no power in 3 rooms; but breaker not thrown

I have a house with the original circuit panel from 1963. last week the power in three rooms in the basement (day ranch) went out. I figured a look at the panel would solve the problem; but no switches were tripped.

I checked all the GCI outlets in the circuit; but it looks fine.

I did notice a white wire on the left bus in the panel that has been cooked an inch or two where it connects into the bus.

What is the best way to trouble shoot this. I have some electrical- more than most I suppose; but I want to approach this the right way the first time. There is a main breaker/lockout on the meter site.

Thanks

 

Are there any receptacles or light on the same circuit that are working? What does a plug in tester indicate? What does a two wire tester testing between the hot and ground, not and neutral, and neutral and ground indicate?

 

I don't know if there are any other lights our outlets attached to the same circuit- I don't have them mapped as it is an old house.

I have tested a handful of outlets for juice but have found none. So I should start with what... a two wire tester across all comos at each down outlet and light box?

Any ideas why the wire is cooked in the bus; but no breakers were tripped?

 

The fact that this is an old house is no excuse for not having mapped out the circuits. Shame on you. This information is very important right now. In other situations it could save your life.

As it stands now you have no idea which breaker controls this circuit, so when it comes to doing any repair work you will have to turn off your main breaker.

Yes, use a plug in tester or a a two wire tester to test all all combinations, and post back the results.

 

The connection was probably loose. Loose connections heat up over time and eventually burn off the wire insulation. Did you fix this connection yet?

 

OK just finished the plug-in tester rounds. The tester used is the standard 3 light type w/ amber and red codes. All tested outlets gave NO LIGHTS does that translate to "OPEN HOT" or will the test be moot as there is no power to the down circuit.

I have not attempted to fix the fried wire that is apparent in the panels bus. What would be the best way to address that issue?

Thanks

 

No lights means open hot, or it cold mean open neutral when no ground is present. Is the circuit grounded?

Did you make sure that you reset all the breakers? Some circuit breakers do not appear to be tripped, and need to be completely turned OFF before being turned back on. I would try turning ALL your breakers fully off and then on.

If you cannot solve the problem this way then you will have to open and check every receptacle that is out. You will look for open connections. Since you don;t know what breaker controls the circuit, you will have to do this with every circuit breaker (or your main breaker) turned off.

If you still cannot solve the problem then you will have to check every working receptacle on the circuit. Since you don;t know what's on this circuit you will have to check every receptacle, light and junction box in the house. You will of course have to do this with the breakers off, and you can start at the obvious ones that might be on the same circuit.

 

I just joined, and I know I'm reviving an old thread, but I thought I'd post this as it might help someone who Googles up this thread, like I did this morning.

I woke up this morning to having electricity in the living room and one bedroom, but nowhere else in the house. A reset of the breakers did no good, so I unplugged the electric range and clothes dryer, thinking that it may have been a 230v appliance causing the issue, and reset the breakers again. Still no good.

So I took the front panel off the breaker box and metered the main wires coming into the house. 120v. SO NOT RIGHT!

So then I went outside to open the main box, and to my surprise, there was a service truck working on the transformer at the street corner. Apparently, someone else had the same problem and had already called them. Once the broken phase was restored, no problem.

Just thought I'd chime in with my own experience.

Cheers,
Jim