In article , "John A. Weeks III" wrote:
In article ,
(Doug Miller) wrote:

In article ,
"John A. Weeks III" wrote:
In article ,
KLS wrote:

One day I was running the washer, the dryer, and the dishwasher all at
the same time, with no ill effects. The hairdryer up in the bathroom
blew the circuit, no surprise. The surprise was that even though the
breaker was off, the washer and dryer were still running (the
dishwasher I'm not sure about, but the light was off, and so was the
hairdryer, after the breaker blew). What should I look for to solve
this problem?

The existence of any breakers at all is another unsupported assumption. Since

the OP's service is only 60A, it's obviously been there a looooong
time, and there's a good chance he has fuses instead of breakers.

He stated above that he has breakers.

True enough -- but many people don't use terminology correctly. Until the OP
confirms that he knows the difference between fuses and breakers, and
specifies which he has, I'm not ready to assume a breaker.

This is a pretty easy thing to fix, but that is only one
of your problems. Your wiring system is a fire waiting to
happen, and you need a rewire. If I am wrong, then something
even worse is going on, and my statement on being a fire
hazzard goes double.

I think you're jumping to conclusions here.

Are you seriously suggesting that his wiring situation is OK and
is not a fire waiting to happen?

Not without seeing it, no -- but you haven't seen it either. I see no evidence
in the OP's post that he has the 240V electric dryer you assume to exist, nor
that only one side of a hypothetical 240V circuit has tripped a breaker, or
blown a fuse, whichever he has.

Granted, I cannot prove that in
court since I have never seen it in person, but anyone who is in
the business and reads what he has is reasonable in jumping to
that exact conclusion.

Let me make my own set of unsupported assumptions, diametrically opposed to
yours:
1) the dryer is a gas dryer (or a small electric one) on a 120V circuit
2) the laundry outlet is on a *different* 120V circuit from the laundry lights

Given this set of assumptions, please explain what, exactly, in the OP's
description of popping the overcurrent device by plugging in a hairdryer would
cause you, or anyone else, to conclude that the wiring is an imminent hazard.

*That* is why I say you're jumping to conclusions. You don't have all the
information, any more than I do.

If he wants a better opinion, then he
should hire someone to come out and look at it rather than posting
on the Internet.

No argument there at all.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.