Drier plug ark and have no power
 

I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go out if I ark the drier plug.

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For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...r-3123601-.htm

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On 6/6/2021 2:15 AM, Michael Howard wrote:
I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in
bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is
good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v
and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to
the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go
out if I ark the drier plug.

Sounds like you took out a leg, Could be in the meter box.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Sunday, June 6, 2021 at 1:15:08 AM UTC-5, Michael Howard wrote:
I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is good.. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go out if I ark the drier plug.

--
For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...r-3123601-.htm

I wonder if you're getting some sort of back feed. Each line to neutral should read 120v or so. Line to line should be 240v or so. Did you take the fuses out to check them? Check the voltage as far up the line as you feel comfortable while the fuses are out. Check the fuses individually before you put them back.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Sunday, June 6, 2021 at 8:25:52 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 6/6/2021 2:15 AM, Michael Howard wrote:
I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in
bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is
good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v
and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to
the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go
out if I ark the drier plug.

Sounds like you took out a leg, Could be in the meter box.

That seems most likely. If he took out all or most of a leg, part of the house could work. Or if he took out the neutral somehow.

If that is true, then I would think his range, oven, hot water heater, anything that ran on 240 should also not work.

It makes me wonder why it arced. Just pulling the plug should not do that unless it was running. Maybe if the plug was stuck and he pulled hard, and shorted the wires inside the outlet?

That should have blown fuses. If he really didn't blow fuses (which I highly doubt) then he burned through a wire somewhere on that circuit or in the fuse box, or meter box even.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Sun, 6 Jun 2021 06:15:02 +0000, Michael Howard
wrote:

I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go out if I ark the drier plug.

Is this a split bus panel? (round Edison fuses and pull outs)
If so you probably blew the 60a(?) fuse for one leg going to the round
fuse panelboard. It is usually the one right above the round Edison
fuses.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On 6/7/2021 6:30 AM, TimR wrote:
On Sunday, June 6, 2021 at 8:25:52 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 6/6/2021 2:15 AM, Michael Howard wrote:
I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in
bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is
good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v
and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to
the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go
out if I ark the drier plug.

Sounds like you took out a leg, Could be in the meter box.

That seems most likely. If he took out all or most of a leg, part of the house could work. Or if he took out the neutral somehow.

If that is true, then I would think his range, oven, hot water heater, anything that ran on 240 should also not work.

It makes me wonder why it arced. Just pulling the plug should not do that unless it was running. Maybe if the plug was stuck and he pulled hard, and shorted the wires inside the outlet?

That should have blown fuses. If he really didn't blow fuses (which I highly doubt) then he burned through a wire somewhere on that circuit or in the fuse box, or meter box even.


Arc fault breaker?

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 9:40:19 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sun, 6 Jun 2021 06:15:02 +0000, Michael Howard
wrote:

I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go out if I ark the drier plug.
Is this a split bus panel? (round Edison fuses and pull outs)
If so you probably blew the 60a(?) fuse for one leg going to the round
fuse panelboard. It is usually the one right above the round Edison
fuses.

Makes sense.

When I was 9 we blew that kind of fuse plugging in Christmas lights. Neither me (obviously) or my Dad knew there were more fuses in the panel than the round screw in ones.

But what happens when he replaces that fuse? We get an arc at the panel instead of behind the dryer? I'd kind of want to know what made that fuse blow before I put the new fuse in with my fingers.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Mon, 7 Jun 2021 07:03:19 -0700, Bob F wrote:

On 6/7/2021 6:30 AM, TimR wrote:
On Sunday, June 6, 2021 at 8:25:52 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 6/6/2021 2:15 AM, Michael Howard wrote:
I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in
bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is
good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v
and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to
the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go
out if I ark the drier plug.

Sounds like you took out a leg, Could be in the meter box.

That seems most likely. If he took out all or most of a leg, part of the house could work. Or if he took out the neutral somehow.

If that is true, then I would think his range, oven, hot water heater, anything that ran on 240 should also not work.

It makes me wonder why it arced. Just pulling the plug should not do that unless it was running. Maybe if the plug was stuck and he pulled hard, and shorted the wires inside the outlet?

That should have blown fuses. If he really didn't blow fuses (which I highly doubt) then he burned through a wire somewhere on that circuit or in the fuse box, or meter box even.


Arc fault breaker?

It's a fuse panel

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On 6/7/2021 8:58 AM, TimR wrote:
On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 9:40:19 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sun, 6 Jun 2021 06:15:02 +0000, Michael Howard
wrote:

I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go out if I ark the drier plug.
Is this a split bus panel? (round Edison fuses and pull outs)
If so you probably blew the 60a(?) fuse for one leg going to the round
fuse panelboard. It is usually the one right above the round Edison
fuses.

Makes sense.

When I was 9 we blew that kind of fuse plugging in Christmas lights. Neither me (obviously) or my Dad knew there were more fuses in the panel than the round screw in ones.

But what happens when he replaces that fuse? We get an arc at the panel instead of behind the dryer? I'd kind of want to know what made that fuse blow before I put the new fuse in with my fingers.


Turn off the main switch before you touch it.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Mon, 7 Jun 2021 11:41:15 -0700, Bob F wrote:

On 6/7/2021 8:58 AM, TimR wrote:
On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 9:40:19 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sun, 6 Jun 2021 06:15:02 +0000, Michael Howard
wrote:

I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go out if I ark the drier plug.
Is this a split bus panel? (round Edison fuses and pull outs)
If so you probably blew the 60a(?) fuse for one leg going to the round
fuse panelboard. It is usually the one right above the round Edison
fuses.

Makes sense.

When I was 9 we blew that kind of fuse plugging in Christmas lights. Neither me (obviously) or my Dad knew there were more fuses in the panel than the round screw in ones.

But what happens when he replaces that fuse? We get an arc at the panel instead of behind the dryer? I'd kind of want to know what made that fuse blow before I put the new fuse in with my fingers.


Turn off the main switch before you touch it.

In a split bus panel each of those pullouts IS a "main switch" (AKA
Service disconnect). You can have up to 6 and all are sourced from the
service. There is no "main disconnect".
They have been trying to chip away at that 6 disconnect rule for a
number of cycles but it is still there.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

In article ,
says...

Turn off the main switch before you touch it.

In a split bus panel each of those pullouts IS a "main switch" (AKA
Service disconnect). You can have up to 6 and all are sourced from the
service. There is no "main disconnect".
They have been trying to chip away at that 6 disconnect rule for a
number of cycles but it is still there.



All depends on the code when and where a house was built.

The first house I lived in had a fuse box and there were two 60 amp
fuses in a holder. You pulled the holder out, and while I would not do
it, you can put it back in upside down to keep the hole plugged up but
the power off. I don't recall the mumber of fuses, but maybe 4 or 5
down each side and they were the kind that the sockets were keyed so you
could only screw in the same amp rating of the fuse that was already in
it.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 4:32:30 PM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
The first house I lived in had a fuse box and there were two 60 amp
fuses in a holder. You pulled the holder out, and while I would not do
it, you can put it back in upside down to keep the hole plugged up but
the power off.

Why not? I thought that was okay.

(Obviously I would be the only one working on it, and at home. There's no way that would meet OSHA Zero Energy State or LockoutTagout in a work situation.)

Then on the other hand - maybe better to lock the holder in your glove compartment just to be sure.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Sun, 6 Jun 2021 06:15:02 +0000, Michael Howard posted for all of us to
digest...


I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to the bathroom or kitchen. What will make
bathroom and kitchen lights go out if I ark the drier plug.

Why were you pulling the plug? Where you having problems? Could the receptacle
touched the box? Clear the fault before following the other posters
suggestions. (Which are excellent) Please repost with your results.

--
Tekkie

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

In article ,
says...

On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 4:32:30 PM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
The first house I lived in had a fuse box and there were two 60 amp
fuses in a holder. You pulled the holder out, and while I would not do
it, you can put it back in upside down to keep the hole plugged up but
the power off.

Why not? I thought that was okay.

(Obviously I would be the only one working on it, and at home. There's no way that would meet OSHA Zero Energy State or LockoutTagout in a work situation.)

Then on the other hand - maybe better to lock the holder in your glove compartment just to be sure.




There is a slight chance that it could be put back in the way it came
out and the circuits would be live. I would much rather just leave it
out, or if in a house other than my own, take it with me so no one could
plug it back in.

I know a half ass electrician that pulled the meter at a church he was
working on. Some one came by and saw the meter laying on the ground
and plugged it back in. Shocked the crap out of the electrician with
the electricity.

Probably to meet OSHA you could put a tag on it. I have been out of the
business for a few years and rules could change. At work we would put a
lock on devices if we could and a tag. In some cases there was no good
way to put a lock on devices , so fuses were pulled and a tag was put on
it for each one that worked on it. Only the origional tag owner could
take his tag off by the rules. If the origional owner could not be
found then it took 2 supervisors and another person to sign off on some
paper work so the tag could be removed.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 6:18:04 PM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
There is a slight chance that it could be put back in the way it came
out and the circuits would be live. I would much rather just leave it
out, or if in a house other than my own, take it with me so no one could
plug it back in.

I know a half ass electrician that pulled the meter at a church he was
working on. Some one came by and saw the meter laying on the ground
and plugged it back in. Shocked the crap out of the electrician with
the electricity.


Thanks, that makes sense. I do pull that out when I do any work in the shed, some circuits aren't on the obvious disconnect.

Our power provider just swapped out the meter for a smart meter. They sent a letter saying there would be a brief power outage and I was prepared to reset the microwave, coffee pot, etc.

But that didn't happen. The very young and seemingly inexperienced worker looked at the meter (which I showed her, she couldn't find it) and said there would be no outage, there's a bypass on your meter. And she was right, power didn't even flicker.

Say what? How is that possible? Isn't that more hazardous than leaving the plug in backwards?

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 12:40:52 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Mon, 7 Jun 2021 07:03:19 -0700, Bob F wrote:

On 6/7/2021 6:30 AM, TimR wrote:
On Sunday, June 6, 2021 at 8:25:52 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 6/6/2021 2:15 AM, Michael Howard wrote:
I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in
bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is
good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v
and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to
the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go
out if I ark the drier plug.

Sounds like you took out a leg, Could be in the meter box.

That seems most likely. If he took out all or most of a leg, part of the house could work. Or if he took out the neutral somehow.

If that is true, then I would think his range, oven, hot water heater, anything that ran on 240 should also not work.

It makes me wonder why it arced. Just pulling the plug should not do that unless it was running. Maybe if the plug was stuck and he pulled hard, and shorted the wires inside the outlet?

That should have blown fuses. If he really didn't blow fuses (which I highly doubt) then he burned through a wire somewhere on that circuit or in the fuse box, or meter box even.


Arc fault breaker?
It's a fuse panel

Arc fault fuse? ;-)

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 4:32:30 PM UTC-4, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article ,
says...

Turn off the main switch before you touch it.

In a split bus panel each of those pullouts IS a "main switch" (AKA
Service disconnect). You can have up to 6 and all are sourced from the
service. There is no "main disconnect".
They have been trying to chip away at that 6 disconnect rule for a
number of cycles but it is still there.


All depends on the code when and where a house was built.

The first house I lived in had a fuse box and there were two 60 amp
fuses in a holder. You pulled the holder out, and while I would not do
it, you can put it back in upside down to keep the hole plugged up but
the power off. I don't recall the mumber of fuses, but maybe 4 or 5
down each side and they were the kind that the sockets were keyed so you
could only screw in the same amp rating of the fuse that was already in
it.

The external box for my AC condenser has a disconnect that can be flipped
over and reinserted. It reads "ON" (right side up) and "OFF" (upside down)
when in operating mode and "OFF" (right side up) and "ON" (upside down)
when flipped over.

I always shut off the breakers and then flip the disconnect over (OFF) at the
end of the cooling season. The "flip" is just an extra step in case someone
turns the breakers on during the winter. My thermostat should prevent the
AC from operating, but since I cover the condenser and it shouldn't be run
in cold weather anyway, I choose a belt and suspenders each year.

Side story: A few years ago, on the first hot day of the season, I heard an
awful racket coming from the house a few doors down. It was owned by
an elderly lady whose husband had died during the previous winter.
Apparently he had put the cover on the AC condenser in the fall and his
wife didn't know anything about it. She turned on the AC and I can tell you
that the condenser sure didn't like being covered.

I went over and pulled the cover off and the unit began to quiet down but
still didn't sound happy. She wasn't home, so the AC stayed on until the
house cooled down. I told her about it when she got home so she was
aware in case the unit died.

Flipping my disconnect over should prevent that from ever happening at
my house. You have to reach over the covered condenser in order to make
it operational. Hopefully who ever does that would be smart enough to
remove the cover.

Drier plug ark and have no power
 

On 6/8/2021 9:53 AM, Marilyn Manson wrote:
On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 12:40:52 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Mon, 7 Jun 2021 07:03:19 -0700, Bob F wrote:

On 6/7/2021 6:30 AM, TimR wrote:
On Sunday, June 6, 2021 at 8:25:52 AM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 6/6/2021 2:15 AM, Michael Howard wrote:
I was taking off drier plug and it sparked real bad. Light's went out in
bathroom right beside it and dinner room and kitchen. Rest of house is
good. It has fuse panel. Check the fuses and they are good have a 250v
and a 30v in .check all round fuses and they are good. Still no power to
the bathroom or kitchen. What will make bathroom and kitchen lights go
out if I ark the drier plug.

Sounds like you took out a leg, Could be in the meter box.

That seems most likely. If he took out all or most of a leg, part of the house could work. Or if he took out the neutral somehow.

If that is true, then I would think his range, oven, hot water heater, anything that ran on 240 should also not work.

It makes me wonder why it arced. Just pulling the plug should not do that unless it was running. Maybe if the plug was stuck and he pulled hard, and shorted the wires inside the outlet?

That should have blown fuses. If he really didn't blow fuses (which I highly doubt) then he burned through a wire somewhere on that circuit or in the fuse box, or meter box even.


Arc fault breaker?
It's a fuse panel

Arc fault fuse? ;-)


If only he had patented it!