Vexing electrical problem (related to breakers)?

Question

So, I have a fairly old house with a new (less than 3 years) electrical system. It's a new 200-amp box, with new breakers, new wiring, the works.
Here's my problem: I have 10 double outlets on one breaker, with a four-plug outlet as well. These run the length of my house, and they're all one one 20A breaker.
To boot, a bunch of the breakers are unlabeled. When I bought the house, I labeled the ones I could figure out, but some I never managed to because when I'd throw them, nothing would turn off.
Even weirder - I tripped that particular breaker this evening running the vacuum cleaner, and the outlets in the foyer, library, and bedroom went dead. The outlets in the kitchen (same breaker, mind you), stayed on. After an hour of futzing with the breaker box (trying to label as I went, as I did when I bought the house), I figured one of the breakers was bad and needed replacing.
Forty bucks later, I come home and the outlets are back on again.

So here's the two-part question:
A) Should I have an electrician come in and discern every breaker, and reroute some of the outlets to a new breaker?
B) What the heck happened that allowed 4 of the 11 outlets to remain on?

And part 2) Was my house wired by a crack-addict on a one-week withdrawal trip?

As a partial response to an answer below, no, the 11-outlet breaker isn't ganged. It's a single stand-alone 20A switch.

Answer 1

In answer to your question (in no particular order):

-Yes, a crackaddict wired your home. You shouldn't have skimped on the crack when you had him do it.

-I wouldn't go getting an elictrician just yet, take some time and get some note paper and start experimenting to find exactly which outlets are wired to which breakers. After getting a rather detailed list together you should be able to determine if you need an electrician to come out and figure out any unexplained breakers (plus move some outlets off of an overloaded breaker).

-See if you can get a free estimate out of the guy before he actually does any work, if you do the majority of the trial and error beforehand you can cut down on the work that you'd need to have paid to get done.

Good Luck.

Answer 2

I'd call an electrician, for a couple of reasons. First, safety. If something is wrong with the wiring, that could be dangerous. Second, convenience. I'm sure it's a pain in the butt to have this stuff going on. You have an old house, with a new panel. The panel probably was put in as part of a renovation (often the Kitchen). The rest of the house's wiring was left either untouched, or additional outlets were added to existing circuits. It's a little more costly to run new lines to the box, but you'll stop blowing breakers. I run into this all the time. Good luck.

Answer 3

Before spending a lot of money I would buy one of those cheap plug-in circuit testers. It will tell you when a circuit is on, and if it has any faults.

Then I would throw all breakers off except one, and use the tester to see what plugs are powered. I would do this one at a time, until all the plug circuits had been inventoried. You might discover that not all those receptacles are on one circuit.

The overhead lights will be on the other breakers. You can find out which is which by turning on all the overhead lights, and turning off all but one light circuit. Then you will be able to record the lights on each circuit.

Of course there will be some complications, like circuits dedicated to electric stove, washer/dryer and disposal. Also perhaps bathrooms where power for the light is off a receptacle, and perhaps a fan/light combination.

Even if you don't find all the answers you want, your work will save an electrician a lot of time if you call one in.

Answer 4

Is it possible that you are using a ganged breaker (2 breakers tied together and used when you wire an area for 220v)? That would explain having one breaker go which would take the kitchen breaker with it. No matter what the problem is there is a mixup in the wiring. It sounds like two circuits got tied together. It might also be a mistake in reversing black(hot) and white(neutral) wires on an outlet where two lines come into one box. I think you have your work cut out for you. If you do your own trouble shooting zero in on outlet and switch boxes that have more than just an input romex and an output romex. That would be where goofy wiring would occur.

Answer 5

You need to get a circuit tester ..you can use a plug in lamp for this test.... turn off all power then turn on one breaker at a time find everything that works off of it and write it down..this will not include any double breakers (230) volt... stove furnace hot water htr or dryer.....if there is more than 5 plug-ins on any breaker you need to get that fixed immediately...your refrigerator should be on a breaker by itself..and all plug ins in the bathroom and around the kitchen counter are required to be ground fault or be connected to a ground fault breaker...of course all of this should be done in accordance with your local and state electrical rules and regulations....40 years electrical hvac and electric motor service..

Answer 6

First off. DON'T TOUCH THAT WIRING until you have read "WIRING SIMPLIFIED" by H.P. Richter and W.C. Schwan!
You can get it at your local bookstore or check it out from the library. It's a must read for the do-it-yourselfer!
When you have read it and understand what you are getting into, you will more than likely call in a professional.
But DON'T TOUCH THAT WIRING until you know what you are doing!
Not to scare you, but I learned the hard way not to trust a former remodel job when it comes to electrical wiring.
Our mobil burned to the ground and we lost everything because the former owner "wired" a remodeling project himself. I did not think to check his work because he was supposed to be experienced.
The fire chief said the guy strung a wire across the frame of the mobil and it wore the insulation off and shorted out.

Answer 7

you have a fairly new 200 amp service cabinet and new wiring also.when that box was put in, it was supposed to be inspected by a certified inspecter. do get a licensed electrician to look at it. gat an estimate and let him do the fixing. better safe than sorry.

Answer 8

I'd have a licensed electrican take a look at your system to determine how adequate and safe your current electrical system is. Considering the real possibility of an electrical fire, I'd think it would be worth the peace of mind.

Answer 9

sounds like you have a real problem.most receps & out lets have a seperate breaker.most times,there 2or3 rooms on one breaker. with 200 amps, you should not have to..just to be safe, i'd call some one to have it looked at.just to prevent a possible fire.

Answer 10

20 AMPS IS ENOUGH TO KILL ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE SO DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING YOURSELF. CALL A LICENCED ELECTRICIAN NOT A HANDYMAN. THE SAFEST WAY TO WIRE YOUR HOUSE IS WITH TRIP SWITCHES. IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU MIGHT BE A BIT SHORT OF CASH. SORRY MATE