Pulaski

I first did that sort of installation in our kitchen in London, of course back then it was all florescent tubes. As I had gutted the entire kitchen, and I mean right back to the ceiling joists and stripping the plasterboard off the stud wall that separated the kitchen from the dining room, I had full access to wire-in an all new lighting system. So I chased the cables into the masonry wall, and put them inside the stud wall, and connected all lights back to a triple switch by the kitchen door, so a totally concealed installation.

The new set-up I have just completed, has some wires stapled under the cabinets and laying on top, but the vertical runs are all inside the stud walls.
It only took 10-15 minutes for the final hook-up, but Mrs P was deeply sceptical as my "10 minute projects" have a habit of turning into 2 hour projects!

tom169

Those are the interesting ones

Was switching out an old light fixture. Should have been an easy swap out, until I found the new light fixture had the screw holes on top and bottom instead of left and right.

Pulaski

Those are the scariest words in DIY! Though honestly, they're probably worse for a pro working on the clock,

tom169

Which is why I refuse to consider installing new windows or external doors. I prefer tasks where the worst case delay is an inconvenience.

Steerpike

I did a similar project last year, using low-voltage LED 'strips'. Very inexpensive, and I like the idea of low voltage. The strips come on a 'reel' and look like this once applied (self-adhesive):



You can do minor 'jumps' (cabinet to cabinet) like this:



With longer jumps like this:



Powered up, they look like this:




The final job looks like this:



It's been operational for about 6 months and now I want to replace the under-cabinet lights with the same (currently has LED 'pucks' that are 110V). I'm a bit nervous about using self-adhesive strips 'upside down' but I can always 'assist' the strips with glue or staples. I currently have a 12V transformer (typical 'brick' type) on the top of the cabients out of sight, and the power is controlled by a z-wave power switch that is controlled by my home automation 'hub' (Samsung SmartThings). I have a motion sensor also on the 'hub', and have it programmed so that the lights come on as I approach the area (which is generally good but not always).

These are the strips I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HSF64JG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This is the z-wave switch: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XWT1L5S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I worried that the lights might not be bright enough, but they ended up being almost too bright and now I need to install a dimmer somewhere in there.

The strips can be cut to any length as long as you cut cleanly at specific 'markers' along the strip. The photo also shows what the connectors look like:

Pulaski

A family friend installed an LED ribbon like that along the under-side of the banister, and it looks pretty good.

I installed some low-voltage LED lights a couple of years ago, but they get surprisingly warm, as does the plug-in transformer brick, so I am concerned about leaving them on for an extended period of time, especially if I am not around.

Steerpike

How would you describe the 'warmth'? I can put my hand directly above the lights (1-2") and not feel much warmth at all. Touching the actual LED square is 'warm' but that's understandable and not comparable to touching a classic 'bulb' which has inches of air between the cover and the actual LED source inside (These strips are somewhat unique in that they expose the actual, raw LED 'chip' directly).

I would have thought that the amount of heat generated by the lights would be almost entirely a function of their 'wattage' (lumen rating), and shouldn't matter whether they are 'low voltage' or not. Any 110V ('mains') LED is still a 'low voltage' device inside ... the package simply includes a 110 AC to 12V DC converter within the package. I guess some LED devices could be more efficient than others.

I'll have to feel the 'brick' again to see how it feels in operation. My biggest concern is that the connectors are rather fragile, and at first I had some flickering until I got all the connections nice and solid.

Nutek

This went pretty well. Less worry due to it being the barn rather than the house but still completed in a few hours.

Pulaski

These ones I have just installed, and other 120V LEDs I have installed previously, remain as near to cold as makes no difference. However the low voltage puck lights get warm enough that I wouldn't want to grasp one in my hand, and the transformer brick that powers them is warm enough that it would be pleasant to hold in your coat pocket on a frosty morning.

There is more to warm and light than just voltage - warmth (waste heat) is a function of current and if you divide the voltage by 10 and run 12V lights, to have the same power (lumens) as 120V lights (assuming the same efficiency) you would need 10 times the current, so 60W of power, per the installation I described above needs about 0.5A @ 120V, whereas it would take 5A at 12V, and 5A in a wire will create more heat, especially if it is the same (thin) wire used for 120V.

I think fragility is a legitimate concern, and I think that the 12" and 18" units are more robust than a ribbon would be. Up ontop of the cabinets it probably doesn't make much difference, but anywhere that the ribbon could be touched, bumped, or snagged, I could see it causing damage. ..... That said, we have talked about installing LED lights in the bookcase (it is a cabinet style, with doors) in our living room. and that ribbon might be exactly what we need to run along the inside of the top edge (out of sight). I'm off to plan another project!

Steerpike

Faucet question. I recently upgraded the cabinet and countertop in a bathroom (granite to quartz) but kept the (still serviceable) mixer faucet. But after re-installing, the water flow is pitiful, suggesting a blockage. The flow is pitiful on both hot and cold, suggesting the blockage is after any 'mix' elements. Removing the faucet, given it's location behind the sink, would be a nightmare so I'd rather focus on other solutions. Removing, cleaning, and if necessary, replacing the cartridge would seem to be a next step. I removed the control lever to reveal the cartridge, but it looks like I need a custom 'puller' to get the cartridge out. I find many 'cartridge pullers' online, but I don't know the brand of my faucet - I see no identifying brand name anywhere on the device. So ... does anyone recognize this brand? Without knowing the brand, are there universal 'pullers' (and cartridges)? Someone suggested the 'green' cap may indicate a type or size.



The green 'cap' has a knurled edge, looking like it should unscrew, but it is recessed inside the brass ring. The brass ring has two 'flats' on it, looking like it should also unscrew, but the brass ring is recessed inside the chrome 'dome'. The Chrome 'dome' has indents all round it on the inside circumference, but it does not appear to be something that can be unscrewed from the main chrome body (but it maybe). The entire upper assembly - the 'spout' that sits on the square column below - does move relative to the square column, but I really hope I don't have to unscrew that as I'd have to remove the entire faucet to achieve that (as it's against the wall).

The faucet itself looks like this:

Pulaski

That looks like a lot of "houses" in my neck of the woods.

Nutek

Pulaski

My first thought would be to check the "grid", a mesh insert where the water comes out - almost all US taps have them, and it causes a nice even water flow, as opposed to the random, uneven, and often "twisted" stream of water that is common from UK taps.

If you're on well water, or even if you have less than perfect water provided by a utility company, you might want to install a whole-house filter to trap any particles or sediment in the water before they get caught in the grid.

If you need to gut the tap to replace the cartridge, there may be a screw ring holding it in place, and you might need a tool for that. If you take a photo to your local plumbers merchant, Lowe's, or Home Depot, you should be able to find someone to advise you. But the cartridge may just pull out, and is held in place by the top piece.

And while it is unusual to not have any visible external branding, there would probably have been the name of the manufacturer visible underneath when you had it uninstalled. Once you have a brand name, YouTube would be the reference source I would refer to next.

Steerpike

But an LED is fundamentally a low voltage, DC device - it's a light-emitting-diode - similar to a transistor, etc. It fundamentally operates at DC. So any LED that you buy in a '110V AC' package simply has an AC-DC converter built into it. Now, in reading more about this, the only question I have is, what is the fundamental voltage applied at the LED itself. I THINK it's also low voltage - 12V or 5V - but there is some discussion that some LEDs might operate at a higher voltage. I need to read a bit more about that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED_lamp#LED_drivers
"LED chips require controlled direct current (DC) electrical power and an appropriate circuit as an LED driver is required to convert the alternating current from the power supply to the regulated voltage direct current used by the LEDs."

tom169

Looks great. I plan on turning my small shed into a bar this spring.