The Detective Side Of Emergency Electrician Visits | Conway, SC

9/15/2021

Photo By powerofforever at istock

Sometimes our emergency electrician calls are straightforward: there’s no power, there’s arcing in an outlet box, a light is flickering, or a switch is getting warmer than it should. Then there are the basic puzzles, which start with questions like why does that circuit breaker keep tripping? Or, why are all the outlets in the kitchen suddenly not working? There are also the more advanced detective calls, like, my lights are on, but they’re dim. Or only some of the burners on my stove work, but they all worked yesterday. Emergency electrician calls call for full-scale professional electrician skills, and we have plenty of them to offer at Mister Sparky of Myrtle Beach. Our customers in Conway, SC, and the rest of the area have come to rely on us when they suspect they have a puzzle that is more than the average electrician can solve, especially in a prompt manner. Of course, our emergency electricians are also the ones that install your wiring and perform our other regular services, so they’re really good at doing those jobs with excellence, so you can avoid wiring puzzles later on. How about some stories to give you some idea of the issues emergency electricians typically deal with?

Bad Connections Can Turn into Heaters

Normally, proper connections result in power flowing fairly freely and reaching its destination without issues. When there’s corrosion, poor connections, moisture, and other interference, issues like resistance arise and prevent power from transferring fully. What doesn’t transfer completely, can turn into heat, much like an electric heater, and produce a risk of fire, melting wire insulation, melting plastic in fixtures, and other complications? The homeowner will smell, feel, or even see the results, and call an emergency electrician, hopefully quickly.

Wiring That’s Not Tight Can Loosen and Spark, with Possible Ignition of Nearby Materials

Loose wires can produce not only flashing lights or unstable computer operation but arcing and sparks, which are a serious concern for the risk of fire that new AFCI circuit breakers are being used to shut down circuits where arcing is detected. Other complexities arise that are more subtle, such as when wires are run improperly and influence each other, or when power loads like electric motors demand large amounts of current and cause fluctuations in the power that can affect other devices on the circuit. In some cases, like nearby factor operations, neighborhood power can be affected in a similar way. An emergency electrician needs to understand many of these effects to diagnose unusual power problems and make sure any risks involved are dealt with, preventing the danger of fire and also damage to sensitive electronics on the circuit.

Your Home’s Electricity Supply Is Split

Power coming into your home typically arrives in a split form, with 240 Volts divided into 120 Volt circuits as well. This allows homeowners to have 240 Volt power for ovens and dryers, with 120 Volt circuits for everyday equipment. Electricians wire the circuit breaker panel so that this split power shares the house’s circuits, and their loads, fairly evenly. A significant imbalance can cause overloads and trouble, and emergency electrician visits to sort out the problem.

Multiple Outlets on a GFCI

A single GFCI outlet, that’s a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, which is used to provide protection when people are using electricity and near water at the same time like in the kitchen or bathroom or outdoors, can control multiple outlets. That is, for example, the GFCI in your kitchen by the fridge might also supply power to the outlet by the sink, and another you have the toaster or blender plugged into. If for some reason the outlet by the fridge senses trouble and disrupts the circuit, or if someone pokes the “test” button on the outlet, all the outlets will be disrupted. An emergency electrician can help sort out the problem that caused the circuit interruption in the first place, and it could be a serious issue, but the emergency electrician will also tell you that resetting the GFCI will probably “fix” your kitchen-wide power problems unless of course there’s another problem such as a circuit breaker tripping or a wiring issue.

Perils of an Ungrounded Circuit

Many homes still don’t have properly grounded outlets, and that can cause trouble and an emergency electrical service call. If devices plugged into the ungrounded circuit have problems, they can cause problems for other devices on the circuit, including damage to electronics, risk of a shock especially for devices that have metal enclosure parts, and even risk of fire. A properly grounded outlet is one that an electrician has installed with grounded wiring, which may require running a new wire from the circuit breaker panel. Simply replacing a worn-out two-prong outlet with a three-prong one for convenience doesn’t prevent these problems, of course, and could give people a false sense of security.

LED Bulbs Have an Important Electrical Safety Advantage

Some types of traditional bulbs like floodlights use a lot of power and generate plenty of heat. In some cases, these bulbs were used in sockets that were not rated for that amount of power or heat, and even in recessed locations where the bulb and socket are tucked into the ceiling. Emergency repairs could be required when the socket melts and contacts a short circuit, or when the heat affects nearby materials in the ceiling creating smoke and smells, even fire. LED bulbs, of course, use very low power and so have limited concerns about the other aspect of using electrical power: heat.

Detectives Who Sort Out Electrical Emergencies to Protect Your Home and Family

At Mister Sparky of Myrtle Beach, serving Conway, SC, we provide expert electrical services as well as emergency services to diagnose and handle wiring problems and other urgent home electrical issues. Call us with your questions about home electricity and our electrical services, and for fast response to urgent electrical concerns in the Conway, SC area.