Embarrassing end to Electrical issue

I'm glad that was the problem!

You KNOW what it was and how it got fixed, and that it was fixed correctly.

FWIW....I've made similar mistakes without the valid excuse of recovering from any type of injury.....

Keep healing!

 

"Hubby was cleaning the "dog den" and moved the cords"

I am certain of this.

"charge me full freight"

That's a bit overboard. Confessional here should suffice.

==

BTW Kris, now on NPR rotation, listen to story by fella who got his foot squished, got on opiods, and fought long and hard to break addiction.

The road you did not take...

 

I've had worse brain farts errr cranial flatulence.

 

Don't feel bad.
My life observation is that with electrical issues similar to yours, the solution is ALWAYS either embarrassingly simple OR horrifically extensive and expensive. You're lucky it was the somewhat embarrassing but simple and cheaper option.

My television in the living room stopped working the outlet was dead. Everything else appeared to be working. It wasn't tied to a light switch.
I called in professional help, only to find out that for some reason, that specific living room outlet was tied to a safety outlet in the bathroom. The outlet in the bathroom has a overload button. For some unfathomable reason, if it is triggered in the bathroom, it cuts power to that outlet in the living room.
Who knew?
Well the electrician did.
The 10 seconds it took for him to walk in my bathroom and press the reset button.....ughh...maybe not as costly as it was embarrassing.

 

Clark did it!

 

I hope you will also post this resolution in the original thread ???

 

In North America, we have 'split phase' power in our homes. Two separate hots, 240 VAC difference, come in along with a single neutral, 120 VAC to neutral. Many, many years ago, the fuse for one of the two hots blew. We still had power for some devices but not for others.

I would recommend going to your breaker box and seeing if you have two, main circuit breakers (one tripped) or two fuses (may require opening an access panel.) Work carefully but it really sounds as if half of your power is out. Moving the plugs means the remaining leg is probably facing a higher load and at risk to a fuse blowing or circuit breaker tripping. Then things will get very dark and quiet.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

If you look at any standard duplex outlet at your local Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. you will notice there is a metal tab that connects both receptacles such that both always have power. This tab can be broken off to make one receptacle always "ON" and the other receptacle can be made to be a "switched" outlet.

 

"Is it plugged in?"

Haha. Oops.

No, I'm not laughing at you, kris. I'm laughing because I've done this before, and I've also helped my smartass engineer grandfather figure out the same problem at his house.

 

is the reason you started a new thread because in the other one you said the upper plug no longer worked, so you moved all the lamps to the lower plug in your o/p?

 

I use a label maker and label the switched side of any split outlets. This eliminates problems - when you plug into that side you will know it's a switched outlet.

 

What would be the worst taboo violated? Maybe that should be a thread, but then again, we'd all be violating them all over again. Sorry.

 

I have NEVER seen a distribution box that did NOT have a "main" breaker (actually two breakers in one).
Usually a large switch handle either at the top or bottom.

Even the old fuse boxes had huge main fuses.

 

My house was built in the 70s and has no main breaker. I've seen lots of them like that. But I don't like it.

 

Multimeter is great but get one of the little $10 plug in GFI tester plugs. That's the best way to test an outlet shows if in phase or missing a ground too and safer and quicker than meter leads.
If you use it in the top outlet nope no power there that's not it plug it into the bottom outlet oh lovely that works. Done.

Usually the switched outlet is on the bottom of the outlet.

Hang in there kiddo dont be so hard on yourself your not an electrician. Just blame it on the husband and go about your day. That's what my wife does works well for her.

 

I avoided one of those on Friday. The dryer had been making a high pitched squeal and the wife was concerned.

Ended up finding it was the belt tensioner:


Made sure it wasn’t the rollers which was a bit involved:



Had it back together in an hour and problem solved:



Out of the dog house for another day.

 

Nice one ray.

Only thing I wont touch is a dryer good god you take the cover off the whole thing falls apart.

Very skilled sir to get that baby working again. Well done.

 

The dryer is actually pretty simple.

Better than buying a new one or paying an appliance repair person a call out fee.

Give it a shot next time as there is huge cost savings to be had.