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alisande_gw

Need some quick help with this, please.

alisande
9 years ago

The lamp over my sink, and the ceiling light (both switches mounted together on the wall), and my cordless phone (plugged into the same wall) suddenly went out. The circuits in the basement all look normal; no sign that any one of them was tripped.

I suspect the problem is water I can see slowly dripping from the light over the sink. We've had this looked at before; it apparently comes from a roof leak no one has been able to stop.

I'm wondering if I should find the circuit breaker that controls that area, and turn it off. Is that something I should do for safety overnight? Anything else?

Thank you!

Comments (5)

  • elltwo
    9 years ago

    If the problem is water from a leaky roof then it has to be addressed, but the reason for the power failure at those locations may be that a GFCI receptacle has operated. Check your kitchen outlets and see if one of them needs to be reset.

  • Ron Natalie
    9 years ago

    It would be unlikely (though not impossible) that there is a GFCI in play here. Pretty much from the time countertop receptacles required GFCI, they were also required to be separate from the lighting. Of course almost anything is possible in a retrofit in older houses.

    You should certainly find the breaker/fuse involved. It's possible it's already tripped and you over looked it (move the affected handle full off and then back on).

    It's also possible that either the bulb blew (they don't like getting wet in most cases) or the fixture was damaged by the water. But you definitely need to get to the bottom of the water problem. The electrical issues are the tip of the iceburg. Structural rot, mold, etc... are likely to ensue. It's also possible that it's a pipe leaking (and perhaps a waste pipe...been there, done that).

  • alisande
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks for responding, both of you. I'd never heard of a GFCI, but it had in fact tripped. I wasn't aware that it existed. I called an electrician the next morning, and he pointed it out to me. So in a way it was a waste of his time and my money, but now I know about the receptacle, and I have a good electrician in my rolodex.

    The roof leak was the source of the problem, and I'm still looking for someone to fix it.

    Thanks again!

  • Ron Natalie
    9 years ago

    A good electrician is a good resource to have handy and he got paid so it wasn't a waste of his time and you learned something (both about your home wiring and who you can trust when you have a bigger problem) so it wasn't a waste of money either.

  • jimct01
    9 years ago

    Get the roof fixed. Water leaking into electrical is fire hazard. I can also cause mild and structure issues which can get costly to fix .