I had to take down an old fan,no breakers marked.So I turned the switch off,the neutral touched the metal bracket and I lost power.No breakers tripped,no bad breakers but all power to the bedroom lost,everything else in the house works,pulled all receptacles,switches no power.Anybody got any idea whats going on.Thanks.
lost power
- Thread starter Bazz
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
Bazz said:
Probably a GFCI somewhere or an arc fault breaker that needs resetting.
ItsHot
Senior Member
- Location
- A little piece of heaven!
neutral
neutral
That wasn't a neutral that touched the metal bracket!
neutral
That wasn't a neutral that touched the metal bracket!
JohnJ0906
Senior Member
- Location
- Baltimore, MD
Dennis Alwon said:
I think Dennis called this one - sounds like a GFCI somewhere.
Buck Parrish
Senior Member
- Location
- NC & IN
ItsHot said:That wasn't a neutral that touched the metal bracket!
Dito that. , That's why they make us phase the white, when used as a hot, now.
How old is the house ?
quogueelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- new york
Yes either a 2 wire put on a gfci ckt or a tripped old fuse cutout which could be anywhere in the house good luck finding it.
76nemo
Senior Member
- Location
- Ogdensburg, NY
Bazz said:
Are you calling it a neutral just because it was white:-? It could of been a neutral if the box was grounded. Do you have AFCI's in the residence?
mdshunk
Senior Member
- Location
- Right here.
Most/many old houses older than a certain vintage, wired in K&T, switch the neutral. That leave a hot wire still hot when the switch is off. That said, I'm not sure how you drew a spark with, presumably, nothing grounded.
bazz said:
No AFCI s in the house,only one GFI not tripped.Did not create a large spark,in fact if the tv did not go off I may not have noticed at all.Two switches on the wall,looks like a feed and two switch legs,one for closet lts and one for the fan.Fan has a hot and a neutral to it.
Last edited:
ItsHot
Senior Member
- Location
- A little piece of heaven!
open circuit
open circuit
In demo work of old fan, was any joints broken in ceiling box? I am guessing you still have your hot available in box?:-?
open circuit
In demo work of old fan, was any joints broken in ceiling box? I am guessing you still have your hot available in box?:-?
quogueelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- new york
Did you look for a subpanel anywhere? check the 2 pole breakers in the main and see where they go.Bazz said:
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
Here's the best troubleshooting tip I can give you:
Plug a 3-wire extension cord into a known-properly-wired receptacle, and carry the female end up the ladder with you, along with a solenoid-type tester. The cord gives you a reference hot, neutral, and EGC against which to test each of the wires in the box.
Keep in mind that the cords hot may be on the same or opposite phase as that of the box, but that is of minor consequence, since you're looking for power between the cord's hot and the box's white, and between the cords neutral slot and the box's black.
This will immediately tell you which conductor the open is in (don't forget to turn the switch on), and once you determine that, go to the switch box and perform the same tests. If everything is normal there, you have the one-in-a-million case of bad wire.
You can use the cord's EGC to assure which wire is hot relative to earth, regardless of its color. This will also help you determine whether the switching is in the hot conductor. Remember, it worked in the past; something has changed. You need to find it.
Plug a 3-wire extension cord into a known-properly-wired receptacle, and carry the female end up the ladder with you, along with a solenoid-type tester. The cord gives you a reference hot, neutral, and EGC against which to test each of the wires in the box.
Keep in mind that the cords hot may be on the same or opposite phase as that of the box, but that is of minor consequence, since you're looking for power between the cord's hot and the box's white, and between the cords neutral slot and the box's black.
This will immediately tell you which conductor the open is in (don't forget to turn the switch on), and once you determine that, go to the switch box and perform the same tests. If everything is normal there, you have the one-in-a-million case of bad wire.
You can use the cord's EGC to assure which wire is hot relative to earth, regardless of its color. This will also help you determine whether the switching is in the hot conductor. Remember, it worked in the past; something has changed. You need to find it.
electricalperson
Senior Member
- Location
- massachusetts
as previous members said, it sounds like a possible GFCI trip. did you search the entire house for a gfci? sometimes they show up in weird places. did you check power at the switch? L - N L - G?
electricalperson
Senior Member
- Location
- massachusetts
as previous members said, it sounds like a possible GFCI trip. did you search the entire house for a gfci? sometimes they show up in weird places. did you check power at the switch? L - N L - G?
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
Another hint: if you test as I explained above, and find both hot and neutral missing, it's either a tripped GFCI or a severed cable. Anything else will show only one conductor open.
electricalperson
Senior Member
- Location
- massachusetts
thats a nice trick right there ill make sure to use that next time i run into a similar problemLarryFine said:
- Status