ANY ELECTRICIANS ON HERE?

[Guest dubaholic2]

i need help. i had my air handler unit replaced the week before last ($1700) because my heat wasnt working and we have been good and warm since. this morning, i get up and the heat isnt working, wtf? i take a shower-no hot water, wtf? my wifes shower was hot, why isnt mine? next my wife tells me that the lights in the kitchen keep dimming, wtf? it seems that every time the deep freezer (110v) tried to kick on the lights in the kitchen dim significantly and the deep freezer is thawing out. so i unplug the freezer, thinking it has taken a crap and its pulling to much electricity or something. then i go in the basement and check the breakers for the heat and the fuses , yes screw in fuses, for everything else. no breakers were tripped and no fuses were burnt, but still neither my heat, nor my water heater is working. i checked the breaker on the air handler itself, good. i pulled the cover off the side of the water heating, hoping it would need to be reset- reset is tripped. so i am now out of ideas. i have no idea what has happened, nor do i know anything about electical wiring (except for wiring ceiling fans, recepticles, and small stuff like that), nor do i have the money to have an electrician come out because of the previously mentioned $1700 expense a couple weeks ago. if anyone can offer any help or ideas i would greatly appreciate it. thanks, ian

865-805-7240

[Guest bkelm18]

So nothing improved after you unplugged the freezer? Is the air handler on its own circuit? If so, remove the fuses to just that and see if anything improves. If not, do the same thing for each circuit to see if you can narrow anything down. Fuses can also be blown without actually looking blown. I spent a few years in the electrical trade and I've learned electricity can do some weird stuff if something gets outta line.

Edited January 18, 2012 by bkelm18

[Guest dubaholic2]

after i unplugged the freezer the lights quit dimming, but the water heater and heat still arent working. i have checked and swapped every fuse in the box and nothing has changed. thanks

[Guest Lester Weevils]

If it just happened this morning you can hope it was a power company brownout and will be back to normal later today. Low probabality perhaps but they happen.

[Guest bkelm18]

after i unplugged the freezer the lights quit dimming, but the water heater and heat still arent working. i have checked and swapped every fuse in the box and nothing has changed. thanks

It's hard to say without actually seeing anything. Are the water heater and the heat on the same circuit? Are they both 220v? It sounds to me perhaps a loose connection somewhere or something got fried. Possibly a dead leg but you would likely have other things not working in that event.

[wewoapsiak]

As far as the freezer / light issue, If I was still on the ship I'd say sounds like a high resistance ground, not shorted enough to actually pop anything with a huge amount of current, but could cause things to go screwy; especially with heavily loaded circuits. It happened a lot, but I'm under the belief we had mechanics chewing on wires.

But I'm with bkelm18 on the loose connection if the water heater and the heat are on the same circuit. Whoever installed your stuff probably didn't tighten everything perfectly a wire worked itself loose.

[Guest bkelm18]

As far as the freezer / light issue, If I was still on the ship I'd say sounds like a high resistance ground, not shorted enough to actually pop anything with a huge amount of current, but could cause things to go screwy; especially with heavily loaded circuits. It happened a lot, but I'm under the belief we had mechanics chewing on wires.

You had those dang Machinist Mate's chewing on wires too? Haha.

[jtmaze]

Didn't have time to read the whole post but it sounds like you only have 110 to some 220 appliances and or a loose neutral on the 110 freezer.

JTM🔫

Sent from my iPhone

[jtmaze]

Did you check the main tube fuses(not screw in)

JTM🔫

Sent from my iPhone

[dralarms]

Didn't have time to read the whole post but it sounds like you only have 110 to some 220 appliances and or a loose neutral on the 110 freezer.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

ding, ding, ding. Hit the nail on the head. Somewhere on the circuit there is an open on one side of the 220.

[Guest Bang!]

Call back the heat and air guys. If this is a new unit, they should get it going for nothing. I worked refrigeration and hvac for 25 years. At least they can help you pinpoint the problem if unit is not getting voltage.

[Guest dubaholic2]

i did check the main tube fuses. with my ohm meter they're showing that im getting current through them. after school tomorrow im going to see if i can figure out exactly which fuse goes to each (nothing is labeled in the box) and see if half of the circuit is dead. looks like im going to be attempting to change the fuse box over to a breaker box, probably this weekend. fun, fun, fun...

[Guest Lester Weevils]

If the main disconnect is inside your fuse box then you really really do want to hire a qualified electrician to hook up a new box, at least to the mains going out to the pole. Don't mess with the mains from the pole unless you really know what yer doing.

[jtmaze]

i did check the main tube fuses. with my ohm meter they're showing that im getting current through them. after school tomorrow im going to see if i can figure out exactly which fuse goes to each (nothing is labeled in the box) and see if half of the circuit is dead. looks like im going to be attempting to change the fuse box over to a breaker box, probably this weekend. fun, fun, fun...

Not as hard as you think. Just use common sense. You can cut the seal on meter base and pull meter to kill power to main breaker to do switchover. Just be sure to tell electric co. What you did and they will replace seal. You also want to check the amp rating on the meter base itself to make sure you use the appropriate main breaker according to your main wiring coming Into the house. Good luck.

JTM🔫

Sent from my iPhone

[hornett22]

Call the heating and air company back out. Probably cheap or loose wire nuts. You have to buy the good ones if you don't want problems.

[peejman]

While wiring and home electrical isn't typically very complicated, it does require very methodical troubleshooting. A few hours with a voltmeter should provide some answers. (I'm not an electrician)

It seems odd that the water heater and home heat would be on the same circuit.

Is the freezer 110V or 220V? I assume both the heat and water heater are 220V.

If your house is old enough that you've got screw-in fuses. I'd want to make darn sure the wiring integrity is good before changing to a modern breaker panel. While an electrician might be a bit expensive, burning a house down is more so.

[jimic]

Buddy this is not the time to save money........you could burn your house down. i would check with the utility company before i cut one of there seal on the meter base.

good luck

[enfield]

Water tank and heater should be on their own, separate circuits. Water tank alone requires 30 amps at 240V.

[Guest dubaholic2]

i got it fixed! turned out to be one of the 100 amp fuses in the main blew, so i was only getting 110v to my 220v appliances. thankfully it only cost me $8 and was an easy fix, once i figured out what it was. thanks a million for everyones help and input, i appreciate the hell out of it!

[peejman]

Excellent. We'll hope the low voltage didn't cause any harm to the motors, compressors, and such. I wouldn't think so, as long as they didn't get too hot.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Glad the problem is fixed.

For what it is worth, if the wiring is the same age as the fusebox, you will thank yourself for getting it all replaced as soon as you can afford to do so.

When we moved into my old house around 1980 it was 1940's wiring and an incredibly ancient breaker box that had replaced an even more ancient fuse box. The city inspector made us get the box replaced, which I was hot about at the time and didn't like spending the money. Then a few years ago replaced all the wiring which was worth the expense.

Am glad the inspector made me spend the money. That old ancient breaker box was trouble waiting to happen. But was kinda upset about it at the time.

[Guest bkelm18]

i got it fixed! turned out to be one of the 100 amp fuses in the main blew, so i was only getting 110v to my 220v appliances. thankfully it only cost me $8 and was an easy fix, once i figured out what it was. thanks a million for everyones help and input, i appreciate the hell out of it!

Excellent. Yeah when you've got more than one 220v device not working, a dead leg/phase is often responsible. Luckily it was just a fuse.

[Parrothead]

i'd recommend you change that fusebox out asap. In the future, dont try to do work on the mains. You can get the power company to shut the power off--but you have to get a permit (in most cases) to get it turned back on. If you aren't a licensed electrician you will pay big bucks for someone to pull a permit for you. I'd help you out but the service call for our techs would outrageous to Knoxville.

[nightrunner]

If you cut the tag/seal on the meterbase, its usually between $200-250 for a new one. If you are replacing the breaker box yourself its not hard but you do need to know what your doing.

*electrician for 6 years.