- Location
- Tennessee NEC:2017
- Occupation
- Semi-Retired Electrician
I know most, if not all, know this, but if you're like me sometimes you forget simple things.
But please, check for voltage even if the breaker is off. I went on a call today about a clothes dryer not working and breaker tripping. The HO said the breaker had tripped and he reset it. I told him to just leave it on so I could check the voltage at the dryer receptacle. I couldn't get any voltage reading so I went to the panel and shut off the breaker. I then took the cover off the recep. It was burnt pretty bad, almost didn't look like a recep. it was burnt so bad. Anyway, I thought I better check for voltage to be safe. When I touched the probe to one of the line lugs sparks flew and burnt my probe pretty good. I thought, where did that come from? I know I turned the breaker off. I went back to the panel and it was off. I checked for voltage at the breaker terminals and found none.
I went ahead and took the wires off the breaker to check it. This was a combo 2-pole 30/40A breaker for a mobile home. Turns out that probably when the guy said it tripped and he reset it that I don't think it fully tripped. Meaning only 1 pole tripped. The metal piece that is used to operate the breaker had turned a little and had one side wedged so it didn't shut both legs off. I still had 120V at the recep when the sparks flew.
I replaced the burnt receptacle and checked the wiring and checked the breaker as best I could and everything seemed fine after that.
Point is, check, then check, then check again for voltage!
But please, check for voltage even if the breaker is off. I went on a call today about a clothes dryer not working and breaker tripping. The HO said the breaker had tripped and he reset it. I told him to just leave it on so I could check the voltage at the dryer receptacle. I couldn't get any voltage reading so I went to the panel and shut off the breaker. I then took the cover off the recep. It was burnt pretty bad, almost didn't look like a recep. it was burnt so bad. Anyway, I thought I better check for voltage to be safe. When I touched the probe to one of the line lugs sparks flew and burnt my probe pretty good. I thought, where did that come from? I know I turned the breaker off. I went back to the panel and it was off. I checked for voltage at the breaker terminals and found none.
I went ahead and took the wires off the breaker to check it. This was a combo 2-pole 30/40A breaker for a mobile home. Turns out that probably when the guy said it tripped and he reset it that I don't think it fully tripped. Meaning only 1 pole tripped. The metal piece that is used to operate the breaker had turned a little and had one side wedged so it didn't shut both legs off. I still had 120V at the recep when the sparks flew.
I replaced the burnt receptacle and checked the wiring and checked the breaker as best I could and everything seemed fine after that.
Point is, check, then check, then check again for voltage!