My daughter is having a strange electrical issue. She has been living in this house about 10 months(newly purchased) . Two nights ago some lights in her bedroom stopped working and a light in the closet had a slight glow even when turned off. Last night the lights in a second bedroom were not working. About a month ago the a/c and furnace was replaced. At that time an electrician changed the circuit breaker from 30amp to 25amp as the new unit was more efficient and that was code. Any idea what is going on? Could it be a loose ground in the breaker box?
Strange electrical issue
- Thread starter raaizin
- Start date
Loose wires for sure. Be it neutrals or the hot. She needs to identify which breaker the problem bedrooms are on. How long does the light glow after being turned off?
I am not sure the breaker replacement had anything to do with it though. He probably could have left it alone though as the breaker is there for conductor protection and not for equipment protection. (I’m guessing the wire wasn’t replaced.)
I am not sure the breaker replacement had anything to do with it though. He probably could have left it alone though as the breaker is there for conductor protection and not for equipment protection. (I’m guessing the wire wasn’t replaced.)
I think I tagged the wrong Brian as you were the only one that came up. I apologize
No problem, I had a Good Laugh, I hope you get your issue Resolved!
That almost sounds like someone added an outlet, and connected it to a switch leg (because they didn't know what they were doing). In that case the load plugged into the outlet (which won't work correctly, although it may appear to work sometimes depending on what is plugged in) is connected in series with the light.
If you have an outlet that stops working when that light switch is on...that's the one.
As an amateur electrician, I'm trying to understand what you wrote. Do you mean that there is something plugged into the outlet that is taking most of the electricity and leaving just enough going to the light to get it to glow?
No. What I mean is that someone installed a new outlet and connected it to the black, white, and ground wires of a switch leg. In the diagram below, the switch leg is the black/white wires coming out of the switch. As you can see this will result in an outlet that only has power when the switch is off, and anything plugged into it is connected in series with the light.
You might wonder how someone could make this mistake..but I've heard of it happening before. Sometimes, just matching wire colors isn't enough to get it to work right, and they don't always color that white wire black when it's used for a switch leg. (I've never actually seen it done in any house I've ever replaced a switch in....which probably says something about the electrical trade around here...)
