Troubleshooting

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Monyer

Member
Location
Reading, PA
Ask Questions

Ask Questions

Asking questions is huge! I had a customer call me up saying that lightning created a surge to some of her appliances. Her gas stove wasn't working, and her cordless phone stopped too. I charged her a nice troubleshooting fee to push the button of a GFCI in her kitchen. :D
 

Monyer

Member
Location
Reading, PA
Questions

Questions

Asking questions are a key ingredient to troubleshooting. I got a call from a woman who told me that a storm created a surge to her stove (which was gas) and it also killed her cordless phone. She had an appliance repair man come out and he told her she needed an electrician. She wound up paying a nice troubleshooting fee just for me to push the GFCI button in her kitchen! Always ask questions, it builds up your worth to the customer and narrows down the possibilities. :D
 

hillbilly

Senior Member
On hard to solve problems, I use a grounded extension cord that is plugged into a "known good" receptacle to check for continuity of the grounded conductor and also check for voltage on the "hot" conductor on the defective circuit.
On older 2 wire circuits with no grounding conductor, there's usually no easy way to tell if the "hot" or neutral is missing, all your test light or meter will show you is that the circuit is dead.
Using a voltage detector is useful, but I won't bet my life on it working every time, so I use the extension cord for a known reference.
steve
 

tom baker

First Chief Moderator
Staff member
And "its always an electrical problem"
Most motors overload because of a mechanical problem.
Or any time an electrician is in the building any electrical problems are due to that electrician.
 

brian john

Senior Member
Location
Leesburg, VA
1. Most trouble shooting problems are simple, but take time and effort.

2. Have the right tool for the job and know which ones you need.

3. Do not hesitate to contact someone with more knowledge for help or the manufacture and on occasion someone with less knowledge for fresh insight.

4. Do not over complicate the issue.

3. Remember there is nothing magic about this stuff we call electricity.

4. Stick with it, when you are stumped stand back take another look and ask what did I miss.

5. A man/woman installed this, so a man/woman with enough time and patience can fix it.

6. Be safe and do not make a bigger mess then the problem that was handed you.

And if you are totally stumped and have no clue, try to determine if you can get out of there leaving no evidence that you were ever there.
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
The underlying thing to remember with troubleshooting is that, at one point in time, the system worked, so the goal is to determine what has changed, and restore it.
 

allenwayne

Senior Member
LarryFine said:
The underlying thing to remember with troubleshooting is that, at one point in time, the system worked, so the goal is to determine what has changed, and restore it.

Larry that isn`t always true.That is assuming that it was properly checked for operation in the first place.Unfortunatly I have encountered this same thing.Receptacle didn1t work home 3 months old.Receptacle was behind a door.HO tried to use it one day, NO GO.Why ?????missing jumper.Also have found burried receptacles leaving remainder of circuit dead.


All I can say is get it fixed and I shake my head about the lightning fast pace of trac housing .
 
Ask the right question.

Ask the right question.

A. I spent half an hour looking for a possible intermittent short in an addition, the homeowner said the breaker would not reset, but I could find no short by metering or inspection.
He did not "turn off the breaker, then reset it", but was trying to turn it on from the tripped position, where his space heater and treadmill had put it.

B. One client wanted a new sump pump, his crawl space flooded. Prior to it flooding, he had unplugged the pump to plug in a trouble light, and not reinserted the pump plug. An elderly long time friend from the church, I said "No charge" but he insisted that I not only charge him, ($10) but that I not tell his wife what was wrong. Well, I won't lie to her, so I billed him for "failure of the primary flexible interconnect."

C. In one apartment building the living room outlets were not working, but showed 120V to ground. I could not find any loose or bad neutral connection any where in the room, and everything was fine in the "preceeding bedroom" on that circuit. After the building owner had me run a new circuit through the attic, the tenant showed up, and asked us how we liked his "faux fireplace", he had fixed on one wall. Behind the fire place, an outlet, with a stripped screw on the neutral, wire not secure, arced and burned screw and neutral open.

A Not everybody knows how to reset a breaker.
B. Oscams Razor; The simplest solution is usually the best.
c. Blueprints, schematics, are invaluable.

I have not "seen it all" and learn that again every day, over, and over.......
 

monkey

Senior Member
Location
Arizona
stickboy1375 said:
trouble shoot a remote controlled roping chute


What is THAT?


It is a chute that you put a steer in, then you ride out a ways on your horse, turn around and press the button on a remote which is on a string around your neck. The chute opens, the steer makes a run for it, and you ride like crazy and lasso him. Cowboys out here use them to practice for the rodeo.
 
Last edited:
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
Definately ask questions as to what has changed lately...like the new hat rack in the garage installed with 3 in screws.

Ask the machine operator to turn the selector switch to ON.

Check the light bulb even if the customer (sister-in-law) says it is brand new and is POd even because you would suggest such a thing to a teacher with a Masters degree.
 
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