The current interest in outdoor living brings up the matter of extension of lines from the nearest source, with correct wiring

Typical outdoor wiring installation: 1—Junction box, with upper cable picking up power from basement meter. 2—Waterproof duplex outlet on outside of house. 3—Underground cable through hole in foundation.   4—Utility   outlet   on   post   set   into   ground.   5—Pathway   lantern.   6—Utility   outlet   on   garage.
 
Most small houses are built without any provision for the use outdoors of many useful electrical appliances and devices. With the current trend toward outdoor activities, power might be wanted for such things as mowers, hedge cutters, bug traps, barbecues, radio and television sets, phonographs, movie projectors and even commonplace lighting.

From the electrical standpoint, extending a line from the house or possibly a garage is relatively simple. From the physical standpoint it often is difficult because holes must be cut in exterior walls to pass the extra wiring, and trenches might have to be dug to carry the latter to various points in the garden.

A quick and easy solution, if only a temporary one, is to make up a long extension cord of good heavy wire, say three-conductor No. 14 with polarized safety fittings (see "The Third Wire Is a Lifesaver"), and to string this from a heavy-duty outlet in the kitchen, through a window, and out to the patio or yard. Because the normally-damp ground of a well-kept garden is a perfect electrical ground, it goes without saying that any  appliance  used outdoors should have its frame grounded through the green wire of the three-wire safety cord. Without this, the user of a motor-operated barbecue spit or a power mower stands a good chance of being flipped over on his ear the first time he touches it.

Local building codes can be very tough on the subject of underground wiring, so check on them first before you buy outdoor outlets, lights and other fittings, which tend to be somewhat costly because of their weatherproof construction. In some areas you can get by with plastic-covered nonmetallic sheathed cable, which is very easy to handle. In others the law may call for lead-covered cable, which costs about 50% more, and it might even require the lead-covered cable to run in conduit for extra protection.

In most houses the new line is most conveniently drawn from the basement through a foundation wall. Take it off the meter through its own fuse, and make it at least No. 12 so that it will be able to handle the heavy current load of a rotis-serie. A buried line can be too small, but never too big. ·

Right: Clean transformer contacts with a piece of fine sandpaper   every   two   weeks.

Below: Tape worn spots on the line cord, especially at point of entrance into the case.

Below, right: Here is an electric clock turned upside down to redistribute the lubricant.

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