any electricians on the board?

[musclehead123]

So a plug stopped working in my house i turned off the breaker and investigated....i went to turn on the breaker again and i heard something behind the breaker panel...so i opened that up and i saw sparks coming from where the breaker and wire connect. The breaker is pretty old (siemens), so what I was thinking is maybe a faulty breaker perhaps?

[Van Zan]

So a plug stopped working in my house i turned off the breaker and investigated....i went to turn on the breaker again and i heard something behind the breaker panel...so i opened that up and i saw sparks coming from where the breaker and wire connect. The breaker is pretty old (siemens), so what I was thinking is maybe a faulty breaker perhaps?

something is probably still shorting out the plug. did the breaker trip again when you turned it on?

[theboss]

run for the hills...

[champcar99]

REPLACE the breaker... is the wiring that goes into the breaker bare and lose ?, is there burn marks on the wire ?...

[RagingRandy]

^^^^^ What he said. It sounds like a loose connection at the breaker.

[rob66679]

So a plug stopped working in my house i turned off the breaker and investigated....i went to turn on the breaker again and i heard something behind the breaker panel...so i opened that up and i saw sparks coming from where the breaker and wire connect. The breaker is pretty old (siemens), so what I was thinking is maybe a faulty breaker perhaps?

Probably an old breaker/wiring...... That being said make sure the wiring isn't scorched or melted....... Very common for people who don't have a clue to put on a breaker that isn't rated for the wire its protecting. Probably the most common cause of electrical fires.

1- Make sure the Panel is off before you **** with it. You won't survive 200 amps.
2- I'm guessing that there was more than just a plug on that circuit, the whole circuit is out correct?
3- If your not 100% sure, don't **** with it. Your taking your life in your hands if you do.

Really odd for a wire in a panel to just come loose.... Theres no movement.

Let us know how ya make out, good luck.

[agentchuckles]

So a plug stopped working in my house i turned off the breaker and investigated....i went to turn on the breaker again and i heard something behind the breaker panel...so i opened that up and i saw sparks coming from where the breaker and wire connect. The breaker is pretty old (siemens), so what I was thinking is maybe a faulty breaker perhaps?

By sparks do you mean an arc? If you just see an arc (mini lightening bolt) where the wire connects to the breaker, the wire just needs to be retightened on the breaker. It might just be loose, hence why your plug is not working. Of course turn the breaker to the off position and use the appropriate screwdriver to tighten it, then flip er back on and test your plug again.

If your seeing sparks shooting out momentarily before the breaker tripping, then there's a short or other problem down the line.

[natenator]

it's been 12 hours since he originally posted. I say he;s dead. lol

[theboss]

Note: do not stand in puddle while inspecting wiring.

[musclehead123]

REPLACE the breaker... is the wiring that goes into the breaker bare and lose ?, is there burn marks on the wire ?...

The wire seems to be a bit more bare than the rest of them, maybe by a centimetre. After the arc it seems to have left burn marks on the insulation.


Probably an old breaker/wiring...... That being said make sure the wiring isn't scorched or melted....... Very common for people who don't have a clue to put on a breaker that isn't rated for the wire its protecting. Probably the most common cause of electrical fires.

1- Make sure the Panel is off before you **** with it. You won't survive 200 amps.
2- I'm guessing that there was more than just a plug on that circuit, the whole circuit is out correct?
3- If your not 100% sure, don't **** with it. Your taking your life in your hands if you do.

Really odd for a wire in a panel to just come loose.... Theres no movement.

Let us know how ya make out, good luck.

Yes theres a couple counter plugs on the breaker and a fridge (it goes breaker counter plug(s) to the fidge). What I did a while back was pigtail one of the counter plugs. So i figured thats where the problem was. So i turned off the breaker and took that plug out. Went to go turn on the breaker and went upstairs to see if that was the problem, sure enough everything was working. Turned off the breaker to connect the butt connectors and turned it on again and nothing was working. Went back downstairs and thats when i heard the arcing. So i took the cover off the panel and sure enough it was arcing. I moved the breaker and everything started working just fine.


By sparks do you mean an arc? If you just see an arc (mini lightening bolt) where the wire connects to the breaker, the wire just needs to be retightened on the breaker. It might just be loose, hence why your plug is not working. Of course turn the breaker to the off position and use the appropriate screwdriver to tighten it, then flip er back on and test your plug again.
If your seeing sparks shooting out momentarily before the breaker tripping, then there's a short or other problem down the line.

I will try this.





HUGE thanks to everyone

[musclehead123]

something is probably still shorting out the plug. did the breaker trip again when you turned it on?

Breaker did not trip at all.

[rob66679]

The wire seems to be a bit more bare than the rest of them, maybe by a centimetre. After the arc it seems to have left burn marks on the insulation.



Yes theres a couple counter plugs on the breaker and a fridge (it goes breaker counter plug(s) to the fidge). What I did a while back was pigtail one of the counter plugs. So i figured thats where the problem was. So i turned off the breaker and took that plug out. Went to go turn on the breaker and went upstairs to see if that was the problem, sure enough everything was working. Turned off the breaker to connect the butt connectors and turned it on again and nothing was working. Went back downstairs and thats when i heard the arcing. So i took the cover off the panel and sure enough it was arcing. I moved the breaker and everything started working just fine.



I will try this.





HUGE thanks to everyone

Illegal to run anything other than a clock off the same circuit your fridge is hooked up to....... What did you run the pigtail to? Whoever ran that circuit didn't follow the code........ I'm thinking that you might have a big problem here.

Whoever did that needs to lose their licence, like right now. And if whoever did this wasn't licenced, this is why you don't **** with electricity.

You need to make sure that breaker is the right size for the load, this is very important. I'm thinking you might have an overloaded wire.
Overloaded wire = fire hazard

[musclehead123]

Illegal to run anything other than a clock off the same circuit your fridge is hooked up to....... What did you run the pigtail to? Whoever ran that circuit didn't follow the code........ I'm thinking that you might have a big problem here.

Whoever did that needs to lose their licence, like right now. And if whoever did this wasn't licenced, this is why you don't **** with electricity.

You need to make sure that breaker is the right size for the load, this is very important. I'm thinking you might have an overloaded wire.
Overloaded wire = fire hazard



The circuit was running through the plug. I was told to a pigtail for the plug so electricity doesnt flow through the plug all the time.

House is old, and im assuming that the code back then was different than it is now.

I have closed off that plug, and I'll running a new wire/breaker just to the plug of the fridge.

[rob66679]

For what its worth its odd that bypassing a plug ( what I assume you mean by pigtailing it ) would cause your breaker/panel to arc. You used a marrette?
The only way to have a plug thats not hot all the time is to put a switch on it, or split it and switch half of it. Or bypass it.

If anything it should just cause the breaker to trip.... That is the purpose of the breaker.

Make sure you size the wire right. Your insurance company could give you a very hard time if anything goes bad.
Good luck bro.

[agentchuckles]

The circuit was running through the plug. I was told to a pigtail for the plug so electricity doesnt flow through the plug all the time.

House is old, and im assuming that the code back then was different than it is now.

I have closed off that plug, and I'll running a new wire/breaker just to the plug of the fridge.

By telling you to pigtail...perhaps there is a 3 wire circuit (red,black,white) going up to that plug and then on to the fridge so that the fridge is on a different phase with a shared neutral with the counter plug? That's the only way current would flow through the plug (on the neutral or return) even if you turned the counter plug hot wire off at the breaker. There would still be a load on the neutral from the fridge plug unless you turned it off too.

Rob is right...a clock receptacle is all that's allowed to be on the fridge circuit by todays code. Going up to the counter plug you should..by code have either a 3 wire (#14 wire) connected to a double pole 15amp breaker for a split plug (regular plug with tab broken off) or a 20 amp single pole circuit and 20 amp T slot plug-number 12 wire for this of course.

I'd make sure it met code and that nothing is tapped off from circuits that shouldn't be.