Got a call Sunday afternoon from friend of mine, asking me for help with an electrical problem at his home. Several lights and electric rects. suddenly "stopped working". Asking him to check his circuit breaker panel, he told me "the main switch is still on". I tried to explain to him briefly that his electrical system is a little more involved than that, and that he needed to check the breaker panel inside the house. After telling me that he was unable to find said panel, I went to visit him.
After checking the usual locations (garage, laundry room, closets, etc.) and also finding nothing, I decided to check the attic. Once there, I found the main SE cable from the meter, and the homeruns from the various other circuits, then located the point at which all these guys disappeared into a wall cavity. The wall in question separated the dining room from the family room. Dining room wall showed nothing (kinda nice) but the entire wall of the family room consisted of built-in bookcases. After unloading several dozen books and nicknacks from shelves, we discovered one small area in the panelling that didn't quite line up properly. Yeh, you guessed it...removing two shelves and the panel revealed a nice SqD panel, neatly hidden away literally for years from my friend...kinda amazing that he lived in this house for five years without having to restore a tripped breaker.
I guess this kind of weird thing happens to everyone from time to time. Anyone else care to share any experiences?
Mike (mamills)
