Loss of power to entire room...I'm stumped !!

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pridelion

Member
My neighbor tells me that when he turned on his television, the power went out, and a bit later came back on. He then pushed the button to turn on the t.v., heard something and now the power is out again. It has affected the entire bedroom-lights & receptacles & the master bath lights. I turned off / on all the breakers & tested for power at each breaker screw terminal and got 118V to ground on each one. The outlet the t.v. was plugged into had only a singe two wire romex. I looked for open splices in most of the switches & outlets and even used a circuit tracer and it read through all the outlets in the room!!! WHAT AM I MISSING ??????? I feel like I totally let my neighbor down! Thanks for any advice / troubleshooting tips, John
p.s.- No reading on the hot leg at all, getting a reading in Ohms between neutral & ground.
 

mivey

Senior Member
...I looked for open splices in most of the switches & outlets and even used a circuit tracer and it read through all the outlets in the room!!! WHAT AM I MISSING ???????...
I agree with Dennis. There is a bad connection at an outlet (let's hope you don't have a buried splice).

Use your tracer to check all of the outlets. I usually start with a receptacle than gets plugged/unplugged a lot or has heaver loads a lot like a vacuum , iron, etc.

Some tracers will have a signal strength drop at the open point (mine does) and that may help.
 

Cow

Senior Member
Location
Eastern Oregon
Occupation
Electrician
Do you know which breaker feeds this circuit? If you do, you can shut the breaker off and see what other loads/areas of the house go off as well. This may help you see the route the wire may have went.

Most of the time though, I just work backwards from the problem area towards the panel in a somewhat orderly fashion, thinking how the wire would run if I had wired the house.

I'd say:

90% of the time it's a loose connection at the back of receptacle.

10% of the time it's a crappy wirenut connection where someone didn't put enough twist in the wires and it pulled out of the wirenut.
 

220/221

Senior Member
Location
AZ
I looked for open splices in most of the switches & outlets

Well, that aint gonna help. It's always in the last place you look ;)



Troubleshooting 101.

1. Test voltage at the recep (to ground and to neutral) No voltage to ground or neutral= open hot. Voltage to ground but not to neutral = open neutral

2. Check power/neutral at the source (panel)



3. Identify everything on the circuit. Part of the circuit may still be functional.

4. Take apart the receps in line and look for a loose back stabbed wire

5. If the wiring is done thru the ceiling boxes, you may have to start looking behind fixtures. If so, start somewhere that has had recent work done (new ceiling fan etc)
 

stevebea

Senior Member
Location
Southeastern PA
My neighbor tells me that when he turned on his television, the power went out, and a bit later came back on. He then pushed the button to turn on the t.v., heard something and now the power is out again. It has affected the entire bedroom-lights & receptacles & the master bath lights. I turned off / on all the breakers & tested for power at each breaker screw terminal and got 118V to ground on each one. The outlet the t.v. was plugged into had only a singe two wire romex. I looked for open splices in most of the switches & outlets and even used a circuit tracer and it read through all the outlets in the room!!! WHAT AM I MISSING ??????? I feel like I totally let my neighbor down! Thanks for any advice / troubleshooting tips, John
p.s.- No reading on the hot leg at all, getting a reading in Ohms between neutral & ground.

Are the receptcales stabbed or terminated under screw terminals?
 

220/221

Senior Member
Location
AZ
Think logically and follow the circuit. There is probably only a dozen outlets.

If there is nothing crazy or buried somewhere, this is a 1/2 hour job. Put down your beer, get back over there and make us proud!
 

pridelion

Member
Ask them which receptacle usually gets used when vacuuming or ironing (or space heater, toaster, etc) and check that one first.

o.k., the only thing is that he said he heard a sound that he thought came form the t.v. itself when the event happened. But maybe that was just the crackling caused by the power intermittently coming on & off?
 

pridelion

Member
o.k., the only thing is that he said he heard a sound that he thought came form the t.v. itself when the event happened. But maybe that was just the crackling caused by the power intermittently coming on & off?
By the way...how do i detemine which breaker would have controlled the circuit if the outlets are dead. My plug in tester that requires power to trace to the panel obviously won't work, and i tried using my Advance tracer, set it to open, and still didn't read to the panel.
 

mivey

Senior Member
o.k., the only thing is that he said he heard a sound that he thought came form the t.v. itself when the event happened. But maybe that was just the crackling caused by the power intermittently coming on & off?
Rule #1: Never believe anything the customer tells you. It may be true, but most of the time it will have you chasing your tail.
 

mivey

Senior Member
By the way...how do i detemine which breaker would have controlled the circuit if the outlets are dead. My plug in tester that requires power to trace to the panel obviously won't work, and i tried using my Advance tracer, set it to open, and still didn't read to the panel.
Get a plug in tester than works without AC power.

Without a tracer, follow the path of dead outlets. You might find one between the panel and the dead outlets that is still working. The receptacle may be live but the output side is open. Think about how you would wire the circuit if you were installing. Usually there is a logical sequence and does not make a sudden turn to the other end of the house and back. The path generally will head to-wards the panel.
 

ActionDave

Chief Moderator
Staff member
Location
Durango, CO, 10 h 20 min from the winged horses.
Occupation
Licensed Electrician
Rule #1: Never believe anything the customer tells you. It may be true, but most of the time it will have you chasing your tail.

X two what Mivey says. Anybody that troubleshoots household wiring has a story to tell about a homeowner that was sincere but wrong and more than a dozen about ones that lie.
 
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220/221

Senior Member
Location
AZ
By the way...how do i detemine which breaker would have controlled the circuit if the outlets are dead. My plug in tester that requires power to trace to the panel obviously won't work, and i tried using my Advance tracer, set it to open, and still didn't read to the panel.

You need to do some detective work.

FIRST, test for voltage at ALL breakers. If all are OK the problem is obviously down stream.

Second, find out which receps/lights do not work.

Third, turn off breakers, one at a time and determine what they control. You need to "map" the circuit(s) in your head.

If you find a breaker that only seems to control a couple of receps in the same area as the TV, or you find that only a couple of receps/lights are out, you are on the right track.

Look in the first dead recep or the last working one. Use logic to determine the path of the cable.
 

cadpoint

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
o.k., the only thing is that he said he heard a sound that he thought came form the t.v. itself when the event happened. But maybe that was just the crackling caused by the power intermittently coming on & off?

First byproduct of work is heat the second is sound, have them quailify where exactly the sound came from, if they can at all.

Wires will slap and frankly the arc is working the breaker that it's on!

I'll go with all of the above but also state that it might be a bad wire creating the lose of service and that leg should be probably need not only corrected but might need to be replaced as well, unless you can quailify it other wise! The age and condition you find the error in, will play a part.
 

pridelion

Member
you need to do some detective work.

First, test for voltage at all breakers. If all are ok the problem is obviously down stream.

Second, find out which receps/lights do not work.

Third, turn off breakers, one at a time and determine what they control. You need to "map" the circuit(s) in your head.

If you find a breaker that only seems to control a couple of receps in the same area as the tv, or you find that only a couple of receps/lights are out, you are on the right track.

Look in the first dead recep or the last working one. Use logic to determine the path of the cable.

thank you !! Damn that is some good medicine right there!!!
 

stew

Senior Member
sounds like a loose neutral in a backstabber. thats why you are getting 118 v to ground. try it from hot to neutral at each receptacle as well. Best thing to do is pull all receptacles in the run and look at all the backstabs .It will be in the last receptacle you check which is Murphies 4th law of receptacles!@!
 
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