> No unusual loads were plugged in, and none of the breakers in the
> panel were showing tripped. I pushed on all of the breaker
> switches to see if any were actually tripped and not showing, and
> the power came back on again. I never did actually reset anything.
<snip>
> I then went into the kitchen and pushed the trip/test button on the
> GFI outlet and it tripped and I saw a noticeable arc in the upper
> half of the outlet.
This GFI doesn't sound healthy...
> IIRC it's a 20 amp circuit, and the house is about five years old.
> The fridge is about 20 years old. In addition, the kitchen outlets
> (and several others) feed through a sub panel connected to the
> generator. I've never had problems with breakers tripping before.
In many kitchens, depending on the electrical code, the kitchen
outlets in each gang box can be on two different circuits, to help
distribute the appliance load. First, I would experiment by turning
off individual breakers and see if this is the case. This should help
narrow down the problem.
- Bill Rabel
Anacortes, WA
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