7 On Your Side Troubleshooter: Electrician Test
Vložit
- čas přidán 11. 05. 2015
- 7 On Your Side Troubleshooter: Electrician Test
_______________
Stay up to date with our social media:
WJLA on Facebook: / wjlatv
WJLA on Twitter: / abc7news
Subscribe to WJLA on CZcams: / @7newsdc
Daily News Playlist: • WJLA Washington, DC - ...
For more information, visit wjla.com/
Have a news tip? Send it directly to us:
Email us: newsdesk@wjla.com
Call the Newsroom: 703.236.9480
WJLA is the local ABC affiliate for the greater Washington DC area. From our studios in Arlington, VA ABC7 covers national and local news, sports, and weather.
#WJLA #abc7news #DCNews
The first electrician (the bad mouthed one) was the most honest. You can't give an estimate because it could be a loose connection or it could be some serious shit going on. You can never tell right off the bat.
The first thing you need to do as an electrician is go to the breaker panel as rule N°1 is to never work with current.
As soon as you get to the panel you'll notice the loose cable. It's the simplest thing you can do.
First problem: chose an electrician from Craigslist, Yelp and the Yellow Pages.
Then where else?
@@stevethea5250 pornhub, seen some very experienced one
Yelp is review based atleast ...... craigslist is weirdos looking for 20$ to buy drugs
Mine didn't come from there and was a POS.
Its ok for a lawyer to charge 500 an hr for bs. But people have a problem paying 85 bucks for a service call????
Let’s do the hidden camera show on a bunch of lawyers. Didn’t think so
Highridge Handyman lol everyone knows lawyers are crooks did you just move to the us or something.
2 wrongs don't make 1 right
Highridge Handyman Well tonne fair if I'm correct you are paid for an apprenticeship. If you're not it's significantly less money that 8 years to be a lawyer plus the course load is a lot harder. Plus there's a significant difference. With an electrician worse case scenario you have no power with a lawyer worse case scenario you go to jail or have to pay thousands in fines.
Well your wrong didn’t pay for anything. I do handyman work on the side. Ive work in the Communications field over 20 plus years .The handyman stuff is something I actually enjoy to do. As for lawyers to charge 500 per hour I still think it’s ridiculous. As for how much it costs to get that degree that’s a college problem were they are also ripping young people off. But that’s for your input. Much appreciated
Highridge Handyman The fact of the matter is it that it takes a lot more knowledge and expertise to be a lawyer than it takes to be an electrician. Depending on where you are small town lawyers charge around 100-200 dollars an hour where as the lawyers in larger cities charge 200-400 an hour. This isn't cheap but when you factor in the amount of knowledges of ALL the laws it takes plus accurately being able to manipulate jury's views and take incriminating evidence and discredit it plus a lot of other stuff that I know nothing about cause I'm not a lawyer. Again it's what's on the line. Someone who wronged you can be off Scott free or you can end up behind bars. There's nothing wrong with being an electrician and if you enjoy it, more power to you but it is leagues away from being a lawyer.
"master electrician" removes the wire with the breaker still on.
and with a non-insulated screwdriver
Master youtube commenter knows nothing about electricity or the execution of electrical work, Respectfully.
@@mdepennoyour right but let’s be real I think insulated may be a bit over kill for the scenario imo
As soon as i saw the spark i knew it . Screwdriver not good as well. Someone get him 20$ magnetic 11n1....pleaseeee
@@8ExtremeRush8 Well he used a flat klein screwdriver which most American Electricians use...It is VERY rare for American Electricians to use insulated tools in residential settings
Master electrician who touches the metal part of the screwdriver and at the same time doesn't turn off the circuit breaker.
The Traveler. Grow up.
Max R
I'm 47 and he is also using the wrong size screwdriver. Too small, won't get the proper torque.
The Traveler. 47 year old and you still don't know shit, you going to call him out for not wearing his IBEW hat either, like i said, grow up.
Max R
He is too skinny to be union. So that makes 4 mistakes.
Don't matter as long as you never thouch the panel
I've been an honest electrician for 45 years. I've helped people fix their problem over the phone at no cost. Thank God at least one of these guys was an honest man who knew what he was doing. It would have been the first step for me to take off the panel cover and check the breaker.
Not a fair video in my opinion. Honesty is one huge factor to consider when hiring an electrician but the other big question is "are you qualified?". I'm glad they stressed the importance of hiring licensed and insured contractors though. There are a lot of "trunk slammers" charging rates like they're a business but don't have credentials to be a business. Smh. That really bothers me.
No way do you pull the panel first.
If you’re actually an electrician you pull all the receptacles.
Rarely is the problem in the panel.
Panel pull would be second on my list ( after checking for a bad breaker and running continuity test. Of course I Would have found the loose hot at that point.
done the same! over the phone...
You ALWAYS start at the source first Erich. You have been taught wrong my friend.@@itaintrocketscience
@@itaintrocketscience Do you pull out every receptacle in the house first including the bedroom outlets and the outside outlets even though the problem is in the kitchen?
This is for some of the idiots in this comment section: I've been an electrician for 17 yrs and the first thing you do when trouble shooting a dead outlet or switch is to trace down the wire in the panel and turn it off and while you're there you check the connections and the voltage at the breaker. If they're ok then you find the breaker and turn it off, then you go back to the outlet and take it out and check the connections there and if they're good then you might have a problem in another outlet if there's more in that run. If after you check all of the above then you might have a broken wire in the wall or ceiling and you can check that with a continuity test, if you don't know how to do it then you have no business being an electrician.
bigtonka82 good work mate, ive been a sparky for 18 years myself and run my own business. The first thing I would do is buy the expert electrician the AS:3000.
Did they spend an hour looking for a problem then estimating or just giving an estimate. My estimate would be the same straight off the bat. Could be high might be something little. I would've assumed either a rat, an appliance or the circuit breaker. I'm pretty anal about connections thou so I would've checked it after testing sockets to find no active prior to testing the breaker. My older employee would still have every appliance out and running all the tests afterwards. Kitchen is out but circuit is on. You could potentially die from touching an appliance in that situation. Strange how they pick the kitchen power circuit. Who is going to think loose connection in that situation?
There will always be cowboys in any trade but we should be more concerned with the piss poor attempt at creating a story from these morons who undermine the integrity of the whole industry.
@@SiempreStayZen couldn't have said it better myself
I've been doing it 20 years, and yeah, always look for the obvious first
Im an electrician of 20 years, residential, commercial and industrial. Sometimes, it's very hard to diagnose a problem and give an exact estimate.
Sometimes, it's a job just to figure out what the problem is. If you want an estimate, on going to give a high estimate at first to cover myself in case I get into a situation where it could take all day.
Then, ill lower or raise the final price based on what I had to do. In this situation, I would have found the problem immediately, because I always start at the panel and move out.
Most people don't realize how expensive electrical work can be even for small projects. He said its an easy fix. Maybe it was, but it was also a dangerous fix for your average Joe.
People try to do these small projects all the time and could be killed very easily. Sure, it was just a loose connection in the panel, but if you don't know what you're doing , that open panel is very dangerous.
Wtf are you talking about? Wouldn't that be the first step to check all connections to breakers?
Well said.
All these guys give us electricians a bad name.
xeatmytoastx well said except the last guy but even the master, now to the people who are criticising him for loosening a wire in the panel that is hot, that's not really the problem people as the power comes from the bus part of the panel not the entire thing he is fine seriously but I just noticed his screwdriver but that's not what I would use but it's all good, people notice how he only loosened the wire enough to make it appear like it was faulty not dangerous seriously I'm an electrician not a plumber and I can't judge or criticise a HVAC guy or plumber if I don't know but these guys are horrible electricians except that one guy
it's crazy, as a second year apprentice i thought to check the panel and test the devices first. smh. i understand there's this push for money but i fear the quality you bring is lost. nobody likes dealing with rework. it's annoying and more troublesome than just doing it right there first time. whether it's troubleshooting or actually doing work.
Agree, although it’s the reporters that create these piss poor stories that completely undermine the integrity of the trade.
xeatmytoastx no they don’t it’s not simple this was a loaded job
I'm not an electrician.
That first electrician was very rude. He could have just said, “ ma’am I am sorry but I cannot give you an estimate” that’s all. No need to use profanity!
Your right. That must have been a horrible experience for that poor woman.
Omg. Shut the f**k up
Garbage electrician and garbage customer service, typical for a residential hack
Watch your profanity
Andrew Meredith profamity
There's no way ANY electrician can give a fixed quote to find this. The problem could have been anywhere. An hourly rate is the only solution that's fair to everybody. No freaking way I would give a solid quote to fix this, and if I did it would have to be lots because it could get involved if you cant find it.
francis white yeah this felt like a hit piece on electricians in a weird way. Service calls and troubleshooting have to be charged hourly and first hour has to be at a rate of 1-200$ to make it worthwhile. If its some dumb minor shit like resetting a GFI, well you called for a professional to stop what theyre doing drive to your house and be willing to invest hours into your problem, you should know better.
Completely right. You can't give an estimate until you diagnose the problem. Just like a mechanic who charges at least an hour to run a diagnostic test. However I always check the panel first or the GFI's in a home.
francis white if you can't find the problem then you're in the wrong profession.
Chase Holstein the point is you gotta charge that first hour on a service call, you can't just drive around all day working for free because owner don't know how to reset a GFI and called an electrician to fix a problem.
Francis White-What are you talking about? I'm pretty sure they found the problem but were just ripping her off for more money like mechanics do. Of course you charge her to look at it.
That master Electrician is an indication of the quality of the video. Nobody can give an estimate on an undiagnosed repair. If multiple outlets are not operational then you start with what is common to all of them. The circuit breaker. $135 for a call out, wow i really need to update my rates.
Our rates as of now 2023 is 275$ for a call out then 89$ an hour, and this is for residential, it is more for commercial and industrial.
master electrician that doesnt turn off the breaker to turn the screw. yup he's good
Breakers should not be used as switches with load, what he did is not problematic if loads are disconnected. Sometimes sparking will scorch the contact surfaces, not a good thing to simply retighten if that happens.
And thats how you get arc flashed people.
phil ou ur an idiot also
Jeronimo Estrada ur an idiot.. u must be an apprentice
He's black.
Master Electrician, Certified and Licensed with 35 years of experience and he still cant afford an insulated screwdriver
I've been electrician for over 20 years and I know for a fact the first place to start troubleshooting is to see if the connections are loose in the panel
Tim L most problems are found downstream of the panel
This is stupid.. the fact that the solution is simple doesn't mean that is easy to find... why don't we put the so called expert to the test as well with a different problem and see how long can he take to figure it out...
Troubleshooting 101 with any type of problem is start with the simple stuff first. That means look for loose conections first thing in this case. Same goes for cars, trailers, houses, anything. "Keep it simple stupid" is a term everyone should be familiar with
Actually it's not always that simple. Depends on the problem,and it's not always so simple to diagnose
Easy to find if you have a multi-meter.
Most electricians nowadays can't troubleshoot. They got taught to install only. This case was 1 of those hit and run no brainer cases and these guys gave us all a bad rep
Definitely the wrong situation for this comment. Any first year apprentice that’s ever had to troubleshoot anything should and probably would know, you start with the easiest fix. That means you start at the power source and work your way out. This should’ve taken any electrician worth their salt with any experience at all, about 3 and a half minutes to fix. Total of about 6 minutes in the home. This is literally the easiest thing I have ever seen in my career as an electrician. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, this isn’t a common issue I’ve seen, so maybe they skipped a step thinking “there’s no way”, but it doesn’t matter. You always start at the panel and work your way out.
when he said mickey mouse got you it made me laugh out loud. my 50 yr old boss says that all the time
Oh no he didn't use an insulated screwdriver. That dude was around for when DC was the shit you think his old ass cares about 120? He probably used to do the finger test to see if its hot
I’ve been an electrician for 12 years and believe it or not the best way to protect yourself from this kind of thing is by going with a big company. The reason is this: A big company sends someone who is on the payroll, that person on the payroll gets paid an hourly rate no matter how long a job takes and their manger/scheduler rides them to get jobs done as quick as possible so there is literally no incentive to take the customer for a ride. People will often say that a big company won’t do as good a job but that is also wrong in most cases as the Electrician works with a whole heap of other Electricians and he doesn’t want to look like the bad one of the bunch so 9 times out of 10 will do a really got job as quick as possible. One man bands on the other hand only have to answer to themselves, so if they have no integrity they don’t give two shits about blowing a job out and stinging the customer for the trouble or doing a shitty job. That said, some one man bands are absolutely excellent! A few bad eggs give them a bad name unfortunately.
I am an electrical contractor in Oregon , have run into these problems many times . I just can’t see myself making up some story about how I have to run an imaginary wire , just not good morally . I take pride in figuring out a problem fast and the customer being happy that it was not something worse , it usually leads to more work with a great referral .
I feel it, neither can I
I’ve had neutral wires that were never tightened inside a panel and finally shifted away from being connected. Loose screw does happen. I would assume after getting no voltage at outlet the next step would be confirm you have proper voltage at the breaker. Then you know line and neutral are ok and the problem is in between
Jesus Christ... "A master Electrician" using this kind of tools hahaha
Ramon Novais nothing wrong with tool. Just turn off breakers simple. It ain't high voltage simple 120v
Still. Always have insulated tools
35 year's on the job and he uses non insolated screwdrivers 😁😁
It's hard to believe that some of these professionals out there would be so outrageous. Makes me glad that I'm a good clean electrician!
A service fee to ring the doorbell. Absolutely necessary! I'm going to be at your house between 1pm and 3pm. If I'm going to be late I'll call you ahead of time to inform you. I've shown up at 1pm to a ladies house. She assumed I would be later then 3pm. So she goes to the mall with her daughter. I sat in her driveway for 45 minutes
Matt Thomas Of course you charge a diagnostic fee. Can't give out knowledge for free and somebody has to pay for your gas. But seriously not being able to find such a basic problem and charging people by the hour until a so called electrician can review basic troubleshooting? You would have to take me to court.
@@DonJosesito Ah please the media is just looking for a story. You are going to tell me the the media is not going to lie. Put it this way they were actors. I know this kind of thing exists everywhere but gimme a break not 7 out of 8 certified electricians. If the customer did not check their credibility it is because they were looking for a cheap job to begin with.
Right ok 35 years of experience.... using an un-insulated screwdriver!!!
That's what i say, i'm an electrician in Europ and i don't even have a screwdriver like that
Plus he left the breaker on while disconnecting the wire from the breaker. Notice the arc when loosening the wire.
@@357waldo I know it’s laughable tbh lol! I’m an electrician myself
@@Account-bu7mj same here!
I work for Kayga Electric in Morganton and Im still in shock at what I've just watched. That much stuff not working properly the panel is always the first place you go.This truly was a 10 to15 min service call at best.There is no excuse for the man trying to scam that home owner.Im very proud of my trade and alot of pride goes into my work and people like this are a disgrace to our trade thank you guys for shining a light on this great job.
I love it how the reporter says I’d could of fixed it. Yeah when you know what the problem is
All those years of experience and doesn't have electrical insulated tools also notice when he loosens the screw to remove the wire there's a spark, dumbass didn't even turn the breaker off first, good combination to get shocked. Lol
Carlos Rivera you are knocking the guy for not having a more expensive and not needed "insulated" screw driver? come on man
crashandburnbirner Cause that guy is a fraud. They pulled the same setup a year prior in another abc news station.
crashandburnbirner you could use couple layers of heat shrink on the metal part
Insulated tools are for rich pussies who dont do real electrical work
Idiots who dont use proper tools or work recklessly dont do real electrical work either
Reporters like this is why Plumbers like me, or contractors in general are having a hard time getting work. People now think they are overpaying for a “simple fix”.
BeepBoppingCherries, because they are. I wanted a 12 gal. water heater replaced last month and some fucking tool bag shows up and tells me it will be $1,200 for a shit Rheem from Home Depot. I kicked him the fuck out. Next tool bag wouldn't even quote over the phone so he could get his service call charge. He got on site and proceeded to tell me $1400. "Thank you for coming by, sir. I wont be needing your services." Amazon.com, 2 day delivery and $400 for a good heater. 1 hour to remove and replace the heater, another 30 minutes to hook it up. Another 15 years of flawless performance expected.
Jon Anderson A 12 Gallon? Either way, Rheem makes some of the best water heaters, didnt know if you also knew that a 10 Gallon water heater can cost more than a 50 gallon. And when a plumber replaces a water heater here in Texas, we are required to change the valves, supply lines, make sure it is up to code, and get a city inspection.
BeepBoppingCherries not to mention the overhead. Contractors have to pay for insurance, licensing, and taxes. It takes a lot more to run a business than just base costs of materials.
BeepBoppingCherries No they're just shedding light on scammers. People with larger companies are losing work because of sights like Craigslist. We had an honest guy that charged 60 service call and 40 dollars an hour came up to 100 dollars all together that was to fix a light fixture. When you have companies charging way more people don't want to pay the premium so they take the risk of getting one of these guys.
BeepBoppingCherries your right. Overcoming the trash in our trades is very difficult.
With electrical, it's almost a safe bet that a breaker needs to be reset, faulty breaker, blown fuse, or GFCI needs to be reset. when things start "acting " strange is when you need to start scratching your head and warming up that brain.
I’m in Manchester, England and a lot of the same goes on here too sadly. As an Electrician that has 20 years experience, I’ve ALWAYS put myself in the position of the customer, bearing in mind how expensive home-owning can be for many. Based on this, I agree a fixed hourly rate, and invite the customer to accompany me through the fault-finding process, which makes everything clear-cut from start to finish. I’ve had countless recommendations by using this optional way of working, which encourages total confidence for all. Honesty really is the best policy.....
They should’ve showed the guys name who actually did it right. Could’ve rocketed his business
one honest guy out of 8. im outraged .
To be fair, the other 7 were morons.
This makes me question everytime I’ve had someone come over to fix something.
As a electrician we charge base rates as a diagnostic fee, they go up as time goes on, as well electrical work is full of surprises. Switching out an outlet can turn into a 3 hour job you literally never know. But as for the problem on the show. Any reputable and well recommended electrical company will fix that for a small fee. I assume they went through and found companies with iffy reviews or only showed the handful out of the 80 that actually tried to scam.
It is a simple fix if you know what the problem is! This is the type of issue that can be very confusing and difficult to figure out, the panel and lose wire is covered up, as well as dark colors and unusual location.
KFStreich not confusing at all that's y u pull the dead front off panel put your meter on everything kinda snug on each circuit make sure noting is loose if u got power coming in then it's obviously in the wall u follow me so there fore u pull all plugs and switches out and start troubleshooting and see what's what and see where power stops usually that's where ur issue is its simple shit brother could be a loose neutral in any plug or a hot it's all apart of the trade it's easy shit now that I've been doin this for 9 years
Why fuzz out the faces of the hacks and why not show the face of the guy who walked in the door, diagnosed the problem and fixed it in 5 minutes? The scammers should be exposed and the good guy should be shown. The "Master Electrician" damn near stuck that screwdriver on the energized screw while he had hold of the uninsulated shaft. Ouch!
Holding the unisulated shaft and touching a live screw won't do anything to you unless some other part of your body completes a path to ground.
Second you can't film someone in a private place without their consent. Therefore they have to blur their faces and can't reveal who they are.
MrJonSchell fukking a he would of got a shock on that bare metal screwdriver and touching a live source
Callum Lacey no. You can grab a live wire and as long as no part of your body is providing a path to ground you will be fine. Look up a video of the guys who climb across live power lines to inspect them. There needs to be a difference in potential.
Now if he was standing barefoot on a concrete floor when he did that, well that's a different story and he would get quite an unpleasant zap
MrJonSchell 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Fudking ahhh! He sure did! that was a 99 cent screw driver too~
This is by no means a simple fix, but going straight to the source seems like the most logical place to start.
0:45!!!! Nice insulated screwdriver mr master electrician
well, when in the history of trouble shooting has the circuit worked fine, then the feed falls out of the breaker all by itself?
paul mryglod Happens more often than you think. Guys don't torque the screw hard enough ... the vibrations from the AC current loosens it over time.
Or like the video says a critter could have chewed the wiring at the panel. Happens more often than you think.
If a circuits off always open up the deadfront and trace out your wire I'm surprised so many people dont do that on here, any troubleshoot involving a dead or wonky circuit panels the first thing I check. Take the dead front off as soon as I open it.
That would be the first thing I checked. Could have been a fucked up breaker.
I can't speak to houshold breakers, but as an industrial maintenance technician for 8 years, I have seen inexplicably loose wires. Enough that it is one of the first things I check when troubleshooting an electrical issue.
0:48 then why no insulated screwdriver
Everyone keeps on about him not using an insulated screw driver. Then only time I am using my insulated tools is when I'm working with 480v or higher. Insulated screw drivers are expensive and if the insulation gets knicked your supposed to throw it away. I have 26 years in the field doing commercial / industrial and he did nothing wrong.
Because some of us aren’t little pussies. When you’re good you don’t have to use insulated tools on 120 volt. If you understand and respect electricity you’ll find that you don’t need training wheels as often
As an electrician there are 5 steps i have developed every time i go to troubleshoot a house. 1) Always open the panel and check the breaker visually and with a meter (older breakers go bad after 30+ years and connections loosen with temperature changes) 2) if i have good line voltage i got to the problem device remove it and test all wires in the box 3) if i do not have voltage in the box i think of where the circuit could stop before this box based on my knowledge of how houses are wired for example a bathroom plug is almost always on the same circuit as all other bathrooms in the house so i check them as well. also turning off the breaker the problem is on will make all items on that circuit dead and easier to find 4) If all the connections on the circuit are good in the readily accessible boxes i go to the crawl. i go to approximately where the circuit is and i try to find a junction box. 5) if after all that i haven't found it i go to where the circuit is good fish a wire to the crawl then fish it to where the circuit goes dead
I would like to see this news station pull the same crap on their doctor. “ Doctor,can you give me an estimate before you finish diagnosing me?”
I hate when this is done! It coukd have easiky been misdiagnosed which in return could make it a big job. But that is life! I think setting people up like this is worse than a contractor charging more money than they should!
R8Y1A4N90x You need to go back to your apprenticeship if you misdiagnose such a simple problem.
Johnny NoDick Yes this specific incident should be very easy. The power source is where you start. But its not always that easy! I once had an outlet not working, pretty simple thing! Took me two days tracing wires because the electrician who wired the house had a hallway outlet tied in to the the feed in the bathroom lighting circuit and the wire had broke inside the wire nut! I gaurentee this "master electrician of 35 years" for abc 7 would not have found this issue because it was not a normal one and he wouldnt have been crawling in and out of the attic for two days! LOL But im Damn sure he would have charged for all the time he spent! But you know what i cut them a break and charged them for 1 day at half my rate! NOT EVERYTHING IS AS EASY AS IT SEEMS OR LOOKS.
R8Y1A4N90x haha that sucks man, get a toner, it will make life so much easier with issues like that. Got a fluke toner for about 80 USD a few years ago and now the days of crawling around tracing circuits and toning circuits out with my meter are over lol. It usually will tone through the wall as well so you can literally follow circuits in the wall. Also just saying man if it was a bad splice you would still have had either a neutral or a hot so you'd have some voltage if you toned the good one to ground. Then you know that the other one reads nothing so you're looking for a bad splice.
Yeah toners Kick-Ass but remember the toner only works as strong as the signal is, meaning if you have more layers of drywall, insulation, tile exetera
R8Y1A4N90x No it isn't. Having to pay hundreds to have an electrician that doesn't know what they're doing screw up your electricity is significantly worse than shedding some light that maybe you should get another job or go back to school.
1) If ANY electrician is a GOUGE MEISTER to charge 130.00 PER HALF HOUR or even PER HOUR, I wouldn't hesitate to tell them leave back through the door you came in...I'm not here to be ripped off. I was an electrician before my spinal cord injury put a halt to it but I only charged 50.00 per hour and senior citizens and those who were otherwise less fortunate were charged less.
2) If ANY repairman said "I can't f--king find out where it's going on", I would tell them DON'T EVER talk to customers (potential customers) with your foul mouth and learn how talk civilized...just imagine how if that's how they talk to your face, then how they would talk behind your back!
dealing with people you have to repeatedly say the same thing to 15 different ways gets annoying. sounded like she was badgering him for an estimate before he had a chance to even look at anything.
Time is money, and if you call a real, licensed company, EXPECT to pay that. Insurance, taxes, and licensing adds up. If my employees are making even 15 an hour, I’m paying pretty much twice that every hour they work.
Fuck domestic work. $90/hr
$50/hour is an insanely low price to charge, $80 is pretty standard.
Well, you could tell them to leave but you’d still be paying a service charge before they head out.
Always trust an electrician that is over 50
LMAO I remember in electricity school they used to tell us to make sure to charge up the ass!!!
Always check your power source first! Electricians are kind of like auto mechanics, it's very hard to find a good one. If you find one, you better stick with them. I have been doing electrical work for 28 years. And I will tell you, that Good and Honest Electricians are few and far between! I have made my living cleaning up sloppy work behind so called electricians. Most of them are out to make as much money as they can and do the bare minimum to get by. Best to get a recommendation from a close friend or family member. Never just call one that you don't know anything about. The really good ones don't even have to advertise. If you see one that has spent lots of money on advertising. That's a red flag! Don't use them!
Woody from Arkansas I disagree with you about advertising. It’s completely unrelated to the quality of work.
Can't find employees anywhere. and when its busy the big companies steal your guys. Nobody's learning these trades anymore and after 24 years I am back to being in field all by myself again. No helper, no journeyman, just me and a van, a bad back and tendonitis in my wrist
Woody from Arkansas my business model is to create long time customers that give me repeat business. I can't stand people that give our trade a bad name by ripping people off. I get the vast majority of service work through referrals.
That is the first thing you check. Damn I though fl had alot of hacks. I look young and lack electrical confidence, but im wayy better than these guys. Some electricians just know how to act like they know what they are talking about, and look like it. But it's the one the produces results that is the best.
I have a neighbor who is a master electrician, actually would with him a bit over the summer a few years back to earn money to get drivers ed.
Awesome guy to be around.
What you will notice about really good electricians is that they always work the circuit live.
I've been a journeyman inside wire-man / with industrial control certification for over 30 years, so this isn't my first rodeo. A self powered digital circuit tracer, plugged into the dead outlet, would have been my first step. It would have led me to the breaker panel.
I see a few things wrong with this video.
First, basic PPE . Arc-flash rated safety glasses if you value your eyesight, they're inexpensive. They have a slight yellow tint and are 100% UV A & B blocking and are ANSI impact rated.
Unless you're working circuits live, you do not need CERTIFIED insulated tools and class "0" (500 volt max. rated) insulating gloves with leather over-gloves.
Second, you NEVER allow non-qualified people to enter within the arc-flash hazard/approach zone. Albeit, with a residential 120/240 volt 200 amp panel that would roughly be 36 inches, for their own safety and your own liability.
I had a defective 3 phase 200 amp 480 volt breaker "blow-up" when I turned it on. Blew the whole front and the "guts" of the breaker right out of the dead-front of the panel with a fireball. Tripped the 2500 amp mains. Shook the whole building. I was wearing PPE, glasses, gloves and 8 CAL rated jacket. I was standing to the side as trained, so I wasn't hurt. You just never know for certain.
As stated above, you only work live circuits if you have to. This "master electrician" they used should have turned off the circuit breaker before loosening the connection.
Trust me, any trained electrician will tell you that troubleshooting electrical circuitry is, many times, an intuitive/logical event that becomes easier as one gains experience, but every scenario is different. Lay people, like the reporter, don't have a clue what it takes to do our job.
1936_CAT22
Right! ..and because you DON'T know where the problem lies, you treat that power supply to it's rated maximum of 200A, not just it's 20A for the kitchen circuit. Safety First vs injury, damage to property or death.
I see a lot of guys talking the big talk in these comments as if the hard act impresses people. To me they just look stupid.
Depending on how loose the wire was the tracer may not have immediately lead you to the breaker(only the wire itself), and without opening the panel, it might lead someone to believe they have an open in the field. Having said that I would never recommend opening walls up to a customer without opening the panel first, and I am pretty sure I would find something like that once I did open the panel.
joshuma32 We use an Ideal "Sure Trace" 61-959 kit at the facility where I work. Through my experience with this unit I can tell you it would have lead you right back to the panel, isolating the problem there.
In this way it eliminates any suspicions of a burnt out connection in a device box or junction box where the signal would have stopped. All in about 5 minutes time without having to perform any unnecessary work.
If it were my service call, upon discovery of the loose connection I would have had the customer authorize me to proceed to go ahead and check the torque of ALL connections within this breaker panel to prevent future problems of this sort.
1936_CAT22 I use the greenlee very similar to your ideal. Let me clarify because I agree with everything you’re saying right now. A lot of what I said last comment had some pretty big IFs involved. You are right that the tracer will lead you to the panel box if you can pick up the wire behind the dead plate or if you choose to open the panel wile tracing. There is a good chance it won’t ring out on the breaker, only the wire within the panel. I was just pointing out some quirks I’ve experienced in the past that one needs to be aware of in order to use a tracer properly. The tracer is still your quickest method of finding this one.
Yes because a 20 amp circuit breaker output connection being loosened while live will blow up a fucking whole goddamn residential service panel haha Jesus Christ.
The problem is that these are all resi guys
Yep
I knew someone was gonna say it lol. Industrial!
Winston's probably a first year, saying he's a certified Master.
Plot twist: their expert sabatoged the box.
They the problem but the electrician have to check and the is time consuming and the last electrician just got lucky he found the wire loose
Juan Jose Bernardino Ortiz Seems more like skill to me. Why tear up a house when obviously no power is coming in to the circuit. Simple fix start at the source to the first load or switch and work from there.
No the rest were hacks or just not thinking right. Always start at the panel in that situation. Guy talking up cutting up the drywall was a joke. It wasnt luck one guy found the problem quick, he understands how to troubleshoot.
Juan Jose Bernardino Ortiz no he wasn't lucky he just knows what he's doing buddy
Juan Jose Bernardino Ortiz lucky lol no this is the easiest thing
for those noob telling not off the breaker during loosin that screw,common guys we do it many times in industrial production, as long as your not touching any metal,nor ground in the area and foot not touching the ground/floor ur not be electrocuted
bread butter or standing in a puddle of water.
bread butter it's called being grounded out buddy
Your arm could simply touch the side of the panel while touching the screw... but regardless the point is, he's a professional... as a professional following proper procedure is important.
I hope you're not out there touching anything with electricity using that grammar...
bread butter just because you can don't make it right
You start cursing at me, you're getting out of my house. Simple as that
I wanna try! I love troubleshooting
I'm a electrician and I don't use insulated pliars turn off breaker and loosen breaker screw
Luke Marengo why not invest in some nice marvels for $70
Using pliers to turn off a breaker is a bit much. But turning off the breaker might’ve been beneficial.
You shouldn't blurr there face it font help us none
Wow thats quite a lot, here in Philippines usually its thank you very much.
Interessante. No mundo inteiro tem esses tipos de profissional.
1:33 use that language in my house I would of decked him!
Whisky 7784 pussy
Of violence is your response to bad language you need help.
Im not licensed but im like the last guy $80 always fixed
Jose Vargas In a lot of places it's illegal to be unlicensed.
Its not a crime if you dont get caught
Good to see the "master" electrician using an un insulated screwdriver
This is not about how good or dumb of a electrician you are. Its about honesty! honesty is the best policy otherwise this video wouldnt post here.
This isn't fraud on the electrical contractors, it's the fraud of the school systems. Everyone should know basic electric circuits and problem solving, such as wiring a plug, switch, changing a breaker, and safety. Don't blame contractors for taking advantage of your stupidity
RJ 1999
Don't blame contractors for being dishonest?
McMahon No it's still dishonest, but if your too dumb to know better your going to get screwed. Those are the facts of life my friend
RJ 1999
Ahh, fair enough and agreed. I just thought you might be defending crooked contractors.
McMahon nope never, but people are dishonest, it's just the way it is
No never defend crooked contractors but now basic troubleshooting skills honestly isn't taught at school it's on the field and the massive variety of reasons this could happen are narrowed down immediately to someone who knows what they are doing and yes I am an electrician the only other step is plugging your tester in the receptacle to check polarity after securing your breaker connection, knowledge and experience should tell you imediately since it just happened recently and the house has worked fine for some time without issue that there is obviously no Nicks or damage in the wall it's obviously in a connection somewhere to all the people who are not in the trade please read this unless your stabbing your wall and cutting your wire through it to damage something that obviously works fine check your connections and so on so forth
I had a plumbing problem. The guy said that he had to work on the roof to fix it.
I am an electrician. The hardest thing to trouble shoot is when all the breakers are on and something does not have power. I give one price to troubleshoot the panel and the device. If it is not there I am now looking for a needle in a hay stack. I have found hundreds of buried boxes in the wall, loose connections in houses and it is really a crap shoot if it is not in the panel and device.
That's why i always check loose wire on the breaker before I do anything.
Wild shit. First thing to do is to check the breaker in cases like these, and that dude who did it in five was the only real electrician here.
When I first started working in the HVAC field back in the early 90s, my first job was with a nice size local company , since I was new I had to work with a veteran technician , this guy used to poke holes in the evaporator coils, or create damage that way the company would sale new equipment . after just a couple of month I left that company and started working for a apartment complex.
Fordalloy Good on you man. There are some real busters out there who would rather cheat and steal than develop good customer service.
I have never seen a better media program from a news outlet in so long. I doubt it will be anytime soon it happens again
What kind of serviceman electrician swears in front of the customer like that and blurts out “I’m on the clock”. Sounds like a handyman who calls himself a registered electrician.
I'm a journeyman and I just had a service call where the outlet wasn't working and I toned out the wire and it was a loose connection in the panel. 75$ in and out
I had to call an electrician to fix my dish washer. He fixed it in 1min, and just charged his fee to walk in the door. $70 I felt like an idiot when he just flipped a switch. I had no idea that the power to the dish washer was controlled by a light switch by the sink. There are about 5 other switches in the house that do nothing so I didn't even think that was the issue.
That's why you list the charges as time and material.
Just run extension cords everywhere. It looks lovely.
Master electrician and 35 years experience. Hasn’t got an insulated screwdriver 😂
When the screw was undone the exposed end of the wire falls behind the bracket for the breaker so looking at it makes it look like it's normal
There’s no way these people were experienced electricians. No way.
mike bellestri At first glance the wire appears to be in the breaker. A lot of electricians would check the terminal screw on the breaker with their meter and, upon seeing the proper reading, would conclude that the issue is not in the panel. Loose connections in panels, particularly on breakers, isn’t something that happens very often. Screws don’t just unscrew themselves, so it’s reasonable that some of these guys would be a bit confused initially.
So moral of the story...be your own electrician? Lol
This is why I do all my own work
Its like trying to find a good mechanic to repair my car.
I worked as an hvac technician and my old company screwed people over with money, forcing us workers to lie to make extra money.
Thank good theres an electrictian in my family
This is why I do commercial work
You cant get a quote for a diagnostic except for someone to charge you by the hour.
Me being a a Wireman for the last 30 years, the last thing one would do is to pull the cover of the panel and check the connection. One doesn’t know how the original place was wired.
Look at that screwdriver!!! Master sparks!
I noticed a blue flash as he disconnected the wire. Circuit breaker still ON.
I can understand the electricians' frustration at being asked a price, when they are on the clock and trying to focus on diagnosing an issue. I've always tried to tell customers in that situation that I'm not sure what the issue is yet, and once I hit closer to the 1 hour mark I'll be able to better assess the situation. Sometimes, you can't give an accurate quote or estimate on a job. The thing is, within an hour you should be able to have a better idea of where you are going, and sadly, even when you know what you are doing, you don't always get right to the problem. Sometimes there are junction boxes hidden in the walls, wires with screws in them, etc. So essentially, what seems to be happening here, is that these guys are getting tossed into a high-pressure situation, having a customer breathing down their neck because by default they are con artists and are going to rip someone off.
Another thing of note here, is that with the lack of tradesmen, issues like this (where we have the not-so-skilled tradesmen) are going to persist. No one wants to get into the trades, so for those guys that know what they are doing and have a track record of quality work, their prices will be even higher.
Finally, get off the old man's nuts about not using an insulated driver. That circuit was a) nearly unloaded and b) he wanted to create the real scenario. I've hooked stuff up live before. I've worked stuff hot. Sometimes it can not be avoided. The guy is old school, and has probably forgotten more than the majority of you will ever know. Yes, it is possible to do a quick evaluation of a circuit's load and have a good idea of how big the arc will be when you load it up.
1:30 That guy is a savage.
Always stand aside on the panel dudes!
I'm a toaster for 30 years. And this shocked me. No business kettle
80 electricians and only one properly diagnose the problem? I don't believe that.
Lol this is hysterical . I'm an apprentice and I'd never do something this dumb. Be that 1/8 men in this video. I'll take that service fee and take my working ass help ... God bless y'all hearts
I had a callout similar to this. New house estate here in Australia. Sparky failed to get the cable in the terminal and was just behind barely touching. took a minute to rectify. Told the owner I didn't think the $140 callout was fair and halved it to $70 as I was doing new build houses in the same estate at the time, so she was close by. She's used me ever since with A heap of projects and house expansions, and I've garnered over $10k+ profit in work from her in a couple of years. Some guys are genuinely clueless when fault-finding and some are just crooks. I actively tell my customers who don't like my quotes to ask around. Get many quotes and estimates to find the deal they like. Seems to work as they usually get back to me to book work in. I don't know if it's a trust thing from me pushing them to check elsewhere or whatnot. It's reassuring that they sometimes use me despite a cheaper quote elsewhere. I've also talked to clients on how to reset RCDs (GFCIs to you seppos) over the phone at no cost, and then gotten boots on the ground work at a profit. Be honourable and you will be successful.