1

I have notice that every other circuit breaker in the panel is not working.I also notice after pulling the breakers that they all tested good using a continuity tester!! however inspecting the red wire the bus behind looks burned.The 220 on that line that feeds the washer only has partial power what can be done to fix the problem???

4
  • 3
    In a typical breaker panel, "every other breaker" is fed by one of the legs coming into the box from the meter. Check the voltage between each leg and neutral to see if you have a power outage. Turn off the main breaker before checking the voltage, and if there is a problem, the electric utility will most likely have to fix the issue "on their side".
    – JPhi1618
    Mar 4, 2019 at 16:57
  • 4
    Possible duplicate of Half of my lights and oulets are not working after heavy winds? ( There are several duplicates to choose from, this is the one I found first).
    – JPhi1618
    Mar 4, 2019 at 17:02
  • Does the pattern of out breakers look anything like this? Mar 4, 2019 at 19:46
  • I have seen service calls where half the panel was dead. One of the service entrance wires running between the street pole and the house was touching a branch. Lights sometimes flickered, but only when the wind was blowing and the tree branch was scraping the wire. Mar 7, 2019 at 17:26

1 Answer 1

0

Multiple possibilities.

If you have aluminum feeder wire, check the clamp to that wire AND that anti-oxidation compound was used. As the load varies, the joint heats up and cools down. Aluminum expands and contracts more than the other metals, so the wire will squish down and work its way loose! This happened at our old place. The panel got hot and I saw arcing at the clamp. Remember that the wire is electrically hot!

If you have a loose connection to a breaker, that could heat up the bus.

Copper or aluminum bus bars in the panel? Aluminum oxide is non-conductive, a high-resistance connection can develop.

Feeder wires can be damaged in the ground, including long after the insulation is nicked.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.