"nj_dilettante" wrote in message
...
I have a circuit which has no power even though the breaker is on. The
power stays off for several months, then suddenly goes back on. Several
months later, it suddenly goes off. I haven't noticed any triggering
events.

The electrician I've been using tells me its a ground fault and can only
be checked when the power is on. He goes from outlet to outlet, fixture
to fixture, testing but never seems to find anything. I'm not even sure
what he's testing! I've forked over a ton of money to this guy and still
have a problem.

Does this sound reasonable, or should I be looking for another
electrician? I wish I could re-wire, but it just isn't in the budget right
now!

--
nj_dilettante
in the words of the immortal Sgt Schultz:
~~ I know NOTH-THING ~~


Reminds me of that TV commercial where the guy is flipping this switch in
his garage and hollering to his wife "is it that one honey" while two doors
away a garage door slams up and down on some old lady's car (presumably
controlled by his switch).

Ground fault means current is traveling from the hot into the ground
conductor, while this may trip a regular breaker and will trip a GFCI
breaker or receptacle, it generally does not cause intermittant operation
with random occurance and long MTBF. A ground fault could be found with the
power off and an ohmmeter between hot and ground. He is limiting his test
method to the one tester he understands (the plug in tester I would guess)

Now if he were looking for an open neutral or hot in a wire nut that
occasionally makes contact when enough vibration gets in the wall, that
would be more reasonable.

Is the whole branch circuit blacked out at once or just a portion of it? It
could take a little time to map out the cables in the walls without seeing
them so one could predict the location of an open. Has he tried the simple,
lets replace the $20 breaker and see if that helps approach.

Seriously, you should only pay his on site estimate fee (usually the first
hour labor or so). If he cannot find and fix a problem, he has not rendered
a service that is billable. If he ultimately fixes it, he is justified to
bill for time spent but if he gives up, the additional time wasted should be
his. Don't pay as you go, he could give up at any time and you will be at
square 1 without a head start.

Find another electrician, not one who works alone or with just 1 or two
partners. Get one of those 1-800-plumber/electrician outfits from the
yellow pages. The pricing is less flexible but in this case that is to your
advantage. Most times they will give you a fixed price quite and there are
several levels of managers to climb if there is a problem, If the
"technician" or Journeyman electrician can't find it Demand they send the
Master out.

If it is working now and you are looking back in time trying to find the
fault, that could be very difficult. Might wait until it blacks out again
to start troubleshooting.