Power trouble - bad breaker?

[wackii]

Hi all,

I'm having trouble with the power in my new house. Just the last couple days, I've noticed that the lights in my house started to flicker/blink. Yesterday and today, the power of my living room and other two bed rooms turned off by itself then turn them back on by itself in like 5-10mins. I went outside to check on the breakers. None of them were tripped off. They are all on the "ON" position - no tripping. The thing is my kitchen and my master bed rooms are fine. What is causing this? I called a couple of electricians but they want $80 to come and check it out... then after that they will give me an estimate... That's very pricey.

I'm hoping that you guys can help me out. And hopefully that it is something that I can handle/fix. I don't really want to mess around with the breakers but if it's something real simple... I think I can handle that Could my situation here be a bad breaker? The first two breakers right below the main breakers are for the kitchen and master bed room. The rest are for the other rooms... They seemed a lil loose. I tapped them back in but it doesn't seem to help.

Thanks all in advance.

Al,

[Pappy]

Breakers are easy to change but this doesn't sound like a breaker. When a breaker trips, it will be in a position between on and off. To reset, you have to turn it off and then back on.

What you are geting sounds like a wiring problem. Time to call in the pros on this one.

[Uncle Cracker]

It could be an "iffy" breaker, but it sounds more like a loose connection somewhere. Loose connections can break/remake as involved wires heat up and cool.

I'm with Pappy on this one... Call a pro. (I never recommend anybody mess with high-voltage wiring unless they absolutely know what they're doing.)

[gjat]

I had that problem in a new house. It was a loose neutral somewhere. I don't remember if it was in an outlet or in the panel. If it's a new house, have the builder come fix it. If the house is just new to you, then it's well worth the money to make sure you and your family are safe. It is NOT something you can probably fix yourself.

[Daryl]

You could call the power company, maybe the problem is their's. Check your breaker box and see if it is getting warm to the touch, that would be a bad connection. My problem several years ago was aluminum wiring. The box was pretty much toast when I found there was a problem.

[crokett]

How new is the house? Seems to me you should call the builder? Or is it a new to you house? I agree with the others. I am pretty good with electrical but I would be calling a pro.

[reddog552]

Flickering light

If U are confortable with a little elect. U can probably fix this your self.You said the lights in two beddroms were flickering. Beddroom lights are comminly run on 1 ckt. Ive seen up to 4 beddroms on 1 ckt. The reason for this is if U trip a breaker for a recepticle in any of your bedrooms U still got lights. Check to see if they are on 1 circut. shut off breaker to these lights,if 1 breaker controls all these lights U got a loose connection some where. My guuess is in the 1st switch box a loose wire nut. or they used push in connections on the wiring device.Push in connections fail after 10 to 15 years.

[LCHIEN]

doesn't really sound like a bad breaker.
Breakers mostly are snap in a the rear of the breaker and so they will wobble a bit if wiggled from the front.
Sounds more like a loose wire somewhere.
If you don't think you know what you are doing then an expert may save your house from burning down.
If the house is new then the builder should be called. If its only new to you but an older house, call an electrician. Loose wires can catch fire, then $80 will sound very cheap to you.
if its confined to your lights in 2-3 rooms and nothing else goes out then its probably one branch circuit, he should be able to track that down pretty fast.

[billwmeyer]

After My daughters house burned down, and came close to taking them with it, I don't take a chance on electricity. Please call an electrican. I hate house fires.

Bill

[just started]

I had sort of the same symptoms a while back but thought it was a power company problem so I called them. Theri tech came out to the house and after looking around at a few things he replaced the tap connector on one of the hot leads from the pole, which was half melted away. On top of it getting done that same NIGHT (about 2300), it didn't cost me anything at all.

[Hellrazor]

Call either the power company to check from the transformer to the meter or call an electrician to check from the meter back into the house. Having a problem with multiple circuits points to a service or panel problem. Fixing your problem isn't a good DIY project....

[tseavoy]

It sounds like a bad connection somewhere in that circuit, since other circuits do not show a problem. My guess is that a wire nut in one of the receptacles is not holding all the wires. Since all lights flicker, not just one, it is somewhere upstream of most fixtures. It could also be a bad connection at the breaker box. If you are not familiar with doing your own wiring, I would recommend engaging an electrician. These days eighty bucks to show up is not all that bad.

Tom

[wackii]

Wow... Thanks all for the suggestion. Today, all three rooms are out of power... They won't turn back on by themself like other days. If I reset the main breaker, then all room lights will go back on (will turn off in about 1 hr).... I called power company in my area. They came over and said that my main breaker has bad connection and suggested the electrician to fix the problem. I've also go through all the receptacles in the house. There are quite a few of them are loose... some can't hold the plug in...

BTW, the house is not new... It built in 1988. I just purchased this house last month. I'll have an electrician coming over on Monday. I will also replace all the loose receptacles.

Thanks all.

Al,

[crokett]

You definitely need an electrician. When the lights go out, do any appliances also go off? If it is a main breaker issue it should affect the whole house, not just the lights.

[Hellrazor]

You definitely need an electrician. When the lights go out, do any appliances also go off? If it is a main breaker issue it should affect the whole house, not just the lights.

It depends on what kind of panel is in the house. If a main is fubar it can cause one leg to act funky while the other one is ok. Then it is hit or miss depending on what breakers are on the problematic leg.