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In our house's master bedroom, we have an interesting setup.
We have a kill switch to cut power to the room due to my Dad's EMF concerns. (Nothing unusual going on with the EMF, just health concerns.)
We have a couple of lights in there: a wall sconce powered by a single-pole switch, and a tape light yet to be installed, powered by a separate light switch.
Everything functioned properly until two days ago.
I was at the hardware store, and I get a call from my brother, who says that that he heard a buzzing sound when he tried to turn the light on in there. He said the light wouldn't go on, and that he heard a buzzing sound that stopped. The breaker was tripped.
I inspected all the light switches in the room, and everything looked OK. no sign of arcing, or anything. (like the melted outlet downstairs...)
So I went upstairs armed with a Class C fire extinguisher, had my brother downstairs flip the breaker. and cautiously tested everything.
There was not a sound to be heard. The only thing I noticed out of the ordinary, was that the wall sconce flickers when we first turn it on. it is a LED fixture.
I can give more information, and post pictures as needed. We have been renovating the master bathroom.
There is one change I made to the master bedroom wiring. The reasons are kind of complex and deserve a separate post, but I disconnected an unused wire and nutted the hot and neutral together. There is no power in that line anymore, and the breaker doesn't trip. I inspected the nut, and there are no signs of melting (again, like downstairs...) and the wires showed no sign of arcing. So I am pretty sure that is not the problem.
I turned the breaker back off, just to be safe.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
I am thinking it may be a defective switch.
Johnpaul
 
Sounds like a short between cables somewhere, maybe in an accessory (switch, light outlet, etc) but more worryingly it could be in a junction box buried behind a wall, or just cable that has been damaged (someone nailed it, mice nibbled it, etc).

The fact it has cleared now is not a reason to assume all is well!

The flickering light is the one to inspect first, but really unless you find a definite cause you need to get a professional in to locate what really happened.
 
The room has a kill switch??

It could be that the switch operates a contactor (big relay) that in turn switches power off to circuits in the room

They can buzz when in operation, especially when they have got a bit old and worn.

Could this be the case in your circumstances?
 
In our house's master bedroom, we have an interesting setup.
We have a kill switch to cut power to the room due to my Dad's EMF concerns. (Nothing unusual going on with the EMF, just health concerns.)
We have a couple of lights in there: a wall sconce powered by a single-pole switch, and a tape light yet to be installed, powered by a separate light switch.
Everything functioned properly until two days ago.
I was at the hardware store, and I get a call from my brother, who says that that he heard a buzzing sound when he tried to turn the light on in there. He said the light wouldn't go on, and that he heard a buzzing sound that stopped. The breaker was tripped.
I inspected all the light switches in the room, and everything looked OK. no sign of arcing, or anything. (like the melted outlet downstairs...)
So I went upstairs armed with a Class C fire extinguisher, had my brother downstairs flip the breaker. and cautiously tested everything.
There was not a sound to be heard. The only thing I noticed out of the ordinary, was that the wall sconce flickers when we first turn it on. it is a LED fixture.
I can give more information, and post pictures as needed. We have been renovating the master bathroom.
There is one change I made to the master bedroom wiring. The reasons are kind of complex and deserve a separate post, but I disconnected an unused wire and nutted the hot and neutral together. There is no power in that line anymore, and the breaker doesn't trip. I inspected the nut, and there are no signs of melting (again, like downstairs...) and the wires showed no sign of arcing. So I am pretty sure that is not the problem.
I turned the breaker back off, just to be safe.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
I am thinking it may be a defective switch.
Johnpaul
John just because you looked at the switch and it looked fine don’t mean there is nothing wrong with the switch. It sounds like a switch that’s has problems internally. Put your ear up to the switch and turn it to the point of turning it on but real slow and I bet you hear a sizzling sound inside the switch. Replace the switch. Even if you have that one circuit where you said You tied the black and white together, they need to be separated and capped off not together
 
Thanks for the replies, I will follow the suggestions and keep you posted.
I was told to cap the white and black together so that if it ever gets connected it will pop the breaker. I may cap them separately, just to be safe.
This house is a new build, and passed inspection, so I would be surprised if we hid any junction-boxes in the walls. furthermore, we took photos before we put the drywall on.
[automerge]1589928354[/automerge]
The room has a kill switch??

It could be that the switch operates a contactor (big relay) that in turn switches power off to circuits in the room

They can buzz when in operation, especially when they have got a bit old and worn.

Could this be the case in your circumstances?

The "kill switch" is a single-pole decor switch which treats the whole master bedroom kind of like a light fixture. Attached are a couple of photos.
The lights and outlets are on the same circuit. The only thing in the Master Bedroom that
is not on the circuit is the heater. (I will have to make a thread about it's problems once I - or an electrician- figure this one out!)
There was no sound when I slowly turned the any of the switches on. just the usual click.

I did notice that the wire nuts used on the light were the ones that shipped with the fixture.
They seem a bit small. I will check what there capacity is.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

P.S. Is there a practical way to test for Rodent Damage?
 

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The nuts are big enough. they are the orange kind, and we have one braided #16 or #18 fixture wire and one #14 solid wire. I'll keep you posted.
 
Thanks for the replies, I will follow the suggestions and keep you posted.
I was told to cap the white and black together so that if it ever gets connected it will pop the breaker. I may cap them separately, just to be safe.
This house is a new build, and passed inspection, so I would be surprised if we hid any junction-boxes in the walls. furthermore, we took photos before we put the drywall on.
[automerge]1589928354[/automerge]


The "kill switch" is a single-pole decor switch which treats the whole master bedroom kind of like a light fixture. Attached are a couple of photos.
The lights and outlets are on the same circuit. The only thing in the Master Bedroom that
is not on the circuit is the heater. (I will have to make a thread about it's problems once I - or an electrician- figure this one out!)
There was no sound when I slowly turned the any of the switches on. just the usual click.

I did notice that the wire nuts used on the light were the ones that shipped with the fixture.
They seem a bit small. I will check what there capacity is.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

P.S. Is there a practical way to test for Rodent Damage?
The wire nuts are probably orange and is compatible for # 14 wire and fixture wires. You mentioned the light is an LED fixture which gives problems with what ever light switch you use. Lutron switches seem to work the best
 
So a regular SPST switch may have problems with LED? I was aware of problems with dimmers.
Here is a picture of the nuts FWIW I untaped them all and checked them. they survived a pull-test, and seemed fine.
[automerge]1589932013[/automerge]
the sconce was from a big box store. would a cheap LED cause the problem?
 

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So a regular SPST switch may have problems with LED? I was aware of problems with dimmers.
Here is a picture of the nuts FWIW I untaped them all and checked them. they survived a pull-test, and seemed fine.
[automerge]1589932013[/automerge]
the sconce was from a big box store. would a cheap LED cause the problem?
Yes the old saying is you get what you pay for. I have an cheap LED light outside with a motion sensor and it doesn’t work half the time. The higher the price the better the light. The cheap ones never last or work correctly all the time
 
So maybe that is the problem? could that cause the breaker to flip. I have examined everything I can think of, would you still recommend hiring an electrician?
Yes John you need to hire an electrician. There are things that we can’t recommend for your on safety. We are here to help you and not having you do things that can actually kill you.
 

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