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I'm working nightshift in a hotel and the damn power went off in the rooms, there are still a few lights that work and a few sockets too, I've checked the fuses and they all seem to be ok. It's 4 a.m. and I can't call an expert at this hour. Our hotel happens to be packed with people tonight and they will probably have my hide in the morning.
If anyone has any idea how i could fix this please help.... for real I'm begging here...
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http://www.doityourself.com/forum/electrical-ac-dc-9/#b

Better luck there, I'm betting.
If it is what I think it is, you cannot fix it your self. It looks like the electrical connection to the hotel has gone bad, and I don't know how it is in Romania but here only the electric company can fix that. The reason some lights and some socket still work is that you probably use a 3 phase system and only one connection out of three has gone bad. I had the exact same thing happened in my home last year.

By the way, I'm not an electrician nor do I play one on TV.
Check the breaker labelled "rcd" for the section that has gone off. It will probably be separate and may have tripped, if so just flick it back up. See if theres a tool bag in the electrical cupboard with a vault pen and see if you have live incoming (will glow red)
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CptFandango: Check the breaker labelled "rcd" for the section that has gone off. It will probably be separate and may have tripped, if so just flick it back up. See if theres a tool bag in the electrical cupboard with a vault pen and see if you have live incoming (will glow red)
what does rcd stand for?
I have no tools at all.
It sounds like the giant hamster in the basement is tired. You might need to take its place for a few hours.
Residual current detector, it will trip if something on that circuit is shorting but something like a cooker element going will trip it then you can switch it back on. If you don't have any tools like a multimeter/volt pen/tester there really isn't much you can do :S just make sure all the breakers are in the on position and don't touch any exposed wires obviously. If you find a breaker that is off and you try to flick it back up but it keeps going down check the room/apartment/area number (if its labeled up) then investigate to see if they are using a faulty appliance, but to be honest you need something to test it with so if its not just a breaker or rcd you will probably have to just wait for an electrician :S , good luck with it tho m8!
Are you confident that you have found the fuses (or I assume you meant breakers?) which correspond to the rooms that have no power? My old dormitory had fuseboxes all over the place, and finding the right box was tricky.
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grimwerk: Are you confident that you have found the fuses (or I assume you meant breakers?) which correspond to the rooms that have no power? My old dormitory had fuseboxes all over the place, and finding the right box was tricky.
Yeah I meant breakers, there is a big panel behind the reception and everything is "on". I remember one of them going off a couple of times and it was connected to one of the lights that don't work at the moment, I only had to flick it back up.
I have no idea what to do beyond flicking those little things back in place.
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grimwerk: Are you confident that you have found the fuses (or I assume you meant breakers?) which correspond to the rooms that have no power? My old dormitory had fuseboxes all over the place, and finding the right box was tricky.
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morciu: Yeah I meant breakers, there is a big panel behind the reception and everything is "on". I remember one of them going off a couple of times and it was connected to one of the lights that don't work at the moment, I only had to flick it back up.
I have no idea what to do beyond flicking those little things back in place.
Check for any breakers that don't look exactly right. Many types need to be flipped to the off position and then back to on to reset.
There may be an indicator (red dot or such) to show tripped ones or they may just not appear to be fully to the on position.
As another user said an electrician is probably in order if that doesn't work.
BTW: Here 'rcd' is referred to as 'gfci'.
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morciu: Yeah I meant breakers, there is a big panel behind the reception and everything is "on". I remember one of them going off a couple of times and it was connected to one of the lights that don't work at the moment, I only had to flick it back up.
I have no idea what to do beyond flicking those little things back in place.
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donsanderson: Check for any breakers that don't look exactly right. Many types need to be flipped to the off position and then back to on to reset.
There may be an indicator (red dot or such) to show tripped ones or they may just not appear to be fully to the on position.
As another user said an electrician is probably in order if that doesn't work.
BTW: Here 'rcd' is referred to as 'gfci'.
^What this guy said.


Is it hot in your location?

The breaker probably flipped because too many people had their air conditioner on. I'm not expert. As he said, check for a breaker switch that is offset (not all the way to the left or right.)
Just checked the breakers again, I guess they are fine. Looks like I'll have to wait this out. Thanks for all the replies guys.
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morciu: Just checked the breakers again, I guess they are fine. Looks like I'll have to wait this out. Thanks for all the replies guys.
This seems to be a wake-up-your-employer type problem.
I hope you don't get too much grief from your guests!
Wouldn't a hotel have multiple breaker boxes? One for each floor or wing. And an on-call maintenance guy. Perhaps you have a few other breaker boxes around with breakers tripped. But other than resetting breakers in the breaker box that is the only thing someone can do that is not an electrician.
Post edited May 26, 2014 by VABlitz
Just wanted to follow up with how everything worked out. Just being curious :)