Plumbing leek - Was: anyone know about house fuses? fuseboxes?

[Ziroc]

We have two plugs in each bathroom -- the kind that go out if you get them wet. These are also connected to two pairs of outdoor plugs, and since that damn lightning storm, the fuse has been tripped--I have tried resetting it 100 times now, and thought maybe rain or some condensation got in to the outdoor plugs--that has happened before.

But it's never been 3 days. Is the fuse dead? If so, its the first in 15 years. (the one tripped has the yellow pushbutton also).


If its dead, how do you yank one out to replace it? I have seen them at stores-they look like cartridges .. I'm sure I can google and learn all about em, but wanna ask here first.

Anyone?

[ 06-11-2005, 07:38 PM: Message edited by: Ziroc ]

[Bozos of Bones]

Well, in America they are different. Here in Europe, we screw off the "head", and from the ehad remove the fuse cartridge that's burnt out, and replace it, or we reset the fuse if it's a jumper. Not much wisdom to it, you'll understand it as soon as you remove the head. Anyways, they shouldn't be too expensive, here a single fuse is about 3-5$.

[Aragorn1]

could me that the klightening fused some wire together, that could cause them to short if they come into contact.

Don't know much about US plugs, so i'm not going to get our glorious leader killed in a less then herioc electrical incident . But what Bozos says goes for the UK too, and we have different plugs, 3 pronged instead of two.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

Does the breaker stay on for a while or does it not turn on at all? Remember you have to switch it to the "off" position and then "on" again. They are not expensive to replace.

Now, are they fuses or beakers?

The reason they are on the same circuit is because they should be on a "ground fault" breaker, which do cost more.
I replaced my 2 outside plugs last year and they both now have their own breaker built in. There's a little button in the middle to just reset it.

I'll PM my work phone no if you want to call me, it's toll free.

[Bungleau]

The circuit you're describing has a GFCI on it - ground fault circuit interrupter. It's a mini fuse in the circuit, basically, and it shorts if anything goes wrong. That means you've got two possible areas (at least) to consider: the GFCI could be bad, or the breaker could be bad.

Thinking about it, here's what I'd check (in no particular order).

1. Using a circuit tester (three-pronged plug that tells you if the circuit is wired properly), check every outlet and every plug. If something got shorted somewhere, that may identify it.

2. Trip and reset the GFCI on each circuit.

3. Call an electrician and have him do this while he's hooking up the whole house surge supressor [img]smile.gif[/img]

Number 3 is usually my preferred choice... at my last house, I had an electrician come in because something was misbehaving. Turned out it was misbehaving because of something I'd done incorrectly. I had him recheck everything I'd done... every single thing was not right [img]smile.gif[/img] I was oh-for-it-all. Since then, I bypass my limited knowledge and head for someone who enjoys playing with electricity.

You may be able to get your homeowner's insurance to cover it, since it's likely related to the lightning strike. Just try to make sure you've got everything identified so you don't run in to multiple deductibles

[Ziroc]

Yeah, I know to set it to off then on, but nada..
I'll call Donnas Dad and see if he can do something to it, he knows how to replace them.

If not, I'll call the electrician. the bathrooms are dark now--we keep lil nightlights in there for night time.. [img]smile.gif[/img]

BTW, it's a breaker--the cartridge types.. I went to howsstuffworks.com and saw the guts of these things.. I bet the lightning surge melted the copper flange thing or warped it to its tripping.

This was bad man.. killed this, messed up the AC thermostat (had to reset it), killed the router, killed 1 port on my cable modem. thank the gods (hehe) I turned off all the pc's and turned off the AC before it hit..


GOD.. and now a possible soon-to-be Hurricane is about to hit us it looks like.. and this early too. We usually get them in Sept. The weather is changing guys.. world wide. 4 hit florida last year, and caused BILLIONS in damage. Hope is goes away, or stays weak!

[Elif Godson]

Our Hurricane paths have been minimal the past 40 years or so Z, florida has been lucky. It is changing slowly, and last year I think was a precurser of whats to come within the next ten years or so. You cant live in a state shaped like...well you know, and expect to not get blown once in a while hehe (bad pun I know) Fortunatly I think this storm coming our way will only be tropical in nature, and if it hits anyone it will be those of us immediatly on the gulf coast. My yard is mostly cleaned up now from last year, still have some broken fence and a tree that needs to be cut up, but its all good. We just had a code enforcer come down our little street and the biggest offender is now cleaned up, I am wondering what they did with all there junk.

[Aragorn1]

Just a random question, what do plugs look like in the US?

[Sir Krustin]

Two parrallel slots, one larger than the other for "polarity" purposes. (separate the live from the neutral.)

Optional grounded outlets have an additional "D" shaped hole for the ground terminal, centered below the two vertical slots.

[shamrock_uk]

Since we're vaguely on the subject, given that American mains are 110V yet in the UK its ~240V, do American kettles take twice as long to boil? Assuming a given resistance, surely half the voltage is only capable of drawing half as much current?

[ 06-10-2005, 10:11 PM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]