partial pwr outage in house


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Old 05-31-07, 07:46 PM
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Exclamation partial pwr outage in house

Hi there! I am new here and hopelessly frustrated and confused with this issue. I am seriously begging for help. My wife was using a window AC last sunday and then the power shorted out. She is 8 months pregnant so this is of the upmost importance to fix. The plug in the room where the AC was plugged in went out...as did one on the other side of the room and our ceiling fan. The rest of the plugs in the room (2) work. The whole power to the attic bedroom is out as is the hallway light to the attic bedroom. Our house was built in 1920 and the wiring was replaced within the last 5 years. I have gone through our breaker box and found which breaker affects those plugs and the upstairs. It also affects live plugs that are working fine. I replaced that breaker. I then took the dead plugs apart and checked the wiring and there are no issues there. I have checked the first two junction boxes from the breaker and the wiring is fine there. When i plug in my tester into the outlets that are not working in the bedroom and the attic room i get a reading showing power is getting to those plugs. When i plug something in it doesnt work nor do the lights come on when i flip a switch. I have checked all the other breakers and none affect those outlets and all are working and wired fine. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE someone help me figure this out. I am set to go on orders (in the Army) starting next tuesday and my wife will be alone for the next month and this has to be resolved before then. Any help would be more then appreciated!!! Thank you very much!!
 
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Old 05-31-07, 08:46 PM
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Inspect every receptacle, j box, light, etc on this circuit. Sounds like a neutral might have come loose.

Also, for future purposes, it is best to plug in A/C's to a dedicated circuit to prevent situations like this.
 
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Old 06-01-07, 02:42 AM
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What kind of tester. If a digital multitester you need to switch to a test light or an analog multimeter. When you write the tester shows you have voltage but when things are plugged in they don't work that sounds like phantom voltages. A search of the forum will explain phantom voltages and digital multimeters.
 
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Old 06-01-07, 03:46 AM
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You say you are getting a voltage reading at the receptacle, but you didn't say how much voltage was present. If it is full line voltage, it should be reading somewhere in the 120 volt range. If it is phantom voltage, it will be around 30 volts. An analog meter is always best to test these things to preclude phantom voltage readings.
My bet goes to the receptacle servicing the air conditioner. Change the entire receptacle out, and don't use the stab backs, just in case it is wired with 14 gauge wire. I, likewise, think you have a missing neutral somewhere. Even though you "checked" the jboxes, etc. take every connection loose to ensure they are connected well, and recap them.
 
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Old 06-01-07, 04:19 AM
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You have a classic problem, an open neutral. This is easy to fix, but time consuming to find.

Check EVERY junction box on the circuit. remake every connection. That means replace every wire nut and redo all the connections on the receptacles and switches. Do not use the back stab connectors, but instead use the screw terminals.

Eventually you will find and fix the problem.
 
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Old 06-01-07, 09:48 AM
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Most people have the skills to fix this, but they lack the persistence. And many people don't really believe us when we tell the to redo all the connections on the circuit. They either do a visual inspection and think everything looks good (visual inspections are not sufficient), or they don't really look in every box on the circuit (they just look in the few that they think are relevant).
 
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Old 06-02-07, 07:22 PM
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Smile Thank you!

Thank you all so much for your quick responses. I was looking upstairs in the attic bedroom today and removing face plates on the plugs so that I can get raedy for painting and then i saw a spark and a flicker from the light behind me. Low and behold it was a loose ground wire in that plug. I replaced the plug and now EVERYTHING works. Crazy cause this one wasnt even on the same circuit as the other plugs. Darn old housing lol. Thank you for your help and my wife thanks you also lol! Take care!
 
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Old 06-02-07, 11:32 PM
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Ground wire? That should not have caused the problem.
 
 

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