Electrical Engineering - Problem with circuit constantly black out

Author

Problem with circuit constantly black out

Robert Bodling

2007-02-22, 9:25 am

I have a problem with a circuit in my apartment that continues to go
off and the maintenance hasa looked at the circuit and can not figure
out why it keeps going off. The circuit breaker doesn't trip off, th
ecircuit to the bedroom and bathroom will go off and within minutes,
it will come back on by itself. Any suggestions would be acepted...

Long Ranger

2007-02-22, 1:25 pm

"Robert Bodling" <RobertBodling@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:do2qt21smsur1ccnoiq20nbnsrqs815a4j@4ax.com...
>I have a problem with a circuit in my apartment that continues to go
> off and the maintenance hasa looked at the circuit and can not figure
> out why it keeps going off. The circuit breaker doesn't trip off, th
> ecircuit to the bedroom and bathroom will go off and within minutes,
> it will come back on by itself. Any suggestions would be acepted...

Most likely a loose connection heating up and it is a serious fire hazard.
Most states have laws allowing a renter to fix serious flaws in their
dwellings if they are not taken care of by management in a timely manner. I
would look into that and stop using it until it is fixed properly.

daestrom

2007-02-22, 5:25 pm

"Robert Bodling" <RobertBodling@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:do2qt21smsur1ccnoiq20nbnsrqs815a4j@4ax.com...
>I have a problem with a circuit in my apartment that continues to go
> off and the maintenance hasa looked at the circuit and can not figure
> out why it keeps going off. The circuit breaker doesn't trip off, th
> ecircuit to the bedroom and bathroom will go off and within minutes,
> it will come back on by itself. Any suggestions would be acepted...

I have to agree with "Long Ranger". It sounds very much like a
loose/intermittent connection. This sort of thing can start a fire if not
fixed promptly.

Insist that the landlord bring in a qualified electrician (not his usualy
'handy man') to test the circuit. Show him what you're doing when the
circuit acts up.

Good Luck,

daestrom

Robert Bodling

2007-02-23, 9:25 am

On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:37:51 GMT, "Long Ranger"
<worpylorp@mindspring.com> wrote:

>
>"Robert Bodling" <RobertBodling@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:do2qt21smsur1ccnoiq20nbnsrqs815a4j@4ax.com...
>
>Most likely a loose connection heating up and it is a serious fire hazard.
>Most states have laws allowing a renter to fix serious flaws in their
>dwellings if they are not taken care of by management in a timely manner. I
>would look into that and stop using it until it is fixed properly.
>
He did remove the first switch from the electrical panel and found
the wires were back stabbed in the switch and removed them and placed
them on the screws. This was the first switch serving the rest of the
room. When power went off, this light ws one of the lights that was
out when it went out... he also relocated the wire from the breaker
and placed it on ad different breaker that was serving a different
plug.

Robert Bodling

2007-02-25, 1:25 pm

On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:47:16 -0500, "daestrom"
<daestrom@NO_SPAM_HEREtwcny.rr.com> wrote:

>
>"Robert Bodling" <RobertBodling@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:do2qt21smsur1ccnoiq20nbnsrqs815a4j@4ax.com...
>
>I have to agree with "Long Ranger". It sounds very much like a
>loose/intermittent connection. This sort of thing can start a fire if not
>fixed promptly.
>
>Insist that the landlord bring in a qualified electrician (not his usualy
>'handy man') to test the circuit. Show him what you're doing when the
>circuit acts up.
>
>Good Luck,
>
>daestrom
If he had tightened the connections in the panel and made sure all
were tight, then where else would the problem have been that would
make the entire circuit do dead?

Is this typical of Federal Breakers?

Ben Miller

2007-02-25, 8:25 pm

"Robert Bodling" <RobertBodling@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:rka3u2d6hc8qsufavafk5slunk8816j2os@4ax.com...
> If he had tightened the connections in the panel and made sure all
> were tight, then where else would the problem have been that would
> make the entire circuit do dead?
>
> Is this typical of Federal Breakers?

There could be splices along the circuit, and any one miight be bad. I saw
this happen once when a wire nut fell off of a splice behind a receptacle,
which intermittently killed power to two rooms that were daisy chained from
there.

This is not typical of Federal Pacific breakers. Older ones are notorious
for a particular problem, but that involves failure to trip.

Ben miller
--
Benjamin D. Miller, PE
B. MILLER ENGINEERING
www.bmillerengineering.com

daestrom

2007-02-28, 8:25 pm

"Robert Bodling" <RobertBodling@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:rka3u2d6hc8qsufavafk5slunk8816j2os@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:47:16 -0500, "daestrom"
> <daestrom@NO_SPAM_HEREtwcny.rr.com> wrote:
>
> If he had tightened the connections in the panel and made sure all
> were tight, then where else would the problem have been that would
> make the entire circuit do dead?
>

Some circuits might be wired so the feeder into an outlet is under one set
of screws, and the feeder out under the other set of screws. So if the
first outlet has a loose screw, all the outlets downstream are affected.

Worked on one house where the living room outlets were acting up. Checked
the service panel and found nothing wrong. But between the living room and
service panel, was an *unused* outlet in a bedroom (don't know who wired
that place, it was nasty). When we pulled the child-proof safety cap off
the outlet (children's bedroom), the plastic prongs that fit into the outlet
were all melted/charred. Replaced the outlet, problem solved.

So it can be *any* receptacle or device in the string, not just the one
you're plugged in to.

be careful out there...

daestrom

> Is this typical of Federal Breakers?

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