

San Francisco permit expediter [historically significant]




Bringing historically significant projects into compliance 
with the San Francisco Department of building inspection



20081001

On Time & with Materials

As pointed out by Paul Graham:

Critical infrastructure responders are on a different type of schedule than their customers.
Meetings cost them more.
The electrician is billing for the work, the customer is paying.
what's that... Meetings cost the worker more?? 
 What he means by this:
the electrician's schedule is more of a moving target, any job may take longer.  He has to change materials, could be a special project or troubleshooting or design or high pressure urgent call. He has to get up to speed at each new location.   A job may finish early with even nothing done, or it can become an urgent cure for a pressing problem. You get involved with something and have to see it thru to the finish.

Triage: Safety, property, convenience.

The customer is usually on a fixed schedule and has blocked out a certain time, like going to the dentist, and they often expect that a qualified person will be able to resolve the problem uneventfully.

A reasonable expectation!

That is why, being accustomed to the unexpected, we try to interview [usually by text] before the visit, to get the details, to get the surprises out of the way before we arrive, esp now!

https://pmarchive.com/guide_to_personal_productivity.html

Still, our electrical service appointment scheduling can’t be that precise because there are daily urgent calls and exigencies.  If you have a hard stop deadline, we can make it.    Still, we respectfully ask you to leave margin in our appointment times and we keep in constant touch regarding arrival times.





...but of course, some of it is http://www.structuredprocrastination.com


20080709

Gradual Stiffening

...the actual building process is a creative act. It allows the building to be built up gradually. Members can be moved around before they are firmly in place. All those detailed design decisions which can never be worked out in advance on paper, can be made during the building process. And it allows you to see the space in three dimensions as a whole, each step of the way, as more material is added…


The essence of this process is very fundamental indeed. We may understand it best by comparing the work of a fifty-year-old carpenter with the work of a novice. The experienced carpenter keeps going. He doesn’t have to keep stopping, because every action he performs, is calculated in such a way that some later action can put it right to the extent that it is imperfect now. What is critical here, is the sequence of events. The carpenter never takes a step which he cannot correct later; so he can keep working, confidently, steadily.

The novice by comparison, spends a great deal of his time trying to figure out what to do. He does this essentially because he knows that an action he takes now may cause unretractable problems a little further down the line; and if he is not careful, he will find himself with a joint that requires the shortening of some crucial member – at a stage when it is too late to shorten that member. The fear of these kinds of mistakes forces him to spend hours trying to figure ahead: and it forces him to work as far as possible to exact drawings because they will guarantee that he avoids these kinds of mistakes.

The difference between the novice and the master is simply that the novice has not learnt, yet, how to do things in such a way that he can afford to make small mistakes. The master knows that the sequence of his actions will always allow him to cover his mistakes a little further down the line. It is this simple but essential knowledge which gives the work of a master carpenter its wonderful, smooth, relaxed, and almost unconcerned simplicity.

http://www.iwritewordsgood.com/apl/patterns/apl208.htm

A Pattern Language
Book by Christopher Alexander, Murray Silverstein, and Sara Ishikawa

Chris was the sponsor for my Individual Major in Building Process UC Berkeley '92

20070617

Don't try this at home...




Maintain Electrical SafetyThe insulation on electrical wires can become damaged by wear, flexing, or age. Some clues that you may have an electrical problem are:

  • Flickering lights. If the lights dim every time you turn on an appliance that circuit is overloaded or has a loose connection.
  • Sparks. If sparks appear when you insert or remove a plug, that could be a sign of loose connections.
  • Frequent blown fuses or broken circuits. A fuse or circuit breaker that keeps tripping is an important warning sign of problems.
  • Frequent bulb burnout. A light bulb that burns out frequently is a sign that the bulb is too high a wattage for the fixture.
  • Avoid the use of extension cords.

20070610

Aging happens but fires don't have to...

I















It's more likely that an electrical fire will occur in a place you can't easily see, although overloaded cords in contact w combustibles can also present a hazard in plain sight.
Waste heat generated by electrical current can cause wiring hidden within a home's walls to expand and contract, eventually loosening it. Once that wiring is loose, the electricity can arc, with a heat output reaching 1,500 to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.  

One benefit of Belleville spring washers includes compensating the effects of thermal cycling by maintaining sufficient bolt load; therefore, reducing hot spots. Heat is produced on electrical connections from the electrical resistance between the conductive material and the bolt. Hot spots occur with the increase of resistance due to the loosening of the joint. The result of a hot spot can be a catastrophic failure.

Another condition that Belleville's compensate for is creep. Properly used Belleville's maintain the desired load, despite any conductor creep and, again, reduce the opportunity for a failure.

Electrical connections may loosen because of embedment relaxation, which over time causes microscopic high points on both the threads and mating surfaces of the connection to relax. Belleville springs counteract the effects of embedment relaxation.

Vibration is another factor that can loosen bolted electrical connections that don’t include Belleville spring washers. The Belleville acts as a shock absorber by maintaining a constant sufficient load on the connection.

Thermal cycling, creep, and embedment relaxation are no match for Belleville springs. Quality Belleville springs will keep bolted connections tight!

page2image359994352





The temperature of an electrical arc can be hotter than the surface of the sun.

That's more than enough to ignite wood or old insulation under normal circumstances, but in San Francisco,  Inside a house in dry months, the relative humidity within the walls can drop to that of the average desert, turning studs -- wooden wall supports -- into kindling, easily ignited by an arcing current.
Here we arrive at one of the problems with electrical fires: By the time you see smoke coming out of your outlet, a fire has most likely already begun and is spreading out of sight within your walls and up to your attic. It's easy for a homeowner who has turned off the power to a burning socket to think that they've taken care of the problem. But an unseen fire may already be building beyond the outlet.
Even worse, electrical fires can be particularly tricky to put out. Since they involve electricity, using water to put out the fire can cause electrocution. Chemical powders can cause the fire to smolder then reignite. 


TFCI thermal fault outlets protect "glowing connection".


Top Causes of Arc Faults

  • Loose or improper connections, such as electrical wires to outlets or switches
  • Frayed appliance or extension cords
  • Pinched or pierced wire insulation, such as a wire inside a wall nipped by a nail or a chair leg sitting on an extension cord
  • Cracked wire insulation stemming from age, heat, corrosion, or bending stress
  • Overheated wires or cords
  • Damaged electrical appliances
  • Electrical wire insulation chewed by rodents






GFCI protects people from electric shock. AFCI protects against electrical fire. Both together provide very thorough  protection for the system. Adding TFCI (thermal fault as above) is the most complete protection available today. 


20070604

Electrical Preventive Maintenance

Should You Be Doing Electrical Preventive Maintenance? 

Introduction

Preventive maintenance is not a new concept. People have been doing precautionary work on motors, engines, and other mechanical systems for decades. But when I suggest doing preventive maintenance on electrical distribution systems, I am often met with incredulous looks and the repeated question, "What for? Nothing moves — what could go wrong?"

Preventing Electrical Failure 


A great deal can go wrong if an electrical distribution system is not adequately maintained. As electrical loads cycle between high and low demand, thermal expansion and contraction cause connections to loosen. Electrical panels that are never cleaned accumulate dust and dirt that deposit on these connections. The loose and dirty connections provide a high resistance path that are directly responsible for more than 30 percent of electrical failures. Another 17 percent of electrical failures are attributed to live electrical components being exposed to moisture. 
With a comprehensive electrical preventive maintenance program, both of these conditions — which account for almost half of all electrical losses — can be corrected. (See Table 1 below). 
TABLE 1: Top Causes of Electrical Distribution System       
Loose Connections/parts 
30.3% 
Moisture 
17.4% 
Line Disturbance (other than lightning) 
10.4% 
Defective/inadequate insulation 
9.9% 
Lightning 
8.1% 
Foreign objects/short circuiting 
7.3% 
Collision 
3.9% 
Overloading/inadequate capacity 
2.4% 
Accumulation of dust, dirt and oil 
2.2% 
All other causes 
8.1%  
Failures Based on Hartford Steam Boiler Claims Data 
According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the failure rate of electrical components is three times higher for systems where preventive maintenance is not performed. This tells us that electrical failures, for the most part, can be avoided. But what does an electrical preventive maintenance (EPM) program entail? There are five points to consider: 
  • Qualified Personnel  
  • It is important that the people who perform your EPM program be properly trained to work on the specific equipment being maintained or tested. This includes understanding the functionality of the equipment, both electrically and mechanically, and having a thorough knowledge of electrical safety practices and procedures. Special training is required for high-voltage equipment and protective relay devices, so this should not be overlooked.
    Regularly Scheduled Inspection, Testing, and Servicing of Equipment  An EPM program should be performed on a regular basis. The period between work depends on the environmental conditions, the importance of the equipment and its loading and use. However, EPM should be performed at least once every three years — and more often for critical components.The first step in an EPM program is a complete thermographic inspection of all electrical equipment prior to the scheduled outage. This survey is a non-invasive method of identifying high temperature excursions which indicate potential problem areas due to loose or dirty connections, load imbalances, or improper installation of equipment. This initial step helps in determining the resources you will need during your scheduled outage to perform EPM. Ideally, a thermographic inspection should be done during peak-load conditions by a certified, experienced thermographer.  Plans should be made to have all circuit breakers and disconnect switches repeatedly opened and closed during the shut-down period to ensure proper operation. In addition, protective relays and circuit breaker trip devices need to be tested and calibrated on a regular basis. Different test sets are often required for the various equipment depending on the manufacturer and the age of the devices. Therefore, ensure that the people doing this work have the proper equipment, experience, and training to perform these functions. Oil-filled transformers, circuit breakers and disconnect switches should have samples of the insulating oil screen-tested as a means of identifying potential problems with those components. Transformer oil should also undergo dissolved gas analysis to identify specific adverse conditions present inside the unit. Equipment insulated with SF6 gas should be inspected and leak-tested to ensure the integrity of the gas system.
  • Sound Judgment in Evaluating Results  
  • It is imperative that the person reviewing the test reports of the thermographic inspection or the equipment tests have a thorough understanding of the specific subject matter. This is important so that informed, responsible decisions can be made on how best to correct the conditions found. For example, the results of transformer oil testing may indicate the need to take action such as reclaiming or replacing the oil. The decision as to which alternative to take needs to be made by an informed individual.
  • Perform the Necessary Work  
  • This seems like an obvious point, but often it is not done. It does little good to have testing and inspection done to identify problem areas if you have no intention of fixing the problems. Preliminary testing and inspection help to focus your resources on the critical tasks, but ultimately you need to have scheduled outage to perform the necessary work.The fundamental concept of EPM is simple: Keep it clean, dry, and tight. Be sure to inspect all equipment for evidence of deterioration, exercise mechanisms to ensure proper operation, and clean and tighten all electrical connections and equipment enclosures.
  • Concise and Complete Record-Keeping 
  • This is the most overlooked aspect of EPM. However, a clear record-keeping system will help keep the EPM program cost-effective by ensuring that all the work is being done when it is supposed to be. In addition, tracking of test results over time can often identify a potential failure that can be corrected before it happens.

EPM Is Cost-Effective 


Electrical preventive maintenance is cost-effective in several different ways. First, it is cheaper to make repairs to equipment before it fails. When electrical equipment fails, particularly protective devices like circuit breakers or relays, there is usually subsequent damage to other components in the system. Often the equipment cannot be repaired and must be completely replaced. New equipment does not always replace the failed component in-kind and may require other modifications to make the system whole.
Failed equipment results in unplanned outages that can be very costly when replacement equipment cannot be easily found. Instead of having a planned system outage for EPM at the most convenient time for your operation, equipment failures are always at inopportune times. Emergency repairs are very costly due to the urgency of the situation where temporary work is required before a permanent repair can be done.
In addition, an effective EPM program will improve equipment efficiency and reduce utility bills. A loose or dirty connection has increased resistance which results in higher power losses. By simply tightening and cleaning electrical connections, you can lower these energy costs. When considered over a period of time, these energy losses can add up to quite a significant amount of money.
If you have been taking your electrical distribution system for granted, it’s probably time for you to implement an EPM program. But don’t wait until after the first electrical failure happens — you may not have a system then.

20070515

Electrical Outlets Safety


San Francisco / Marina
TAMPER-RESISTANT RECEPTACLES
All 15- and 20-ampere receptacles in a dwelling unit shall be listed tamper-resistant.

TR receptacles have been mandated in hospital pediatric wards for over 20 years and have proven to effectively prevent electrical injuries.

"...Going against all the fire safety training I’d gone through growing up, I grabbed an industrial extension cord and power strip from the garage, and ran it through the dining room into the den. I finished setting up my laptop around 2 a.m. and went to bed.... ...After that, I got kind of lazy. I knew that I had to deal with the electrical problem, but I was dreading what it would cost to have an electrician come fix it. We lived with the extension cord running across the floor for about a week, hoping that no one would decide to drop by unannounced..."



Incandescent lamp => longevity







20070506

mismatch and Trapeze [Monorail]







All connections on 12V cable and rail systems, including fixture connections, need to be re-tightened every year or so. They expand and contract with heat and also get loose when people change bulbs and wiggle a system... Loose connections cause heat build-up and ... you end up with melted and fried parts.

We have seen a lot of this over the years, and it comes down to a deferred maintenance/negligence problem.



"Trapeze" suspension lighting systems can have many troubles, even when installed correctly if they are not occasionally maintained. Basically, when you put in new lamps, you should check that nothing is loose.

Loose connections, xfmr "hum", short lamp longevity, expansion contraction, socket burnout are some findings even at correctly installed installations over time


Many troubling issues revolve around incompatible dimmers and loose mechanically bolted connections.  http://bit.ly/mishmatched



The price driven practice of installing the wrong dimmer creates the fairly common scenario: arcing failures with suspension systems. See the attached photo showing incandescent switch controlling magnetic low voltage trapeze system. Instead of a $140 switch the original installer often uses a $45 switch which works well for a few years until it smokes both the switch and the xfmr.


Remedies include:

  • tighten up connections
  • replace loose sockets / fixtures
  • ensure compatible xfmr / dimmer pairing 
  • replace magnetic xfmr w electronic or magnetic DC
  • swap halogen lamps for LED









Mismatched incandescent dimmer [cheap] to low voltage load - usually smokes the switch and the light - but it take s a couple of years.  The mismatch switch is $45 / the correct switch is $140.











examples of the reset button
 


https://wr1.live/lo-vo





20070505

Beautiful!


Here are some photos of our work and
some photos of electrical interest!
Our service area is the 415.

Telephone: (415)877.1172

Posted by Hello

Device longevity



Some things get better with time.  Gfi / device longevity







20070504

How many things can you plug into an electrical outlet before it catches fire?













out of the 5,300 annual household electrical fires, about 2,000 of those occur over the holiday season. By getting a better idea of how household electricity works, you can avoid the danger and blown fuses caused by overloaded outlets.

20070429

LED drivers



LED's are supposed to last a very long time.
A percentage of them don't.
They save energy and money.
Require specialized tools and troubleshooting process.



20061208

HOW OK


How OK is it to swap out a 2 prong outlet with a 3 prong?



the main idea of course, is that two prong outlets suggest an obsolete electrical system https://wr1.live/obsolete-2prong-outlet_system


But for the first line of action:

You can either replace the old, ungrounded 2wire, with a new "old style" two wire outlet, or better, replace it with a GFI protected outlet.  You used to be able to connect the ground to the cold water pipe, but that is no longer allowed since the 1993 iteration of the NEC.  The best answer is to replace the circuit breaker with a combination AFCI/ GFCI type breaker


A. Where no equipment bonding means exists in the outlet box, nongrounding-type receptacles can be replaced with [406.3(D)(3)]:
  • Another nongrounding-type receptacle.
  • A GFCI grounding-type receptacle marked "No Equipment Ground."
  • A grounding-type receptacle, if GFCI protected and marked "GFCI Protected" and "No Equipment Ground."


Note: GFCI protection functions properly on a 2-wire circuit without an equipment grounding (bonding) conductor, because the equipment grounding (bonding) conductor serves no role in the operation of the GFCI-protection device.

CAUTION: The permission to replace nongrounding-type receptacles with GFCI-protected grounding-type receptacles doesn't apply to new receptacle outlets that extend from an existing ungrounded outlet box. Once you add a receptacle outlet (branch-circuit extension), the receptacle must be of the grounding (bonding) type and it must have its grounding terminal grounded (bonded) to an effective ground-fault current path in accordance with 250.130(C).





"Can you just run a bare wire from the old outlet to a cold water pipe to ground the new outlet instead?


a new ground wire to the old knob and tube means basically three new wires to the old wall opening replacing the knob and tube with a new grounded circuit... new power from a nearby grounded circuit. Once you start extending new circuits they need to be in conformity with current code. Up to 1990 you were just allowed to run a bare wire to the nearest cold water pipe. Not anymore. That means the whole circuit will require AFCI protection - all of which are very good things... Those prices are labeled "new circuits" in the menu and the typical cost is published here.
If you need dedicated solid power that requires running a new pipe to the main
 that is a new hard pipe circuit.

There are only so many outlets you can run from the one breaker.
 Even an elevator always has "room for one more" up to a point!

https://wr1.live/convert-fusebox


Under the 1990 NEC {250-50(b)Exception} and in earlier code cycles a bonding jumper was permitted to be run from the grounding terminal of the receptacle to any water pipe that was bonded in accordance with 250-80(a)

250-80(a) Metal Water Piping. The interior metal water piping system shall be bonded to the service equipment enclosure, the grounded conductor at the service, the grounding electrode conductor where of sufficient size, or to the one or more grounding electrodes used.

We are not allowed to do that anymore because the practice of replacing copper water pipes with plastic pipe.  If you have been using the copper pipe as a grounding path and it is interupted with plastic, the entire length of water pipe is prone to being energized.

See also : http://www.zerosurge.com/older-homes-and-buildings/
the main idea however, is that two prong outlets suggest an obsolete electrical system




20061007

What Do the Markings on Circuit Breakers Mean?

Cheaters and other distinctions


What's the concern with tandem circuit breakers?

When tandem circuit breakers are used in locations where they're not allowed, they could make an improper physical connection to the bus bar in the panelboard, which can create a fire hazard. Tandem circuit breakers also increase the total load on the bus bars in a panelboard; this is where professionals need to use common sense.


For panelboards manufactured before adoption of the Class CTL standard,  non-Class CTL tandem circuit breakers are allowed to be installed as replacement circuit breakers only.  Non-Class CTL tandem circuit breakers do not have the ‘rejection’ feature that Class CTL breakers have.  As clearly indicated by the label on the side of the circuit breaker pictured below, these circuit breakers are not allowed in ClassCTLpanelboards.  The difficulty for home inspectors is that the marking is not usually visible after installation, and home inspectors aren't supposed to pull out circuit breakers to try to figure this stuff out.



For Replacement Use Only not-CTL – 

The Class CTL (circuit limiting) panelboard has only been in existence since 1980, even though the lighting and appliance branch circuit panelboard has been in the NEC for decades. CTL panelboards have a rejection means designed to reject more than the appropriate number of circuit breakers that can be installed in the panel.

The marking “For replacement Use Only Not CTL Assemblies” means that the circuit breaker does not have CTL rejection provisions and is intended for replacement in older equipment pre-dating the CTL requirements for circuit breakers and panelboards. Circuit breakers with this designation should not be installed in a panelboard marked “Class CTL Panelboard” since that would be a violation of the listing of the assembly [NEC 110.3(B)].