Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I changed our wall outlet plug in our 2nd floor bedroom from a two prong to a three prong and now I don't have power to my closet. The outlet has two hot wires, two neutrals, and two grounds. All of the wiring was stacked up on the two prong plug. I've tried various configurations to remedy the problem; however, none of them seem to work. I am able to get power to this particular outlet, but I still cannot restore power to my closet.
By Antwan from MO
Why was there a ground wire to a 2 wire outlet? Usually only a hot and neutral are at a 2 wire recept. Not sure what you mean by stacked, 2 wires under each screw? One set should be the line, the other a load-the wires to the rest of the closet. I would get an electrician with proper tools to sort out what you have.
Ditto with zoodad! Please have an electrician take care of this because the wiring as it is now could also be a fire hazard! :-(
We removed a closet from our bedroom. It turned into a nightmare. First the walls were of plaster with the wire mesh for the corners. While removing the wire mesh we cut into a tiny red wire in the ceiling. It made an outlet not work. However this outlet is run by the closet light. If the light is on the outlet works, but if it is off it does not work.
I believe this tiny red wire being cut is responsible for this because the light did not have to be turned on before this tiny red wire was cut. This tiny red wire was buried into the plaster and we cannot find where it goes. Any suggestions on making this red wire dead? I am fine with having the switch on to run the outlet.
If you can find the two ends of the wire it is easy to repair. They sell cable splicers at most hardware stores. They look like a plastic bulb with a place to insert the two ends of the cable.
Inset each end of the cable into the two slots. Once the cable is inserted at the bottom of the posts, take a pair of pliers and squeeze the bulb at the bottom until it pops. The cable is now spliced.
We live in an apartment building built in the 1970s, maybe 80s. My daughter had an inexpensive fan in her room that would slow down and then it just stopped working.
Last night it worked and then stopped. I jiggled the cord, unplugged the light, and the fan, and it worked then stopped. So afraid a fire or a weird wire is the culprit I moved to a different outlet and it worked fine. How do I know what is going on with the outlet, and are we in danger? Is it just the voltage to that one outlet?
The landlord is a super pain to deal with.
Thank you.
This is probably one for an electrician to handle since they have the meters and test equipment necessary to test the voltage at your receptacle.
It is possible you have a loose connection that when heated with current flow, opens or better closes the circuit.
Or it is possible that this receptacle is on a shared neutral in which the neutral is not making it back to the panel. If this were the case, the speed of your fan and even whether it was working would depend on other electrical loads being on.
I have a problem here that I was hoping you could help me with. 1 of the 2 receptacles isn't working, in my kitchen, 1 outlet with 2 plugins. I tried changing the whole outlet, but that didn't help. It can't be the breaker as the other plugin is still working.
Please help
A duplex receptacle has a bridge between the two neutral slots (tall ones) and a bridge between the two hot slots (short ones) and the grounds are tied together internally. It would be difficult for one to be working without the other unless a bridge was cut. (Bridges are cut to make one receptacle switched on a duplex receptacle).
An electrician could fix this for you.
One of my bedroom sockets is going off and not tripping. Two of my livingroom ones just cut off and then they come back on a few hours later. Weird.
It sounds like a loose connection in your household wiring. Your wiring is metal, most likely copper (maybe aluminum). A loose connection generates heat causing the metal to expand. This can cause the circuit to open.
The outlet for my cook top and fan is not working, but the breaker is fine. I checked the voltage between phase to neutral and it was 20V. I checked the phase to ground- 120V.
If not qualified, I would recommend getting an electrician to resolve the issue.
It sounds as though the neutral connection is open somewhere. Yes, it could be at the panel. It could also be at an electrical box between the stove and the panel.
A digital meter is precise, but does not load the circuit. A meter such as a Wiggy is less precise but loads the circuit and it is more obvious that the neutral is open.
With the breaker off, an electrician will check for continuity (zero resistance) between the neutral and ground (these are bonded in your panel).
I have a touch lamp that previously worked in my daughters' bedroom. It went out so I had a new switch put in from a lamp repair shop. Now it works in every outlet except the 2 upstairs bedrooms! Other things work in the outlets (iPod dock, video monitor cameras, sewing machine), but the lamp doesn't!
It's so strange because the lamp works in other rooms in the house. Any thoughts on this?The touch switch works on capacitance of the human body interfering with the electric field set up by the control box inside the lamp.
Human capacitance can vary with surroundings, causing the lamp to work in some rooms and not in others.
The sensitivity of the switch can usually be adjusted. I would start by returning to the lamp repair shop and asking for the switch to be made more sensitive because it is not always working.
I woke up this morning and plugged in the blender like I do every morning and night. However today it wouldn't work so, I switched it to an outlet on a different wall and it worked. I noticed the GFI light was red, this is a newer house (2-year-old), so I have never had this problem before.
I tried to fix it by unplugging everything and then pushed the GFI button in and it clicked, but it is still red. So I flipped the breaker and it is still red what should I try next? Thank you so much for any help.There is no standard on the red light. It could mean everything is okay. However, if there is no power, then push the test and then the reset. If nothing changes...
Check other receptacles in the vicinity that are not GFCI and unplug their loads. (It could be they are fed from the GFCI in question). Then go back to the GFCI and push the test and reset.
If still no luck, hire an electrician to change the GFCI.
I arced three wires in my light, the three connected. Now 1 plug in works and 1 doesn't.
If the light is plugged in the wall and had no wall switch, have an electrician come to install a new receptacle. Receptacles are cheap. In the process of changing the receptacles, he/she will have to unwire the old and wire the new so the integrity of the connections will be verified.
If the light is plugged in the wall and has a wall switch, have an electrician come to check power at the receptacle and switch. Receptacles and switches are cheap. I suspect the switch is bad (which would be indicated by no power to half of receptacle with the switch on). In the process of changing the receptacle or switch, he/she will have to unwire the old and wire the new so the integrity of the connections will be verified.
It would be helpful to identify which breaker the circuit is on, so that it can be shut off while the work is done.
I changed one outlet in my daughter's bedroom and turned the breaker off first. After turning the breaker on, the outlet works, but now there is one in another bedroom and one in her bedroom that don't work.
I tried turning the breaker off and on again and the two outlets that I didn't touch are still not working.I am glad you killed power at the breaker before working on this system. This always needs to be done. I hope you also metered it before working to make sure power was gone.
It is standard practice for multiple items like this to be on one circuit. A 2 conductor cable consists of a black insulated, white insulated and bare wire. My guess is this enclosure had two such cables in it. One cable providing power to this box and the other carrying the power on to the next. To install a receptacle, pigtails (short piece of wire) are often run from the hot (black) neutral (white) and ground (bare) to the receptacle. This makes changing the receptacle easier.
What may have happened is moving the connection under the wire nut, either black or white wire connections, caused the circuit to be broken. The wire nuts need to be removed and re-installed or replaced.
An electrician can fix this for you.
I have a wall of outlets that are not working, but when I put a meter on them it shows they are getting power. I changed one outlet, but still not working.
By Terri
A common way of checking power is with a non-contact volt meter. It will show the presence of 120 VAC hot.
However, to make a circuit you also need the neutral. If you have the hot, but lost the neutral, it would act as you describe.
The neutral and the ground should be bonded (connected) at only one point, typically your power panel.
With the power off, an electrician could use a meter to determine if there is continuity between the neutral and ground. If there is, your neutral is good.
There are a number of ways to lose a neutral
- Run a nail through it hanging a picture
- Overload a bad connection causing it to overheat and burn open
- Rodent chewing through wire
- Human error when wiring - did not connect neutral
- Human error when wiring - switched neutral instead of hot
-Human error when wiring - GFCI wiring switched (hot and neutral reversed)
You may want to look to see if a GFCI is tripped. If it is and you reset it and you have power again, you will need to get an electrician to correct the GFCI wiring.
I can put a plug into the outlet, but any movement of the cords and they pop out. Any kind of plug in air freshener will hang partially out. It's like a loose outlet that doesn't want to hold onto anything.
By Cheryl from Cameron Park, CA
An outlet in a circuit is not working and the other outlets are also not working as a result. What is the problem?
By R
Unplug everything from the receptacles on that circuit.
Is the breaker reset? To reset a breaker, switch off then on.
The receptacles may be grouped on an AFCI or GFCI receptacle. Look for a receptacle that is one of these and needs to be reset and reset it.
If this all fails, then it could be the electrical wiring which would require an electrician to correct. Either an open hot or neutral could cause this (often bad connection at wire nut).
One day while my wife was doing laundry the dryer just stopped working. Assuming the dryer was fubar we went out and purchased another dryer. When we plugged it in, it too would not turn on. Now there is a new breaker and when I plug it in almost all the way and put my multimeter on each terminal I get power in only 2 of the openings. At the third I only get about 25 volts. Could the outlet be shot or did my new breaker (30 amp 2 pole) shoot the bed?
By Jim
Jim, you seem to have basic knowledge of electricity, so I think you should try googling for information. Try to find some sites or some Youtube videos specifically about electrical issues.
My meter shows 220, but when I plug my cord in my new unit won't turn on. How can I find the problem? It's not the new unit.
By Mark
Well, if its not the unit, and the outlet tests ok, then it has to be your cord. Those cords (assuming this is for a dryer or A/C) don't last, which is why often you have to buy the cords separate.
My bathroom had one switch that turned on the lights and the fan. I replaced the switch with a double-toggle style switch so the lights and fan could be turned on separately. I can't get the switch to work on the lights or the fan now. The outlets still work. I checked the breakers and every GFCI and nothing was thrown. What do I do to fix this issue?
By JJ
This is not the site to get help for this problem, as a general rule. Try googling for specific electrical information if you think you can fix this yourself. However, do remember that electrical mistakes can cause fires in your house. Me - I'd call an electrician, since it isn't working correctly, and you think you did it right. Perhaps you know someone who is more familiar with this sort of repair who would help you, as it should have been a very simple repair job, and it has turned out not to be.
The plugs worked in the bedroom and we changed them all out even some in other parts of the house. Now all the ones in bedroom stopped working. The rest of house plugs and lights work.
By Micheal
It could be that a GFCI is protecting the circuit and it is tripped. If so, that is the easy fix. Find and reset the GFCI.
More likely is that a bad connection exists in the rewire. draw out a map of the house with the breaker panel and imagine wire running from receptacle to receptacle, originating at the breaker. somewhere the chain is broken. Beginning with the receptacle with power at the end of the chain, followed by the receptacle without power next in the chain, search for the bad connection. Never work electrical hot. Always shut off power at the breaker first.
Plug in won't work on one side of living room.
By Chris from Danville, VA
You can buy a plug in tester at Home Depot or any big box hardware store that has lights on it to indicate a short, open, open ground, etc. That is the best way (they come in 2 or 3 prong, depending if you have a grounded system) or it may be as simple as a loose screw.
Turn off the breaker. Take the cover off, and the 2 screws holding the plug. Pull it out and visually check it. Tighten the screws, or replace the plug, insuring you have the wires in the same position on the new plug. Turn the breaker back on and test again.
Or the problem may be in a connection on one of the other plugs on the circuit. Follow the same pocedure as above. Always testing the non working plug after checking connections on the other plugs.
I bought a George Forman grill. My outlet is melting everytime I use it. I love my grill. What can I do?
By Michele from Detroit, MI
I'm not an expert, but what is happening is not good! There may be a problem with the grill itself, such as drawing too much electricity, or the outlet might be old or damaged. The outlet also might be on a circuit that already has too much plugged into it. You have to watch the wattage of your appliances and other items, and stay under the load limits of your circuit. Most houses seem to have 15-amp circuits, which means you should stay under 1500 watts total on that circuit. There should be a circuit breaker that trips and cuts the power when there's too much draw on the circuit, and if this hasn't happened, there's something wrong. In addition, your kitchen and bathroom outlets should be GFCI outlets (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters), which have their own, built-in circuit breakers. These can prevent shorts and electrocutions because you're always around water in bathrooms and kitchens.
You should really have a professional electrician check your outlet and your circuits, because you are in danger of having a fire. Also have someone test the grill, but I don't think you should use it until you get the other things checked. Don't take chances! The life you save may be your own.
My parents moved into an older home and the outlets in an extra bedroom all worked until a month ago. Using a multimeter, I am not able to get a reading on any of the outlets. (Using an non contact probe, I got a hot read on the outlets). The only reading that I get is when I place one of probes in the hot and one in the ground. The light in the room is working fine and is on the same circuit. I replaced all of the outlets this afternoon, but it didn't work.
I did notice that the neutral wires were attached opposite of the hot wires, but I am not sure if that matters. Another thing that I noticed was at the panel. On the neutral bar, in a few places, there is more than 1 neutral wire in a few of the slots. I am not sure what I should do next, other than have them call in an electrician.By Phillip C.
I've never noticed any electricians giving advice on here. Better call one in.
My outlet in the bathroom has a plug and light switch in one. The plug would not hold anything in it, but the light switch worked. We replaced it with a brand new one and the only thing that worked was the plug; the light switch wouldn't work. So I took the new one off and put the old one back on. It's not working at all now. What happened and how do I fix it?
By melissa k
Call an electrician; you need to have someone fix this for you that knows what they are doing.
Why are none of my electrical outlets working in my bathrooms in my home?
By Candy
Have you checked the circuit breakers either at the box or at the GFI outlets in your bathrooms? It sounds as though something has caused an overload and made the breakers flip. This is an important safety feature meant to prevent electrical fires.
Check the breakers and then make sure people aren't overloading the bathroom circuits with too many high wattage appliances. Hair dryer+curling irons or rollers+electric shaver and toothbrushes chargers+a space heater-all plugged in at the same time (!) is a common sight in more bathrooms than people think, and is the usual cause of overload.
You can reset the breakers but if they flip again it means something is causing repeated overloads. If you're sure it's not the result of too many things plugged in at the same time, you'll need a licensed, insured professional to come in and check those wires to make sure the overload isn't the result of broken wires inside the wall.
Otherwise you're looking at a very serious fire hazard-overloads from what ever cause lead to devastating home fires.
How do I fix an electrical overload?
By Juan
WARNING - overloaded electrical circuits present serious fire hazards. Additionally, DIY home electrical work can present or create personal safety hazards. Know and follow the safety rules. Better yet, hire a professional-most insurance will not pay out if you have overloaded a circuit or had work done by an unlicensed electrician.
The following is an extremely simplified answer but should get you started; the best thing to do is to first learn about home electrical systems from library and Internet sites like:
electrical.about.com/
Now, look in your circuit box to determine the whole house amp load from the information listed in the box. Next, check to see if the individual circuit breakers list the load-some will be 120v with a load of 1500w total, others will be 240v for things like stoves, AC/heating, and clothes dryers. Then follow the steps below .
Step One - Get a note pad and pencil. List the circuit you are overloading (should be listed in the circuit box); you will also be making additional notes, see Step Three.
Step Two - unplug everything on the overloaded circuit.
Step Three - re-plug one item and wait for a few minutes. If the one item doesn't throw the breaker, note the wattage/amp (should be on the plug or a tag on the cord) and move on to Step Four
Step Four - continue adding one electrical item and noting the wattage/amp.
My washer is plugged into its own GFI plug and everytime the washer starts to fill up the GFI keeps popping. It's got its own place in the main breaker, but that doesn't pop or need to be reset. What can I do?
By Jason
My husband is a home builder. One of the most common warranty issues he has is replacing gfi's. They are surely made in the bad part of China and often go bad. My advice is to find a handyman or electrician to replace the gfi. You can buy them at the big box cheap enough - that way all you have to do is pay labor and will not get charged so much. Get help to make sure that you get the right one.
The breaker will not kick. To make things simple for me, my husband explained that the gfi is like an outlet and surge protector in one with it's own tiny breaker inside. They are required to use them near wet areas. When there is a surge the gfi "kicks off" and must be reset.
I have an outlet that has a switch and a light that shows when it is turned on. The light is turning on, but anything plugged in doesn't work.
By NH
It sounds as though one of the wires leading to the outlet is pulled away, worn, broken, or frayed. It is still making a connection but not a connection sufficient to supply full power to any item plugged into it.
Two solutions to this one (remove the outlet plate and have a look, OR call in a trained, licensed professional) but FIRST: shut down the breaker to that circuit NOW and leave it off until the problem is sorted. The pulled away/worn/broken/frayed wiring is generating enough electricity to start a fire.
Next, decide if you want to give this a go yourself, or if you are going to call in a licensed professional. If it is simply a pulled away wire you may be able to remove the outlet plate and tighten the wire yourself. HOWEVER if you feel a lack of confidence, do call in a pro-better to be safe than sorry!
Additionally, using a professional will satisfy your insurance company should anything happen, and if you are a renter you may have landlord issues to consider. *If you are renting, call the landlord. He/she may have an electrician on call, or may have the skills to do the work. Very few responsible landlords want you doing the work as it may affect their insurance and/or other legal responsibilities.
DIY electrical work is a DIY job best left to people with some training and experience, and there are a lot of very good books available in your local library to help you learn. The Reader's Digest books are excellent as a starting point and you may decide to add a copy to your home library. The books cover just about every sort of home maintenance job there is. Local community colleges and adult education programmes also offer courses with certificates upon completion.
I plugged an extension cord in my bedroom for a pool pump and now none of the power works in that room and none of the breakers are tripped. Could it be a bad breaker?
By Dawn
Could be a bad breaker, could be that your bedroom outlets are tied into a GFCI circuit. Check the bathroom GFCI outlets for a reset button, could even be on a different floor of your house. BTW, if that is on a GFCI outlet then I guess it is okay to run your pump off that outlet, however, you have already learned that it is drawing way too much power from that circuit. If that is not a GFCI circuit, then you really should not be running a pool pump from it as you risk possibly electrocuting your swimmers if some sort of short occurs.
How do you fix a faulty outlet? One of the outlets in our house is easily jostled which will make everything plugged into the power strip go off. This could be as simple as walking by it or if the cord is moved the slightest bit. Last night I tried the lower outlet and I heard crackling and could see a spark inside. The top one works better, but you have to make sure all the cords are held up so that it stays in the right spot in the outlet.
I am worried this could be a fire hazard. If I just change the outlet out for a new one, would this fix the problem? Maybe the wires have come lose?
By Stella from Manchester, WA
There's a site called "Instructables" that is excellent for any household repairs or do it yourself projects. I use it all the time and a friend of mine used it to learn how to install laminate flooring. It's very detailed and has great pictures.
That said, changing the outlet is easy. Turn off your power! Then all you do is unscrew the cover, unscrew the outlet from the wall box, unscrew the two connectors and replace the outlet with the new one by reversing all of this. If you ask the guys at the hardware store they can walk you through it. It's easy. You can do this or pay some guy $10 per outlet to do it for you.
My outlets in the kitchen are all out. The GFI surge protection outlet seems to work, when I push it the light goes out and when I trip it the light goes on. I also checked my circuit breaker and nothing looks tripped. I turned each one off and then back on. The outlets still don't work, any ideas?
By Mike
First, GFI is not surge protection, it is to protect you in case of a Ground Fault and Interrupt the power so you don't become the path to ground and get electricuted. Second, the light indicates different things in different brands of gfi outlets, some mean it functioning and some mean it can no longer protect you and has locked out the power to protect you and needs to be replaced, which sounds like your problem. Replace it or have it replaced by a qualified electrician if you don't know how.
Could someone describe the trouble-shooting procedures you would use to repair a non working 120 volt electrical outlet that is in the middle of a wall with 5 other outlets?
By gabriela1 from Romania
You truly need to be asking a professional electrician for this answer because electrical problems can cause a fire. :-(
After an electrical outage, 3 outlets on 1 breaker servicing 2 TVs and a computer system (all with power bars) stopped working. I reset all breakers (none had kicked off), changed out the circuit breaker servicing the 3 outlets, tested voltage, all showed good. The house was built in 1980, there are no CFCI breakers. At times I can get the outlets to work with a small clock/radio, but as soon as I plug in anything requiring more amps (?) like a TV, all 3 outlets stop working. Ideas before I call an electrician?
By Doug B
I live in a 2 bedroom duplex. My wife plugged the vacuum in the master room and the room lost all power. The breaker was fine, the room itself doesn't have a a GFI, but all the ones where we have GFIs are fine. Any ideas before calling a electrician?
By James
My basement was refinished just before we bought the house. I'm pretty sure the previous owner did the work himself as there are so many problems. Several outlets seem to have the faceplate screwed just into the drywall, and are always falling off. Now one of the outlets has no faceplate and is popping way out of the wall. I don't know how to begin to fix this, but I'm pretty sure there must be a relatively easy way to do it?
By Amy Fletcher C. from Louisville, KY
My mother has an enclosed porch and there are outlets on the wall of each side of the room. Neither of the outlets are working. My mother said she could have shut something off (last fall?), but I don't ever remember her shutting anything off before. This has never happened before. The porch is off the kitchen and we did have to hit the reset button because a fuse was blown early in the year.
The microwave and toaster have to be used separately. It just seems strange to not have any of the porch outlets working. Each outlet has two spots to plug something in and none of them are working.By Laurel P
