Electricity in 1/2 the house down, Circuit breaker or somethign else?

[positivedoppler]

1/2 the power at home went out yesterday. I just had a new breaker put in not too long ago so I hope it's not that. I went down to the basement and power cycled all the breakers but it did not restore power. DO you think the breaker is not working or it might be something inside the wall?

 

[Charlie98]

Breaker boxes are usually divided into two 110v circuits, with 2 110v feeds coming into the house.

Question: Are the things on one side of the breaker box working whereas the things powered by the other side of the box not?

 

[VirtualLarry]

had brownouts in 1/2 of house last year at a relative's house. turned out, the contacts where the meter connected were corroded from all the years of weather.

 

[corkyg]

During your checks and inspections, check all of your GFI's. Friend of mine recently lost power to a freezer in the garage. Turns our it was a GFI in one of the bathrooms that had popped.

 

[pcgeek11]

During your checks and inspections, check all of your GFI's. Friend of mine recently lost power to a freezer in the garage. Turns our it was a GFI in one of the bathrooms that had popped.

The GFCI Breakers are a good starting point and have caused more people more pain for a very simple problem. That being said said GFCI breaker or receptacle alone normally wouldn't take out 1/2 the house. GFCI's are only required for kitchens, bathrooms, wet areas and outside ( garages ) areas.

Breaker boxes are usually divided into two 110v circuits, with 2 110v feeds coming into the house.

Question: Are the things on one side of the breaker box working whereas the things powered by the other side of the box not?

Another excellent point.

If you have a DVM check one of the "dead" outlets for power between the hot lead ( black ) and Ground (bare copper) if it shows you have voltage you have an open in the neutral wire circuit. I have seen this cause the "1/2 house loss of power" more than any other issue.

If you do not know what you are doing I would call an qualified electrician and sooner rather than later. Not to scare you, but if there is a loose hot wire or a brownout condition as noted above in the meter base... Loose connections act like a heater and could cause a fire.

 

[Charlie98]

If you have a DVM check one of the "dead" outlets for power between the hot lead ( black ) and Ground (bare copper) if it shows you have voltage you have an open in the neutral wire circuit. I have seen this cause the "1/2 house loss of power" more than any other issue.

If you do not know what you are doing I would call an qualified electrician and sooner rather than later. Not to scare you, but if there is a loose hot wire or a brownout condition as noted above in the meter base... Loose connections act like a heater and could cause a fire.

That's where I was going... a loose service connection (or corrosion) is nothing to trifle with.

 

[positivedoppler]

Thanks everyone. Called the electric company and it was indeed outside around the meter. It was dangerous, thanks for the advice.

 

[piasabird]

If you have 2 mains one main could have gone out on the outside of the house where the power comes in. This is something normally only a power company can fix. This can happen in a storm when there is a power surge.