Weird electrical issues at my home!

Topics that do not fit anywhere else. Absolutely NO discussions of religion, race, or immigration!

Moderators: carlson1, Charles L. Cotton

User avatar

Topic author
puma guy
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 9
Posts: 7609
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 2:23 pm
Location: Near San Jacinto

Weird electrical issues at my home!

#1

Post by puma guy »

While we were out of town my brother was coming by to get mail and check on things. On Saturday evening, Jan 18, he called me to tell me he tried to watch TV and couldn't get anything to work; the screen said no signal. (I always leave the TV on when we are away) When we got back yesterday I checked the TV's and discovered all three cable boxes wouldn't power up. Also the TV in our bedroom would not power up. My wife tried to use the disposal, but it wouldn't turn on even after I pressed the reset, the wireless phone base won't power up and the ceiling fan in our bedroom which only has a remote to change settings will not change from high speed, although the light function fro on off and dim does work. Two LED light bulbs that I had recently changed in the utility room and stove hood were not working as well, but new bulbs fixed that. My brother told me there had been a thunderstorm Saturday with a lot of lightning. My worst fear was maybe the central AC was affected, but heat and air seem to be OK. The only clue I have about when it may have happened is a nanny cam we have for when we watch our 3 year old grandson. It's connected to my phone and it says it went offline at 2:11PM Saturday January 18.

I know electricity can do weird things. When I was a teenager my mother's eyes were burned, like a welder w/o a hood, by a bolt of electricity that went from the burner, melting a hole in a very heavy pot going all the way up to the vent hood, which also had a melted spot on it. That's a good two and a half foot distance. No one could ever explain that.

Calls to Comcast were useless They said they fixed the problem, which didn't happen so I am waiting for them to show up tomorrow. I am using my phone as a hot spot for the internet, but I'm missing watching the Trump Impeachment charade, dang it!
KAHR PM40/Hoffner IWB and S&W Mod 60/ Galco IWB
NRA Endowment Member, TSRA Life Member,100 Club Life Member,TFC Member
My Faith, My Gun and My Constitution: I cling to all three!
User avatar

oohrah
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 1366
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 5:54 pm
Location: McLennan County

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#2

Post by oohrah »

Check all breakers? Outlets are sometimes on different breakers than lights. Also, I've lost TVs and other electronics to lightning - now there's weird electricity.
USMC, Retired
Treating one variety of person as better or worse than others by accident of birth is morally indefensible.
User avatar

Topic author
puma guy
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 9
Posts: 7609
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 2:23 pm
Location: Near San Jacinto

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#3

Post by puma guy »

oohrah wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 11:30 am Check all breakers? Outlets are sometimes on different breakers than lights. Also, I've lost TVs and other electronics to lightning - now there's weird electricity.
I'm thinking we had a strike, but no way to confirm it. No tripped breakers except the internal breaker in the garbage disposal; TV's, cable boxes, DVD's, etc. are all on individual power strips and the outlet for the phone indicated 119 V with my volt meter. The transformer indicated zero volts on my meter, so I tried using a different working transformer to power the base, but it still didn't work. Gonna have to buy another phone, a new 50" TV and a garbage disposal. We really like the beautiful fan in our bedroom; we'll have to see if we can live with a ceiling fan on high all the time.
KAHR PM40/Hoffner IWB and S&W Mod 60/ Galco IWB
NRA Endowment Member, TSRA Life Member,100 Club Life Member,TFC Member
My Faith, My Gun and My Constitution: I cling to all three!
User avatar

Topic author
puma guy
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 9
Posts: 7609
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 2:23 pm
Location: Near San Jacinto

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#4

Post by puma guy »

AndyC wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 11:33 am Electricity to me is witchcraft :)
It's like plumbing for amps and volts! :lol:
KAHR PM40/Hoffner IWB and S&W Mod 60/ Galco IWB
NRA Endowment Member, TSRA Life Member,100 Club Life Member,TFC Member
My Faith, My Gun and My Constitution: I cling to all three!

extremist
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 709
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 7:14 pm
Location: Keller, TX

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#5

Post by extremist »

Had a weird problem in my house a month or so ago - 3 outlets in the Kitchen went out, including the refrigerator outlet. Looked at the breaker box and none were tripped. HOWEVER, when I went through and tried each one there was one that hadn't "tripped", but flopped back and forth rather than clicking on and off.

Long story short - bad breaker, failed. Replaced and back up and running.

So don't just look, check.

Also gave me the chance to go through and label everything correctly after 30 years in this house as the builder did a piss poor job of labeling and the layout is totally weird.
TX LTC Instructor, NRA Endowment Life Member, USPSA CRO
NRA Handgun/Rifle/Shotgun/Home Firearm Safety, Chief Range Safety Officer

Cheapsk8
Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 54
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2017 4:35 pm

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#6

Post by Cheapsk8 »

Check all your gfci outlets and see if any of them are tripped
In life as in baseball, it is the number of times you reach home safely that count.
User avatar

RPBrown
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 5025
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2005 11:56 am
Location: Irving, Texas

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#7

Post by RPBrown »

Cheapsk8 wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:17 pm Check all your gfci outlets and see if any of them are tripped
:iagree:
Last months gfi in my master bathroom tripped and it affected 2 outlets in living room, 1 in master bedroom and light/ceiling fan in master bedroom. All of this but light and exhaust fan in bathroom still worked
NRA-Benefactor Life member
TSRA-Life member
Image
User avatar

03Lightningrocks
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 8
Posts: 11451
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:15 pm
Location: Plano

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#8

Post by 03Lightningrocks »

I have seen this kind of thing happen many times. We are always involved because often the lightning strike will take out circuit boards in the heat and/or the outdoor unit of the HVAC system. Most of the time folks will have electrical appliances knocked out as well. Sometimes it will be just one TV out of three or random light fixtures. Anything with a circuit board is particularly vulnerable. It sounds to me like you either had a close by lightning strike or maybe even a direct hit. But it does sound like lightning damage. Your homeowners should cover almost all affected appliances.
User avatar

WildBill
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 2
Posts: 17350
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:53 pm
Location: Houston

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#9

Post by WildBill »

RPBrown wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:28 pm
Cheapsk8 wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:17 pm Check all your gfci outlets and see if any of them are tripped
:iagree:
Last months gfi in my master bathroom tripped and it affected 2 outlets in living room, 1 in master bedroom and light/ceiling fan in master bedroom. All of this but light and exhaust fan in bathroom still worked
:iagree: This happened to me a couple years ago after a storm. The problem turned out to be standing water next to the house and it tripped the GFCI outlets in both bathrooms.
When the ground dried out I reset them and everything was working again.
NRA Endowment Member
User avatar

Mel
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 3
Posts: 591
Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 5:47 pm
Location: Farmersville, TX

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#10

Post by Mel »

Mother Nature doesn't follow electrical "rules". We had a lightning strike about 35 years ago and many weird things happened. One ceiling fan had "high" only. One cordless phone would work but could not dial out. One VCR, blown fuse. One TV, horizontal output diode blown. Yard lights would not turn off. Weather station wiped out completely. Air compressor switch welded in "on" position. None of these were on a common circuit.
Mel
Airworthiness Inspector specializing in Experimental and Light-Sport Aircraft since the last Century.
User avatar

03Lightningrocks
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 8
Posts: 11451
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:15 pm
Location: Plano

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#11

Post by 03Lightningrocks »

03Lightningrocks wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:40 pm I have seen this kind of thing happen many times. We are always involved because often the lightning strike will take out circuit boards in the heat and/or the outdoor unit of the HVAC system. Most of the time folks will have electrical appliances knocked out as well. Sometimes it will be just one TV out of three or random light fixtures. Anything with a circuit board is particularly vulnerable. It sounds to me like you either had a close by lightning strike or maybe even a direct hit. But it does sound like lightning damage. Your homeowners should cover almost all affected appliances.
Mel wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 12:46 pm Mother Nature doesn't follow electrical "rules". We had a lightning strike about 35 years ago and many weird things happened. One ceiling fan had "high" only. One cordless phone would work but could not dial out. One VCR, blown fuse. One TV, horizontal output diode blown. Yard lights would not turn off. Weather station wiped out completely. Air compressor switch welded in "on" position. None of these were on a common circuit.
Yep. This is exactly what I was speaking of. There is no pattern to it. Just dumb luck.

philip964
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 2
Posts: 17955
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 12:30 pm

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#12

Post by philip964 »

Lightening can do weird things to your electrical stuff.
User avatar

Grayling813
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 2319
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2019 11:18 am
Location: Arlington

Re: Weird electrical issues at my home!

#13

Post by Grayling813 »

puma guy wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2020 11:51 am We really like the beautiful fan in our bedroom; we'll have to see if we can live with a ceiling fan on high all the time.
Does your fan also have a pull chain for speed setting? If so, does it still work on all 3 speeds? The remote receiver in the fan housing might have blown, these can be replaced by fan remote sets purchased from Home Depot/Lowes. The ceiling fan in our vaulted living room (of course the only fan on a vaulted ceiling) quit responding to the remote. Replaced the receiver, problem resolved.
Post Reply

Return to “Off-Topic”