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Default power out but no breaker trips

Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

just got back into my shore house after renting itfor the summer am
having electrical problems of various degrees.

Essentially I turned on my tv one day and power went out to multiple
circuits in the house, interestingly enough the power came back on a
few hours later. what might cause that?

I was told it oculd be loose ground on the circuity I have tightened
everything down in the box and doesn't seem to have helped.

Some of the wring in the house is pretty old so not sure how to
troubleshoot from here. the thing that throws me off ocmpletley is
that on circuit that goes off ifor the upstairs bathroom which was
rewired and 100 % dedicated line...what do I do?


Problem 2---multiple circuits in the house are now all of a sudden
exhibiting a "dimmness" --ie. turn on a 60 watt bulb and it burns
yellow as it not getting enough current....this problem occurs on
multiple circuits but not all and most definitley happend on the
bathroom circuit which, once again appears new and dedicated. n the
upstairs bedroom when you turn on the overhead light it causes a
flickering with that of the lamp as well. problem at the breaker.


whats killing me is that none of these problems exisited before and
now just all of a sudden show up.

I really need some help to localize the problem prior to calling out an
electrician..besides the fact that the electician will most certainly
bill me till I squeal...i need to know what I am dealing with and
diagnos as much as possible so I don't blow an extra g on T and M.


any help would be great..thx!

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Default power out but no breaker trips


"gartulan" wrote in message
ps.com...
Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

just got back into my shore house after renting itfor the summer am
having electrical problems of various degrees.

Essentially I turned on my tv one day and power went out to multiple
circuits in the house, interestingly enough the power came back on a
few hours later. what might cause that?

I was told it oculd be loose ground on the circuity I have tightened
everything down in the box and doesn't seem to have helped.

Some of the wring in the house is pretty old so not sure how to
troubleshoot from here. the thing that throws me off ocmpletley is
that on circuit that goes off ifor the upstairs bathroom which was
rewired and 100 % dedicated line...what do I do?


Problem 2---multiple circuits in the house are now all of a sudden
exhibiting a "dimmness" --ie. turn on a 60 watt bulb and it burns
yellow as it not getting enough current....this problem occurs on
multiple circuits but not all and most definitley happend on the
bathroom circuit which, once again appears new and dedicated. n the
upstairs bedroom when you turn on the overhead light it causes a
flickering with that of the lamp as well. problem at the breaker.


whats killing me is that none of these problems exisited before and
now just all of a sudden show up.

I really need some help to localize the problem prior to calling out an
electrician..besides the fact that the electician will most certainly
bill me till I squeal...i need to know what I am dealing with and
diagnos as much as possible so I don't blow an extra g on T and M.


A loose or missing ground will not have any effect on the circuit. They may
have ment a loose neutral wire. It sounds as if the neutral wire could be
loose or a bad connection . That would be the main neutral wire comming in
from the power company. Could be loose in the box at the house or at the
transformer for the house.


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Default power out but no breaker trips

Do any of the 240 volt appliances in the house work (electric water heater
or electric range?). It is possible that one of the hot wires is open
between the pole and the house and the dim lights and strange effects are
the result of the current from the working hot leg feeding through the 240
volt appliances to the other leg, resulting in low voltage on that leg. This
can also happen if you have a very old service with the cartridge fuses for
the main, but I think you mentioned circuit breakers. Any motors that see
the low voltage can easily burn out so check that they are turned off until
this is fixed.


"gartulan" wrote in message
ps.com...
Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

just got back into my shore house after renting itfor the summer am
having electrical problems of various degrees.

Essentially I turned on my tv one day and power went out to multiple
circuits in the house, interestingly enough the power came back on a
few hours later. what might cause that?

I was told it oculd be loose ground on the circuity I have tightened
everything down in the box and doesn't seem to have helped.

Some of the wring in the house is pretty old so not sure how to
troubleshoot from here. the thing that throws me off ocmpletley is
that on circuit that goes off ifor the upstairs bathroom which was
rewired and 100 % dedicated line...what do I do?


Problem 2---multiple circuits in the house are now all of a sudden
exhibiting a "dimmness" --ie. turn on a 60 watt bulb and it burns
yellow as it not getting enough current....this problem occurs on
multiple circuits but not all and most definitley happend on the
bathroom circuit which, once again appears new and dedicated. n the
upstairs bedroom when you turn on the overhead light it causes a
flickering with that of the lamp as well. problem at the breaker.


whats killing me is that none of these problems exisited before and
now just all of a sudden show up.

I really need some help to localize the problem prior to calling out an
electrician..besides the fact that the electician will most certainly
bill me till I squeal...i need to know what I am dealing with and
diagnos as much as possible so I don't blow an extra g on T and M.


any help would be great..thx!



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Default power out but no breaker trips


"gartulan" wrote in message
ps.com...
Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

If I were you, I would hire an electrician as quickly as possible before you
hurt yourself or burn the house down.
It is probably a loose connection that can be fixed in less than an hour.


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Default power out but no breaker trips

gartulan wrote:
Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

just got back into my shore house after renting itfor the summer am
having electrical problems of various degrees.

Essentially I turned on my tv one day and power went out to multiple
circuits in the house, interestingly enough the power came back on a
few hours later. what might cause that?

I was told it oculd be loose ground on the circuity I have tightened
everything down in the box and doesn't seem to have helped.

Some of the wring in the house is pretty old so not sure how to
troubleshoot from here. the thing that throws me off ocmpletley is
that on circuit that goes off ifor the upstairs bathroom which was
rewired and 100 % dedicated line...what do I do?


Problem 2---multiple circuits in the house are now all of a sudden
exhibiting a "dimmness" --ie. turn on a 60 watt bulb and it burns
yellow as it not getting enough current....this problem occurs on
multiple circuits but not all and most definitley happend on the
bathroom circuit which, once again appears new and dedicated. n the
upstairs bedroom when you turn on the overhead light it causes a
flickering with that of the lamp as well. problem at the breaker.


whats killing me is that none of these problems exisited before and
now just all of a sudden show up.

I really need some help to localize the problem prior to calling out
an electrician..besides the fact that the electician will most
certainly bill me till I squeal...i need to know what I am dealing
with and diagnos as much as possible so I don't blow an extra g on T
and M.


any help would be great..thx!


Check for loose connection: in every outlet and switch.




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Default power out but no breaker trips

might be a power company trouble, they will visit and check it out. FREE

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Default power out but no breaker trips

a house electrical schematic would be a great tool, but as no one ever
has those..
a meter can be used to see what kind of voltage you have, and I mean
check inside the fuse box, make sure that you have 110V on each of the
2 incomming legs. if you don't then call you utility, if you do then
you need to get an electrician, because if you are getting brown outs
internaly than something somewhere is probably getting very hot.

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gartulan wrote:
Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

just got back into my shore house after renting itfor the summer am
having electrical problems of various degrees.

Essentially I turned on my tv one day and power went out to multiple
circuits in the house, interestingly enough the power came back on a
few hours later. what might cause that?

I was told it oculd be loose ground on the circuity I have tightened
everything down in the box and doesn't seem to have helped.

Some of the wring in the house is pretty old so not sure how to
troubleshoot from here. the thing that throws me off ocmpletley is
that on circuit that goes off ifor the upstairs bathroom which was
rewired and 100 % dedicated line...what do I do?


Problem 2---multiple circuits in the house are now all of a sudden
exhibiting a "dimmness" --ie. turn on a 60 watt bulb and it burns
yellow as it not getting enough current....this problem occurs on
multiple circuits but not all and most definitley happend on the
bathroom circuit which, once again appears new and dedicated. n the
upstairs bedroom when you turn on the overhead light it causes a
flickering with that of the lamp as well. problem at the breaker.


whats killing me is that none of these problems exisited before and
now just all of a sudden show up.

I really need some help to localize the problem prior to calling out an
electrician..besides the fact that the electician will most certainly
bill me till I squeal...i need to know what I am dealing with and
diagnos as much as possible so I don't blow an extra g on T and M.


any help would be great..thx!


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Default power out but no breaker trips

I had a similar problem not long ago, everything was running at half
speed or not at all.

With a handheld volt meter, it wasn't long til I discovered the feed
from the transformer was some how running at half voltage i.e. where I
should have 110, I had 55. Immediately I knew it was outta my hands
and called the utility co. Never heard what was the cause...but they
fixed it up line.

If you have a meter, what did it read?

DAC


gartulan wrote:
Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

just got back into my shore house after renting itfor the summer am
having electrical problems of various degrees.

Essentially I turned on my tv one day and power went out to multiple
circuits in the house, interestingly enough the power came back on a
few hours later. what might cause that?

I was told it oculd be loose ground on the circuity I have tightened
everything down in the box and doesn't seem to have helped.

Some of the wring in the house is pretty old so not sure how to
troubleshoot from here. the thing that throws me off ocmpletley is
that on circuit that goes off ifor the upstairs bathroom which was
rewired and 100 % dedicated line...what do I do?


Problem 2---multiple circuits in the house are now all of a sudden
exhibiting a "dimmness" --ie. turn on a 60 watt bulb and it burns
yellow as it not getting enough current....this problem occurs on
multiple circuits but not all and most definitley happend on the
bathroom circuit which, once again appears new and dedicated. n the
upstairs bedroom when you turn on the overhead light it causes a
flickering with that of the lamp as well. problem at the breaker.


whats killing me is that none of these problems exisited before and
now just all of a sudden show up.

I really need some help to localize the problem prior to calling out an
electrician..besides the fact that the electician will most certainly
bill me till I squeal...i need to know what I am dealing with and
diagnos as much as possible so I don't blow an extra g on T and M.


any help would be great..thx!


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Default power out but no breaker trips

hmmm--- so each of the red and black heavy guage wire coming into the
main but contatins 110 volts...

It appears that the problems are exhibited on all the breakers ont he
left side of the panel...if something is wrong with one leg it would
explain why multiple circuits are affected despite their independence
of each other

am I understanding this correctly..

I am comfortable checking for loose connections, re-wiring swtiches and
receptacles, but a little unsure of teesting for voltage at the box and
breakers..

I have a small tester 110, 220 but no multi-meter--I can pick one up

would anyone like to safeley advise me on how to check for voltage on
on the mail feeds coming into the box?

then I could call the power company and tell them one leg isn't giving
me all its got..


Secondly anyone have a decent electrician reco for monmouth cty NJ?




DAC wrote:
I had a similar problem not long ago, everything was running at half
speed or not at all.

With a handheld volt meter, it wasn't long til I discovered the feed
from the transformer was some how running at half voltage i.e. where I
should have 110, I had 55. Immediately I knew it was outta my hands
and called the utility co. Never heard what was the cause...but they
fixed it up line.

If you have a meter, what did it read?

DAC


gartulan wrote:
Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

just got back into my shore house after renting itfor the summer am
having electrical problems of various degrees.

Essentially I turned on my tv one day and power went out to multiple
circuits in the house, interestingly enough the power came back on a
few hours later. what might cause that?

I was told it oculd be loose ground on the circuity I have tightened
everything down in the box and doesn't seem to have helped.

Some of the wring in the house is pretty old so not sure how to
troubleshoot from here. the thing that throws me off ocmpletley is
that on circuit that goes off ifor the upstairs bathroom which was
rewired and 100 % dedicated line...what do I do?


Problem 2---multiple circuits in the house are now all of a sudden
exhibiting a "dimmness" --ie. turn on a 60 watt bulb and it burns
yellow as it not getting enough current....this problem occurs on
multiple circuits but not all and most definitley happend on the
bathroom circuit which, once again appears new and dedicated. n the
upstairs bedroom when you turn on the overhead light it causes a
flickering with that of the lamp as well. problem at the breaker.


whats killing me is that none of these problems exisited before and
now just all of a sudden show up.

I really need some help to localize the problem prior to calling out an
electrician..besides the fact that the electician will most certainly
bill me till I squeal...i need to know what I am dealing with and
diagnos as much as possible so I don't blow an extra g on T and M.


any help would be great..thx!


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Default power out but no breaker trips

Would it be worthwhile to switch to move a breaker to a free slot on
the other side of the panel...say on the bathroom circuit which is
brand new and we know 100% goes from the upstairs to the panel with
nothing in between----to see if we have the same poor current
conditions?




DAC wrote:
I had a similar problem not long ago, everything was running at half
speed or not at all.

With a handheld volt meter, it wasn't long til I discovered the feed
from the transformer was some how running at half voltage i.e. where I
should have 110, I had 55. Immediately I knew it was outta my hands
and called the utility co. Never heard what was the cause...but they
fixed it up line.

If you have a meter, what did it read?

DAC


gartulan wrote:
Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

just got back into my shore house after renting itfor the summer am
having electrical problems of various degrees.

Essentially I turned on my tv one day and power went out to multiple
circuits in the house, interestingly enough the power came back on a
few hours later. what might cause that?

I was told it oculd be loose ground on the circuity I have tightened
everything down in the box and doesn't seem to have helped.

Some of the wring in the house is pretty old so not sure how to
troubleshoot from here. the thing that throws me off ocmpletley is
that on circuit that goes off ifor the upstairs bathroom which was
rewired and 100 % dedicated line...what do I do?


Problem 2---multiple circuits in the house are now all of a sudden
exhibiting a "dimmness" --ie. turn on a 60 watt bulb and it burns
yellow as it not getting enough current....this problem occurs on
multiple circuits but not all and most definitley happend on the
bathroom circuit which, once again appears new and dedicated. n the
upstairs bedroom when you turn on the overhead light it causes a
flickering with that of the lamp as well. problem at the breaker.


whats killing me is that none of these problems exisited before and
now just all of a sudden show up.

I really need some help to localize the problem prior to calling out an
electrician..besides the fact that the electician will most certainly
bill me till I squeal...i need to know what I am dealing with and
diagnos as much as possible so I don't blow an extra g on T and M.


any help would be great..thx!




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Default power out but no breaker trips

Would it be worthwhile to switch to move a breaker to a free slot on
the other side of the panel...say on the bathroom circuit which is
brand new and we know 100% goes from the upstairs to the panel with
nothing in between----to see if we have the same poor current
conditions?




DAC wrote:
I had a similar problem not long ago, everything was running at half
speed or not at all.

With a handheld volt meter, it wasn't long til I discovered the feed
from the transformer was some how running at half voltage i.e. where I
should have 110, I had 55. Immediately I knew it was outta my hands
and called the utility co. Never heard what was the cause...but they
fixed it up line.

If you have a meter, what did it read?

DAC


gartulan wrote:
Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

just got back into my shore house after renting itfor the summer am
having electrical problems of various degrees.

Essentially I turned on my tv one day and power went out to multiple
circuits in the house, interestingly enough the power came back on a
few hours later. what might cause that?

I was told it oculd be loose ground on the circuity I have tightened
everything down in the box and doesn't seem to have helped.

Some of the wring in the house is pretty old so not sure how to
troubleshoot from here. the thing that throws me off ocmpletley is
that on circuit that goes off ifor the upstairs bathroom which was
rewired and 100 % dedicated line...what do I do?


Problem 2---multiple circuits in the house are now all of a sudden
exhibiting a "dimmness" --ie. turn on a 60 watt bulb and it burns
yellow as it not getting enough current....this problem occurs on
multiple circuits but not all and most definitley happend on the
bathroom circuit which, once again appears new and dedicated. n the
upstairs bedroom when you turn on the overhead light it causes a
flickering with that of the lamp as well. problem at the breaker.


whats killing me is that none of these problems exisited before and
now just all of a sudden show up.

I really need some help to localize the problem prior to calling out an
electrician..besides the fact that the electician will most certainly
bill me till I squeal...i need to know what I am dealing with and
diagnos as much as possible so I don't blow an extra g on T and M.


any help would be great..thx!


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Default power out but no breaker trips

I think you are losing a phase. I saw the same deal at a friends house
and everything inside checked out ok but where the meter feeds the
house one leg was a bit charred and a high resistance connection. Had
to have a pro put in a new service , meter box weatherhead etc.
gartulan wrote:
Would it be worthwhile to switch to move a breaker to a free slot on
the other side of the panel...say on the bathroom circuit which is
brand new and we know 100% goes from the upstairs to the panel with
nothing in between----to see if we have the same poor current
conditions?




DAC wrote:
I had a similar problem not long ago, everything was running at half
speed or not at all.

With a handheld volt meter, it wasn't long til I discovered the feed
from the transformer was some how running at half voltage i.e. where I
should have 110, I had 55. Immediately I knew it was outta my hands
and called the utility co. Never heard what was the cause...but they
fixed it up line.

If you have a meter, what did it read?

DAC


gartulan wrote:
Folks I have a bit of a problem here--

just got back into my shore house after renting itfor the summer am
having electrical problems of various degrees.

Essentially I turned on my tv one day and power went out to multiple
circuits in the house, interestingly enough the power came back on a
few hours later. what might cause that?

I was told it oculd be loose ground on the circuity I have tightened
everything down in the box and doesn't seem to have helped.

Some of the wring in the house is pretty old so not sure how to
troubleshoot from here. the thing that throws me off ocmpletley is
that on circuit that goes off ifor the upstairs bathroom which was
rewired and 100 % dedicated line...what do I do?


Problem 2---multiple circuits in the house are now all of a sudden
exhibiting a "dimmness" --ie. turn on a 60 watt bulb and it burns
yellow as it not getting enough current....this problem occurs on
multiple circuits but not all and most definitley happend on the
bathroom circuit which, once again appears new and dedicated. n the
upstairs bedroom when you turn on the overhead light it causes a
flickering with that of the lamp as well. problem at the breaker.


whats killing me is that none of these problems exisited before and
now just all of a sudden show up.

I really need some help to localize the problem prior to calling out an
electrician..besides the fact that the electician will most certainly
bill me till I squeal...i need to know what I am dealing with and
diagnos as much as possible so I don't blow an extra g on T and M.


any help would be great..thx!


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Default power out but no breaker trips

According to gartulan :
Would it be worthwhile to switch to move a breaker to a free slot on
the other side of the panel...say on the bathroom circuit which is
brand new and we know 100% goes from the upstairs to the panel with
nothing in between----to see if we have the same poor current
conditions?


When people say "side" of the panel, they're usually _not_
referring to whether it's the left or right side. They're
referring to whether it's one hot or the other. Hint:
they mix (usually alternating) which breaker is on which
side of the main. So simply flipping the breaker from one
physical side of the panel to the other may or may not
prove anything.

If you have more than one circuit behaving badly, it's
in the panel or upstream of it (the service entrance).
Moving breakers back and forth won't give you any additional
information that you can use in a useful fashion.

Given the skill level that you seem to have, you have
probably already gone as far as you can go safely.

At this point you should either call the electrical
utility or an electrician.

If it's in the panel, it'll just take a few minutes to fix.

Sit down and think about your situation:

1) if some circuits are dead and/or weak, it's the panel
or the main feed (electrician or utility).
2) if some lighting circuits are _also_ brightening,
it's a loose neutral, and you should try the utility
_first_.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.
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Default power out but no breaker trips


One simple thing to try is just cycling your main breakers (usually one or
two at the top of the panel)
off and on a couple of times.

Worked for me just last week. Happens again and I will get it replaced.


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