Electrical Question

[BizCT]

About a week ago I needed to replace a light switch with timer that controls an outside lamp post. Everything has worked fine all week. Today I got home and the lamp post was off and breaker flipped. I thought maybe something came loose? So I opened the gang plate up and unwired the switch I put in last week. I noticed a bunch of brown paper looking material? Is this a sign that some exploded/caught fire causing breaker to flip? I definitely don’t remember seeing this brown paper material a week ago when I installed the switch. Where did it come from?

 

Any advice? Thx. For now the power is off for this one breaker but it’s annoying because it means we can’t use other 3 switches as part of gang plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[sodfather]

Biz that paper is just inside the wire case. If it worked fine and all of a sudden stopped I'd check and see if moisture got inside post. Any exterior outlets that are on that breaker? 

[sodfather]

Also double check your connection a loose wire nut can heat up cause breaker to flip

[Paula]

Didn’t this just happen to someone else on here ?

[BizCT]

Biz that paper is just inside the wire case. If it worked fine and all of a sudden stopped I'd check and see if moisture got inside post. Any exterior outlets that are on that breaker? 

The light switch is inside but controls an outdoor lamppost. It goes on at 430pm and off at midnight. Worked fine all week until today. So Im guessing when timer kicked it on at 430 it sparked and breaker flipped. We did get snow today, so is it possible the outdoor lamppost got wet and the spark came all the way back into house?


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[reeltime]

biz,  as sod said the paper is inside the wire sheath and also the bare copper ground is wrapped in paper separately.

I will second his suggestion to double check the connections to make sure they are tight, also make sure you have no exposed wire outside the wire nut that may have inadvertently  touched the ground wire. 

If you cap off the common (hot) wire and the neutral and turn the breaker back on does the breaker trip?  it may be something else on the circuit tripping the breaker.

I would also check to make sure the switch is not faulty.  would not be the first time I have seen a bad "new" switch.

when in doubt call an electrician.

 

[BizCT]

biz,  as sod said the paper is inside the wire sheath and also the bare copper ground is wrapped in paper separately.
I will second his suggestion to double check the connections to make sure they are tight, also make sure you have no exposed wire outside the wire nut that may have inadvertently  touched the ground wire. 
If you cap off the common (hot) wire and the neutral and turn the breaker back on does the breaker trip?  it may be something else on the circuit tripping the breaker.
I would also check to make sure the switch is not faulty.  would not be the first time I have seen a bad "new" switch.
when in doubt call an electrician.
 

Thanks. Yea. I emailed the electrician yesterday about something unrelated that I needed done. Funny how timing works sometimes. Just sent another email.


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[sodfather]

12 minutes ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

 

The light switch is inside but controls an outdoor lamppost. It goes on at 430pm and off at midnight. Worked fine all week until today. So Im guessing when timer kicked it on at 430 it sparked and breaker flipped. We did get snow today, so is it possible the outdoor lamppost got wet and the spark came all the way back into house?


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Ya I know the switch is inside silly.. Also the spark won't travel all the way inside. Moisture will cause the breaker to flip, electric generates heat and draws the moisture when present. I'd bet that's what it is. Also those timer switches are sometimes bad but usually it's at installation they are bad. 

[reeltime]

9 minutes ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

 

Thanks. Yea. I emailed the electrician yesterday about something unrelated that I needed done. Funny how timing works sometimes. Just sent another email.


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good deal biz.  its amazing how many times people want to pay me to do plumbing work but they are standing there watching a youtube video on how to do wiring,,,,, I just shake my head and think  to myself your paying me to do plumbing so worse case you get a little water damage if its not done right but your watching a video and trying to save money by doing your own wiring when houses burn down every day from faulty wiring.  makes no sense to me at all. 

 

[TreeGuy]

Sparky the electrician says, when it comes to electrical connections, tight isn't tight enough....

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[Elmo]

I'm actually looking for a good electrician if anyone can recommend one in the NYC area.  Need some wiring done.  I've moved an outlet years ago in one room and ever since then, things don't work properly.  I've had handyman look at it and they all think it's wired correct but obviously it isn't so I figure I would need more of an expert to look at it.

[BizCT]

So if I can’t get an electrician to come next Saturday, I will have no power to 2 TV’s at my house for Xmas (which I’m hosting) since they are on same breaker in garage which is off. Is there a safe to just cap those wires with no switch so I can use the rest of the power?


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[sodfather]

Yes. 

[reeltime]

7 minutes ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

So if I can’t get an electrician to come next Saturday, I will have no power to 2 TV’s at my house for Xmas (which I’m hosting) since they are on same breaker in garage which is off. Is there a safe to just cap those wires with no switch so I can use the rest of the power?


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if you cap the wires you should be able to turn the breaker back on.

 

[BizCT]

Yes. 

if you cap the wires you should be able to turn the breaker back on.
 

Thanks. There’s only 2 wires (black and red) and they are capped, so I should be fine using the other 3 switches on that gang plate?


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[sodfather]

Yes you should be fine. 

[reeltime]

yes the rest should work fine.

 

[BizCT]

Thx guys!


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[reeltime]

i will let sod take over my head hurts from reply crashes. LOL 

 

[BizCT]

One more question. Since this switch controls the lamppost Outside, and there would be no switch and just caps, would the lamppost be permanently on or off?


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[CoffeeBoy]

Permanently on

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[CoffeeBoy]

Honestly, it sounds like there is quite a bit of load on that circuit. Chances are the breaker trip had nothing to do with the outside light.

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[BizCT]

Honestly, it sounds like there is quite a bit of load on that circuit. Chances are the breaker trip had nothing to do with the outside light.

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It was fine for years till timer died, so I bought a new one. Replaced it and it worked fine for 5 days before tripping.


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[CoffeeBoy]

Well....if you wire nut those wires together and the breaker trips again, you can cross the timer off the list of causes.

Still could be any of a dozen things.

Any chance you own a clamp on ammeter, like this?

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[Larry]

Try resetting the breaker if trips when you turn on the switch keep the switch off turn the breaker back on. Keep the switch off till you get it looked at. You also said you had two tv's on the same circuit you may be drawing to many amp's. With both tv's on and what ever else is on the line I bet it's a 15amp line. I bet that's what it is. you are drawing to many amp's