I was thinking the EXACT same thing.
Also, some of his posts are let's just say, not specifically correct. This is why in one post I asked if he was an electrician. Many of his replies reference what he did in his own home and that it passed inspection.

We need to be REAL careful that the information we are giving is factually correct, NOT just what we have been told or what we think is correct.

This is not a slam on gil, but a general statement.

Oh, interesting. I just responded to a post asking about buzzing, and read Gilshultz's response, but couldn't understand it as it was so badly written, so I said so.

The thing is, Gil, a lot of those threads were, for all intents and purposes, closed issues where an accurate solution had already been given by consensus and the original poster had even returned to say, "Thanks all, problem solved" or "I'm going to call a qualified electrician now".

In a few other cases, no solution was possible because the OP's information was insufficient and the original poster hadn't stopped back to supplement details for weeks.

The effect of dredging up dead threads when you have no on-point earthshaking insight to add is that it churns the first page of the forum and pushes down the threads that are in active problem resolution.

Not all of this has to do with "knowledge" (even if I might have my doubts in this case); it has as much or more to do with "board etiquette".

I'm not launching a broadside attack here, jes sayin'...

I truly hope mr. gil is reading this.

I STRONGLY suggest you get your NEC and electrical FACTS straight buddy.
You are digging up month+ old threads and replying like they were made yesterday. Problem is your advice is NOT exactly accurate. I can honestly say almost none of it is.

Everyone was new at one time, but you are making a VERY bad first impression with your poor board etiquette and OBVIOUS lack of knowledge in this field.

My strongest suggestion is to refrain from giving ANY more electrical advice. You are obviously not qualified to do so.

Irrepressible, but may soon yield to response produced inhibition.

2¢'s used to buy bubble gum.
Think the powers to be here arent electricians and allow anybody to respond to anything be it right or wrong. They expect everybody to get along too.

Sorry I was a pest. This was my first and now possibly my last experience with a board like this.

For those that need to know, I was an electrician for about 20 years, I am now retired. As an electrician I worked in a foundry as a journeyman where we purchased primary power; buss tied it and converted it to 13.5 for distribution to the iron and brass melting furnaces. We also had 4600v running compressors and 480 for the machinery. I had my own electrical contracting firm in the 70Âs (another state) but chose to get into electronics and became an electronics engineer. Sorry my experience is apparently a bit light in comparison to the others.

As far as the code it changes every three years, you should know that and depends on what NEC version you look at, the answers can vary. Do you use the 2008 version? In one version of the code it is not allowed the next it is and later it is not hmmmm.

My state has a code based on the NEC but it is not the same. The city I live in has adopted the state code. When the inspector comes guess which code he uses? Many cities do not follow the NEC exactly and have differences. I did validate all my stuff with the local inspector before implementing.

A good web site is mikehold.com that is a great source on the code and a reliable source of information. Tell him I sent you.

As to poor board etiquette the guidelines were not posted or if so I could not find them. To my knowledge what I responded was within the 30 days or so of the posting.

Just for fun put my name in quotes and Google it you just might be surprised at what you find.

So I did that and what came up?

Yahoo--Gilsgonecrazy.com.

Google--Newbie gone wild.

What was I supposed to find?

The site is www.mikeholt.com.

joed -- I clicked on that link and all I got was "Whoops!"

gil: the time frame is only part of it. Some of the stuff you said (theory) was way above the average DIYers head. Yes occasionally theory arguments do end up on here but we prefer they do not. Some of your advice was questionable (putting half the house on a cord), then there was the 'well the inspector let me, or let my buddy so it must be right. I think you are a bit rusty on some of the code issues for residential. It sounds like the mainstay of your experience is industrial electrical and work with electronics.

Gil,

I've got the 2003 and 2005 codes sitting on my desk here to confirm what I say to people. If you're going to give wrong or in some of your cases DANGEROUSLY WRONG answers, expect to be called on it by others here. I have both codes because VA and NC are on those revisions respectively

A word of warning to those planning on posting on Mike Holt. It is a PRO website, they will lock your thread and publicly flog you if you post ?s that are below a seasoned electrician's knowledge base.

It is a GREAT site to lurk on, if you're a DIY, but suggesting that readers go and post is ignorant at best, vindictive at worst.

The whoops is something to do with this site. It is not the link. Perhaps something to do with the broken link issue in red at top of forum.
Type it manually. The displayed info is correct.

Thank you, that worked.

I've gotten some good info from Mike Holt's forum for years but I don't consider it to be a competitor or alternative to this site. As fubar411 pointed out, it's been a pro site for a few years now.

Once upon a time, Holt's was more DIY friendly but it shifted to the all-Pro audience. It's not a matter of whether this site or Mike Holt's is better--they're simply different.

For my money, this is the best and most accurate DIY site I've found to date for residential wiring problems and how-to-do questions.

Kudos to the sparkies here who are willing to dig in and help folks get it right even if it means a bit of debate and disagreement from time to time.

Just spent a little time on Mike Holt's site. I'm not into debating the fine points of NEC Code and leave it to those of you who are. On the other hand we know how to wire 3-way switches, GFCIs, and we don't leave loose wires. We consider ourselves tradesmen and we take great pride in the quality of our work which is all by referral. We have never had a job red tagged. We live and work in the Dallas area where we do both residential and commercial work.

gilschultz,

Did you receive an electrical engineering degree, or an electronics engineering degree, or an electronics technician certificate?

If an electronics engineering degree, at what university?

Devry?