My wife pluged a Vicks vapor machine into our bedroom outlet. The outlet stopped working. The the vapor machine and my ceiling fan with lights also quit working. I put in a new plug and checked the wiring in the fan. All the wires are connected and there are no burn spots on the wires. How do I fix it?
Beginning with 1999, Arc Fault Circuit Protection was required for bedrooms in dwelling units. Nuisance trips are common with this type of protection and vaporizers. The original protection was at the breaker - the breaker would trip. More recently, the protection could be in the receptacle much like a GFCI receptacle, and daisy chained.
It is possible that if you have AFCI protection at the receptacle (newer home or remodel) , that another receptacle, which provides the protection, has a tripped pushbutton that needs reset.
It would be bad practice to put the light on this circuit, but it could have been done.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
All of a sudden my whole back of my house went dead, no electrical outlets worked. But half of the circuit still works, but not on the back walls. The breakers never tripped.
I think it is maybe a bad receptacle, but none looked burned and all tested with a receptacle tester that ground and hot were reversed. Please advise.Circuit Breakers do eventually go bad! This one is giving you a hint ,to its flaws. This requires a professional, to take a look at it ,and evaluate the need.
I have one outlet in a room that is not working. My daughter used a blow dryer and it stopped working. Also now the light in the hall is out. I checked GFCIs and none were tripped, but I reset them anyways. I checked the electrical box and none of the breakers were tripped, but I know sometimes it can just look that way so I turned the one for her room and bathroom off and then back on.
I did the same with the breaker marked for GFCI outlets. Everything else upstairs works, just not the one outlet and the light. Any ideas?The blow dryer might have shorted out that circuit. Unless you are comfortable with electricity, you should call a qualified electrician.
I plugged my heater into an outlet; now the outlet doesn't work. I replaced the outlet, but still doesn't work. Two other outlets in the room work and the light works. It didn't knock out the breaker. What could be wrong? Please help.
By deb from Wheeling, WV
I would try a different appliance in the outlet to see if the outlet in question works. If not then I would reset the circuit breaker and try again. If it still doesn't work it may be the circuit breaker is not working and needs to be replaced.
If you can, try tracing the wiring back to the breaker box. If it goes through a junction box, the wire may have become disconnected there. Please don't keep trying to use the circuit. If you can turn off the breaker, that would be best. If a wire is broken or disconnected it is a fire hazard and should be turned off right away.
My husband got the outlet working. What happen is I wanted to put a fan it the room with a light so my husband took down the old fan with no light. The fan is box wiring, but there was no box, so he put in a metal box. We were reading on box wiring that it needs to have a box clamp to secure it so he put clamp on.
I have a single outlet in my living room that is not working. All other outlets and lights are working fine. I changed the outlet to a GFCI, but it is still not working. I checked the wire with a voltage meter, no juice coming in through wire.
This doesn't seem to make sense. I checked the panel, nothing is tripped. This outlet is about 5 feet from another outlet, that one is working fine.The outlet just stopped working. I am not sure why, but here is the confusing part. The breaker is not flipping off, but when you turn the breaker off then back on it works for a second and stops again. I have lived here for 3 years and nothing like this has happened before.
So what do I do to fix this? Would a new outlet fix this or is it a more serious issue? I'm kinda worried there may be an exposed wire or something shorting it out. Anyone else have this issue or any ideas?You could have a loose wire. Here is an article from Family Handyman that tells you how to troubleshoot: www.familyhandyman.com/
I plugged my vacuum and straightening iron into my outlets on the exact opposite side of the dressing room table. I have another outlet, a lamp is plugged in that one. I plugged my vacuum and straightening iron same outlet vacuum worked for a few minutes then went out!
The outlet stopped working! The breaker was on on position! I flipped it off and on, but that didn't work. Would it help if I shut off the main breaker? And then flipped it back on again?I was vacuum the house. The extension cord was plug into on of the outlet in the dining room when suddenly the vacuum stopped working. I check the electrical panel and everything was okay. I resent all the outlets and still not working.
We have a plug in our kitchen that is a switch for our undercabinet lighting on one side and on the other side is a plug. The plug has suddenly stopped working, even though the light switch is working fine. The breaker is also working fine. We have changed the plug, but it is still not working. Any ideas as to what else we could try?
Thanks!
An electrician could fix this for you.
You need a meter to detect if voltage is present at the receptacle and if the neutral is connected by measuring resistance to ground. There exists a plug in device with three lights that will give you that information.
Another thing to consider is that kitchen receptacles are GFCI protected. It may be that the standard receptacle you replaced is fed from a GFCI receptacle which is tripped. The lighting would not be on the GFCI receptacle. Check to see if any other receptacles are dead, if so I would lean toward a tripped GFCI somewhere.
Good luck.
I like Bruce's first line of advice-- call an electrician. Bruce is an electrician, and can explain these things, but nothing beats having a trained professional fix things for you.
I had a nitelight plugged in. The bulb was loose and I tried to tighten the bulb and it popped; now the outlet doesn't work.
My plug sockets stopped working. There was no bang or odd noises. I checked the circuit breaker, but nothing was tripped.
I have unplugged everything then re-booted it, but nothing! My lights are working though. I need some help please.The most common cause of outlets failing would be a tripped breaker in your power panel. You have correctly troubleshot the situation by unplugging the connected devices and turning the breaker off then on to reset it. Still, no luck.
The second leading cause of receptacles failing would be a tripped GFCI or AFCI receptacle. One receptacle tripping can take out a whole host of receptacles. Look to see if you have any such receptacles (with a test and reset button) . If that receptacle has no power, try resetting it and hopefully power will restore to the others as well.
It is possible the power for these receptacles have a switch. This hidden switch could be turned off (National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation).
After that you are entering an area best left to an electrician. Something has opened the circuit. Wiring could have overheated and burnt open. A rodent could have chewed through the wire. A breaker could have failed. In a multiple occupancy dwelling (duplex, apartment ...) it is possible another tenant could have opened the circuit from their side of the wall. All of these situations require the knowledge and equipment an electrician would supply.
