power issue

[Guest]

Hello,
A few days ago..
i noticed that a few of our wall outlets do not provide electricity.
Today I noticed our dryer does not heat clothing.. and our stove
is not working completely [the clock and the light comes on].

I called our public electric company, and they checked the line for
a recloser problem or something.. they didn't see anything wrong.
I checked our Circuit box, and nothing is thrown. I shut everything off in there.. and turned everything back on and nothing resets incorrectly.

I plan to call a electrician, does anyone have any ideas what may be causing this problem, and what it may cost?
Thank you
Chris

[altasnowman]

Hi digger, sound like you may have several problems. first i would check to see if any of your plug-ins are tied to light switches,to check this take a lamp and plug in to one of the plugs that has no power then try flipping light switches if that doesn't work then i would think either loose connections or failing that broken wires. in so far as the stove goes check the fuses on the stove that is what it sounds like what is going on with the stove. with the dryer sounds like the heating element may be burnt out. if the element is burnt out may be as cheap as $40, but then again you might be looking at a new dryer(worst case). fuses for stove 1-2 dollars. hope this helps, good luck.

[JD]

Hi Chris,

Do you know if your wiring is copper or aluminum?

JD

[hvac1000]

Sounds like you lost one leg or side of the 220 volts entering your home. Since some of the items work they are probably using 110 volts from the leg or side that is still connected. You need to find out which leg of 220 is not working and track down the defect and effect a repair. Electric can and will kill you. if you are not comfortable working with electric I would call a professional.

[Guest]

Hello,
so when you say : one of the legs of the 220 lines are not being supplied power do you mean from the outside [public electric] feed, or do you mean one of the two internal electrical loops [ 110 + 110 ]inside the house? We have two power meters out side and one of them is not spinning when we do not have power in the house.
It seems like its effecting every other outlet [lights/wall sockets].

By the way...
Power did come back on after 10 pm, and is on this morning.
I just tested the outlets that were previously off with a socket tester .. and it says everything is grounded .. 2 yellow lights came on..which it says is fine It's been like this for a few days, on for a while [hours] then off for a few hours. Nothing is plugged into the those outlets now...

To answer the other question, I think we have aluminum wiring... but I'm not sure.. Let me taste it .. yep aluminum..
Should I move? Set up a Solar panel?
What a Wickad Pain in the A@#
Thanks Chris

[Guest]

Could it be one of my outdoor outlets.... ?

Dumb question...
If I shut the circuit breaker that controls those .. would it
allow me to temporary disconnect those temporarily with wire caps.

Or is there power still on the hot wire ... probably not huh?
Just checking.. wanna be sure..
Circuit breakrr.. ie. break circuit


Chris

[JD]

If you do have aluminum wiring and are experiencing problems at outlets and/or services, my only recommendation is to have your wiring checked by a qualified electrician. By qualified, I am talking about a licensed electrician who has affected this repair many times and is knowledgeable about recent studies regarding aluminum wiring. The most certain repair is to replace the aluminum wiring with copper.

Aluminum wiring connections can deteriorate slowly over a long period of time. Because of this, older homes with aluminum wiring is at greater risk. Increased resistance caused by this deterioration at the connections can reach very high temperatures while still remaining electrically functional in the circuits.

Again, if you have aluminum wiring, I strongly urge you to find a qualified, licensed electrician.

JMO

JD