Weird electrical issues at my home!

[strogg]

I'm just talking about the gfci not the possible lightning or surge problem. If a gfci outlet trips and something goes out other than that what is required to be protected by it then it is wired incorrectly. Is it dangerous? No but it's a nuisance.

Sometimes this is done intentionally as an alert that the GFCI has tripped.

I'll just going by 30 years in the electrical field and the NEC. The gfci has a light on it that shows red when it's tripped.

But this indicator light is usually in the bathroom or laundry room. If you have a light in another room, you might notice it sooner.
I've not done this myself, but I've seen it done.

Yeah I've seen all kinds of weird stuff done.

Agreed it can easily be a GFCI. At my place, I have a single GFCI outlet in the master, and the rest of the outlets for the remainder of the restrooms are downstream, so if someone in another restroom trips the GFCI, I have to reset it in the master bath. The kitchen and outside outlets are set up the same way. The rest are tripped by combo GFCI/AFCI breakers in the electrical panel.

What I recommend everyone do in their spare time is to label all outlets and light switches with the breaker number and how it's protected (GFCI downstream, none, etc). This will save so many headaches because panels are typically poorly labeled. It's a requirement for commercial installations. I have no clue why it's not required on residential. It makes no sense to me.

Oh, back to the topic, I wouldn't be surprised about a surge either. A year and some change ago, a surge hit my house that took out a computer, a couple wall warts, my UPS, and a couple other things I may have forgotten about. They were all on different circuits. After that event, I installed a whole house surge by the electrical panel just in case something like that happened again.

[03Lightningrocks]

I'm just talking about the gfci not the possible lightning or surge problem. If a gfci outlet trips and something goes out other than that what is required to be protected by it then it is wired incorrectly. Is it dangerous? No but it's a nuisance.

Sometimes this is done intentionally as an alert that the GFCI has tripped.

I'll just going by 30 years in the electrical field and the NEC. The gfci has a light on it that shows red when it's tripped.

But this indicator light is usually in the bathroom or laundry room. If you have a light in another room, you might notice it sooner.
I've not done this myself, but I've seen it done.
[/quote]Yeah I've seen all kinds of weird stuff done.
[/quote]

The point is that it has nothing to do with what is happening as described by the OP. LOL... the OP has suffered a lightning damage loss. Any damaged appliances are usually covered by ones home owners insurance.

[03Lightningrocks]

Electricity to me is witchcraft :)

It's like plumbing for amps and volts!

EXACTLY
I wouldn't suggest anything beyond a person's skill level, that could be dangerous.
I suspect you have an electrical leak and need to put duct tape over all outlets that are unused so the electricity stops leaking out.
Leaky electrical probably violates Ohm's Law, and if so, could be an impeachable offense.

That was funny.

[puma guy]

We really like the beautiful fan in our bedroom; we'll have to see if we can live with a ceiling fan on high all the time.

Does your fan also have a pull chain for speed setting? If so, does it still work on all 3 speeds? The remote receiver in the fan housing might have blown, these can be replaced by fan remote sets purchased from Home Depot/Lowes. The ceiling fan in our vaulted living room (of course the only fan on a vaulted ceiling) quit responding to the remote. Replaced the receiver, problem resolved.
[/quote
No pull chain switches for light or fan. I may take it apart to see if I can identify the individual receivers and replace the fan receiver. It's just a really beautiful fan that matches the color scheme and furnishings in the room.

[puma guy]

Had a weird problem in my house a month or so ago - 3 outlets in the Kitchen went out, including the refrigerator outlet. Looked at the breaker box and none were tripped. HOWEVER, when I went through and tried each one there was one that hadn't "tripped", but flopped back and forth rather than clicking on and off.

Long story short - bad breaker, failed. Replaced and back up and running.

So don't just look, check.

Also gave me the chance to go through and label everything correctly after 30 years in this house as the builder did a piss poor job of labeling and the layout is totally weird.

I checked to see the breaker tabs were not "loose". Even though there were other devices and/or power strips involved that were still powered I checked them all with my meter. Only one GFCI outlet in the house and it's OK. The previuos owner of the house has it wired up in a strange way, but I left it alone. Only one plug on that GFCI outlet is wired to trip and it is through wired to another outlet and the stove hood. You can trip the outlet and the bottom plug remains powered. It is crazy. His wiring for two switches on the den ceiling fan was also bizarre. It included a dimmer switch for the two way circuit. Got rid of that catastrophe.

[MAFWG]

To the OP:

If you choose to file a claim with your homeowner's insurance, please:

1. Document when the last time someone was in the house before the event.
2. Document when the first person returned to the house and how they discovered the loss.
3. Prepare to answer questions about any past electrical issues in the house and any electrical work done in the house.
4. Document everything which isn't working and the exact symptoms observed.
5. If possible, document when and where each item with issues was purchased (online receipts are your friend here).
6. If you have some of the items repaired or replaced before the claim is filed and the adjuster inspects the residence, keep very detailed records and be sure to keep the damaged items.

Your claim may receive "special attention" depending on how large the loss is (and some other factors which I am not going to go into). In which case, an electrician, an HVAC tech, and/or a forensic electrical engineer may be hired to investigate the loss. Be cooperative. If it's an engineer, he usually isn't an insurance company employee and he really just wants to figure out what happened, since he has no financial stake in the answer (he's not going to be paid to repair anything). Having said that, he will usually not tell you what his findings are since that is confidential to his client (the insurance company). Instead, you will need to get a report from your adjuster.

Also, nothing usually happens fast. This could take weeks (or months) to be settled.

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Please take whatever actions you think are necessary. This is the Internet, do what you think is right, not what some online busybody recommends...

[tkc723]

Sounds like you may have lost a neutral. Check the tightness on all of your neutral wires in your panel as well as the neutral on the incoming wires. If you have voltage coming from all of your breakers, I can’t think of anything else. JMHO

Agreed with this due to the ac still working. Check everything that runs on 220 - dryer, stove, and water heater. If those are all working, I would suspect the neutral got disconnected.


Although I would suggest not checking the neutrals. In certain situations it is possible to get shocked. Call an electrician.

[crazy2medic]

My understanding as it was explained so a firefighter can understand it is AMP = PSI and VOLTS = GPM
I was told the average Lighting Bolt is a Million VOLTS
Here's my question wouldn't a lighting bolt generate an EMP in it's immediate vicinity?

[puma guy]

Electricity to me is witchcraft :)

It's like plumbing for amps and volts!

EXACTLY
I wouldn't suggest anything beyond a person's skill level, that could be dangerous.
I suspect you have an electrical leak and need to put duct tape over all outlets that are unused so the electricity stops leaking out.
Leaky electrical probably violates Ohm's Law, and if so, could be an impeachable offense.

That was funny.

I went to school with three Ohms; Larry, Steve and Tom I may be called to testify!

[MAFWG]

A lightning bolt IS an EMP... a very localized one.

[MAFWG]

My understanding as it was explained so a firefighter can understand it is AMP = PSI and VOLTS = GPM

If you are referring to the usual "electrical wiring as plumbing" analogy, then this is backwards. Volts equals pressure, amps equals flow rate.

[crazy2medic]

Okay, then have it backward

[Keith B]

Check all breakers? Outlets are sometimes on different breakers than lights. Also, I've lost TVs and other electronics to lightning - now there's weird electricity.

I'm thinking we had a strike, but no way to confirm it. No tripped breakers except the internal breaker in the garbage disposal; TV's, cable boxes, DVD's, etc. are all on individual power strips and the outlet for the phone indicated 119 V with my volt meter. The transformer indicated zero volts on my meter, so I tried using a different working transformer to power the base, but it still didn't work. Gonna have to buy another phone, a new 50" TV and a garbage disposal. We really like the beautiful fan in our bedroom; we'll have to see if we can live with a ceiling fan on high all the time.

Homeowners insurance will cover lightning strike damage.

[TreyHouston]

YOU ALL ARE WRONG!!!!!

Gremlins.... sneaky little guys... DON’T FEED THEM AFTER DARK!!!!!

[Archery1]

Though nothing can protect against a direct strike, a whole home surge protection put in you main box is good insurance on down the line strikes.