Blew my breaker, plug grounded?

Moabfighter

Well-Known Member
One quick question Moab- do you have an outside light that is not working? One that is in the weather, and could be getting wet? Fast and easy to check. Do all of the lights come on? Beyond that question, I defer to Renfro..... He knows his shit, as we all know....
Hey man. All this started after I rigged up some outdoor lights with a non weatherproof cord and it rained. That’s the ONLY thing that changed. Timer was same same for months etc. however. The day the lighting issue happened in the home, it rained on that outside cord that wasn’t for outside.... BUT. Electrician said the outlet it was plugged into was good. So I don’t know. That outlet does not work though.
 

natureboygrower

Well-Known Member
Hey man. All this started after I rigged up some outdoor lights with a non weatherproof cord and it rained. That’s the ONLY thing that changed. Timer was same same for months etc. however. The day the lighting issue happened in the home, it rained on that outside cord that wasn’t for outside.... BUT. Electrician said the outlet it was plugged into was good. So I don’t know. That outlet does not work though.
Ok, now we're getting somewhere.

1.)Did the lights you rigged up outside ever work? If they did, did they stop working after the rain?
2.) That outlet doesnt work anymore? Is it a GFCI outlet or a regular outlet like what you have indoors?

That outdoor outlet might be part of the circuit your grow equipment is on. I'm suspicious of it now.

We gonna get this figured out, dude. It's not that complicated but not being there is a hurdle.
 

Dougnsalem

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I'd be WAY more suspect of an outdoor wiring issue, that it is tied into that same circuit. Like Renfro said- pull it and take a peek....

You already said you're not so confident with your electrician. Check it yourself.
 

Moabfighter

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I'd be WAY more suspect of an outdoor wiring issue, that it is tied into that same circuit. Like Renfro said- pull it and take a peek....

You already said you're not so confident with your electrician. Check it yourself.
I used an extension cord, or two home made extension cords.... for some Halloween lights. They got rained on. My blow up pumpkin went down on the real cord as did the lights. Again this was an indoor outlet by my main door. This outlet was allegedly tested to be fine. That was my first thought though because that’s the only thing that changed. A bad rain storm and a indoor cord getting soaking wet. Maybe that did it.
 

bgmike8

Well-Known Member
How many amps is your grow pulling, remember the bulk of it is only 12 hours a day. I'm pretty sure they make something that lets you divert power from your dryer circuit. You would just have to do your laundry on the 12 hours your lights are off.
45-46.5 amps for lights
13 amps a/c
? 6 400cfm vivosun inline fans.
? 5 little 500gpm water pumps
? 2 oscillating fans
Im pushing it dude...
 

.Smoke

Well-Known Member
I used an extension cord, or two home made extension cords.... for some Halloween lights. They got rained on....
...Maybe that did it.
2 weeks...
13 pages later...
And you decided now was the time to mention this "minor" detail?

Perfect example why, as tradesmen, you charge by the hour on service calls...
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
I used an extension cord, or two home made extension cords.... for some Halloween lights. They got rained on. My blow up pumpkin went down on the real cord as did the lights. Again this was an indoor outlet by my main door. This outlet was allegedly tested to be fine. That was my first thought though because that’s the only thing that changed. A bad rain storm and a indoor cord getting soaking wet. Maybe that did it.
Honestly, if the wet cord was an issue, it ceased being an issue when you unplugged it. I really doubt that had anything to do with what is going on now.
 

Dougnsalem

Well-Known Member
Honestly, if the wet cord was an issue, it ceased being an issue when you unplugged it. I really doubt that had anything to do with what is going on now.
Yeah, I agree- I don't think the cord is the current issue. It might have overheated/melted that outlet though. Crappy cord with a bad connection there. Just a guess on my part.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I agree- I don't think the cord is the current issue. It might have overheated/melted that outlet though. Crappy cord with a bad connection there. Just a guess on my part.
Thing is, if that wet cord was causing an issue the breaker would likely have tripped when the wet cord was plugged in. I don't see how it would cause a melted receptacle. Most often thats caused by a loose connection. Arc fault breakers will trip if there is a lose connection. I wonder if his breaker is an arc fault breaker actually. Those can be problematic.

@Moabfighter can you take a picture of the breaker? I want to see if it's an arc fault breaker.
 

Dougnsalem

Well-Known Member
Thing is, if that wet cord was causing an issue the breaker would likely have tripped when the wet cord was plugged in. I don't see how it would cause a melted receptacle. Most often thats caused by a loose connection. Arc fault breakers will trip if there is a lose connection. I wonder if his breaker is an arc fault breaker actually. Those can be problematic.

@Moabfighter can you take a picture of the breaker? I want to see if it's an arc fault breaker.
Good idea on the breaker.

Honestly, I don't think the wetness had anything to do with it. He said he had a couple extension cords hooked up. In series? What gauge wire? How long were they? That's what I was thinking with the overheated outlet. If he's using that one a lot for outside stuff, maybe the contacts are crap now too. Be easy to pop it out and check.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
That's what I was thinking with the overheated outlet.
Thing is for a receptacle to overheat, excessive current would be required, like a short circuit. that condition would cause the breaker to trip. Usually a melted receptacle is caused by a loose connection arcing or because someone stuck a larger breaker on that circuit. I was working on a house once and the home owner had put a single pole 30a breaker on a 14 gauge circuit. lol needless to say that was all bad.

I am really curious now to see if he is dealing with an arc fault breaker. If it's a newer home then they were likely code during construction, at least for bedrooms...
 

Dougnsalem

Well-Known Member
Another question for OP. How's he turn the lights and pumpkin on and off? Unplug the cord from the wall, while everything is going?
 
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Dougnsalem

Well-Known Member
Thing is for a receptacle to overheat, excessive current would be required, like a short circuit. that condition would cause the breaker to trip. Usually a melted receptacle is caused by a loose connection arcing or because someone stuck a larger breaker on that circuit. I was working on a house once and the home owner had put a single pole 30a breaker on a 14 gauge circuit. lol needless to say that was all bad.

I am really curious now to see if he is dealing with an arc fault breaker. If it's a newer home then they were likely code during construction, at least for bedrooms...
Lol @ the 30 amp breaker. Geeze. They're lucky to still have a house. Pretty big job?

I think he said it was built in 2001? He made it sound like it's a manufactured home, or possibly a park model? I know absolutly zero about how they build/wire those.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
I think he said it was built in 2001?
Yeah depending on what code cycle his county had adpoted at that time arc fault breakers would be required for rooms that are commonly occupied like bedrooms, living rooms and shit. Newer code cycle has arc fault in laundry and other areas as well. So I suspect we may be dealing with an arc fault breaker and a loose connection. Some devices can trip an arc fault breaker because of how they function, like an old power drill motor with brushes that cause little arcs when it's running. https://petersonelectricllc.com/tripped-afci-breakers-reasons/
 

PadawanWarrior

Well-Known Member
Thing is for a receptacle to overheat, excessive current would be required, like a short circuit. that condition would cause the breaker to trip. Usually a melted receptacle is caused by a loose connection arcing or because someone stuck a larger breaker on that circuit. I was working on a house once and the home owner had put a single pole 30a breaker on a 14 gauge circuit. lol needless to say that was all bad.

I am really curious now to see if he is dealing with an arc fault breaker. If it's a newer home then they were likely code during construction, at least for bedrooms...
Yep saw smoke and the Fire Department and my neighbors all had some excitement.

Don't listen to your dad saying you can just replace the 15 amp breaker with a 30 amp breaker. He made it look easy, until our house was on fire.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Yep saw smoke and the Fire Department and my neighbors all had some excitement.

Don't listen to your dad saying you can just replace the 15 amp breaker with a 30 amp breaker. He made it look easy, until our house was on fire.
That shit was even more common with fuses. People got tired of changing fuses or maybe all they had was a fuse with larger amperage but hey, it fit right?
 

Dougnsalem

Well-Known Member
So I suspect we may be dealing with an arc fault breaker and a loose connection. Some devices can trip an arc fault breaker because of how they function, like an old power drill motor with brushes that cause little arcs when it's running.
Or maybe an inflatable pumpkin, with a fan? Wonder if that's still hooked up.

BTW- nice site too. I'm gonna wander around it more later.
 

Renfro

Well-Known Member
@Moabfighter if you are dealing with an arc fault breaker, you could temporarily swap out the AF breaker for a normal breaker. If the trip is caused by an arc fault detection then the normal breaker would not trip.

Of course we would want to know whats causing the arc fault detection. As I mentioned, some equipment can cause an arc even though it's working normally, for example a line voltage thermostat with a mercury switch. If through process of elimination you find the detected arc "fault" is caused by a device thats plugged in and operating normally then you have the option of replacing the offending equipment OR leaving the non arc fault breaker in the panel (not the best idea for insurance/safety reasons lol). If the arc fault is caused by a loose wire connection, most commonly in a wire nut junction that is loose or a loose receptacle terminal screw or back wired receptacle (gay), you will have to locate the offending junction and remedy the issue. This would be something that you might want to hire the sparky to deal with lol.
 
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