Circuit Breakers

[Papa Taylor]

I had a power problem yesterday. It seems that one end of my house
had no power. I checked the breaker panel, but found no tripped breakers, and could see no other visable abnormalties.
I checked the outlets and lights to see if they were getteing power
from the panel/source and they weren't. My wife decided to check and
see if the stove was working, as it's at the end of the house that was having the problem, and when she turned it on, the power returned to that part of the house.
My question is, could the breakers be the problem?, they are about
30 years old. What is the expected life of a circuit breaker?, and
should they be replaced at any specific interval?

[Jimmer]

Frank,

Welcome to the forum.

Your problem sounds like one for a professional electrician to check. Losing power sounds like it could have been minor problem, but having the power come back on when the range is used sounds major. I would want the panel, breakers and bars checked over thoroughly. Circuit breakers can fail at any time due to wear, corrosion and environmental contamination.

Good luck, Jim

'Just a handyman trying to help'

[Pal Joey]

Do you know if all the circuts that had no power were all on the same side of the panel box?

[Rewired]

quote:Originally posted by Papa Taylor

I had a power problem yesterday. It seems that one end of my house
had no power. I checked the breaker panel, but found no tripped breakers, and could see no other visable abnormalties.
I checked the outlets and lights to see if they were getteing power
from the panel/source and they weren't. My wife decided to check and
see if the stove was working, as it's at the end of the house that was having the problem, and when she turned it on, the power returned to that part of the house.
My question is, could the breakers be the problem?, they are about
30 years old. What is the expected life of a circuit breaker?, and
should they be replaced at any specific interval?

I think Pal Joey hit it when he asked if all the circuits are on the same "side" of the panel!!
I have seen that kind of thing happen when say one main fuse blows, if the house has fuses in the main, OR in worse cases, one of the "hot" connections at the main breaker (even the breaker itself), the meter socket, underground or at the pole top burn away..
Turning on the stove or other appliance that is 220 volt creates another path for corrent to flow to the "dead" side of the panel.. Best bet I think would be to have an electrician or the electricty supplier come in and see if you lost one side of your service to your house.
A.D

[nates]

I aggree

nate