Lost Electricity to Workshop = Bad

I lost 5 outlets, 3 lights, and 1 switch. I have 3 serious riflestock projects that all are sitting on the backburner because of this and I want to get them rolling again (checked all of the basics like circuit breaker, etc). The next couple months are critical for me and all time is precious because after that my fishing season goes back into full swing so I use this time to complete projects.

Are there any electricians in the Blaine area that might do a side job at a reasonable rate that anyone would recommend?

Thanks, Mike

I know a guy………….

I am going to go look for him now, I also have a project for him! I’ll see if he is around (he’s always pheasent hunting somewhere) and see if he can go to Blaine. I’ll let you know what I find out. However do not turn down any offers as my guy is hard to find.

Might sound like a dumb question, but I lost power to my work area last year, checked the breakers in the box and nothing, What happened was a fault isolation tripped, reset it and everything came back up. Did not realise that they had install one, it was behind my freezer.

Had the same thing happen to me. Searched for two days before I figured it out. Sure enough a ground fault was installed between the breaker box and the problem area. Hit the reset button and all is well.

Sorry about that Mike. Backed my truck into a pool in south MPLS this morning. Sparks and wires went flying. Pole caught fire. Had 2 business standing in the parking lot looking at me wondering why they had no power.

Didnt realize I knocked it out all the way to lino. What a morning.

Sure sounds like a GF to me. Look around any of the sinks in your house. That is where they usually are. Laundry room? Outdoor outlets?

Same thing happend to me, ended up finding the ground fault in my garage (for some reason my basement laundry room wireing also feeds a garage outlet)Maybe check there?

BTW, A CB is really easy fix.

Meaning no offense, but did you push “off” the breaker before you reset it? As a Troubleshooter for the Electric Co. here in S.E. Wi. I went to many homes and some shops to investigate 1/2 power problems, only to find a tripped customer breaker. Lots of people do not realize that when a breaker trips, the breaker must be reset, (that is moved to the off position to turn it back on) this sometimes takes a little effort. Many customers, Ladies ( ) especially did not have the strength to “reset” the breaker. Good luck!

It is also possible that your circuit breaker is bad. Are they all on one circuit? If so you may want to buy one of them and try it out.

Mike;
Check EVERY GFI you got in the house!

In my wonderful home, when we put up Christmas lights in the fall, it always rains once. Twice now (once each year), the hard rain has seeped into the plug in and tripped the GFI in our bathroom.

The circuit is:
Bathroom plug-in
basement bath lights
basement hallway lights
1/2 of the plug-ins in the garage
1/2 of the outside plug-ins.

Yep, yes, you are right, I would like to find this electrician and wire 110 to his

Both times, in struggling to figure out why I can’t re-set it, it finally dawned upon me that water seeped in, thanks to my electrican buddy.

If you do not have a tripped circuit breaker, a GFI is the only logical solution, unless a switch burned up???

Sounds like my house. My wife had no electricity in the bedrooms for two days while I was gone. She knew enough to check the breakers and the GFI that she knew about. Turns out there was one in the utility closet that we never knew existed.

I would think if your electrical went out, it had to of triggered a GFI or a breaker. Otherwise your house should have burned down days ago.

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The thing that makes me reluctant to think so is because they were intermittently working and from what I have heard either a circuit is good or bad. Could be wrong, but thats what I heard.

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If by “intermittently working” you mean that the breaker was popping frequently, but would work after you reset it it sounds like a bad breaker to me – that is assuming you haven’t added some new equipment that is a HUGE power draw.

The breakers that I’ve seen go bad, usually start by popping off a few times before they die forever. It also seems like breakers that are used frequently as a substitute for switches are more prone to failure.

If you have access to the wiring, you could try one of those “current detectors” (available at HomeDepot, etc.) that detect if a wire is live just by touching the insullation.

Dan

take your receptacles out and look for a loose wire to one of them. wires that stab into the back of the receptacle sometimes come loose. if that is the problem take wires and put under screws on sides of receptacle. black wires to gold screws white wire to silver screws. turn power off before this is done.

Good advice!

Welcome atwinspin!

Current detecting devices also called pencil testers in my trade, are not at all reliable!!! Be very careful when using these as they tend to give you false readings. Use a volt meter as these are much more reliable.

Mack, my joint was built in 96, and I have replaced a breaker already.

Sorry, can’t find my guy.

If the house was built in ’97, then in the boxes (where the switches and recepticals are) you will have “pig tails” that tie the wires to the devices and each other. These wires are connected by wire nuts, twisted together. It might be possible that one of these is loose, creating your intermittent failures.
I drive through Lino on my way home and know wiring.
I can stop by if interested.

did you ck the gfi and cb? ———-jk—get my jigs done–just about open water

Mack;

Use “Atwinspin’s” advice. This is my BEST buddy Al. He has been an electrician for 20 some odd years.

He knows what he is talking about.

I doubt he will come up to Blaine, but I can call him for you, if you wish……..

Mack;
Give me a call at work!

866-454-9888