In a receptacle/outlet in one of our bedrooms, you can wiggle the plug
and the connection will go on and off. We've all experienced that, but
what's unique (in my experience), is that when it goes off, the power
to the overhead light, operated by a switch at the door, goes off,
too.

What's the connection between these two, and what do I need to do to
fix it? I opened the receptacle, and don't see anything obviously
loose, though I'm inexperienced at electrical things. I did turn the
power off before taking the receptacle out, though (do know that
much!). Thanks.

On 21 Aug, 15:19, albee wrote:
In a receptacle/outlet in one of our bedrooms, you can wiggle the plug
and the connection will go on and off. We've all experienced that, but
what's unique (in my experience), is that when it goes off, the power
to the overhead light, operated by a switch at the door, goes off,
too.

What's the connection between these two, and what do I need to do to
fix it? I opened the receptacle, and don't see anything obviously
loose, though I'm inexperienced at electrical things. I did turn the
power off before taking the receptacle out, though (do know that
much!). Thanks.

Without getting into the detail as to how the overhead light is wired
into the receptacle, consider this:

If the wires are all tight on the receptacle, and any other wires
inside the receptacle box are connected properly (wire nuts tight,
etc.) then the next logical step is to replace the receptacle. They
do go bad. Note where all wires are attached, take 'em off and put
them on the same place on the new receptacle. If that doesn't fix the
problem, then start digging deeper.

On Aug 21, 3:19 pm, albee wrote:
In a receptacle/outlet in one of our bedrooms, you can wiggle the plug
and the connection will go on and off. We've all experienced that, but
what's unique (in my experience), is that when it goes off, the power
to the overhead light, operated by a switch at the door, goes off,
too.

What's the connection between these two, and what do I need to do to
fix it? I opened the receptacle, and don't see anything obviously
loose, though I'm inexperienced at electrical things. I did turn the
power off before taking the receptacle out, though (do know that
much!). Thanks.

That outlet feeds the light in you room. Usually the incoming feed and
the outgoing feed are at the sides terminals and are just screwed
tight. make sure the terminals are tight.

Or the wires could be "stab-locked" to the back of the outlet. This is
just basically a quick-connect spring loaded terminal which can come
loose over time. I personally don't like those type of connections, I
like the side terminals better.

In article , albee wrote:
In a receptacle/outlet in one of our bedrooms, you can wiggle the plug
and the connection will go on and off. We've all experienced that, but
what's unique (in my experience), is that when it goes off, the power
to the overhead light, operated by a switch at the door, goes off,
too.

Power to the light is obviously fed through connections at, or on, that
receptacle. Not especially unusual.

What's the connection between these two, and what do I need to do to
fix it? I opened the receptacle, and don't see anything obviously
loose, though I'm inexperienced at electrical things. I did turn the
power off before taking the receptacle out, though (do know that
much!). Thanks.

Turn the breaker off again, and remove the receptacle from the box. You'll
probably find four wires -- two black and two white -- going into holes on the
back of the receptacle (so-called "backstab" connections, which are
notorious for loosening up over time, and causing *exactly* the problem
you're seeing).

If that's what you find, then locate the slot next to each wire where you can
push in a screwdriver, toothpick, wire, or some similar tool to disengage the
spring catch that holds the wire in place. Undo all four wires, and connect
them to the screw terminals on the sides of the receptacle, making sure to
bend the wires clockwise around the shafts of the screws.

(If this receptacle does not have screw terminals on the sides, throw it away,
and buy one that does.)

Connect black wires to the brass screws, and white wires to the silver-colored
screws. Tighten the screws securely, and reinstall the receptacle in the box.
Turn the breaker back on. This will probably solve the problem; let us know.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Doug's advice is good but I'd take it a step farther: while you're in there anyway, why not replace the receptacle?

Go to a hardware store or HD or Lowes, get a receptacle that's *not* the cheapest they carry. Might cost you $1.50 instead
of $0.50, but will last longer and make a much better connection!

Eric Law


"Doug Miller" wrote in message t...
In article , albee wrote:
In a receptacle/outlet in one of our bedrooms, you can wiggle the plug
and the connection will go on and off. We've all experienced that, but
what's unique (in my experience), is that when it goes off, the power
to the overhead light, operated by a switch at the door, goes off,
too.

Power to the light is obviously fed through connections at, or on, that
receptacle. Not especially unusual.

What's the connection between these two, and what do I need to do to
fix it? I opened the receptacle, and don't see anything obviously
loose, though I'm inexperienced at electrical things. I did turn the
power off before taking the receptacle out, though (do know that
much!). Thanks.

Turn the breaker off again, and remove the receptacle from the box. You'll
probably find four wires -- two black and two white -- going into holes on the
back of the receptacle (so-called "backstab" connections, which are
notorious for loosening up over time, and causing *exactly* the problem
you're seeing).

If that's what you find, then locate the slot next to each wire where you can
push in a screwdriver, toothpick, wire, or some similar tool to disengage the
spring catch that holds the wire in place. Undo all four wires, and connect
them to the screw terminals on the sides of the receptacle, making sure to
bend the wires clockwise around the shafts of the screws.

(If this receptacle does not have screw terminals on the sides, throw it away,
and buy one that does.)

Connect black wires to the brass screws, and white wires to the silver-colored
screws. Tighten the screws securely, and reinstall the receptacle in the box.
Turn the breaker back on. This will probably solve the problem; let us know.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Aug 21, 2:19 pm, albee wrote:
In a receptacle/outlet in one of our bedrooms, you can wiggle the plug
and the connection will go on and off. We've all experienced that, but
what's unique (in my experience), is that when it goes off, the power
to the overhead light, operated by a switch at the door, goes off,
too.

What's the connection between these two, and what do I need to do to
fix it? I opened the receptacle, and don't see anything obviously
loose, though I'm inexperienced at electrical things. I did turn the
power off before taking the receptacle out, though (do know that
much!). Thanks.

Same thing as a recent previous post with the TV set. Unfortunately
working with Romex involves "cutting the load run" a LOT more often
than working with plain wire in conduit where you can center strip the
wire easily without cutting it and "christmas light along" on an
unbroken run. If the Romex electrician is not careful about ensuring
a good load run as they go, with all that cutting, then loose
connections take out devices farther down the wire, that simple. I'm
not real familiar with Romex wiring as I have only used it once many
years ago, but I'm learning a lot on this group about it (I'm in
Chicago where we really dont ever see Romex, its all plain wire in
conduit).

On Aug 21, 2:19 pm, albee wrote:
In a receptacle/outlet in one of our bedrooms, you can wiggle the plug
and the connection will go on and off. We've all experienced that, but
what's unique (in my experience), is that when it goes off, the power
to the overhead light, operated by a switch at the door, goes off,
too.

What's the connection between these two, and what do I need to do to
fix it? I opened the receptacle, and don't see anything obviously
loose, though I'm inexperienced at electrical things. I did turn the
power off before taking the receptacle out, though (do know that
much!). Thanks.

Man I'm glad I dont live in a Romex wired house.

On Aug 21, 3:28 pm, Mikepier wrote:
On Aug 21, 3:19 pm, albee wrote:

In a receptacle/outlet in one of our bedrooms, you can wiggle the plug
and the connection will go on and off. We've all experienced that, but
what's unique (in my experience), is that when it goes off, the power
to the overhead light, operated by a switch at the door, goes off,
too.

What's the connection between these two, and what do I need to do to
fix it? I opened the receptacle, and don't see anything obviously
loose, though I'm inexperienced at electrical things. I did turn the
power off before taking the receptacle out, though (do know that
much!). Thanks.

That outlet feeds the light in you room. Usually the incoming feed and
the outgoing feed are at the sides terminals and are just screwed
tight. make sure the terminals are tight.

Or the wires could be "stab-locked" to the back of the outlet. This is
just basically a quick-connect spring loaded terminal which can come
loose over time. I personally don't like those type of connections, I
like the side terminals better.

I would bet money that the OP will find that the wiring is stab-lok'd
to the back of the receptacle and that that is why he's having a
problem. Something is broken/bent/loose inside the recep. assembly
and when the plug is wiggled it is making/breaking the connection to
the wire feeding the light switch. I suspect that a recep. in a
bathroom is used quite frequently - and by this I mean that plugs are
inserted and removed quite a bit. for that reason I would recommend a
"spec grade" receptacle, or if it is an older house without a GFCI
breaker for the bathroom, a GFCI receptacle (which usually appear
similar in construction to "spec grade" anyway.) And I would
definitely use the screw terminals and not the stab-loks.

nate

On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:55:28 -0700, N8N wrote:

On Aug 21, 3:28 pm, Mikepier wrote:
On Aug 21, 3:19 pm, albee wrote:

In a receptacle/outlet in one of our bedrooms, you can wiggle the plug
and the connection will go on and off. We've all experienced that, but
what's unique (in my experience), is that when it goes off, the power
to the overhead light, operated by a switch at the door, goes off,
too.

What's the connection between these two, and what do I need to do to
fix it? I opened the receptacle, and don't see anything obviously
loose, though I'm inexperienced at electrical things. I did turn the
power off before taking the receptacle out, though (do know that
much!). Thanks.

That outlet feeds the light in you room. Usually the incoming feed and
the outgoing feed are at the sides terminals and are just screwed
tight. make sure the terminals are tight.

Or the wires could be "stab-locked" to the back of the outlet. This is
just basically a quick-connect spring loaded terminal which can come
loose over time. I personally don't like those type of connections, I
like the side terminals better.

I would bet money that the OP will find that the wiring is stab-lok'd
to the back of the receptacle and that that is why he's having a
problem. Something is broken/bent/loose inside the recep. assembly
and when the plug is wiggled it is making/breaking the connection to
the wire feeding the light switch. I suspect that a recep. in a
bathroom is used quite frequently - and by this I mean that plugs are
inserted and removed quite a bit. for that reason I would recommend a
"spec grade" receptacle, or if it is an older house without a GFCI
breaker for the bathroom, a GFCI receptacle (which usually appear
similar in construction to "spec grade" anyway.) And I would
definitely use the screw terminals and not the stab-loks.

nate
Yeah, they were backstabbed. I re-wired the same outlet in the
bedroom, and am now debating the replacement of all outlets. I could
see the bathroom ones, as they do get more active use. What are "spec
grade" ones? I don't have GFCI outlets, though my house was built in
'88, and I was told in another thread that it would have to be based
on that. So I guess it's on a GFCI upline somewhere? If so, then are
you saying to simply use a spec grade, since the GFCI is already
elsewhere on the circuit? Thanks.

albee wrote:
On Thu, 23 Aug 2007 11:55:28 -0700, N8N wrote:


On Aug 21, 3:28 pm, Mikepier wrote:

On Aug 21, 3:19 pm, albee wrote:


In a receptacle/outlet in one of our bedrooms, you can wiggle the plug
and the connection will go on and off. We've all experienced that, but
what's unique (in my experience), is that when it goes off, the power
to the overhead light, operated by a switch at the door, goes off,
too.

What's the connection between these two, and what do I need to do to
fix it? I opened the receptacle, and don't see anything obviously
loose, though I'm inexperienced at electrical things. I did turn the
power off before taking the receptacle out, though (do know that
much!). Thanks.

That outlet feeds the light in you room. Usually the incoming feed and
the outgoing feed are at the sides terminals and are just screwed
tight. make sure the terminals are tight.

Or the wires could be "stab-locked" to the back of the outlet. This is
just basically a quick-connect spring loaded terminal which can come
loose over time. I personally don't like those type of connections, I
like the side terminals better.

I would bet money that the OP will find that the wiring is stab-lok'd
to the back of the receptacle and that that is why he's having a
problem. Something is broken/bent/loose inside the recep. assembly
and when the plug is wiggled it is making/breaking the connection to
the wire feeding the light switch. I suspect that a recep. in a
bathroom is used quite frequently - and by this I mean that plugs are
inserted and removed quite a bit. for that reason I would recommend a
"spec grade" receptacle, or if it is an older house without a GFCI
breaker for the bathroom, a GFCI receptacle (which usually appear
similar in construction to "spec grade" anyway.) And I would
definitely use the screw terminals and not the stab-loks.

nate

Yeah, they were backstabbed. I re-wired the same outlet in the
bedroom, and am now debating the replacement of all outlets. I could
see the bathroom ones, as they do get more active use. What are "spec
grade" ones? I don't have GFCI outlets, though my house was built in
'88, and I was told in another thread that it would have to be based
on that. So I guess it's on a GFCI upline somewhere? If so, then are
you saying to simply use a spec grade, since the GFCI is already
elsewhere on the circuit? Thanks.

I would use "spec grade" wherever you find yourself plugging and
unplugging appliances frequently.

I just went back and reread your post and originally read "bathroom"
where you really said "bedroom." So my comment about the GFCI does not
apply, and my other comment about frequent usage may not either.

If your bathroom does not have a GFCI receptacle, you likely have a GFCI
breaker feeding that circuit in your breaker panel. '88 should be more
than new enough that that was a requirement back then.

nate

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