Bad wiring?

dirtygirl · 03-01-2012, 03:38 PM

I'm not an electrician by any means, but I don't believe the wiring in my house is right. I say this because I can't run a vacuum or blow dryer without half the house losing electricity. If I move it to the other side of the house, that side will do the same thing. (By house, I mean a 1980s mobile home.) There are a number of other problems too but this one drives me nuts due to the running back and forth to the outlet box. There are a lot of switches in that box, but the entire house seems to truly only run on two of them. One for the left side of the house, and one on the right.

How can I test the theories I have in the wiring of this house before pulling apart the panels and re-cabling the whole house?

jimmy21 · 03-01-2012, 05:17 PM

Is it that breakers are tripping? What brand of breakers? You need to put an ammeter on the wire going into the breaker to see if your just overloading the breakers.

joecaption · 03-01-2012, 05:22 PM

Also loose wires can cause this.
Is it copper or aluminum wiring?

dirtygirl · 03-02-2012, 08:34 AM

The breakers are constantly tripping. I can turn the heater on in the living room to full and turn on the hall light and that side of the house will lose power.
I haven't checked to see what kind of wiring it is but will do so this weekend. I will also be picking up an ammeter to test the breaker as well as individual outlets throughout the house.

Thanks for the tips on what to look for and check.

J. V. · 03-02-2012, 11:47 AM

This question is to ambiguous. We need to know what size service you have, what size circuit breakers trip and the current (amps) marked on the vacuum cleaner. Circuit breakers are designed to trip on overload or short circuit. The electrical system is doing what it is supposed to do.
I can tell you some vacuum cleaners pull a lot of current for their size. Tripping circuit breakers while an inconvenience are doing their job in preventing you from taxing the circuit. Answer the questions above and lets see if there is not an easy fix for your problem.

dirtygirl · 03-02-2012, 11:51 AM

Will do. With loss of internet at the house I won't be able to post the answers until Monday, but I'll check all of the above.