electric question?

[Guest]

Talking about home's electric system... the electric box, circuits, etc...

I've been losing power off and on today in my house but only on half the circuits or so... the other half have not gone out once...

I asked my landlord why and they said its because its on a seperate phase?

Supposedly the energy company is having outages because of a storm going on, is it possible for only half the circuits to lose power on the house? And does this phase thing sound legit??

 

[Guest]

Yes except if you are in the US all residences are single phase divided into two legs.Its quite possible to lose a leg of your service,it's not unusual.In the US services are 120/240V single phase 3 wire services.Most commercial and industrial services are three phase.There is no two phase,single phase and three phase.

 

[MTF-Sandman]

You also might want to have the power provider check your connections at the pole and on your side of the powerhead...I had a friend who's common line had a bad connection at the pole and it caused him all kinds of problems.

 

[Guest]

Thats possible but in most every case where I've lost a leg in a single phase residence,it was because the main breaker at the service entrance or in the disconnect if main lug service went bad on one side.

 

[MTF-Sandman]

^^That's another option...could easily be the main breaker.

 

[Guest]

you guys are good! you keep this up, i won't even have to open my mouth around here anymore to help.
it's so nice to see the people who actually know what they're talking about to chime in with correct answers.

 

[Guest]

No dont go anywhere Thorodee,we still need someone around still working with their tools,shit changes!I've seen your posts,I may have a card that says I'm a journeyman but you have more practical experience I get the feeling.Though its been 25 years doin this its been sporadic,so dont you go anywhere!EDIT I havent worked with my tools now for six glorious years now but don't tell anyone ssshhhhh..

 

[2buds]

I'd start with the main breaker too. If turning it off then on fixes it, sounds like you need a new main installed. If not, you got connection issues outside. The power company should skip right over to fix it since your only using half as much as you could. The more juice ya use the more they make. Build them big, pay your bill and everyone is happy.
Peace

 

[Guest]

Well to be honest Im just even more confused now than I was before...

What exactly is a phase or whatever? And I didnt get what you were saying... is it possible for a house to have multiple phases? So only one phase loses power and the other doesn't???

We're supposed to have backup power with the city... I am in that 'zone' of the city... why would it not work... why would the power just shut off?

To be honest I think someone is switching off my circuit on the breaker, because its a multi-family home.

 

[Guest]

OK its just semantics bro,consider the two phases coming into your home to give you 240V.If you use only 1 phase and a netral it gives you 120V.You must have overcurrent protection on all circuitry,the branch circuits throught your house have individual breakers for overcurrent protection,but the entire system(service)must also be protected from overcurrent.In most cases,this is the main breaker at the top or bottom of the main panel,kill that and you kill all power to the house.If only 1 side of this main breaker fails,you will have power to 1 phase and no power to the other phase.This doesnt mean exactly half of your circuitry dies unless your panel is perfectly balanced,it does mean you will lose power in places that seem totally non interconnected though.It can be cornfusing when you lose the receptacles but not the lights,and if properly wired this is common since power and lighting should be on seperate circuits.In some cases,the main panel in the house is whats called a main lug panel,it contains no main breaker.In these cases there must be a disconnect between the meter and the main panel,that is your service disconnect.So I feel your problem will be that,the breaker controlling power to the house and it can only be in two places,in the main panel or in a disconnect by the meter.Note in older installations fuses may be present instead of a main breaker,this is common in disconnects by the meter but not common in main panels.In this case instead of the whole breaker needing to be replaced only 1 fuse needs to be replaced.If fuses are used,you'll need to determine which fuse is bad.

 

[Guest]

Ummmmmm lol

I understand better but your better off not trying to explain more, im dumb hehe

i just wanted to know it was possible, and not someone fuckin with my circuits, now i know, sweet

 

[Guest]

You need to start smokin weed from the planet earth bro lol