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Electrical Help PLEASE: Random circuits not working

solarz

solarz

Member
Whats up IC Mag, i need some help QUICK!!!

Here's the deal. I have 4 circuits that are no working in my house. It is totally random (or at least i think so) because of the plugs that stopped working.

1) 2 circuits in the grow area aren't working, although one is still working properly. This is odd, because these are 3 separate circuits that were dropped by an electrical company specifically for its purpose. I have a 4 plug face plate, and there are 2 plugs on each circuit (the 4 plug plate has 2 separate circuits ran to it), and 2 of those plugs (one circuit) are working, while the other 2 plugs (separate circuit) aren't working.

2) The refrigerator isn't working, which is on its own 15amp breaker.

3) the washer isn't working, which is on its own 15 am breaker

Now i have already went to the panel, and flipped the individual circuits of each on that wasn't working...and that didn't work. I then flipped the main switch, and that still didn't work...so now here i am.

Someone PLEASE help me figure this out...the meat in my freezer is starting to thaw....and i'm not in a position to have someone out to look @ it. Thanks in advance. :thank you:

solarz
 
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dtfsux

Member
for starters make sure you turn the breaker off then back on.

I am not a sparkie but her are some random thoughts. Be very careful performing the following steps.

Remove the cover off the panel and see if you can see any loose connections. Tighten up any loose connections

If you have a multi-meter ( which you should, they are cheap enough), check voltage off the breaker from hot to neutral, and hot to ground, you should get roughly 120. If that checks out, then go to the outlets, and check the same thing, hot to neutral, and hot to ground. That should tell you if the problem is with the hot or neutral


Have you done any work recently, modification?

I dont know how to explain this, but I am wondering if you lost one side of the panel? That would mean the breakers in a zig zag formation would not be working. For example the 1st on the left, 2nd on the right,3rd on the left, 4th on the right would not be working.


Hopefully one of the sparkies gets here soon.
 
solarz

solarz

Member
Well...i'm not really that concerned with the shit in the freezer...more so why its happening, and how to fix it.
 
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dtfsux

Member
sorry heres another thought, if you lost one side of the panel, anything 240 probably wouldnt work. Try turning something 240 on such as a stove, AC, dryer. Not only turn it on, but make sure it heats up, cools etc, the display probably runs on 120 so it may appear to turn on, but may not work properly
 
solarz

solarz

Member
ok, sorry...i just saw the edit.

Well, i'm not sure about the whole losing half of the panel. EVERYTHING else works, except those circuits...and their placement wouldn't fall inline to what you described in your post.

Also, i haven't done any mods/updates to the room, or the house. This just randomly happened.
 
G

grow nerd

I would make some quick meat-based meal plans.

Hope your cooking appliances aren't electric.
 
boolmag

boolmag

Member
dtfsux said:
I dont know how to explain this, but I am wondering if you lost one side of the panel? That would mean the breakers in a zig zag formation would not be working. For example the 1st on the left, 2nd on the right,3rd on the left, 4th on the right would not be working.
Click to expand...

Not likely but possible based on your description of the problem...You'll need a meter regardless, start at the incoming line connection & keep checking downstream you'll find it eventually...
 
solarz

solarz

Member
Ok, now to your last post....the dryer works, but the washer doesnt work. It seems like everything on the same side as the fridge (the stove, range/light above stove, plugs, etc) isn't working. Some are 120v plugs...and i'm assuming the stove/oven and fridge are 240, although i'm not positive.
 
solarz

solarz

Member
dtfsux said:
If you have a multi-meter ( which you should, they are cheap enough), check voltage off the breaker from hot to neutral, and hot to ground, you should get roughly 120. If that checks out, then go to the outlets, and check the same thing, hot to neutral, and hot to ground. That should tell you if the problem is with the hot or neutral
Click to expand...

Can you elaborate more on this? I don't have a meter, but i can run to lowes/home depot to get one and give this a try. Also, could you tell me exactly what type of meter i should get? Thanks in advance.
 
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dtfsux

Member
I thought I read somewhere here recently where a main breaker went bad and caused the same issue.

Just trying to throw out ideas to help the OP.

It seems like it has to be something in common with all of them to cause 4 circuits to go out. Especially the washer and fridge, since those were probably existing circuits and never touched when the new circuits were added.

You need that multi-meter
 
G

grow nerd

Oh yeah besides making emergency dinner plan changes, a non-contact voltage sensor is pretty handy to have around for these types of situations. Very quick trouble-shooting.

Let me know if you have more steak than you can finish before the fridge works again; I'll come over for dinner.
 
D

dtfsux

Member
I think HD sells one line. I got a clamp meter and it was like 70 but I was running a big op and I wanted to check current/amperage.

I think you just need a basic meter that does AC/DC, and continuity. Those can be had for like $20-30.

Please be very careful. I am hesitant to post this, but you seem to be in a bind.

The hot comes off the breaker, where the screw is. When the breaker is on, that screw is hot.

Neutral bar is where all the white wires go. If you have two bars with white wires (not sure if you would), use either one.

Ground is where all the bare wires attach to.

Put the meter on AC, put one lead on the breaker screw, one on the neutral (white) bar. you should get 120ish

if that doesnt work, take the lead off the neutral bar, and move it to the ground bar. You should get 120ish.

If you dont, then the problem is with the breaker or something before it


Depending on the panel, you should have TWO big wires coming in to feed those breakers, one goes to each side. You can put the meter on each lug and get 240


BE VERY CAREFUL IN THAT PANEL. I have done it a 100 times and electricians do it daily. But we are comfortable and know hot to do it.
 
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dybert

Active member
Hey, I'm just gonna chime in here. I recently had some of the same types of problems, and just had it resolved. In my case, the main breaker was bad, and I was losing one of the buses (one of the 120V rails on the panel).

Like other people have said, it would be something like a zig zag pattern... but this varies panel to panel.

One way to test if this is the case... is to undo 2 circuits, 1 that works and 1 that doesn't. Plug the one that works into the breaker of the one that doesn't. If it still doesn't work, that breaker is not energizing the circuit. Likewise, if the one that doesn't work, DOES work on another breaker, that means its the breaker not the circuit... If the circuit doesn't work on a known good breaker, there's a problem in the wiring.
 
solarz

solarz

Member
grow nerd said:
Oh yeah besides making emergency dinner plan changes, a non-contact voltage sensor is pretty handy to have around for these types of situations. Very quick trouble-shooting.

Let me know if you have more steak than you can finish before the fridge works again; I'll come over for dinner.
Click to expand...

Is this the same thing that DTF is referring to? Or are these different devices?
 
G

grow nerd

No. The one I'm referring to is a pen-type device (usually) and goes for $10 or less at Home Depot.

With that you can quickly see what's hot and what's not without touching anything.
 
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