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#1
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
Hello, here's my situation:
In an upstairs bedroom, there was a baseboard heater plugged into one outlet and, in another outlet, a hair dryer and hair iron. Poof, all outlets went dead and the holes of the outlet where the heater was plugged in was scorched and slightly melted. I replaced the scorched outlet with a new one, but still no outlets in the room have power. Checking each outlet with a circuit tester indicates a dead circuit. This is a house I recently moved into and I don't have experience troubleshooting this kind of problem. I bought a basic home wiring book by Black and Decker and that got me through replacing the outlet, but beyond that, my diagnostic skills are limited. What other things should I be looking into at this point? Your help is appreciated, Matt |
#2
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
Assuming you had located the correct circuit breaker for these outlets and
reset it after replacing the burned outlet: Check for loose connections in each dead outlet and in live outlets that are located near the dead outlets, especially if the connections are backstabbed into holes in the back of the receptacles. Sometimes you can find a loose connection by tapping on the outlets while having a lamp plugged into one of the dead outlets (turned on) and watch for it to flicker as you tap on the faulty outlet box "Matt" wrote in message oups.com... Hello, here's my situation: In an upstairs bedroom, there was a baseboard heater plugged into one outlet and, in another outlet, a hair dryer and hair iron. Poof, all outlets went dead and the holes of the outlet where the heater was plugged in was scorched and slightly melted. I replaced the scorched outlet with a new one, but still no outlets in the room have power. Checking each outlet with a circuit tester indicates a dead circuit. This is a house I recently moved into and I don't have experience troubleshooting this kind of problem. I bought a basic home wiring book by Black and Decker and that got me through replacing the outlet, but beyond that, my diagnostic skills are limited. What other things should I be looking into at this point? Your help is appreciated, Matt |
#3
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
Matt wrote:
Hello, here's my situation: In an upstairs bedroom, there was a baseboard heater plugged into one outlet and, in another outlet, a hair dryer and hair iron. Poof, all outlets went dead and the holes of the outlet where the heater was plugged in was scorched and slightly melted. I replaced the scorched outlet with a new one, but still no outlets in the room have power. Checking each outlet with a circuit tester indicates a dead circuit. This is a house I recently moved into and I don't have experience troubleshooting this kind of problem. I bought a basic home wiring book by Black and Decker and that got me through replacing the outlet, but beyond that, my diagnostic skills are limited. What other things should I be looking into at this point? Your help is appreciated, Matt Did you flip the circuit breaker back on? :-) -- The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to minimize spam. Our true address is of the form . |
#4
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
In article , CJT
wrote: Matt wrote: Hello, here's my situation: In an upstairs bedroom, there was a baseboard heater plugged into one outlet and, in another outlet, a hair dryer and hair iron. Poof, all outlets went dead and the holes of the outlet where the heater was plugged in was scorched and slightly melted. I replaced the scorched outlet with a new one, but still no outlets in the room have power. Checking each outlet with a circuit tester indicates a dead circuit. This is a house I recently moved into and I don't have experience troubleshooting this kind of problem. I bought a basic home wiring book by Black and Decker and that got me through replacing the outlet, but beyond that, my diagnostic skills are limited. What other things should I be looking into at this point? Your help is appreciated, Matt Did you flip the circuit breaker back on? :-) Flip it OFF then ON -- Free men own guns, slaves don't www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5357/ |
#5
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
likely a loose connection or fried one espically in the back wired push
in connections |
#6
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
On Sun, 12 Feb 2006 00:27:53 GMT, Nick Hull
wrote: In article , CJT wrote: Matt wrote: Hello, here's my situation: In an upstairs bedroom, there was a baseboard heater plugged into one outlet and, in another outlet, a hair dryer and hair iron. Poof, all outlets went dead and the holes of the outlet where the heater was plugged in was scorched and slightly melted. I replaced the scorched outlet with a new one, but still no outlets in the room have power. Checking each outlet with a circuit tester indicates a dead circuit. This is a house I recently moved into and I don't have experience troubleshooting this kind of problem. I bought a basic home wiring book by Black and Decker and that got me through replacing the outlet, but beyond that, my diagnostic skills are limited. What other things should I be looking into at this point? Your help is appreciated, Matt Did you flip the circuit breaker back on? :-) Flip it OFF then ON I've seen some that require that and some that don't. Also, it would have been nice to have already identified what breakers control what. -- Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin |
#7
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
Thanks to all for the responses (and for being gentle despite my
ignorance). My breaker box was labelled when I moved in. However, through trial and error, it appears to me that the breakers that control the overhead lights in a room don't control the outlets in that room. For example, I have a computer plugged in an upstairs room and when I flip the breaker labelled "3 bedrooms and bathroom" (meaning the upstairs rooms), the lights stop functioning but the computer stays on. So I will work through each breaker individually so I can label them more precisely, and in the process, perhaps I'll reset the appropriate one for that bedroom's outlets. I do have a follow-up question: one response mentioned "connections [that] are backstabbed into holes in the back of the receptacles" and another response mentioned "a loose connection or fried one in the back wired push in connections". What is this referring to? The outlets I have inspected thus far are wired to the screws on either side of the receptacle. Thanks again, Matt |
#8
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
look at the back of the new outlet and a push-in hole for your stripped
wire end is seen. 4 screws and 4 matching holes. |
#9
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
On 11 Feb 2006 21:00:14 -0800, "Matt" wrote:
Thanks to all for the responses (and for being gentle despite my ignorance). My breaker box was labelled when I moved in. However, through trial and error, it appears to me that the breakers that control the overhead lights in a room don't control the outlets in that room. For example, I have a computer plugged in an upstairs room and when I flip the breaker labelled "3 bedrooms and bathroom" (meaning the upstairs rooms), the lights stop functioning but the computer stays on. Poor labeling. That's very common. Whoever did it might have just checked the lights and assumed it was the same for receptacles. So I will work through each breaker individually so I can label them more precisely, and in the process, perhaps I'll reset the appropriate one for that bedroom's outlets. I'm about to replace a breaker with a AFCI. That's a case where good labeling helps. I do have a follow-up question: one response mentioned "connections [that] are backstabbed into holes in the back of the receptacles" and another response mentioned "a loose connection or fried one in the back wired push in connections". What is this referring to? The outlets I have inspected thus far are wired to the screws on either side of the receptacle. That's good. Are they wired so the current for the NEXT receptacle goes through this one? Thanks again, Matt -- Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin |
#10
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
Matt wrote:
Hello, here's my situation: In an upstairs bedroom, there was a baseboard heater plugged into one outlet and, in another outlet, a hair dryer and hair iron. Poof, all outlets went dead and the holes of the outlet where the heater was plugged in was scorched and slightly melted. That's one reason why baseboard heaters are supposed to be hardwired and on a dedicated circuit. Someone jerry rigged that heater by putting a cord and plug on it.. You should seriously consider getting that baseboard heater properly wired. You may not be so lucky next time. JMHO. |
#11
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
Mark Lloyd wrote:
I do have a follow-up question: one response mentioned "connections [that] are backstabbed into holes in the back of the receptacles" and another response mentioned "a loose connection or fried one in the back wired push in connections". What is this referring to? The outlets I have inspected thus far are wired to the screws on either side of the receptacle. That's good. Are they wired so the current for the NEXT receptacle goes through this one? The housing for the burnt receptacle has 2 bunches of wires coming into it and all 4 screws (plus the ground) on the receptacle were occupied. So I think that's a yes to your question about passing current to the next receptacle. Since the wires go to the screws, I don't need to worry about the comments concerning "push-in" connections, correct? Thanks again, Matt |
#12
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
I assumed he meant a portable electric baseboard heater!!
"volts500" wrote in message oups.com... Matt wrote: Hello, here's my situation: In an upstairs bedroom, there was a baseboard heater plugged into one outlet and, in another outlet, a hair dryer and hair iron. Poof, all outlets went dead and the holes of the outlet where the heater was plugged in was scorched and slightly melted. That's one reason why baseboard heaters are supposed to be hardwired and on a dedicated circuit. Someone jerry rigged that heater by putting a cord and plug on it.. You should seriously consider getting that baseboard heater properly wired. You may not be so lucky next time. JMHO. |
#13
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Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
On 12 Feb 2006 10:49:02 -0800, "Matt" wrote:
Mark Lloyd wrote: I do have a follow-up question: one response mentioned "connections [that] are backstabbed into holes in the back of the receptacles" and another response mentioned "a loose connection or fried one in the back wired push in connections". What is this referring to? The outlets I have inspected thus far are wired to the screws on either side of the receptacle. That's good. Are they wired so the current for the NEXT receptacle goes through this one? The housing for the burnt receptacle has 2 bunches of wires coming into it and all 4 screws (plus the ground) on the receptacle were occupied. So I think that's a yes to your question about passing current to the next receptacle. Since the wires go to the screws, I don't need to worry about the comments concerning "push-in" connections, correct? Right. I asked that question because a defect in that receptacle could still cut off current to downstream ones. Also, be sure the screws are tight. Thanks again, Matt -- Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin |
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