All -
So yesterday afternoon my wife was re-installing a metal screen that goes into a very old oven hood above a relatively new cooktop in our kitchen. Somehow in her maneuvering to re-insert the screen (she had temporarily removed the metal screen to clean it) she must have shorted the circuit because she told me there was a large spark that popped out into the kitchen from the area of the hood. And, shortly after that she noticed that the following things didn't work:
- a ceiling light above our kitchen sink
- a wall outlet just to the right of our kitchen sink
- a wall outlet about 5 or 6 feet to the left of our kitchen sink
- a wall outlet in the eating area of our kitchen
- a wall outlet above a computer desk in an adjoining family room
- a wall outlet below the same computer desk in the adjoining family room
I looked at our CB panels in the garage and noticed one of the breakers was tripped; it was still in the "ON" position but had the orange flag indicator in the breaker showing. I reset the breaker once and went inside to check the bad outlets and still had no power. Then I went to flip the breaker again but this time I flipped it ON/OFF several times. I then checked the bad outlets and the light and they worked. The orange "popped" flag was now out of view in the offending breaker. Life was good. Then tonight my wife said the same items had quit working again.
I checked the breaker panel again and the same breaker had tripped (can't remember if it was in the ON or OFF position) but the orange flag was clearly in view again. Reset the breaker once, the flag disappeared and all the offending items (outlets and light) are working again.
So, this is obviously connected to the arcing/short circuiting when my wife put the hood screen back in place the first time but why would the breaker trip again? Especially when there was no additional load added to the circuit?
I'm no electrician; adding some ceiling lights and wiring a couple ceiling fans and chandeliers is the extent of my electrical experience. Is it time to call an electrician or do you think I should wait? Is the bad CB somehow now overloaded even with no additional items being powered on it?
Thanks in advance!
So yesterday afternoon my wife was re-installing a metal screen that goes into a very old oven hood above a relatively new cooktop in our kitchen. Somehow in her maneuvering to re-insert the screen (she had temporarily removed the metal screen to clean it) she must have shorted the circuit because she told me there was a large spark that popped out into the kitchen from the area of the hood. And, shortly after that she noticed that the following things didn't work:
- a ceiling light above our kitchen sink
- a wall outlet just to the right of our kitchen sink
- a wall outlet about 5 or 6 feet to the left of our kitchen sink
- a wall outlet in the eating area of our kitchen
- a wall outlet above a computer desk in an adjoining family room
- a wall outlet below the same computer desk in the adjoining family room
I looked at our CB panels in the garage and noticed one of the breakers was tripped; it was still in the "ON" position but had the orange flag indicator in the breaker showing. I reset the breaker once and went inside to check the bad outlets and still had no power. Then I went to flip the breaker again but this time I flipped it ON/OFF several times. I then checked the bad outlets and the light and they worked. The orange "popped" flag was now out of view in the offending breaker. Life was good. Then tonight my wife said the same items had quit working again.
I checked the breaker panel again and the same breaker had tripped (can't remember if it was in the ON or OFF position) but the orange flag was clearly in view again. Reset the breaker once, the flag disappeared and all the offending items (outlets and light) are working again.
So, this is obviously connected to the arcing/short circuiting when my wife put the hood screen back in place the first time but why would the breaker trip again? Especially when there was no additional load added to the circuit?
I'm no electrician; adding some ceiling lights and wiring a couple ceiling fans and chandeliers is the extent of my electrical experience. Is it time to call an electrician or do you think I should wait? Is the bad CB somehow now overloaded even with no additional items being powered on it?
Thanks in advance!