Anyone on here an electrician.... HELP
- Thread starter SHADiGUY1
- Start date
can you get a picture of the load center (circuit breaker box)
I am still thinking you could have missed a GFCI or maybe just had a breaker fail... normally you can tell a bad breaker by "how it feels" when you reset it..
Who did the ceiling fan? "possible" it could be the issue but normally they just quit working.. and if it was shorted it would keep tripping the breaker... unlikely it got wired in series with the rest of the outlets..
I am still thinking you could have missed a GFCI or maybe just had a breaker fail... normally you can tell a bad breaker by "how it feels" when you reset it..
Who did the ceiling fan? "possible" it could be the issue but normally they just quit working.. and if it was shorted it would keep tripping the breaker... unlikely it got wired in series with the rest of the outlets..
Do you have a GFI in the garage? I lost several outlets in the house and did the same thing you did, check the circuit breakers, kitchen GFI, bathroom GFI, Garage GFI all good. I then started unplugging everything only to find out that the extension cord plug that was in the garage outlet was so large that the GFI reset button wouldn't pop out until I unplugged it.
nah no gfi in garage its crazyt im at my wits end i can not for the life of me find it. i have unplugged everything on every outlet in the areas im having problems didnt fix anything this is nuts i could see if i did something and this was happening but out of the blue.. was working at 5 pm everywhere come home at 830 and problem is present.
The light switch that controls the ceiling fan Have you replaced it?
Use a meter and ring the system out...
Use a meter and ring the system out...
Projekt
Registered
Series-Parallel circuit arrangement in home electrical installations makes this scenario impossible.
Good looks like a relatively new load center.. you need at the minimum a two lead circuit tester (has a little xenon bulb in it)
As you lost power throughout an entire circuit, you either lost a breaker or there is still a GFCI hidden someone you missed.
You need to eliminate the circuit breaker first and start working out from there.. (as you have already figured out that there is no power at the outlets)
The wire that is screwed to each breaker is the wire that goes OUT to the outlets.. one lead of tester goes on that wire and the other can go to any white or bare ground wire... if it is a bad breaker, one of the black wires is going to be dead..
If you find that all the leads are live and you can not find the GFCI, you are going to need more help than a forum I think..
As you lost power throughout an entire circuit, you either lost a breaker or there is still a GFCI hidden someone you missed.
You need to eliminate the circuit breaker first and start working out from there.. (as you have already figured out that there is no power at the outlets)
The wire that is screwed to each breaker is the wire that goes OUT to the outlets.. one lead of tester goes on that wire and the other can go to any white or bare ground wire... if it is a bad breaker, one of the black wires is going to be dead..
If you find that all the leads are live and you can not find the GFCI, you are going to need more help than a forum I think..
Projekt
Registered
In order to test the circuit breakers, you must isolate them from the circuit. They must be "ohm'd out", rather, tested for continuity. To do this you would have to pull them off the panel after cutting power to the house and use an ohm-meter or a multimeter set to ÃŽ© and touch the Meter's leads to the contacts on the breaker.
if he has a live circuit tester (the $3 two lead xenon bulb type) he can determine if there is power going through the circuit breaker... to use an ohm meter the breakers need removed, no need for that just a simple YES/NO on power at the "black" wire on each one will do just fine..
You lost me on this one, please explain. That is how most houses are wired, at least around here.
Tito, your panel looks like Zinsco breakers if that helps any.
Exactly, if there is continuity through the breaker, meaning it is hot, it will carry load.
I dont want to make this too complicated. There has to be a wire loose somewhere, or he has a bad breaker.
no need to pull them unless you find a bad one... just swapping them out is a bad move (and for your level of experience not a good idea)
Most boxes have 2 main buss bars at 120V each and you are going to be working around these.. Also to change a breaker, you are going to need to kill power to the entire home. If you can just test those black wires coming out of the breakers, at least you have a head start on what is going on .. if they are all live, you have more of an issue than just a bad breaker..
Most boxes have 2 main buss bars at 120V each and you are going to be working around these.. Also to change a breaker, you are going to need to kill power to the entire home. If you can just test those black wires coming out of the breakers, at least you have a head start on what is going on .. if they are all live, you have more of an issue than just a bad breaker..
