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TIL a bad ground wire made a panel seem dead for 3 hours
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jordan10825d ago
A loose ground can mimic a dead circuit, though usually it just causes weird voltage readings instead.
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williams.jenny14d ago
Start by saying a bad ground doesn't actually make the panel go dead. That's a common mix up. A ground wire is there for safety, it routes fault current away, but it doesn't carry the main power. If you lose the ground, the lights might still turn on but you could get a shock from metal parts. What really kills a circuit is a broken hot or neutral wire, like the mouse example above. A loose ground just creates a hazard, not a dead panel.
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sullivan.spencer25d ago
Buddy of mine spent two hours diagnosing a dead outlet in his garage. Turned out a mouse chewed through the neutral wire, not the hot one.
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