| Foreword | p. ix |
| Preface | p. xi |
| Acknowledgments | p. xiii |
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| Structure of the Book | p. 1 |
| New Work | p. 2 |
| Old Work | p. 2 |
| Older Buildings | p. 3 |
| Taking This Seriously | p. 3 |
| Respecting Your Limits | p. 4 |
| Pros | p. 4 |
| Learning the Language | p. 5 |
| Familiarizing Yourself with Your System | |
| Basic Information about Electrical Systems | p. 11 |
| Electrical Quantities | p. 12 |
| How Electricity Flows | p. 13 |
| The Physical System | p. 13 |
| What Type of Electrical Service Do You Have? | p. 14 |
| System Voltage | p. 14 |
| What Type of Electrical Service Feeds Your House? | p. 15 |
| Grounding and Bonding | p. 17 |
| Checking for Voltage | p. 21 |
| Why Should You Learn How to Perform This Specific Test This Early? | p. 21 |
| What Do You Need to Know About Testers? | p. 21 |
| What Dangers Should You Watch Out for When Testing? | p. 25 |
| Evaluating Your Service Entrance | p. 27 |
| Why Is This Worth Doing? | p. 27 |
| What Constitutes a Service? | p. 27 |
| Where Should You First Look for Damage if You Have an Overhead Service? | p. 28 |
| What Can You Learn from an Overhead Line? | p. 28 |
| Judge Its Point of Attachment | p. 29 |
| Examining a Mast | p. 29 |
| How Should You Proceed in Examining the Parts of the System That Are Under Your Control? | p. 29 |
| What Should You Look For if Your Service Enters in Conduit? | p. 31 |
| How Are Your Meter Connections? | p. 32 |
| How Healthy Are the Parts of the System That the Utility Doesn't Control? | p. 34 |
| Is a Panel with a "Main" Always My Service Panel? | p. 35 |
| Where Can I Find My Disconnect? | p. 35 |
| Is Your Disconnect or Panel Mounted Properly? | p. 35 |
| What Should You Do if Your Setup Is Not Quite as It Should Be? | p. 36 |
| What Is Your Service Size (and Why Should You Care)? | p. 36 |
| Figuring Out How Much Power Is Coming In | p. 37 |
| Safety | p. 39 |
| What's the Rush? | p. 39 |
| What Are the Basic Threats from Electricity? | p. 39 |
| Other Ways to Reduce Your Danger While Working with Electricity | p. 54 |
| Emergencies | p. 59 |
| Examining Your Panel | p. 61 |
| Separate Disconnects | p. 61 |
| Evaluate Your Panel's Condition from the Outside | p. 62 |
| Does Your Panel Itself Need Repair? | p. 64 |
| Looking Inside Your Panel | p. 67 |
| The Interior | p. 67 |
| How Does Power Get from Busbars to Branch Circuits? | p. 68 |
| How Are Neutral Connections Different? | p. 69 |
| Is Your Panel Wired the Way It Should Be? | p. 70 |
| Should I Also Be Concerned About Grounding the Wires Leaving My Subpanel? | p. 71 |
| Circuit Capacity and Overfusing | p. 75 |
| Lesson: Shutting It Down | p. 75 |
| Dead Circuits, Deadly Busbars | p. 76 |
| Protective Devices | p. 79 |
| What You Can Expect from Fuses and Breakers | p. 80 |
| Characteristics | p. 80 |
| What to Read | p. 82 |
| Changing Standards and Grandfathering | p. 82 |
| Circuit Breakers | p. 82 |
| Fuses | p. 92 |
| The Walk-Through | p. 99 |
| Blueprinting Your System | p. 99 |
| The Safety Survey | p. 108 |
| Parts-What You Have, How to Choose Them, How to Use Them | |
| Tools and Gear | p. 119 |
| Tools for Doing Basic Electrical Work | p. 119 |
| Tool Safety | p. 120 |
| Essential Hand Tools | p. 122 |
| Inadvisable Hand Tools | p. 136 |
| Power and Light | p. 138 |
| Your System's Physical Components | p. 139 |
| Cables | p. 139 |
| Raceways | p. 143 |
| Open Wiring | p. 145 |
| Enclosures | p. 145 |
| From Cable or Raceway to Enclosure: Clamps and Connectors | p. 155 |
| Supporting Cables and Raceways | p. 156 |
| Wirenuts | p. 157 |
| Choosing Replacement Devices | p. 157 |
| Materials, Listing, and Quality | p. 161 |
| Listing and Approval | p. 161 |
| Useful Products | p. 163 |
| Electrical Products | p. 166 |
| Miscellany | p. 171 |
| Are Your Wires Safe? | p. 172 |
| Making Connections | p. 175 |
| Preparing Conductors for Connection | p. 175 |
| Splicing Conductors | p. 178 |
| Connecting Conductors to Terminals | p. 195 |
| Evaluation, Repair, and Replacement | |
| Mechanical Condition | p. 215 |
| What Makes This So Important? | p. 215 |
| Replacing Receptacles | p. 239 |
| Why Should You Replace a Receptacle? | p. 240 |
| Replacing Receptacles | p. 249 |
| Replacing Switches | p. 267 |
| Switching Patterns | p. 268 |
| Safety | p. 269 |
| The Basic Procedure for Testing and Replacing Switches | p. 269 |
| Modifications to the Basic Procedure for Three-Way and Four-Way Switching | p. 271 |
| Alternates to Standard Types of Switch | p. 275 |
| Other Less Common Devices and Arrangements | p. 277 |
| How to Replace a Light Fixture or Small, Hard-Wired Appliance | p. 281 |
| Some Dangers of Ceiling Work | p. 282 |
| Types of Lights | p. 282 |
| Reasons to Replace a Light | p. 283 |
| Replacing the Fixture | p. 285 |
| Illegal Fixtures | p. 301 |
| Small Hard-Wired Appliances | p. 303 |
| Glossary | p. 305 |
| Afterword | p. 323 |
| Index | p. 325 |
| Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |