How To Install an Outside GFCI Receptacle – Step by Step Instructions with Pictures

January 29, 2008

This past week was a nightmare for me. My wife flew to upstate NY (approximately 2,000 miles east of here) to visit her sister in the hospital, where she stayed all week. The dishwasher quit Tuesday night and when I got home from work on Wednesday, the furnace was not working.

The dishwasher not working was not too big of a deal, but the furnace not working sucked. It got down to 18 degrees below zero fahrenheit Wednesday night here in Bozeman, MT. Fortunately, we have a wood burning fireplace. I also decided to do the laundry Wednesday night so I could use the dryer for heat as well. I disconnected the flexible hose at the wall and stretched it around to the outside of the dryer and put a pair of my wife’s panty hose over the end to catch the lint. This worked well; between the fireplace, the dryer and a couple of space heaters, I was able to keep the house at 64 degrees fahrenheit all night. The furnace was fixed Thursday morning, thankfully.

At any rate, because it was so cold all week, I received several service calls to install outside GFCI receptacles to plug engine heaters into. Friday afternoon was considerably warmer and I installed one about a mile from my house. So, I ran home first and grabbed my camera. I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity and create a blog post about this installation.

The instructions and images below will walk you through step by step on how to install an outside GFCI receptacle. Click on any of the images for a larger view.

The tools you need for this installation are: Tape measure Pencil Razor knife Wire strippers level Phillips screwdriver GFCI receptacle tester Safety glasses
You are also going to need something to cut the hole for the receptacle box. I definately prefer the Roto Zip for this. It’s small, light weight, easy to handle, easily adjustable cutting depth and with the wide variety of bits, it can cut through just about anything. As you can see, mine is pretty beat up. I use this tool on a daily basis. I usually burn out 1 to 2 Roto Zips per year, but I use it to cut through everything. In my opinion, this is one of the best tools ever invented.
The materials you need for this installation are: Single gang remodel box (old work box, cut-in box) GFCI receptacle In use weatherproof cover NM cable (romex) Romex staples
There is a receptacle on the backside of this wall approximately 2 1/2 feet above the new GFCI I was installing. Typically, I would tap power from this receptacle. However, this garage was a little bit of a wiring nightmare. There were open splices everywhere, including at this receptacle (see image below) and nothing was GFCI protected. I talked to the homeowner about repairing these fire hazards, but they did not have the money now. Fortunately for me, there is a 100 amp breaker box that is properly grounded and there are spaces available. So, I elected to supply a dedicated circuit. This way I wouldn’t have to touch or be responsible for any of the existing wiring. So, let’s get started installing an outside GFCI receptacle.
Step 1 – Determine and mark the location for your receptacle.
Step 2 – Place the front of the remodel box against the wall and level the box.
Step 3 – Use a pencil to trace around the outside of the remodel box. Ensure you only trace around the areas that need to be cut. Note the top and bottom of the box. There are “ears” here that prevent the box from falling into the wall; do not cut out for these. See the image to the right for what the outline should look like and note the image in step 5.
Step 4 - Cut along the inside of the line to remove the siding and create an opening for the electrical box.
Step 5 – Install the GFCI receptacle box.
Step 6 – Install the NM cable (romex).
Step 7 – Staple the NM cable (romex) within 12 inches of the box and approximately every 3 feet thereafter.
Step 8 – Install the GFCI receptacle.
Step 9 – Install the weatherproof gasket.
Step 10 – Install the weatherproof in use cover.
Step 11 – Turn on the power and test the GFCI receptacle.

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Written by Wayne Gilchrist · Filed Under How To Articles · 11 Comments

Top 10 Entrecard Droppers for the Week Ending 1/27/08 – off topic

January 28, 2008

Well, another week has passed and it is time once again to announce the top 10 Entrecard droppers to Ez DIY Electricity. This week there are a few new people on the list.

1.	- Dark is Easy – Entrecard Design by Japan Is Doomed. Music perspectives from an obscure city.
2.	- Everybody Wins! – Top Prize $50, 2500 credits and a years advertising. Top prize in this contest is $50, 2,500 EC credits and a years advertising network wide on over 20 sites. Everybody who enters wins something!
3.	- Photos from Northern Norway – An unique view from beyond the Arctic circle. Updated several times a week with high quality photos.
4.	- Saphrym.com – The mind is a terrible thing to close. I’ve lost over 70 pounds! Find out free at my site. And just as an incentive to show up, I’ve got 2 contests running right now. Post about my site for $250 and 1000 credits by 2/27/2008. And win the top spot on my site EVERY month. Contest details are linked from my site (right next to the Entrecard widget).
5.	- Fantasy Baseball – Talk straight from expert non-experts. A blog aiming to provide usable tips and commentary for winning your fantasy baseball league.
6.	- SCHWOIT – Gardening and Geekdom in the Urban Jungle – Focussed coverage on gardening, particularly fruit and vegetables, in an urban environment by a novice, but committed, gardening family. With an impending move we are working within the constraints of pots and tubs for mobility.
7.	- Soundtrack Geek – Soundtracks for the regular guy soundtrackgeek.com is a blog about soundtracks and movie scores for the regular guy. Movies and music put together in beautiful harmony.
8.	- .:CyberfiZZle:. – Your morning source for coffee and news (1 out of 2 ain’t bad!). Social news (and some political news) with first impression commentary in parenthesis.
9.	- Mommieshome.net – A place for all moms (or any household manager)! Welcome to Mommies Home.net! This is a place for all moms (or any household manager) to get together, learn, share or just hang out. So grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and surf away (even if you only have those precious few moments when the kids are sleeping)!
10.	- Urutora no Hi – Japan Mad Tourist.

Everyone was assigned a number and I entered the numbers at random.org.

An the winner is: Photos from Northern Norway. Congratulations! I will contact you today through Entrecard and send you your 250 Entrecard credits.

I would like to thank all of the top 10 Entrecard droppers and everyone for visiting, subscribing and commenting on my blog. Keep dropping your cards and you may be next week’s winner.

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Written by Wayne Gilchrist · Filed Under Entrecard · 2 Comments

My Thoughts on Entrecard, 30 Days After Signing Up – off topic

January 26, 2008

I signed up / joined Entrecard on Christmas day (12/25/07). I wasn’t sure what is was about, but it was popping up on some popular blogs that I read frequently (problogger.net, johnchow.com). After checking them out and watching the video, I signed up. It is free to join, so why not.

Now, Entrecard is basically a 125 x 125 ad sharing network. You earn credits each time you visit someone’s blog and drop your card and when someone visits your blog and drops their card. The credits can be used to purchase ad space on participating blogs or for almost anything else you can imagine.

Joining this community has been one of the best things I have done to help grow this site so far. Now, I’ve read a lot of the negative comments about Entrecard, but I believe that you get out of it what you put into it. I spend several hours in the Entrecard community and drop 300 cards daily, trying to maximize my efforts. Now, I can honestly say that I do not read all 300 blogs that I drop cards on, but I try to read and leave a comment on a minimum of 10 blogs daily; most times more.

After 30 days on Entrecard, my Alexa ranking went from 2,324,081 to 340,872. My Technorati authority went from no authority to 42 and a rank of 2,910,025 to 189,138. My Google page rank has remained a 2; I guess I need to read and implement Aaron & Giovanna Wall’s – The Blogger’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization. Best of all, the amount of subscribers to this site went from 55 to 97 as of 1/25/08.

I’ve also met a lot of great bloggers and created some joint ventures that have worked out very well. I was able to advertise on johnchow.com and my status is still pending on problogger.net. I couldn’t afford to advertise on sites like these, if it wasn’t for Entrecard. John Chow gets $500.00 per month for a 125 x 125 ad on his site and I can’t imagine what Darren Rowse (problogger.net) gets, but I’m sure it isn’t cheap.

My advertisement from John Chow brought me 33 clicks and I had 11 new subscribers that day. This was also with a poor Entrecard that I designed; the new one that Jay from ‘Dat’ Money.com designed is working out much better. I hope my content and blog design are acceptable and meet Darren Rowse’s high standards, I would love to see what kind of traffic one can get from his blog.

At any rate, I highly recommend Entrecard to anyone. If you haven’t signed up yet, I recommend doing so immediately. Who knows, it could be what you need to take your site to the next level and you may have the opportunity to advertise on an a lister’s blog for just Entrecard credits as well.

Are you an Entrecard member? What are your thoughts on Entrecard?

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Written by Wayne Gilchrist · Filed Under Entrecard · 2 Comments

Whole-House Exhaust Fan Electric Motors by A.O. Smith Recalled Due to Fire Hazard

January 23, 2008

On January 10, 2008, A.O. Smith Electrical Products Co., of Tipp City, Ohio voluntarily recalled about 6,300 whole-house exhaust fan electric motors. The fan’s electric motor can be miswired and overheat, posing a fire hazard.

The recalled electric motor is part of a residential whole-house exhaust fan that is typically mounted on the floor of an attic. The shutters of the fan are visible on the ceiling of the floor beneath the attic and must be opened and closed by the consumer. The motors were included with exhaust fans manufactured and distributed by Air Vent Inc. and Triangle Engineering of Arkansas Inc. “A.O. Smith,” the model number, and the service date code are printed on the rating plate of the motor. The recall includes model numbers S56A30A54 and S56A30A97, and service date codes 032076M – 334076M, 03207JY – 33407JY, and YB07 – YL07. Units that have a sticker indicating that the unit has been rewired are not subject to this recall.

The recalled motors, included with the exhaust fans, were sold at home improvement stores nationwide or by professional installers or builders from February 2007 through November 2007 for about $3,000 and manufactured in Mexico.

Consumers should stop using the recalled unit immediately and contact A.O. Smith to arrange for a free inspection and repair of the motor. For additional information, contact A.O. Smith toll-free at (866) 567-3878 between 8:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.aosmithmotors.com.

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Written by Wayne Gilchrist · Filed Under Product Recalls · Leave a Comment

Entrecard Top 10 Card Droppers Contest Winner – off topic

January 21, 2008

Well, another week has passed and Entrecard has brought me a lot of traffic. Once again I wish to thank the top 10 card droppers to Ez DIY Electricity and everyone that has stopped by. As I said last week, I will reward one of the top 10 card droppers to this site with 250 Entrecard credits every Sunday.

Now I know that today is Monday, but yesterday was very hectic and I didn’t get a chance to do this. My wife had to fly back to upstate NY because her sister is in the hospital. We received approximately 6″ of new snow over the past 2 days and a cold front came in dropping the temperature to well below zero. As I write this post at 10:00 AM Mountain time it is currently 15 degrees fahrenheit below zero with a projected high today of zero. Which reminds me, time to throw another log on the fire.

Entrecard top 10 card droppers - week ending 1-21-08

The top 10 Entrecard card droppers to Ez DIY Electricity for the week ending 1/21/08 are:

1. SCHWOIT – Gardening and Geekdom in the Urban Jungle. Focussed coverage on gardening, particularly fruit and vegetables, in an urban environment by a novice, but committed, gardening family. With an impending move we are working within the constraints of pots and tubs for mobility.

2. Saphrym.com – The mind is a terrible thing to close. I’ve lost over 70 pounds! Find out free at my site. And just as an incentive to show up, I’ve got 2 contests running right now. Post about my site for $250 and 1000 credits by 2/27/2008. And win the top spot on my site EVERY month. Contest details are linked from my site (right next to the Entrecard widget).

3. Photos from Northern Norway. An unique view from beyond the Arctic circle. Updated several times a week with high quality photos.

4. 7500+ Credits – Over 7,500 EC Credits and More in this Contest. Contest for more than 7,500 Entrecard credits and more.

5. joanjoyce – Making Sense, Cents and Scenes from the Philippines. Anything and Everything I want to rant about.

6. Dark is Easy – Entrecard Design by Japan Is Doomed. Music perspectives from an obscure city.

7. Soundtrack Geek – Soundtracks for the regular guy. soundtrackgeek.com is a blog about soundtracks and movie scores for the regular guy. Movies and music put together in beautiful harmony.

8. Fantasy Baseball – Talk straight from expert non-experts. A blog aiming to provide usable tips and commentary for winning your fantasy baseball league.

9. Mommieshome.net – A place for all moms! Welcome to Mommies Home.net! This is a place for all moms to get together, learn, share or just hang out. So grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and surf away (even if you only have those precious few moments when the kids are sleeping)!

10. Dynamics Ax associate – your friend in Dynamics Ax. You will find information on Microsoft Dynamics Ax and technologies around it.

As you can see, everyone was assigned a number. I went to random.org and enter these numbers.

And the winner is: Soundtrack Geek. Congratulations! I will contact you through Entrecard and send you the 250 credits. For those that did not win, please keep dropping your cards and I will do it again next week.

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Written by Wayne Gilchrist · Filed Under Entrecard · Leave a Comment