Home Electric

[Muttley Snickers]

Sorry, we have different terms for the same stuff and same names for different stuff. have now confirmed we are discussing the same product. If it is made from gypsum, white powdery stuff like chalk that gets a big hole in it when you punch it if your frustrated.   

Then we would call that plaster board or gyprock and your newly acquired tone generator should work depending upon the proximity of the cables in relation to the wall face.

Muttley

Edit: Googled Sheetrock also known as Drywall/ Plaster Board/ Gyprock.   

[pickle9000]

oh man!

I do NOT want to crawl under the house.  I am really skeered of spiders.  But yes, it is a double wide.  Where exactly do you think that junction box would be located?

The house panel box is next to the exterior door on the east side, about 12 feet from the north wall.

FYI, all the circuits that appeared to have gone bad, are on the east side of the double wide.  I'm thinking, because of this, they would not be located in that junction box that you speak of?

It will be down the seam typically 10 ft from the outside edge (closest to the main breaker panel cut not always). It can also be in the ceiling but then you would have an access panel. Look in your closets along the center line around the base of the closet. You may see what appears to be an vent cover.

Before you get too deep in mark your breakers that do work and what they are connected to. Ideally mark the wires in the box, you would need to remove those after tracing. That way if you put a breaker in an incorrect position it won't cause any issues. Doubles (breaker doubles) need to go back in the same positions they came out of because of the box wiring.

Be careful. If you suspect a loose or broken wire and touch a box it can hurt in more ways than one. Turn the power off, poking around in a live box in an unusual position (laying down or on a ladder) can ruin your day. Having another person around is a must, even for a professional.

 

[pickle9000]

FYI, all the circuits that appeared to have gone bad, are on the east side of the double wide.  I'm thinking, because of this, they would not be located in that junction box that you speak of?

I wouldn't bet on it, but certainly possible.

[Muttley Snickers]

oh man!

I do NOT want to crawl under the house.  I am really skeered of spiders.

Down here we wrestle them to the ground until they tap out, fangs like star picket's, it's a sporting activity.

Muttley

PS; I have no idea of construction methods or mains cabling practice's in your country, just want to make that clearly understood, I have been,and still am a general cabler and field service technician for 30 odd year's.

pickle9000 is un- questionably far more suited to advise you than I am.

[tobor]

Something that occurred to me that you may want to check on.  From the description of the condition of the outlets and switches, it sounds like there was a longer term over current problem.  The breaker may have failed in the closed (on) position, or, some enterprising person may have "upgraded" the breaker from, say, a 15 amp to a 20 amp.  If the breaker is a 15 amp then you should be fine unless the breaker has failed "on".
  If there is a 20 amp, you may still be fine, bathrooms are often designed for 20 amp circuits, but I would verify that you have 12 gauge wire on the circuit.  The U.S. National Electric Code as I recall, mandates 12 gauge or larger (depending on length of the circuit) for 20 amps.  The smaller 14 gauge should only be used for 15 or fewer amp circuits.

[Muttley Snickers]

Gretting's tobor,

I think that he mentioned that he had tested the breakers, all a bit vague.

Another reminder to Falcon69, if you intend to conduct continuity, toning or back feeding a circuit from another circuit then you must disconnect the feed to the problem circuit from the fuse/ distribution box before hand. I would never trust Breakers, RCD's or MTB's with my life when diagnosing cabling, and if you are back feeding the problem circuit then cap off the cables at the box.

Disclaimer:
Advice given here should be used as a guide only, you really should get a licensed qualified electrical contractor if you haven't done this stuff before.

Muttley

 

[Falcon69]

UPDATE:

I bought the tool from Home Depot.  It worked.

I was able to trace the culprit to a plug, that was also on the same circuit in the hallway next to Bathroom A.  As well as the hallway light.  That plug and the hallway light worked, which is why I couldn't figure out which breaker operated the bathrooms. The plug was melted, and while it supplied power to anything plugged into it, it did not feed power to anything else further down the electrical line of that circuit.  Cheap Arse Plugs!

So, I replaced that plug and switch for the hallway light, and all is fine now.  All plugs work as intended.

This is the second plug in the house that has done this, although, the last one was easier to identify, as the melted and discoloring was on the visible outside of the plug. This one was not.

So, about $48 bucks in tools to trace the wires, and another $20 for plugs/switches/cover plates, and all is fine.  Not bad, $68 bucks to fix the problem.  I'm guessing an electrician would have charged around $500 to trouble shoot and fix the problems.

They tell me now that a plug behind the couch they've had problems with.  I may just make a count and replace all the plugs and switches in the house that I have not already replaced.  It seems these plugs that the manufacturer home factory uses, are a fire hazard as these plugs have been showing signs of fire and melting.

[Muttley Snickers]

Nice work, keep the tool they are very handy.   

Dont forget to thank those that contributed, not enough thanks to people on this forum.


Well Done

Muttley

[IanB]

Excellent, glad to hear it's sorted.

But just FYI, it's been confusing me a bit when you speak of "plugs" in these posts.

A plug is the thing on the end of a power cord with metal prongs on it. A socket is the thing with holes in it to receive a plug that is installed in the wall.

Replacing all the sockets in the house is a good idea. Although you may need to set aside some time. When I replaced all the wall sockets in my house with new high quality ones I was taken aback at how many there actually were, and how long it took to do the job.

[Falcon69]

I was just getting to that!

Thank You everyone for the help and suggestions!

Oh, and I never did find that junction box anywhere inside.  I'm so skeered of spiders, I wasn't even going to try and look for it under the house.

But, with that tool I bought, it traced all the wires through the walls, and none of them gave indication of leading to a junction box anywhere. But, it makes sense that there would be. as these homes are delivered in two pieces with the sheetrock (*cough* GYPSUM *cough*) is already on the inside walls. How else would they do the electric afterwards, as there is not crawl/attic space above to bring the wiring down after the two halves of the home are bolted together. Im sure it is there, but yoy want catch me under the house looking for it!

Spiders and Bees (only because I'm allergic) are pretty much the only thing I'm afraid of, that, and freaky looking people walking around your tent at night while you are camping in the great outdoors!

Oh, and IanB, you are correct, I should have said receptacles (or sockets) and not plugs.

Again, thank you everyone for the Advice, Suggestions, and help in this matter.  It has been solved! 

[ptricks]

Oh, and I never did find that junction box anywhere inside.  I'm so skeered of spiders, I wasn't even going to try and look for it under the house.

Having worked on lots of mobile homes I doubt they used a junction box. They usually place all the high current stuff on the same section as the breakers and panels leaving just 110/120VAC 15-20A stuff to be connected, often coming very close to the NEC limits. . I have seen designs where they just wire nut the wires of the second half and stuff them back into the wall. 

[Falcon69]

You are correct, the high voltage stuff is on that east side, where panel box is.  Stove/range, Heat pump, Dryer, Furnace.  All on the east side.

They aren't suppose to stuff wire in the walls like that without a junctionbox, but I bet you are right, and they do it anyway.   I've never worked at a manufacture home factory, but I bet they don't have an inspector running in there to check every home.

After knowing some state/city codes, from working on actual real homes, I can tell you this, these manufacturer homes won't pass some of those.  I'm guessing that these manufacturer homes comply with a whole different set of city/state codes.