Heat Wave - Blown Fuse

Prolonged hot weather-such what we are experiencing now in the Phillipsburg, New Jersey area undoubtedly result in more services calls for HVACR companies to work on central air conditioners.

But at Mc Caffrey Electrical Contracting, we notice an uptick in calls reporting problems with individual circuits in the home. This is often due to window air conditioners running near constantly to keep up. These units usually have a 15a plug, allowing you to plug into any receptacle nearby. Problems arise because many of these units are designed to run at about 12a, 80% of a 15a circuit. This can be enough to heat the wire up but not trip the breaker-and find poor connections.

In this case, the customer reported a few seemingly random outlets had stopped working. After asking some questions I found that one of the affected outlets was where a wall unit was plugged in all summer. Eventually after checking that none of the antiquated fuses were blown, going box by box revealed a burnt neutral (white) wire at a receptacle.

You will notice that one wire is ringed for connection to the device's screws, the superior connection. The straight wires were stabbed in the spring-loaded jaws in the back, a connection that can loosen over the years. Especially when there is a relatively high and constant load on a circuit, such as a window unit.

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