Ah, lol, here is my taste of full out Homesteading life...

[Montana Mom]

We have been without furnace and running water for a few days now, and the electric circuit that runs all the lights and most of the sockets just blew out!

So, I guess this will be a trial of sorts...lol

Nothing I can do now about the heat and water, but any ideas on fixing the circuit? I'm in a mobile home, tried the obvious of flipping the circuit brakers around, no go.

[mtmama]

Do you have a main breaker or fuse outside in an electrical box on your pole where service meter is? Did you check that?

[Cyngbaeld]

Unplug everything on the circuit. You may have something with a short that is causing the breaker to trip instantly when you turn it on. What happened to furnace and water?

[Montana Mom]

Originally Posted by Cyngbaeld

Unplug everything on the circuit. You may have something with a short that is causing the breaker to trip instantly when you turn it on. What happened to furnace and water?

Well, we are going to be staying the night at someone else's house. They said it was probably the black braker switch itself that wore out and needs replacing, but its a small town and hardware store not open until tomorrow.

I unplugged everything and shut off all the switches. I was running a small ceramic heater in the house and about 3 lights when it went out. Maybe that set it off. I turned the power off on the main braker before we left just to be safe.

The furnace was making a horrible noise when running and smelled hot. Its a pretty old furnace so its probably toast. I was letting the water run at night to keep the pipes good but without the furnace I don't think there was much hope. I woke up the other day to icicles coming out of the faucets and not able to get the water back up at all.

[rambler]

Originally Posted by Montana Mom

I was letting the water run at night to keep the pipes good but without the furnace I don't think there was much hope. I woke up the other day to icicles coming out of the faucets and not able to get the water back up at all.

You will need to watch your pipes very carefully as you thaw the place out. Likely there will be some busted places, and you could suffer some water damage if you aren't on top of it.

Sorry for the tough days!

--->Paul

[Montana Mom]

Originally Posted by rambler

You will need to watch your pipes very carefully as you thaw the place out. Likely there will be some busted places, and you could suffer some water damage if you aren't on top of it.

Sorry for the tough days!

--->Paul

Thank you. I am certain that some of the pipes will need replacing. I'm hoping to be able to take a look at the system before I even turn the water back on. Waiting for warmer weather though!!

[3girls]

I know just how you feel! Some days, you just can't make a nickel. I am very sorry you are going through this, and I do hope you can find a temporary home until this is fixed. Wow!

Having said that, I wonder if your letter couldn't be made a sticky? Everyone hoping to build a dream life on a piece of land, needs to read this letter. Having a small pot of $$ for emergencies can be a make or break thing. It's not the day to day that gets you!!

Good luck to you.

[Cyngbaeld]

Hope you get up and running soon. I just had to put a new furnace in the CO house. Got a good deal on it 675$ delivered and the tenant will install it. If you want the web site I'll find it for you. Or you might want to look for a thru the wall vented propane heater and install it yourself. I've done that before and it really wasn't too difficult. If you can do it safely, a propane camp heater on a large bottle under the mh will thaw the pipes even with cold weather. But you really have to be careful doing this. I have also put an electric heater under a mh to thaw pipes when I lived in a mh park. Not sure if your wiring would be safe for that tho. I feel for you! BTDT!

[agmantoo]

Any chance this mobile home is wired with aluminum wire? Sounds like it may be. If so, some wire has become loose at a breaker. You need to find someone with basic electrical knowledge to remove the breaker panel cover and see if they can tighten the lugs on the breakers.