What is going on, here......

[Lothlorien]

I'm beginning to think there is a curse on my electronic items. I went through three tvs in my kitchen in three weeks, I've had computer issues since October, my tv in my bedroom has issues that are intermittent, my fax is so slow, my boss doesn't want me to fax things unless it's after hours, the glass on the machine is fogged from the inside so I can't scan pictures at all anymore.

Now, my phone is acting up. I have cable for phone, internet and tv. Never had a problem until today. I can't call out, because I either get a fast busy signal or I have no dial tone at all. I can get some phone calls, but others are going directly to voice mail and I don't hear the phone, or I hear the phone ring and when I answer no one is there, but the caller id tells me who's calling. Cable and tv are fine, but the cable company thinks it's the wiring in my house (fat chance.....it worked fine for the last year and a half with no problem, until today. Besides, the former owner of this house was an electrician and did all the wiring himself. husband inspected all the work and was impressed by this guy's work, so I know it was good, since he's maniacle about stuff like that)

I have aliens hovering over my house, I think.......sheesh....what's next? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/919Mad.gif

 

[Suz]

Loth, I'd still have an independent electrician come out and take another look. That is too many things going wrong to take a chance. I had what was seemingly a simple outlet problem turn out to be a major deal. I learned my lesson.

Suz

 

[Ltlredhen]

I purchased a battery backup for my computer about a year ago. The software that came with it pops up from time to time to let me know how things are going. I was absolutely amazed to see just how many times there was a power interruption to my home that we were unaware of. There is "electrical noise" that can cause problems.

Maybe a call to the local utility to see if they could send an engineer out to check out your voltage. Might be getting power surges/blackouts.

Just a thought.

Donna

 

[rejectedmom]

A lot of times there are power surges that can cause all kinds of problems. Surges could be from the power source or from faulty wiring within the home. As far as the wiring. Have you hung any pictures lately? A nail could have come into contact with the wiring and causing a intermittent short. I'd have it checked out.
-RM

 

[Hound dog]

I see the others were thinking what I was. I'd consult an electrician and get a phone call in to your electric company. In the meantime you might want to invest in some really good surge protectors.

I sure hope you find out what the problem is.

Hugs

 

[Marguerite]

I can think of a couple of possibilities.

1) One place we lived in for a year, we didn't discover until husband was building a power board (you couldn't buy them back then) and discovered that t he electrician who owned the place (and did his own wiring) had got the main supply to one end of the house backwards - active and neutral were reversed. (We have three wires - active, neutral and earth). By reversing active and neutral you can be left with live circuits when they should be switched off and dead. Not good when you turn off the power to stick the fork in the toaster.
So - never COMPLETELY trust the wiring of a place that's been done by the owner, qualified or not. It's the plumber's house that leaks; the painter's house in need of painting and the electrician's house that sends up sparks.

2) You may have too many appliances connected to your phone lines. Sometimes, especially when the phone company makes changes to the local exchange (or you have a linesman working in the area) you can find this sort of thing happening; anything on the phone system only partly functions, in a 'brown-out' kind of way. Hence, slow fax, slow modem and weird phone behaviour. Or another possible cause - one of the phone appliances is drawing more power than it used to (intermittent fault). These may need to be individually checked. Remove them one at a time and test the function of the system each time you remove one. IE take out your modem - does the fax machine now work faster? Does the phone answer properly? Or take out the phone - can you fax faster now?

3) Are you near salt water? We have a problem with wiring suddenly causing problems. The wires themselves are OK, it's usually the connection points. An increase in corrosion leads to an increase in resistance and a drop in function of EVERYTHING. Sometimes just cleaning the contacts of the phone plugs with a Q-tip wrapped in sandpaper is enough. No matter how well a house was wired, near salt air this WILL happen. And the failure can be sudden, due to a sudden increase in resistance beyond a functional point.

The fogged screen on the copier had me wondering about moisture and corrosion.

I hope you can track it down.

Marg

 

[Lothlorien]

The copier is just a manufacturer's defect. The fogging is on the inside of the glass. I can't replace the glass.

I'm about 25 miles inland from the salt water. Don't think that's the problem. The phone issue seems to have resolved itself. I emailed a few people with cable for the phone. One other person told me that her line went out yesterday too.

It's just weird happenstance maybe? Next time we need an electrician for something, I will have him just check the whole house.