Problem with circuit breaker - single pole

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Bannerman

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Sometimes the conductors can be pinched within the outlet box, or a screw holding the outlet to the box can penetrate the insulation surrounding the wire, which is why I requested you to check for improvement with the outlet and wires pulled out from the box.

As the photos only show one location, was the Red wire evident at the second location? Are there 2 cables entering the outlet box at the second location?

If those breakers supply power to only those outlets, then turning on one or the other breaker should result in 115 volts AC to one or both of those outlets.

The photo seems to show tape or other material around the wires inside the outlet box. Have you attempted to remove that material to view the wires underneath?

After enlarging your photo on page one, I'm not sure if there maybe 2 cables entering the outlet box, one on the upper left and the 2nd at the lower left corner. Please advise.
 
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The other outlet (not pictured) does not have a red wire either. Underneath the tape is still black wire, it looks like it was just done to make the wires neater.

There is only a black wire, a white wire and a copper wire.

Why these outlets don't work is still a mystery. Also, how can I find out where the red wire goes from the main circuit breaker?
 

Bannerman

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how can I find out where the red wire goes from the main circuit breaker?
Can you follow that cable from the main panel to a general location it runs to? You could then investigate the outlets and switches in that area.

Telephone equipment installers often use a tone generator connected at one end of the wire, and use a handheld detecting device to locate the tone at various locations throughout the house. Perhaps you could rent the same unit to connect to the disconnected Red and Black wires within the panel, and use the detector to listen for tone at various outlets and switches throughout your house. Those wires maybe feeding through other switch and outlet boxes where there maybe a faulty connection.

Since your doorbell continues to function, the button light is likely faulty and to fix it may require replacing the doorbell button.
 

Jadnashua

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ACV circuit tracers come in all sorts of price ranges, and often, the less expensive ones can find an issue fairly easily, and the more expensive ones aren't needed. Some of the features of the more expensive ones are the ability to detect how far away a break in the cable is, but if there's no break, tracing which end is which and where it goes is fairly straight-forward. I've seen them for in the $20-30 range on the low end.

While things often get used in a different manner than designed, a cable with a red wire in it is normally best used where the red indicates a switched lead (i.e., goes through a switch to power something - IOW, not always on). If you don't see a red wire in the breaker box, it's probably being used for that functionality - a switched hot lead - fairly common for an overhead light fixture, but could be used for a switched receptacle and other things, as well.

You need to measure the voltage at the power panel for the circuits. If you remove the lead connected to the circuit breakers in question, then turn them on, what voltage do you read?

Also note whether there's a 3-wire cable...is that where you see the red wire? If there was a double gang breaker there, and you replaced it with two single ones, you may have created a dangerous situation. It could have been a shared neutral circuit. If so, if there's a problem on one leg, the handle will make the other leg trip as well. I, for one, am not clear on exactly what you have, so trying to help is tougher.
 
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