r/ElectricalHelp

Hey, I need some advice.

I was screwing a screw into the wall about 60 cm (around 2 feet) above an electrical outlet. Suddenly I got shocked (luckily I was holding the screwdriver by the plastic handle), the breaker tripped, and there was a brief burning smell.

I turned the breaker back on, and the outlet seems to be working normally now. I removed the screw.

My questions:
- Is it possible I only nicked the wire and it’s “fine”, or is it definitely damaged?
- Is it dangerous to keep using that outlet (I had two computers plugged into it)?
- What are the real risks here – fire, shock, something else?
- Is there any way to check this without opening the wall?

The problem is my family can’t afford an electrician right now, so I’m trying to understand how serious this is and what I can safely do in the meantime.

Any advice appreciated.

In my bedroom I have an outlet on the wall next to my closet door. I am pretty sure that -- long ago -- one of the two lights switch near the entrance to the room controlled the lower of the two sockets on that outlet, but at some point someone disconnected the light switch so now both of the sockets work regardless of the position of the light switch. (I can't find any outlet and/or socket controlled by the light switch.)

I decided I wanted an outlet inside my closet, which seemed like a simple enough task. I've done plenty of home improvement tasks like this, including other outlet upgrades, etc.

I cut the power at the breaker, then removed the faceplate from the existing outlet and then unscrewed it and found that there are two heavy gauge wires going into the outlet, with the hots and the neutrals attached where you'd expect on the left and right, and the ground wires from each spliced together before attaching to the ground screw on the bottom. I removed one hot and one neutral and undid the ground splice, then pushed that up through the hole in the back of the gang box.

I found the stud on the inside of the closet opposite where the existing outlet is, measured about four inches above it so I wouldn't hit the existing outlet, and cut through the drywall to make a hole big enough for a 1-gang box. Inside I found the wire I'd pushed through, connected it to my new outlet, then went and flipped the breaker. The original outlet worked fine, but the new outlet was completely dead.

My assumption was that there had to be something with the original light switch wiring that was the problem, so I decided to do more research and try again later, but then realized that with the new outlet wired in place, there was no power to a completely different outlet (on the same wall). So I cut the power again, removed the wires from the new outlet and put them back exactly the way they were and now everything is back to working, but I cannot understand (a) why what I attempted failed and (b) why the completely separate outlet stopped working. Anything obvious I'm missing here?

I have a fluorescent light fixture in my kitchen - not ideal, but we are kind of stuck with it. Fixture is about 15 years old.

Several weeks ago the light went off. I figured it was the bulbs/tubes; bought replacements today. They are type A and B combined.

I tried two different brands from two different stores. The light will not turn on at all. The switch seems fine, nothing in the light looks loose or disconnected. It has been years since we had to replace the bulbs. No previous problems, no flickering or anything.

At this point, should I look into replacing the ballast? I don’t know if it has a starter; unless it is IN the ballast I don’t see one. I don’t think dad saved the manual; the only identifying info is the sticker on the ballast.

Thoughts and suggestions are appreciated!!

Hello. Our downstairs lights started to flicker in January. We have been monitoring this. It has gotten worse the part couple weeks and we have an electrician booked in a month to complete some other work so we were going to have them check this as well.

Last Thursday, the lights went out in the DS bathroom(main room for light flicker) and laundry room next to it lights went to very dim.

The rooms are on separate breakers. The main panel is upstairs and the downstairs is on a subpanel. The lights in the bathroom, lights in the laundry room, plug for the washing machine and GFCI in the bathroom are all on the same side of the subpanel and all have issues when this happens.

I went around and checked all plugs, light switches, and fixtures I could access. Checked for loose wires (neutrals) and checked the subpanel for and loose connections. A could were found but correcting them made no difference. Changed a dimmer switch as well that was broken, made no difference. There are 3 dimmers in the basement, disconnected all of them, made no difference.

The house is 1970's. Main panel is on fuses. Hydro meter was changed in January, which is roughly when this started, but nothing else in the home is having any issue.

We have an electrician booked for late next week, but if there is anything else we can check ourselves to correct this we would appreciate the info as we cannot do laundry or use this washroom (lights and washing machine will come on, but flicker and loose power shortly after).

Thank you in advance!

Just wondering, whether string can be pulled through conduit past Service L’s using a shop vac. And if yes, will the wires be able to turn around Service ells?

Single gang box outside on the wall. Two black wires and one green wire heavy gage. The ground goes to ground. One of the black is a neutral the other black is not connected. I want to add a duplex. Went up in the attic, I saw some blue smurf conduit that contains these wires going to another single gang box. Inside that box those three wires were connected to some romex going down the wall. This made me realize someone added this on after the house was built.

I tried to calculate where is located inside the house but I'm having a hard time.

When I do the measurements it comes out in the middle of the ceiling which is not possible. I've checked in my breaker panel all circuits are accounted for. Also inside the house I checked and all the duplexes and all the light switch boxes to see if they were tapping into there. I'm thinking of going up there with a 1/16 inch bit and drill a hole to see where it's at. I have popcorn ceilings and it can be easily patched with a dab of caulk. Before I do so I figured I would ask everyone here if there was a better that I don't know about.

And yes I know, I can call an electrician but I've worked in a related field my whole life. I've been up in the attic at least 4 times trying to figure this out. I'm old as dirt and it's killing me.

Hey y'all!

I've got a stacked switch in my kitchen controlling the light over the sink, and the garbage disposal. Both are on a separate circuit.

We got a new fixture for over the sink, and I'm running into a problem I didn't expect — it has a transformer, and is recommended to use an ELV switch. Connected to a normal stacked switch, it doesn't go to full brightness and has a pulse.

I can't for the life of me find a stacked switch that ALSO states ELV compatibility. Anyone have a recommendation or know of one that will work? Thanks!

Hi everyone, I am currently remodelling on a tight budget and looking for advice on a simple indoor motion sensor lighting setup. I want to add motion sensor lights under kitchen cabinets, hallway, stairs, bedroom, bathroom, closet, entryway, pantry, laundry area, living room, and garage.

The idea is to have soft, automatic lighting for night use without complicated wiring or expensive installation. I have been looking at budget-friendly options on Amazon and Alibaba, especially stick-on LED strips and rechargeable motion sensor lights.

Has anyone here had experience using budget-friendly sensor lights? How well do they hold up in terms of reliability, placement, and sensor sensitivity? Any advice or recommendations would be really appreciated.