A couple of nights ago the lights in the hallway and dining room stopped working. I went down to the basement and flipped the circuit breaker and they came back on. The next day they were off again and flipping the breaker did not appear to bring them back. The breaker it was on was from the original house, and not one of the new sub-panels we installed. It seemed likely that it could be defective
Today, rather than sit at home like a damsel in distress waiting for electrician Michael to get home, I took matters into my own hands. I've always walked a wide circle around the elctrical. Michael had a notion for it, so I let him own that body of knowledge. I like to think of it as the same division of labor we have over baking and cooking.
The circuit was a 15amp. I powered down the house and flipped the main, removed the 15, and replaced it with a brand new 20 I had just gone out and purchased. Got it all screwed into place, flipped it back on...and nothing.
Hmmmm... So in the spirit of "the house the internet built" (that will be the book deal I'm sure), I went on-line and asked mr google "testing circuit breakers". It produced the dummies page and I was off to the races. I tested the new 20 as instructed, and appearnetly it was deffective. So, I rooted around the "left-over electrical parts" drawer and found a 30.
Then I turned everything off again and went through the process once more. Flipped it on, and, Voila!, lights. Took a few hours, but after returning the newly purchased circuit breaker, it cost me nothing. Now I am basking in that warm cozy glow of figuring out something new.
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