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electrical short

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electrical short rod_lake 02-12-2005
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Posted by on February 12, 2005, 6:57 pm


The circuit breaker for the electrical outlets and lights for my
kitchen and bathroom opened. I unplugged everything and turned off all
the lights and it still opens. I inspected all the outlets for a sign
of a short and they all look fine. The wire from the breaker reads
zero ohms to ground. I assume there is a short in the wiring behind
the wall somewhere.

I will be calling in an electrician to troubleshoot and repair the
problem Monday. I am hoping he will have some kind of a sniffer that
can inject a signal into the shorted line and then zero in on the short
location. Does such a thing exist or am I into the major job of
replacing all the wire?

Rod



Posted by Tony Hwang on February 13, 2005, 3:40 am


rod_lake@netzero.com wrote:
> The circuit breaker for the electrical outlets and lights for my
> kitchen and bathroom opened. I unplugged everything and turned off all
> the lights and it still opens. I inspected all the outlets for a sign
> of a short and they all look fine. The wire from the breaker reads
> zero ohms to ground. I assume there is a short in the wiring behind
> the wall somewhere.
>
> I will be calling in an electrician to troubleshoot and repair the
> problem Monday. I am hoping he will have some kind of a sniffer that
> can inject a signal into the shorted line and then zero in on the short
> location. Does such a thing exist or am I into the major job of
> replacing all the wire?
>
> Rod
>
Hi,
Bad circuit breaker? Never know if you did not check it.
Tony


Posted by Pop on February 13, 2005, 2:02 pm


How about light bulbs and nightlights? YOu also have to either remove those
or turn off the switches that turn them on. In other words, be sure it's
just receptacles, not a closet lite or something somewhere.

Zero ohms: On what scale? You need to use a scale that can show you ten to
twenty ohms or less. If it was a 1k scale, then it might easily look like
zero. Although, your descrip does sound like it's a dead short, it's best
to be sure.

Did you make sure the breaker went all the way off and then all the way on?
Some breakers go to a sort of "middle" position when they pop, and you have
to push it the rest of the way off before it'll actually turn back on.

Just a couple thoughts,

Pop

Tony Hwang wrote:
> rod_lake@netzero.com wrote:
>> The circuit breaker for the electrical outlets and lights for my
>> kitchen and bathroom opened. I unplugged everything and turned off
>> all the lights and it still opens. I inspected all the outlets for
>> a sign of a short and they all look fine. The wire from the breaker
>> reads zero ohms to ground. I assume there is a short in the wiring
>> behind the wall somewhere.
>>
>> I will be calling in an electrician to troubleshoot and repair the
>> problem Monday. I am hoping he will have some kind of a sniffer that
>> can inject a signal into the shorted line and then zero in on the
>> short location. Does such a thing exist or am I into the major job
>> of replacing all the wire?
>>
>> Rod
>>
> Hi,
> Bad circuit breaker? Never know if you did not check it.
> Tony



--
---
No, I won't get dressed.
I'm retired!




Posted by Stormin Mormon on February 14, 2005, 8:23 pm


You iddn't read the most important part of the OP's writing. I'll delete all
but the part you missed.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


rod_lake@netzero.com wrote:


The wire from the breaker reads
> zero ohms to ground.

> Rod
>
Hi,
Bad circuit breaker? Never know if you did not check it.
Tony




Posted by TURTLE on February 13, 2005, 5:11 am



> The circuit breaker for the electrical outlets and lights for my
> kitchen and bathroom opened. I unplugged everything and turned off all
> the lights and it still opens. I inspected all the outlets for a sign
> of a short and they all look fine. The wire from the breaker reads
> zero ohms to ground. I assume there is a short in the wiring behind
> the wall somewhere.
>
> I will be calling in an electrician to troubleshoot and repair the
> problem Monday. I am hoping he will have some kind of a sniffer that
> can inject a signal into the shorted line and then zero in on the short
> location. Does such a thing exist or am I into the major job of
> replacing all the wire?
>
> Rod
>

This is Turtle.

Well I can't see it or look at the meter reading from here so. Wait for the
electrician but you can invest in a electric receptical analizer from Radio
Shack , Low's, Home Depot, Southerlands, or any electric supply outlet store.
You just plug it into the receptical and watch the lites lite up on it and it
will tell you what the problem is by what lite lites up and in what order on the
lite part of the plug in device. They are about $3.00 and well worth the cost to
get a look at what is wrong with it.

TURTLE




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