|
| Ek's Home | Forum | Chat | Electrical Links | |
| Subject - No power on the whole second floor! | |
| k9ninja43 | I am not an electrician. I have had some experience, and some training at a local union as an apprentice. But that was all commercial, and new construction. Anyway's, it's mom's house. It's an OLD house. Old wiring. Don't know if this makes a big difference. In this case, and past experience, ya know what I've noticed about a lot of old houses? They're wired in reverse. Meaning, when you pull a receptacle out of the wall, the neutral is wired to the hot side of the receptacle, or the "short slot." And when your having a problem as it is, that does NOT help. Especially, when ya been trained for "modern" wiring! At any rate, first things first. I checked the circuit breakers. None were tripped. I flipped them all off and back on with authority. Then, I tested them with a circuit tester for juice. Putting the probes AFTER the breakers, where the wire leads to it's appointed branches. ALL were hot! So now, I figure I gotta figure out where the feed enters the second floor. Whether it be an oulet or a light. You'd of thought it would have been that outlet directly over that panel 2 floors below! NOT! Just so happens, that particular outlet hasn't worked for a long time. Anyways, I took a few outlets apart, with no luck. I opened up a ceiling light. Put a black and white wire together for continuity test. Got lucky. Went to the basement, and the wires lit up. So NOW I know this is the feed to the 2nd fl. Now! I unscrew the hot wire from the circuit breaker and touch it directly to the hot bar in the panel. That particular breaker was very rusty and corroded, even though it passed the hot test, when it WAS hooked up. Gonna replace it anyway, in case that could be the problem, and it needs replacing ANYway. But I'm really confused. This particular branch is now touching the hot bar DIRECTLY. But STILL, no power on the second floor. You would think there must be a break in the line some where. But remember that continuity test? Doesn't that prove there's no break in the wire? HELP!!!!!!! Daniel |
| JimmyDee | quote: Do NOT ever do this. The wire leaving the panel is now not protected and you could cause a fire. I think you need help from someone with some more training in this area. Jim |
| cs409 | call an electrician...please.....feel free to visit us often, read our post, and ask questions etc...but u do need some professional help as JimmyDee stated....thanks |
| David Hyatt | If you decided to proceed with this trouble shooting, don't count on the continuity test, it could have been reading through a light bulb. I assume no ground, maybe you can use a voltage tester beeper, to determine if you have a hot and losing a neutral somewhere. Find what all is on that circuit and back track from there. Please don't put a wire on the buss anymore, it could get you hurt. This is all the info I can give without putting this forum in jeopardy. Good luck. |
| k9ninja43 | quote: Ok, I won't do it no more. Nothin' happened, no fire, no sparks, no nothin'. And still no electricity. The help thing, not gonna happen. Expensive electricians, definitely now gonna happen. Now...with my continuity test, I've traced where the power comes in from the basement, and where all the lights and receptacles get fed, and what order. There should be no reason why there's no electricity in those wires, which happen to be comin' in through a light fixture, and is connected to every thing else on the floor. For this branch, I took the neutral off the neutral bar, and the hot wire of the hot bar, and put em' together. Went to the second floor, and touched the continuity light to the particular branch comin' directly from the panel in the basement. It lights up brightly. Proving there are not breaks in the wires, and also that it IS in fact the branch that feeds the upstairs. But when connected to the panel (THROUGH the circuit breaker), there is no power entering the second floor. Remember, the circuit tester shows juice AFTER going through the breaker. I wish someone could explain this. This is "twilight zone" material. |
| k9ninja43 | I guess everybody is stumped, huh? Thanks anyway. |
| wireman | Maybe you should try to replace the device in the outlet directly above the panel. sometimes the device can short and not transfer energy down the line. |
| SFIconsulting | i am not an electrician, just a recruiter for them, sorry.. |
| k9ninja43 | The device directly above the panel doesn't figure in to the equation. It is not connected. Hasn't been for years. Not to mention, it happens to be one of the "dead end" receptacles. At the present time, there is an "supposed" electrician checking into it. He's tracing lines, opening up "wall switches." I've everybody traced the lines, and know exactly where power enters the second floor, and where it branches of too, AND in what order. I just wasn't there to explain to HIM, I had all this figured out already. Too make a long story short, he's stumped, too. He'll be back monday. According to mom, he didn't have the tools he needed. He asked HER if SHE had a certain type of "screwdriver." Go figure. |
| wireman | Sounds like there's a damaged wire in the circut. I just fixed a short circuit in a house where the netural came loose form a recep terminal. the stripped part of the wire was almost completely melted away. |
| k9ninja43 | See, that's what's puzzling. I found the wires that feed the whole upstairs coming from the panel in the basement, by doing the continuity light test. Doesn't that prove there's no break in the wire itself? I guess it's possible that these wires COULD feed something on the first floor, and continue up to the second floor. Meaning, the problem with lie in that device on the 1st floor. Although, everything seems to be working on the 1st fl. Maybe there's an outlet somewhere not being used, or the appliance that may be plugged IN to it, is not on. Hmm, that's a thought. Time to do somemore investigating. Whudda ya think? |
| Scott Vickrey | This topic is locked and marked for removal because of it's DIY content which is a violation of the rules of this forum. This forum is not here to help people avoid hiring a qualified electrician. |