Some light fixtures and outlets in my house stopped working today..why? dangerous?

Answer 1

call an electritian, it would be dangerous toggling with something you dont know how to use

Answer 2

with so little info, it is hard to tell, but here are my guesses.

You might have tripped a breaker, in that case, easily solved and no danger....if you have a very old wiring you might have a fuse blown, same deal, no danger, replace the fuse, you are good to go.

one of the devices on the on circuit has went kablewy. dangerous? hard to say, it depends on how and why. i had a similar problem with a circuit in my place, wound up having to replace six outlets before i found the one causing the problem, but by looking, there was no way to tell.

so, if it is not the breaker or fuse, you have to do some investigating. most likely, it is a problem with the first device that doesnt work. only problem is, until you start pulling them out, no way to tell which way the circuit was run, i have seen all kinds of crazy things done, even by people that were supposed to know what they were doing. when investigating, use a flash light and make darn sure the power is actually turned off to that circuit at least, if not the whole house. you may just have to replace devices until you find the one that is the cullprit.

Are any of the devices on this circuit GFI? they have a resest button and a test switch in them where regular outlets do not. one electrician i used to work for placed a GFI outlet under the main breaker box, and ran power from that to devices in the kitchen, thus giving them GFI protection. Some breakers are now GFI protected as well. if there is a GFI device on the circuit, resetting it may solve the problem, if it trips again, there is some reason it is tripping that you will have to find.

Answer 3

Not dangerous at the moment, except you may trrip over something in the dark.
You have either tripped a circuit breaker, or blown a fuse, depending on the type of panel you have in your house.

Now here's wher you can get yourself into trouble if you aren't carefull.
If it's a fuse, then all you have to do is replace it. But be sure that you replace the fuse with the EXACT type, & amp rating as the circuit is rated for (look on the panel label on the door, or front cabinet) Failing that look at the rating of the fuse that blew out, but that isn't the best or safest method as checking the rating on the panel because someone else may have put in the wrong fuse before you. If the fuse blows again as soon as you replace it, then turn off all of the lights, & unplug all of the lamps, & appliances from the wall outlets, & try replacing the fuse with a new one again. If it blows again immediately after you put it in, then stop trying to replace the fuse, & call in an electrician because you have a dangerous short circuit, & the fuse is doing it's job.

If you have a circuit breaker panel then most of the above stuff about the fuses applies here, but you shouldn't have to replace the breaker. Just reset it.
A blown circuit breaker doesn't move the little switch in it all the way to the off position. The way I find a blown circuit breaker is I lightly push my finger against the on/off switch on the breaker. & try to wiggle it. A circuit breaker that hasn't gone off, will feel solid to the touch, but a blown one will feel loose. Once you find the blown breaker, try to reset it by flipping it completely off, & then on again.
If the breaker trips off again right after resetting it, then turn off all of the lights, & unplug all lamps, & appliances from the wall outlets, & try again. If the breaker blows again, then it's time to call in an electrician.
Leave the breaker off if it won't stay on for you, & everything will be safe, just a little darker than usual.
If it's a fuse then leave the fuse out if it keeps blowing. Whatever you do, don't try modifying the fuse in some way as a quick fix to get your power back on. If you do that, then yes it will get dangerous real fast.

Once you get your power back on to the troubled circuit, & it stays on, be aware that an overload condition will cause another trip of the fuse, or breaker so keep track of what is drawing power on that circuit in case it blows again. You may have to redistribute a lamp or appliance on to another circuit to keep the circuit from overloading. Just don't make the fatal mistake of replacing the fuse with one of a rating that is higher than what the circuit is actually rated for as a way of keeping the fuse from blowing, or you run the risk of starting an electrical fire in your home.
Hope that helps.

Answer 4

sounds like you tripped a breaker . Open the electric panel and you may see one of the breakers looks different to the others in it`s position , it will be facing the off position , before resting it go and turn off all the lights and un plug all the plugs from the affected area , then flip on breaker to reset , then go around and turn on the lights and plug in what was plugged in before one at a time, if you had a fault some where as you plug in or turn on the culprit the lights will go off again , and that was your problem , if they all stay on o.k. you had too much going at the same time or your breaker is faulty , all very easy to fix , best of luck if the breaker had not tripped what ever the fault was it could have caused a fire ..

Answer 5

Have you checked all breakers or fuses? If none are blown you may have a hazard. But if several things stopped working all at once, sounds like a breaker or fuse. Not sure if a mouse or rat could chew the wiring and blow everything.

Answer 6

Sounds like a fuse or circuit breaker to me.

Answer 7

Overload on circuits. Reset breaker box.

Answer 8

Did you check your breaker box to make sure you didn't blow a fuse or anything?

Answer 9

you tripped a breaker or fuse
you could also have a short if you do not understand electricity find someone who does

Answer 10

check your breaker it has more than likely tripped. just reset it. if it happen repeatly then get it checked.