Big problem with electrical
 

My wife was useing the stove and disposal.The furnice was running and
the dryer.The lights started to get dim and then everything on one side
of the house went out.Turned everything off looked for a blown
circuit.Nothing.My wife turned on the stove again and the lights came
back on but was very dim.Turn the stove off.No lights.Stove on,lights
but dim and the furnice won't work at all. It's like the stove needs to
be on before anything works but the stove dosn't heat up.Very low power
help!!

Big problem with electrical
 

You've probably lost one of the two hot legs that feed your 120-240 volt
service. When any 240 volt appliance is on, you get a backfeed to the dead
leg causing things to come on dim. Don't try to use any 240 volt appliances,
and get an electrician. The problem could be outside, in your meter box,
your main circuit breaker, or in the street. Nothing to fool with if you're
not experienced



wrote in message
ups.com...
My wife was useing the stove and disposal.The furnice was running and
the dryer.The lights started to get dim and then everything on one side
of the house went out.Turned everything off looked for a blown
circuit.Nothing.My wife turned on the stove again and the lights came
back on but was very dim.Turn the stove off.No lights.Stove on,lights
but dim and the furnice won't work at all. It's like the stove needs to
be on before anything works but the stove dosn't heat up.Very low power
help!!

Big problem with electrical
 

wrote:
My wife was useing the stove and disposal.The furnice was running and
the dryer.The lights started to get dim and then everything on one side
of the house went out.Turned everything off looked for a blown
circuit.Nothing.My wife turned on the stove again and the lights came
back on but was very dim.Turn the stove off.No lights.Stove on,lights
but dim and the furnice won't work at all. It's like the stove needs to
be on before anything works but the stove dosn't heat up.Very low power
help!!

Sounds like you lost one leg of your incoming power & when the stove is
on it backfeeds limited power to the dead leg.

Check you main fuses, one is blown. (I'm guessing you have fuses
because a main breaker whould disconnect both legs)

MikeB

Big problem with electrical
 

could I change the circuit breaker by myself to see if that works.I
mean shut off power for outside change the breaker without to much
risk?

Big problem with electrical
 

Big problem with electrical
 

Open the panel, check to see if you have 240 volts across the two wires
before they go into the main breaker. If you don't, the problem is outside
and may be handled by your utility company. If you do have 240 volts before
the main breaker, but not across the terminals of your electric range
breaker, your main breaker or the connections to it are bad. I don't know
your level of experience, so it's hard to say what you may be able to do
properly and safely


wrote in message
oups.com...
could I change the circuit breaker by myself to see if that works.I
mean shut off power for outside change the breaker without to much
risk?

Big problem with electrical
 

wrote in message
ups.com...
My wife was useing the stove and disposal.The furnice was running and
the dryer.The lights started to get dim and then everything on one side
of the house went out.Turned everything off looked for a blown
circuit.Nothing.My wife turned on the stove again and the lights came
back on but was very dim.Turn the stove off.No lights.Stove on,lights
but dim and the furnice won't work at all. It's like the stove needs to
be on before anything works but the stove dosn't heat up.Very low power
help!!

You say half the house; do you mean that literally (the right half...), or
just about half the circuits?
Now you you say that nothing works. Do you mean the half that didn't work
before, or nothing at all.

Big problem with electrical
 

Big problem with electrical
 

According to CJT :

I read what the others said, but I have a different suggestion.

It sounds to me like perhaps the neutral has become disconnected,
probably at the service entrance. Corrosion, perhaps?

A loose main neutral would result in some of the lights _brightening_,
or at least, _none_ of the lights in the house would retain normal
brightness. Secondly, the fact that the lights only dimly light up
when 240V circuits are on, is even stronger indication he's lost
a hot leg in the panel.

A $5+/- outlet tester that you could get at Lowe's/HD would quickly
tell you if I'm right (assuming you have outlets with a safety ground).

It's going to be as confusing as the behaviour of the lights. The
tester really needs to do voltage measurement. I'd recommend
testing things with a voltmeter inside the panel if the OP
felt comfortable with that.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

Big problem with electrical
 

On 6 Dec 2005 16:51:59 -0800, "
wrote:

My wife was useing the stove and disposal.The furnice was running and
the dryer.The lights started to get dim and then everything on one side
of the house went out.Turned everything off looked for a blown
circuit.Nothing.My wife turned on the stove again and the lights came
back on but was very dim.Turn the stove off.No lights.Stove on,lights
but dim and the furnice won't work at all. It's like the stove needs to
be on before anything works but the stove dosn't heat up.Very low power
help!!

The others have all figured it out, but I want to explain in a little
more detail.

Lets say there are two legs of electricity coming in 120V-1 and
120V-2, which are opposite of each other. Let's say v-2 is dead
because the wire from the street, or from the fusebox, is open
somewhere. So there is zero volts at V-2. That's why half your
lights don't work.

Let's say you turn on the stove. (Even though it is AC current, let's
use language as if it were DC. In practice, the results are the
same.) The current goes in via one wire 120v-1 to the stove and it
"wants" to come out via the other leg 120v-2, back to the street, but
like I said the path back to the fuse box, or to the street, is open.

But now there is voltage at 120v-2, and that voltage will power the
lamps that didn't work before. So the lights go on, but why do they
go on dimly. Because all the current that runs through the lamps
first runs through the stove. So the voltage is lower than 120 by
the time the current starts to feed into the lights.

In fact, the entire voltage -- from 120-v1 through the stove to the
connecting point at 120-v2 and on from there to the lights, and from
there to the neutral -- is 120 volts. And because the stove and each
light (or the lights as a whole) are in series** the 120 volts is
shared by the stove and the lights. The fraction that each gets
depends on the resistance of the stove and each light and how many
lights are on at the moment,, but roughly the lights get 60 volts
instead of 120 and the stove gets 60 volts instead of 240. Or 80 for
lights and 40 for the stove. AC I think the lights need at least 80
before they will glow, but the stove will get slightly hot iiuc no
matter how low the current. through it.

**even though the lights themselves are in parallel with each other.)


Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

Big problem with electrical
 

Chris Lewis wrote:
According to CJT :


I read what the others said, but I have a different suggestion.



It sounds to me like perhaps the neutral has become disconnected,
probably at the service entrance. Corrosion, perhaps?


A loose main neutral would result in some of the lights _brightening_,

That depends on the magnitude of the load the stove presents relative
to that of the lamps and whatever else is on that leg of the service.
They could brighten, dim, or look normal depending on how the voltage
divides.

or at least, _none_ of the lights in the house would retain normal
brightness. Secondly, the fact that the lights only dimly light up
when 240V circuits are on, is even stronger indication he's lost
a hot leg in the panel.


A $5+/- outlet tester that you could get at Lowe's/HD would quickly
tell you if I'm right (assuming you have outlets with a safety ground).


It's going to be as confusing as the behaviour of the lights. The
tester really needs to do voltage measurement. I'd recommend
testing things with a voltmeter inside the panel if the OP
felt comfortable with that.


--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

Big problem with electrical
 

On 6 Dec 2005 16:51:59 -0800, "
wrote:

My wife was useing the stove and disposal.The furnice was running and
the dryer.The lights started to get dim and then everything on one side
of the house went out.Turned everything off looked for a blown
circuit.Nothing.My wife turned on the stove again and the lights came
back on but was very dim.Turn the stove off.No lights.Stove on,lights
but dim and the furnice won't work at all. It's like the stove needs to
be on before anything works but the stove dosn't heat up.Very low power
help!!

Do what everyone else said on here. Check your incoming power with a
meter and after your main, etc. If you are not getting proper
readings, take a long wooden pole and whack the power wires where they
enter at the top of your house. My brother-in-law had somerhing like
this happen. He called me and I went there and my meter measured 120v
on one side of the line, and fluctuated on the other side (before main
breaker). I got a long board and told him to wateh the meter. I
whacked the wires and he said the lights came back on and the meter
went to 120v (or something close to that). I knew that the problem
was the connections where the cable from the power pole connects to
the top of the meter stack. Of course I dont mess with those wires
because there is no way to disconnect them. He called the power
company and they found a badly corroded connection up there. They
told him that normally he was supposed to get an electrician for
anything past the power pole, but they put on some new connectors
anyhow. My sister gave them some goodies to eat for their help and
everyone was happy.

If you do whack the wires, BE SURE to use wood, not a metal pipe or
anything conductive.

Big problem with electrical
 

According to CJT :
Chris Lewis wrote:
According to CJT :

I read what the others said, but I have a different suggestion.

It sounds to me like perhaps the neutral has become disconnected,
probably at the service entrance. Corrosion, perhaps?

A loose main neutral would result in some of the lights _brightening_,

That depends on the magnitude of the load the stove presents relative
to that of the lamps and whatever else is on that leg of the service.
They could brighten, dim, or look normal depending on how the voltage
divides.

Uh, no. With a loose neutral the stove load is _irrelevant_. As the
stove has no neutral connection (to the elements), it won't affect
how the loose neutral "divides" between the two legs. Switching
the stove on and off wouldn't affect the lights.

With a loose neutral, it's the balance of the 120V loads that determine
how the neutral "divides" between the two legs.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

Big problem with electrical
 

This could be an electric company problem. Might want to check with
neighbors who get their electric from the same electric pole or who are
nearby if they are also having problems.


wrote in message
My wife was useing the stove and disposal.The furnice was running and
the dryer.The lights started to get dim and then everything on one side
of the house went out.Turned everything off looked for a blown
circuit.Nothing.My wife turned on the stove again and the lights came
back on but was very dim.Turn the stove off.No lights.Stove on,lights
but dim and the furnice won't work at all. It's like the stove needs to
be on before anything works but the stove dosn't heat up.Very low power
help!!

Big problem with electrical
 

Somehow, this idead doesn't much appeal to me.

--

Christopher A. Young
Do good work.
It's longer in the short run
but shorter in the long run.
..
..


wrote in message
...

If you are not getting proper
readings, take a long wooden pole and whack the power wires where they
enter at the top of your house.


If you do whack the wires, BE SURE to use wood, not a metal pipe or
anything conductive.

Big problem with electrical
 

Whacking stuff with a stick sounds like a good way to need a fire
department.

--

Christopher A. Young
Do good work.
It's longer in the short run
but shorter in the long run.
..
..


"Avery" wrote in message
...
On 6 Dec 2005 17:16:07 -0800, "
wrote:

could I change the circuit breaker by myself to see if that works.I
mean shut off power for outside change the breaker without to much
risk?


If you have to ask, it is too risky.

I'm not trying to be a smart ass here. If you have to ask how far you
should poke around before it gets dangerous then back off and get a
pro.

Do not, under any circumstances, do what someone suggested further
down the thread and start whacking things with a stick!

Electricity kills - quite often.

Big problem with electrical
 

On Wed, 07 Dec 2005 05:08:50 -0600, wrote:

He called the power
company and they found a badly corroded connection up there.

If you do whack the wires, BE SURE to use wood, not a metal pipe or
anything conductive.

And then run like hell.

Like you were hitting a bee-hive with bionic bees.

I might do this, but I would at the same time consider the
possibility that a corroded connection might give way entirely.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.