PM5K Posted December 2, 2001 Share Posted December 2, 2001 I have this problem where the electricity on a certain breaker will only work when I turn on the dryer on the same circuit. I'm thinking the breaker needs to be replaced. I'm just trying to see if I am on the right track, and how much this might cost me, Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaymo Posted December 2, 2001 Share Posted December 2, 2001 Im not sure if I fully understand what u mean but by the sound of it u have a wiring problem with the socket. Get it checked out by an electrician and until u do I wouldn't use it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PM5K Posted December 2, 2001 Author Share Posted December 2, 2001 I don't know if I can explain it any better. There are a couple of rooms on the same circuit breaker. Right now the electricity to all of them is out. The only way I can get it to work is to turn on the dryer, then all of the electricity works fine on that circuit. That's really the only two things I could think of, bad wiring, or a bad circuit breaker. A cb is easier to replace, I was hoping it was that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayp6969 Posted December 2, 2001 Share Posted December 2, 2001 i think ur wires are wired in a wrong order ur dryer should be wired to its own breaker and the room have its own Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PM5K Posted December 2, 2001 Author Share Posted December 2, 2001 You might just be right. However if that's true then why on eath would the dryer effect something it's not even on ? I'm going to go check a few things on the breaker box and see if I can figure out if they are on the same one or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intelligen Posted December 3, 2001 Share Posted December 3, 2001 Sounds like your circuit is in series, so when you turn on your dryer it acts like a switch and allows current to flow to your other items on the same line. If it worked before something might of happened. Get an electrician or get a Multimeter to check it out..... Be careful, thats what like 220 volts that dryers run on????? or is it 120???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YahoKa Posted December 3, 2001 Share Posted December 3, 2001 Dont know why the dryer would change anything about the CB. The only thing i can think of is mis-placed wires (retard electrician who did this), and the dryer is not on a parallel circuit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PM5K Posted December 3, 2001 Author Share Posted December 3, 2001 It's 220 and yes it worked before. Here's the quick story: The electricity worked. On a Friday a few weeks ago I went to the empty house (except for a couch) and took a nap, at that time everything worked. The next day (Saturday) my brother in law came over and was in the laundry room. Next week I noticed the electricity didn't work in the two back rooms. A couple of weeks later he came again and went in the laundry room, I noticed the back two rooms were working again, then a few minutes later they weren't. So I was sure the problem had something to do with the laundry room. I went to the laundry room and checked a few things, when I turned on the dryer the lights came on (they don't come on if it's on air dry, only permanent press and the other heated options). I tried killing the power to the laundry room, that didn't help. I have noticed this when checking out the breaker box: There is one switch that kills power to the entire house, except the laundry room. The laundry room is an addon and can only be turned off by closing that breaker. When I turn offf the laundry room the power in the two back rooms goes out. Also when I kill power to the entire house they go out. I'm still not sure what's going on, but I believe something triggered it, something that hapenned in the laundry room on that first Saturday. I'm just hoping this won't cost me an arm and a leg. And I don't want to run the dryer all day :-). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaymo Posted December 3, 2001 Share Posted December 3, 2001 It sounds as if the wiring on the socket u use for the drier is incorrect. If the live and neutral were wired through the socket in series then the dryer would have to be switched on to make the circuit and thus provide power to any sokets "down stream" of it. It should be wired in a ring main. This is dangerous as all load on the circuit would be going through the drier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PM5K Posted December 3, 2001 Author Share Posted December 3, 2001 I wouldn't be surpised if the wiring was done "Half assed" as we say down here. The building itself it pretty half assed, and the wiring I can see doesn't look too professionally done. However if this is the problem, why didn't it always exist ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaymo Posted December 3, 2001 Share Posted December 3, 2001 Just read your last message. By the sounds of it "someone" has been tampering with the wiring. Take some advice and GET IT CHECKED OUT BY A COMPETENT ELECTRICIAN It shouldn't be a difficult problem for him to sort and shouldn't be expensive. What could turn out to be more expensive is that faulty wiring could burn your house down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PM5K Posted December 3, 2001 Author Share Posted December 3, 2001 Well I never said it was tampered with. The person that went to the laundry room didn't mess with any wiring or anything, he's not smart enough to do that, but he is smart enough to know better than to try. I was hoping it wouldn't be expensive, but I suppose I'll just call an electrician and let im sort it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaymo Posted December 3, 2001 Share Posted December 3, 2001 Good move :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PM5K Posted December 3, 2001 Author Share Posted December 3, 2001 Thanks for your help guys, if anyone else has anything to add feel free. To some extent I don't just want to get it fixed, I'd also like to understand what's going on. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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