Trouble shooting: Electrical
Symptoms
- Some things don't work. This is the most common trouble. And when this is the rock-bottom symptom, it is important to recognize it as such. The symptom is not suddenly: "the breaker doesn’t work" or "the fixture is bad" or "the switch doesn’t work". Those may be possible causes, and therefore replacing such components might take care of the problem. But if you are going to be an effective detective, you need to keep the real mystery -- the basic symptom -- in mind. Namely, some things are not working. Then you can proceed to test out the various possibilities (and save time and money by not replacing everything in your electrical system).
- Things are working now but in the past some things have gone out and later come back on their own or else they will blink or flicker at times. In other words, the failure is intermittent. It is either very brief or longer lasting -- even for days. If there is blinking, it would be instantaneous (a fraction of a second) and might or might not be related to heavy appliances turning on or off. Any flickering would be irregular or jagged (not rhythmic) and might go on while.
- Lately, things dim down or brighten up for a time, and sometimes in response to my turning other things on or off. This category is to be distinguished from the previous one. The brightness or dimness may continue for minutes. Then it might fluctuate without warning.
- Something won't turn off. This is a little different from "some things don’t work" ("1" above), which refers to lights, outlets, or appliances not working. This category could mean a control device (switch) is not doing its job, but there could be another cause.
- Someone experienced a shock. This is actually quite uncommon, but it is the most impressive to a person -- impressive about its potential danger and the need to fix the problem.
Next, try to observe and note the scope of the problem, regardless of what the symptom-category is. For instance, which lights in the home flicker and which don’t? Are there outlets that are dead besides the ones you use and miss the most? This is often very important. Perhaps you should write these facts about the problem down for use in the rest of the diagnostic process. The extent of the problem, along with the category of its symptoms, will help you see what tests to make at what places.
Then use various tests and procedures to narrow down the cause -- from a different set of categories -- and then to pinpoint its location. I will describe these procedures below shortly. Here I want to emphasize the frame of mind with which to approach the testing. Carefulness, patience, and confidence are important. Occasionally you will meet with success early in the game, but don’t expect this. Again, writing down what you have done and the results you observed may be helpful. Keep noticing your assumptions. Don’t introduce more than one variable at a time. To be reliable, electrical diagnosis needs to be somewhat scientific in its method.
Finally, when you have found the nature and location of the cause, take action to correct it. This may be as simple as resetting or replacing something. Or it may involve cutting damaged wires back a little (with power turned off) and making new connections. If you reach the point of repair and it seems a little beyond your ability or knowledge, a friend or a professional can be brought in at that point, but you will have done the head-scratching part.
