Some power going out without tripping breakers

clawsome

OK, I know this has been a thread before, but I wanted to try and see if anyone can give me some insight before calling my landlord as I might be able to get some rent in exchange for fixing it.

This is a weird one. While the air conditioner is running there are basically no problems. occasionally a light plugged into the living room recepticle will flicker. Sometimes, though, when the AC unit shuts off (gets to desired temperature) some power in the house will turn off without tripping a breaker.

The power in the bedrooms, living room, and some of the basement is off. When I turn the thermestat down, and the AC unit kicks on to bring down the temp, the power is restored. before discovering this I flipped all of the breakers off, and then back on.....which is how I know they aren't being tripped. I have traced the AC line from the breaker to the unit and it is not tied into any other circuit.

The only thing I can think of is that there are loose connections within the box, or bad/old breakers....which I am guessing they are fairly old.. thanks guys....side note, this happened only once when we moved in (a week ago) and is happening everytime the ac shuts off now.

mpoulton

Check something else: Does turning the stove on (assuming you have an electric stove) or running an electric clothes dryer also restore power? If so then one leg of your service is open or loose. The problem could be on the utility's side, in the meter socket, or at the main breaker. You could potentially damage the air conditioner running it in this condition. Try opening and closing the main breaker and see if that fixes it. If not, or if it happen again, then you'll need to have an electrician come out and locate the exact nature of the problem. If it's on the utility side, then the power company will have to fix it.

clawsome

We have a gas stove, and no washer/dryer yet. however, the refrigerator kicks on just fine as the power in the kitchen seems to be unaffected. I opened and closed the main breaker (several times) when I was checking the breakers. One of the times this happened, when closed and then opened the living room plug-ins (if labeled correctly) the power came back on, but there was a crackeling sound withing the fuse box. I am thinking its just time to get a professional here before the AC unit (or my electronics) get damaged. or worse.

ddawg16

First clue "calling the landlord"....

All too often, landlords only do minimal maint to their rentals.....

To answer your question...it sounds like you riding the ragged edge of the limit on the power to your apartment.

It's not your property....your caught between a rock and a hard place...

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mpoulton

Based on the crackling noise and brief moment of power, I'd say there's a loose connection in one hot leg at the main breaker. Might be at the breaker lugs, inside the breaker, or at the connection to the panel bus. The landlord will need an electrician to fix this.

clawsome

The thing is, I'm renting a house....so unless they've put a restriction on it I don't think this is it. I am liking that everyone is feeling my angst against the landlords though. Thank You everyone. keep them coming so I can give them a good excuse to call an electrician.

jbfan

You do not need a good excuse to call him.
you have a problem and heard crackling at the fuse panel.
Call him now, or you could end up calling the FD!

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