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.......