Danger Averted Due To An Electrical Problem

Yes, the Chicken Ranch was in serious danger of going up in smoke due to an unknown/unseen electrical problem.

I finally called an electrician after my low-level troubleshooting efforts did not determine why there was a power failure in one line of wall plugs in our detached garage/workshop. It should have been a routine fix for me but nothing made sense about it.

We still had power everywhere else, just not that particular line of wall plugs.

So the young man came and patiently listened to my troubleshooting story, then started looking for himself.  But it took a few minutes to figure out where the problem was. And it wasn't in the garage. It was in the main electrical panel where all those 'flipper' things are located. Not only that but it was the Big-Daddy Flipper, the Main Breaker. Here's a photo of what was happening:

Smoke marks...

And here's the breaker.

Melt marks...

And here's the young man installing a whole new box with more horsepower than the old one.

Dollar marks...

$1,700 and change. But we'll sleep better for it.

Just saying, if you live in an older house that was built for 1980's or before technology, you may want to get a licensed electrician to inspect your house, especially if you tend to be a do-it-yourselfer electrician.

Scary stuff, electricity.