Otto's Electrical Service, Inc, McLean, Va.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, my electrical assistant and I practice diligent, virus-spreading precaution with manus and manual-tool antiseptic sanitization. 

–––An important viral-blocking aid to remember.

When driving with others, do not set your automobile's (or buss') HVAC system to the air-recirculation setting. Only set it to the recirculating feature when passing thru smoke or dust. After you have driven thru the pollutants, immediately return the system to the normal, air intake setting. This is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, and beneficial for health anytime.

 On older vehicles, before circa the 1980s, the setting labeled MAX AC is the recirculation mode. On these vehicles, there is no label per se indicating air-recirculation, only MAX AC or MAX COOLING.

We at Otto's Electrical Service, Inc. offer conscientious service using quality material and workmanship!

We do quality work, putting feature and location into the design with your convenience in mind.

I, Richard S. Otto, President, can almost always be reached by telephone. I have no telephone answering delay-causing menu system–––no bureaucratic nonsense!

My competent assistant and I are available to repair or improve the electrical items or systems in your home.

I've seen or corrected just about all types of faulty, illogical work by the incompetent and/or crooked in the automotive and electrical fields; I abhor this, as I have an affinity for quality design and workmanship.   

My ancestral background is Scottish and German–––engineer types. Several of my relatives were mechanical engineers including my grandfather, Richard Stuart Otto, who helped design the Norden bombsite (U.S., WWII) for Carl Norden.

No cigarette-smoking, scroungy creep with a mal attitude or incompetent, dishonest mind will show at your door–––not from my firm!

Our prices are reasonable; references are gladly given.

Richard Stuart Otto 19 July 2001
 

COMMON ELECTRICAL FAILURE FROM SHODDY-MATERIAL AND-WORKMANSHIP

Culpable for most common electrical failure and problems in a residence is two-fold: shoddy devices and the way that they're installed. The devices of which I'm referring are the poor quality, "residential-grade"-receptacles and -wall switches that you can buy from home centers for 99 cents. These receptacles, with their "quick-wire" provision, compromise the integrity of the branch circuit to which they're installed. This can often be noticed by the intermittent dimming of lights about the home until ultimate failure––an electrical outage in part of the home.

Quick-wiring saves labor-time thus saving builders money. The trouble is that this rapid wiring method doesn't provide a good, lasting electrical connection, and unfortunately, is permitted by local governments. Some governments, such as Florida's, don't permit the use of receptacles to link the circuit; this way, the receptacles are unable to cause failure at other outlets.

When using high-current-draw appliances, such as hairdryers and vacuum cleaners, the inadequate wiring contacts of the receptacle's quick-wire-provision heat up from electrical resistance and oxidize. This effect worsens with every use of high-current-draw appliance as the re-heating further oxidizes the brass springy type quick-wire contacts. This process fosters yet more electrical resistance until the compromised circuit employing the inferior receptacles fails completely.

The presence of these quick-wired receptacles in the branch circuit not only causes trouble at each outlet, accumulated trouble is caused relative to the number of receptacles in the circuit. From the origin (the distribution panel) to the end of the branch circuit, the available power at each outlet becomes increasingly weaker and more prone to failure as each receptacle links the circuit. So, the farther down the line from the supply origination an outlet is used to connect an appliance, the greater the voltage and "ampacity" loss is at that outlet.    ​

After a few years the cheap, residential-grade receptacles become weak in a second way, resulting in poor contact with the blades of plugs. Not only is this a nuisance in letting your vacuum cleaner plug fall out, it also promotes electrical resistance and heat build-up. If a motorized appliance, such as a refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, or clothes washer is plugged into this faulty receptacle or its circuit, the motor's life is shortened as the motor runs hotter than normal. The circuit’s electrical resistance causes voltage loss which causes electric motors to draw more current (amperage) resulting in motor over-heating. 
 

Spec.-grade (specification-grade) receptacles should be installed at initial construction, or to replace the residential-grade type that was foolishly installed. These high-quality receptacles have no quick-wire provision. To install these, the wires must be connected to screw or clamp terminals––a satisfactory method as long as the screws are well tightened. Installed correctly (wires connected tightly) these quality devices (switches and receptacles) will likely last a century.

Furthermore, unlike cheap receptacles, the spec-grade receptacle bodies are made of nylon; they won't break apart when bumped with furniture. You'll notice more physical resistance when inserting a plug; this is normal for the higher-grade receptacles. This is because of the plug blades being tightly held so as not to cause undesirable electrical resistance at the receptacle-plug connection. To overcome this physical resistance, just push harder when plugging into these receptacles. Remember to mind the polarity of the plug relative to that of the receptacle––wider blade to the wider slot. The receptacle won't permit incorrect insertion/polarity of the modern, polarized plugs. 
 

If you are remodeling or building a residence, make sure that you specify the installation of specification-grade receptacles and -switches. It is well worth the small, added cost, for convenience and for the reduction of future repairs. If building a commercial or an industrial structure, the concern is almost moot, as building codes generally require the use of commercial, specification-grade devices in non-residential applications. As nearly all homes (houses and apartments) had residential-grade receptacles installed, a great improvement is accomplished by complete replacement of the poor-quality receptacles.    As all residential builders fit their outlets with the cheap-grade receptacles, nearly all homes (houses and apartments), are greatly improved by a complete replacement with commercial-grade receptacles–––the remedy. By the way, there's no need for the replacement of the whole outlet-unit, only the receptacles. Wall switches are not as important to replace, as they don't cause as much trouble as do the cheap receptacles. 
 

––Richard S. Otto 17 July 2005 

           HOOK-UP INSTRUCTIONS  FOR PORTABLE, 7 kW GENERATOR 

                (TO BE POSTED ON THE DISTRIBUTION PANEL)  

• To operate the electric generator upon and during electric utility power failure:

• Shut off the main (200-amp) circuit breaker in this distribution panel. This prevents energization of electric company’s supply lines (the other side of the meter).

• Unplug clothes dryer and plug in the generator’s supply cord to clothes dryer receptacle.

• Switch off the clothes dryer circuit breaker at the distribution panel in the laundry room.

• Make sure that generator’s supply cord is plugged in at the generator

using the twist-lock plug and receptacle.

• Switch on the clothes dryer circuit breaker.

• Now, the house should again have electric power. Try not to exceed       7,000 watts consumption---the generators normal output.

• When the electric company’s power is restored:

• Shut off the generator.

• Unplug the generator’s supply cord from the clothes dryer receptacle, and plug in the clothes dryer.

• Switch on the 200-amp, main circuit breaker in this distribution panel.

• Now, the house is back on the normal power from the power company.

 Richard S. Otto, 2 March 2013

When Checkbook’s undercover shoppers paid for 12 inspections we were astonished by how poorly many of them performed. Of the 28 problems we deemed that any inspector should catch, as a group they caught them only half of the time. But what really surprised us was how little work many inspectors bothered to do. For instance, few performed up-close inspections of the roof, several didn’t test all the windows, outlets, or fixtures, and the reports supplied by some were brief and cursory.

So, before you hire an inspector, ask what exactly they’ll do and how long it will take them to do it. You can often determine the thoroughness of inspectors’ work by looking at sample reports that they should readily supply if requested. Have you already a concern about the home (house or apartment)? Make sure that your inspector will check it.

Also, look at customer critiques from homeowners that we surveyed–––we receive very mixed critiques for them. Ask candidates about certifications that they hold and inquire about their backgrounds. This is a field where experience truly matters. And because we found big price differences among companies, and little relationship between work quality and price, make sure that you don’t overpay for an inspection.

If you’re buying a new house, definitely get an inspection. Inspectors and real estate agents with whom we spoke, repeatedly warned that builders and DIY remodelers frequently create lots of defects.

–––from Washington Checkbook, 4-2019

Henry S. Otto, 70, of Arlington, Va. died 18 June 1987 after an infirmity with prostate cancer. Born 10 March 1917 in New Rochelle, New York, he was the only son of mechanical engineer & real estate developer, Richard S. Otto.  

In 1937 he moved to Washington, D. C. from Tampa, Fla. with his mother and step-father. He was then employed by the Times-Herald newspaper. As a news photographer, he worked for the Paper before and after WWII. In the 1950's he worked for the then-named Army Map Service in photographic laboratory work, and later as a transliterator of Russian-Soviet intelligence. With the onset of WWII, Mr. Otto enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1941. As a B-17 pilot, he made 28 bombing missions in the European theater. In the 1960s & '70s, he worked as a photo-lithographer in the printing industry. In 1968 He bought 18 acres near Deep Creek Lake in McHenry, Maryland, and with his 2nd wife, son, and two daughters, built a vacation resort business consisting of several chalets of his design.
 

He is survived by his 2nd wife, Lois Lee; 3rd wife, Mary Bibb; son, Richard, and 2 daughters, Freja and Tempe.