Gas Dryers Recalled By General Electric Due To Shock Hazard

February 22, 2008

General Electric gas dryer On February 11, 2008, GE Consumer & Industrial, of Louisville, Ky., voluntarily recalled approximately 2,100 GE gas clothes dryers. The dryers were recalled because a short circuit in the dryer’s wiring poses a shock hazard to consumers with ungrounded dryers.

The recalled gas dryers are 42 inches tall (back with backsplash) and 27 inches wide, and were sold in white. GE gas dryers model number DWXR463GGWW with serial numbers starting with AM, TL, SL, VL, and ZL are included in this recall. To find the model and serial numbers, open the dryer door and look in the upper right corner, in the area that was covered by the door.

The recalled gas dryers were sold at retail stores, and authorized builder distributors nationwide from September 2006 through October 2007 for about $440 and they were manufactured in Canada.

Consumers should stop using the recalled dryers immediately, unplug the dryer, and contact GE for further instructions and to schedule a free, in-home inspection and repair. GE is directly contacting consumers who purchased the recalled dryers. For additional information, contact GE toll-free at (866) 324-3732 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, and between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, or visit the firm’s Web site at http://www.geappliances.com/products/recall/.

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

Comparison – Entrecard vs. Spottt – off topic

February 16, 2008

As most of you already know, I joined Entrecard approximately 50 days ago and it has been a huge asset to this site. As of this post, I have received 3,967 clicks via ads I placed on other Entrecard members sites and 4,094 clicks from entrecard.com. I also wrote My Thoughts on Entrecard, 30 Days After Signing Up, where I provided some stats about how Entrecard has helped improve my blog.

A lot of people are complaining about the “bounce” rate with Entrecard, but Phirate wrote a great article on the Entrecard blog today entitled Entrecard for Advertisers explaining this a little more. Entrecard has also provided me the opportunity to advertise on sites like problogger.net and johnchow.com. Additionally, I have networked with several great bloggers on Entrecard and learned tons about blogging. In my opinion, Entrecard is a great community to join and a huge asset to my blog.

Now there is a new “dog on the block”; Spottt. I’m not going to say too much about Spottt yet, because I just signed up yesterday. I will give Spottt 30 days and see what happens. However, in addition to some of the negatives on the chart below, a few other things that I do not like about Spottt is they use HTML for their links without the “rel=nofollow” tag (forcing me / you to provide 2 links back to their site and none to yours / mine) and their links do not open in a new window (sending traffic away from my site). You are not permitted to edit Spottt’s HTML to fix these problems as this violates their policy. Due to some of the initial problems that I have seen with Spottt, they may not make it 30 days on this site.

Now the stats below won’t really matter too much because they are going to increase regardless of Spottt’s service due to the numerous site building efforts I am currently doing. However, I wanted a place to record these stats anyway. So, as of this post my –
Alexa rank is: 162,579 (this will probably increase tomorrow night)
Technorati rank is: 89,301
Technorati authority is: 79
Google page rank is: 2
Subscribers: 317
Number of backlinks according to Google are: 16
Number of backlinks according to Yahoo are: 10,515

I set a reminder in my calendar to check these stats in 30 days as well as Google analytics, statcounter and mybloglog daily. I will write a follow up post in 30 days; unless I remove Spottt before then.

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Written by Wayne Gilchrist · Filed Under Entrecard · 1 Comment

How to Install a 3 Way Dimmer Switch

February 7, 2008

This tutorial is on how to install a 3-way dimmer switch. Now I’ve learned that a lot of people call these two way switches, but this is incorrect. They are three way switches. A 3-way switch is used when you want to switch an electrical device (lights, lamps, receptacles, etc…) from 2 or more locations.

Now this circuit is already using 3-way switches, but the homeowner wants to be able to dim their lighting. So I am going to install a Lutron Ariadni AY-603P, 600 watt, preset, incandescent dimmer switch.

The first thing that you need to do is determine what size dimmer switch you need. To do this add up the maximum fixture wattage(s) this switch will control. So let’s say that you have 6 recessed cans all using 65 watt lamps (bulbs) that this switch will control. However, the maximum wattage lamp that you may use in most recessed cans is 75 watts. You need to size your dimmer switch according to the fixture’s maximum wattage rating and not the existing lamp inside of the fixture. So, you need a dimmer switch with a minimum wattage rating of 450 watts (6 x 75 = 450 watts).

There is a label on the fixture that states the maximum wattage lamp allowed for that fixture. If you have a 100 watt lamp in a fixture that is rated for 60 watts maximum, then now is the perfect time to correct this. The extra 40 watts puts off just enough extra heat to make this a fire hazard. This is one of the most common mistakes that I see.

If you want to be able to dim the circuit from either light switch, then you need a master and slave combination similar to a Lutron Maestro. However, in this application the homeowner would prefer the dimmer switch installed in one location. Depending upon your location, this is approximately $50.00 (labor + materials) cheaper than buying and installing the master and slave combination.

Step # 1 - Locate your breaker box and turn off the power to this circuit.

Step # 2 - Remove the switch cover plate.
Step # 3 - Remove the 3-way switch
Step # 4 - Disconnect the wires from the old switch. Note the wire that’s on the common terminal (odd colored screw), as this will need to connect to the common terminal on the new switch. In this installation there are 2 black wires. So, I need to identify the common wire. I usually disconnect this wire last, hold it, grab the new switch and connect it to the common terminal on the new switch first. The placement of the common wire is important. If it is not placed on the common terminal, then the 3-way switching will not work properly. Please see the image to the right. I apolgize for the image quality. It is a little blury, but I believe it still shows what I’m referring to.
Step # 5 - Connect the wires to the 3-way dimmer switch, ensuring the common wire is connected to the common terminal. Grounding is also very important when installing dimmer switches. Ensure you connect the ground wire to your dimmer switch.
Step # 6 - Install the 3-way dimmer switch
Step # 7 - Install the switch cover plate

Step # 8 - Turn on the power and test. When testing 3-way switching, I like to turn on the light from one switch. Go to the other switch and turn off the light. Then go back to the first switch and turn on the light again. If everything works, then you wired it correct. If it does not work, the you probably did not place the common wire on the common terminal.

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

Are You Getting The Most Out Of Entrecard? – Off Topic

February 2, 2008

I’ve been on Entrecard for a little over a month now and I just love it. As I mentioned in My Thoughts on Entrecard, 30 Days After Signing Up, Entrecard has helped put my blog “on the map”. However, there is still lots of room for improvement.

It might just be that it’s late and I’ve had too many beers, but the way I calculate it, if you drop 300 cards per day and receive 300 card drops back, then it will cost 600 credits to advertise on your blog. You would also earn 750 credits per day for all of your hard work. Well, I’m not even close to being there yet. I’m a bit of a stat junkie and I’m always trying to improve the numbers. As you can see from my stats below, there is definately room for improvement.

How do I increase the number card drops to my site?
According to Entrecard, I need to:

Make sure your widget is on the popular pages on your site
Place the widget on your site carefully, so it is easily visible to Entrecard-enabled visitors

I believe that I’ve done this. The widget is in the sidebar on every page on my site. I think that it is very visible in it’s location. It may work a little better above the fold, but I’ll never know. I’m not going to move it any higher than it is right now. The information that is above the fold now is important to me to be there.

I’ve noticed several people talking about creating lists with other blogs that will reciprocally drop cards on each other daily. I have mixed emotions about these lists. On one hand, it sure would also be nice to see a more consistant and higher number of card drops on my site daily. On the other hand, I think creating these lists will create cliques within Entrecard where these groups of bloggers only visit each others sites and never branch out to visit new blogs. If these cliques are created, I can see Entrecard shutting this down. What are your thoughts?

As you can see, this area needs attention. So, how do I improve my advert clicks?
According to Entrecard, I need to:

Design an attractive, friendly Entrecard appropriate to your site.
Buy more ads, on sites where you feel they have a good chance of catching the users eye and interest.
Check your sites against your Top clicks by widget list to see the best performers in previous campaigns.

I need to learn more about this area. Before I advertise on a site, I usually check the Alexa ranking and Google page rank. I also look around to see if the amount of subscribers to the blog is listed and at the content. I like Entrecard’s new drop rank system as well. You definately want to advertise on the most active members sites, as this should bring in the most amount of traffic. However, I think I am missing something. Because I’ve advertised on several sites with a decent page rank, sub 200,000 Alexa rank and had subscribers which provided less than 20 clicks. Then I’ve advertised on others with no page rank, Alexa ranking over 1 million and almost no subscribers that have provided more than 40 clicks.

The organic clicks aren’t too bad, they could definately improve.

Not much more I can do about my card drops. 300 cards per day is the limit and that is what I’m doing. Automating this process would be a great time saver, but I believe it is against the rules.

Do you need to improve your stats to get more out of Entrecard? Any thoughts on how you are going to do this?

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Written by Wayne Gilchrist · Filed Under Entrecard · 4 Comments

Rewiring a Pendant Light Fixture

February 1, 2008

I went out on a service call yesterday to lower a pendant light fixture. The fixture was approximately 6 1/2 feet above the floor and the homeowners wanted it lowered to approximately 5 feet above the floor. The homeowners estimated the fixture to be 30 – 40 years old and by the looks of the wires and the pendant itself, I believed them. (Click on the images to see a larger view.)
So the first thing I did was turn off the power. Providing the circuit is wired properly, simply turning off the light switch will kill the power to the light fixture.
The next step is to take the light fixture down and see how it comes apart. We need to get into the wiring compartment in this fixture. Most wiring compartments are in the largest part of the fixture. This one was pretty simple to take apart. I removed the ring on the top and a nut underneath that and it came apart.
Once you have the fixture apart, attach your new cable to the old wires and use the old wires to pull in your new cable.
With the new cable in place, you need to determine which wire is the neutral. On lamp cord, the neutral wire is typically marked either with lettering (like in the picture) or it is ribbed while the hot wire is smooth or does not have lettering on it.
With older light fixtures, I like to take an extra minute to ensure they were properly wired from the beginning. Basically, I want to ensure that the hot wire is attached to the center part of the lamp socket and the neutral wire is attached to the outer part of the lamp socket. Simply check for continuity between each hot wire and the center part of the lamp socket. Repeat the process for each neutral wire and the outer part of the lamp socket as well.
Next connect all of the neutral wires together and place a wirenut on them. Now connect all of the hot wires together and place a wirenut on these as well. Tuck the wires back into the wiring compartment and put the fixture back together.
Now we also need to install a ground wire on this fixture. I decided to connect it to the top of the fixture and run it up through the chain with the lamp cord. I took a picture of this, but I screwed up the picture; it was very blury.
Finally, hang the fixture, turn on and test.