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Marin Electric Home Page Electrical Networking Services Electrical Panel Requirements Video / Security Intercoms / Doorbell F.A.Q. Contact Us About Us / Accepted Payments Policy
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Governments of North Bay / Marin City and County of San Francisco
Phone: (415) 860-4451 E-mail: support@marinelectric.com
Marin Electric, Electricians, Electrical Contractors in Marin County, San Francisco and other cities in Bay Area. 1. How GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) Breakers/Plugs work?
Suppose a bare wire inside an appliance like microwave or toaster touches a metal case. The case is then charged with electricity. An appliance can work for years without you knowing that it’s charged with electricity. "All new electrical equipment must be tested before initial use". If you touch that appliance with one hand while the other hand is touching a grounded metal object, like a water faucet , sink, wet cement floor, (ground) you will receive a shock! If the appliance is plugged into an outlet protected by a GFCI the power will be shut off before a fatal shock would occur. The GFCI constantly monitors electricity flowing in a circuit, to sense any loss of current flow in the circuit, to ground. If the current flowing through the circuit differs by a small amount the GFCI quickly switches off power to that circuit. The GFCI interrupts power faster than a blink of an eye to prevent a lethal dose of electricity. You may receive a painful shock, but you should not be electrocuted or receive a serious shock injury. 2. A receptacle in my home stopped working?
Check the receptacle if it is a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) it may be tripped. These are the receptacles with a test and reset buttons on them. They can be installed on first floor, kitchen, garage or bathrooms. GFCI receptacle may need to be reset. If GFCI will not reset don't force it, call your electrician and not a handy man. If no GFCI was found and breakers look ok both in main panel and sub panel then call Marin Electric (415) 860-4451 3. A light fixture in my house is flickering, what should I do?
A flickering light could be the symptom of several problems. This should be checked by qualified person. It could be a loose connection, a bad switch or dimmer, bad circuit breaker, loose connection at circuit breaker. It could also be a problem outside your house especially if all the lights in the house seem to be flickering. In any case like this it's best to not use the lights and call Marin Electric. 4. I plug my hair dryer in the bathroom and when the air conditioner is on in the bedroom the breaker trips?
This type of problem, common in older homes, is due to overloaded circuits. The best solution is to run new circuits from panel to the appliances that require more current. In this example a new 15 amp circuit for the bathroom and a new circuit for the air conditioner would be a good solution. 5. Half the power in my house is not working, different things are not working in my house?
First make sure no circuit breakers are off or tripped and no fuses are blown. The most likely cause is a loose connection either at the point where the power company wires connect to the service wires on your home. The connection or splice problem can also be further out in the power companies system. The correct term would be you lost a phase. In most residential situations you have two 120 volt lines coming into your home. This is not a problem to be tackled by a do it yourself person. Some utilities will require you to call out an electrician first but call them first and let them tell you how to proceed. Until the problem is fixed, do not use any 220V appliances such as your electric dryer or central AC, range or cook top. 6. People exposed to electricity.
A shock across your heart is more likely to kill. The electricity travels the least resistive path (Ground). If you become that path you will receive a shock! If you are not grounded there is not a problem. If you touch something live with one hand and the other hand is grounded, the shock goes across your heart - very bad. If you are grounded through your feet the shock goes through your legs and is less dangerous (not exactly good, but less bad). Wrong electrical installations lead to fire or damage to electrical equipment. 7. What size is the standard house circuits and how mach they can handle?
20 amps for plugs, 20 ampere branch circuit can carry 2000 watts! 15 amps for lights, 15 ampere branch circuit can carry 1500 watts! Circuits can only handle a specified total wattage of all the electrical products connected to that circuit. If too much wattage is plugged into a circuit, it can result in serious electrical problems. Find the nameplate on each appliance indicating its power (watts) rating. Add up the total watts for appliances that you may use at the same time on the same branch circuit.
