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Posted by RBM on May 7, 2008, 7:40 pm
> So I was on the computer, then all of a sudden I hear BOOM, like an
> circuit breaker tripping, and everything went quiet. The computer
> was off.
>
> I took a peek in the electrical panel, but no circuit breakers had
> tripped. Odd, I thought. But I still didn't have electricity to
> my computer.
>
> I did some investigating, and it seems the bathroom light, and two
> outlets are dark. That's it. Nothing else. Also, with a voltmeter
> I checked each circuit breaker. I thought maybe one of them had broken,
> but was left in the ON position. I took my voltmeter, and checked
> the voltage of each wire going to the circuit breakers against the
> neutral. All came up as 120 V. And when I would turn off any one
> of the circuit breakers, the meter showed 0 V. So it wasn't that.
>
> But still, I have no electricity. What could be the issue? Any
> suggestions?
>
> Other oddball ideas that came to my mind was that maybe those particular
> outlets and lights were connected to my neighbor's circuit.
> Could this be, or is it totally out of the question?
>
> Actually the room where the dead outlets are has one outlet that works.
> Also the light is on in that room. Weird, I thought all the outlets in a
> room would be in the same circuit. And the bathroom, which has no light
> now, has a working outlet also.
>
> I'm pretty much at my wits end, and probably will have to get an
> electrician. But maybe someone would have any experience of a similar
> situation, before I call one to turn a circuit breaker or twist a knob.
Circuits for general lighting are rarely done room by room, so it would be
perfectly normal to have some lights and outlets working and some not, in
the same room. If you heard a pop or "boom" it was probably a short circuit.
This should have tripped a breaker, but clearly broke the electric
connection somewhere along that circuit. The wiring is daisy chained between
lights and outlets on that circuit, so you would be looking for the last
live outlet or the first dead outlet on the chain. Not knowing how the chain
is run, may require the help of an electrician. I doubt it is a matter of
flipping a switch, although it is undoubtedly an easy repair once the
location of the problem is found.
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