Old house with knob and tube wiring. Dryer has 3wire w/ground. 60 Amp Fuse Box. With the lack of circuits there is a lot of fuses blown. Friend/owner has upped the fuses all to 30 amps and has been warned of the dangers associated. Dining works normally some of te time, but at different periods it will not operate unless the dryer happens to be running. While the problem is occurring, the dryer never heats up. Dryer works normally the rest of the time though. I did a basic check, but I couldn't find anything. Any ideas of what could be going on? I figure maybe a short, but I am still pretty unexperienced. Thanks.

If someone arbitrarily up the fuses to 30 amps and has somehow tied a dining room circuit in a dryer circuit, I say call an electrician. Without being there, there is no way anyone could reasonably access what has been done or what dangers lurk here. Call the electrician now or call the fire department later.

No. Don't call an electrician. Tell your landlord/owner to call one and move out of this death trap ASAP!

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Originally Posted by thayden88

Old house with knob and tube wiring......With the lack of circuits there is a lot of fuses blown. Friend/owner has upped the fuses all to 30 amps and has been warned of the dangers associated.

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These people are IDIOTS! I guess the warnings were too subtle. Show them a picture of a house fire with burned bodies. Maybe that will get the message across!

It sounds like it might be a neutral problem. Where? Can't tell.

Regardless, get out of the house. The wiring is faulty and is EXTREMELY dangerous.

Tell "Friend/Owner" to call an electrician. If he's hesitant then ask him what he would like you to say at his eulogy.

I'm thinking it could even be 1 of the Hot Legs.
An Electrician should Check Voltage between both Hot Legs, In and out of Disconnect or Fuses, At Electrical Panel Main Lugs and Out from each Breaker.
If 1 Hot Leg is Opened, Power can connect from 1 phase to the other.
You should Have 240 volts between both hot legs. You will likely see close to zero volts.

What you describe may be a backfeed condition through the dryer which allows the dining room circuit to work. If it's intermittent as you say, then you have a very dangerous condition where one of the hot wires is opening up from time to time. This is serious because wires that intermittently connect are prone to arcing, and arcing is a fire starter. Get someone qualified to work on electrical issues there now. It's an emergency. Is this your residence? Do you rent or own?. or is it a "friends"?

It is a friends house. Im the one she called to look at it, but when I got there she said it started working again. I checked through all the voltages, continuity, and what not, but I couldn't find anything because everything was working fine. I just got out of tech school recently and don't have years of experience backing me up yet. I told her it was probably a short circuit or arcing condition and that it is dangerous and a fire hazard. I also told her she really should change the fuses back to original size because that was also a fire hazard. I haven't been back since, but last I heard it was still causing problems. She wants me to install a new panel to get rid of the fusebox and probably replace as much of the wiring as I can. Maybe hearing it from other sources will let her see how dangerous it really is. I'll let her know what you guys are saying. Thanks. Anything else added would be appreciated.

The time for the electrician to locate it is when it is giving a Problem, Hard to find when it is working.
If working temporarily, Electrician should check all Main connections, They should also check for a burnt buss(where a breaker would plug onto), and that the Fuse(s) are tight. Loose connections generate heat, and you may find by discoloration.