Hey, Remember When Bubba Sold Out Welfare? Good Times!

It was quite the thing in the late 90s-early 2000s to be a “New Democrat,” a label centrist Dems used to duck the dreaded “liberal” tag before “progressive” became the accepted term. Still, when my mother in law was talking politics at the funeral this weekend, she would preface comments with “well, I’m a liberal, and I think . . . ”

Yay, grandma!

Sounds like the people with the deep pockets have discarded the Democratic Party as not worth their investment. This isn’t going to help Hillary’s campaign for 2012. No wonder Evan Bayh jumped ship. Where’s the fun of campaigning without somebody making it rain?

When the electricity goes out in only one section of the house/room, this means a fuse has blown, yes? How does one unblow a fuse? Am I going to have to run down to the hardware store so I can get my grub on (the microwave and stove are out)?

Sort of a TJ: Two Vermont towns pass measures to arrest Bunnypants and Darth Cheney. Nothing will ever come of it, of course, but thanks for showing your support, Vermont towns!

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: How does one unblow a fuse?

Turn off the devices plugged into the area which has gone dark.

Go to the fuse box and look at the row of black switches inside. One of them will be flipped the wrong direction. Flip it the right direction, and the power will come back on.

No hardware needed.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: I don’t mean to be insulting, but you’re sure that you have fuses and not circuit breakers? If you’re sure, pull the fuse, clean off the area where it makes contact (spit often works), replace, try again. If no go, find a hardware store that still stocks them and replace. Do not use the copper penny method. If it blows again, it’s time to rewire the house.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: If you have fuses, yes. If you have circuit breakers, you just flip the half-switched breaker all the way off, then back on. Make sure, if you have fuses, that you match the rating on the old one (ie, 10A or 15A or whatever it is) — fuses keep your house wiring from bursting into flames, which most people consider to be a good thing. Using a bigger one will mean you can use the microwave and stove at the same time (or whatever blew the circuit), right up until your house burns down.

@Tommmcatt is with Karin Marie on This One: I believe that Catt is assuming that you have circuit breakers.

I remember the fuse display at the grocery store. Where are my teeth?

OK. Apparently, I have both. (The house was built in the 40s and has had some electric upgrades over the years.) There are fuses inside in house and circuit breakers outside. I switched the fuse that covers the affected area with the one for the hallway and bedroom lights which was definitely working. But it changed nothing, so I switched on the only circuit switch that was off. Nothing. Last, I switched off the main circuit switch and then switched it back on. It’s still not working.

Any more ideas?

Good riddance.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ:
Check the circuit breakers as well. Maybe something on it popped.

ETA; Do all the fuses in the fusebox have the same rating (in Amps)? I might be wrong, but I think the stove/kitchen area usually requires a higher rated fuse because of the current drain.

@ManchuCandidate: Yeah, they are all 20 amps.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ:
Try plugging in the microwave in a different part of the house to see if it is working.

I’m scratching my head because if the fuse in the microwave is gone then everything else should work.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ:
I’m inclined to agree with IanJ and DB. If the use of the microwave and stove caused it to blow then you might want to consider rewiring your home.

Now that I think some more about it, it sounds like there is a short circuit in that section of the wiring and you’d probably need a professional to look at it.

@ManchuCandidate: Yep, microwave still works. I think I am going to have to call an electrician. Thanks.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Make sure anything sensitive to power loss (like computers, mostly) is turned off, and switch off all the circuit breakers, then switch them all back on. Sometimes circuit breakers can trip without looking like anything. Pull out each fuse in turn and take a look at the contacts, both on the fuse and where the fuse screws in: they should be shiny-ish metal, not black or fluffy white or anything else.

It would be worthwhile to replace the fuse panel with a circuit breaker box, as a general statement. However, the fact that you already have some circuit breakers suggests that there may be complications to doing that.

If you can’t figure it out, yeah, it’s time to call in an electrician. It sounds like you’re well aware of this, but don’t try to do anything more than flipping switches or pulling and swapping fuses — house current is quite deadly, and it’s not hard to do the wrong thing and electrocute yourself or start a fire.

@IanJ: You think they’ll find aluminum wiring? There’s still a few older houses out here with it.

If just the stove is affected then look for a block with a handle on it in the fuse box. There may be more than one of these blocks. The one at the top of the fuse box is the main and is not likely the issue. One of the others is for the stove. You may have another for an electric drier circuit. To change the fuses, grab the handel and pull the block straight out. There will be two barrel shaped fuses attached to the block. I recommend that you replace them both. You may even want to take the entire block to the hardware store with you.

Jamie at the fuse box.

Thanks, guys. I figured it out. Turns out the labels in the fuse box are all wrong. I found the correct fuse and replaced it. All is well again.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ:
I’m glad that you figured it out and saves on calling the electrician. I suggest you update those labels ASAP though.

@redmanlaw: My sister and brother-in-law are dealing with that right now in their new (to them, anyway) house.

@redmanlaw: Ha!

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: I second Manchu’s recommendation to relabel while you’re still thinking about it. Future-you will be pretty happy you took the time now.