home electrical question

[nostatic]

Ok, for those that know your home electrical. The rental house I'm in was "redone" about 5 years ago. There is now a main breaker board that looks newer mounted on the outside of the garage (next to where the meter is - the drop hits the house on the roof above), and a secondary breaker board in the garage which I think was the original. Since we moved in some of the built-in light fixtures (most all CF) have flickered on and off. One of the bedrooms (now the music room) has been the worst, with the overhead light turning on and off on its own, as do the outlets. Not good for music gear. The main light is attached to a dimmer switch right outside the room (odd setup) and I figure that might be part of the issue.

But, lately it has been getting worse, with other outlets (the wall that the tv/cable/internet is plugged into, using a surge protector) now cutting power on and off. Last night while I was at rehearsal evidently it was really acting up and eventually most evertything in the house just went out. The only thing that remained hot was the kitchen, central heater, and a couple of wall outlets (adjacent to kitchen and master bedroom, and oddly enough an outlet in the music room that is in the closet). I checked both boxes and nothing was tripped. I turned most of them off and on again but nothing.

Went to bed and around 4am the lights came back on. I got up, turned them off, then went back to sleep. Got up this morning and everything was still working. Went to turn on the light in the master closet (CF), it flickered on, off, on, off, then was ok. Turned it off, went to look at the power strip and it was still on so I moved the internet from the extension cord (going to one of the "good" outlets) back to where it was. The light on the power strip flickered on and off and on and then everything died again - except the kitchen, etc.

Went to work, called the landlord. Came back home this afternoon and everything is back on, but when I turn on a light (it flickers and the power has already cut off and come back a few times on the router/cable (that I had put back into the original strip).

So wtf? I assume bad wiring somewhere. The landlord said there was never a problem before and that my music stuff must be the cause. I have very little gear in there and it is low current draw stuff (class D amp, etc). Plus if it was drawing too much it should trip a breaker which has never happened. Almost all of the built-in lights flicker and power cycle so seems there is something systemic wrong. The wiring at the new breaker box looks like crap.

Thoughts?

[Mark Henry]

Check and tighten all your terminals.

[Superman]

Originally Posted by nostatic

The wiring at the new breaker box looks like crap.

This ^^^.

It sounds like some connections may be poor. If it were me, I might open the main panel and just see if the connections are tight. The screws that hold the conductors in the breakers. And any wire nuts that might be in the main panel. Re-do them, and see if this causes any behavioral changes.

[peppy]

Get renters insurance and new batteries for the smoke detectors.

Lights and receptacles should not act up unless there are shorts or they are over loaded, but then you should have to manually reset them.

[imcarthur]

If its not an overload (breaker would trip) it is either bad connections or potentially overloaded circuits with breakers that are too large to trip - which is dangerous. Either way, it is his deal.

Ian

[Red88Carrera]

If that many devices are losing power, it sounds like a bad neutral connection. Since we don't know how everything is fed, see if the ones that are working correctly are fed from the main panel, and the ones that are acting up are fed from the sub. If so, check the neutral wire between the two panels. Also check the feeder wires between the two. BTW, there shouldn't be any wire nuts in any of the panels.

[nostatic]

I have renters insurance and the batteries are fresh

I'm not crazy about diving into the breaker box. I've looked but not touched. I'll likely wait and see what the electrician says. Just odd behavior to me. I've had plenty of breakers pop over the years and have seen some odd things happen at gigs with overloaded circuits. But I wouldn't expect multiple permanently wired fixtures to all act weird (along with outlets). iirc though, most of the affected circuits are on the sub main, so I'm wondering if maybe it is just the connection from the main to that sub breaker, or if the sub breaker is wonky.

Hold my beer and watch this...

[stomachmonkey]

I like Peppys advice.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Red88Carrera

If so, check the neutral wire between the two panels. Also check the feeder wires between the two. BTW, there shouldn't be any wire nuts in any of the panels.

I suspect that this is the case. It is dark now but I'll check it in the morning since the electrician that I came home to wait for hasn't showed or called...

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Superman

This ^^^.

It sounds like some connections may be poor. If it were me, I might open the main panel and just see if the connections are tight. The screws that hold the conductors in the breakers. And any wire nuts that might be in the main panel. Re-do them, and see if this causes any behavioral changes.

Originally Posted by peppy

Get renters insurance and new batteries for the smoke detectors.

Lights and receptacles should not act up unless there are shorts or they are over loaded, but then you should have to manually reset them.

^^^ Yes to both. It sounds like the landlord is a punk.

[Red88Carrera]

I wouldn't wait til morning. Remember, low voltage=high current=heat!

[nostatic]

ok, for your sleuthing pleasure:

main board


secondary board


main-lower part


main-upper part

[nostatic]

Actually the kitchen outlets were hot and those are (supposedly) on the secondary board so not sure that is the culprit.

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by Red88Carrera

I wouldn't wait til morning. Remember, low voltage=high current=heat!

I have very little running - central heater (which hasn't hiccup'd), one light plugged into a "good" outlet, and internet router (in a "good" outlet). I don't want to go out there with a flashlight and a screwdriver and good intentions. No good can come from that

[peppy]

Those boxes need a hair cut.

[Red88Carrera]

Can't tell much from the photos because we can't see the main connections. I'd like to meet the guy that did that work. He shouldn't have a license, or probably doesn't have one. This is a pic of the panel I installed when I built my house. You don't have to touch anything to see where the wires run.

[nostatic]

Yeah, I haven't done home electrical but I used to install cable and gawd knows I've set up my home studio and live gigs enough and have run miles of wiring. That install is embarrassing...and possibly dangerous. But again, I'm not an electrician so maybe that is SOP...

[peppy]

Maybe turn off the breakers for everything that is not working properly until the electrician can take a look.

[Red88Carrera]

Originally Posted by peppy

Maybe turn off the breakers for everything that is not working properly until the electrician can take a look.

I agree

[stomachmonkey]

Got any critters gnawing on the wiring?