# Outlet and switch miswired



## ajr4997378 (Dec 13, 2012)

At my parents house, they have a single pole light switch and a duplex outlet in a double gang box. It quit working last week so the landlord came and rewired it. My mom has the microwave plugged into the outlet and the switch turns on the ceiling fan. After their landlord rewired it, when my mom turns on the microwave, it starts up and then everything just browns out on the microwave and it turns on the fan until you push stop on the microwave. It only does it with heavier appliances such as vacuum. The fan works fine without anything plugged in. My mom moved the microwave to a different plug and she doesn't use the fan. Can't get ahold of landlord and he doesn't want us doing anything to the house. I'm just curious of why this would be. Any info would be appreciated.


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## JoeD (Dec 13, 2012)

He somehow wired the receptacle in series with the fan.


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## ajr4997378 (Dec 13, 2012)

JoeD said:
			
		

> He somehow wired the receptacle in series with the fan.



I know what wiring in series means but I'm not sure how you would be able to wire in series in this case.


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## Wuzzat? (Dec 13, 2012)

ajr4997378 said:


> At my parents house, they have a single pole light switch and a duplex outlet in a double gang box. It quit working last week so the landlord came and rewired it. My mom has the microwave plugged into the outlet and the switch turns on the ceiling fan. After their landlord rewired it, when my mom turns on the microwave, it starts up and then everything just browns out on the microwave and it turns on the fan until you push stop on the microwave. It only does it with heavier appliances such as vacuum. The fan works fine without anything plugged in. My mom moved the microwave to a different plug and she doesn't use the fan. Can't get ahold of landlord and he doesn't want us doing anything to the house. I'm just curious of why this would be. Any info would be appreciated.


The microwave is a heavy load compared to the fan, so both in series cause the fan to run at almost full voltage and the microwave to run at reduced voltage. I hope your landlord hasn't ruined either the fan or the microwave.


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## ajr4997378 (Dec 13, 2012)

Wuzzat? said:
			
		

> The microwave is a heavy load compared to the fan, so both in series cause the fan to run at almost full voltage and the microwave to run at reduced voltage. I hope your landlord hasn't ruined either the fan or the microwave.



The microwave still works. My mom has it on a different plug. The fan works fine, they just never use the plug.  The scary thing is he did all of the electrical in the house and one old plug in the bedroom quit working and there are a lot of circuits that are overloaded. The furnace runs their bill up to almost $400 a month just because it burns so much gas when it runs. The fire in it is yellow and it is big flame. One time it caught the thermostat wires on fire. Thankfully my dad was working on the furnace when it happened so he put it out.


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## nealtw (Dec 14, 2012)

If the power goes to the fan box first and then to the switch box with a three wire, he may have mixed up red and black at the switch. Your dad should not be working on the furnace never mind while it is running. Buy them a CO detector for xmas.


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## Wuzzat? (Dec 14, 2012)

ajr4997378 said:


> The microwave still works. My mom has it on a different plug. The fan works fine, they just never use the plug.  The scary thing is he did all of the electrical in the house and one old plug in the bedroom quit working and there are a lot of circuits that are overloaded. The furnace runs their bill up to almost $400 a month just because it burns so much gas when it runs. The fire in it is yellow and it is big flame. One time it caught the thermostat wires on fire. Thankfully my dad was working on the furnace when it happened so he put it out.


Look on the Web for the proper colors for a gas flame.  Yellow = incomplete combustion = CO.
Seems like your landlord is endangering public health, and yours.


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## ajr4997378 (Dec 14, 2012)

nealtw said:
			
		

> If the power goes to the fan box first and then to the switch box with a three wire, he may have mixed up red and black at the switch. Your dad should not be working on the furnace never mind while it is running. Buy them a CO detector for xmas.



They have a co detector right by the hot air vent closest to the furnace and one by the furnace and it has never went off


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## Wuzzat? (Dec 14, 2012)

ajr4997378 said:


> They have a co detector right by the hot air vent closest to the furnace and one by the furnace and it has never went off


Maybe no CO, maybe it no workey and it's there to humor you.

I'd have a sensitive CO detector (less than 35 PPM) in the bedroom.  As to mounting height, CO weighs less than air
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/molecular-weight-gas-vapor-d_1156.html
but the difference may be negligible.


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## speedy petey (Dec 14, 2012)

Wuzzat? said:


> As to mounting height, *CO weighs less than air*
> http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/molecular-weight-gas-vapor-d_1156.html
> but the difference may be negligible.


While this may be technically true the difference is so minute that it does not matter. Just breathing will create enough air movement to mix it up. 
Conclusion: It's not worth mentioning.


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## speedy petey (Dec 14, 2012)

ajr4997378 said:


> At my parents house, they have a single pole light switch and a duplex outlet in a double gang box. It quit working last week so the landlord came and rewired it. My mom has the microwave plugged into the outlet and the switch turns on the ceiling fan. After their landlord rewired it, when my mom turns on the microwave, it starts up and then everything just browns out on the microwave and it turns on the fan until you push stop on the microwave. It only does it with heavier appliances such as vacuum. The fan works fine without anything plugged in. My mom moved the microwave to a different plug and she doesn't use the fan. Can't get ahold of landlord and he doesn't want us doing anything to the house. I'm just curious of why this would be. Any info would be appreciated.


DO NOT do a thing! Call the landlord and tell him to get his *** back there and FIX it! Better yet, tell him you want a qualified electrician to do it, or else you are calling the building department. 
If you get no satisfaction have an electrician come and fix it and deduct it from the rent.


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## ajr4997378 (Dec 14, 2012)

speedy petey said:
			
		

> DO NOT do a thing! Call the landlord and tell him to get his *** back there and FIX it! Better yet, tell him you want a qualified electrician to do it, or else you are calling the building department.
> If you get no satisfaction have an electrician come and fix it and deduct it from the rent.



Well my parents are looking at another house to rent since they can't get ahold of the landlord and he wants to sell the house. They didn't want to buy it and fix it up cause they dont have that kind of money and every inch of the electrical needs redone and I know what I'm talking about when I say it's bad. Open air splices everywhere in the basement, half the plugs in the house are either overloaded or don't work. I'm no licensed electrician but I do know a lot about electrical since my uncle was an electrician. I rewired my whole house because of k and t wiring and there was one plug in every room. I pulled permits and got an inspector and all went well. This was about 10 years ago that I renovated my house and its still standing. Not that I don't have any confidence in my work. I would rewire my parents house and get my uncle down there to help but their landlord won't let them do any repairs which sucks cause that house is like a dry pile of wood just waiting for a spark. I'm just glad they are looking for a new place. Hopefully no one buys that house and believes what the landlord tells them about it being a great house. It looks good on the outside but when you start pushing ceiling tiles up and see an electrical mess and wonder why half the floors sink in the middle


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## Parrothead (Dec 20, 2012)

I don't know how it is where you are, but around here landlords can not legally do their own work on rentals. They MUST hire out to licensed contractors. Don't let your landlord touch it; he doesn't know what he is doing. Insist he call an electrician!


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