Lights on for 3 days, then off?

[Benton]

I had customer come to me today and tell me that he is having problem with some lights in his house. He says that they come on and will work for about three days then they cut off. I am thinking lose wire or bad breaker. But I haven't checked it out yet. What if I go there and the lights are working fine? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I usually bang on the walls everywhere that there may be a jb for that circuit. Also , if all the lights go out and nothing else then it may be in the first light. Use your mad skill and I am sure you will find the issue. Remember don't listen to what the HO says-- they are often incorrect in their assessment.

 

[LarryFine]

What does the customer have to do to make the lights work again?

 

[Benton]

What does the customer have to do to make the lights work again?

That is a good question that I will remember to ask. I appreciate you guys advice.
Thanks

 

[Buck Parrish]

Are they recessed lights ?

 

[growler]

I had customer come to me today and tell me that he is having problem with some lights in his house. He says that they come on and will work for about three days then they cut off. I am thinking lose wire or bad breaker.

The first thing to do when trouble-shooting is "isolate" the problem. You do this by gathering information about the problem ( lights working or not ).

How many light are going out and what areas?
Are all these lights on one switcher or breaker?
If these lights are on one circuit then what else is on that circuit?

I have had a similar problem where the lights were on with a hallway receptacle and they would go off when the owner plugged in the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum would work because the line side "back stab" was tight and the load side feeding the lights was loose as a goose.

When you figure out everything that's not working ( or didn't work ) then look for the problem between there and the panel. I often take a legal pad and draw out the bad circuit to keep things in order.

 

[LarryFine]

Are they recessed lights ?

That would only apply if they malfunction independently.

 

[masterinbama]

What does the customer have to do to make the lights work again?

When faced with a problem like this, the answer I get most often to that question is; slam the door, or otherwise bang on something. Loose neutral is the first thing i would look for. And a good rule of thumb on troubleshooting a loose neutral is it will almost never be at the first device that doesn't work but at the last one that does.

 

[kwired]

I would apply a heavy load such as a 1500 watt heater to the circuit, if there is a weak connection someplace it usually will not take it long with that kind of load to start presenting the problem. You still have to find the problem but you did cause the intermittent failure to happen. If only lightly loaded you may have a hard time finding anything wrong while you are there.

 

[readydave8]

Remember don't listen to what the HO says-- they are often incorrect in their assessment.

I have gone down many blind alleys by listening to what HO says

but

I have occassionaly missed something obvious by not listening

so listen but don't believe

 

[hurk27]

I have gone down many blind alleys by listening to what HO says

but

I have occasionally missed something obvious by not listening

so listen but don't believe

Good advice, as not all the time, but this can lead to important clues, also if they are on there own circuit make sure you pull the breaker out and look at the buss stabs and buss, especially with aluminum buss ITE's and T&B panels, back stabbed receptacles, or a bad connection in one of the lights that heats up when a certain light is on for a while (heat from the light) if they are working when you get there, just look for the common stuff as many have posted, loading the circuit is also a good method as was said but becareful and keep a keen nose out for any burning smell as you never know what splices might be hidden behind the walls, try not to wast allot of time, or it could be a good future customer killer, best to tell the customer to call you when they quit working again than rack up allot of time trying to find a needle in a hay stack, of course look at the common things, and a good wire tracer goes a long way to finding everything on a circuit, and is a must when the circuit stops working.

Nothing like trying to fix a circuit thats not broke when you get there!
Kind of like looking for a noise in your car when it wont make it when your looking for it.

 

[GUNNING]

interrogate..

interrogate..

I keep the customer talking, they will tell you right where the open or problem is.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I have gone down many blind alleys by listening to what HO says

but I have occassionaly missed something obvious by not listening

so listen but don't believe

I should have been clearer-- obviously one needs to listen as it may be a clue but more often then not I start from scratch and get the job done faster.

 

[kwired]

You need to listen to the customer for symptoms they have observed, but need to disregard most of the customers diagnosis of what the problem is.

If you know what they are experiencing and what they are doing when they experience it you can at least try to duplicate the problem and see for yourself what is happening.

Almost everything that does not work properly has a 'short' according to most customers.

 

[Nium]

I have had a similar problem where the lights were on with a hallway receptacle and they would go off when the owner plugged in the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum would work because the line side "back stab" was tight and the load side feeding the lights was loose as a goose.

I had a very similar situation as growler. Lights and receptacles on one circuit would work intermittently. Upon arrival customer told me, almost as an afterthought, that oh yeah and this receptacle behind the file cabinet is loose and will move in and out when a plug is inserted or removed. Sure enough the homerun landed on that receptacle and the rest of the circuit fed from there. The "back stab" connection had come loose thus causing the problem. The lights and recpetacles worked when I got there before any troubleshooting.

 

[cowboyjwc]

If the lights are on the first floor I would guess that there is a loose wire and the kids jumping around upstairs is enough to mess with it. I had the same problem with a slaming door at a customers house one time.

Listen to what they say and ask questions. Could save you hours of trouble shooting.

 

[LarryFine]

A surefire way to find a loose receptacle connection is to plug a lamp in a dead receptacle and watch it while wiggling others. A receptacle tester makes a great "handle" for this.

If you need to check in another room, use a cord to bring the light to you, or have a helper watch it.

On a circuit with an intermittent short, wire a lampholder and bulb in series with the fuse or breaker, or again, use a receptacle and cord to bring the light to you if you're alone.

 

[sii]

Listen to what they say and ask questions. Could save you hours of trouble shooting.

I like to say "listen to facts, ignore opinions".

 

[readydave8]

You need to listen to the customer for symptoms they have observed, but need to disregard most of the customers diagnosis of what the problem is.


Almost everything that does not work properly has a 'short' according to most customers.

around here many people call it a shortage, I wonder if they think thats what short is short for.

 

[dbuckley]

An AM radio tuned to static is a handy tool; unlike a test lamp you can wander around with radio in hand whilst banging away...

The Am radio trick is also good for check out dodgy extension cables; put a load on the cable and flex it, and the radio crackles when you get near where the weakness is....