At Sandpiper Property Management we pride ourselves on responding to tenant’s maintenance requests and general inquiries as quickly as possible.  Before you submit a maintenance request we urge you to view this page and see if you can troubleshoot your issue on your own.  Below is a list of common issues that arise and their fixes.  If this information does not help you solve your problem please go to the maintenance form and submit a maintenance request via email. 

I lost power or I need to reset the circuit breaker

A circuit breaker provides protection by stopping the flow of electricity if an overload or fault occurs. When an electrical fault occurs or the load on your circuit becomes too great, the breaker on that circuit trips and interrupts the flow of current to that circuit. A tripped circuit breaker is still sometimes referred to as a “Blown Fuse” in reference to the older technology that circuit breakers replaced. If your home uses an actual fuse and not a circuit breaker, click here for information on fuse boxes.



Before electricity can be restored, the circuit breaker must be reset. However, even before you do that, you must take steps to ensure that it is safe to do so. Turn off or unplug all of the devices that are plugged into the circuit. Make certain no dangerous condition exists before restoring power. A Circuit Breaker which has been tripped will either be in the middle or "OFF" position. Locate the tripped circuit breaker and reset it by pushing it all the way to the "OFF" position and then back to the "ON" position. Often when you cannot reset the circuit breaker, it is because it must be turned ALL the way to the "Off" position first.

Electricity should now be restored to the circuit. If the circuit breaker trips again before you have turned anything on or plugged anything in, please submit a maintenance request to Sandpiper Property Management.

If you see something that looks like the photo below, don’t do anything further and submit a maintenance request to Sandpiper Property Management.

  

If no circuit breakers were tripped and you still do not have power at an outlet, the circuit is probably on a GFCI. 

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I lost power to the bathroom, kitchen, or outside

A GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter)  outlet is a device that adds a greater level of safety by reducing the risk of electric shock in locations such as bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms and outdoors.



A GFCI outlet may be wired in a branch circuit, which means other outlets and electrical devices may share the same circuit and breaker (or fuse). When a properly wired GFCI trips, the other devices down the line from it will also lose power. Note that devices on the circuit that come before the GFCI are not protected and are not affected when the GFCI is tripped.

If you have an outlet that doesn't work, and the breaker is not tripped, look for a GFCI outlet which may have tripped. The non-working outlet may be down line from a GFCI outlet. Note that the affected outlets may not be located near the GFCI outlet.  The GFCI may be several rooms away or even on a different floor.  Pressing the "Reset" will restore the circuit. If the outlet doesn’t reset, the appliance that is causing it to trip, may still be unplugged.  If after unplugging everything, checking the circuit breaker or fuse, and resetting the GFCI does not work, please submit a maintenance request to Sandpiper Property Management. 

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No Heat - Electric

Before calling in your problem or making a work order request, please check the below possible options.

1. Check that the circuit breaker hasn’t tripped.  If so, reset the circuit breaker.
   
2. Check that your thermostat is on, heat is selected, and set at a temperature that    would call for heat (not too low)
   
3. Check that there is nothing obstructing the airflow from the heater or heater vents.
   
4. Electric furnaces, not baseboards or cadet heaters, often have a light switch right next to the furnace which turns the furnace off.  Because this switch is identical to a light switch, it gets turned off by mistake.  Simply check any nearby switches.  If they don’t turn lights on and off, they may be turning the furnace on or off.
   
5. After checking the above and you still do not have heat, please submit a maintenance request form to Sandpiper Property Management.

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No Heat - Gas

Before calling in your problem or making a work order request, please check the below possible options:

1. Check that the circuit breaker hasn’t tripped.  If so, reset the circuit breaker.
   
2. In or around most furnaces there is what looks like a light switch.  This operates the power to the furnace.  Be sure this switch is on before completing the online maintenance request.  You will be charged for the heating company to flip this switch.
   
3. Check that your thermostat is on, heat is selected, and is set at a temperature that would call for heat (not too low)
   
4. Verify that you have gas service is in your name or has not been disconnected for non-payment or other issues. 
   
5. Can you hear any fans or blower running?  If no noise at all, must be one of the items above
   
6. Is there a window with a blinking or steady red light?  If so, please explain what you are seeing if you submit a work order request.

If after checking the above and you still have no heat, please submit a maintenance request.  Within the request, please annotate the condition of your furnace filters and any the status of any steady or blinking red lights.

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Trouble shooting your dishwasher:

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Smoke Detectors:

Smoke detectors have 2 alarms that mean different things.

A) Beep/chirp approximately 2-3 times every 5 minutes most of the time means the battery needs changed. If that doesn't fix it, it may have lost power to the unit or have a loose connection. If you unplug the detector from the ceiling/wall, it will probably continue making noise because there is a back-up battery in most of them. If you take the battery out it still has enough power stored internally to beep 4-5 more times.

B) Beeping/chirping non-stop means there is smoke/fire or it's a false alarm.

See below for false alarms. 

1. Most false alarms (chirping non-stop) are caused by dust in the sensor area of the detector. - Fixed by blowing out with compressed air or vacuum.
2. Some smoke detectors have an expiration (10yrs for example & usually labeled on back of unit) and after that time period they start having false alarms.  This is simply fixed by replacing expired detectors.
   
3. Very rarely, false alarms are caused by drastic temp/weather changes, like attic being 120 degrees and house at 75.  This is fixed by pushing the silence button (if it has one).  After a short time it will reset and hopefully not falsely go off again.
   
4. Very rarely, false alarms are caused by air blowing directly on the detector (open window, ceiling fan blowing upward instead of downward, etc.). This is fixed by re-directing air movement away from detector.
5. Very rarely, false alarms are caused by a defective smoke detector. This is fixed by replacing detector.