It could also be something as simple as a cracked receptacle causing a leak, I’ve seen some look pretty bad.
Line fault at the outlet -- do I need an electrician?
Yesterday, I got a Panamax, Max 1500 surge protector and line conditioner. (I got a very good deal on it, and am just trying it out.)
I plugged it into an outlet I've been using for a while and one of the red lights on the front lit up saying "line fault." (I'm not sure how this is different from a "ground fault." Maybe it's the same.) The Panamax does not do this with other outlets in the room. They seem ok.
So, I know this means that the outlet is improperly wired. My question is, might this be a simple thing to check and/or fix? Any suggestions most appreciated. It's the only outlet I can use to have my audio set up where I usually have it. Now is not an optimal time to call an electrician. If this is a big problem, I'll try out my gear somewhere else in the room, but if I can fix this without too much expertise, that would be ideal.
I plugged it into an outlet I've been using for a while and one of the red lights on the front lit up saying "line fault." (I'm not sure how this is different from a "ground fault." Maybe it's the same.) The Panamax does not do this with other outlets in the room. They seem ok.
So, I know this means that the outlet is improperly wired. My question is, might this be a simple thing to check and/or fix? Any suggestions most appreciated. It's the only outlet I can use to have my audio set up where I usually have it. Now is not an optimal time to call an electrician. If this is a big problem, I'll try out my gear somewhere else in the room, but if I can fix this without too much expertise, that would be ideal.
Showing 8 responses by djones51
This first one is reversed pull it out and see if the white wire is on the bronze screw side and black wire on the silver screw side which would be wrong. If not look at the receptacle prior where it's drawing power from for the same thing. Black to bronze, white to silver, bare wire to green screw is how they should be. |
Your wires are reversed in the circuit somewhere you need to take some plates off and start looking at the wires.
https://www.ecmweb.com/content/article/20900908/diagnosing-power-problems-at-the-receptacle |
There's more than 1 breaker in subpanel? You could pull the dead door and see if the breaker is wired right, black to breaker, white to bus bar. Throw the single top breaker to subpanel. Do you know if a receptacle is the first thing on this run or is it a ceiling light? If it's a receptacle just take the face plate off and shine a flash light in there and see if white is to the silver screw side either in the screw itself or stabbed in the back on that side and the black is on the bronze side. |
Wait a minute the subpanel only has 1 thick orange wire coming out ? You sure that's not going in? Is the subpanel next to a main panel connected with conduit? If there's more than 1 breaker in the box must be more than one wire going out unless they split that large wire and put 2 breakers on it and shared a neutral. If they did must be a junction box somewhere where they split up. If there is only 1 wire going out and more than 1 breaker in that subpanel call an electrician to trace down this mess. |