• bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
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    15 hours ago

    Working with electricity is actually quite simple in a lot of respects, and I make a lot of money mainly because people are afraid of it (and rightfully so, me too). But many of the small things like changing plugs/switches out and hanging fixtures can be done easily by anyone with a basic knowledge hand tool use and basic rules like a) turn off the main if you don’t know which breaker you’re working with, b) check that it’s off with a meter or hot stick, c) even then, don’t directly touch the shiny parts, and d) match your colors exactly as you found them (take pictures to be safe). Granted I’ve been doing this for 10+ years, but even a layman can save themselves a service call with a couple basics and YouTube is a great resource for such things.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      My favorite electrical tip is swapping the capacitor in your AC when it stops working. $12 on Amazon. $175 for a service call. I keep a spare.

      • bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
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        8 hours ago

        Better yet, having a (halfway decent) multimeter and knowing how to use it is huge. A good one can test capacitance, but simply tracing voltage isn’t too tricky.