Dedicated line w/ upgraded parts or power cond?

Mental - I'm with Whart on this one - electricians of your calibre, who gained extensive knowledge via the industrial/shipyard fields, have been exposed to a much broader experience than Joe-Bloe household electrician.

I worked on 3-phase switchgear design and assembly for a while and my knowledge was totally different to friends in the electronics field

Your experience on the shipyard probably taught you a lot abour the more subtle intricacies of power due the the higher-tech equipment used and the need for a much more stable and balanced power supply throughout the ship.

To someone like yourself, it is second nature, but for those that only came through the housing industry - they may be less informed and those are the people you find via "yellow pages"

So yes, you should be able to sort the wheat from the chaf IF you know what to look for, but many don't.

I don't think for a minute Whart was painting all "lecies" with the same brush - he just had a hard time finding a good one.

Dedicated line, 1st.

Hi Whart. Correct polarity testing is done with an item as cheap as $10-$15; I haven't met an electrician w/o one.
What did the inspector in Austin say?

Don't want to dampen the enthusiasm for dedicated lines; but all power in the house is connected, wih outside and inside contamination. Kind of like the water supply and your various taps. If you want clean water out of one tap-what would you do? Remember, the water supply from outside is "not"clean.