Something is wrong with the electrical wiring in my apartment now.?
A couple of hours ago, a wall socket in the kitchen with an air-freshener plugged into it suddenly made a popping sound. My b/f went in there to see where the sound had come from. It was that wall socket. It had started to make a loud buzzing sound. He pulled the air-freshener from the plug and the sound stopped, but most of the lights in the apartment went out, also, my computer, the refrigerator, the A/C, only a few sockets were left working.
Then, by some fluke, he asked me as I was standing in the kitchen if the stove was on. It wasn't, but I started to turn on one of the burners. As I did so, all the lights, my compurter, the A/C, etc... all came back on! I turned the burner back off and everything stayed on! This is true and very strange and frightening, as we were afraid of an electrical fire from wiring gone haywire or something.
Answer:
First of all, I am in the US where 120v is used for small appliances and lighting, and 240v for electric stoves and many A/C units, if you are in a country that uses 220-240 for everything then parts of my answer will not apply (but you still have a strange and potentially serious problem)
There is something very wrong here, part of it may be your description of the problem.
If your description is in fact exactly what happened, I'd have to recommend switching off the main breaker NOW and not using anything electrical until the wiring is checked by an electrician, but if there are errors or omissions in your description, it might not really be so bad.
It is hard to imaging how all the things you describe could happen. Is the A/C a small 120Volt window unit? many are 240 volt which would make your problem very hard to understand, but if yours is 120V it could make some sense, but if you have an A/C, refrigerator, "most of the lights" and computer on one circuit then that circuit is over loaded and your wiring is probably inadequate.
A wiring problem with a receptacle is not too uncommon, and could affect other outlets on the same circuit or trip the breaker, so that part of your description makes sense (you need someone who knows what they are doing to check the receptacle the air freshener was in).
However the thing with the stove is just weird, unless your boyfriend happened to reset a circuit breaker at the same time as you turned the stove on, then the only thing I can think of, and this is a long shot, is loose connections or a bad breaker in the electrical panel, you should have an electrician check the whole apartment. Lots of people know how to replace a receptacle (even more THINK they know how so be careful) but the thing with the stove is very strange, so you need a professional to check it (not the local handy man).
b/f reseting the breaker seems to make the most sense, you started by saying b/f unplugged the air freshener in the kitchen, then, you were in the kitchen when he asked if the stove was on, where was he? if he was at the breaker panel, and the labeling was not clear (a common situation), he may have been asking about the stove because he couldn't tell which breaker was off, then he might have turned the breaker that was off, back on at he same time you turned the stove on, if that is the case, it was just a coincidence and the stove has nothing to do with the problem, which would be good, because otherwise the problem is just too strange.
the two are not related.
If you have an electric stove, that may be the source of the problem, if it is gas, then there is no connection. I would have an electrician check things out. This is a potential fire hazard.
Do you have a fuse box or breaker box in your apartment? If you do your boyfriend was playing games with you and either replaced the fuse or reset the breaker.
Is the air freshener one of those that sprays into the air? Do you have a fan running that faces the outlet so that the moisture could get in the outlet? If you do that's most likely the cause of the sparking. If not, call an electrician to take a look at the outlet. It may need to be replaced.
Your B/F... Is he the joking type? I doubt all of those things would be on the same circuit. It is possible, but HIGHLY unlikely!
He just wanted a cuddle!
Your apartment may only have two fuses or breakers try resetting the breaker or looking for a blown fuse. If you can't find one;Call an electrician.
This not necessarily a fire hazard, but these things are all related!
110-220v wiring has two phases the wiring has 3 wires red black and white. red-white is 117 black-white is 117
black to red is230
The initial problem has blown all the circuits in your house that are on one PHASE of your electrical feed. You have an electric stove which uses both phases. When you turn on the stove, which ever element connects the phases.
You may find that the lights are dimmer due to the element's resistance.
It sounds like there is a broken neutral wire in your fuse/breaker box. The stove wiring is a 220 volt service that comes from the breaker box. It is protected by 2 breakers, assuming of course that your apartment is new enough to be using circuit breakers as opposed to fuses. The wall outlet is in a different circuit than what the stove power is, or at least it should be. The buzzing noise was from arcing in the outlet. This generally means that either the appliance plug, or the appliance is bad in some way, or the outlet is bad. Either way, it is bad news, yes, it is a fire hazard, and does need to be repaired as soon as possible. ALL of the grounds and neutral wires in the apartment need to be checked for proper connection, and continuity back to the breaker box. I suspect that turning on the stove put enough of a surge in the right place to correct the bad ground condition, for now. Don't rely on that though, get it fixed.
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