I have an electrical problem that's driving me nuts.
I have only two appliances that require 240V lines in a small Cabin in the woods. Both appliances, as well as all other electrical outlets and switches, were working fine just a few days ago. I showed up the other day, turn the circuit panel main breaker on (as I normally turn it off when leaving the cabin), turn the breakers on to the 240V appliances (a water heater and a range), and neither one works.
Each appliance is connected using a single 10-gauge line to a 240V, 50 amp breaker respectively. The lines are easy to follow under the cabin and I verified that they are in good condition and independent. I even replaced the water heater breaker with a spare 240V 40 amp one to no avail. I further changed the position of the breakers to make sure; heck, I even took ALL breakers out of the panel and left exclusively the water heater on, and still no go.
This is a simple configuration on a 8-year-old, 150 amp panel with relatively few breakers attached, namely the above two appliances (2 50-amps), bedroom lights, living room lights, kitchen lights/refrigerator, and outside lights (all 15 amps), and a 20 amp water pump breaker. That's it!
I witnessed three issues that were completely illogical to me:
I checked the circuit breaker panel and there was no sign of corrosion or water leakage, just some dust and a few insect nests.
My questions are as follows:
Any insight would be greatly appreciated before I pulled my last hair out.
Thank you!
Rodrigo
I have only two appliances that require 240V lines in a small Cabin in the woods. Both appliances, as well as all other electrical outlets and switches, were working fine just a few days ago. I showed up the other day, turn the circuit panel main breaker on (as I normally turn it off when leaving the cabin), turn the breakers on to the 240V appliances (a water heater and a range), and neither one works.
Each appliance is connected using a single 10-gauge line to a 240V, 50 amp breaker respectively. The lines are easy to follow under the cabin and I verified that they are in good condition and independent. I even replaced the water heater breaker with a spare 240V 40 amp one to no avail. I further changed the position of the breakers to make sure; heck, I even took ALL breakers out of the panel and left exclusively the water heater on, and still no go.
This is a simple configuration on a 8-year-old, 150 amp panel with relatively few breakers attached, namely the above two appliances (2 50-amps), bedroom lights, living room lights, kitchen lights/refrigerator, and outside lights (all 15 amps), and a 20 amp water pump breaker. That's it!
I witnessed three issues that were completely illogical to me:
- Both 240V appliances were receiving some current because the oven's small LED light would turn on red when turning the oven on, but the heating elements or the top stove would not work or heat up at all.
- The water heater green, stand-by LED would ONLY turn itself on when the kitchen light was turned on. Remember, I verified about 5 times that the water heater had its own, independent circuit to the panel; there was absolutely no reason whatsoever why this was happening. Upon disconnecting the kitchen 15 amp breaker from the panel, the water heater green LED would no longer turn itself on (of course). However, there was still some current being received by the water heater because I tested it. Unfortunately, I did not have a multimeter with me, but being resourceful, I stripped the wires off an old bulb socket, and proceeded to verify that each hot on the water heater was getting some electricity. However, one wire was providing intense light (as you would expect), but the other one was outputting a very dim light. So obviously, the appliance as not getting the entire 240V current to make it work, although I cannot say what the exact voltage reading was until I return with a multimeter.
- Finally, the kitchen breaker was also under-performing, that is, the kitchen light was flickering and the small fridge would turn itself on for just a few seconds. When I moved the kitchen breaker to a different location within the panel, the problem disappeared, that is, the fridge began working just fine, and the lights were at full strength. What's even weirder is that when the breaker was in its new position, the water heater LED would NO longer turn itself on when turning the kitchen light.
I checked the circuit breaker panel and there was no sign of corrosion or water leakage, just some dust and a few insect nests.
My questions are as follows:
- Why would the 240V appliances not be receiving enough juice? If all other lights and small appliances work fine, why not these two in particular?
- How in the world did the kitchen lights turn the water heater LED light on if they have completely independent circuits?
- Is it possible at all at the circuit breaker panel be damaged? That is, could it be that the panel itself be transferring electricity from one breaker slot (kitchen) to the other (water heater), hence enabling the kitchen to send some electricity to the water heater via the panel?
- Am I seeing ghosts?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated before I pulled my last hair out.
Thank you!
Rodrigo