Industry Experts

"Something smells slightly hot (like hot wire..."

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Q. Could the main fuse box for the house be bad?

could the main fuse box for the house be bad? what do you think from my description of problem do you think the fuse box may be bad also. i not sure where the problem is but i think it may be in the fuse box itself. i checked both electrical main wires coming to fuse panel and have each has 110 volts and when checking both together i have 220 volts. but when i check the fuse box two buzz where the fuses get there power one has 110 and the other only has like 30 volts. but when i check them both together i get only like 40 volts. this fuse box has given me problems before in the area of where the two fuses that go to the main well they have been not making a good connection and sometimes i have bump the outside of them to get them to seat and work right. but i think there a much bigger problem right there. i think the whole fuse box is bad. and may be the cause for shorts that i having in my place. and other electrical problems.

"You will have to call the power company to take out and check..."

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Q. Issue with my electrical wiring. where to start?

we're having an electrician come out next week, but i am curious too on some other opinions based on the info i provide. the house was built in 1989. basically we have 1 room that has a bad outlet. i have been running a fan on that outlet almost every night with no problems for about four years till i started to move to college. i ran a vacuum on that outlet and suddenly the outlet stopped working. the lights also stopped working in the room and the hallway. the breaker (sp?) did not switch and the other room on that breaker did not have any issues. well, it suddenly started working one day when my mom went to columbus to visit me. she returned and noticed the hallway and my room light on. a little bit later, she remembered that it hadn't been working for about three months. then one day she vacuumed the room and accidentally plugged the switch back into the one i used for the fan and the room went dead. it stayed that way till i moved back last december. we have an outlet in the room that is two-pronged instead of three-pronged. i think my father may have replaced when he was alive and i have vague memories from when i was three, but my mom doesn't think he did. it is the only outlet in the house that is two-pronged. when i plugged it in, there was a spark and the room lit up again and the hallway started working. well, two nights ago we have had some heavy rain and the lights started flickering. then yesterday the lights in the hallway were flickering really bad and just dimmed itself after maybe three minutes of flickering. my room light wasn't working either and i did not test the other outlets. we turned off the breaker that we assumed also affects the hallway as the hallway isn't listed on there. now, we have had the roof replaced about ten years ago and my mom is wondering if it is water damage because we had some water damage on the attached garage roof. i am sort of wondering why it started working when i plugged something in the only two-prong outlet in the whole house. we also have a crawl space and we had some work done on the foundation of the house on the corner. they had to cut into the front wall and found that there was a rodent nest (probably either mice or rats) and they had started chewing on a wire in the living room. (the wire was checked but it was ok and patched up) it was the opposite side of the house on the lower level though. they didn't find anything active, but i doubt that they would as they were cutting into the wall so the rodents would probably run away. the cats were freaking out at the corner of the house a few months prior. also, i've noticed in some rooms when i plug my computer in, it'll spark. however, that is in the addition. and in the room with the faulty outlet, there is a phone jack that when used, it'll sound like a modem is dialing out and the other person hears the sound too. it was the jack itself. i only used it a few times as that became annoying fast. however, that may have been caused by wasps nesting near the phone wires as at one point we lost our entire phone and dsl service till we killed the wasps and pushed the wires up into the box. thanks for any advice anyone offers as to where to start or opinions on what may be causing it.

"If your circuit breaker is too large for that..."

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Q. A good friend's car caught fire by electrical wiring. why?

it's an old mustang. we bought our cars as project cars and are trying to fix them up to get them back up and running. we were over at his house today and when we turned the key, it started and then we shut it off to check for any leaks and then we noticed smoke coming from hood and when we opened it, the wires caught fire back by the firewall where the wires connect to a terminal. any ideas why? the only thing we did was rewire a wire that went bad earlier when we tested it. i don't remember where that wire went but it was a 12 gauge wire with a fusible link and then it went to a 16 gauge wire i believe where it connected. what we did was to just buy a straight 12 gauge wire and connect it without the fusible link and then having it go to a smaller size wire. he said he asked on here and the answers he got said that was ok to do. so, what happened? too much pressure to handle or what? we put the fire out (really quick and burnt two wires like two inches long), so we were going to replace the ones that only burnt. the others were fine. that should be good right? i guess now we can go back to using that fusible link. it's just funny because we started his car many times before and nothing happened. just today. i don't think we have to get a whole new wiring harness. after all, once it starting smoking, we immediately put it out. we later looked at the wires and the terminal looks perfectly fine; however, the only damage was two wires that burnt. so, i'm just thinkin' that we can go to our local parts store and buy those wires with the gauge and rewire it. that was the only thing that happened. nothing major, but just a couple wires melted.

"Something shorted out>..."

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Q. Need help bad, electrical problem, how do i get a diagram of the wiring of my car? ???

i have a 1993 dodge ram van b250 for 3 years i have not had heat. a/c is fine. the first year had very little heat, 2nd year even less heat, 3rd year no heat, totally gone. the blower is fine, not real strong but fine. here's the problem. my back street mechanic checked my fuses under my inside dash to see if a fuse was blown to my heater. now one of my wires under my hood was sparking and it blew out my car alarm. also, my car had to be jumped every morning because the battery went dead due to this. the wire that was sparking was unplugged but now the blower doesnt work. i strongly believe that the wire unplugged goes to the blower, but not sure. it isnt the alarm wire, definately. this wire is along the back wall of the engine with all the other wires. its pink. and connects to the battery. how do i get a diagram of the wiring of my car? how do i get it to stop sparking ?? i have a new heater core. antifreeze over flow and in radiator is fine. i also had it flushed 2 times. new heater control valve new thermo and gasket new thermostat housing new water pump please tell me the experience you have with cars

"First a wiring diagram may not completely help if the alarm is aftermarket..."

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Q. What do i need to have checked out before buying a house?

i am looking into buying a house that needs a lot of work. ((i live in nyc so am taking advantage of the downturn in market to pick up a deal.)) i found what appears to be a steal but it needs work. what are the most important parts of the home that i should have inspected in order to find out if the property is worth purchasing. i want to avoid buying a money pit. what sort of problems should i avoid? bad roof, bad plumbing. what problems are fixable? bad dry wall, bad electrical wiring? if anyone knows a good inspector/contractor in nyc/brooklyn/queens area please let me know.

"Have a thorough building inspection done..."

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Q. Why is my bronco dieing while going down the road ? all the electrical ,shuts off and the dies?

3 days ago i had a power surge in my bronco ,i went to park turned off the key and it didnt shut off ,i got out and pulled the coil wire , babied it home. next day checked everything ,ie. fuses alt. batt.toggle switches.all good ,go 1 mile and it quits running ,tow to a shop . he said the ignition module burnt out .159.00 and 150 labor .i get in go 2 blocks ,dies again ? i took it back ,the thing is in mint condition ,but when i got it last month it had several wires cut ? so i put in starter,battery,water pump,radiator ,hoses,belts .reconnect all wirers ,and drive from oregan to az .all has been fine for 3 weeks excert only 12.36 volts when operate,use a twst light and it will jump to 13.66 volts ,tested alt at checker ,a+ check all fusible links x56 of them .check all wires under the hood ,like new , when i had the surge the other day it blew out both head lights im a good mechanic , i love a good challenge , i do all ,brakes to engines , but dang it im stumped . this is an 86 ford bronco 5.2 fuel injected 302 v8 4x4 in mint shape , this is a nice truck ,it sat for 2 years before i got ,hence all the parts ,injectors leak a tad , but why all the electrical now ?why didnt the fuse pop first rather than the head lights , ac motor went as fast as a jet at the same time , they cut the battery lead to alt and wired to a toggle switch,and a wire feeds the fuse panel ,no power inside with key switch . ill send you a pound of fudge or 20.00 just to pick a brain . tomorrow the shop will call wanting more money too. i gave 200.00 already and nothing to show for it . im unemployed ,dont they know? help .help;this has got me bad , no sleep .bad dreams trying to think ....what it is ? dam computers leave em in the house not in my truck please................

"Replaced it does not mean its still good..."

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Q. Bad ground wire in chevy 95 lumina?

read carefully.......... my friend has a 96 chevy lumina. the battery kept dyeing on the car and would not start. he got a new battery and got a few good runs of it and then the battery went dead again. we pulled the alternator out and bench checked it. the altenator checked good. jumpstarted the battery and got the car to his house. this is where i a totally confused!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! turned off the ignition and tried to recrank, car was totally dead. not enough juice to even make the tone when the key is in the ignition. looked around and told him to wiggle the ground wire, the car electrical system starting clicking. tried cleaning the terminal to the ground wire and put it back on. nothing at all. couldn't even jump the car again!!! i put a test light on the positive of the battery and touched it to the gound wire (terminal and bare wire). the light comes for 1 second and then fades out every time. what gives? it is 1 solid ground wire, i can't find the other end though. what should i due? where should i start? how do i do it? its a 95, sorry

"Connected by a good heavy duty battery cable..."

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Q. Can anyone help with 94 fire bird electrical problem?

we have a 94 fire bird 3.4 v-6 that just up and died. it cranks over but wont start, similar to if it were out of gas. the fuel pump and filter are fine, and it has half a tank of gas, just to rule all that out. when it died, i had checked the fuses and none looked blown out. i checked the coil packs and none of them were giving off a spark, so i assumed that the module went bad. i got a used module and coil packs (there are 3 coil packs, with 2 nubs on each pack, for a total of 6) and when we tried to start it, the 10 amp ignition fuse kept blowing out. i am not 100% sure if the 10 amp ignition fuse had blown out back when the car originally died out, because it was very dark out, but as best as i could tell, all the fuses seemed ok. i know its not wise to do, but we were in a severe bind, so i put a 20 amp fuse in the ignition fuse box, and that blew out too. i then tried a 30 amp fuse, and the car started and ran fine. but... we went about 10 miles, and the car died again. this time the 2nd coil packs did not have a spark, but the 30 amp fuse was not blown. i hoped that the original module had just died of natural causes without blowing out the 10 amp ignition fuse, and maybe the 2nd used module had a short or was going bad, and that was why it kept blowing out the 10 amp and 20 amp ignition fuses, but maybe it burned itself out on the more powerful 30 amp fuse. so we got a 3rd module and coil packs (supposedly tested) but there was still no spark when we put it in and cranked it over, and the 10 amp ignition fuse did not blow out either. a friend tested some of the wires, and said that there was no power going to any of the 3 plugs or clip snaps (whatever the're called) that attach to the coil packs, and the 10 amp ignition fuse had power going thru it. everyone we ask tells us something different... and say it is the crank sensor, or knock sensor, or computer, or security ignition-key system. the "security" idiot light has been going on and off since we got the car last year. if any of this might be related... about 6 months ago the car ran real rough, and the computer check showed a bad erg valve, so we replaced it, which did nothing, and it turned out to be just a bad spark plug wire. the dashboard check engine light and security light still go on occasionally. the dash guage also shows the temp as being about 20 degrees higher then it actually is too. if the car has been sitting for a while, it takes a long time to start, and might be related to a bad valve on the fuel pump which doesn't keep the gas in the line. i have no clue what or where the crank or knock sensors are, or how to replace them, or even if they could be the problem? we were also going to have someone bypass the ignition security system a long time ago, but could i do that myself if that is the problem? we have been stranded at our house for over a week now, and we sure would appreciate it if anyone might know for sure what is wrong, and how to fix it?

"If your vats or security system goes out you can bypass it..."

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Q. I asked this electrical question b4 and i know i need an electrician but.?

i turn on the bath lights and the kitch and bath now don't work, i check the brakers (each one) because for some weird reason (to me anyway)the braker didn't trip, or maybe it did (in a normal world) anyway since no orange marking came on braker, i reset everyone and tested everyone to see if there was power and yes they all have power. i imagine that the lights run in a series kind of like christmas tree lights if one section goes, find the bad one ad replace it. now the question is this, instead of the recepticle going bad can the light switch or were the ligh bulb on ceiling conect go bad? (should i also check those since i lost power when i flick the switch. also if the main wire comes from the braker box and they all have juice, but my kitchen does not, is that main wire feeding another room, therefore is going into an electrical box (kind of like an intersection) which feeds the room but the wire going to the kitchen is blocked off(loose) is that right? by the way it's a very old veryyyy old house no gfi, no garbage disposal, no gfi outside (i'm pretty sure) we never had this problem and i think we always had the same appliances going could the wire be the sourse (gone bad) or could a recepticle(bridge)gone bad? in advance thank you for your time and answers.

"For loose or burnt connections or damaged receptacles..."

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Q. This afternoon the power in my house flashed on & off, i heard a buzzing noise, and the power was messed up...?

for about a half hour. it happened yesterday afternoon around the same time, too. i called the power company, and they checked out the outside wires - everything was fine there. i called my landlord, he checked out the breaker box, said there was one wire loose and he fixed it. there was a hot electrical smell by one outlet in the living room, and plugged into the power strip in the living room on the opposite was our tv, dvr, dvd, a lamp, my wireless dsl box, & a digital photo frame. now the tv and the dsl box are dead - won't turn on, even when plugged into another outlet. the dvr & dvd seem to be fine. after the landlord left (his explanation was our tv went bad and blew up everything), i noticed that the bathroom light is dead in another room in the house. it is a long, tube fluorescent bulb. none of this makes sense to me. do any electricians out there have any insight into what in the world could be going on here??? thanks so much :-) thank you for your responses so far. there was definitely no lightning - it is very cold where i live; however, the pipes are not frozen and our space heater was unplugged and not in use. also, the outlet is working fine again; furthermore, the power strip that everything was plugged into is working fine - i checked each of the individual plugs, and they are all working. finally, i had all of those appliances listed plugged into a surge protector power strip, so i don't believe that is the case either. curiouser and curiouser...

"Surge protectors are important if you have expensive electronics..."