Electrical Outlets Seem to be Blown but not the Fuse

[Jeffy3]

I am not at home but my wife called today, said when using wet/dry vac in our basement the outlet seemed to blow as the vac stopped working. She also said that two other outlets in the basement aren't working now. None of them are GFI outlets. The weird thing is that no fuse was blown (we don't yet have circuit breakers, still have a fuse box). In fact, the outlets are on the same fuse as the ceiling lights and they are working just fine. Is it possible to blow out a series of electric outlets? I will be calling an electrician tomorrow but like to be somewhat knowledgeable when dealing with repair guys so I don't get taken !

[RBM]

Outlets and lighting circuits are daisy chained together. Sometimes a heavy load, like a vacuum causes a weak link, either at an outlet or in a junction box, to come loose, killing part of the circuit. It's an easy fix, once the "open circuit" is located. Just give the electrician the details of what happen, and he should find and repair it in a short time

[Silver Surfer]

Possibly a loose connection in the feed to those outlets, especially if they are daisy chained.

[HeyBub]

Easy fix if your hand fits a screwdriver.

Find the outlet with the stabbed-in connector that's no longer making contact. Replace.

You should be out for less than $2.00 (not counting gas).

[Rick-Meister]

Hey Bub is right on the money.

Stab in connectors usually fail when there's a high electical load--like a shop vac. They heat up and lose their spring tension. After a few rounds of heating up, they're worthless. Every time I've seen this problem, it's always solved by replacing the receptacle and using the screw terminals rather than the stab in connectors.