House electrical

[greenramp]

So the outlets in my upstairs are acting up. All lights and GFCI outlets (bathrooms) are in working order throughout the upstairs. The normal outlets are not, they keep popping the breaker regardless of whats plugged in and where. I replaced the breaker and went through every socket to look for loose connections and found nothing. I am at a point where I am about to go through the outlets again in case I missed something. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Rick]

carefully go out to the panel and make sure all your neutrals are tight..I had the same issue awhile back and some of my neutrals were not tight.fixed the problem:2c:

[EKXJ87]

I would maybe try using a polarity/ground tester? on each outlet, not sure how much they are but I have one if needed?

[Hypoid]

Are these three prong receptacles, is the house old enough to have two insulated conductors with no safety ground?

It sounds like you have one neutral wire, grounding out somewhere.

[greenramp]

all are 3 prong
EKXJ87 - I think I will pick one of those up tonight, hopefully the Depot has them.
Rick - I will also look at the neutrals tonight.

[xaza]

X2 on what Rick said. It is very possible the outlet has shorted internally also. Does the breaker trip if it is reset and nothing plugged in? If it does you are looking at a short. If not you are likely looking at a loose connection. While unlikely to be your issue I would also check the polarity of the wiring. If you use one of the plug in testers, like above, it will test polarity for you. Home depot does carry them and they are pretty cheap. Careful when inside the breaker panel, not only is there always power there but it can arc out several inches away. Many amps available to cause serious harm.

[greenramp]

Update: got a 3 prong tester and even spent a little extra for the GFCI one for future use. Breaker on - all sockets on the top floor tested good. I plugged in a lamp and turned it on and it blew the breaker. I dont feel comfortable checking the panel in the dark with a flashlight so I'll wait until Friday to pull it apart ....again and check loose connections. Should I just concentrate on the breaker connections that keep resetting or all?

[EKXJ87]

Is the breaker you swapped out a GFCI or regular? I believe that most "new" GFCI nowdays require a dedicated neutral.

After or before checking the neutral you might try swaping another "similar" working breaker off another circuit just to element the possibility of a bad breaker?

[Jim]

I didn't catch this: From when things were working normally to now when they are not working normally, has there been any change to the house? Any construction, hang a new picture (with nail into wall), anything that could have disturbed in-wall wiring?

For the outlets that are having issues - do you have all items that could be plugged into them unplugged / no outlet connected to any device (read: could a connected device be at issue)?

In the world of computers - break the system down to its simplest configuration then see if it works. Methodically rebuild/expand it back to where it was and test at each step to see where the problem comes back.

`hope one of those thoughts might help - that's all I have to offer.

[greenramp]

given the latest input I am friends with the PO and hea states that the hall outlet would pop the breaker when a vacuum was plugged in. In its current state nothing is plugged in and no matter what you do plug in it pops. This became progressive to its current state and would only do it once in a while, now its always.

Given what Jim has said I am now leaning toward the outlet in question that the Previous owner stated he mistakenly used once in a while to vacuum.

EKXJ87 I will also check that breaker this weekend when I have more light. Winter sux for this reason only I leave when its dark and return when its dark. Other than that I love it :lmao:

[xaza]

My experiences with something getting progressively worse like that, it was the breaker but you already replaced that. I am not an electrician and I get skittish in an electric panel but I believe you will have a neutral bar that feeds to the breakers, could be a loose connection there. If this is a long term issue I would think you should be able to see some heat in the wire near the loose connection but if you are in there may as well be pro-active and check every connection you can kill power to. Maybe take some pictures of panel/breakers when you get back in there.

[greenramp]

:thumb:

[Hypoid]

Is the breaker you swapped out a GFCI or regular?Key question!

GFCI circuit breakers have been available for some time. If you had a problem with one GFCI, and had it replaced with another GFCI, it may be doing what it is designed to do. GFCI breakers and receptacles operate on the principle that what goes out, must come back. When I actually went to school for this (10 years ago), GFCIs designed for protecting people would trip with a 15 milliamp differential.

With proper grounding and bonding, a neutral wire with chaffed insulation can do just that.