P
Pat
- Jan 1, 1970
- 0
I'm a single woman with no experience in electrical things, and I need help.
My lights started acting weird a few weeks ago. Sometimes they would work,
other times not. Then the other day most of them just quit working. I can't
afford an electrician so I have to figure this out myself, and I have no
clue where to begin.
First I should explain about the wiring in my house, because it is strange.
There's a circuit breaker box outside and a fusebox in a closet with two
rows
of four fuses. The top row has three fuses in it - the last one on the right
is empty - and the bottom row has two fuses, one on each end is empty, and
of
the two that exist, one has "ref." written below it, so I assume that means
refrigerator. None of the fuses are burned out.
At the circuit breaker box there are 8 switches, all I know about them is
that one turns off my water pump at the well, another was for the electric
water heater before I changed to gas.
In Oct. 2001 a light switch went bad in the kitchen, and after that, none of
the outlets in the whole house were live except for one inside a kitchen
cupboard where the refrigerator is plugged in. The ones inside and outside
the well house also worked, and the electric water heater also worked.
For almost a year I lived with that situation because I could not afford an
electrician and had no idea how to fix it myself. I just made do with
extension cords. Then a friend offered to wire some new outlets for me,
without a labor charge, and so of course I agreed. All the new wiring is
visible, tacked to the walls and ceiling, as are the new outlets.
He ran Romex from the fusebox and made an outlet in the closet, and from
there to a light in the bathroom, and next to a switch for the porch light,
then it splits, with one wire to an outlet in the living room and the other
to an outlet in the bedroom.
So, not counting the refrigerator and well house outlets, a total of three
outlets and two light switches worked, until a few days ago.
I don't see a burned fuse. The outlet in the closet *does* work, but the
next thing down the line, the bathroom light, does not. I took the cover off
the light to see what I could see, but I have no idea what to look for.
One further thing I should mention about my friend's wiring job: When I
plug my surge protector into any of the three new outlets he made, the
little red ground fault indicator light comes on. It doesn't do that when
plugged into the refrigerator or well house outlets.
I'm really hoping someone here can help me figure this out.
Thanks in advance.
My lights started acting weird a few weeks ago. Sometimes they would work,
other times not. Then the other day most of them just quit working. I can't
afford an electrician so I have to figure this out myself, and I have no
clue where to begin.
First I should explain about the wiring in my house, because it is strange.
There's a circuit breaker box outside and a fusebox in a closet with two
rows
of four fuses. The top row has three fuses in it - the last one on the right
is empty - and the bottom row has two fuses, one on each end is empty, and
of
the two that exist, one has "ref." written below it, so I assume that means
refrigerator. None of the fuses are burned out.
At the circuit breaker box there are 8 switches, all I know about them is
that one turns off my water pump at the well, another was for the electric
water heater before I changed to gas.
In Oct. 2001 a light switch went bad in the kitchen, and after that, none of
the outlets in the whole house were live except for one inside a kitchen
cupboard where the refrigerator is plugged in. The ones inside and outside
the well house also worked, and the electric water heater also worked.
For almost a year I lived with that situation because I could not afford an
electrician and had no idea how to fix it myself. I just made do with
extension cords. Then a friend offered to wire some new outlets for me,
without a labor charge, and so of course I agreed. All the new wiring is
visible, tacked to the walls and ceiling, as are the new outlets.
He ran Romex from the fusebox and made an outlet in the closet, and from
there to a light in the bathroom, and next to a switch for the porch light,
then it splits, with one wire to an outlet in the living room and the other
to an outlet in the bedroom.
So, not counting the refrigerator and well house outlets, a total of three
outlets and two light switches worked, until a few days ago.
I don't see a burned fuse. The outlet in the closet *does* work, but the
next thing down the line, the bathroom light, does not. I took the cover off
the light to see what I could see, but I have no idea what to look for.
One further thing I should mention about my friend's wiring job: When I
plug my surge protector into any of the three new outlets he made, the
little red ground fault indicator light comes on. It doesn't do that when
plugged into the refrigerator or well house outlets.
I'm really hoping someone here can help me figure this out.
Thanks in advance.
