Electrical help.....House wiring

[Pappy]

Flipped teh switch to the bathroom lighst and they went out.

No fuses or breakers tripped, hit the reset buttons on all plugs..still dead

Any suggestions?

[300ex_#387]

The bulbs. Duh.

[Pappy]

replaced the bulbs, and the outlets do not work as well

[300ex_#387]

Originally posted by Pappy
replaced the bulbs, and the outlets do not work as well

Well I didn't figure it was the bulbs I was just messing with you. Hope somone else can help.

[LTandRaptorider]

Originally posted by 300ex_#387
The bulbs. Duh.

What I was thinking... But figured I'd let some other smart-*** say it! :D

You said you checker breakers... I was about to suggest checking if there is a GFCI breaker for the bath plugs. Otherwise, was there wiring done recently? If bulbs are ok, and GFI outlets checked, and you don't have GFI breakers in the breaker panel... Has to be a wiring issue. If only the bathroom is affected, then check wiring at the switch then the light. Maybe loose neutral wire... Sometimes if someone uses the screw on the side of outlets or switches to attach the wires, they don't tighten them enough. Anyway, grab your volt meter and start testing.

[fastredrider44]

Lemme make sure I'm getting this right. Anything controlled by the switch lost power, or the whole bathroom lost power?

[insaneracin2003]

Ken, Is it just in the bathroom??
I had the same thing happen to me a few years back. I turned off the main breaker coming into the house but you prolly don't need to do that. Try flipping the breakers that are for that particular area of the house. I had a breaker trip that didn't actually go back to the neutral position so it looked as if it was good still. I just flipped all of the on then off and it fixed my problem. I did call an electrician out and he had to replace the breaker. The breaker would not stay in the on position after I tripped it.

[Pappy]

Cody threw the light switch and they came on and then right out. We thought it just blew the bulbs but they did not work afetr replacing them

Checked every fuse, reset every thing, even threw the main box just to see...nothing

Odd thing is, dual switch has light and then the fan....fan runs but no lights or outlets

[insaneracin2003]

Originally posted by Pappy
Cody threw the light switch and they came on and then right out. We thought it just blew the bulbs but they did not work afetr replacing them

Checked every fuse, reset every thing, even threw the main box just to see...nothing

Odd thing is, dual switch has light and then the fan....fan runs but no lights or outlets
hhmmm, I would get a tester and test the switch. could be a faulty switch lever on the light side.

[Pappy]

Loose ground on the switch...all is well now..thanks!!!!!

[smr]

Originally posted by Pappy
Loose ground on the switch...all is well now..thanks!!!!!

Hang on Ken...all is not well. Your lights and rec should not be grounding through your switch. All the ground does is bound the circuit just incase something shorts out so it will trip the breaker. (has nothting to do with it working or not) If you tightened a ground and things started working then you've lost the neutrel somewhere and it feeding back to the panel box vei the ground wire. If that is the case then you have no protecion if something shorts out. Are you sure you tightened a ground?

[Pappy]

Nope, but it was loose haha

[smr]

what color was it...if you want you can call me and I'll talk you through it.

[Pappy]

No clue:p looking at the switch, it was deffinatley the cause.

[deathman53]

switches and outlets need to be grounded on the metal frame, either by a metal box that it screws into(only switch) or the metal frame of the device. It doesn't matter for most things in homes what is grounded together. Its only in mostly commercial/industrial w/ 3 phase, motors and fluorescent lights that a isolated ground going connected to the ground of the specific device and NOT grounded to the metal frame or metal box, but a separate ground lug on the device. It can only go to this device back to the main panel also. This is required because motors, 3 phase and fluorescent lights can send pulses through the ground and damge sensitive computer boards. New electrical code says that most new installations in homes requires a arch-fault for MOST outlets and a gfci for any outlet in the kitchen, counter-tops, gargage, unfinished basement, outside. Lights in gfci required areas don't need to be gfci'd unless with-in 8' or 10' of a water source, this applies to any light thats within a 8-10' of a water source in any part of the house.

[deathman53]

Originally posted by smr
Hang on Ken...all is not well. Your lights and rec should not be grounding through your switch. All the ground does is bound the circuit just incase something shorts out so it will trip the breaker. (has nothting to do with it working or not) If you tightened a ground and things started working then you've lost the neutrel somewhere and it feeding back to the panel box vei the ground wire. If that is the case then you have no protecion if something shorts out. Are you sure you tightened a ground?

you are wrong here, the ground and neutral are separate wire after the panel and aren't connected together after it. The ground should in no-way conduct electricity unless the outlet is mis-wired or something is wrong with the cord and/or device you are plugging in. If you are using a sub-panel(no main breaker in the panel) that the breaker is connected to, the ground and neutral are already separated.

[deathman53]

Originally posted by Pappy
No clue:p looking at the switch, it was deffinatley the cause.

that sounds right, if you had a loose ground wire on a switch, it could touch the "output" terminal from the switch, causing the circuit to trip. This is most often happening with a switch over switch or multi switching device(3-4 switches in one device), as the ground is often very close to the power input/output terminals.

[KAWIRYDER]

deathman53 I am also an electrician and that was an excellent explanation, nice work. I also thought maybe the dual switch may be damaged and when he tightened the ground it may have cause the poor connection to work. Its hard to make a diagnosis when your not actually looking at it.

[Pappy]

It was easily seen, not sure why it loosened (kids running down the hall etc) but its fixed. If it hadnt been so easily seen I would have been making a call, I aint no electrician:blah:

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by Pappy
I aint no electrician:blah:

Don't worry Ken ... I ain't either . I ain't much of a carpenter either.

I can't cut and measure chit .... and I don't trust myself with electricity ... so I keep carpenters and electricians in business. :p

[Pappy]

My dad was a jack of all trades. He could do it all. I grew up on the farm and in his welding shop but by the time I was old enough to do alot of the stuff he considered dangerous (wiring, chain saws etc) he was ate up with cancer so I was never taught much on that stuff.

I was running a chop saw, presses, welding and what not by the time I was 12, run any piece of equipment on the farm etc....not really sure why he never let me do the other stuff:p

[Quad18star]

My grandfather was that type also. Actually he was an electrician by trade ... but never certified ... although he did work for everyone around the town.

I take after my dad ... both of us can't nail two boards together .. although my dad is a LITTLE bit better at electrical than I am. For all my carpentry or electrical needs I either call my buddy ( industrial electrician) or Mel's dad . He's a carpenter and knows his electrical stuff. In fact I had him change a light fixture for me the last time he was here ... it only sat in the box for 4 years before he installed it. LOL:p

[smr]

Originally posted by deathman53
you are wrong here, the ground and neutral are separate wire after the panel and aren't connected together after it. The ground should in no-way conduct electricity unless the outlet is mis-wired or something is wrong with the cord and/or device you are plugging in. If you are using a sub-panel(no main breaker in the panel) that the breaker is connected to, the ground and neutral are already separated.

I'm sorry if you miss understood me but that is what I was trying to say. The ground doesn't carry anything and the only way that should have fixed it is if the nuetral was shorted and it feed back through the ground. If he tightened a ground and it fixed the problem then he has a much bigger problem. I've been doing this for over 25 years and that should not have fixed the problem because the ground doesn't do anything in normal conditions, it is only there for a safety to trip the breaker.

[mxduner]

Originally posted by Pappy


I was running a chop saw, presses, welding and what not by the time I was 12, run any piece of equipment on the farm etc....not really sure why he never let me do the other stuff:p yea, times like these kinda makes ya wonder:D

[Pappy]

Oh well...I do miss him.

I kind of envisioned him retiring (yeah right) and spending some time teaching me more but it wasnt meant to be. Kind of funny the things you forget to ask....would love just 10 minutes more to ask a few more questions:p