- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: Need Electrician Help - House With 10% Power?!?
Posted on 9/6/21 at 10:43 am to BrockLanders
Posted on 9/6/21 at 10:43 am to BrockLanders
You're only getting one leg, as others have said.
So half your circuits have power, except your 220v circuits which are only getting 110v, and probably reducing you're overall voltage if it's trying to ground through the 2nd leg.
Turn off all 220v breakers, then it's at least safer to use the leg that works until they fix it.
So half your circuits have power, except your 220v circuits which are only getting 110v, and probably reducing you're overall voltage if it's trying to ground through the 2nd leg.
Turn off all 220v breakers, then it's at least safer to use the leg that works until they fix it.
1
Posted on 9/6/21 at 10:49 am to beerandt
quote:
You're only getting one leg, as others have said. So half your circuits have power, except your 220v circuits which are only getting 110v, and probably reducing you're overall voltage if it's trying to ground through the 2nd leg. Turn off all 220v breakers, then it's at least safer to use the leg that works until they fix it.
If half the circuits have power, doesn't it stand to reason that if I'm getting lights in the bathroom, there should be lights in the bedroom next to it?
I really mean it when I say around 10% of the house is powered, definitely not a half & half situation.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 10:58 am to BrockLanders
Depends on the way the panel is wired with the breakers.
You try to balance the load on each leg, but that's not always the case.
The panel actually interweaves with each side..if you look at a picture of the panel on Google without the breakers you'll see what we mean. Without a volt meter and an ability to check it at each.leg I'd just be super conservative until they come replace it.
You try to balance the load on each leg, but that's not always the case.
The panel actually interweaves with each side..if you look at a picture of the panel on Google without the breakers you'll see what we mean. Without a volt meter and an ability to check it at each.leg I'd just be super conservative until they come replace it.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 10:58 am to BrockLanders
Almost certainly it is the transformer or something else at the pole.
Electricity just does weird shite when all the angry pixies aren't in order. My aunt recently had a similar problem (not related to a storm) where the lights in her kitchen would blink, dim, and ultimately go out. Various appliances wouldn't work right. She would try the microwave and it would run at about 1/3rd power. She had a DVD player and surge protecter end up getting fried in the living room. Meanwhile, the tv and lights were fine in the bedrooms.
After calling an electrician who told her the power coming into the house was too low on one side, she called the utility company. They came out a couple days later and fixed it. They said it was a bad weather head at the pole. Whatever, it solved the problem and I didn't have to mess with it.
Electricity just does weird shite when all the angry pixies aren't in order. My aunt recently had a similar problem (not related to a storm) where the lights in her kitchen would blink, dim, and ultimately go out. Various appliances wouldn't work right. She would try the microwave and it would run at about 1/3rd power. She had a DVD player and surge protecter end up getting fried in the living room. Meanwhile, the tv and lights were fine in the bedrooms.
After calling an electrician who told her the power coming into the house was too low on one side, she called the utility company. They came out a couple days later and fixed it. They said it was a bad weather head at the pole. Whatever, it solved the problem and I didn't have to mess with it.
This post was edited on 9/6/21 at 11:04 am
Posted on 9/6/21 at 11:00 am to BrockLanders
quote:
If half the circuits have power, doesn't it stand to reason that if I'm getting lights in the bathroom, there should be lights in the bedroom next to it?
I really mean it when I say around 10% of the house is powered, definitely not a half & half situation.
It depends on which side of the panel the circuit breakers are on, nothing else.
If your electrician put all of the lighting breakers on one side then you would have 100% lights and nothing else.
A 220v breaker taps BOTH sides of the panel regardless of which "side" it is on. A 110v breaker only taps the buss on one side.
The lights in the bathroom are tapping the hot leg of the buss. The lights in the bedroom next to it are tapping the dead side.
Don't take this the wrong way but if you understood how a panel works it is pretty simple.
There is a slim chance you could also have a bad tab on your meter can causing one leg to short out but that is pretty rare. With all of the power line problems associated with the storm it is most likely a utility issue.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 11:41 am to BrockLanders
Same thing happened to me. Lost a phase. No 220V and half the 110’s dead. Could see the leg dangling on the pole. Ran down an Entergy scout truck and they they had a bucket truck reconnecting me in 20 minutes.
This post was edited on 9/6/21 at 11:53 am
Posted on 9/6/21 at 11:45 am to BrockLanders
I agree problem at the pole most likely. I think I had this happen to me and the main breaker was bad.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 12:21 pm to TSmith
quote:
Same thing happened to me. Lost a phase.
220v service is 2 lines on the same phase. It is not multiphase power.
This is a common misconception even in industry that causes people to miswire these services.
A two pole service is SINGLE PHASE POWER.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 12:29 pm to BrockLanders
Use a multi meter and test your 2 legs and then each leg against your neutral. Start at your meter and work your way to your breaker then down each breaker.
It would be a breaker in your panel too.
It would be a breaker in your panel too.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 12:35 pm to BrockLanders
Whatever you do, just make sure you cut the red wire and the green wire at the same time.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 12:57 pm to patchesohoulihan_007
This happened to me. Branch pulled one service wire out of connector at weatherhead. Called entergy several times but didn’t get anywhere except they would put in emergency request as it’s an unsafe condition. Finally flagged down a pike electric truck in my neighborhood and they came and reconnected me after 3 days of calling entergy.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 1:20 pm to DzNtz
Where is your main breaker OP? You should have a shut off to your house, I have multiple 50 amp breakers on the exterior of my house that then feed the main breaker in my garage. Could be as simple as one or 2 of those are off.
But likely as said one pole is bad/ loose/ etc. coming in.
But likely as said one pole is bad/ loose/ etc. coming in.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 2:22 pm to baldona
quote:
Where is your main breaker OP? You should have a shut off to your house, I have multiple 50 amp breakers on the exterior of my house that then feed the main breaker in my garage. Could be as simple as one or 2 of those are off. But likely as said one pole is bad/ loose/ etc. coming in.
There's only one panel, and it's outside.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 3:01 pm to AndyCBR
quote:
If I had to guess one leg of your service is not connected.
Essentially, only half (one "side") of your panel is energized
I agree, but more than likely the problem is upstream of the meter where lines are exposed to trees, etc.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 3:05 pm to ManK
quote:
Measure voltage at the copper lugs of the main breaker?
Voltage from one lug to the other?
Voltage from one lug to neutral?
Voltage from the other lug to neutral?
Voltage from one lug to ground?
Voltage from the other lug to ground
I can’t fathom why you got downvoted!
Posted on 9/6/21 at 3:18 pm to BrockLanders
quote:
Morning Everyone,
Since my street has power, I came back home last night - and opened the door to find a house that only has power in the den and in the bathroom.
Everything else is out - a/c, microwave, fridge, bedrooms, etc. I think the oven light was flashing, but that's it.
Breakers seem fine, and I turned them off/on, so I called Entergy to report a "partial power outage", but who knows how long they're gonna take.
Anyone ever experience this or have any idea what it could it be?
Big thanks in advance!
one of the 3 phases running to the house appear to be damaged
Posted on 9/6/21 at 3:21 pm to ApexTiger
quote:
one of the 3 phases running to the house appear to be damaged
Almost no residential services are 3 phase.
Two-line single phase power is the norm.
Lines and phases are not the same thing.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 3:22 pm to AndyCBR
I had this happen after a power outage years ago. The exact problem was only one wire coming into the meter was hot. Entergy fixed it.
I can't remember if one wire coming in had burned in two, or it was just not making contact. It was behind the meter, though, so there was nothing I could do to fix it. Just had to wait.
As others have said, turn your main breaker to the house off so you don't frick up anything or have a fire.
I can't remember if one wire coming in had burned in two, or it was just not making contact. It was behind the meter, though, so there was nothing I could do to fix it. Just had to wait.
As others have said, turn your main breaker to the house off so you don't frick up anything or have a fire.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 3:32 pm to BrockLanders
You can't do anything until you have a multimeter.
Get a decent multi meter or wait for power company and then possibly a electrician if it's a breaker issue.
I would keep calling power company borrow someone's good multimeter and get in YouTube and trouble shoot. U may ID problem and not need power company or electrician if u
It's just a loose wore outside or breaker.
Get a decent multi meter or wait for power company and then possibly a electrician if it's a breaker issue.
I would keep calling power company borrow someone's good multimeter and get in YouTube and trouble shoot. U may ID problem and not need power company or electrician if u
It's just a loose wore outside or breaker.
Posted on 9/6/21 at 5:14 pm to AndyCBR
quote:
It depends on which side of the panel the circuit breakers are on, nothing else.
No- they alternate from top to bottom, so that two consecutive ones can be used for 220v.
Page 2 of 3
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News