I'm having a wiring problem on the second floor of my 120 year old house. I think the culprit is a mouse. We could hear him knawing on something between the walls. I think he may have chewed some wiring. The wiring is a mix of newer (but not grounded!) white plastic coated wiring and some material covered wiring. Apparently about 10 years ago the upstairs was gutted and converted from 4 bedrooms to 2. Whoever the moron who did the reno was didn't bother to wire things properly. Too many outlets and ceiling lights are on one circuit. Anyway, lately I noticed the lights flickering. This morning the hall light wouldn't work. Today my wife said the TV in our bedroom would constantly come on and off and sometimes the lights on our night stands would go out with the TV and sometimes they wouldnt. The hall light works tonight as does everything else. I cut the breaker and tried to determine how the circuit runs. It's a mess. Any idea the best way to determine where (or if) the mouse has chewed the wire without ripping out drywall? We don't have the $$ to get bent over by an electrician. Our local electricians don't have the best reputation... I need some answers soon as the last thing we need is a fire.
Who knows. I thought it strange about the TV. If you pulled the plug and plugged it back in the TV would not come back on. Only with the remote should it do that....
We had some flooring installed a few months ago upstairs. The guy doing the installation was using a power chop saw. All of a sudden that circuit went out. I thought it was the breaker. I go down to the panel and the breaker isn't tripped! I shut it off and clicked it back on-still no power. About 10 minutes later the circuit powered up again. I wonder if there is a wire that get's hot and separates and then when it cools it connects.
Who knows. I thought it strange about the TV. If you pulled the plug and plugged it back in the TV would not come back on. Only with the remote should it do that.... We had some flooring installed a few months ago upstairs. The guy doing the installation was using a power chop saw. All of a sudden that circuit went out. I thought it was the breaker. I go down to the panel and the breaker isn't tripped! I shut it off and clicked it back on-still no power. About 10 minutes later the circuit powered up again. I wonder if there is a wire that get's hot and separates and then when it cools it connects.
You might want to switch that breaker off and use an extension cord off a good circuit until you get someone in.
Hey I am busy I have to drive to Walton (30km) each way twice today, and I have to go to bank, and the land fill Then I am off til Monday un-employment is a beach
Check continuity at the plugs to start. It could be you are overloading circuits. Try turning on a bunch of lights until they start flickering. Unplug one and see if it improves.
The wiring with material on it could be knob and tube. When it heats up due to newer current demands it will cause damage.
Hope this helps. If you do have knobs and tubes I don't recommend telling your insurance people until you replace it.
I hate to say it, but you need to get it looked at right away. if it is a poor connection with Aluminum to copper wires (expansion rates are different) you'll get a heat build up and a great potential for sparks and fire.. my old house was knob and tube and had wood chips and lime for insulation.. good combo. if it's a chewed wire.. well.. continuity tests will tell you which circuit (power off of course). If you have access to the attic and feel like crawling around in the insulation tracing wires.. or in the basement (if it's not developed and buried in the floor joists) , that would help trace the conductors.
either way.. it's a major safety issue bud. They sell tracing units at home depot as well, you attatch the transmitter at one end on one wire (again.. power off) and then you have a reciever that beeps louder as you get closer to the conductor in the wall. at least you have a fighting chance to know which drywall to go through if you have to.
Defintely needs to be addressed asap, I would kill that breaker when you are not home, or even at night until its looked at if you can -sounds like it could be a major hazard. Continuity isnt likely to help you as you probably have continuity, but just a thinned wire or arcing or something causing your intermittent problems. One of those cheap red wire tester pens will be able to tell you if its the common wire broken (with the breaker off) as they still beep with breaker off. You could also use this to track the live conductor thru the drywall and find the break if its within the wall...but its a bit of a needle and a haystack...
If you have electrical skills/knowledge you should take the time to check each device box (duplex/switch/light) for any issues -like an arc or loose marrette or something, as more than likey this is where issues are since all connections are 'supposed' to be done in one.
The mouse thing is possible, but could also be coincidental, when one device shuts down but not everything you could try banging on the walls or even pulling on wires between two suspect boxes to try to see if that gets it back on -then you probably have a problem within the wall and you'll have an idea where...
I'm not an electrician, know your limitations, and work like everything is hot even if its not!
There is one outlet that looked like it was from the 1960's while all the others are newer. I removed it and the box and had a look at the wiring behind it. There was a grounded, fiber covered wire leading to it. I thought "great, this is the main feed from the basement". I disconnect it from the outlet and turn on the breaker. I still have all my lights! Turns out that isn't a feed, but a continuation to 2 outlets in our spare bedroom. I replaced that outlet with a newer one. We haven't had any flickering since however I'm still not sure if that fixed it. So far I haven't seen any aluminum wiring. If Tim (my electrician friend) doesn't come by the end of the weekend I'll have to take my chances with one of the local electricians.
Sounds like you may be close... It doesnt take much for a flicker...My 150 year old house had the same wiring upstairs, and no lights and only 1 outlet I put new outlets in, and they used power bars and never had any problem It had a 100 amp service with fuses.. Downstairs wiring is newer...
I thought running the extension cord for a couple of days was good 
Have a good day at work I have to take today off..
Then I am off til Monday un-employment is a beach