Sparky’s – Littleton’s Electrician
Electrical issues are usually of high concern and demand an immediate response from an skilled licensed electrical contractor. Sparky’s electricians are considered to be among the best diagnostic (troubleshooters) in the electrical business. Diagnosis and repair is an area best left to licensed electrical professionals with extensive experience in troubleshooting electrical wiring and branch circuits. Sparky’s unique training and troubleshooting process helps us lead as a professional electrical contractor in Littleton, Colorado and the entire Denver metro area. If you have a circuit breaker that is tripped or tripping repeatedly, you likely have a situation that requires fast, professional attention. The last thing you want to be concerned with at this time is receiving a high pressure sales pitch from a technician.
Signs of a possible Electrical Issue:
- Circuit Breaker Tripped – Not resetting
- Outlets not working throughout home/office
- Bathroom and Garage outlets not working
Sparky’s offers a straight-forward approach for residential electrical repairs. Sparky’s is based as Littleton’s hometown electrician and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you will get prompt, friendly service at a non-shocking price. We have over 50 years of high level expertise as electrical troubleshooters and the majority of service calls we perform in the Littleton, Highlands Ranch and Denver area are resolved for $99.00 in most cases.
As Littleton’s Electrician we understand your time is important. That’s the reason we like to refer to our slogan…
“We’re in, We’re out and You Save Money”
Scheduling service really quite simple:
- Call 303-973-2551 and together, we will arrange a time at your convenience to resolve your electrical issue
- NEVER any travel charge or “service call” fees that mean showing up and charging you to only quote a price!
- Your electrician will arrive at during our scheduled time ready to fix your electrical issue
- No time constraints. Some competitors have 2 hour windows to solve an issue
- If we find that your issue is severe, we will show you and quote you a price for the repair
Upon our arrival we will ask you for any information you may have concerning the electrical problem and then we will get busy making repairs. Upon completion of the repair, we will explain our findings and what measures were taken to correct the problem and answer any questions you may have. We accept many forms payment for our services including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Checks or Cash to make your transaction as simple as possible. We will then be on our way, make sure to look for a Sparky’s Sticker on your electrical panel and we always leave business cards!
That’s it! No Drama! No Scare Tactics! No Sales Pitch! Did we mention that Sparky’s (Electric Doctor) has been awarded the prestigious “Gold Star Award” from the Denver BBB every year since 2003?
Sparky’s specializes in residential electrical repair in Littleton and the Denver metro area. We will return your electrical system to normal operation. Our expertise simplifys correcting electrical issues and you can rest assured that your electrical system is in good hands. When you contact Sparky’s for repairs you will get prompt service at a fair price.
Sparky’s will help you avoid electrical problems from developing by giving your electrical system some TLC in the form of preventative maintenance. Preventative maintenance is used 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. The service is very affordable and will help assure that your electrical system will be there when you need it most!
Infrared Thermometer Electric Equipment Scanning
Infrared Scanning
Infrared thermometer (contact) electric equipment scanning is a method of detecting possible loose or deteriorating electrical connections and hot spots at points where connections are found or may be deteriorating. These points can include circuit breaker to branch wire terminations, circuit breaker to panel buss connections, main lug terminations, neutral and ground terminal connections in electrical panel boards and load centers to name a few. Infrared scanning performed by trained professionals is an accurate method of assisting in performing maintenance checks to identify potential overloading of circuits and or equipment. Infrared scanning can detect areas where excessive heat may be accumulating at the points of connection or deterioration of buss bars etc. Scanning is widely utilized in commercial and industrial manufacturing facilities where equipment reliability is crucial to the operational goals of the company. This type of scanning along with a sensible preventative electrical maintenance program can more than pay for the expense of the equipment and the trained electricians needed to carry out the ongoing program by saving the costs of otherwise unforeseen repairs and equipment down time.
Infrared thermometer Scanning is becoming increasingly popular in the residential sector and is a recommended service offered by many professional electric contractors. The scan is best utilized in conjunction with a preventative maintenance program and will help to ensure years of reliable electrical equipment operation.
Sparky’s professionally trained staff has extensive experience with both infrared contact style scanners as well as distant motion scanning featured with today’s advanced FLIR technology. FLIR technology was developed for the USA military and has become a useful tool for a variety of energy efficiency evaluations such as the viewing of buildings from a distance to analyze heat loss. The FLIR technology and its many uses will be addressed in more detail in future blogs.
Sparky’s USA/Electric Doctor Inc offers infrared thermometer electrical panel scanning for our residential customers too. This service is economical, performed quickly and does not require any electrical outages. It is an affordable way to know your electrical system is safe and operating properly. Our electricians have extensive training and experience in performing infrared thermometer electrical equipment scanning. Sparky’s USA personnel will also visually check and manually tighten all of your electrical panel connections to the recommended specifications as part of our inspection service. Upon completion of your equipments preventative maintenance service we will provide you with a written report detailing the results of your infrared thermometer scan and further recommendations (if any). This service has been an exceptional value for our clients, as we have seen numerous examples of the infrared scan service pinpointing a loose connection or deteriorating circuit breaker, enabling Sparky’s USA to make a minor repair prior to it becoming a large headache for the owner. As we said earlier the service is quite affordable, will take a minimal time commitment and will provide peace of mind. Give us a call today or see our services guide for quick straightforward pricing and to arrange an appointment for your infrared thermometer scan and preventative maintenance panel service.
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.
Park Meadows Black Friday Blackout
Emergency Service on a Day Off
The Friday after Thanksgiving is affectionately called Black Friday. It is the busiest shopping day of the entire year, where even the slowest of economies pick up the pace and cater to every shopper’s desire. Many stores open early on Black Friday, as early as Midnight and some just open an hour or two earlier than usual.
Here at Electric Doctor, we were looking forward to a much needed 3 day weekend after a great Thanksgiving. We received a call around 8:45am. This particular Park Meadow’s store had set to open at 8:00am that morning, ready for a rush of shoppers and when they went to turn on the lights and open the doors to swarms of shoppers, they had a Black Friday Blackout.
The store’s mechanical and lighting systems are controlled remotely via an automation system to help lights from being left on and the store being over heated/cooled. There are two manual override buttons for the lighting system which allow several hours of on time before resuming normal operation. When the manger went to override the lighting… nothing… just emergency lights stayed on. We received the call around 8:45am after the on-call mall electrician was unable to determine the problem. Electric Doctor arrived on scene within an hour of the call at about 9:30am and began to diagnose the issue. Craig and Jim determined that the main lighting contactor for the entire store had failed.
The failure of the lighting contactor had then caused several other issues with the automation system. Being a holiday Friday, most electrical supply stores were closed and even those who would open did not have this particular contactor. This situation may have put an end to the store’s largest major shopping day but the docs swung into action. Craig and Jim found a way to bypass the contactor and have it used manually to control the lighting. After resetting the system and even taking the time to show the employees how to use the lighting over the weekend as a temporary solution, the store had the lights on, the blackout over and the doors were ready to open for eager shoppers by 10:30, within 2 hours of being called.
A few days later, the contactor was in and Electric Doctor installed the part during non-business hours and everything was back to normal. While the store did lose 2.5hours of shopping time, they know that it could have been quite a bit longer without the prompt response and creative solution. Prompt response and expert diagnosing helped to save thousands of dollars when they needed it most.
24 Hour Service Available in Denver
303.973.2551
Damaged Wire Blowing a Fuse
1 in 20 500MCM Wires
Commercial heating and cooling systems can be extremely complex. Everything about large systems takes extra time from the installation to maintenance and troubleshooting problems.
Craig successfully diagnosed a 1000 ton chiller that was blowing a fuse intermittently. The customer previously had spent a large amount of money including replacing the motor (per another recommendation) at the cost of $50,000 with no success. The fuse continued to blow on occasion leaving the buildings hot and the occupants and customer dissatisfied.
Craig started troubleshooting the parallel wire runs and identified a potential wire issue in 1 of a possible 20 large conductors. Although the testing was fairly consistent, Craig noticed the intermittent issue occurring on one of wires. While the reading on this wire came and went, Craig stayed persistent in his testing where others may have moved on. This one small section of one single wire proved to be the problem to the blowing fuse. What started as a pin-hole size puncture on the wire, turned into an eroded section of wire. The damaged 500 MCM wire was replaced, all at a fraction of the cost of the prior, unsuccessful attempts.
Here is the damaged section that was removed.
