HOT & GND Reversed?

[1991Syclone]

So we've been in this house for over a year now and it apparently had the outlets and light switches changed out before we moved in. Everything has been working fine until this past weekend.

This past Saturday I noticed that none of the A/V components were powered on. I thought that was odd and tried to turn on the cable box with no results. I went out to the breaker to see if it had flipped and it hadn't. I pulled the A/V center away from the wall and noticed that the plug in the power distribution center was not lit meaning there was no power going into it.

I got my line tester and plugged it in. It lit up the HOT & GND Rev light. I thought that was odd since everything had been working up until now. I went out to the breaker, turned it off (this is a 15A double breaker in one slot on the box, so there are 2 switches). After about 5 minutes I turned it back on and everything worked fine.

Today I get home and my wife said that the cable box was acting up so she turned it off and then all the power in the outlet went out along with the bathroom light which is apparently shared on this line and a few other outlets.

Every outlet on this leg is showing the same thing which is very odd. The only changes I have made which were on Thursday previously are still working (the only thing I did was remove an ungrounded outlet from the circuit on the other half of the breaker). That was 2 days before this started.

I'd like to think I didn't do anything wrong since everything worked for the next 2 days without issue and the only thing I touched is still working. I've swapped the physical outlet with no change. I'm leaning towards calling in a pro tomorrow to see what the deal is. Before I do, does anybody have any ideas? I have the breaker off now just in case.

Thanks!

 

[Stuart in MN]

I'll bet what's happening is there's a loose connection somewhere on the main service line, possibly where the wires fasten into your breaker panel, but my money is on a bad connection outside at the utility transformer.

I had the same thing happen in my house; when I'd turn on certain lights or plug things into certain outlets, one whole leg of the power to the house would go dead. I could go down to the basement, turn off the breaker and turn it back on again, and things would work for a while but it would always happen again soon after.

I messed around quite a while getting the power company to come out and look at it, but it turned out one of the hot wires at the transformer was loose. They tightened up the connection and everything was back to normal.

 

[1991Syclone]

I had the same thing happen in my house; when I'd turn on certain lights or plug things into certain outlets, one whole leg of the power to the house would go dead. I could go down to the basement, turn off the breaker and turn it back on again, and things would work for a while but it would always happen again soon after.

This only appears to be affecting one half of a 15A breaker, so I'm not sure if that's the case here. I'm probably calling in an electrician tomorrow to see if they can diagnose the problem and maybe do a few other things while they're here.

 

[Sparkman]

Usually, when you have a hot/ground rev light on a plug in tester, it means that there is a loose connection somewhere in the circuit. Likely a double backstabbed receptacle that is melted somewhere in the line. I've come across this hundreds of times and that is almost always the case. I would look for an outlet that has burn marks on the face, or like a soot from smoking. Too bad you aren't in Minnesota, I'd give you a great price on troubleshooting

 

[Stuart in MN]

If it's just on one circuit, like Sparkman said the loose connection is somewhere in that circuit - maybe at a receptacle, maybe where the wires connect to the breaker itself.

 

[VHF]

Good thing you've got it turned off for now... a loose neutral in a MWBC can cause higher voltage at the receptical and fry your electronics. Don't try it with your electronics again until you make sure it is all working properly with a lamp!

The most likeley cause is a loose connection--probably something was disturbed by the change you made.

 

[larry_g]

The most likeley cause is a loose connection--probably something was disturbed by the change you made.

If you do hire a pro make sure and tell them about the change you made. It is good trouble shooting to start at the last change or fix done. Not saying you did any thing wrong here but a bad wire in the wall can get disturbed enough to go from good to bad or it might be a wire to the next recp. has no staples in it and was pulled loose in the next box.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[1991Syclone]

It turns out it was a loose neutral at the panel. He went through everything in the panel to make sure that everything was screwed down tightly and everything is back to normal. I told him about all the things I had done and asked about making a few changes and he was nice enough to provide me with the cut in box and romex to do it.

He must not meet a lot of people who know anything about electrical work or willing to do any troubleshooting. After I told him everything he asked me my line of work and commented that I was smarter than 99% of the customers he has to deal with.