rocinante2003

Hi friends,

Well, if you live in the DFW area, I hope you survived that onslought of a storm we had wednesday night better than we did.

It appears an outside flood light got a direct hit from lightning which travelled into our breaker box. We have lost power to about 30% of the house, and the breakers wont reset.

Im not going to attempt to repair this myself, just really wondering if this type of lighning strike has been known to kill a breaker, while we try to find an electrician.

The interesting thing about nature... The motion sensor was across the otherside of the yard, smoldering.

denim

Is it your flood light? If not, you might want to contact TXU.

rocinante2003

apparently theres alot of outages on our street. I guess we casn count ourself lucky because we have some power.

Does anyone know how that works, that we have some power to some rooms?

tropple

Check your circuit breaker box.

Sometimes a breaker can be tripped, yet appear to be okay. Manually turn each breaker off, then on. I bet you a nickel that is the problem. I've had that happen many times.

Also, the very large breaker at the top? that is the breaker that control power to the whole panel. I had a nearby strike last month that sent a big enough surge down the line to trip mine. First time ever. Surprised the hell out of me. The whole street went down and we never noticed the power was back til it got dark and the people across the street turned on their lights. doh.

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rocinante2003

yeah, we have tripped every breaker many times. Even had an electrician visit to test the breakers. He then said he fealt sick and went home....

aurigus

If a breaker won't reset, doesn't that mean there is a short in the system? The lightning probably fused some wires and won't be reset until that is fixed. Sounds like a job for a pro...

rockogre

If you have 220 volt service, which most of us in the US do, then you have two power wires and one return wire called a nuetral supplying your house. You can usually see these hanging across your backyard, unless you have underground service. Two will be black, covered with insulation, these are the power wires. The nuetral wire may be white, green, or tan. The bare wire is usually just cable to support the wires.

Once in the house the loads coming into your breaker box are split between the two power wires. This give you 110 volts from each power wire to the nuetral wire. If you lose power to one power wire, usually referred to as lost a phase, then all of the 110 volt loads on that wire will be dead.

Dryers, stoves, and heat and air units may be 220 volt and will recieve power from both wires.

The people that wired your house did not necessarily divide the rooms up 50/50 at your breaker box. Kitchens and laundry rooms take more power than bedrooms. This would explain why some rooms have power and some not. It is very possible that only one phase is energized coming into your house.

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rocinante2003

rockogre, that sounds exactly what we kinda heard from txu. Our stove still actually works, well, the clock does. Would that still be possible even if theres a loss of phase.

aurigus, the breakers are not tripping, they stay on. Just some rooms are without juice.

shakran

Not necessarilly. A good enough surge can destroy the breaker itself.

rocinante2003

Shakran, Thanks for that info. TXU just run past and run some tests on the back side of the fuse box. We are getting the right voltages, so it looks like a busted breaker.

Now, finding an electrician to come out and take a look, thats aanother story. Any sparkies in the DFW. Me and the wife are offering good money for what shouldnt take you long.

rockogre

I've seen the deal with the clock before. It's a 110 volt device and looks like it just happened to be on the hot phase to nuetral.

I imagine that your breaker is toast. Depending on the brand and the type it may have a fusible link, a little piece of metal that burns in two, or other protective device that won't allow it to close due to damage.

__________________
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you,
Jesus Christ and the American G. I.
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom

tropple

Most breakers are to replace. They snap in and out. But if you aren't comfy with taking the front off of the breaker box, then please don't do it.

An electrician should be able to change it out for a reasonable price (<$100, including the breaker). Call around and ask for a ball-park estimate.

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bubbaspike

If you tackle this yourself,turn off the main switch first.
then unscrew the screw that holds the wire on the bad breaker
and pull it out, snap in the new one, reattatch the wire, put the cover back on, turn on the main, and reset the breaker.
Presto!

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rocinante2003

ok, thanks everyone. The electrician came out, and we found out the breakers were fine.

What had happened was a neutral had come out and fused itself else where. the screw had split in two and was rather charred. He said it probably was from the storm.

rockogre

Interesting. Pretty rare but then not much is rare if lightning is involved. Thanks for finishing the mystery for us.

__________________
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you,
Jesus Christ and the American G. I.
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom