Electrical - What the fuc............................
 

I dont understand this at all, and I have years of electrical
experience.

Last night I was doing some outdoor work after dark and I got out a
trouble light. Everything was going fine until the light went
out.When I grabbed it, the light came back on. OK, I figured the bulb
was loose and attempted to tighten it. It seemed tight so I just hung
it back where it was and started doing my work again. As soon as I
started working again, the damn light went out again. I picked it up,
and it came back on. I jiggled the switch a few times and the light
remained on. I hung it up and started my work again. Sure enough,
the light went out. This happened several more times, and I was
getting quite ****ed by then. I finally changed the bulb thinking the
bulb was defective. I hung it back up and went back to work. You
guessed it, the light went out. This time it stayed off, and I noticed
that another light on that same circuit was also off. I checked the
breaker and it was on. I then discovered that the GFI had tripped. I
reset this GFI and went back to my work. Sure enough, the light went
off, and once again the GFI tripped. By this time I was really angry,
and I plugged the light into a non-gfi outlet. The light was working
for a few minutes when all of a sudden it went off again. When I
grabbed it, I heard that loud hum which indicates a direct short, and
the breaker tripped. I unplugged the cord and threw that trouble light
into the garbage, and got another one. That one worked fine, and I
finiahed my work. (I had not turned the breaker back on, and I used a
different outlet on another breaker.).

When I finished my work, I took that defective light out of the trash
and brought it in the house. I completely disassembled it, and found
no broken or disconnected wires, no burn marks to indicate a short.
I put it back together and tried it, and it worked fine. Even with
the same bulb.

Why did it trip the breaker? There are no loose or broken wires,
nothing touching, and no burn marks to indicate a short. I also
looked at the outlets and everything else that could have been the
cause, and never found anything wrong.

OK, this cord is haunted, I thought......

Well, if you thing all of this is weird, it was the next day when I
walked into the shed in the morning and found the ceiling light on.
This light is on the same breaker that had blown, and I NEVER TURNED
IT BACK ON. I live alone, and no one else had been here. THere was
not even one of my cats in that shed. Yes, the breaker turned itself
back on....... I am not joking about this, the breaker was back on and
the ceiling light was on.

I dont get it. This makes no sense whatsoever. I have had no further
problems with that circuit or with that trouble light., and I even
re-created the whole thing by placing the light into the same outlet,
with the same bulb and everything works fine.

W T F ?????

Mark

Electrical - What the fuc............................
 

Electrical - What the fuc............................
 

wrote:
I dont understand this at all, and I have years of electrical
experience.

Last night I was doing some outdoor work after dark and I got out a
trouble light. Everything was going fine until the light went
out.When I grabbed it, the light came back on. OK, I figured the bulb
was loose and attempted to tighten it. It seemed tight so I just hung
it back where it was and started doing my work again. As soon as I
started working again, the damn light went out again. I picked it up,
and it came back on. I jiggled the switch a few times and the light
remained on. I hung it up and started my work again. Sure enough,
the light went out. This happened several more times, and I was
getting quite ****ed by then. I finally changed the bulb thinking the
bulb was defective. I hung it back up and went back to work. You
guessed it, the light went out. This time it stayed off, and I noticed
that another light on that same circuit was also off. I checked the
breaker and it was on. I then discovered that the GFI had tripped. I
reset this GFI and went back to my work. Sure enough, the light went
off, and once again the GFI tripped. By this time I was really angry,
and I plugged the light into a non-gfi outlet. The light was working
for a few minutes when all of a sudden it went off again. When I
grabbed it, I heard that loud hum which indicates a direct short, and
the breaker tripped. I unplugged the cord and threw that trouble light
into the garbage, and got another one. That one worked fine, and I
finiahed my work. (I had not turned the breaker back on, and I used a
different outlet on another breaker.).

When I finished my work, I took that defective light out of the trash
and brought it in the house. I completely disassembled it, and found
no broken or disconnected wires, no burn marks to indicate a short.
I put it back together and tried it, and it worked fine. Even with
the same bulb.

Why did it trip the breaker? There are no loose or broken wires,
nothing touching, and no burn marks to indicate a short. I also
looked at the outlets and everything else that could have been the
cause, and never found anything wrong.

OK, this cord is haunted, I thought......

Well, if you thing all of this is weird, it was the next day when I
walked into the shed in the morning and found the ceiling light on.
This light is on the same breaker that had blown, and I NEVER TURNED
IT BACK ON. I live alone, and no one else had been here. THere was
not even one of my cats in that shed. Yes, the breaker turned itself
back on....... I am not joking about this, the breaker was back on and
the ceiling light was on.

I dont get it. This makes no sense whatsoever. I have had no further
problems with that circuit or with that trouble light., and I even
re-created the whole thing by placing the light into the same outlet,
with the same bulb and everything works fine.

W T F ?????

Mark

That Certified Electrician that lives above you is sending you a
message, perhaps you should have a talk with him, before he plays more
tricks.

Electrical - What the fuc............................
 

This probably doesn't explain it, but I don't believe in ghosts so I have to
come up with some other theory.

I think you could have a problem at the circuit breaker panel. One thing
you could try is to sniff around near the panel an see if you detect any
burning smell. Also, you could take the front cover off the panel and look
inside at the breakers and where they attach to the center bar. What I am
wondering is if you have a bad breaker that starts to arc and go bad as it
heats up. And, possibly that breaker is interacting with an adjacent
breaker.

I had a house where the occupants (not me) said the power went off, that
they turned the breakers off and on and it went back on, then a few days
later similar events took place. In each case, they hadn't turned anything
on or plugged anything in at the time of the power failure. I assumed that
something automatic like a refrigerator came on and tripped the breaker.
After the second time, they mentioned that there was a faint smell of
burning. I had them turn all of the power off and not reset any breakers.
An electrician looked at it (with me present) and showed me how there was a
defective main breaker and how the arcing had actually melted a portion of
the center bar that all of the breakers connect to. He replaced the main
breaker but had to relocate it to an area that wasn't melted. He said that
the problem probably was happening as the panel and breaker heated up, then
would correct itself and reset because it had cooled down when the breaker
was turned off.

So, just a thought, but definitely check it out.

wrote in message
...
I dont understand this at all, and I have years of electrical
experience.

Last night I was doing some outdoor work after dark and I got out a
trouble light. Everything was going fine until the light went
out.When I grabbed it, the light came back on. OK, I figured the bulb
was loose and attempted to tighten it. It seemed tight so I just hung
it back where it was and started doing my work again. As soon as I
started working again, the damn light went out again. I picked it up,
and it came back on. I jiggled the switch a few times and the light
remained on. I hung it up and started my work again. Sure enough,
the light went out. This happened several more times, and I was
getting quite ****ed by then. I finally changed the bulb thinking the
bulb was defective. I hung it back up and went back to work. You
guessed it, the light went out. This time it stayed off, and I noticed
that another light on that same circuit was also off. I checked the
breaker and it was on. I then discovered that the GFI had tripped. I
reset this GFI and went back to my work. Sure enough, the light went
off, and once again the GFI tripped. By this time I was really angry,
and I plugged the light into a non-gfi outlet. The light was working
for a few minutes when all of a sudden it went off again. When I
grabbed it, I heard that loud hum which indicates a direct short, and
the breaker tripped. I unplugged the cord and threw that trouble light
into the garbage, and got another one. That one worked fine, and I
finiahed my work. (I had not turned the breaker back on, and I used a
different outlet on another breaker.).

When I finished my work, I took that defective light out of the trash
and brought it in the house. I completely disassembled it, and found
no broken or disconnected wires, no burn marks to indicate a short.
I put it back together and tried it, and it worked fine. Even with
the same bulb.

Why did it trip the breaker? There are no loose or broken wires,
nothing touching, and no burn marks to indicate a short. I also
looked at the outlets and everything else that could have been the
cause, and never found anything wrong.

OK, this cord is haunted, I thought......

Well, if you thing all of this is weird, it was the next day when I
walked into the shed in the morning and found the ceiling light on.
This light is on the same breaker that had blown, and I NEVER TURNED
IT BACK ON. I live alone, and no one else had been here. THere was
not even one of my cats in that shed. Yes, the breaker turned itself
back on....... I am not joking about this, the breaker was back on and
the ceiling light was on.

I dont get it. This makes no sense whatsoever. I have had no further
problems with that circuit or with that trouble light., and I even
re-created the whole thing by placing the light into the same outlet,
with the same bulb and everything works fine.

W T F ?????

Mark

Electrical - What the fuc............................
 

Electrical - What the fuc............................
 

ask the power company for a free check of their service meter. and
inside, it's probably time to have your electrician inspect all the
electrical panel power connections and breaker connections. and replace
the haunted breaker of course.


wrote:
I dont understand this at all, and I have years of electrical
experience.

Last night I was doing some outdoor work after dark and I got out a
trouble light. Everything was going fine until the light went
out.When I grabbed it, the light came back on. OK, I figured the bulb
was loose and attempted to tighten it. It seemed tight so I just hung
it back where it was and started doing my work again. As soon as I
started working again, the damn light went out again. I picked it up,
and it came back on. I jiggled the switch a few times and the light
remained on. I hung it up and started my work again. Sure enough,
the light went out. This happened several more times, and I was
getting quite ****ed by then. I finally changed the bulb thinking the
bulb was defective. I hung it back up and went back to work. You
guessed it, the light went out. This time it stayed off, and I noticed
that another light on that same circuit was also off. I checked the
breaker and it was on. I then discovered that the GFI had tripped. I
reset this GFI and went back to my work. Sure enough, the light went
off, and once again the GFI tripped. By this time I was really angry,
and I plugged the light into a non-gfi outlet. The light was working
for a few minutes when all of a sudden it went off again. When I
grabbed it, I heard that loud hum which indicates a direct short, and
the breaker tripped. I unplugged the cord and threw that trouble light
into the garbage, and got another one. That one worked fine, and I
finiahed my work. (I had not turned the breaker back on, and I used a
different outlet on another breaker.).

When I finished my work, I took that defective light out of the trash
and brought it in the house. I completely disassembled it, and found
no broken or disconnected wires, no burn marks to indicate a short.
I put it back together and tried it, and it worked fine. Even with
the same bulb.

Why did it trip the breaker? There are no loose or broken wires,
nothing touching, and no burn marks to indicate a short. I also
looked at the outlets and everything else that could have been the
cause, and never found anything wrong.

OK, this cord is haunted, I thought......

Well, if you thing all of this is weird, it was the next day when I
walked into the shed in the morning and found the ceiling light on.
This light is on the same breaker that had blown, and I NEVER TURNED
IT BACK ON. I live alone, and no one else had been here. THere was
not even one of my cats in that shed. Yes, the breaker turned itself
back on....... I am not joking about this, the breaker was back on and
the ceiling light was on.

I dont get it. This makes no sense whatsoever. I have had no further
problems with that circuit or with that trouble light., and I even
re-created the whole thing by placing the light into the same outlet,
with the same bulb and everything works fine.

W T F ?????

Mark

Electrical - What the fuc............................
 

wrote:
I dont understand this at all, and I have years of electrical
experience.

Last night I was doing some outdoor work after dark and I got out a
trouble light. Everything was going fine until the light went
out.When I grabbed it, the light came back on. OK, I figured the bulb
was loose and attempted to tighten it. It seemed tight so I just hung
it back where it was and started doing my work again. As soon as I
started working again, the damn light went out again. I picked it up,
and it came back on. I jiggled the switch a few times and the light
remained on. I hung it up and started my work again. Sure enough,
the light went out. This happened several more times, and I was
getting quite ****ed by then. I finally changed the bulb thinking the
bulb was defective. I hung it back up and went back to work. You
guessed it, the light went out. This time it stayed off, and I noticed
that another light on that same circuit was also off. I checked the
breaker and it was on. I then discovered that the GFI had tripped. I
reset this GFI and went back to my work. Sure enough, the light went
off, and once again the GFI tripped. By this time I was really angry,
and I plugged the light into a non-gfi outlet. The light was working
for a few minutes when all of a sudden it went off again. When I
grabbed it, I heard that loud hum which indicates a direct short, and
the breaker tripped. I unplugged the cord and threw that trouble light
into the garbage, and got another one. That one worked fine, and I
finiahed my work. (I had not turned the breaker back on, and I used a
different outlet on another breaker.).

When I finished my work, I took that defective light out of the trash
and brought it in the house. I completely disassembled it, and found
no broken or disconnected wires, no burn marks to indicate a short.
I put it back together and tried it, and it worked fine. Even with
the same bulb.

Why did it trip the breaker? There are no loose or broken wires,
nothing touching, and no burn marks to indicate a short. I also
looked at the outlets and everything else that could have been the
cause, and never found anything wrong.

OK, this cord is haunted, I thought......

Well, if you thing all of this is weird, it was the next day when I
walked into the shed in the morning and found the ceiling light on.
This light is on the same breaker that had blown, and I NEVER TURNED
IT BACK ON. I live alone, and no one else had been here. THere was
not even one of my cats in that shed. Yes, the breaker turned itself
back on....... I am not joking about this, the breaker was back on and
the ceiling light was on.

I dont get it. This makes no sense whatsoever. I have had no further
problems with that circuit or with that trouble light., and I even
re-created the whole thing by placing the light into the same outlet,
with the same bulb and everything works fine.

W T F ?????

Mark

Not sure if you meant your breaker is GFI or if you have a GFI outlet.
If the latter, try replacing it with another. I had one that was
particularly sensitive and kept tripping for no reason that I was ever
able to detect.

Electrical - What the fuc............................
 

On 18 Nov 2006 11:32:26 -0800, "cavedweller"
wrote:


wrote:
I dont understand this at all, and I have years of electrical
experience.

Last night I was doing some outdoor work after dark and I got out a
trouble light. Everything was going fine until the light went
out.When I grabbed it, the light came back on. OK, I figured the bulb
was loose and attempted to tighten it. It seemed tight so I just hung
it back where it was and started doing my work again. As soon as I
started working again, the damn light went out again. I picked it up,
and it came back on. I jiggled the switch a few times and the light
remained on. I hung it up and started my work again. Sure enough,
the light went out. This happened several more times, and I was
getting quite ****ed by then. I finally changed the bulb thinking the
bulb was defective. I hung it back up and went back to work. You
guessed it, the light went out. This time it stayed off, and I noticed
that another light on that same circuit was also off. I checked the
breaker and it was on. I then discovered that the GFI had tripped. I
reset this GFI and went back to my work. Sure enough, the light went
off, and once again the GFI tripped. By this time I was really angry,
and I plugged the light into a non-gfi outlet. The light was working
for a few minutes when all of a sudden it went off again. When I
grabbed it, I heard that loud hum which indicates a direct short, and
the breaker tripped. I unplugged the cord and threw that trouble light
into the garbage, and got another one. That one worked fine, and I
finiahed my work. (I had not turned the breaker back on, and I used a
different outlet on another breaker.).

When I finished my work, I took that defective light out of the trash
and brought it in the house. I completely disassembled it, and found
no broken or disconnected wires, no burn marks to indicate a short.
I put it back together and tried it, and it worked fine. Even with
the same bulb.

Why did it trip the breaker? There are no loose or broken wires,
nothing touching, and no burn marks to indicate a short. I also
looked at the outlets and everything else that could have been the
cause, and never found anything wrong.

OK, this cord is haunted, I thought......

Well, if you thing all of this is weird, it was the next day when I
walked into the shed in the morning and found the ceiling light on.
This light is on the same breaker that had blown, and I NEVER TURNED
IT BACK ON. I live alone, and no one else had been here. THere was
not even one of my cats in that shed. Yes, the breaker turned itself
back on....... I am not joking about this, the breaker was back on and
the ceiling light was on.

I dont get it. This makes no sense whatsoever. I have had no further
problems with that circuit or with that trouble light., and I even
re-created the whole thing by placing the light into the same outlet,
with the same bulb and everything works fine.

W T F ?????

Mark

Not sure if you meant your breaker is GFI or if you have a GFI outlet.
If the latter, try replacing it with another. I had one that was
particularly sensitive and kept tripping for no reason that I was ever
able to detect.

The GFI is an outlet, the breaker is just a normal one. When the
"short" occurred, I had moved the light to a non-gfi outlet because I
suspected there was a some leakage in light, and although I planned to
check out the light, it was getting late, very cold outside, and I
only wanted to finish my job. I know there is a reason that a GFI
trips, but I just figured I'd let the light work and not touch any
metal parts of it. Thus, i moved it to a non-gfi outlet. Thats where
it was plugged in when the (supposed) short occurred. I know the
sound of a short, when the wires all hum for a split second before the
breaker trips. Thats what happened. I should mention that I was doing
some sheet metal work when this happened and I later though that one
of the tiny pieces of tin that I had cut, may have fallen into the
bulb socket when I replaced the bulb and shorted across the contacts.
But that would have left a burn mark in the socket. There are no burn
marks. I carefully inspected the inside of the trouble light, the
cord, and there is nothing that could indicate a short or burn marks.
This is a garage and barn. I was working in the barn, and the wiring
for the barn comes from the garage. (fed by two 20A breakers) Thats
why I never reset the breaker, I did not want to run over to the
garage, so I just used the other circuit instead. Ya know, I was
damn ****ed by this time and half frozen with the outdoor temp being
around 25 deg and its past midnight. The last thing I needed was to
fuss any further with this stupid light issue, especially when all I
had to do was put in a few more screws using a battery operated drill.
I mention this because there is no refrigerator or anything else
connected to these circuits. These two circuits only feed this barn,
and nothing else was connected at the time other than a few ceiling
lights, and my circular saw which was not being used, only plugged in.
I am now wondering if there is a problem in the ceiling lights, and
intend to open them all and inspect. I should mention that I just
installed all this wiring last week.

Of course none of this indicates how the breaker reset itself....
I never entered the garage. I just finished my work and ran into the
warm house. Yet the next morning all the ceiling lights were back
on.....

To be perfectly honest, at this point a ghost seems more likely than
any physical electrical short, and I dont believe in ghosts !!!!
It was not due to the power company either because my yard light did
not go out..... Soooooooooo,,,,,,,,, maybe I am being stalked by the
ghost of someone who finds delight in ****ing me off....... :)

Mark

Electrical - What the fuc............................
 

Call a priest.

--

Christopher A. Young
You can't shout down a troll.
You have to starve them.
..

"Jack" wrote in message
oups.com...

wrote:
I dont understand this at all, and I have years of electrical
experience.

Last night I was doing some outdoor work after dark and I got out a
trouble light. Everything was going fine until the light went

That Certified Electrician that lives above you is sending you a
message, perhaps you should have a talk with him, before he plays more
tricks.

Electrical - What the fuc............................
 

Jeff Wisnia posted for all of us...

Regarding the breaker, don't take offense, but I'm less than a year away
from celebrating my 50th college reunion, and I'm shocked, shocked at
the number of short term memory losses I'm experiencing. I haven't
forgotten anything serious yet, but sometimes I do things like walk
downstairs with the intent of bringing back some tool from my shop and a
can of beans from the pantry and come back upstairs about a minute later
with the tool but without the beans.

You may have reset that breaker and completely forgotten that you did it.

Jeff

Uh Jeff about the $5000 you owe me is this a good time?
--
Tekkie Don't bother to thank me, I do this as a public service.