Power outage

[Meanie]

By dead with the breaker on, do you mean that you're reading 120V at the breaker wire and you've at the same time reading that you don't have 120V between either hot and neutral or hot and ground at any of the switches and outlets?

======================================================================================= Originally, by dead, I meant the breaker was on but all outlets/switches were dead. I didn't use the tester to confirm that because things were plugged in but not on and the hall switch and bathroom switch have the inner light which can be seen when it's off. They were both off and I assumed there wasn't power.

BUT NOW.......I turned the breaker on and those inner lights in the switch were on. I metered the outlets and read 115v on all. Thus, I turned on the hall switch and nothing. That inner glow light went flickering and upon checking the outlets again, voltage was roughly 55 to 65v in the outlets. I turned the breaker off then on again and the inner switch lights are aglow and the outlets are reading 155v again. My conclusion is a bad neutral SOMEWHERE which is triggered when I hit the light switch and/or was triggered when I turned on an appliance (computer, tv, etc) when I had them all plugged in.

I'm wondering if it can still be in an outlet or switch. If so, I am considering the advice of purchasing a box and replacing all just for process of elimination.

[Meanie]

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How many lights and receptacles are on this circuit? What type of rooms are they in?, bedroom, bathroom, hall, etc. When was the house built?

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6 receptacles and 4 switches/lights.

Computer room/Office (spare bedroom) = 3 receptacles and 1 wall switch/ceiling fan light Spare bedroom = 2 receptacles and 1 wall switch/ceiling fan light. Living room = 1 receptacle Bathroom = Wall switch for lights Hall = Wall switch for ceiling light

[DerbyDad03]

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Have you swapped the hot to another breaker as I suggested? Intermittent and changing symptoms like you are seeing could be a bad breaker.

The flickering problem that I mentioned in my other post was intermittent, sometimes not happening for days, sometimes happening for 1 minute, sometimes happening for hours. Swapping the hots between 2 breakers moved the flickering to another circuit. Changing the breaker solved the problem.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I'd start with the switch you first turned of and they all went out.

[RBM]

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You didn't give me the age of the house, but in another reply you mentioned that the bathroom outlet was separate from the light circuit. This leads me to believe you're in at least a 1980s house. Unless you got a really cheesy electrician, it does sound like it is the entire circuit that is dead. You didn't determine if it was the hot leg or the neutral that is dead though. I would check the panel to see if this dead circuit is part of a multiwire branch circuit. This is one where there is a red hot wire and a black hot wire, that share a common neutral. If it turns out that the neutral is open, and it's a multiwire circuit, I would be looking for the junction box where the 3 wire cable splits into two individual circuits. It will likely be in a live circuit adjacent to the dead one. It is also just as possible that the first outlet in the string, possibly the one nearest to the breaker panel, has a bad connection.

[krw]

Yikes. If they have price tags on them, they likely weren't put in by the contractor so who knows what they are. Replace them with the $2 type from the BORG.

[Meanie]

Have you swapped the hot to another breaker as I suggested? Intermittent and changing symptoms like you are seeing could be a bad breaker.

The flickering problem that I mentioned in my other post was intermittent, sometimes not happening for days, sometimes happening for 1 minute, sometimes happening for hours. Swapping the hots between 2 breakers moved the flickering to another circuit. Changing the breaker solved the problem.

I finally removed the hot from the next breaker below and connected with the questionable breaker and everything worked. Therefore, I conclude the breaker is fine.

[Meanie]

I'd start with the switch you first turned of and they all went out.

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I was thinking the same because that switch appears to be closest to the breaker box and may be the beginning of the run. Though, connections are all intact on switch and in the fixture box, I wonder if it could be the switch because all it's allowing is the hot to pass while the neutral is wire nut connected.

I also put a volt meter to one outlet. The voltage started at 55 to 60 after turning the breaker back on. I sat and watched while the voltage S L O W L Y increased until it reached 117v.......weird. Then I removed the light from each fixture one at a time and checked to see if there was voltage drop. No luck on any light fixture which leads me to believe it may be an outlet.

[Meanie]

You didn't give me the age of the house, but in another reply you mentioned that the bathroom outlet was separate from the light circuit. This leads me to believe you're in at least a 1980s house. Unless you got a really cheesy electrician, it does sound like it is the entire circuit that is dead. You didn't determine if it was the hot leg or the neutral that is dead though. I would check the panel to see if this dead circuit is part of a multiwire branch circuit. This is one where there is a red hot wire and a black hot wire, that share a common neutral. If it turns out that the neutral is open, and it's a multiwire circuit, I would be looking for the junction box where the 3 wire cable splits into two individual circuits. It will likely be in a live circuit adjacent to the dead one. It is also just as possible that the first outlet in the string, possibly the one nearest to the breaker panel, has a bad connection.

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Sorry, I forgot to list the age.

The house is a bungalow and was built in 1949.

The only wire connected to the breaker is a black wire.

I stated in another reply I think I'll just replace all outlets for process of elimination and peace of mind for future issues. I will be picking up the outlet tomorrow.

[DerbyDad03]

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Your basic 120V 15 amp non-GFCI breaker will always have just one wire connected to it.

However, that doesn't mean that the circuit isn't part of a multi-wire circuit. If it is, there will be a red wire going to a different breaker. The way to tell is to follow the black wire from the breaker to where it leaves the panel. As it goes into it's outer casing, you'll either find just a white neutral or a red wire and a white neutral. If there's a red wire along with the black and white, then the circuit is a multi wire branch circuit, also known as an Edison circuit.

In a multi-wire branch circuit, the hots for 2 circuits will be the black and the red wires and they will share a neutral up to some junction box someplace where they'll split into separate circuits, each with it's own neutral. The theory is that it was cheaper to run one 3 wire cable instead of two 2 wire cables.

They are a pain in the butt.