OT: Need circut breaker help

[ZINOM]

Hi Gang,

I was just in the kitchen, had finished using the microwave (it was not running) and I heard the dehumidifier stop...I looked over and saw the lights on it were off so I thought maybe it had died.

I then noticed the clock and microwave were not working either so I checked the circuit breaker and it looked normal...I flipped it anyway and nothing happened.

I don't have much experience in this dept., but I was wondering if the breakers themselves just crap out sometimes...if not, I'm not sure where to go from here.

Any help as always is truly appreciated.

John

[J Tiers]

I don't have much experience in this dept., but I was wondering if the breakers themselves just crap out sometimes...if not, I'm not sure where to go from here.

Yes, they can.

That's not the only possible reason for what you saw.

What brand do you have?

Did you flip it to off and then back on?

Did anything else start up about the time you noticed it was off?

Did you check by unplugging loads to see if the problem is in one of them? It may not "reset" at all if there is still a short or serious overload present.

[Tony Ennis]

If these are on a circuit with a GFCI, reset it if you haven't done so.

[ZINOM]

After checking around online, I did a little continuity test in the affected outlets (I didn't find any gfci's)...I just jabbed a little bit and it seemed like an indicator that it might be a gfci.

Then as I was standing there talking to my wife and preparing for the electricity-induced headache I was in for, the clock on the microwave came on.

While I'm happy that magic graced me on this Sunday morning, I still worry that there could be a root cause for the initial problem and my healthy fear of electricity makes me wait for the other shoe to drop.

Thanks for the responses, I may end up posting about it again...who can tell at theis point.

John

[Tony Ennis]

If one circuit (not the entire house) was dead, then came back on without warning, I'd be hunting for a cause.

Are you sure all the appliances you mentioned are on the same circuit? Is it possible your entire house was without power?

I'd reset all the breakers in the box and test each affected output with a Volt-ohm meter.

[bruto]

A GFCI outlet in the line sounds like the likeliest issue, but if that doesn't pan out, make sure you've checked all the breakers to see if you missed a tripped one. It's not that uncommon to find that they're mislabeled.

[MotorradMike]

I still worry that there could be a root cause for the initial problem

There is definitely a root cause.
You should have somebody check this out. If that circuit is intermittant there is a loose connection arcing somewhere and it needs to be tracked down and repaired.

[J Tiers]

OK, you may HAVE a problem......

Electric power that comes back on, presumably after quite a while, if you "checked online" and got a meter, etc...... well, that's a "mystery", as long as there was other power "on" in the house.... Such "mysteries" are not good with electricity.

Some possible issues:

Loose connection...... bad, causes fires

bad breaker... bad, can allow faults to continue and cause fires

Some kind of crazy thermal breaker that reconnects when it cools off.... bad, not an acceptable type, possible screwy wiring, etc.

A problem out at the pole....... Not directly your problem. (if the circuit happened to be the only one on that "side" of teh 120/240 circuit that had a load on it then, if the pole transformer had an "issue" it could look like something in your house was causing it. In that case, other circuits should have been "out" as well, even if you didn't notice them.)


if you happen to have Federal Pacific breakers, I would call an electrician on Monday and have the box replaced as soon as possible. They can totally fail to trip on an overload, causing a fire, and they may do other screwy things as well..

[lakeside53]

I'd also look at what you have on that one circuit - a microwave and dehumidifier alone may be too much load. A 20 amp circuit can have max continous draw of 16 amps and if a 15 amp circuit - 12 amps.

Check the rating of your appliances. my 750 watt (output) micowave needs a dedicated circuit; my floor standing dehumidiifer needs 12 amps...

[J Tiers]

I'd also look at what you have on that one circuit - a microwave and dehumidifier alone may be too much load. A 20 amp circuit can have max continous draw of 16 amps and if a 15 amp circuit - 12 amps.

The NEC definition of "continuous" has changed, but typically a microwave or dehumidifier are not "continuous".... The microwave is usually not on longer than 10 min, and even then, it often is cycling in periods of a few seconds to a minute or so.

Dehumidifiers can be more continuous, but even then, typically they are cycling over periods much less than 30 min or an hour.

The combination can trip the breaker. But any breaker or condition that shuts off power to multiple appliances, or a whole branch circuit,and then has it come back on is extremely suspect.

GFCI should not do that

Breaker should not do that.

No other automatic interruption device should be on the branch circuit, particularly not a re-closing one.