Kitchen wiring gone bad after replacing 1 electrical outlet

Thread Starter

Termi

Joined Jul 20, 2009
5
Hello All,

First time posting here ater few days of trying to figure out what happened. If you can help, it will be very appreciated.

I just completed painting my condo unit, bought new furniture and made my apartment a "couiples" apartment since i will be getting married soon.

My issue here is that i was changing the electrical outlets and switches as i finish painting every room . [I was changing the outlets/switch plates to match the colour to go with the room), Evrything was going fine until i had 1 more room to complete and that is the kitchen. I tried 1 of the 2 outlets (i did not touch the refridgerator and stove outlets as it is not visible),in the kitchen and i did the same process as any other outlets that was done prior with other rooms. The problem is that i always test the outlet to make sure everything is ok, so, i turned on the fuse in the electrical panel and "BANG", fuse down. I de-asembled the outlet and let the wires loose and turned on the fuse again. Evereything is back to normal. No problem what so ever. So in case i did not do a good job in hooking the plug correctly, i looked at the similar plug to "copy" the wiring from. I did exactly that, and retested. The 2 fuses shut down this time, it also shut down the kitchen lights and the living/dining room and stove. It was odd that the fuse that would go off would be the fuse for the plug alone. So, i de-assembled the plug again and turned both fuse on. The lights went on, but very dim, what's odd is that every time i turn something on, it lowers the electricity somewhere else.

For example:
I turn on the kitchen lights alone, it is strong. If i ALSO plugged a fan in the living room, the kitchen lights dim a little and the fan is not at its highest form. The stove i can't turn on, not enought electricity to turn it on. The more i plug stuff, the weaker they get.
After i did some research, i found out that the original kitchen outlet, does not have both plugs connected using same circuit. However, when i changed the outlet (they looked identical), both plugs were connected by a metal to provide same current for said circuit. Therefore, when i tested the plug, short was created. 2 circuits combined as 1 which affected 2 seperate fuses.
Does anyone know how to reverse the damage? Or, a electrician must come to fix?

If anyone have an answer, please help

Thanks

Termi
 

Thread Starter

Termi

Joined Jul 20, 2009
5
I'll be honest with you, i'm not too sure what they mean. Based on what i think you mean, is:

1 red wire, 1 black, 1 white and metal wire for grounding. 3 phase grounding?
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
You need to have a licensed electrician come to fix it.

The electrician will need to re-check all of the outlets and switches that you installed.

Please do not try to fix this by yourself, as you are endangering not only yourself and your belongings, but everyone else who lives in your building.
 

Thread Starter

Termi

Joined Jul 20, 2009
5
You are right. I'm trying to prevent in hiring an electrician if it was a simple fix like if there is a master electrical panel in the building i can reset, etc..

Thanks for your input
 

SgtWookie

Joined Jul 17, 2007
22,230
There is far too much at stake for a layperson like yourself to try to correct the problem.

It is likely that more than just the outlets and switches have a problem now.

The cost of paying a licensed electrician to fix it is a remarkable bargain when compared to the cost of even one funeral.
 

beenthere

Joined Apr 20, 2004
15,819
That red wire sounds like an extra hot phase. It will be 180 out with the black. The shorting bar left on the outlet put them together as a short. The pair of tripprd breakers (hopefully not fuses) tend to support this.

Electricians run 14-4 sometimes to save the effort of pulling more 14-3. It is not accepted practice. It helps their profit, but it costs the owner later.
 

GetDeviceInfo

Joined Jun 7, 2009
2,192
by code, your kitchen is wired as seperate circuits per plug, not like the rest of the house where duplex outlets are fed on the same circuit.

These outlets is where you'll find one half of the duplex recepticle wired with red (hot) and neutral (white) and the other half wired black (hot) and neutral (white). They should not have the shorting bars installed.

Further, your neutral must be on the proper connector as the recepticle will be polarized.

If you don't fully understand this, call in an Electrician.
 

Thread Starter

Termi

Joined Jul 20, 2009
5
Hey Guys,

I understand fully what happened and what caused the damage. GetDevinceInfo was correct 100%.
I called in an electrician and is on his way now.
I changed fans and plugs easily before and did not think or comprehend what caused the problem in the kitchen until i did some research.

Thank you all for the info and help

Termi
 
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