kitchen outlets not working, checked the obvious...

[richla]

Hi,
I know this is so basic for most of you guys, but I am stumped.
Fifteen year old home, good construction, no issues at all.

I have a small eat-in area on the side of the kitchen. two outlets. Both are suddenly dead.
Checked breaker: it's fine.
Neither outlet is a ground fault type, but I have those in different areas, checked and reset them all, no issues.
Outlets still dead.
I took off the cover plate and managed to get my little circuit tester on the wires, they are dead. (trying to eliminate a bad socket)

I'm stumped, where would you go from here?
Thanks.

 

[pattenp]

You just need to back track the circuit from the dead outlets. If outlet connections are back stabbed then you may have lost connection up the line at another outlet.

 

[richla]

Thanks, but how do I backtrack? I have checked every outlet, all are working.. I'm stumped!

 

[ssdave]

Turn off the breaker; find which outlets go dead. Those are your upstream outlets. The fault should lie with one of them, probably the one closest to the dead ones.

 

[sberry]

Switch the breaker back and forth for sure. Start with tester at breaker and make sure the neutral screw is secure.

 

[ard]

Do you know which breaker USED to supply those two outlets?

If so, by turning that off and on you can identify all OTHER outlets on that circuit.

In one of those still-working iutlets there will (likely) be a bad (dead) connection going to your dead outlets

 

[richla]

great, guys, thank you.

 

[Squ1d]

You just need to back track the circuit from the dead outlets. If outlet connections are back stabbed then you may have lost connection up the line at another outlet.

Thanks, but how do I backtrack? I have checked every outlet, all are working.. I'm stumped!

This same issue happened to me about 6 months back. I had to go to every single outlet that was affected and remove cover plate, look at side terminals or remove outlet to look at the back if they were stabbed in.

Turned out a wire had popped out of an old outlet that was back stabbed. It drove me crazy for days because it was a large circuit that had my garage and living rooms lights on it. (outlet was in laundry room, behind my deep freezer go figure).

 

[richla]

Thanks, Squ1d, there is now hope I can figure this out!

 

[LB-1911]

Thanks, Squ1d, there is now hope I can figure this out!

You'll get it sorted out, while your at it consider drawing up a circuit map.

Mapping Electrical Circuits in Your Home

 

[richla]

LB-1911, that is a useful link, really helpful.

 

[Jeffksf]

Also pick up some new outlets, you might need to replace a few once you get into a few boxes and you never know what you'll find.

 

[pattenp]

When pulling the outlets if they are back stabbed you should remove outlet and pigtail the connections to the screws while you're at it..

 

[My Old Tools]

I bet there is a hidden GFCI outlet feeding those two.

 

[Squ1d]

When pulling the outlets if they are back stabbed you should remove outlet and pigtail the connections to the screws while you're at it..

What if theyre the outlets that are back-stabbed but still locked down with a side screw?

 

[pattenp]

What if theyre the outlets that are back-stabbed but still locked down with a side screw?

On spring lock back stabbed outlets the side screw does not lock them down. You are thinking of back clamping outlets where the screw closes a clamp to hold the wire. The back clamping outlets are not subject to the problem of coming loose. I'm talking about the quick connect push-in connection type.



*

 

[openwheelracing88]

sometimes inside outlets are fed from outside GFCI. Like the one in backyard in weather tight cover. Or maybe even a garage GFCI.

My house has this setup. Yeah I know......it is retarded. These trac homes will save a penny anywhere they can.

 

[Squ1d]

Figure it out?

 

[Bigbandguy]

My adventure like this started when the outlet in my wife's upstairs bath quit working. It drove me insane (well more than usual) for a week. Finally found out that all of the bath outlets were daisy chained from a GFCI outlet in the downstairs half bath.. not code now but was when the house was built. In the immortal words of the character "****** Mary" from the show "South Pacific" : "Cheap Bastards! " .