Outlet no longer works inquiry

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chessimprov

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An outlet just blew out on me at random. There was no thunderstorm, and the circuit breaker didn't get affected. What is a reasonable ball park charge/interval for such a repair? Thank you very much.
 

Jadnashua

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IF that receptacle is protected with a GFCI, press the reset button once you find it. On many of them, one GFCI can protect multiple devices, so there could be a problem in any device protected by it, you may have to search for the GFCI.
 

chessimprov

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IF that receptacle is protected with a GFCI, press the reset button once you find it. On many of them, one GFCI can protect multiple devices, so there could be a problem in any device protected by it, you may have to search for the GFCI.

There is no reset button on this outside of this outlet. Would there or could there be one on the inside? That means I would have to unscrew the outlet? Any other pre-cautions if you are going to suggest I do this? Thank you.
 

Smooky

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Sometimes a GFCI receptacle is linked to other receptacles ,so if there are others, one of those might affect this receptacle. They are usually located in bathrooms, any outside receptacles or places like the garage.
 

Smooky

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I have one on the front porch that blows sometimes and when that happens the recipticals in the bathroom want work till I go reset it.
 

hj

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I once had a customer whose "master" GFCI was under a bench in their bathroom and they had never even known it was there. It controlled the outlet for the freezer in the garage and after the outlet went dead and they could not fix it they ran the freezer with an extension cord, until I located the GFCI and reset it.
 

chessimprov

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It is unlikely that this outlet affected another outlet since I haven't had any problems with any other outlet for at least a year. I haven't tested the ones outdoors though. . .
 

Jadnashua

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A house could be wired in any number or non-conventional ways. If you have a GFCI receptacle somewhere, who knows what other things it protects downstream from it (on the load side). It's not always logical unless you have x-ray vision and can see the wiring in the walls!

Now, it could also be a poor electrical connection somewhere. Finding that takes some careful detective work, and really hard to orchestrate from remote.
 

chessimprov

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I wonder if it happened from result of pulling a metal tab with a lamp to make it work again. I can't remember how it all went down. All I remember is a close family remember gave me this "idea" and didn't tell me about any pre-cautions. That person might now tell me that they did, but they are definitely not an electrician. ugh :(
 

Smooky

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I wonder if it happened from result of pulling a metal tab with a lamp to make it work again. I can't remember how it all went down. All I remember is a close family remember gave me this "idea" and didn't tell me about any pre-cautions. That person might now tell me that they did, but they are definitely not an electrician. ugh :(

Yep, that was probably what did it.
 

chessimprov

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I will try the outside and garage outlets nearby to see if it they have a reset button, and maybe just all the ones that do have a reset button. I don't think any of the outlets within 10 feet of this particular outlet have a reset button. It is the one that is at a corner of the home and the only two without a reset button and near it works. One is attached to a power strip and the other is used for a computer printer when in use.
 

Smooky

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Sometimes outlets just go bad. If a GFCI has tripped there would not be any power on the wire going to the outlet. If the outlet just went bad there would still be power in the wire. That is easy enough to figure out. You can buy a duplex receptacle, if that is what you need at most any hardware store. Shut the power off. Take the old one out and install a new one. Easy peasy.
 

Jadnashua

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When you insert a plug into the receptacle, is there resistance? Or, does it easily slide in and out? If the later, that's a sign of a receptacle that was overheated and the contacts have lost their spring tension. I think it's worth it to use commercial grade receptacles when I need to install one...I think that they are built better, and can last longer. Won't make a difference if you're just plugging in a light and leaving it there for decades, but it will if you're using heavier loads and changing things frequently. If they used the screw contacts, it may just be the screw was not tighten properly, and the heating/cooling has backed the screw out some. Or, it could be an improperly installed wire nut, or improper wire stripper that nicked the wire, and it broke.

While I think it is often false economy, sometimes, they'll run a fair amount of wire when daisy chaining a GFCI to a place where another protected receptacle is needed...so, distance isn't a guarantee that you won't find it controlled by one somewhere. Note, if a GFCI has tripped, neither it nor anything else it is protecting downstream will work. It's rarer to have a GFCI circuit breaker, but you might have one of those in your panel - they're more expensive than most other types.
 

chessimprov

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Smooky, do I shut the power off to the receptable by turning off the circuit breakers I guess?

jadnashua, there is resistance when I insert the plug. I suspect my relative or myself was pulling a tab on a lamp with the lamp plugged in, but I do not know if that was the case for sure since it all happened so quick and since that relative thinks she/he is so smart to be able to figure stuff out just by observation or observing only. Sometimes this is good, but not all the time of course.
 

Jadnashua

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If you had some metal in the bulb socket while power was on, you'd have gotten a big spark...it wouldn't be subtle, and probably would have taken a chunk out of the tool you were using. You can arc weld with that power.

Usually, there's enough threads and throw to make good contact with a bulb and its socket when you screw it in...no extra bending is required.
 

Smooky

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This video is pretty good. He puts the wires in the little slots and that is fine but I always bend the wire in a loop and put it behind the screw.

I do it this way
 

Jadnashua

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It's still not clear that the GFCI was actually protecting that device, especially since it did not trip.
 

hj

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Putting a metal object into a LIVE socket would have given a DEFINITE "spark/arc" but that did not happen, even though the power failed at that point, which implies a GFCI, "somewhere". Nothing else makes sense unless we are not getting the whole story.
 

Widgit Maker

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I get the impression that chessimprov has two problems. The first was created when she attempted to "improve " the contact of a light bulb holder by bending up the center contact. That was resolved when she found a mini breaker that was tripped.
I suspect that the problem with the outlet in question is totally unrelated. There has been much speculation about GFIs.
It would help to know where this outlet is located. Is it in a bath, kitchen, hallway, bedroom or living room?
 
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