OffGridColorado2016
New Member
Quick background: I'm a relatively sharp guy, but have zero electrical expertise beyond knowing how not to kill myself testing outlets and such. Any terminology I use has been picked up recently trying to diagnose this ptoblem, so if I use something incorrectly, be patient...
We are completely off-grid, 100% solar and propane. House in Colorado mountains, built early 2000's. Robust solar system, rarely need to run standby generator (Generac Ecogen 15kw).
Thanksgiving, my wife was cooking. Had a roaster, convection oven, and microwave all running on same circuit at same time. All power on midlevel of house (two circuits/zones at least) down. Every gcfi in every zone is out and will not even reset, including top floor/basement baths on different circuits. No lights/power whatsoever midlevel. Lights work upstairs, and non-gcfi outlets. Basement same. Plugin circuit tester won't light at all at any receptacle, gcfi or otherwise. Positive no hidden/missed gcfis. Pulled all receptacles and no obvious damage/loose connections. (Although they are all backstabbed - can try to transfer to screws on all oulets if someone thinks it would help. No breakers tripped - carefully and firmly reset all housewide, and did main breaker as well. Checked solar inverter and generator - providing power fine, no errors.
I don't know the exact number, but the three appliances pull roughly 60 amps (only load measurement we can display on inverter) when all cycling together, which is astronomical for our system. Running the microwave (about 25-30 amps) for an hour on a cloudy day would deplete the battery bank.
Summary: Midfloor circuits completely dead. All house GFI receptacles tripped and won't reset, even in topfloor zones with working lights. No breakers tripped. Happened after massive powerload on single circuit midlevel.
Being off-grid, I've got 2-3 days to do whatever I can to diagnose before we start having trouble- I'm comfortable replacing/troubleshooting receptacles and breakers, but not anything involving other wiring repairs/changes. I have a cheap circuit tester - would a multimeter or no-contact voltage tester be useful to me? Never used either before, not familiar with them... money's incredibly tight, and have special-needs infant with cardiac problems - need to avoid any expense not absolutely necessary.
Appreciate any ideas you guys might have in advance!!
P.S. all receptacles are unplugged of any appliance or device midlevel in the dead zones...
We are completely off-grid, 100% solar and propane. House in Colorado mountains, built early 2000's. Robust solar system, rarely need to run standby generator (Generac Ecogen 15kw).
Thanksgiving, my wife was cooking. Had a roaster, convection oven, and microwave all running on same circuit at same time. All power on midlevel of house (two circuits/zones at least) down. Every gcfi in every zone is out and will not even reset, including top floor/basement baths on different circuits. No lights/power whatsoever midlevel. Lights work upstairs, and non-gcfi outlets. Basement same. Plugin circuit tester won't light at all at any receptacle, gcfi or otherwise. Positive no hidden/missed gcfis. Pulled all receptacles and no obvious damage/loose connections. (Although they are all backstabbed - can try to transfer to screws on all oulets if someone thinks it would help. No breakers tripped - carefully and firmly reset all housewide, and did main breaker as well. Checked solar inverter and generator - providing power fine, no errors.
I don't know the exact number, but the three appliances pull roughly 60 amps (only load measurement we can display on inverter) when all cycling together, which is astronomical for our system. Running the microwave (about 25-30 amps) for an hour on a cloudy day would deplete the battery bank.
Summary: Midfloor circuits completely dead. All house GFI receptacles tripped and won't reset, even in topfloor zones with working lights. No breakers tripped. Happened after massive powerload on single circuit midlevel.
Being off-grid, I've got 2-3 days to do whatever I can to diagnose before we start having trouble- I'm comfortable replacing/troubleshooting receptacles and breakers, but not anything involving other wiring repairs/changes. I have a cheap circuit tester - would a multimeter or no-contact voltage tester be useful to me? Never used either before, not familiar with them... money's incredibly tight, and have special-needs infant with cardiac problems - need to avoid any expense not absolutely necessary.
Appreciate any ideas you guys might have in advance!!
P.S. all receptacles are unplugged of any appliance or device midlevel in the dead zones...
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