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11-14-2009, 06:43 AM
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#1 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: a secret lab on the shores of lake titicaca
Posts: 20,410
| afraid of my house!
the wiring in my new to me mobile home is acting up.
all my lights are dimming and brightening at random .
and at 4am this morning i heard a buzzing in the hallway.
i got up and my TURNED OFF hall light was dimly lit and making that buzzing noise.
i am turning off the main breaker before i go to work this morning and looking for an electrician.
this crap always happens when you dont have any money......
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ANGRY SMART AND SOBER | 
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11-14-2009, 06:45 AM
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#2 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: East Coast, Australia
Posts: 265
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Yep. it's always the way. Hope its a cheap fix.
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11-14-2009, 07:20 AM
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#3 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 125
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If its happening thruogh out the whole place I would say maybe you'll get lucky and find a loose nuetral on the main. If you have a main outside ,you could shut that off and then check your connections inside and make sure there all tight and not burnt from being loose over time. Any electricians you know you could barter some ammo with? good luck.
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11-14-2009, 07:42 AM
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#4 | | They wonder why I drink..
Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: South east Wisconsin
Posts: 7,681
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Billy, sounds like you have aluminum wiring. I had that stuff in my mobile home. Not too bad to deal with just need to go around once a month and tighten all the wiring connections. I know a pain the the bewtox but it beats burning down the house.
What happens is when AL wiring gets heated it expands enough to loosen the connection a little over time they get so loose that they arch. By tightening them proactively the problem is lessened.
__________________ The first rule of tinkering is to save all the parts. | |
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11-14-2009, 07:57 AM
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#5 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: NE OK
Posts: 1,023
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Man that sucks! All I know about electricity is that you can't see it and it can kill you. Gives me heebie jeebies just to change a light fixture. Hope it's a cheap, simple fix.
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11-14-2009, 08:01 AM
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#6 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: a secret lab on the shores of lake titicaca
Posts: 20,410
| Quote:
Originally Posted by texnmidwest  Billy, sounds like you have aluminum wiring. I had that stuff in my mobile home. Not too bad to deal with just need to go around once a month and tighten all the wiring connections. I know a pain the the bewtox but it beats burning down the house.
What happens is when AL wiring gets heated it expands enough to loosen the connection a little over time they get so loose that they arch. By tightening them proactively the problem is lessened. | thats something i can do
after work.
thanks!
ol buddy ol pal! 
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ANGRY SMART AND SOBER | |
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11-14-2009, 08:03 AM
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#7 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: a secret lab on the shores of lake titicaca
Posts: 20,410
| Quote:
Originally Posted by G. Green Man that sucks! All I know about electricity is that you can't see it and it can kill you. Gives me heebie jeebies just to change a light fixture. Hope it's a cheap, simple fix. | me too
it makes things pucker tighter than they are already! 
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ANGRY SMART AND SOBER | |
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11-14-2009, 08:04 AM
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#8 | | They wonder why I drink..
Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: South east Wisconsin
Posts: 7,681
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I do hope that works! But, it sounds right in line with what I dealt with.
Glad to help, my friend!
__________________ The first rule of tinkering is to save all the parts. | |
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11-14-2009, 08:50 AM
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#9 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 4,145
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I bring houses up to code for sale all the time. Replace all the switches and outlets with aluminum approved ones, and check lights and motor circuits [like your fart fan] they can re-stripped back to good wire and re-tighten. Just cut off your circuit breakers first.
Advanced : If you have a Main breaker, cut off the whole panel and tighten each wire connection there also. If you find burned ends, trim them back, put some Noalox on them and re-tighten.
Look for any Copper to Aluminum connections, they can corrode.
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11-14-2009, 09:02 AM
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#10 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Middle of the USA
Posts: 545
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While you're at it be sure to check the wattage on any bulbs in a confined fixture, especially recessed lights. When we moved into this house 5 years ago ALL the bulbs were 100 wattt. After we washed all the fixtures we went down to 60 watters in them and had the same light. My wife turned on the light over the sink, I heard a sizzle, the light flickered, and I told her to shut it off NOW. I hadn't gotten to this fixture yet but there was a 100 watt bulb in there and the heat had caused the insulation to become brittle and break off for about 6 inches allowing the wires to short. After cutting the wire back, splicing in a new piece, and replacing the fixture, we're good. I ended up replacing every fixture, switch, and outlet in the place just to be sure all was OK and I found a couple of outlets and switches that really needed to be replaced. As I recall, that was close to 100 replacements. Granted, a lot were probably OK but I get scared easily when it comes to fire. Now they are all up to MY standards, which are pretty high about stuff like this. Remember, SHUT OFF THE JUICE BEFORE STARTING WORK. Good luck.
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Bob
Beware the fury of a patient man......John Dryden
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11-14-2009, 09:09 AM
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#11 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 1,185
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Billy try unplugging your partical accelerator.lol
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11-14-2009, 09:21 AM
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#12 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: a secret lab on the shores of lake titicaca
Posts: 20,410
| Quote:
Originally Posted by HEMI Billy try unplugging your partical accelerator.lol | but i need it to disrupt the space time continum!
how else am i supposed to take over the world with my beloved buxom fembots and the brassiers of death?
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ANGRY SMART AND SOBER | |
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11-14-2009, 09:26 AM
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#13 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canada
Posts: 1,185
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I'll buy you a generator if you send one of them
there buxom fembots here.
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11-14-2009, 10:56 AM
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#14 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,783
| Well,
congrats on turning off the power. Many people would not even think or know to do that then wonder what happened if great damage occured.
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11-14-2009, 12:27 PM
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#15 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Minn.
Posts: 2,540
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Have the place exorcised there are evil spirits trying to drive you loony.
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11-14-2009, 01:14 PM
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#16 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Everett WA. and Norfolk VA.
Posts: 1,144
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Poltergeist man.
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11-14-2009, 01:16 PM
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#17 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Parker, CO
Posts: 3,629
| Quote:
Originally Posted by G. Green Man that sucks! All I know about electricity is that you can't see it and it can kill you. Gives me heebie jeebies just to change a light fixture. Hope it's a cheap, simple fix. | This is why you need to locate the main cutoff switch at the service entrance. Find it, make friends with it, and always turn it off first before you dink with any wiring.
Sure, you have to reset all your clocks and things, and you could just turn off the breaker for the leg you're working on. But shutting off the main is the safest way. Just like disconnecting the battery before working on a car.
Replacing switches, outlets and fixtures is cake, as long as the system is dead and safe. Just put the wires on the new part the same as they were on the old. Pretty easy, it's the wallowing around on the floor that kills me.
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I child-proofed my house, but they still keep getting in!
Last edited by rondog; 11-14-2009 at 01:20 PM.
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11-14-2009, 01:46 PM
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#18 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Tucker, GA
Posts: 411
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not sure where you live in relation to a good trade school but you can ask the electrical teacher there for advice. most of the teachers at these schools are retired tradesmen and most like to help regardless if you are taking classes or not. some might even come take a look for a ham sandwich. and im not kidding. i had my automotive teacher come look at my truck a few years back. instead of charging me for the hour and a half it took him to find the broken piece and fix it he just asked i buy him dinner. turns out a $5 ham sandwich and coke from subway was enough. 
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The right to bear arms is WAY less ludicrous than the right to arm bears!
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11-14-2009, 02:16 PM
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#19 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: SF Bay area, California
Posts: 739
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I've seen this before. You have zombie-bots coming out at night and sucking power from your fixtures. Only thing you can do is induce the earth's magnetic field to fluctuate its poles. Good thing you have a particle accelerator! Lemme know before you do that so I can turn some things off here.
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11-14-2009, 02:20 PM
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#20 | | Super Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Alaska Wilderness. Unit 13
Posts: 12,445
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I would call the power company and have them check incoming voltage as you may have a Transformer going Bad !!!
__________________ You know you might be facing your doom,when all you get is a click when you're expecting a BOOM! | |
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