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Determining where short may be located?

04:58AM | 01/19/04

Member Since: 01/18/04
1 lifetime posts

Determining where short may be located?

I installed new wiring in basement. Lights and outlets worked for a few months. Then I began to drywall. At some point, I noticed the breaker was tripped and now trips immediately.

I replaced the breaker, I checked all outlets, switches and fixtures all appeared to be OK. Junction boxes also looked ok. I vaccumed drywall dust out of everything - nothing.

The first connection from the panel is to a light switch w/dimmer. The wiring looks fine but I didn't check continuity could this be the problem?
The only other thing I can think of is I drove a screw into the wire somewhere. Is there a way I can test to determine where the short may be??

05:27AM | 01/19/04

Member Since: 06/06/03
1250 lifetime posts

This is not a very scientific approach and I'm sure electricians have more disciplined ways to troubleshoot the problem. But one time I was installing drywall, which entails some pulling, pushing, and repositioning of the outlets. A ground wire had managed to just touch a black wire's terminal on one outlet. This of course caused shorting like you have. It wasn't all that easy a problem to spot--I just happened to see it; it was very subtle.

You might take a flashlight and look at each outlet the same way....you may just spot a similar problem.

good luck.

rpxlpx

09:20AM | 01/19/04

Member Since: 03/13/00
1678 lifetime posts

You can break it down. "Open" the circuit at about the half-way point and see if the breaker pops. If not, trip the breaker, reconnect the open, and move further along.
Repeat until you've narrowed it down.

joed

01:07PM | 01/29/04

Member Since: 09/17/02
527 lifetime posts