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OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC

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lenray

03-23-2006 14:04:43




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A neighbor calleld me asking about her electric in her home. Some lights work some not and some seem to be at about half power.
Had her call the power co. they came out and left a note saying they fixed it at the power pole.
She wasn't home when they came.
Just called again and saying she has the same problem.
Any suggestions--she called the power co. again.
Could it be something in the home???
Thanks for any help.

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buickanddeere

03-25-2006 10:53:20




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 14:04:43  
Once upon a time we had the main service breaker out at the hydro meter fail on one line.



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larry in tn

03-24-2006 06:07:14




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 14:04:43  
This problem is fairly common in older homes that used "split bolts" to tie the service/meter base to the incoming pole/xfmr leads. The bolts loosen and corrode with age. Most common problem is loss of neutral. Have power company replace with code spec. crimp on connectors.



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jeffcat

03-23-2006 20:05:37




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 14:04:43  
SEEEeeeee..... That is why you come to this web site!



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DaveCA

03-24-2006 04:43:48




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to jeffcat, 03-23-2006 20:05:37  
Yep, that was good. I"m impressed with the whole thing!



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lenray

03-23-2006 18:24:44




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 14:04:43  
Thanks for the help fellas. It was a hot leg that went south. No 220 in the box and 110 on every other breaker.
It is a rather long run from the meter to the breaker panel.
Elelctrician is coming in the morning to run new wires.
Again thanks for your help and suggestions.
This is a very good friend of ours who lost her husband over two years ago.



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Kevin Bismark

03-23-2006 17:00:42




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 14:04:43  
What do you mean when you use the words, "half power" do you mean that half of the stuff doesn't work, or like maybe some light bulbs are too bright or too dim, they either have a floating neutral, or lost one leg, have found burned up and corroded connections almost everyplace you can think of over the years, anywhere from the panel to the transformer on the pole..
Kevin



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jeffcat

03-23-2006 16:48:41




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 14:04:43  
Had the same thing happen up at the folks about three months ago. Lost a leg in the kitchen fuse box. Old fuse fell apart internal. The soilder that holds the actual element in the fuse. Back feed through the Lamp fixtures and the closet light bulb. Was kinda neat with glow bulbs and twinkle floresent fixtures. The neighbor electrician couldn"t figure it out!!! He is used to breakers. I got to the house about half and hour after he got there. This house was wired in the 60s and it is all fuses. I found it about 20 minutes later and he said he would have to remember that. Go over to your neighbor and take the cover off of the box. Check with the meter at the input. You should get 208 or 220 across the two wires. Measure from one input wire to ground and you should get 110 or 115. If you get something else you got FEED trouble. If it is an older box with fuses...check them all with your metter set on tone. The old timers know this as "Ringing" out a fuse or circut. Breakers can also go bad and you will get one half of a DOUBLE breaker that is open. Thank the good Lord you don"t have Knob and Tube in your house. Imagine wires in your house in the walls set up like an old electric fence! Two BARE wires or with COTTON coats and you have porcelain insulators and porcelan tubes in the walls. Had to string it like phone lines on the poles. Today any idiot can do a half A--s wire job. The old days is when you REALLY needed to know what you were doing! jeffcat

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Charles (in GA)

03-23-2006 15:17:23




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 14:04:43  
You mention pole, but does it go underground at some point? I tend to agree with LumbrJakMan, its a hot leg that is lost.

I came home one day (saturday of course, when you almost can't get any service) and found the same thing, some things worked some didn't and none of the 240 stuff worked. Opened the panel and took a meter, found a dead hot leg coming in. Power company came out, verified it was lead in cable underground, and put a "power saver" box on the house. You pull the meter, install an adapter, that goes to a box mounted on a hand truck. It takes the working leg, and rephases it and routes it to the dead side. Of course everything is being fed by one leg coming in, and that "good" leg died about two hours later. Monday afternoon they found several burned areas in the underground feed, rocks againist the cable, weakens it and water gets in and it burns up. They made good splices and used a heat shrink that has a sealer in it. so far it has held up.

Charles

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RandyBee

03-23-2006 14:56:27




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 14:04:43  
Sounds like a loss of neutral- Check any 220 devices such as stove and see if they work ok.



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lenray

03-23-2006 15:04:14




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to RandyBee, 03-23-2006 14:56:27  
I lost a neutral on a rental home a few years ago. It was caused at the power pole and not at my home control box-fuse panel.
It is a 200 amp service in the home.
The two hots coming in from the meter should show 220--is that correct?? and from the hot to the ground should be 110--is that correct???



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RandyBee

03-23-2006 17:55:35




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 15:04:14  
Yes you should read 240 or so between the two hot legs and 120 from each leg to neutral which should be tied to ground in the panel only. As some have said it could be a loss of one side and the weak lights could be back-feeding through the 240 units when turned on. If you do have a loss of neutral or one side could be anywhere between pole and panel including meter. With a 200 amp panel I am sure this is circuit breakers. You might re-cycle the main breaker as one side may be internal trip or making poor contact.

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LumbrJakMan

03-23-2006 14:40:08




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 14:04:43  
It sounds like she Lost a HOT leg coming into the Home. Most houses have 2 Hot Legs and a Neutral . The Neutral brings the Power back to the grid for each HOT leg. If half her house is NOT working , sounds like 1 HOT leg is Not working. As for the Half Brightness , she may have Issues with her grounding. If its an Old 110 Volt Service , she lost her Neutral and the system is now working through her ground , Very Unsafe as the Ground system in the home that should be there for safety in an overload situation is now an Integral part of the Operating system.

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old

03-23-2006 14:39:47




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 Re: OT ELECTRICAL HALF ELECTRIC in reply to lenray, 03-23-2006 14:04:43  
Sounds like she is looseing a ground some place. I would check and tightn up all grounds and see if that helps things. I have seen that happen more then once and also seen a house burn because of it.



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