Non-working outlet

Hi I have a problem that confuses me. I have 1 circuit going to a junction box and in the junction box there is a line going down to 1 outlet which works fine, the there is another line coming from the same junction box on the same circuit going down to another outlet. The problem is the second outlet was working and somebody plugged something in to the outlet and tripped the circuit breaker. They then reset the circuit breaker and now the second outlet will not work however the first outlet does work fine. What could be causing this? Thanks

Reply to
T.J.
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Did you measure the voltage at the wires on the defective outlet, or just plug something into the outlet to determine if it worked? You must take some measurements rather than assume it is reaching a particular point. That goes for the splice in the "Junction box" as well.

Reply to
Ken

You may well need to replace receptacle. Turn off power at breaker, _make sure_ it is off by testing at good outlet, then pull out bad recep, check connections there and also at junction box. If you see signs of overheating/ discoloration on recep, replace it. If you read here for a while, you will see a lot of advice to use screw terminals instead of the quick n easy but less reliable back stab connection method.

Reply to
Sev

Or just shut of the breaker, take that outlet apart, look for burnt bits, either replace it or put it back together, turn the power back on, and see if it works now.

Reply to
Goedjn

Check if there is a GFI outlet upstream from the non-working outlet. You might just have to press the reset button on it.

Reply to
Mikepier

Did you see this happen? Not counting ground faults that cause a breaker to trip, if a breaker trips it is because there is too much current going through the wires. This can damage the outlet (receptacle). This is especially true if the device is on, or the short is present whether the device is on or off. So the receptacle could be damaged inside. That is, there might be proper voltage reaching the receptacle, but the prongs of plugs can't make good contact with the slots inside the receptacle, the device still won't work.

They then

Reply to
mm

It sounds like the plug-in is bad.

Reply to
Terry

I asked because if you had seen it happen you would have heard noises or seen sparks and you might know that they came from the outlet, and not from whatever was plugged in. If you saw spark or heard noises from teh outlet and now it doesn't work, a good chance it's the outlet that is bad.

Reply to
mm

Thanks for all the replies guys. I found out what was wrong. I went to the junction box and took the wire nut off the hots and the hot to that particualr outlet was not stripped back far enough and also not making contact with the other hots. However what I want to know is why would that cause it to trip the circuit and how come it worked for a while before it tripped the breaker? ThAnKs

Reply to
T.J.

The breaker most likely tripped because what ever was being plugged in was bad. Has anyone tried to re use whatever that was?

I am guessing that the wire probably got a nick in the copper when the insulation was stripped. When the circuit was overloaded the wire melted at the week spot and lost contact with the wirenut.

Reply to
Terry

IMHO:

If this was me, I would be concerned why it happened. The breaker tripping propbly protected the home from the wires overheating in the walls and causing a fire. Thank God For Good Breakers. :D If the same person who did the junction box wiring, did any other, please have the work second checked. After I wire up some wires under a twister, it's solid.

Becareful with Electricity, I believe it's the second major cause of home fires.

BTW, thanks for the followup, those following thread appreciate it.

later,

tom @

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Reply to
Just Joshin

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