wiring

Basement electrical work - electric dryer and clothes washer wiring

The Geerling household is preparing for the largest home project to date; and while my wife and I have decided to spend a bit extra to have a contractor do the work for the actual kitchen reno, we are still doing what we can to maintain a functional household during the extensive refurbishment of our original kitchen, dining, and laundry area to make it a lot more amenable to our family lifestyle (our current layout is difficult with three kids and two kitchen peninsulas!).

'Phase 1', as I'm calling it, was the electrical work to support moving our electric dryer, clothes washer, and maybe even dishwasher to the basement during the course of the project. I installed a 75A sub-panel in the basement last year (it was my last major home improvement project before the surgery), and it's time to start putting the extra slots in it to good use!

As with most of my projects nowadays, I recorded the entire event as a time-lapse with a Raspberry Pi Zero, using my Raspberry Pi Time-Lapse App. And here it is, for you to enjoy!

Everything over Cat5 Cable

Whether you call it Cat5, Cat-5, Cat5e, or even the newfangled Cat6, it remains the best cable in modern history. Never has the humble element Cu (copper) been so adaptable, flexible, and amazingly helpful in so many areas.

This article explains how you can utilize Category 5 cabling to route just about any kind of multimedia or network signal over short, medium or long distances, and many tidbits of extremely helpful information and links to products to help make your life much easier.

A few examples:

XLR over Cat5 - Balanced XLR Mic-Level & Line-Level Audio over Cat5 & Cat5e Cabling

Cat5 Cable with XLR Audio Jacks

The challenge: Run two 200' cable runs for VOX (2-way communication via headsets) and an ambient microphone. Mics and headsets to be used for broadcast of major event via satellite, web, and all major local news outlets.

Limitations: Extremely tight budget for cable + installation, two weeks to install and test, 100 year old stone/masonry building, skeleton crew of volunteers.

Solution:

  • Run readily-available Cat5e (shielded, solid) network cable to two VOX/mic locations (we had a box with a few hundred feet left inside, and we bought another 500' box (extra == always better) for $100. (Check Amazon for bulk Cat5e cable).
  • Use custom faceplates with two XLR jacks—female for VOX headsets, female for Mic input
  • Cross fingers, and hope it works.
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