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I want to fix the faulty wiring in the electrical outlets in my house. I know nothing about how things work. I would like to try to fix it if it is possible. It is an old house . The out lets work but when I use a APC surge protector bar the red button comes on which means faulty wiring . So I am curious . Please help.
Thank you,
Sue
Sorry, but the statement "I know nothing about how things work." scares the bejesus out of me.
I am the first one to help ,but you really need to come with some knowledge of simple basic wiring.
The fault can be many things, no ground, reverse polarity, low voltage, open neutral, broken splices, old damaged main equipment, etc, etc.
First you need to purchase some test equipment, while there are inexpensive plug in testers with idiot lights, they only give a indication of a few problems, and are useless in troubleshooting the problem. Volt/ohm meter is more useful with most testing , both finding problems and then tracking down the problem. Knowledge of how to use and read this equipment is necessary, and the manuals do not do the instruments justice.
Most likely the main panel will need to be opened, live, very much alive, to test for various issues and conditions.
Then depending on the problems, some of the popular problems will require every outlet box, junction box, and receptacle be opened looking for loose connections, mis-connected wires, etc.
And on top of it, old homes mean old, brittle wiring, the insulation breaking, and if not catching the damage will cause more damage. And old homes have difficult to see or no color code at all.
Now while every problem may not be your situation, how are we to know? I suggest you review the vast amount of posts here in the electrical forum, get a flavor of some of the popular problems, issues, and solutions, to help you decide if this is something you want or are capable of tackling.
Electricity takes no prisoners, shock, death by electrocution, and fire are the result of unqualified people working with electrical wiring. Not being sarcastic, I am serious as a New York heart attack, whatever that is, dead serious.
The APC surge strip light doesn't necessarily mean that. It could mean an internal fault because I have one in which didn't work because the thermal fuse popped inside. When I replaced the thermal, the light stayed on, but the strip is correctly wired. Tested independently, multiple methods.
They are not the best made strip in the world. Mine is one that looks like a half of a circle with a couple of power pack locations. Some locations are independent of the power switch. I haven't had the time to trace things out and troubleshoot further. I'm not using it anyway except when I need a quick extension cord.
For your safety better consult a qualified electrician for the job.. remember a little knowledge is dangerous.. how much more if you know nothing about how things work!!Quote:
Originally Posted by tukai
Question,
If you know nothing about how stuff works, how do you know that you actually have faulty wiring.
Plug a light or a radio into the suspected outlets, if they work fine, then like KISS indicated in his post the APC may be the villain.
Also, please take the suggestions given above to contact a qualified electrician. Electricity can make you permanently dead in an instant. Or severely hurt you by the pull back action if you are getting a shock.
I'd independently verify the outlets with a simple outlet tester. The idiot lights will at least give you a better idea of the proble, rather than "fault". With an old house, no ground is a real possibility. That tends to make surge supressors not work properly and could actually damage connected equipment when multiple devices are connected.
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