Do we have an electrician in the house?

First off, no, I'm not going to attempt repairs. A real electrician has been contacted.

The other evening we lost power in part of the house--my wife's office and part of my office. The breaker wasn't tripped. We weren't in those rooms at the time, and nothing with a high demand was running.

We flipped the breakers on and off, and nothing seemed to happen. Later that evening, though, power came back. A Passover miracle!

Tonight, power is off in that zone again. No tripped breakers, either. Again, we weren't in those rooms, and nothing pulling any real load was on--maybe a power strip at most, come to think about it. We don't smell or hear anything.

Any hints?

Do you have a GFI outlet anywhere in the circuit that may have gotten tripped? I have one that occasionally takes out the stairway lights, half my office and one of the bedrooms. It's hidden behind a dresser.

The circuit is broken somewhere. I assume your house is built like a normal southern house where the wires run (sometimes haphazardly) through the attic. Since the whole thing is dying at once, I'd start by checking there.

Sounds like a broken wire or loose connection. Could be anything from a loose screw to squirrels chewing on it.

If you've got an electrician on the way, I'd kill the breaker if you can do without. A damaged wire could lead to arcing, which could be a fire hazard.

Hmm... mazdeuce is right.

FL house- broken wire in attic is a likely candidate (perhaps you have stored things on top of it).

Kill the breaker.

Thanks!

If it matters, this room is on the first floor and we have a two-story house. We don't have a crawl space, either.

Breaker is off--thanks.

I did use the vacuum cleaner the other day, and it's on that circuit. I'll see if something got jostled while plugging or unplugging it.

Electricity is pretty easy. Do you have power at the breaker? If yes, check for power at the first outlet/switch that gets power in the circuit. If no power there, then your problem is somewhere between the two. If you're waiting for a proper electrician, do kill the breaker though. Fires are all kinds of bad.

If you lost the whole circuit I would be lead to the circuit breaker panel.

Have you got a light on a three way switch in that circuit?

Woody wrote: Have you got a light on a three way switch in that circuit?

Pretty sure we don't. We have a few mystery switches throughout the house, so we're trying them all now.

A loose "back stab" connection on an outlet?

Clearly the house is haunted. Everyone else here has no idea what they're talking about. Electrician was the wrong guy to call as well. The only question that remains, who you gonna call?

https://youtu.be/Lh_W6FLaMvA

I disagree. I like the Passover miracle. Although not as exciting as the plagues.

Datsun310Guy wrote: I disagree. I like the Passover miracle. Although not as exciting as the plagues.

Would eating more matzoh help?

No word back from electrician yet. The outlet used for the vacuum seems okay. I didn't see any unhooked/loose wires back in there.

Now we wait. And work on the next issue.

Would staring at the breaker panel help?

You need to be drinking something while staring. Coffee, beer, whatever, doesn't matter, but beverages help.

A loose connection somewhere. A standard 240vac service has two hot legs (L1 and L2), and I'm guessing all the circuits that went dead are on the same leg. It could be in your panelboard, or it could be somewhere between the panelboard and the utility transformer outside.

I had the same thing happen some years ago, and it turned out to be a loose connection out at the transformer.

David S. Wallens wrote: Would staring at the breaker panel help?

I thought that was SOP on electrical gremlins? At least that's what I do when I have an electrical problem that stumps me.

Squirrels eating wires, or a loose connection. The problem with the loose connection is that it could be in a box anywhere in the house, or, if your house was built by a real bonehead, buried in a wall somewhere.

With any luck, there may be some small logic to the way your house was wired, and the electrician can track it down logically.

If its a squirrel, hopefully he electrocuted himself, and you will eventually be able to find the damage with your nose.

Open neutral?

faulty breaker is easy to check, too. just swap it with another one of the same type.

sounds like the last place I rented. Meter was going bad, it would drop one leg, usually on cold and wet days. Eventually it dropped one leg completely.. which was fine for me as it stopped registering power on the other.. went the whole winter not paying power.. and they cannot blame me, the electric company did nothing until the meter itself literally blew up in a shower of sparks

When that happened to me, I found a BX Cable had rubbed against the box it was in and the wire inside grounded things out.

Start at the box - outlet nearest the circuit breaker with a test light, check for power and work your way outboard.

Old houses are fun and exciting when you're 30 ......

Dan

Call the power company. It sounds like a bad leg. The power company will fix this at no charge.

Had this issue at my house. Part of the house was without power, but it did not match to the circuit breakers. A new line was run from my meter to the box at the road.