The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: franksolich on October 24, 2013, 12:28:23 AM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018502977
Oh my.
NewJeffCT (36,500 posts) Tue Oct 22, 2013, 07:10 PM
Electrical Question
I'm going to consult an expert first, but wanted to see if anybody could give me an idea of what's happening:
I was changing a light bulb in the bathroom and the whole bathroom went dark. So, I went downstairs and flipped the circuit breaker and the main light in the middle of the room went on, but when I flipped the switch for the lights over the vanities, the whole room went dark again. So, I reflipped the circuit breaker and the light in the middle of the room went back on, but the lights over the vanities still aren't working. (If I flip the switch for the vanity lights, the whole room goes dark again.) So, it seems the circuit breaker is okay, right? So, what could be causing the problem? Bad wiring somewhere? Or, is the circuit breaker faulty?
The vanities are on opposite sides of the bathroom, while the main light is on the ceiling between them.
NYC_SKP (54,007 posts) Tue Oct 22, 2013, 07:19 PM
1. Bad switch or bad wiring at the vanity light. Could be breaker but unlikely.
Removing the lamps (bulbs) from each fixture and then testing one-by-one could narrow it down to one fixture or, if it blows the circuit no matter where the bulb is, to the switch.
Circuit breakers rarely go bad.
Also, it's kind of hard to tell without knowing your switching diagram: are all the lamps controlled by the same single switch?
Is it by any chance a three-way switch (controllable from two different wall switches)?
Note to Conservative Cavers: Yes, I'm also an electrician, ya assholes.
Callmecrazy (1,274 posts) Tue Oct 22, 2013, 07:59 PM
4. Another Electrician here...
I agree with NYC SKP for the most part. Breakers do go bad in very damp or very dusty environments.
But it's not the breaker.
You may have shorted the lamp socket when you removed the old bulb. It happens.
It's not the switch either.
Take out the new bulb and turn on the light. If it lights, it's a shitty bulb made in China. Try another. If another bulb trips the breaker, it may be the fixture.
First:
Make sure the vanity light switch is off.
Then:
Open the fixture that has the bad bulb.
Disconnect the black wire coming out of the wall and cap the end off with the wire nut.
Turn on the switch.
If the other vanity light goes on and the breaker holds, you have found your problem.
NewJeffCT (36,500 posts) Tue Oct 22, 2013, 08:16 PM
5. well, after the initial power outage in the room
and the first reset of the circuit breaker, I changed the bulb on the offending light above the vanity and left it out and when I flipped the vanity light switch, the whole room went dark again... I then tried putting a new bulb back into the vanity light and retried it again, and the vanity light switch again caused the whole room to go dark again. (so, I've been up & down the stairs a lot today...)
Unfortunately, when I tried taking the bulb out of the vanity light this time, I think I also broke the vanity light.
Callmecrazy (1,274 posts) Tue Oct 22, 2013, 08:28 PM
6. Well here's what I (a professional) would do:
Follow the directions in my previous post and disconnect the offending fixture. I'm assuming it worked fine before you changed the bulb. If the other vanity light works, you have found the culprit.
If you haven't touched the other vanity light it is not likely the problem.
Bathroom vanity light are very pretty and useful, but they aren't very durable and are made from very cheap parts. You likely damaged the socket when you removed the old bulb and caused a short in the fixture.
I really doubt the problem is anywhere else.
Just make sure when you remove the fixture that you cap off the black and the white wires coming out of the wall so nobody gets hurt.
This is the best advice I can give with the limited information I have to work with.
NewJeffCT (36,500 posts) Tue Oct 22, 2013, 09:39 PM
12. Thanks
Part of the problem is that there are two vanity lights, one over one sink on the left wall of the bathroom, another over the other sink on the right wall of the bathroom. (see my picture above - two light sets like that). All of those lights went out, as well as the main light. When I flipped the breaker, the main light went back on both sets of vanity lights stayed out. I've tried the "offending" light socket with two different new bulbs in it as well as with no bulb, and all 8 vanity lights (4 bulbs on each side) don't work. It just seemed odd to me that the main light is on, but both sets of vanity lights stay out.
BlueStreak (5,366 posts) Tue Oct 22, 2013, 09:04 PM
9. Completely off topic, but as an electrician, you will appreciate this one
Last summer, I had a really peculiar electrical problem. I had a circuit that had only a dehumidifier plugged in. It started working intermittently. Because the breaker never tripped, I figured that had to be a problem in the dehumidifier. But I moved that to another circuit and it worked perfectly.
I put other things on the bad circuit and they worked fine. What is going on here?
The dehumidifier might work for 10 minutes and then the circuit would be dead.
I figured the CB must be going bad even though it never tripped. My wife will let me work in the gang boxes, but she won't let me open up the main CB box because she's afraid I'll burn the house down. So I called out my electrician. It ended up being a loose wire going into the CB. As long as it was cold, it completed the circuit, but as it warmed up, it moved just enough to open the circuit.
Good thing because that was an expensive CB -- not the kind you can buy at the hardware store.
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NewJeffCT (36,500 posts) Wed Oct 23, 2013, 12:12 PM
13. UPDATE
a friend of mine that is pretty handy also mentioned resetting the GFI switch in the bathroom to see if that works. He said he's gone chasing electrical problems a few times in the past and all he needed to do was hit the reset button...
So, I tried that and it worked (one light on the vanity lights is not working.)
BlueStreak (5,366 posts) Wed Oct 23, 2013, 12:42 PM
15. Please replace that whole fixture
You may have a dangerous situation there.
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SKP shouts out to the cave!
NYC_SKP (54,007 posts) Tue Oct 22, 2013, 07:19 PM
1. Bad switch or bad wiring at the vanity light. Could be breaker but unlikely.
Removing the lamps (bulbs) from each fixture and then testing one-by-one could narrow it down to one fixture or, if it blows the circuit no matter where the bulb is, to the switch.
Circuit breakers rarely go bad.
Also, it's kind of hard to tell without knowing your switching diagram: are all the lamps controlled by the same single switch?
Is it by any chance a three-way switch (controllable from two different wall switches)?
Note to Conservative Cavers: Yes, I'm also an electrician, ya assholes.
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SKP shouts out to the cave!
I don't believe it, not for one minute.
<<<wasn't born yesterday.
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NYC_SKP (54,007 posts) Tue Oct 22, 2013, 07:19 PM
Note to Conservative Cavers: Yes, I'm also an electrician, ya assholes.
Yeah, right. :lol:
DUmmie NewJeffCT has some wires crossed/touching somewhere.
Why else would setting one breaker trip both! :hammer:
Probably in a GFCI outlet. Those things are a pain in the ASS!
Note to DUmbasses, I'm NOT an electrician, but I know wiring. My specialty was automated feeding equipment used on farms. I'd rather do the work myself, and do it RIGHT, than pay someone who's only qualification over me is he has a f'n piece of paper from some f'n bureaucrat.
Knowing what I do for myself and my friends takes money out of the pocket of morons like DUmmie skippy and his f'n union makes me very happy. :-)
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"Circuit breakers rarely go bad." That right there tells me he ain't no electrician!
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"Circuit breakers rarely go bad." That right there tells me he ain't no electrician!
That he didn't immediately ask about checking & resetting the bathroom's GFCI tells me he is no electrician. - or at best an electrician I wouldn't ever hire. If the short tripped the breaker, it certainly tripped the GFCI along the way.
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Why would a DUmmie want, or even need a vanity light? :???:
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SKP shouts out to the cave!
NYC_SKP, the San Francisco Treat
Note to Conservative Cavers: Yes, I'm also an electrician, ya assholes.
One of the subjects just noticed the anthropologists.
(http://sathiyam.tv/english/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/chimpanzees.jpg)
News flash for ya, Skippy. Sticking a light bulb in your ass doesn't make you a lamp, much less an electrician.
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The DUmmie needs to wedge something into the breaker box to keep the circuit breaker from tripping. The problem will eventually resolve itself. :whistling:
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The DUmmie needs to wedge something into the breaker box to keep the circuit breaker from tripping. The problem will eventually resolve itself. :whistling:
Exactly what I was thinking, remove CB and insert Brass or Aluminum rod. Presto! no need to constantly be running up and down all those stairs.
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The DUmmie needs to wedge something into the breaker box to keep the circuit breaker from tripping. The problem will eventually resolve itself. :whistling:
Yes. Yes, they do. And I wish Skinner would hurry up and set up the Dead DUmmies forum so that we could link to those resolutions. :fuelfire:
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NYC_SKP
Note to Conservative Cavers: Yes, I'm also an electrician, ya assholes.
Oh please.
You libs have already demonstrated that you can't even tie your own shoes without a 50,000 page gov't directive explaining to you how, so don't give me this "I know how to..." nonsense. The *only* thing you know how to do instinctively is mooch off others.
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Oh please.
You libs have already demonstrated that you can't even tie your own shoes without a 50,000 page gov't directive explaining to you how, so don't give me this "I know how to..." nonsense.
The reason I disbelieve this "I'm an electrician" nonsense is because of his maddenly-condescending manner towards those Skippy obviously feels himself superior.
<<<has never met a condescending electrician in life.
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Electrical Question
I'm going to consult an expert first, but wanted to see if anybody could give me an idea of what's happening:
1. Lick finger
2. Stick in socket
3. See what happens
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1. Lick finger
2. Stick in socket
3. See what happens
It's far better to stick your tongue in the suspect socket.
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"Circuit breakers rarely go bad." That right there tells me he ain't no electrician!
No shit. I don't know how many I've replaced at work in the last year alone.
Of course, idiots like him figure it's better to test a circuit by energizing it than by using a meter on it. Dumbasses.
Yo, Skippy! Since you're an electrician, I'm sure you and I can have an awesome conversation over NFPA70E one of these days, right?
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Easier solution.
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SKP shouts out to the cave!
Yeah, he's a little touchy lately..I think Coach hurt his feelings. :bawl:
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1. Lick finger
2. Stick in socket
3. See what happens
His finger might be dirty. He could remove his socks and stand in the bath tub.
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I herby denounce Skippy as a bully. His shout out to innocent Cavers has caused me to temper my comments. I shall, however, carry on in spite of his browbeating.
Skippy is a fag, I have never met a fag electrician. ,
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Yeah, the breaker tripping instantly is usually indicative of a pretty HARD fault, even when dealing with a 15 amp breaker.
Of course, none of those idiots have apparently ever done any troubleshooting, etc. Yo, SKP? Ever heard of "ringing out" a circuit?
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No shit. I don't know how many I've replaced at work in the last year alone.
Of course, idiots like him figure it's better to test a circuit by energizing it than by using a meter on it. Dumbasses.
Yo, Skippy! Since you're an electrician, I'm sure you and I can have an awesome conversation over NFPA70E one of these days, right?
I got a hundred that says the DUchebag does not know what NFPA means with out nadining it. The first project I had after getting my BSME was to redesign and repackage a 200KW power distribution box for power hog of a machine. NFPA79 was my guide book.
My guess is it is a dead short to neutral or gnd and could be troubleshot in two minutes at the socket.
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Hey DUmmies, like the rock song says, "Everything's better when wet." Go for it!
:popcorn:
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I got a hundred that says the DUchebag does not know what NFPA means with out nadining it. The first project I had after getting my BSME was to redesign and repackage a 200KW power distribution box for power hog of a machine. NFPA79 was my guide book.
My guess is it is a dead short to neutral or gnd and could be troubleshot in two minutes at the socket.
Or someone decided to do a little home wiring and nutted hot to neutral. And yeah...I'd disconnect the wiring to the lights at the switch and go from there. Have these idiots ever heard of "half-splitting"?
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I herby denounce Skippy as a bully. His shout out to innocent Cavers has caused me to temper my comments. I shall, however, carry on in spite of his browbeating.
Skippy is a fag, I have never met a fag electrician. ,
They put things in sockets that really don't need to have things stuck in. :whistling:
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Or someone decided to do a little home wiring and nutted hot to neutral. And yeah...I'd disconnect the wiring to the lights at the switch and go from there. Have these idiots ever heard of "half-splitting"?
I wired a 250V, 50 amp, single phase control box for a silo unloader for a farmer back in 1993. There were 3 wires, white, black, and green.
I wired the white and black wires to the contacts, the green went to the ground lug in the box.
Motor wouldn't start, acted like it was running on low voltage, and the box would KNOCK THE PISS OUT OF YOU!!!
Pulled the cover off the breaker box, black and GREEN wires were hot, white was ground!!!
Now I know where DUmmie skippy was 20 years ago!!! :rotf:
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I wired a 250V, 50 amp, single phase control box for a silo unloader for a farmer back in 1993. There were 3 wires, white, black, and green.
I wired the white and black wires to the contacts, the green went to the ground lug in the box.
Motor wouldn't start, acted like it was running on low voltage, and the box would KNOCK THE PISS OUT OF YOU!!!
Pulled the cover off the breaker box, black and GREEN wires were hot, white was ground!!!
Now I know where DUmmie skippy was 20 years ago!!! :rotf:
We have a customer that installs grain bins and the associated driers. Every so often they send in a shipment of single phase motors to be checked out. There have been a bunch of them that either had a capacitor wire or a motor lead connected to the green grounding screw. These are brand new, still in the box motors from Mexico.
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Note to Conservative Cavers: Yes, I'm also an electrician, ya assholes.
NYC_SKP knew Ohm's law before congress passed it.
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"Circuit breakers rarely go bad." That right there tells me he ain't no electrician!
Yep!!!! I ain't no electrician but dad was and I have worked with him since I was old enough to hand him tools. I learned a few things and the first thing you learn is to check the service first. Any electrician worth his salt carries spare breakers for every service box you might encounter. Now dad was good... he could usually tell if the breaker was bad by fooling it with it a little bit. If it was a trailer, mobile home, whatever you wanna call them... built in the late 70's, he would check the connection to the wire/breaker first. He said they all had aluminum wiring. 9 times out of 10, if it was a trailer, it was nothing more than tightening it down. Now if that wasn't the case and he suspected it was the breaker... out to the truck went my ass to get whatever brand of breaker he required. Breaker changed, lights on, all good, get paid and go home. Lights not on, out come the meter.
When the meter come out, you knew you was gonna be there for an hour or so. :cheersmate: :cheersmate:
I always enjoyed working with Dad when I was growing up. Paid your ass well just to hand him tools. You just had to make sure whatever tool he wanted you got it in less than 6 seconds. And you was gonna go out in all kinds of weather at night whenever he got an after hours call.
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Yep!!!! I ain't no electrician but dad was and I have worked with him since I was old enough to hand him tools. I learned a few things and the first thing you learn is to check the service first. Any electrician worth his salt carries spare breakers for every service box you might encounter. Now dad was good... he could usually tell if the breaker was bad by fooling it with it a little bit. If it was a trailer, mobile home, whatever you wanna call them... built in the late 70's, he would check the connection to the wire/breaker first. He said they all had aluminum wiring. 9 times out of 10, if it was a trailer, it was nothing more than tightening it down. Now if that wasn't the case and he suspected it was the breaker... out to the truck went my ass to get whatever brand of breaker he required. Breaker changed, lights on, all good, get paid and go home. Lights not on, out come the meter.
When the meter come out, you knew you was gonna be there for an hour or so. :cheersmate: :cheersmate:
I always enjoyed working with Dad when I was growing up. Paid your ass well just to hand him tools. You just had to make sure whatever tool he wanted you got it in less than 6 seconds. And you was gonna go out in all kinds of weather at night whenever he got an after hours call.
My Dad and I made many "after hour" calls to fix something electrical.
Only thing was, WE NEVER LEFT THE FARM!!! :rotf:
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My Dad and I made many "after hour" calls to fix something electrical.
Only thing was, WE NEVER LEFT THE FARM!!! :rotf:
Aw shit DD!!! You just reminded me of the dreaded Grandpa Perky after hours call. That was an hour and half drive up to Liberty and I didn't get a damned cent out of it. And it seemed like it was always 10 freaking degrees and 1 in the morning when that happened. By the time we got home, it was time for the morning paper route and then school. Then b-ball practice after school, then afternoon paper route.
Then it never freaking failed... he called again!
Thanks DD. You just ruined my memories. Just kidding. :-) :-)
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Aw shit DD!!! You just reminded me of the dreaded Grandpa Perky after hours call. That was an hour and half drive up to Liberty and I didn't get a damned cent out of it. And it seemed like it was always 10 freaking degrees and 1 in the morning when that happened. By the time we got home, it was time for the morning paper route and then school. Then b-ball practice after school, then afternoon paper route.
Then it never freaking failed... he called again!
Thanks DD. You just ruined my memories. Just kidding. :-) :-)
Sad part is, I know where Liberty IS! On WV 34 between Kenna and Red House.
Right outside Paradise, a place so small, the "Welcome To" and "Y'all Come Back" signs are on the same post!!!
:lmao:
And yes, something always breaks down at 1:00am, in subfreezing weather, usually raining/snowing, and you don't quit/eat until those cows get fed, even if you have to do it BY HAND! Back up at 4:00 to milk and feed again, then off to school, back home, milk/feed, homework, shower, bed. Start all over again the next day.
Sundays were special. Didn't have school, homework! :rotf:
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Sad part is, I know where Liberty, WV, IS! On WV 34 between Kenna and Red House.
Right outside Paradise, a place so small, the "Welcome To" and "Y'all Come Back" signs are on the same post!!! :lmao:
Fun road ain't it DD? Especially coming up the hill.. or down... on the Kanawha River side down to 25 where it becomes 34. Especially you driving a large truck. Ain't too bad once you get up there on top of Red House Hill... until you get past Confidence.
Paradise is small... along with Confidence and others. Only reason I know there IS a Confidence was cause Dad's 67 Ford F100 had a fuel hose pop off the fuel pump and Dad pulled off the side of the road. Right there as plain as day was a sign that said "Welcome to Confidence. Please don't litter." I looked around and there was absolutely nothing there except a grade school up on a hill in the distance and this little wide red clay shoulder that we stopped on.
I figured we was in for a damned long walk. Then a farmer driving his tractor stopped by and he had a spare clamp in his tool box that worked. Gotta love rural WV.
Haven't been up there since like 97 when Grandpa Perky died.
I'm outta here until Saturday. You take care DD. :cheersmate: :cheersmate:
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You too, perky.
Have a good one! :cheersmate:
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No shit. I don't know how many I've replaced at work in the last year alone.
Of course, idiots like him figure it's better to test a circuit by energizing it than by using a meter on it. Dumbasses.
Yo, Skippy! Since you're an electrician, I'm sure you and I can have an awesome conversation over NFPA70E one of these days, right?
This whole thread makes me laugh. The missus is a meter tech for the local electric company. I might have to show her this thread so she can laugh at the DUmbass too.
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I herby denounce Skippy as a bully. His shout out to innocent Cavers has caused me to temper my comments. I shall, however, carry on in spite of his browbeating.
Skippy is a fag, I have never met a fag electrician.
He also posts here every day under his mole account, even after accidentally outing himself.
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This whole thread makes me laugh. The missus is a meter tech for the local electric company. I might have to show her this thread so she can laugh at the DUmbass too.
And the funny thing is, one of the DUmmies claimed you couldn't get a breaker for his panel.
Uh, really? Cause I can walk into Home Depot/Lowes/even Walmart and get a breaker. Single or double-pole, 15 amp through 200 amp (obviously no 200 amp singles, put your dick away, SKP) and GFCI's up through 60 amp without any problem. I could even get a 10-circuit transfer panel and have it mounted and installed in under 2 hours.
For which, were I so inclined, I could charge upwards of $150 for labor, plus the panel and any other parts if I had to drill into concrete (like I did on mine.) But last time I did it, we used his kit and I settled for a couple of beers afterwards and a little shoot-the-shit.
SKP probably thinks having a long-buried copy of Ugly's qualifies him as an electrician, the poor dumb bastard.
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SKP probably thinks having a long-buried copy of Ugly's qualifies him as an electrician, the poor dumb bastard.
Let him think that. Maybe he'll "light up his life." :fuelfire: :tongue:
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Note to Conservative Cavers: Yes, I'm also an electrician, ya assholes.
So?
DUmbass. :whatever:
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I wired a 250V, 50 amp, single phase control box for a silo unloader for a farmer back in 1993. There were 3 wires, white, black, and green.
I wired the white and black wires to the contacts, the green went to the ground lug in the box.
Motor wouldn't start, acted like it was running on low voltage, and the box would KNOCK THE PISS OUT OF YOU!!!
Pulled the cover off the breaker box, black and GREEN wires were hot, white was ground!!!
Now I know where DUmmie skippy was 20 years ago!!! :rotf:
He really screwed up because that should be TWO black wires and a green.