I noticed that the pump in the stream had stopped working and as it sits in a box I assumed that the thing was blocked with sediment which happens a lot of the time. I mumbled to myself that is was not important enough to jump on immediately and went about whatever I was working on at that particular time.

That evening, as I was sitting in front of my computer, I noticed that the video feed from one of the outdoor cameras was blank but as this happens from time to time, I did not think too much of it. The video screens are next to my computer.

The next day, I uncovered the box from the disappearing stream by taking off the layer of stones and retrieved the pump. It was not blocked as I originally thought so took it to another outlet and plugged it in. It worked, sort of, and was making the most awful noises so I could tell it was on its last legs. It is just a small 550 gph pump and not very expensive and a quick trip to Lowe’s to purchase a replacement was called for. It did not take very long to replace the new one but when I went to switch it on, it would not work. Nothing, No water pumping, just nothing.

So my brain kicked in and I started to backtrack to the source of the electrical supply. I went to the box on the side of the house and noticed that the 30 amp breaker was tripped and would not reset. The feed for that particular pump (and also the video camera) is one of the outlets within the workshop which has its own electric supply from the main breaker box. Then I noticed that none of the outlets in the workshop were working and as they are all wired in line, I had to eliminate the problem by checking each one at a time.

While I was engrossed in this particular problem, I suddenly realized that it was very quiet. None of the usual sounds of moving water and a quick inspection showed that none of the pumps were working in the entire yard on every pond. It was not quite time to panic but was getting close. Luckily, logic took over and calmed me down as I retraced all of the circuits that supplied the ponds and shed. Resetting the breaker in the main box turned on the 5000 gallon pond as it had its own separate circuit but I was still facing the problem of all of the other ponds. Then I noticed that the breaker for the pond circuits was also tripped and it would not reset. I solved that problem by changing out that particular breaker and lo and behold, all of the ponds started back up again.

I still had the problem of the stream pump and the video camera not to mention the outlets in the shed. I bypassed the circuit that originally fed the stream pump and video camera with a temporary lead cord and managed to get both of them working again.

That still left the problems with the shed outlets, none of which were working. I could not test any of them as the circuit breaker within the box in the shed would not hold. I determined that power was going to the shed as the lights and power saws were each on their own circuits and they both had their own breaker and they were all working.

So once more, logic was called for. I reasoned that I would have to work my way from outlet to outlet and disconnecting the outlets down line one box at a time. If the breaker would hold, I reconnected and moved to the next one. Then I found an outlet that was not working properly so I changed it out for a new one and before moving on to the next, tried the breaker hoping it would hold. It didn’t. By this time, I decided to give it a break until the following day as I was tired of messing with 12 gauge electrical wire.

The following day, instead of going to the next outlet, I jumped a couple in the hope I would get lucky and not have to do every one. No luck as the breaker would still not hold. So as I moved back one outlet, I noticed that the grinder was still plugged into it. I tried to unplug it but it would not come out and closer inspection revealed that an old chain saw blade that was hanging above it, was welded to one of the prongs to the plug. What had happened is that the plug had come out of the socket just enough for the saw blade to touch it and as it was still live created a weld and blew the circuits. The outlet was toast so a quick trip to purchase a new one. Ten minutes after getting back home, I had it replaced and gingerly tried the circuit breaker again while holding my breath. It held.

A quick trip around all of the outlets with my circuit tester told me that every outlet was back in working order and I was back in business. When I stop to think just how lucky I was. It is a wonder the shed didn’t burn down. I know that there are rats in the shed and I suspect that one of them dislodged the chain but for it to fall just right to lodge onto the the very small piece of prong of the plug is pretty amazing. Certainly not something I would expect to happen. If the outlets ever stop working again, I certainly will check every one for anything unusual.

Now, I wonder just what the next problem might be.