czars
Czars
- Location
- West Melbourne, FL
- Occupation
- Florida Certified Electrical Contractor
Awhile back I had a client who was complaining about a blinking hall light and momentary loss of power at his TV. I found the 1P-15A breaker in his ITE panel that protected the circuit. I could actually hear an arcing sound. I turned the breaker off and the sound went away. The breaker buss connection was discolored, showed signs of arcing and the buss connection contacts were not very strong. The buss looked pitted, so I cleaned it up with sandpaper and put anti-ox on it and installed a new Siemens breaker. All seemed OK.
A week later the client called with the same complaints. This time the new breaker sounded like it was arcing and showed fluctuating voltage on my analog meter. Turned the breaker off and the arcing sound stopped. I thought it might have been a bad breaker, so I replaced it again. All seemed OK.
Yesterday the client called again with the same symptoms. He heard arcing sounds and his hall light was blinking. I had him shut the breaker off and when he did the arcing sound stopped and of course the hall light went out.
I have to go look at it again today. The panel is full, but right now I plan to move the circuit with problems to an empty tandem breaker. Anyone have any ideas?
A week later the client called with the same complaints. This time the new breaker sounded like it was arcing and showed fluctuating voltage on my analog meter. Turned the breaker off and the arcing sound stopped. I thought it might have been a bad breaker, so I replaced it again. All seemed OK.
Yesterday the client called again with the same symptoms. He heard arcing sounds and his hall light was blinking. I had him shut the breaker off and when he did the arcing sound stopped and of course the hall light went out.
I have to go look at it again today. The panel is full, but right now I plan to move the circuit with problems to an empty tandem breaker. Anyone have any ideas?