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

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

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 .

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/

Burnt outlet / Dead circuit
 

likely a loose connection or fried one espically in the back wired push
in connections

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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