Electrical problems

[The Dougster]

Yeah, I know it isn't related to tractors but it does interfere with my participation on TBN....
I have a problem within my house... the electricity on a circuit goes out for no reason. Sometimes it only flickers and sometimes it goes out for a few minutes... Not a breaker that I can identify and no breaker is thrown. The power always comes back on without my doing anything. I'm suspicious of the problem being an electrical outlet somewhere within that circuit. How the heck does one start checking? Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[heehaw]

start with putting in a new breaker: or swapping breakers around to see what happens: breakers will go bad an they will cause lights to flicker..
heehaw

 

[gmason]

also, for code, you will want to replace with the same Brand/Mfg breaker that was installed new.
gary

 

[deerefan]

like the other guys saiid, start at your breaker. you may have a loose lug or bad breaker. also try to find out if you power to said room is fed from an outlet. this is common, especially in older homes. you may have a bad connection at the outlet or a bad outlet.

 

[deerefan]

one way to check, if you do not have a meter, is a small 110v work light. plug it in to every outlet and when it won't work, go back one outlet and start there. they are usually piggy backed, one outlet feeds to the next. it sound like a loose connection

 

[Travelover]

I had a similar problem in a room where I had replaced the outlets. Some fool (me) had been lazy and just stuck the wires in those spring clip connectors instead of wrapping the wire around the terminal screw on the outlet. When the connection failed it took out most of the whole circuit. Power would go out and in all by itself. I finally just went outlet to outlet and secured the connections, then it was fine.

 

[The Dougster]

I did replace a breaker a couple of weeks ago... one time the power on that circuit did stay off long enough for me to check breakers... I'm seriously beginning to suspect an outlet as suggested... Unfortunately I do not have a wiring diagram of the house and am not sure where to begin... <sigh>

 

[tallyho8]

As previously said, swap breakers around first to determine if it is the breaker. If not, turn off the breaker for that circuit and note which outlets, lights etc. go out. Then you will know what all is on that circuit and you can probably check the connections on that circuit working your way back to the breaker box.

 

[tommu56]

Turn all the breakers off except the one you are working on and walk through the house with a work light and plug it in to every outlet till you have checked them all mark them some how (masking tape)

Turn the rest of the breakers back on
Turn the problem one off and go to town checking the marked outlets it sounds like a lose connection some were most likely the last one worked on.

tom

 

[The Dougster]

that makes sense Tom... I appreciate your's and everyone's response... What a great group of folks!

 

[2manyrocks]

I hope it's not something loose that is arcing somewhere. Except for testing purposes, I would turn off that breaker until the problem is found.

 

[SPIKER]

I think Tom said it. ASSUMING you have already removed the outlet in question and made sure it was not installed in-correctly or installed using those worthless spring/stab clips and or broken/loose wire joint at the flickering outlet. Then do the following. When this happens 99% it is a loose wire nut and or terminal/splice at an outlet that is between your dead outlet and the circuit breaker. An easy way to test this is to plug in a radio into the outlet (if you are in different rooms) and go to the outlets adjacent to it(flickering one), (down/up the wall and or room to the back of the dead outlet.) with radio running or light on, bang on wall next to the outlet. if it goes out then pull the cover and look for the problem,

BTW always kill power to the outlets prior to removing covers .

Mark

 

[EddieWalker]

Remember that allot of the time, the outlet on one wall may very well also be on the same line on the other side of the wall. It's rare that an outlet and a light will be on the same line, but not unknown. Finding every circut on the line can be a challenge. Just keep your sence of humor and don't expect it to make sense as to why it is like it is. The only time it makes any sense is when you are building it.

As for the fading in and out, something is loose. I've seen allot of home repairs and do it yourselfers use black tape to join wires together. The problem with black tape is that it dries out, cracks and then unwraps itself. When this starts to happen, the wires become loose and start to arc. It's a good reason homes burn down.

The connections on the outlet also come loose. I've seen it where the wire was pinched too much when the end was stripped and it eventually broke loose. I've seen multiple wires wraped around the lug on an outlet and one of them were loose. I've seen the wires in a wire nut not have a good connection and not carry power consistantly.

Isolate the run and check every connection on it. It's very unlikely that the wire is bad, but very common for the connection to be loose.

Eddie

 

[moeh1]

Next time you are in the breaker box check all the screws for the grounds and neutrals also.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

If you don't want to turn off all the breakers to find which receptacles/outlets are on each circuit, you can get a tracer. If you do turn off all but one breaker to find the circuits, use an outlet tester to see which outlets are still on, and get the benefit of seeing if it's also wired correctly (polarity wise). All outlets that feed to other outlets should always have wire nut connections in the box, you should never have a feed to another outlet coming off the push in terminals or the screw terminals (i.e. there should only be one pair of wires to the outlet.

 

[sparker133]

Remember that allot of the time, the outlet on one wall may very well also be on the same line on the other side of the wall. It's rare that an outlet and a light will be on the same line, but not unknown. Finding every circut on the line can be a challenge. Just keep your sence of humor and don't expect it to make sense as to why it is like it is. The only time it makes any sense is when you are building it. ]


It is not rare for a light to be on the same circuit as the receptacles. I can't count how many houses I have worked on with lights on with the receptacles. On many houses some electricians run the power to the center light box then branch power form there. Also if it is knob and tube wiring half the house could be on one circuit. Not trying to come across as a jerk just what I see everyday at work.

If you have lights on the circuit check to see if the power comes in to the box. I have seen many problems with neutrals becoming heated and loosening under the wire nuts.

It could also be mice or squirrel has chewed through a wire and it is sparking. Rodents like the insulation on the out side of wires.