[teach34181]

Three weeks ago the ceiling light fixtures started flickering. Then went completely out. Then came back on within 2 minutes. Two weeks ago the same occurred but this time the electricity did not return. At neither time did any circuit breakers trip.

With the exception of two rooms, there is power to the wall outlets everywhere, although just one side of any given room will have wall outlet power. Of those two rooms with neither ceiling nor wall power, one is a bathroom with a GFCI and the other is a bedroom. Now here is where it gets real interesting:

When I turn off all house circuit breakers (except PECO's main utility shut off) several rooms STILL have wall outlet electricity.

What I've done -- I removed circuit breaker panel cover and checked for loose connections. None found although one circuit breaker feels as if I could pull it from wall with my hand. I've removed the covers of all the T-boxes in the garage where the circuit breaker panel is located but can't tell if wiring is loose largely because there's not a single wiring nut but lots of splices and electrical tape. Used a socket tester on the outlets that remained powered AFTER shutting off circuit breakers and it indicates all wiring is fine.

Obviously there's a 'short'. I think flickering was caused by arcing somewhere and now gap is too large to jump. Where do I go from here. I'm thinking of removing all the electrically taped wire splices in the T-boxes and replacing them with wiring nuts. Other than that I am at a loss, advice please...

[Missouri Bound]

Whoa... you have taped connections?? That's a major no-no. ALL CONNECTIONS NEED TO BE SECURELY TWISTED AND WIRE NUTTED. Start at one end of the house and check every connection. Turn off the power first, and then check with a tester to make sure the power is off before working on the circuit. And don't wait to fix this... arcing wires cause home fires.

[ballengerb1]

Can you explain this staement further "one circuit breaker feels as if I could pull it from wall with my hand?"