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Default Non-working outlet

Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker. They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks

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Ken Ken is offline
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Default Non-working outlet

T.J. wrote:
Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker. They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks


Did you measure the voltage at the wires on the defective outlet, or
just plug something into the outlet to determine if it worked? You must
take some measurements rather than assume it is reaching a particular
point. That goes for the splice in the "Junction box" as well.
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Default Non-working outlet

On Mar 9, 8:27?am, "T.J." wrote:
Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker. They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks


You may well need to replace receptacle. Turn off power at breaker,
_make sure_ it is off by testing at good outlet, then pull out bad
recep, check connections there and also at junction box. If you see
signs of overheating/ discoloration on recep, replace it. If you read
here for a while, you will see a lot of advice to use screw terminals
instead of the quick n easy but less reliable back stab connection
method.

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Default Non-working outlet

On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 13:53:24 GMT, Ken wrote:

T.J. wrote:
Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker. They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks


Did you measure the voltage at the wires on the defective outlet, or
just plug something into the outlet to determine if it worked? You must
take some measurements rather than assume it is reaching a particular
point. That goes for the splice in the "Junction box" as well.



Or just shut of the breaker, take that outlet apart,
look for burnt bits, either replace it or put it back together,
turn the power back on, and see if it works now.
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Default Non-working outlet

On Mar 9, 11:31 am, Goedjn wrote:
On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 13:53:24 GMT, Ken wrote:
T.J. wrote:
Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker. They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks


Did you measure the voltage at the wires on the defective outlet, or
just plug something into the outlet to determine if it worked? You must
take some measurements rather than assume it is reaching a particular
point. That goes for the splice in the "Junction box" as well.


Or just shut of the breaker, take that outlet apart,
look for burnt bits, either replace it or put it back together,
turn the power back on, and see if it works now.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Check if there is a GFI outlet upstream from the non-working outlet.
You might just have to press the reset button on it.



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Default Non-working outlet

On 9 Mar 2007 05:27:20 -0800, "T.J." wrote:

Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker.


Did you see this happen? Not counting ground faults that cause a
breaker to trip, if a breaker trips it is because there is too much
current going through the wires. This can damage the outlet
(receptacle). This is especially true if the device is on, or the
short is present whether the device is on or off. So the receptacle
could be damaged inside. That is, there might be proper voltage
reaching the receptacle, but the prongs of plugs can't make good
contact with the slots inside the receptacle, the device still won't
work.

They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks


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Default Non-working outlet

On 9 Mar 2007 05:27:20 -0800, "T.J." wrote:

Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker. They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks



It sounds like the plug-in is bad.
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Default Non-working outlet

On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:54:26 -0500, mm
wrote:

On 9 Mar 2007 05:27:20 -0800, "T.J." wrote:

Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker.


Did you see this happen? Not counting ground faults that cause a


I asked because if you had seen it happen you would have heard noises
or seen sparks and you might know that they came from the outlet, and
not from whatever was plugged in. If you saw spark or heard noises
from teh outlet and now it doesn't work, a good chance it's the outlet
that is bad.


breaker to trip, if a breaker trips it is because there is too much
current going through the wires. This can damage the outlet
(receptacle). This is especially true if the device is on, or the
short is present whether the device is on or off. So the receptacle
could be damaged inside. That is, there might be proper voltage
reaching the receptacle, but the prongs of plugs can't make good
contact with the slots inside the receptacle, the device still won't
work.

They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks


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Default Non-working outlet

On Mar 9, 5:02 pm, mm wrote:
On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:54:26 -0500, mm
wrote:

On 9 Mar 2007 05:27:20 -0800, "T.J." wrote:


Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker.


Did you see this happen? Not counting ground faults that cause a


I asked because if you had seen it happen you would have heard noises
or seen sparks and you might know that they came from the outlet, and
not from whatever was plugged in. If you saw spark or heard noises
from teh outlet and now it doesn't work, a good chance it's the outlet
that is bad.



breaker to trip, if a breaker trips it is because there is too much
current going through the wires. This can damage the outlet
(receptacle). This is especially true if the device is on, or the
short is present whether the device is on or off. So the receptacle
could be damaged inside. That is, there might be proper voltage
reaching the receptacle, but the prongs of plugs can't make good
contact with the slots inside the receptacle, the device still won't
work.


They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -


Thanks for all the replies guys. I found out what was wrong. I went to
the junction box and took the wire nut off the hots and the hot to
that particualr outlet was not stripped back far enough and also not
making contact with the other hots. However what I want to know is why
would that cause it to trip the circuit and how come it worked for a
while before it tripped the breaker? ThAnKs

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Default Non-working outlet

On 21 Mar 2007 18:15:23 -0700, "T.J." wrote:

On Mar 9, 5:02 pm, mm wrote:
On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:54:26 -0500, mm
wrote:

On 9 Mar 2007 05:27:20 -0800, "T.J." wrote:


Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker.


Did you see this happen? Not counting ground faults that cause a


I asked because if you had seen it happen you would have heard noises
or seen sparks and you might know that they came from the outlet, and
not from whatever was plugged in. If you saw spark or heard noises
from teh outlet and now it doesn't work, a good chance it's the outlet
that is bad.



breaker to trip, if a breaker trips it is because there is too much
current going through the wires. This can damage the outlet
(receptacle). This is especially true if the device is on, or the
short is present whether the device is on or off. So the receptacle
could be damaged inside. That is, there might be proper voltage
reaching the receptacle, but the prongs of plugs can't make good
contact with the slots inside the receptacle, the device still won't
work.


They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -


Thanks for all the replies guys. I found out what was wrong. I went to
the junction box and took the wire nut off the hots and the hot to
that particualr outlet was not stripped back far enough and also not
making contact with the other hots. However what I want to know is why
would that cause it to trip the circuit and how come it worked for a
while before it tripped the breaker? ThAnKs



The breaker most likely tripped because what ever was being plugged in
was bad. Has anyone tried to re use whatever that was?

I am guessing that the wire probably got a nick in the copper when the
insulation was stripped. When the circuit was overloaded the wire
melted at the week spot and lost contact with the wirenut.



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Default Non-working outlet

On 21 Mar 2007 18:15:23 -0700, "T.J." wrote:

On Mar 9, 5:02 pm, mm wrote:
On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:54:26 -0500, mm
wrote:

On 9 Mar 2007 05:27:20 -0800, "T.J." wrote:


Hi
I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a
junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1
outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the
same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet.
The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged
something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker.


Did you see this happen? Not counting ground faults that cause a


I asked because if you had seen it happen you would have heard noises
or seen sparks and you might know that they came from the outlet, and
not from whatever was plugged in. If you saw spark or heard noises
from teh outlet and now it doesn't work, a good chance it's the outlet
that is bad.



breaker to trip, if a breaker trips it is because there is too much
current going through the wires. This can damage the outlet
(receptacle). This is especially true if the device is on, or the
short is present whether the device is on or off. So the receptacle
could be damaged inside. That is, there might be proper voltage
reaching the receptacle, but the prongs of plugs can't make good
contact with the slots inside the receptacle, the device still won't
work.


They then
reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work
however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this?
Thanks- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -


Thanks for all the replies guys. I found out what was wrong. I went to
the junction box and took the wire nut off the hots and the hot to
that particualr outlet was not stripped back far enough and also not
making contact with the other hots. However what I want to know is why
would that cause it to trip the circuit and how come it worked for a
while before it tripped the breaker? ThAnKs



IMHO:

If this was me, I would be concerned why it happened. The breaker
tripping propbly protected the home from the wires overheating in the
walls and causing a fire. Thank God For Good Breakers. If the
same person who did the junction box wiring, did any other, please
have the work second checked. After I wire up some wires under a
twister, it's solid.

Becareful with Electricity, I believe it's the second major cause of
home fires.

BTW, thanks for the followup, those following thread appreciate it.

later,

tom @ www.FreeCreditCheckGuide.com

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