Lounge electricians, I have a weird one for you. Help me out.
The issue is in the 2nd floor bathroom that the kids share. It has an overhead combo light and vent fan, as well as a 6 bulb fixture mounted over the mirror above the 2 sinks. In addition, 2 outlets with 2 plugs each. 1 on each side of the sinks, wall mounted.
Yesterday afternoon, the bathroom was being cleaned and everything was working fine. Overhead light and vent combo, wall lights, outlets.
Later that evening though, the wall mounted lights don't turn on. It's not like 6 bulbs all burned out simultaneously. The overhead FAN still works, BUT the overhead light comes on with a VERY faint light. Like it's trying to turn on, but can't. All the outlets work fine still.
My first thought would be "Circuit Breaker", but even before checking that, I'm thinking "First, how would the overhead fan actually be on a separate circuit from the lights? And even if it is, why is SOME juice still flowing to that overhead light?" So while it didn't make sense, I checked (to be continued
20 Replies
3y
mentioning a remote GFCI switch.
My daughter mentions, just 30 minutes ago "Oh, that overhead bulb has been dim like that for WEEKS." Hey, thanks for telling me. So it was ONLY the vanity lights and the overhead light is probably just a mostly dead bulb. I'll fix that soon.
But @Kudelski mentioned the remote GFCI. We had our Christmas lights go dead a few years ago, and it took a long time to finally figure out that the GFCI plug in the garage controlled the outside outlets. I reset that this morning, but since it didn't appear to have tripped, I didn't bother going back upstairs to check. But the light now works, as my daughter was just in there and turned the lights on.
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
3y
My front porch outlets are somehow on the same circuit as the upstairs bathroom GFCI on the other side of the house. When I would plug in halogen spotlights at Christmas, it would trip the bathroom outlet.
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
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PWR2LZ
3y
outlets, but anything could be possible in an older home. My panel uses GFCI breakers for the bathrooms, four bathrooms = two breakers; plus a third GFCI controls the front/rear exterior receptacles.
** Edited by PWR2LZ at 5/21/2023, 11:41:52 AM
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
3y
the breaker anyway and nothing was tripped. Also, that bathroom shares a circuit with some of the things in the kid's bedrooms, and nothing it out there.
So if it's not the circuit breaker, what could cause this?
2 part post because I ran into that character limit issue others have mentioned.
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
3y
Causes arching that burns out the switch/wiring. But I am definitely not an electrician!
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
I would definitely start with the switches. The fact that 2 of the 3 are
not working could simply mean that they are on a series. That is, the hot is being fed from one switch to another on a single wire that is stripped at the point of contact on each switch. And if the second switch is bad (meaning there is a break or slight break in the load wire here), it is not allowing the load to continue to the third. You need to get this resolved quickly, though. Arc faulting could definitely be going on somewhere.
** Edited by Coach McGuirk at 5/21/2023, 10:54:59 AM
(In response to this post by chemhokie)
3y
Or are they controlled individually by separate switches?
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
3y
1 for wall lights, one for overhead light, one for exhaust fan. Most sensible guess so far, but still can't figure out what would make 2 out of 3 switches fail at the same time.
(In response to this post by MP4VT2004)
E
EDGEMAN
3y
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
3y
** Edited by Stork at 5/21/2023, 9:47:57 AM
** Edited by Stork at 5/21/2023, 9:48:45 AM
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
3y
...that you have a loose wiring connection at the lighting wiring for the fan. The fan obviously vibrates when it runs, so it could be that one of the wires feeding the light in the ceiling combo unit has a loose connection. My guess is that the ceiling light and wall light share the same neutral, so I would suspect the neutral wiring connection being loose either at the fan or at one of the wall switches. But, I'm only an electrician by adjacency to the real electricians on my jobsites, so be careful taking any advice from me!
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
3y
(In response to this post by MP4VT2004)
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VT48uva0
3y
You can reset it just in case. Should be on one of the outlets.
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
3y
the wall outlets as well?
(In response to this post by VT48uva0)
K
Kudelski
3y
My house has several in the basement/garage that are connected to circuits on the main and upper levels. We realized an electrical issue in one room was a GFCI we had forgotten was even there...behind a storage shelf.
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
3y
...the receptacles still work.
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
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VT48uva0
3y
Due to separate water sources and sinks. Good luck. Curious to hear the solution
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)
3y
** Edited by Stork at 5/21/2023, 9:24:46 AM
(In response to this post by Late 80s Hokie)