Massive electrical overhaul

[Neuromancer]

Need help finiding supplies for an inexpensive overhaul of both house and PCs.

I used to install alarms and for running wires through walls we had 18" long drill bits (a 3" head on a semi flexible metal rod, head had a small hole in the tip so when it went through the floor we could hook a wire to it and pull it back up through) and these light fiberglass rods in 8' sections that we could srew together for snaking stuff through walls.

The house I live in is so old.. .that looking at the power lines running for the upstairs lights in the floor of the attic, there are 2 cloth covered lines running on seperate joists, on ceramic standoffs.

This is obviously unsat for computing. Fortunately the downstairs has been rewired.. and when the roof was rebuilt a few years ago.. .the workers kicked in hte top half of the old kitchen chimney. So I bought 100' extension cords ripped out some of the ceiling run the cords up into the attic, down through the old chimeny out hte ash chute and from their into real 3 prong outlets...(going to be replacing the ceiling in this room was a plaster ceiling that was failling apart. Drop ceiling was put in and i guess people fell through it. I couldnt take it drop ceiling is gone. im going to be ripping it all out and want to do a nice tongue in groove stained oak ceiling but recess a 4' flourescent worklamp in it overkill for a bedroom though so gotta rethingk that. (my bedrooms are also workrooms so its great for now...)

also have etherent running through the unused chimney (I hate wireless internet)


What I would like to do is remove that old dangerous wiring and install real grounded elerctrical wiring through out the house. But i do not have the tools. I am going to wire the upstairs... bring it down to a second elec box and hire a pro to move power to it.

Also im looking at a multi user station (link to be added) so I am interested in making my own USB, VGA and ethernet cables and any assistance would be great for this. I read up on using shielded E5 cable to make VGA cables.. but do not know how well it works over a distance of 100', not important now... but imporant in the furture, or how well it works at all for that matter. So im thinking a massive wall mounted panel behind the main unit 5 or 6 units.. with one unit to each room in the house.. (say one VGA one audio and one USB to each room probably throw in ehterhent even though I wont be needing it)

If i cant make USB then a drill bit large enough to easily pass through USB also recommendations on distance/power loss also for VGA, not worried about E5 im well short of the requirements there.

Secondly.. .I ma looking at completley rewiring my PC cases. An idea I have had for a LONG time (initially included PCBS that functioned as line cleaners, but from what I understand thats not feasible) instead the function now is purely for aesthetics.

Building a wiring harness within a PC case.. 90degree ATX connectors hidden AUX lines. Sata power connectors for hdd that are measured to fit in the drive cage that comes with htecase... etc.

Then i can either leave the mass of wires of the PSU bundled up nicely in the bottom of hte case and connect everything... or go so far as to shorten the wires to a few inches...

Secondary benenfit. Sleeving of ATX cables always leaves a few inches of unsleeved cable right where its visible. So.. .im thinking either sleeve it right down to the connector in smaller units (for instance 4 wires sleeved so 6 sleeves leads to 3 sleeves leads to one big sleeve.. or.. use all black wiring so its subtle...)



Tips and suggestions please

Needs:

Decent soldering iron with easily swappable tips . One miniscule for Micro work one large for say.. .desoldering hte PSU main rails...

Decent DMM I think Radio shack has a half decent one for 40 ish. Manuals on proper usage would be great too.. I know how to use it but dont "understand" it. For those that grok, there is a big difference between knowing and understanding

Wire (ethernet, VGA and usb if its doable)

Connectors

Outlet style wall plates for PC things.

Wire snakes.

Drill bits. (Prolly just a decent 3/4 18" bit, unless I cant build my own usb cables...)

Other tools required (crimpers etc)

PC wiring conectors. Sleeving etc. Looking for a decent supplier not a "one little bag of stuff for 10 bucks" but a bag of each thing (sata M/F replacements. 90deg atx aux male and female molex male and female... all black wiring of a decent enough gauge, tools, and sleeving/heatshrink etc)


Thanks


(need to point out... im not going to be doing any of this professionally so spending 200 bucks on wall snakes or 250 on a good soldering station is not an option...)

 

[gangaskan]

so what are you looking at doing with the vga/ usb / ethernet extentions? having a computer in room x without having the tower in the room?

 

[greyharte]

hhhmmmm i dont know about that ... but .... that old wiring is pretty rock solid stuff ... i think about the only thing i would change or try to change is all the outlets and fuse/breaker panel and leave the wire alone (especially if its not frayed or damaged) ... just add where you need/want to isolate circuits ... and try not to step on the the old stuff

 

[Old Thrashbarg]

that old wiring is pretty rock solid stuff ... i think about the only thing i would change or try to change is all the outlets and fuse/breaker panel and leave the wire alone (especially if its not frayed or damaged)

Agreed. If the house has already been partially rewired, you should already have a good existing ground you can connect to, so you might wanna look into just adding grounds to the other outlets.

Only trouble is, of course, getting the new ground wires to those outlets... may have to run 'em along the house's exterior and drill 'em in through the wall or something, but it might be something to look into, to save rewiring the rest of the house.

 

[noxqzs]

If you sign up at omega.com and order something, they usually give you something for free with the first purchase. I remember getting a DMM (not the best, but good enough). You will know what they are offering before you even submit the offer, as long as it is a new account.

 

[Jolly-Swagman]

If your going to run USB cables over a distance you will need boosters otherwise the volt drop will be very noticeable and they wont work.
As a Retired Sparky I would wisely sugest the Rewire of the old clothe stuff to the newer cable

 

[speed bump]

hhhmmmm i dont know about that ... but .... that old wiring is pretty rock solid stuff ... i think about the only thing i would change or try to change is all the outlets and fuse/breaker panel and leave the wire alone (especially if its not frayed or damaged) ... just add where you need/want to isolate circuits ... and try not to step on the the old stuff

Umm, cloth covered lines and ceramic standoffs are just bad anyway you slice it. First its a fire hazard with high current loads and secondly it doesn't have a ground.

For tools to wire the electrical you will probably atleast:
Pliers: Linemens at a minimum but also a set of Diagonal cutters and needle nose pliers.
Screwdrivers: Most electricians I know carry a 5 in 1 or 10 in 1 screwdriver with them and use it for alsomst everything.
Hammer: a 16oz cheapy claw hammer should sufice for what you are doing.
Tape Measure: probably the most useful thing for any project.
An AC power detector cheap and useful for finding out whether the line is hot without having to touch it.
a Drill: your going to need this at some point. For what you are doing I would probably say to pickup a cheap cordless or right angle drill from somewhere like Harbor Freight.
A crimper for ethernet cable ends: I think you can buy these at places like Home depot but they are something like $20-$40.
Other odds and ends: A romex stripper is nice, a utility knife, a couple of sharpies(always always always always label what you are doing), a cable puller, hex keys and a good flashlight.

I would recommend you have an electrician come take a look at your house before proceeding with your plans becuase you might find out that you also need other things to bring you house up to code before the electrician will hook up your power.

 

[ratbuddy]

If your going to run USB cables over a distance you will need boosters otherwise the volt drop will be very noticeable and they wont work.
As a Retired Sparky I would wisely sugest the Rewire of the old clothe stuff to the newer cable

Yeah, USB is only specified for something like 15 or 16 feet. You can get bus powered extension cables, and can chain up to 3 or 4 of them before you run out of juice.

As for rolling your own cables, you can probably buy them already made for less money

 

[FireMogle]

I think it is a good idea to replace the old wiring. There is a reason it would no longer meet inspection for new homes. Is it just one room that you are wiring? How many outlets?

If you are doing a smaller job then I would talk to an electrician and have them look first, then after you install the wire. Then have them put juice into the wires.

Wiring is usually pretty easy and safe. Hooking it up can be complicated and deadly.

 

[Neuromancer]

Well I want the grounded outlets for my room as I have computers in there.

I figured I might as well rewire the entire upstairs while I was at it though.

The bathroom was just redone and I know the tub and toilet was replaced with plastic piping so finding a ground upstairs might be tough, but I figured drop a couple of 3 conductor wires down to the basement for hooking up to the box, and then just run the ground to the existing grounded cold pipe.

I just started a new job and it pays pretty good so I may just hire an electrician to run the wires rather then deal with the stress of it myself. (Also have him run the ethernet cable while im at it, as I am sure the chimney pass thorugh is unsat)

I have most of the tools to do electrical work, was looking more for micro tools for rewiring a PSU. Going to home depot tonight for some other stuff, will see if they do electrical work too

 

[FireMogle]

You may want to run the Ethernet yourself as alot of electricians will run that with the power and it will degrade your signal. Always avoid having Ethernet and power run together.