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I've lived in this house for the past 8 years, never had a problem. until a few months ago the lights in the living room, oven, fridge and central air all started to stop working sporadically. checked the breakers and they don't get thrown. noticed that the light is actually getting enough power to do a strange flickering thing. then miraculously the whole problem went away. that is until this morning. same thing with the lights. according to the labels on my panel they are all on the bottom half of the breaker. the last 4 innuse actually. anyone have any idea what is possibly going wrong here?
 
Here are some possible causes. Loose connections, damage caused by rodent attack. It maybe wise to get a registered electrician in to check the wiring. Has the Ground Fault circuit interupter tripped out?
 
Here are some possible causes. Loose connections, damage caused by rodent attack. It maybe wise to get a registered electrician in to check the wiring. Has the Ground Fault circuit interupter tripped out?
no tripping of anything. i removed the circuit breakers and there was some sticky orangish stuff on the part that connects to the panel.
 
no tripping of anything. i removed the circuit breakers and there was some sticky orangish stuff on the part that connects to the panel.
Mullet I could be wrong but I think the problem is probably an earthing problem
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no tripping of anything. i removed the circuit breakers and there was some sticky orangish stuff on the part that connects to the panel.
Mullet you need to call an electrician that sounds so much like you have lost or are loosing continuity between your panel and your ground rods. The devices you discribed acting up are all 120vac what’s happening is when it’s acting up you could have 180-190 on these outlets
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Mullet I could be wrong but I think the problem is probably an earthing problem
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Mullet you need to call an electrician that sounds so much like you have lost or are loosing continuity between your panel and your ground rods. The devices you discribed acting up are all 120vac what’s happening is when it’s acting up you could have 180-190 on these outlets
What part of the States are you from?
 
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his profile say Pennsylvania.
 
while I'm not an electrician i am typically handy. is there nothing that can be tried before my wallet takes a hit? I'm just outside of Philadelphia btw.
 
while I'm not an electrician i am typically handy. is there nothing that can be tried before my wallet takes a hit? I'm just outside of Philadelphia btw.
You need to go where your meter is, they should be one # 6 bare wire it should be around 1/8 inch in diameter that is the most important wire you have for safety. Some people have a meter with a panel outside and some people just have meters and the panel is in the house. Check that wire and make sure it’s not loose from the ground rods. The other end of that wire terminates in the meter or the panel you are not allowed to pull that meter only license electricians are allowed to do that. But somewhere out there is your problem. Call your local power company and have them come out to check their wires on top of the meter and they will do that free of charge but the top of that meter is where they stop and the rest is your responsibility
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You need to go where your meter is, they should be one # 6 bare wire it should be around 1/8 inch in diameter that is the most important wire you have for safety. Some people have a meter with a panel outside and some people just have meters and the panel is in the house. Check that wire and make sure it’s not loose from the ground rods. The other end of that wire terminates in the meter or the panel you are not allowed to pull that meter only license electricians are allowed to do that. But somewhere out there is your problem. Call your local power company and have them come out to check their wires on top of the meter and they will do that free of charge but the top of that meter is where they stop and the rest is your responsibility
I’ve seen where the power company has their problems. If your house is supplied from a transformer and other homes are to talk to them and see if their having problems. If just 3 wires are coming from the transformer you are the only one
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You need to go where your meter is, they should be one # 6 bare wire it should be around 1/8 inch in diameter that is the most important wire you have for safety. Some people have a meter with a panel outside and some people just have meters and the panel is in the house. Check that wire and make sure it’s not loose from the ground rods. The other end of that wire terminates in the meter or the panel you are not allowed to pull that meter only license electricians are allowed to do that. But somewhere out there is your problem. Call your local power company and have them come out to check their wires on top of the meter and they will do that free of charge but the top of that meter is where they stop and the rest is your responsibility
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I’ve seen where the power company has their problems. If your house is supplied from a transformer and other homes are to talk to them and see if their having problems. If just 3 wires are coming from the transformer you are the only one
Your power could be underground also
 
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located the wire. had a bunch of ants climing it to the house. flicked them off and gave the wire a tug. seemed to be a little loose coming out of the ground. should i dig down a bit and try to tighten the connection? i hired new landscapers recently and i think they may be hitting it with thei weed eater. if i call peco (electric company) it might be quite a while before they show up. i had a tree branch down on july 4th and they just took care of it last week.
 
located the wire. had a bunch of ants climing it to the house. flicked them off and gave the wire a tug. seemed to be a little loose coming out of the ground. should i dig down a bit and try to tighten the connection? i hired new landscapers recently and i think they may be hitting it with thei weed eater. if i call peco (electric company) it might be quite a while before they show up. i had a tree branch down on july 4th and they just took care of it last week.
Yes dig down and make sure that wire is hooked up and tight, let me know when and good luck
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Yes dig down and make sure that wire is hooked up and tight, let me know when and good luck
Call your power company if you can’t fix it they have people working 24/7 for problems just like this and they will show up today
 
alright, after much more digging than i expected the wire seems to be tight. there was a large amount of rust covering it. should i remove the attachment and try to clean it a little then reattach?
 
alright, after much more digging than i expected the wire seems to be tight. there was a large amount of rust covering it. should i remove the attachment and try to clean it a little then reattach?
Before you do it turn off your main breaker off or unplug all you appliances, tv, and everything thing else better off turn off the 200 amp main. When you take that wire loose you can put 180vac on your outlets so clean it real good.
 
i went out and loosed it and gave it a half assed clean. then tightened it real good. still same issue. called peco. said they are sending someone out. should i take a wire brush to it in the mean time?
 
i went out and loosed it and gave it a half assed clean. then tightened it real good. still same issue. called peco. said they are sending someone out. should i take a wire brush to it in the mean time?
When I deal with corrosion I have a steel brush
 
so, is there anything else i can check? or do i just sit and wait for the electric company?
 
so, is there anything else i can check? or do i just sit and wait for the electric company?
I’m sorry I couldn’t help you but I still believe maybe in the panel but you don’t have continuity some where to earth it can’t be that hard to find if only I was there we would get it fixed. If the power company has an answer let me know good luck
 
so, is there anything else i can check? or do i just sit and wait for the electric company?
From a distance it is difficult for @Megawatt to advise you of further actions from what he has already done so your best course of action is to wait for the power company to attend.
 

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