electrical problem

larry merlau

Member
Messages
18,741
Location
Delton, Michigan
while i was gone for a few days the yard lights circuit quit. i first thought the wife meant a bulb burn out but not the case there are 3 lights on this switch and non of them work..
its a 3way circuit with power to switch then switch then lights. opened up the boxes and replaced one switch thinking the switch went bad.. the house switch is what they were messing with when the lights stopped.. any idea to test what is wrong? i can get power on house switch and i can get power on garage switch,, the house switch picks up its power in the box then goess outside to the garage switch
 
Not an electrician (seems necessary I state that from the get go) but it seems to me that if you have put a meter on both the switches then there are only two possibilities left. The garage switch is bad and not passing the current on to the lights, or, if the switch is not bad, you have a failed connection to the first light fixture.
 
If you have power at the black screw on the switch in the garage, check the neutral connections in each box before moving on to the first light. A disconnected neutral will have the same effect.
 
i have changed both switches, checked all bulbs in outdoor fixtures, and have checked voltage at the switch in house where the power is coming from and had 124 volts, in the garage at the switch could only get 104 volts.
 
i have changed both switches, checked all bulbs in outdoor fixtures, and have checked voltage at the switch in house where the power is coming from and had 124 volts, in the garage at the switch could only get 104 volts.
104v on both hot legs when flipping both switches? I assume you have a ground wire as well. Will it read any higher when checking hot against the ground?

Also are the wires copper or aluminum?
 
got it fixed the wires running underground were chewed threw, found it when replacing the wire from house to garage. ran continuity check n had none so bought new wire to bury come spring.. thanks for the help in this problem
 
And to think ... when I pulled up at the Winding River Workshop a couple years ago, Larry was helping Rennie with some kind of heavy-duty electrical panel task.

Please tell me everything is still working OK! :rofl:
 
got it fixed the wires running underground were chewed threw, found it when replacing the wire from house to garage. ran continuity check n had none so bought new wire to bury come spring.. thanks for the help in this problem
What kind of critter?
 
got it fixed the wires running underground were chewed threw, found it when replacing the wire from house to garage. ran continuity check n had none so bought new wire to bury come spring.. thanks for the help in this problem

Direct burial, eh? If you're replacing the whole run of wire, consider conduit.
 
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