I have a 1960s house with EMT throughout.
I recently replaced 2 florecent fixtures in my basement with 4 LED lights in their own J-Boxes in the drop ceiling. I did the following:
1. Rerouted the the conduit from the light switch to the main j-box for the lights. (previously it was going directly into the fixture)
2. Ran 4 foot whips to each jbox holding the LED (metalic 14# wires)
3. Cut the old spliced wire (that was just twisted and taped) and used a wire nut
4. Replaced the switch with a dimmer
The lights work great. Noticebale improvement and the dimmer is excellent.
The issue is that the circuit for the kitchen is now tripping. I told my wife its just a coincidence, but she is sure I caused it. Its only happened 2x (1 day apart. Nothing unusual running on the circuit, only the fridge and the gas stove which as not in use)
Can my "new" work possibly impact another circuit? What should I check? Any way to avoid re-doing my work?
Things I noticed / may or may not be relevant:
1. Some of the EMT is directly in contact with a copper water pipe
2. The switch / dimmer isn't grounded
3. The wires in the jbox were nasty and old. There was corrosion on the jackets and the jbox. Looks like some water leaked down fromt the laundy above at some point in the last 40 years.
4. At some point (months ago) when I was in the basement I touched some of the EMT and something that was plugged in I swear I feld a shock. (just listing everything I can think of). I didn't think much of it at the time, but now my whole electrical system is suspect.
5. The tripped circuit (fridge, MW, stove) didn't appear to be tripped. The fridge wasn't on. When I turned off and back on the circuit the aplliances came back to life. Appliances less than 1 year old.
6. The clock on the range was reset at one point but I didn't think I turned on or off the circuit. The lights for the basement were switced off but still worked with the fridge circuit tripped.
7. We had a huge electrical storm right before I did the work
8. We have a "stablock" panel that the home inspector got all bent out of shape about. Other than truning on and off breakers I have never touched it.
9. Kitchen breaker and basement light breaker are adjacent in the box
10. I believe kitchen and basement share the same EMT in places.
11. I think I now have too many connectors in my j-box. Will likely add an extension.
12. I didn't use the red "bushing" on all my whips as I ran out of them, but I was careful with the metal sheath and really don't think any wires were cut. (besides if there was a short wouldn't my LED lights fail and that circut break?)
HELP. I am happy to call a contractor to come in, but I don't have an electrician I trust yet and I'm scared bringing someone in before I isolate the problem a little.
I recently replaced 2 florecent fixtures in my basement with 4 LED lights in their own J-Boxes in the drop ceiling. I did the following:
1. Rerouted the the conduit from the light switch to the main j-box for the lights. (previously it was going directly into the fixture)
2. Ran 4 foot whips to each jbox holding the LED (metalic 14# wires)
3. Cut the old spliced wire (that was just twisted and taped) and used a wire nut
4. Replaced the switch with a dimmer
The lights work great. Noticebale improvement and the dimmer is excellent.
The issue is that the circuit for the kitchen is now tripping. I told my wife its just a coincidence, but she is sure I caused it. Its only happened 2x (1 day apart. Nothing unusual running on the circuit, only the fridge and the gas stove which as not in use)
Can my "new" work possibly impact another circuit? What should I check? Any way to avoid re-doing my work?
Things I noticed / may or may not be relevant:
1. Some of the EMT is directly in contact with a copper water pipe
2. The switch / dimmer isn't grounded
3. The wires in the jbox were nasty and old. There was corrosion on the jackets and the jbox. Looks like some water leaked down fromt the laundy above at some point in the last 40 years.
4. At some point (months ago) when I was in the basement I touched some of the EMT and something that was plugged in I swear I feld a shock. (just listing everything I can think of). I didn't think much of it at the time, but now my whole electrical system is suspect.
5. The tripped circuit (fridge, MW, stove) didn't appear to be tripped. The fridge wasn't on. When I turned off and back on the circuit the aplliances came back to life. Appliances less than 1 year old.
6. The clock on the range was reset at one point but I didn't think I turned on or off the circuit. The lights for the basement were switced off but still worked with the fridge circuit tripped.
7. We had a huge electrical storm right before I did the work
8. We have a "stablock" panel that the home inspector got all bent out of shape about. Other than truning on and off breakers I have never touched it.
9. Kitchen breaker and basement light breaker are adjacent in the box
10. I believe kitchen and basement share the same EMT in places.
11. I think I now have too many connectors in my j-box. Will likely add an extension.
12. I didn't use the red "bushing" on all my whips as I ran out of them, but I was careful with the metal sheath and really don't think any wires were cut. (besides if there was a short wouldn't my LED lights fail and that circut break?)
HELP. I am happy to call a contractor to come in, but I don't have an electrician I trust yet and I'm scared bringing someone in before I isolate the problem a little.