Thursday, January 14, 2010

Handling Electrical Problems at Home

Handling Electrical Problems at Home
By Jes B Platinum Quality Author

We use electricity for anything in the house. These days, most people cannot live without power. This is why it helps to know a little about how to detect electrical problems.

When the electricity in your home doesn't work in part or as a whole, the power outage may be caused by several problems. The first thing to do is to find out the extent of the outage. If you see sparks, smell something burning (especially if it smells like rubber) or find evidence of electrical shorting like blackened spots and melted insulators, shut off the device, disconnect the electricity that serves that portion of your home and call an electrician. Do not try to do your own electrical repair unless you are trained and accomplished at this and you have enough knowledge about electrical work.

Here are some common electrical problems you can encounter in your own home:

Plugged-in device is not working - There are three possible causes for this and you can test for them easily. First, is your device turned on? There are many instances that the user simply forgets to switch something on. Second, your device may not be working. Try plugging it into a socket that you know works. If the device still does not work, then there is something wrong with it. If it works on that second outlet, then the problem is the third possibility-the first socket may be faulty in itself or there is no power going into that socket.

No power in one part or the whole house - This may not be apparent right away. To find out if this is the case, try other devices in that part of the house, like the lights. Make sure that you survey the entire house to determine the extent of the outage. Once you've found out which parts are affected, check the circuit breaker. Some tripped breakers are equipped with warning lights or an indicator to make it easier for you. If it has not been tripped, there may have been an overload. In such a case, turn off the concerned switch and call for help.

If the power outage is for the whole house, call your neighbors and ask if they too have no power. In such cases, it may be a scheduled power interruption from your provider or there may be some problems in the electrical grid you belong to. It is best to call your electrical company and let them deal with the problem.

Power shuts down when you plug and try to use a new device - This is a classic overload scenario. Simply unplug the new device when this happens. If the power does not come back on, the circuit had been tripped, so you better check the circuit box. Turn off the power to that part of the house and then call for help.

On the whole, when you encounter a problem, observe first yourself. Do not go blindly and take what others have said or by the language they used to describe the situation. Some troubles happen only once and then are gone. Some things you have thought to be dead may actually still be working. At the end of the day, electricity is not something you can deal with without proper training, so you are best by contacting someone with ample knowledge on the matter, like a professional.

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