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Breaker Box is humming....????

SuspensionSuspension Member Posts: 4,783
edited February 2004 in General Discussion
I just went into the garage to put away recycling and the breaker box was humming really loud. I came back in got a flash light and went back out and it had quit.....Any ideas? Kinda scary huh...



"A pocket knife, a clean hankey, and a pistol... things I can use." - Ted Nugent
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Comments

  • FrancFFrancF Member Posts: 35,278 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Are the breakers old? (I'm not an Electrician)

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    "If you aim at nothing,
    you will be sure to hit it"
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  • interstatepawnllcinterstatepawnllc Member Posts: 9,390
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Suspension
    I just went into the garage to put away recycling and the breaker box was humming really loud. I came back in got a flash light and went back out and it had quit.....Any ideas? Kinda scary huh...



    "A pocket knife, a clean hankey, and a pistol... things I can use." - Ted Nugent
    I would'nt worry, now if it were whistlin dixie I'd get out of the house!!


    JC

    Ted Kennedy's breath has killed more people than my car.
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  • dcon12dcon12 Member Posts: 32,003 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    You might check to see if the connections are all tight.

    "Right is Right, even is everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it"
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  • njretcopnjretcop Member Posts: 7,975
    edited November -1
    Any circuits trip?

    If not, might have been two things coming on at the same time, but didn't really overload.



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    Charlie

    "It's the stuff dreams are made of Angel"NRA Certified Firearms InstructorMember: GOA, RKBA, NJSPBA, NJ area rep for the 2ndAMPD. njretcop@copmail.com
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  • kuhlewulfkuhlewulf Member Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Next time get some drums and play rythm.

    It happens, if it doesn't go away consult a pro.

    James

    Whats next? A ban on automatic transmissions?
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  • Contender ManContender Man Member Posts: 2,110 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Often times a loud buzzing sound will signal arcing, either from a loose wire connection or a breaker that is failing.

    One thing you might want to try is passing your hand over the breakers, close but NOT touching breaker or box and see if one area seems to be warmer than another.

    If you don't have experience working with electrical circuits let an electrician check the connection, etc. Not a place to learn by trial and error.


    If you only have time to do two things so-so, or one thing well ... do the one thing!
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  • matwormatwor Member Posts: 20,594
    edited November -1
    I am a licensed electrician and if a customer called me to their home to investigate a humming panel, the first thing I would do is check for loose connections. The connections I would check is everything from where the main wires tie in, to the connections of the neutral wires to the neutral bus, to the individual connections at the circuit breakers.

    When checking the connections in your panel you can turn the main breaker in the panel off, and everything will be dead, except where the main wires come into this breaker. If there is a main disconnect outside (by your glass electric meter) then you can open this switch and everything in the panel will dead.

    Also look for discolored metal. Especially where a wire makes its connection. Metal that looks like it has been burnt. The wires themselves may look like they have been burnt or the insulation on them burnt.

    Inside the individual breakers there is a point where it makes the electrical connection. If this connection is not clean then the breaker will make some noise. This is not a whole lot to worry about, not until the breaker quits providing power.

    It is probably one of the individual circuit breakers that is making the humming noise.

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

    Edmund Burke
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  • SuspensionSuspension Member Posts: 4,783
    edited November -1
    I just got power back. I think it was something coming in the line. I have some electrical experience and my thoughts were a connection so when the power went off (and crashed my new computer :( ) I hurried up and checked the main lugs which were all tight then turned off the panel and checked all the breaker connections. Everything seemed fine with the connections, nothing was warm, and nothing smelled hot/burnt. So I figure it had something to do with the incoming electric somehow since the power actually went off a few minutes after this happened.... think AEP will reimburse me for damages???? lol

    thanks everyone, even kuhlewulf.....:)

    "A pocket knife, a clean hankey, and a pistol... things I can use." - Ted Nugent
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  • matwormatwor Member Posts: 20,594
    edited November -1
    You never mentioned in your initial post that you lost power. Do you have appliances in the home that are damaged? If so, hire a electrical contractor to come and check everything. Then have him make a statement on his company letterhead to the fact that he believes as a licensed electrician that the damages were caused by the utility company. I am assuming that AEP is the utility company in question.

    If there was a surge of power then you may have damages to appliances. If the power simply went off and then came back on later you probably are not going to find any damages.

    Good luck!! Let us know what you find out.

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

    Edmund Burke
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  • bigdaddyjuniorbigdaddyjunior Member Posts: 11,233
    edited November -1
    Likely anything with motor windings or a transformer[which is almost every modern appliance] has had several years of it's life taken off it by a spike in the current. Document the occurence so in the next few years as your appliances start to die prematurely you can atleast be partially compensated. I would request full compensation right away in writing just to have a copy of it and the date even though they will deny it now.

    Big Daddy my heros have always been cowboys,they still are it seems
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  • SuspensionSuspension Member Posts: 4,783
    edited November -1
    The power hadn't gone off when I first started the topic. Soon after I posted the topic the power went out. It seems really strange. I'm gonna start checking everything room by room and go from there.

    I will send AEP a letter to document this. thanks everyone

    "A pocket knife, a clean hankey, and a pistol... things I can use." - Ted Nugent
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