At first I was having trouble with my air conditioner blowing a fuse. (Yes, the previous owners left half of the house on a fuse box and put the half on a circuit box). I ran down to the basement and put in a new one and it would instantly blow agin. So... I unplugged the air conditioner cleaned the bugger out and then tried putting in a new fuse. Then I went back up stairs and plug the darn thing in and . . . poof! Sparks flew every where around the outlet. Now here's the thing, I have been using that darn air conditioner all summer long with no problems what so ever. About 4 boxes of fuses (keep in mind there are 4 fuses per box) later. I now am unable to turn my ceiling lights on in half of my house. I would call an electrician but my stubborn husband won't let me. He says it's too expensive. Anyone have any idea what the problem is and how much it might cost me if I do call an electrician.
2006-08-27 03:32:00 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
you may have damaged your meter, or main breaker.
call an electrician and have them test your power on both legs.(they should use an eletrical meter to test both legs on the bussing).
The service call should be around $65.00 and repairs could be from $75.00-$250.00, unless you really damaged something.
2006-08-27 03:42:49 · answer #1 · answered by Tim 47 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a couple of the other answerers have mentioned, for heaven's sake, don't continue to replace fuses into a circuit that blows them immediately. It sounds like you've already burned out a recept., count yourself lucky not to have started a fire. It is possible that the ceiling lights could be wired so that they are powered through the recept that burned out. It's not at all unusual for all the recepts in one room to be on the same circuit, but it's not wise to have the recepts and the lights all on the same run. You will need some battery powered light source to see what you're doing, but it's possible to change the old recept yourself, after shutting down the circuit. Take the fuse out, that should do it. Once the new recept is in, find somewhere else to plug the A/C in that's on a different circuit. If it blows that one you know for sure it's a problem with the A/C.
2006-08-27 04:48:58 · answer #2 · answered by Corky R 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You may need more power coming into your house, so you can run your air conditioner. With all the sparking, you may have damaged another fuse connection or one of the circuit breakers that protects your lights. These fuses and circuit breakers are protectors of your house, and they are trying to tell you something.
You need an electrician to assess the situation which would not be that expensive for the visit. That money can maybe be applied to what work needs to be done.
You obviously have an electrical problem, and it is not going to get better by itself or with another four boxes of fuses which seem to be making the problem worse. Electrical repair can be expensive, but the expense and damage of a house fire can be humongous.
2006-08-27 04:42:01 · answer #3 · answered by DrB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is actually quite simple. The lights in ur house and the receptacle that the ac is plugged into are all wired into a series. All the power wires feed along the same route. This is actually a bad way to have your electricity run. But it is a simple fix, so do not worry! All you need to do is change out the receptacle that sparked with a new one. The problem is with ur wiring that if you blow out a receptacle like you did then you lose power all along the rest of the circuit. But yes changing the receptacle out that sparked with a brand new one will fix your problem! Also if you keep blowing fuse then you probaly have too much run off of a single circuit. The wiring in your house was probaly short cutted and half done to save money! You should have an electrician come out in the future and look into re wiring your entire house to avoid the fire hazard you probaly have with overloaded circuits!
2006-08-27 03:45:01 · answer #4 · answered by asdfghjkl1234567890 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How many things are plugged in on the same circuit and how many watts?look on the labels .
Hair dryers and toasters are high watts .
Over loading can start a fire at any time!
How much will that cost?
Some electrician work on the side.Your husband could ask around?Get someone qualified. Adding a breaker and that circuit on to your breaker box ,could do it ?
PS . Do a web search for blowing fuses.
Good luck . Tilt . So. City
2006-08-27 04:40:43 · answer #5 · answered by Tilt Of My High Flyer 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First off never keep putting fuses in if they blow.You could have burned the wire(and house).If the fuse held with the air conditioner unplugged then the problem is in your air conditioner DON'T PLUG IT BACK IN!!.As far as the ceiling lights go you may have blown the main fuse(check it).
2006-08-27 03:42:48 · answer #6 · answered by paulofhouston 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have a serious electrical problem. Sounds to me like you have a short to ground. Call an electrician unless you want to burn your house down. Which is more expensive? The problem maybe a simple fix and wont cost much more then a few hundred dollars.
2006-08-27 04:55:20 · answer #7 · answered by daveinsurprise 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with the person who said "call an electrician". How much is your house--or your life--worth?
2006-08-30 06:53:34 · answer #8 · answered by Jim A 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋