Power out in part of the house
 

I was in my bathroom yesterday with the lights and the fan on. All of a
sudden the lights and fan go off. Only the bathroom I was in and part of
another room were affected so I assumed a breaker had been tripped. But
when I opened the fusebox none of the breakers had been tripped. I even
flipped the corresponding breaker just to be sure.

Can I safely assume that the breaker is probably bad and will need to be
replaced, or is it possible something else is wrong?

Power out in part of the house
 

"Deuteros" wrote in message

I assumed a breaker had been tripped. But
when I opened the fusebox none of the breakers had been tripped. I even
flipped the corresponding breaker just to be sure.

Can I safely assume that the breaker is probably bad and will need to be
replaced, or is it possible something else is wrong?

The more likely culprit is a loose wire in a receptacle, or a switch. While
breakers can go bad, it's less likely.

Were you operating a switch or something when it happened? That's where I'd
start looking.

RichK

Power out in part of the house
 

"RichK" wrote in :

"Deuteros" wrote in message

I assumed a breaker had been tripped. But
when I opened the fusebox none of the breakers had been tripped. I even
flipped the corresponding breaker just to be sure.

Can I safely assume that the breaker is probably bad and will need to
be replaced, or is it possible something else is wrong?

The more likely culprit is a loose wire in a receptacle, or a switch.
While breakers can go bad, it's less likely.

Were you operating a switch or something when it happened?

No, I was actually in the shower. The light had been on for a while.

Power out in part of the house
 

Deuteros wrote:
I was in my bathroom yesterday with the lights and the fan on. All of a
sudden the lights and fan go off. Only the bathroom I was in and part
of another room were affected so I assumed a breaker had been
tripped. But when I opened the fusebox none of the breakers had been
tripped. I even flipped the corresponding breaker just to be sure.

Can I safely assume that the breaker is probably bad and will need to
be replaced, or is it possible something else is wrong?

My money is a tripped GFI. They often control more than on area and
your bath should have been on a GFI. Look around. It may be in the bath,
or check out other baths, basement, kitchen, garage or even outside. A GFI
is a Ground Fault Interrupt and often is built into an outlet with a test
and rest button. When one goes it acts a lot like a circuit breaker except
it may not be in the box.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

Power out in part of the house
 

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in
:

Deuteros wrote:

I was in my bathroom yesterday with the lights and the fan on. All of a
sudden the lights and fan go off. Only the bathroom I was in and part
of another room were affected so I assumed a breaker had been
tripped. But when I opened the fusebox none of the breakers had been
tripped. I even flipped the corresponding breaker just to be sure.

Can I safely assume that the breaker is probably bad and will need to
be replaced, or is it possible something else is wrong?

My money is a tripped GFI. They often control more than on area and
your bath should have been on a GFI. Look around. It may be in the
bath, or check out other baths, basement, kitchen, garage or even
outside. A GFI is a Ground Fault Interrupt and often is built into an
outlet with a test and rest button. When one goes it acts a lot like a
circuit breaker except it may not be in the box.

We don't have those in our house.

Power out in part of the house
 

Check all the circuit breakers in case they may be marked incorrectly, then
tap on all the outlets and switches that have gone out and live outlets and
switches that are near the dead ones. If the tapping causes the lights to
flicker or come back on, check the connections in that box



"Deuteros" wrote in message
reenews.net...
I was in my bathroom yesterday with the lights and the fan on. All of a
sudden the lights and fan go off. Only the bathroom I was in and part of
another room were affected so I assumed a breaker had been tripped. But
when I opened the fusebox none of the breakers had been tripped. I even
flipped the corresponding breaker just to be sure.

Can I safely assume that the breaker is probably bad and will need to be
replaced, or is it possible something else is wrong?

Power out in part of the house
 

You could use an electric VOM [volt - ohm - meter] to check the breaker.
But if you feel uncomfortable around household voltages, call you
neighborhood electrician to check it out. It might be money well spent if
you're shaky with electricity.

--
Zyp


"Deuteros" wrote in message
reenews.net...
"RichK" wrote in :

"Deuteros" wrote in message

I assumed a breaker had been tripped. But
when I opened the fusebox none of the breakers had been tripped. I even
flipped the corresponding breaker just to be sure.

Can I safely assume that the breaker is probably bad and will need to
be replaced, or is it possible something else is wrong?

The more likely culprit is a loose wire in a receptacle, or a switch.
While breakers can go bad, it's less likely.

Were you operating a switch or something when it happened?

No, I was actually in the shower. The light had been on for a while.

Power out in part of the house
 

"Deuteros" wrote in message
reenews.net...
I was in my bathroom yesterday with the lights and the fan on. All of a
sudden the lights and fan go off. Only the bathroom I was in and part of
another room were affected so I assumed a breaker had been tripped. But
when I opened the fusebox none of the breakers had been tripped. I even
flipped the corresponding breaker just to be sure.

Can I safely assume that the breaker is probably bad and will need to be
replaced, or is it possible something else is wrong?

Have you confirmed that all the lights and fan that went out are in fact on
the same circuit? If they are on different circuits and none of the
circuits tripped then a possible explanation could be a bad bus. That
happened in our house and our neighbors as well. To be more specific,
actually it was the wiring from the street to the bus in the box that had
corroded (underground in our location).

Power out in part of the house
 

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in
:

Check all the circuit breakers in case they may be marked incorrectly,
then tap on all the outlets and switches that have gone out and live
outlets and switches that are near the dead ones. If the tapping causes
the lights to flicker or come back on, check the connections in that box

It must be a loose wire. I just flipped the switch and the light comes on
now.

Power out in part of the house
 

On 09 Feb 2006 00:15:49 GMT, Deuteros wrote:

I was in my bathroom yesterday with the lights and the fan on. All of a
sudden the lights and fan go off. Only the bathroom I was in and part of
another room were affected so I assumed a breaker had been tripped. But
when I opened the fusebox none of the breakers had been tripped. I even
flipped the corresponding breaker just to be sure.

Can I safely assume that the breaker is probably bad and will need to be
replaced, or is it possible something else is wrong?

You only paid HALF of your electric bill this month !!!! :)

You will NEVER find breakers in a FUSEBOX. That's your problem.
Change the fuses.......

It could be a bad breaker, or hundreds of other things. Put a tester
on the breaker and see if there is power.

Power out in part of the house
 

On Thu, 09 Feb 2006 03:07:33 GMT, Deuteros wrote:

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in
:

Check all the circuit breakers in case they may be marked incorrectly,
then tap on all the outlets and switches that have gone out and live
outlets and switches that are near the dead ones. If the tapping causes
the lights to flicker or come back on, check the connections in that box

It must be a loose wire. I just flipped the switch and the light comes on
now.

YES, sounds like the problem is in that box. Either check it yourself
or call a pro. DO NOT leave it that way. It's dangerous. Heat can
build up on a loose connection. Even if you are not comfortable with
electricity, you can shut off the power to the whole house, them
remove that switch and look for a connection that looks burned. Check
the screws on the switch itself, then look at all the wirenuts in
there. I'd just replace the switch and all the wirenuts anyhow. Be
sure all wires are properly twisted together before applying wirenuts.

Mark

Power out in part of the house
 

Deuteros wrote:
I was in my bathroom yesterday with the lights and the fan on. All of a
sudden the lights and fan go off. Only the bathroom I was in and part of
another room were affected so I assumed a breaker had been tripped. But
when I opened the fusebox none of the breakers had been tripped. I even
flipped the corresponding breaker just to be sure.

Can I safely assume that the breaker is probably bad and will need to be
replaced, or is it possible something else is wrong?

Yes, its safe to assume that. In other words there is no danger in that
assumption. Replace the breaker and let us know what happens next. If
its a loose wire, I would have expected flickering upto this point.
Especially since it came back on.

How old is the house/electrical work?

--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16

Power out in part of the house
 

On Thu, 09 Feb 2006 02:31:38 -0600, wrote:


You only paid HALF of your electric bill this month !!!! :)

You will NEVER find breakers in a FUSEBOX. That's your problem.
Change the fuses.......

Breaker, Breaker, good buddy. Where are my fuses? (I think I left
them with my fusees.)

It could be a bad breaker, or hundreds of other things. Put a tester
on the breaker and see if there is power.


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