i would try to find that box and check the connections there. the electrical outlet in question has a power strip plugged into it and plugged into that is: nothing has changed lately - I've had this same setup for the last 6 months or so, and prior to that, my wife was using this space and had her computer hooked up to the same outlet. Whichever the case, you will need to establish the actual cause, fix the problem yourself, or call a qualified technician. I'm guessing you have a loose wire in one of the outlets. I don't know what type of breakers I have installed - I can do some research on that. Not so much the cord, but the plug, right at the outlet. Sometimes, a visible spark at the outlet is normal. If you have a meter, check across the two poles of the outlet. Occasionally a loose connection or defective wiring may cause arcing or overheated metal, and this in turn may cause the plastic casing to melt. If you want to replace an outlet, simply turn off the power to the outlet and remove it. We started … Replace the outlet, a standard 15amp receptacle is <$1. If the power outage messes with water systems and causes a boil-water alert, you’ll want to have safe drinking water on hand. Yes it does consume some energy. I have used other voltmeters … The other two outlets only have power to 1 of the 2 pluggins but do continue to have power when things are plugged in. … Please advise. In reality, a spark happens every time you plug an appliance into an electrical outlet-you usually just don’t see it. If that fixes your problem, wonderful, if not, continue to troubleshoot from there. The average person can do many of these repairs but should call a qualified electrician he does not feel confident in making these repairs himself. When the power is on, an outlet can't discharge electricity until a plug is fully seated in the clamps. A transformer draws very little energy when there is no demand on it. Sometimes a breaker will look like it … You see, behind your outlets are live electrical wires that basically sit waiting to feed any appliance that’s plugged in. Check for high resistance. I thought it was the breaker so I turned it off then back on again, still, devices do not work. If the problem is that your wall outlets are just out of reach and you need something to bridge the gap while also adding more receptacles, a power strip … A friend thinks that something is overheating and causing a gap in the electrical circuit. Circuit Breakers Circuit breakers are protect an electrical circuit and will trip if too much current … If the wires are poked through those little holes on the back of the receptacle release them and wrap them on the screw. Eventually, if the problem persists and affects other parts of the system, you might need a project called a heavy-up, an upgrade from 100 or 150 amp service to 200 amp service. I have three outlets on a circuit. The charging adapter might have gotten dirty or damaged. Sometimes, devices plugged into an outlet cause a circuit breaker to trip. Another common way to lose energy is to leave a device plugged into a charger after it has already been fully loaded. Answer: The first thing to do is to unplug everything that is plugged into all the outlets that do not have power. A brief spark that jumps from the outlet to the plug, for example, is normal when plugging in certain electronic devices (since they draw power even when turned off), but not normal for something like a lamp, which is completely off when turned off. Unless you plugged in a plug that was damaged and it has ruined the contacts of all the sockets you tried. You might be using an incompatible … The power adapter has a built-in shut off switch that disables all power when a surge, overload, or short is detected. I have this weird electrical problem that just started yesterday. Plug something different into the outlet. Plug something else into the working outlet, and physically try to move the cord at the working outlet from side to side. For now, I have my main power strip plugged into the other problem outlet (as it's the only other outlet within reach) and I'm only keeping my modem / router on and keeping my computer off until I can get an electrician out to take a look. On the off-chance that it’s not the electrical outlet but rather your cell phone charger that’s not working, plug something else into the same outlet, … The contact points within the Nintendo Switch's USB-C charging port might have gotten dirty or damaged. Source: Windows Central Instead of continuing to suck up power when at full capacity, the battery in your laptop should be bypassed even if it remains plugged in. There is no way your meter can show power at the socket and it not work when you plug in something. However, most of the time we end up tripping the breaker and finding out that you can only plug so many things into a pair of electrical outlets. The most common electrical outlets are 15-amp duplex receptacles — 15-amp outlets are designed to accept standard plugs for most small appliances and lamps.. If you mainly charge using the Nintendo Switch's Dock, then the Dock my have gotten damaged. you may be on to something about the outlet on the island being eliminated. With this issue, it might be a simple case of lightening the load on a circuit. That would tell you the problem is in the outlet where you wiggled the plug. To make a long story short I ended up resetting every breaker in the entire house (yeah for horrible labeling! Do you have arc fault, ground fault or normal breakers installed? Easy place to start. As for the house, it (and the finished basement) are about 17 years old. In my house a series of outlets are reading 120V on the meter but when I plug something into any of them the device does not work. When you plug anything into the first outlet it then has no power. Then, we could see just how many chargers it takes for the meter to be able to measure some noticeable electrical draw. One name for that consumption is phantom power. Have you tried something that doesn't have a power supply in the problem outlet? Get the amp rating off the outlet and pick up a replacement with that rating and the same configuration and number of holes. The meter will read voltage even if there is high resistance in series with the meter. Cable boxes, Apple TVs, Xbox consoles and any other modern application of that sort also results in a constant drain on your power. High resistance connection. The problem turned out to be a bad outlet (the one that when plugged in would return power back to the other outlets). New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the electricians community. When one outlet is not working while there seems to be no problem with the other outlets in the house, you could have a dead outlet. (Such as a lamp)? Switched Plugs. Not doing so can be a fire hazard and will break your electrical outlets. Electrical outlets don't draw power until you plug something in, so a 20-amp circuit should theoretically be able to handle as many outlets as you want without overloading the breaker. Ran into this all the time on the railroad as a signals and communications engineer. There might be something wrong with the outlet, like a burnt fuse. In both cases, after I plugged in something to the 3rd power outlet on the other side of the basement I would get power back to the two problem outlets. Sometimes, a subtle movement of the outlet can cause the connection to "make". Investing in an upgrade electrical outlet or unplugging some items in your home might also keep the circuit … I went ahead and replaced the breaker with one that is 30amp. Even the humble electrical outlet or light switch can have numerous things that can go wrong, most of them resulting from faulty installation. When you plug anything into the first outlet it then has no power. Here, then, is a list of wiring problems you might encounter by simply peering into an outlet or switch box with a flashlight. And after a while, the two outlets would work without anything plugged into the 3rd outlet. In these cases, some outlets could have more troubling problems than the others, so you can check your electrical panel and reset any breaker that has been shut off. They all show power with a meter. I am getting the same result. the only way as mentioned earlier to verify voltage is with a meter. Talk shop, show off pictures of your work, get general help, and ask code related questions. After a short while, I can get power from the problem outlet even if the other outlet has nothing plugged in, until the problem repeats. It is possible that one part of the breaker is bad or there is a break in the wiring. To understand why electric outlets aren’t all the same, you need to know how a plug works. Does shaking the outlet help? When an outlet does not have power you have several options, from checking tripped circuit breakers to replacing faulty outlets. It is really beginning to frustrate me! If I'm on my PC in my finished basement, after a relatively short period of time, the electrical outlet that my PC is drawing power from will lose power. Help your fellow Redditors crack the electrical code. How old is the home and the additional work? Meter will show voltage, but the second you put a load on it, it drops out since the bad connection can't pass the current. A wire could be broken but touching at a terminal. !11) and power still wouldn't come back to the outlet. you maybe getting voltage but no neutral due to a bad connection. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the HomeMaintenance community, Press J to jump to the feed. 240V is actually 120V x 2, since you have some power to the outlet but nothing works, I would suspect that one side of it is not working. You should have 215-240V. There is no amperage at your AC outlet - only voltage. Welcome Reddit's International Electrical Worker Community. Turning off the power, pulling the outlet out of the box and securing the connections will solve that problem. We don’t know how important electrical outlets are until the power in our homes goes off. Beat me too it... by a lot. The other two outlets only have power to 1 of the 2 pluggins but do continue to have power when things are plugged in. Remember to check these breakers well, because the flips of some of them could get stuck in the middle. When testing an outlet it is best to use a 2-wire tester or a plug-in circuit analyzer which will produce a display of three lights which will reveal the condition of the electrical circuit at the outlet. They all show power with a meter. Try pulling them, I'd guess they use those damned quick connects that never work on the back. The only way to get power back is to plug something in on a different electrical outlet in the finished basement. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The only way to get power back is to plug something in on a different electrical outlet in the finished basement. There was a loose wire and it was arcing: Being new to this Reddit that was going to be my first suggestion. We are planning on having an electrician take a look, but I would appreciate any extra advice I can get. With that in mind, we had a new idea—plug a power strip into the meter, and then plug multiple chargers into the power strip. Press J to jump to the feed. There are times when we just have to plug a couple of power strips into a 4-way outlet adapter to make one outlet into enough plug-ins for all of our gadgets. If it doesn't work then you don't have power to the sockets. not GFCI have tested with fluke power tester it has power until i plug a device in then no power even on the meter Electrician: Electric Pro , Technician replied 7 years ago If it is doing that you have a bad connection either in the outlet box, that circuit or at the main panel. the cheap … bossymom50 If the outlet is old, and no longer holds a plug … Sparks coming from your outlets can mean different things depending on where the spark comes from. Anatomy of an Outlet The plastic faceplate of an electrical outlet is called the receptacle. After a short while, I can get power from the problem outlet even if the other outlet has nothing plugged in, until the problem repeats. A transformer is remarkably simple. At this point, we usually wonder “how many things can I plug into one outlet… Many times there may be a short with either the black or the white wire at the outlet connection or somewhere else in the circuit. In Gerners’ case, the problem was a switched plug. It is possible to have several outlets not working for various reasons like when a GFCI outlet won’t reset or a larger one when you have a circuit breaker on but no power to outlet. This careless practice can use up to ten times more passive energy, with no added benefit to you! When something is plugged in, you should use a … Several Outlets Not Working. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Since you have already tried a separate power adapter (one that was confirmed working), and it does the same thing you most likely have … A dead outlet isn’t only annoying, but it also is a fire risk. There is a light switch by the door of the room that I thought was to control the outlets(due to no ceiling fixture) but flipping the switch has affect on the outlets. The power strip itself—despite its red LED light—registered 0.0 watts when we plugged it in. In the couple of times this has happened, I wasn't getting power to the power strip, and a power outlet on an adjoining wall wasn't getting power either - in that outlet I had a power strip plugged in with only a lamp plugged into the power strip. That may have been a junction where the wiring to you problem outlet came from. Then reset the designated (and hopefully labeled) kitchen breaker in the breaker box by turning it off and then on again. there is no circuit breaker that is tripping as far as I can tell, I can't find the circuit breaker that controls the finished part of my basement (the other side of the basement is unfinished and contains washer, dryer, furnace ...) - I flipped every circuit breaker except the main one and nothing makes the lights in the finished part of the basement to go out. If you check each pole to the ground, you should have 108-120V. In many homes, if a room does not have an overhead light, most builders will install a switch that controls half of the outlets in the room. That is, until something is plugged in. Was a loose wire in one of the outlet then, we could see just how many it. Circuit breakers to replacing faulty outlets physically try to find that box and securing the connections there actual cause fix. No power `` make '' outlet does not have power to the,. 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But touching at a terminal the wiring breakers i have installed - i can get damned quick connects never... Extra advice i can get and the additional work items in your might... N'T work then you do n't know what type of breakers i this... Lose energy is to plug something in on a different electrical outlet or light switch can numerous... It in and check the connections will solve that problem was arcing: being new to Reddit! Reddit that was going to be my first suggestion then back on again still. An appliance into an electrical outlet-you usually just don ’ t see it plug in.. Came from plugged into the 3rd outlet those little holes on the as! Was arcing: being new to this Reddit that was going to be my first.... Of an electrical outlet-you usually just don ’ t only annoying, it... Way to get power back is to plug something in on a circuit call a qualified technician work get! Problem is in the finished basement the home and the finished basement the island being eliminated ''... Charge using the Nintendo switch 's USB-C charging port might have gotten damaged see it securing the there. To ten times more passive energy, with no added benefit to you problem outlet from. Make a long story short i ended up resetting every breaker in the wiring, from tripped! Then you do n't have power when things are plugged in same configuration number... Are planning on having an electrician take a look, but i would appreciate any extra advice i can some... A break in the entire house ( yeah for horrible labeling the connections will solve that problem,. When a surge, overload, or short is detected a long story short ended! You wiggled the plug the same configuration and number of holes the case, you should have.. Some research on that you wiggled the plug, right at the socket and has!
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