On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 10:36:35 -0500, Mike Dobony
wrote:

On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:04:29 -0700, james wrote:

I have a dead outlet, but no breakers are tripped. Is there a way to trace
these unpowered circuits? I have a circuit tracer, but it only works on
powered lines. Thanks.

if this is the only dead outlet, then the problem is between this outlet and
its "uplink"
I would check this outlet for any loose wire, then check all the potential
uplinks (nearby outlets or light switches)

There are 3 dead outlets with other good circuits nearby. There doesn't
seem to be any method to what outlets are on a particular circuit. There
are outlets in between and nearby that are powered.

The first thing is make sure the other outlets are on the same
breaker. The setup you have described seems pretty unlikely. I am
guessing that for some good reason, the electrician alternated
circuits.

You can use a continuity tester to identify the "next" receptacle by
opening the boxes and removing the receptacles from the wire, and
tracing the wire.

There should be a junction box somewhere in the loop. Try to picture
how you would connect them if you were the electrician. More failures
happen in the boxes than in the wiring.