Last night the lights went out in the bathroom, back bedroom, and hallway only but the rest of the house still had power. When my husband came home he flipped the switches on the breaker box and the power came back on in those rooms. He also detected a smell like fish coming from the breaker box. This morning the same thing happened. Thank God, I was already for work when the lights started to flicker in the bathroom really badly and then went out. Can anyone tell me what this could mean or what we could do to fix it?
2006-09-08 04:41:14 · 6 answers · asked by lpogue2005 3 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
It sounds very much like a loose connection in a junction box.
1- 1st floor, Check basement junction boxes for heat with the back of your hand ( just feel with the back of your hand).
2- 2nd floor, check in the attic or crawl space for the same thing.
3- Best is call a "Good" electrician because sparking is going on somewhere and that causes heat to the point of causing the breaker to trip. This is definitely not safe.
4- One other thing you can take the cover off the panel and watch after resetting the breaker to see if the sparking is in there´
(this is the easiest place to fix it) still let the electrician do it but by knowing where the problem is, it will cost you less.
2006-09-08 05:19:18 · answer #1 · answered by norman8012003 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi,
Forget about unplugging appliances as has been suggested, because this will have no effect on your lighting circuit. It will not be a short circuit either, otherwise you wouldn't be able to switch the circuit breaker back on.
There are several possibilities -
1/ An overload with the wrong type of breaker, possible,but not likely.
2/ A loose connection at the breaker, probable.
3/ Faulty breaker, unlikely.
Check the connections and make sure that the breaker is of the correct size, its there to protect the cable/circuit from any overload.
Hope this may be of help.
2006-09-08 12:04:42 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There could be 2 problems.
1 . There is a loose wire there in the line or the Ground circuit and it keeps touching elsewhere with sparks
2 . Electric circuit breaker is not able to take in the load.
Call the electrician immediately before you have a black out.
2006-09-08 12:38:23 · answer #3 · answered by shanks 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You might have a short in your wiring. You could also possibly just have too much stuff plugged in that area of the house. Unplug any unnecessary appliance and see if it gets better.
2006-09-08 11:47:27 · answer #4 · answered by Swordsman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Switches?? As in more than one?? Sounds like you may have a loose connection on your incoming wire or you have major overload problems. Don't let your house burn down while you wait for a good answer. CALL SOMEONE NOW !!!!!!!!!!
2006-09-08 16:21:58 · answer #5 · answered by Uncle Joe 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hopefully your breaker needs to be replaced on that circuit. That is easy. If you do that and it soesn't work, call an alactrician ASAP.
2006-09-08 11:46:09 · answer #6 · answered by diturtlelady2004 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋