[hiddenXmachine]

Okay so here is the scoop. Had too much stuff plugged into one breaker. I knew there was too much stuff so I left the electric fireplace on off. Girlfriend came by and turned it on, and a bunch of stuff went off.

I expected to find the breaker off, however all the breakers were still on. I even cycled through on and off on all the breakers. My house is old and I am not sure what is on what circuits. I used my voltmeter and checked across each breaker so they are all working properly too 120vAC.

Every single one of my breakers has stuff that is working on it. So these lights and plugs are on a circuit with other things that are working.

I assume this would be a broken neutral somewhere, unless anyone has other ideas?

 

[Jump-start]

Loose splice or connection. Divide and conquer if you have the appropriate skill level.

 

[joed]

A very common cause of this is back stab connections. That is a connection where the wire is poked into a hole in the back of the receptacles. If you have these connections move the wires to the screws.

 

[hiddenXmachine]

Thanks for the advice. I just have the regular type receptacles. Looks like I will have to divide and conquer.

 

[joecaption]

Think you missed what there suggesting.
Your "regular outlets" likely had two different ways to make the connection, back stabbed which is just stripping the wire and sticking it in a hole on the back side of the outlet.
Seems like a fast easy way to do it but is very prone to a loose connection which can cause over heating of the outlet and the wiring.
The other way is under the screws on the sides of the outlet which if done right is a much better connection.

 

[Jim Port]

Look at the last working or first non-working device for a bad connection.

 

[hiddenXmachine]

Thanks guys, ill do a little investigating. The few plugs I have looked at are just the wire behind the screw connection. Not to say that I won't come across the push-in type of connection somewhere in the house.

Ill let you know how it goes!

 

[hiddenXmachine]

Okay so I figured out the problem. The surge of power that should of set off the breaker, shorted out one of my power jumpers (melted it or something) and I no longer had a pathway. So I got it to work. I also was curious to why my breaker didn't go off. I purposely shorted the hot with the breaker on, and the breaker did not trip. I have a faulty breaker. Kind of a fire hazard. Going to change all these old breakers out, do not trust them :/

 

[Speedy Petey]

Okay so I figured out the problem. The surge of power that should of set off the breaker, shorted out one of my power jumpers (melted it or something) and I no longer had a pathway. So I got it to work. I also was curious to why my breaker didn't go off.

A short-term surge or overcurrent will not cause a problem like this. That is/was a long-term issue that happened over time due to a loose or poor connection.

.....I purposely shorted the hot with the breaker on, and the breaker did not trip. I have a faulty breaker.

This is NOT the smartest thing to do, and the breaker is not necessarily faulty.

 

[hiddenXmachine]

A short-term surge or overcurrent will not cause a problem like this. That is/was a long-term issue that happened over time due to a loose or poor connection.


This is NOT the smartest thing to do, and the breaker is not necessarily faulty.

Could you elaborate on the breaker part? What I do not understand is how it could be good if it doesn't trip when shorted.

I know you said a short-term surge would not cause a problem like this, but if the breaker wasn't limiting the current (faulty,) is it not fair to say that a bad joint somewhere in the circuit might cause a short? Because that excess current is going to want to travel somewhere. It makes sense to me.

The reason I think this is because it all happened at the exact moment we added the load to the circuit. Too much of a coincidence?

Let me know if I am on ball or not. Im an electrical apprentice, just trying to learn man. Thanks. Ps I would not be purposely shorting things out if this was not in my own house. Just had to know what was up.

 

[Speedy Petey]

Could you elaborate on the breaker part? What I do not understand is how it could be good if it doesn't trip when shorted.

Because a bolted fault (short circuit) is handled differently than an overload by a circuit breaker. Sometimes a bolted fault clears itself before the breaker trips.

I know you said a short-term surge would not cause a problem like this, but if the breaker wasn't limiting the current (faulty,) is it not fair to say that a bad joint somewhere in the circuit might cause a short? Because that excess current is going to want to travel somewhere. It makes sense to me.

Sort of the same answer. It's not that it is "excess" current. Current from a fault can be in the 10,000+ amp range.
I certainly do think it's fair and likely that a bad splice or termination caused this, but not simply due to this one instance. I think the termination was bad for a while and this instance was what made it finally fail.

 

[elec_2014]

Breaker not tripping?. Is the panel by any chance a Federal Pacific Equipment Stab-Lok. You can tell quickly usually if the tips of the breaker handles are bright colored red - see here-.