Tony Hwang wrote: ...
No. Only if there is current flowing, which in this case it is not. Use one of those non-contact electrical testers mentioned in "Joey"'s message. In the attic you can also determine if a wire is "hot" without having to open up a box.
Wing nuts are just as good as the crimp method, the secret is getting the insulation off the wires. A wire stripper that pulls the insulation off in one clip without nicking the wire is the best. If the bare wire is nicked then crimping or wing nutting might very well break the wire. The absolute best method is not used very often and that would be to remove the insulation without nicking the wire and then soldering the connection and then insulating it. I must admit I 've never seen one of these break apart !
JDoug Kanter wrote:
I agree with RBM. I had this happen once and was at a loss as to where the problem was. The breakers were all OK but a hallway running past several bedrooms had lost power, outlets as well as light fixtures. After a bit of thought, I decided that there had to be a break in a string of lights and receptacles. I started removing the closest receptacles that had power and sure enough I found one of the chained receptacles where the hot wire had obviously gotten hot and discolored the insulation. The person who had wired the receptacle had elected to use the "push in" connections on the back of the receptacle, rather than using a loop under the screws. The connection with the push in had probably not been a good connection in the first place and, when under power, exhibited enough resistance that it created heat and eventually burned the connections inside the receptacle off to the point that the rest of the circuit downstream lost power.
I've never been fond of the "push in" connections because when you push a wire in you can tell that it's often not really tight and the wire can be twisted around with ease inside the receptacle. This same thing can happen with a wire under a screw, but it's not likely if the loop is formed correctly and the screw tightened sufficiently.
Unless this one receptacle had been replaced, it's probable that most of the rest of the house is wired in the same manner.
This tester should be the same as the ones should to check Christmas lights.
If wire nuts were as good as crimps, they'd be used in cars, boats and the space station.
This is NOT code and would come apart if the wire was heated via load.
Soldered wires sometimes have sharp edges that will punch right through heat shrink tubing. That leads some slobs to resort to trying to add further protection using electrical tape, another abomination.
OK Doug, you win, I've never seen wing nuts used on these either. I frequently do wiring on airplane avionics and very used to running wire with no splices and crimp ring terminals. Still it sometimes happens that a wire will break somewhere. I know we don't use them in house wiring but stranded wiring works best in cars, planes, etc. My mention of soldering was mainly directed at stranded wiring...so house wiring, crimp it shall be !!!
JDoug Kanter wrote:
More than likely the the hot wire is loose in the circut breaker . Check that first. If not the case remove the circut breaker and take it with you to home depot or your local electical supplier to get replacement. This should solve your problem. I fnot then call a well qualified electician. It may cost more now, but in the long run you will be more satisfied. Hope this helped! Anthony snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com
................................................................ Posted via TITANnews - Uncensored Newsgroups Access >>>> at
It would be rare for any house built in '72 to have a bedroom on a dedicated circuit, so a loose wire at the breaker would not be likely Before replacing a circuit breaker, a simple volt meter or pig tail light can determine if it is working or not
hmm, wonder what that could be
Are the light fixtures & all the wall sockets dead?
I'd suspect a broken connection in a junction box somewhere in the house. See if you can physically trace the wiring back to the circuit breaker panel.
Hopefully the suspect junction box isn't behind a finished wall or ceiling.
Handi
This is also a case where you would benefit from having determined what was on what circuit, before the failure.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.