Did something dumb today.

[newoodguy78]

At a 1.49/dozen I'm not sure how they afford to feed those birds

[Southside]

Lowest grade by-product garbage they can get them to eat.  Oh - and if the producer is in the egg vaccine reserve program they are subsidized by the federal government to keep the birds alive and in production so that retail money is just pure profit. Yes, that's an actual program. 

[Chuck White]

True, they were $1.49/dz at Save-A-Lot grocery in Canton, NY!

I just don't believe all the talk about the massive die-off of 10's of thousands of laying hens, as the reason for the increase!

[Southside]

There were millions and millions culled, I am a nobody in the poultry world but I do know a couple of big players, and guys made bank when the USDA turned off the house fans. 

[Nebraska]

The Avian influenza problem is real we have had it pop up in a couple back yard flocks. In our practice, the local area state veterinarian is a good friend and her job is awful dealing with a large laying flock and an outbreak.  

[rusticretreater]

We have a lot of large chicken houses around here and I have seen only one shut down with signage saying Stay far far away.  I guess you better keep your insurance payments up to date.

[newoodguy78]

True, they were $1.49/dz at Save-A-Lot grocery in Canton, NY!

I just don't believe all the talk about the massive die-off of 10's of thousands of laying hens, as the reason for the increase!

Chuck I have no doubt eggs were 1.49 a dozen. Without a subsidy of some sort and or very questionable practices that price is not sustainable whatsoever to the producer.
As for the die off 10s of thousands that number is way off the mark the reality is much higher. That coupled with feed costs alone going up by 50 percent or more in the last few years
is part of the price rise you're seeing. That's saying nothing about the increase in maintenance,trucking and carton costs. I'll assure you the bottom line of the direct producer is not any greater and arguably less than it's ever been.
It's a sad state of affairs when the producer can't make a profit and the final consumer doesn't feel they are getting any sort of value in what they're buying.
The disconnect between consumers and producers is real.

[Southside]

The Avian influenza problem is real we have had it pop up in a couple back yard flocks. In our practice, the local area state veterinarian is a good friend and her job is awful dealing with a large laying flock and an outbreak. 

I completely agree that the vet who has to show up has what must be the most horrible day ever, but the producers are making bank when that happens.  We recently became NPIP certified, all the big outfits are.  Part of the benefit of being certified is that if the USDA were to show up and quarantine / destroy my flock they will pay 100% value since we have that piece of paper, and it does not offset my insurance coverage at all, so one can double dip.  If we were not certified you get 25% of the flock value..... 

[GAB]

At a 1.49/dozen I'm not sure how they afford to feed those birds

My guess is that that was one of the loss leader items for the week, to generate traffic.
GAB

[Nebraska]

Worth the double dip the reloading and restarting a flock is a pain, just from the little I know. 

[Ljohnsaw]

This one took a few weeks. I have a couple of those 1 cu-ft mixers. The power cord on one was really short, less than a foot. The outer insulation was pulled free of the cable clamp so I decided to replace it with a nice 8 foot 14g 3-wire cord. I plug this into a table saw type switch so I don't have to plug and unplug while working.

Anyhow, I was pouring this retaining wall.

See the mixer? It's about 8" from the wall.  So to mix a batch, I hose down the remnants of the last batch, add a 60 lb bag and turn it on. Then I dump another bag in a 5 gallon paint bucket. That makes it easier to slowly add to the running mixer. From there, I gather a shovel full and dump it in the forms.

I laid about 8 to 10 inches all the way around to let it stiffen up before going higher. So at one point I got between the mixer and the form board. The back of my knee touched the mixer's low handle. The vibration made it feel like a muscle twitch. Weird, I thought. A mix or two later, same thing happened again.

Then there was a clod of cement rolling around in the mixer. I grabbed it to crush it and it felt like I had a splinter in my finger. I took my glove off and couldn't find a thing. Finally, I was scooping up some cement and had choked up on the handle to the point of holding the metal head. When I touched the concrete I got a tingle. That's when it clicked. The mixer frame was hot!

Today, I swapped the hot and neutral connections on the motor. Problem solved. The frame was grounded so I don't understand how it could be hot or not pop the breaker.  I have one of those circuit tester light thingies I need to try tomorrow. Maybe the ground is not connected at the outlet?

[doc henderson]

i did something similar with a porch light.  had to crawl to the edge of the attic to rewire.  did the green ground wire go to a screw to the motor frame?  glad you are ok.  I would worry you switched the neutral and ground.  they both go the same bar on the panel, but the ground is also connected to the frame.

[GRANITEstateMP]

I am still kicking myself for my mistake... As a former parts guy, I take pride in not screwing up when I order parts.  I have a gx240 on a woodsplitter that has provided years of good service.  We've had a couple hickups lately and its not what it used to be.  After dumping about $60 into the old motor I convinced myself to just bite the bullet and order another gx240 or gx270 and be done with it.  I did my research, printed off the motors from 3 online stores to compare the prices and that they were indeed the same units.  I then did a last minute Clist and ebay check.  I found a brand new one on EBay for about $80 cheaper than anywhere else, shipping would take a few days longer. Perfect, that'll cover the $ I dumped into the old motor!  Motor came in last week, put it on porch for crummy day repair.  Yesterday was rain and yuck, perfect day for a swap.  Unbox new motor, separate pump from old do a quick look around...wait a minute.  Yeah, new motor has a threaded crank, I read threaded but was thinking tapped like on my 2cyl. Honda.  Came back inside and pulled up the add, yup, I was wrong. Emailed the seller and I am heading to the post office now to.see how.much my mistake cost me.  I won't let myself live this down anytime soon. New, correct unit is on its way, due Thurs. 
 I plan on dropping a Rayrock on the old one, it'll probably bounce off and land on my foot

[Magicman]

Today, I swapped the hot and neutral connections on the motor. Problem solved. The frame was grounded so I don't understand how it could be hot or not pop the breaker.  I have one of those circuit tester light thingies I need to try tomorrow. Maybe the ground is not connected at the outlet?

Your description says that you have one leg connected to the mixer frame, somewhere/somehow, and the frame is lacking it's ground connection.  The connection could be within the motor itself.

Your mixer could be "hot" when it is not running or it could be "hot" when it is running depending upon where the switch is in the circuit.  You have a dangerous situation.

Ground dat frame. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah John, what they said, check the whole thing out and get it right for your own peace of mind.
-----------------------
OK, my turn and this is really embarrassing. Yesterday I was running errands (needed a tool) and it was so windy and nasty I decided a cup of black coffee would really be nice. So I stopped at the convenience store near my place and got one, plus a heated up buttered roll because I forgot to have lunch also.
 So I am coming out of the store, buttered roll in one hand and coffee is the other. I pushed the door open and the wind took hold of it, instinctively I grabbed at it with my left (buttered roll) hand. The wind had a really good grip on the door and I had to reposition my feet to get it closed by leaning on it. As I was doing that another big gust about 30mph came in and started to take the hat off my head. Well my left hand was busy, so I reached up with my right to grab the hat just s it left my skull. I forgot what I had in my right hand. Fortunately, there was a sippy cover on it so I only spilled a little hot coffee over my head.
 I got hold of everything and got the door closed, then looked around, there were people, but nobody saw what happened and since there are no photos, it really never did happen. But if it had happened, I would have looked pretty funny wrestling a door with one hand while pouring coffee over my head with the other. At least I imagine it would.... if it had happened at all.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Now you know why I don't drink coffee.

   I had an old buddy who once wrecked a brand new jeep when his hot coffee slid off the dash and landed in his lap.

[Ljohnsaw]

Let me clear up my description. The ground wire from the power cord goes to the motor frame, and by physical mounts, to the mixer frame, assuming a good connection. I'll verify that.

The hot and neutral wires go to screw terminals on the motor, as well. In replacing the power cord, all I did was make the connections. I ASSUMED I got them reversed and that caused the issue. I don't understand how, but it was hot.

Maybe the grounded motor is not making good contact with the mixer frame. But how was the mixer frame getting charged if the only connections are on the motor and the motor is not making an electrical connection to frame? A conundrum.

Since this is a used power cord, I'll have to check connectivity of each wire end to end. Maybe the ground is bad?

I'm using what amounts to a power strip to turn it on and off. It's a pull/push switch with a removable plastic key to lock it off. I'll check that's conductivity, too.

Maybe the motor's insulation has just failed and is shorting to the frame? This is a little 1/4 hp motor. Amazing what a little gear reduction can do. Could get away with a 1/8 hp.

[Southside]

Verify the outlet isn't wired wrong too.  If it is and your motor is right you would get the same issue.  If it's an outside outlet it should be a GFCI and in theory would not be live with a backwards connection but I would not bank on that.  Do you have a 3 light tester?

When we bought our place I was removing a wall stud when the outlet box on the stud started to arc and didn't stop so I ran downstairs and threw the main.  I kept scratching my head trying to figure out what was going on.  I could not find ground anywhere in the house but the breaker box had an earth ground wire and it was connected to a rod in the dirt.  That's when it hit me, the breaker box had romex coming into it and the outlets all had the old metal clad wire and cloth at them, and those would have been a fuse box back in the day.  So I tore back the sheeting around the breaker box and wouldn't you know it, someone had wire nutted all of the wire and clot to romex behind the wall and covered it up.  One of many issues was that whomever did this didn't realize that back then the metal cladding was the earth ground, and the box wasn't bonded - so open ground everywhere in the house.   With the main off I proceeded to cut every piece of wire and cloth back about 3' from the box so nothing could still be hooked up and ran some temporary romex to get lights and such, then I called my wife and told her that the quick and easy putty and paint remodel just go a bit more involved. 

[doc henderson]

a direct short should trip the breaker.  maybe in the cord?? as you said.  If it is a grounded plug, then the hot is coming from the neutral now?  voltmeter and an assistant who knows how to dial a phone.

[Ljohnsaw]

My extension cord has a triple head. The inline switch was plugged in to one with the mixer into that. I plugged my three light tester into a second one. It showed the circuit was good. Hmmm.

So I unplugged the mixer and plugged the tester into the switch. Open ground! Plugged the tester back into the extension cord. Open ground!?!? Plugged the mixer back into the switch and the circuit showed good. So the mixer's steel legs were providing a path to ground that made the tester happy.

Went to the outlet and pulled the extension cord out and put the tester in. Open ground! Now I'm getting somewhere. Pulled the socket out and sure enough, ground wire broken.

Fix that, all tests good, mixer runs, no circuit breakers tripping.

I check the frame to a digging iron that I pounded into the wet ground a couple days ago. I see 0.6 VAC and 0.8 milliamps when the mixer is turned on. Not sure how accurate the meter is. I switched the wires on the motor back to what I had before all this and the above numbers are the same.

My extension cord is a 75 foot 10g really heavy one. The outlet happens to be the furthest one from the breaker panel. I think I'm good. But maybe I should use an outlet in the garage instead? Might be interesting to see what the meter readings would be.

[Southside]

FWIW, had that outlet been a GFCI when that ground wire broke you would not have power coming from it and all the tingling and stinging would have been avoided.  More importantly the shaking and baking potential would not exist. 

[doc henderson]

maybe the old motor is leaking a bit to the frame.  some lacquer leak in the windings.  no smoke loss yet.  glad you are alive. 

[cutterboy]

I plan on dropping a Rayrock on the old one, it'll probably bounce off and land on my foot

Hey Ray, I told you your rocks are famous.

[Magicman]

Dat Ray been Rockin' for a while and now he finally has proof.    

[rusticretreater]

I plan on dropping a Rayrock on the old one, it'll probably bounce off and land on my foot

Hey Ray, I told you your rocks are famous.

And that folks is how we got Rock n Roll.