Home electrical issues, or paranormal activities? HELP!!!

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
Started about a month ago.

Downstairs big family room I have lots of stuff plugged in. One day, I noticed the TV stayed on but my desktop, both monitors, and the standup freezer all shut off along with the ceiling fans/lights. I check the breaker box, nothing is tripped. :unsure:

Wife comes down, checking plugs, all the sudden, everything comes back up. I continue on with my youtubing "liberals get owned" marathon.

approx 2 weeks later, it happens again, we disconnect a power strip connecting numerous devices from a particular outlet, again no breakers flipped. I flip the reset the breaker anyways at the same time the MRS is undoing the power strip, and viola, all returns to normal.

Last Friday, we're both working from home, her in the upstairs office, me downstairs. Happens again downstairs. No lights, PC, freezer, but TV across the room is still on. I reset the breaker 3-4 times, still nothing. I finally go to the now unused questionable outlet, and "tap" it to see if it's warm. Viola, everything comes on o_O. While doing so, the MRS tells me her laptop has been plugged in all day, but the battery did not charge. She changed outlets upstairs, but still no charging, she finally found an outlet in the kitchen that was "hot", but noticed the water cooler near the first outlet no longer held cold water. Then she finds another outlet upstairs where she swears the top outlet in the single gang dual power is working, but the bottom one does not charge her laptop. šŸ˜“ ZERO breakers were tripped at the panel!

I had a hunt club work detail weekend and HAD to leave her Friday afternoon. Spoke with some wise people along the way and picked up onedem GFI receptacle testers. Wise people at the club discussed my possible issues. Then she called last night and said it happened again, multiple (probably the same) upstairs and downstairs outlets weren't working. THIS TIME, the upstairs office breaker was tripped! :greenjump: But she could NOT get the downstairs to work again, until she remembered the last time, and she "tapped" the faceplate of the still unused outlet and everything came back up. šŸ¤¬

House built in the mid '80's.

Been here for 20 + years.

Accepting all HELPFUL advice!

Could be a loose outlet in a series? Could be loose but touching at the panel? Could be from when Duke Energy came to my house to "remove" some kind of old meter off of my BRAND new siding that we reinstalled because the low voltage was still hot and I could not find it in the panel to disconnect it (about a month ago!)?

Thank you for any and all helpful advice!
 

Helium

Old Mossy Horns
Simplest problem solving would be to change out said ā€œreceptacleā€ she tapped on.

mid that doesnā€™t correct it , Could also be amperage/voltage drops for various reasons.. Duke Power transformer/supply , not a big enough Main (200amp or more) on house, and/or in combination that you are pulling more amps then you use to.

simple supply versus demand.

Ps However, I would not dismiss the possibility of the ā€œcoincidence timingā€ of Duke Power removing something a month ago
 

BarSinister

Old Mossy Horns
I would at the least get one of those cheap lighted outlet testers to tell you if they are wired correctly. Then as stated change the one that you tapped and they went on. Then call an electrician. Not worth the risk IMO.

BTW I am not an electrician but I have been shocked a few times.
 

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
You could always pull suspected receptacles and put your tongue across terminals to check for continuity. OR, just use a meter when the problem is present to locate your bad connection, of which I think and suspect is your issue. Sometimes the search is harder than the fix, but finding the specific spot can be a bitch...
Find your affected recepts, pull each, and check connections. Also, check last one on each side of the circuit as the issue could be there.
Did I get you confused???
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Call power company... got a bad leg on your service coming into the house.... I would have went with the receptacle downstairs until you said the upstairs quit too. It is not likely they are on the same breaker.

Ps check the receptacles to be safe, but it sounds more like a whole house thing to me.......

Another question would be ...are the breaker that tripped and the breaker for downstairs that keeps going off on the same side in the panel??? If so ....it points to a leg in the service To me
 

perfectroadglide

Ten Pointer
I'm not a electrican, but if your home has load control, you could be having issues there. Mine was wired wrong and had well issues as well as basement circuit issues.
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
FYI.......if you have an open leg coming into your panel......anything with a motor will not last very long....appliances, heat ac units, I would really have it checked coming into the house......otherwise if all those rooms are on that same breaker.....you have an electric train wreck going on......still betting it is an open leg.......or about to be open.....itā€™s just sizzling in the ground somewhere burning itā€™s way into...... like a welder.......I think they will check it to the meter for free
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
FYI.......if you have an open leg coming into your panel......anything with a motor will not last very long....appliances, heat ac units, I would really have it checked coming into the house......otherwise if all those rooms are on that same breaker.....you have an electric train wreck going on......still betting it is an open leg.......or about to be open.....itā€™s just sizzling in the ground somewhere burning itā€™s way into...... like a welder.......I think they will check it to the meter for free
Nope, they will check it and if they are good they will charge you for a service call.
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Nope, they will check it and if they are good they will charge you for a service call.
gotcha......been out of electric service business for 30 years........guess I should have figured nothing is free anymore! In that case pay the electrician to come check it......at least he can fix anything else while he is there if not a power service issue
 

hunter

Eight Pointer
Contributor
Call power company... got a bad leg on your service coming into the house.... I would have went with the receptacle downstairs until you said the upstairs quit too. It is not likely they are on the same breaker.

Ps check the receptacles to be safe, but it sounds more like a whole house thing to me.......

Another question would be ...are the breaker that tripped and the breaker for downstairs that keeps going off on the same side in the panel??? If so ....it points to a leg in the service To me

Had this happen before. One leg loose or corroded in the meter box where the incoming wire is split. Can cause one half of your breaker box to have problems. Sometimes all circuits out and others an intermittent power supply to some of the circuits. Electrician tightened it a couple of turns with a well-insulated screwdriver and fixed it right up. Oddly enough, Duke wouldn't touch it though the problem occurred shortly after they replaced the meter... Hmmm?
 

ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
So.........anybody know where he lives? Not a peep in this thread since he posted it.......house still standing? Is he on the run? Was this thread a set-up to ā€œTHE FIREā€ that set up a nice insurance remodel???? Is there a Dateline episode coming out?
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
So.........anybody know where he lives?


Yes, I have been to the "St8 Cave",,,,,the den of manliness that only @NCST8GUY can pull off,,,,,not for a social event mind you (I'm not that cool) but to pick a purchase up 7-8 years ago,,,,,

Not a peep in this thread since he posted it.......house still standing? Is he on the run? Was this thread a set-up to ā€œTHE FIREā€ that set up a nice insurance remodel???? Is there a Dateline episode coming out?

naah,,,,he's a busy man,,,probably advising the Raleigh Major or Guv'ner on COVID stuff,,,,,








or he forgot about us,,,,,,,,
 

took

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Not quite the same issues; but a few years ago my Mom had issues at her house with power surges. It would occur sometimes a few days in a row, sometimes it would occur once a week, then nothing for another few weeks.

You could actually see the lights getting brighter, then a breaker would throw, sometimes not. Killed a tv, coffee pot, and a few other items.

Multiple checks by a few Electricians, the power company, and no findings. This went on a few months. Even had one electrician change out her entire breaker box. Still occurred. Finally, power company sent someone out and when we told him what was going on he said - thatā€™s a bad ground in the transformer. He goes out, up the pole in his bucket, worked a bit, came down and said: your problem is solved. No more issues.

Interestingly, the electrician who replaced her breaker box suggested we turn in the expenses of the appliances she lost and the job he had done since to the power company since they had not found the problem originally. Duke Energy reimbursed her within two weeks; that surprised me but they made it right since they did not catch it earlier.
 

dc bigdaddy

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
When I built my house, the power company installed a transformer when we requested power for the service pole. After we moved in, you could see the lights dim when the hvac came on. I talked to my electrician and hvac guy and they requested a second ground on the house or hvac unit. We did that and it still done it. My electrician told me to go look at the transformer and see if I could see a number on the side of it. He said if it was smaller than 25 to call power company and have them to change it. Well, it was a 15, so I sent the power company a letter and they had it changed within the week. No problems after that.

Doesn't sound like the issue that NCST8 his having though. There's a ground worked loose on something.
 

41magnum

Twelve Pointer
read this with our electrician at the plant
he says

loose hot wire--BLACK wire in the outlet that is hot to touch ....BUT would replace entire outlet.

he wants to know if the outlet that only works 1/2 way is connected to a wall switch? cuz homes are wired like that at times, usually bedrooms and living rooms.

He suggest going into breaker box and TIGHTEN EVERYTHING you can see. you can do it HOT with a rubber handled tool.

personally, I'd hire Tod for $35/hr !
 
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ScottyB

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
read this with our electrician at the plant
he says

loose hot wire--BLACK wire in the outlet that is hot to touch ....BUT would replace entire outlet.

he wants to know if the outlet that only works 1/2 way is connected to a wall switch? cuz homes are wired like that at times, usually bedrooms and living rooms.

He suggest going into breaker box and TIGHTEN EVERYTHING you can see. you can do it HOT with a rubber handled tool.
pretty much what I am saying.....just that he has upstairs and downstairs issues drives me back to the hot wires in the service not one receptacle......unless he has some funky wiring...ā€¦.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
read this with our electrician at the plant
he says

loose hot wire--BLACK wire in the outlet that is hot to touch ....BUT would replace entire outlet.

he wants to know if the outlet that only works 1/2 way is connected to a wall switch? cuz homes are wired like that at times, usually bedrooms and living rooms.

He suggest going into breaker box and TIGHTEN EVERYTHING you can see. you can do it HOT with a rubber handled tool.
The action described in bold may be just fine for an experienced electrician but I am not sure this is something that should be recommended to the average home owner. (n)o_O
 
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