Home electrical issue

[Magneto]

Over the last few weeks my electrical is acting odd. At first it seemed that a circuit wasn't getting enough juice. I went down stairs and the breaker was half tripped. I reset it everything was fine. Now it seems to be a whole house issue and you can see lights brighten/dim based on machines cycling. Is this a bad breaker or something else?

 

[Jarhead1775]

If the breaker was half tripped... replace it. They should be either on or off with nothing in between.

 

[Hogwylde]

If you have a voltmeter and KNOW HOW, test your incoming power and make sure you have 120V on each phase and 240 across phases. If you don't know what I'm talking about GET A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN TO LOOK AT YOUR POWER PROBLEM.

Sorry about the caps. I don't want someone that doesn't know about electricity poking around in there breaker box and getting themselves killed.

It could be an incoming power issue or it could be something drawing down your panel. Either way, it's wise to have a professional look at it than risk burning down your house or getting yourself zapped.

 

[Suprtek]

If you are having whole house electrical issues I would strongly recommend seeking the services of a professional. This could be anything from bad connection somewhere to some device causing an excessive load. Either one of which is capable of causing a fire. Keep up posted, but please deal with this properly and promptly!

 

[Jarhead1775]

If you have a voltmeter and KNOW HOW, test your incoming power and make sure you have 120V on each phase and 240 across phases. If you don't know what I'm talking about GET A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN TO LOOK AT YOUR POWER PROBLEM.

Sorry about the caps. I don't want someone that doesn't know about electricity poking around in there breaker box and getting themselves killed.

It could be an incoming power issue or it could be something drawing down your panel. Either way, it's wise to have a professional look at it than risk burning down your house or getting yourself zapped.

I think this needs said once more

 

[femurphy77]

If the breaker was half tripped... replace it. They should be either on or off with nothing in between.

Depends on what he's calling half tripped. "Most" breakers when tripped will stand in a centered position between on and off. This is how they indicate tripped.

Kinda sounds like he's dropping a neutral but hard to troubleshoot via internet. You really need to find somebody that knows what they are doing and have them troubleshoot it in person. Good luck, be safe.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

If you're comfortable around electricity, here are a few things you could do/check:

Check the voltage at your main breaker. It should be 220-240v. Much lower than 220, and you may have a bad main breaker, loose connection, or it might be caused by something outside your home. Your voltage from each leg to ground should be within a few volts of or equal.

Check for loose connections and signs of your wires over heating at each of your breakers.

It's possible for a breaker to go bad. It may reset but it could have high resistance across the internal contacts. This would cause lights to dim on that circuit when a load on that circuit fired up.

If you're not comfortable around electricity, you may want to turn off your power when inspecting inside your breaker panel.

 

[remauto1187]

Easiest way (WITHOUT TOUCHING) ANY electrical connection and test it for a loose connection is to hit it with a IR (thermal) gun/thermometer. The one(s) with the highest temps will be loose almost always. If you have aluminum service entrance wires and they were not torqued properly they should be number one suspect. When it gets cold the aluminum contracts and now your connection becomes loose.

A loose neutral(s) will cause the same symptoms also.

As others have said, if you are not trained to work with electricity then DONT DO IT!


Which breaker was "half tripped" and what was it rated for in amps?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Has anything changed around your home? Is it possible that the utility has changed the transformer feeding your house? Maybe another home was added to your transformer? Or have you recently added or changed out some large appliance? Any of those things might cause lights to dim too.

 

[JettaKnight]

If the breaker was half tripped... replace it. They should be either on or off with nothing in between.

Sort of. Some breakers have a "tripped" state that must then be switch to "OFF" then to "ON".

 

[Magneto]

The odd thing is that this doesn't happen every day. Maybe 1-2 times per week. I am wondering if this isn't something outside my house (electrical company issue).

 

[Jarhead1775]

^ very true

I forgot to be exactly specific and ask what type of breaker he has.


Any how.... get it fixed soon.. whether on your own or by a professional. The thermal was a good option. My father does that sort of deal with his FLIR Thermal Imager. It can be quicker than some methods.

 

[upalot]

My son had a very simular problem and after hiring an electrician found out it was the transformer on the pole that was bad. Like all others have said, call an electrician.

 

[LegatoRedrivers]

Possible odd electrical problem, you say?

You haven't had any annoying friends come by with a screwdriver and a device purchased from the internet, have you?

 

[PeaShooter]

This is a potentially very bad problem with a lost neutral. You need to call an electrician immediately and have this checked out. This has the potential to destroy a lot of your electrical devices, including appliances. Also, breakers trip to the mid position usually and require that you turn them completely off to reset and then back on.

 

[GREEN607]

Easiest way (WITHOUT TOUCHING) ANY electrical connection and test it for a loose connection is to hit it with a IR (thermal) gun/thermometer. The one(s) with the highest temps will be loose almost always. If you have aluminum service entrance wires and they were not torqued properly they should be number one suspect. When it gets cold the aluminum contracts and now your connection becomes loose.

A loose neutral(s) will cause the same symptoms also.

As others have said, if you are not trained to work with electricity then DONT DO IT!


Which breaker was "half tripped" and what was it rated for in amps?

As this poster correctly said, the fault MAY be in the aluminum grounding wires... that all connect to what is referred to as the "busse bar".

My Dad taught electricity and I have 18+ years experience in electrical repair and troubleshooting. If I lived closer to you, I would come and look at it for you @ N/C.

Anyway, I don't suggest that anyone 'play around' inside their breaker box... IF they don't have experience with electrical maintenance. But the culprit is likely a few screws on that busse bar that need to be re-tightened. I've done alot of that over the years, when the resident's lights were "dimming" at times. Nine times out of ten, that was the issue.

If you don't have experience with the inside of the breaker panel..... CALL AN ELECTRICIAN.

 

[Farmritch]

If the breaker was half tripped... replace it. They should be either on or off with nothing in between.

Not true this is how they trip

 

[remauto1187]

The OP and everyone else is overlooking a very important first item for troubleshooting this. WHICH BREAKER is it? A main or a branch circuit?

The guy further up has "18+ years experience in electrical repair and troubleshooting" but yet he didnt spell "bus bar, buss bar or bussbar" correctly? (BUSSEBAR) You would have thought he wouldve come across that in his learnin'.

ONLY ON THE INTERNET!

If the main is tripping then most likely loose connections of the service entrance wires or the outside transformer is bad or needs to be stepped to a higher tap output (power company must fix that).

If its a branch circuit breaker tripping then the neutral or hot of that circuit could be loose or you have too much current draw on that circuit and in that case the breaker is doing exactly what it is suppose to do. What is the amp rating of the tripped breaker?

 

[churchmouse]

As stated...if it is whole house issue it could be from the pole to the main breaker. Connections in the meter base...at the main etc. It could even be in the ground.

Get it looked at. Do not wait.

 

[churchmouse]

Possible odd electrical problem, you say?

You haven't had any annoying friends come by with a screwdriver and a device purchased from the internet, have you?

That was good stuff..........