Residential Electrical Troubleshooting by Sparkys

Troubleshooting Residential Electrical – Introduction

Here at Electric Doctor/Sparky’s, most of our calls during a week are to diagnose and repair an electrical problem. We also receive calls from homeowners and maintenance personnel simply wondering why something went wrong with their electrical system. Sparky’s new blog section is here to help you understand what individual items are involved in your home electrical system and how they work together to create an entire electrical system. Electrical troubleshooting and repair takes years to understand and many more to master but we strive to give you quality information geared to understanding electrical systems. Knowing terminology and system parts will help you communicate issues more effectively if you do encounter issues and can help save money when it counts!

Basic Electrical System Terms:

• Electrical Service : Your service includes incoming power, a meter and your breakers
• Sub-Panel : A sub-panel is a secondary breaker panel but not all services have sub-panels
• Branch Circuits/Wiring : Branch circuit wiring is run to your home’s electrical devices
• Devices : Devices include outlets and switches but can also refer to light fixtures

Electrical problems can be quite elusive and troublesome. Diagnosis and repair is an area best left to licensed electrical professionals with experience in troubleshooting electrical wiring and branch circuits. If you have a circuit breaker that is tripped or tripping repeatedly you likely have a serious situation that requires attention. Circuit breakers are designed to trip when overloaded. A breaker tripping usually indicates an overloaded circuit or other faulty equipment. It is unwise to reset a circuit breaker that is tripping repeatedly. Doing so can cause the branch circuit wiring to carry more current than it was designed to carry and overheat, or worse, start a fire. Electric circuit breakers are just one area of the electrical system that may experience problems. Switches, outlets, light fixtures, appliances, branch wiring and other items can contribute to mysterious electrical situations popping up. We have seen instances where there were multiple unrelated electrical problems occurring at the same time, which can confound and frustrate even the most experienced, licensed electricians. The comment of having “ghosts” in the wiring from the homeowner is not uncommon in this situation. For example; lights can be going on and off in one area of the house with outlets not working in another and then the lights might stop working altogether. Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI or GFI) receptacle outlets and circuit breakers tripping can indicate electrical wiring problems too. While GFCI outlets may nuisance trip (tripping off for no apparent reason) occasionally, an outlet that trips repeatedly should be checked out by a qualified licensed electrician. If you have a GFCI circuit breaker that has tripped we recommend having it checked as it is a somewhat uncommon occurrence. Never attempt to reset an electric circuit breaker if you detect a burning smell. A licensed trained electrician will identify and correct the problem prior to attempting to reset the circuit breaker. Failure to identify the problem prior to resetting the breaker could create a fire hazard and should be avoided.

Sparky’s can also help you avoid electrical problems from developing by giving your electrical system some TLC in the form of preventative maintenance. Preventative maintenance is a practice developed to avoid breakdowns and keep malfunctions from happening. Sparky’s preventative maintenance service consists of a complete electrical system overview, check up, and tune up. We will also provide you with a list recommendations (if any) that may be needed or desired to keep your electrical system current and in peak operating condition.