basic electrician skills needed - Kirkwood, MO

[TheCheat]

Hey guys... and gals,

I'm in need of a little electrical assistance. A couple outlets in my fish-room are giving me trouble. Not sure if they are bad. My efforts at replacing them was successful. All I know is that everything worked great for a long time... and then one day, POOF, they quit on me, and I can't fix it.
Would anybody here, with proper qualifications, care to do a little work on the side for a fellow reefer?
Thanks!

Brandon
PM me if interested, and I'll give you my #.

 

[bmrescort]

Judging by your post it is hard to tell if they are still working or not. Are you saying that you replaced before and they went bad again? Have you checked the breaker box to see if you threw a circuit and it just needs to be reset? Did you get water in the box and it shorted out the box ? Just wandering

 

[TheCheat]

crap... I mean I WASN'T able to replace them successfully. I tried. Still no luck. The breaker keeps tripping whenever I try to plug something in. Doesn't matter what it is.... skimmer, small pump, light, etc. Previously, those outlets used to handle anything I threw at them.
Water shouldn't be an issue. It's dry in there.

Does anybody feel qualified to help, or should I head for the dreaded Yellow Pages?

Thanks again,
Brandon

 

[bmrescort]

It sounds to me like you have some melted wiring somewhere between the circuit and the box. You probably have a direct short and in that case I would ONLY count on a certified electrician. I can give you the name of one that is very good but he is not cheap. GOOD yes, He wired me in an extra 125 amp box that is dedicated to just my fish tank and I am so so so glad that we did it that way. Anderson Electric his name is Bob give him a call and see if he is available to help and just tell him that Jerry Henry Jr gave you his name. I cannot think of his number at this time if I do I will throw it on here later.

 

[MayoBoy]

Where in Kirkwood are you? Does the circuit trip as soon as you plug something in or does it trip as soon as you reset it?

 

[TheCheat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12724094#post12724094 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MayoBoy
Where in Kirkwood are you? Does the circuit trip as soon as you plug something in or does it trip as soon as you reset it?

thank you for the referral above.

and Mayo- it trips only when i plug something in. i'm technically in warson woods.

~B

 

[laud]

Is it a on a breaker or GFI? If it's on a a GFI you may have a problem with the ground. Recheck the ground.

 

[MayoBoy]

I probably live 5 minutes from you. Do you have one of those plug in testers that tell you if things are wired correctly? If not, you can borrow mine or I can swing by and look at it for you this weekend.

/not an electrician but I've wired all my additions, garage, etc. and nothing's burned down...yet

 

[bmrescort]

Yet is a word that I use when I am working on my own stuff, lol. I don't think I could say that to someone else.

 

[reef-man_d-man]

Brandon,

I have personal experience with this so I will speak up,
I had a bad circuit and looked for options so I talked with my then neighbor that is an electrical engineer and here is what he had to say:

First unless you are COMPLETELY CONFIDENT AND TRULY EDUCATED IN ELECTRICAL WORK HIRE A PROFESSIONAL, AND IF YOUR HOUSE IS LESS THAN 20 YEARS OLD DONT EVEN CONSIDER DOING IT YOURSELF HIRE A PRO. however if you are confident and have a old house you can do what we did (I HAD PROFESSIONAL HELP), I ran 2 dedicated 20 amp circuits that were at 30 inches above floor level. I used all new 10 ga wire (you could use 12 ga but I had a full roll of 10 ga already) you must use solid copper wire. I then put the lighting on one circuit and the other items on the other circuit. I did not want power strips so I ended up putting in 2 6 outlet boxes. Now comes the often over looked part, I used wire clamps to hold the drip loops solidly in place, and I used outdoor receptacle covers to prevent splashing. Dont ever underestimate the ability for water to travel a long way and find your outlets.

Ok Im done thats just my 2 cents. The main thing is to protect your house and the people living there, so if you have any doubt err on the side of caution and hire a pro

 

[TheCheat]

Good news! i found quite quicklyk, with the help of a pro, that i had a bad pump. everything is wired up fine, and after we determined that, we went through a process of elimination and found a faulty pump. with the pump out of the equation, life is back to normal.
thanks for your help, all.
~B

 

[reef-man_d-man]

Awesome, yeah it doesnt take much for one item to mess up the works