Gas station lights out, don't know why.

[zappy]

Went to a gas station to see why there canopy and parking light were out. He said someone hit a telephone pole with there car down the road, and when the power was restored some of there lights where out. So i checked the override switch for the photocell, and that was closing the contact when you turned it on. He said they aren't on a timer, so i took his word for it. Would a surge ruin some lights and not other things? Any advice would really be great. Thank you.

 

[nakulak]

if the primaries landed on the secondaries it could have smoked some ballasts or bulbs, but rather than guess it might be better to trouble shoot the ckt.

 

[charlie]

. . . hit a telephone pole . . .

I am betting that it was a power pole.

. . . it might be better to trouble shoot the ckt.

I agree with that. However, your first guess could very well have happened but, normally, more damage would have been done.

 

[GUNNING]

ummmmmm...

ummmmmm...

Did you wait long enough for the lamps to come on? Time to get out your ladder and unscrew some lamps and blanks. I would also check to make sure the breaker isn't tripped yet still in the on position. Wiggle em a little and they might be tripped just not indicating. Is there a GFCI involved somewhere? Maybe the three way switch is bad for the bypass. Let me take off my aluminum hat and check.

 

[220/221]

Any advice would really be great

Finish troubleshooting. How can we possible do this over the net?

You need to :

A) Find the source and trace the circuit.

or

B) Trace the circuit back from the fixtures.


PS. Don't ever take any customers word for anything.

 

[bradleyelectric]

Don't ever take any customers word for anything.

Was at a troubleshooting job last week where a home improvement guy (uncle) did the wiring on a basement job. The kid told me he could call his uncle for information on how he wired it if I needed him to. I said no thanks. My helper laughed about that when we were back in the van. I said yeah I was dealing with enough bad information already.

 

[kbsparky]

One phase still out? Many gas pumps are single phase, and they could have been on while another phase was off.:-?

 

[quogueelectric]

Never believe the customers description #1. Make sure who is going to pay you if it is a gas station and be advised that in my experience the turkish stations are used to haggling price on everything so make clear what it is going to cost before you start. Troubleshoot from the panel out as a bucket truck will be expensive.