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xeef · Dec 4, 2013, 09:14 AM

I have 3 phase power in my house. I have been here 8 years and haven't had to touch anything electrical. Half the ceiling light switches in my house stopped working this morning. Some lights are on, some are off. The effected switches for the most part do nothing. The other half of them work just fine.. the effected lights are scattered throughout the house, on different circuits, including one in the basement.. No breakers are blown. Every once in a while, I can get one of the effected lights to turn on or off, but not very often.

I had a couple that weren't working START working. I got up in the attic to make sure nothing is wet up there. It is ONLY effecting the ceiling lights.

Ideas?

hkstroud · Dec 4, 2013, 09:38 AM

Three phase power in a residence?

xeef · Dec 4, 2013, 10:12 AM

Yes. 3 phase. I pay 12 bucks a month extra to the power company for the privilege of not understanding my power system.

It has been really humid here the last few days. But it has been humid before.

hkstroud · Dec 4, 2013, 11:09 AM

First reset main breakers.

If power not restored reset breakers on circuits that are out, even if they do not looked tripped. If you are not sure which breakers control the circuits that are not functioning, reset all breakers. Won't hurt anything, just have to reset digital clocks.
If power is not restored, do a voltage check between the screw terminals of the breakers of the non functioning circuits and the neutral buss.
Meter should show 120 volts on two of the legs of your service. Probably be something less on third leg, depending on service.
If meter does not show voltage at breaker terminal, do a voltage check at the terminals of the main breaker (be careful). If no voltage at any terminal of main breaker call power company.

It has been really humid here the last few days.

Where is here?

I had a couple that weren't working START working

Tell me what that means.

xeef · Dec 7, 2013, 03:43 AM

Here is central IL, start working means that they started working after not working.

In the end, they all slowly started working again. After 5 hours, they were all back.

Afterwards, I found a ceiling tile in the shower had fallen and was hanging there, being held up by the light fixture. It looks like maybe there was some humidity that got up in there, and as it dried, the flakiness went away. I fixed the tile and the fixture and all seems fine now.

stanfortyman · Dec 7, 2013, 04:31 AM

Please call an electrician. This is something that needs experienced troubleshooting.

hkstroud · Dec 7, 2013, 08:04 AM

I certainly agree with Stan (after all, he is a real electrician). Moisture or humidity would not cause outlets to stop working. It might cause a short circuit which could cause a circuit breaker to trip. If so, drying would not restore power.

Movement could cause a bad connection to loose contact. Move movement could restore contact and restore power, but you still have a bad connection. Loose connections mean heat build up and a fire hazard.

Furthermore, a couple years from when you have forgotten about this falling ceiling tile, you power will go out on those outlets and you will give an electrician a lot of money to crawl around up there looking for that bad connection.