January 10, 2003, Newsletter Issue #52: Electrical outlet

Tip of the Week

Dear Home Improvement Guru;
There is an outlet in my house that just stopped working. I had a lot of
> music equiptment plugged into it, but it didn`t trip any breakers when it
> went out and it`s the only one in the whole house that doesn`t work.
> Please tell me what might be the problem and how to fix it. Thank you
> very much!

Dear DIYer;
The problem has to be a broken connection. First, turn off the breaker that
controls that circuit. Second, double check to make sure you have turned off
the correct breaker. Then take off the wall plate and pull out the outlet.
If there are wire nuts in the box, twist them and pull on each wire to make
sure each wire is held securely. (Wire nuts are the plastic covered
connectors, usually red or yellow.) If a wire has slipped out, twist the
wire nut off, align the ends of the wires, and twist the wire nut back on.
Then, check the connections to the outlet itself. In fact, this would be a
good time to replace the outlet. If the wires are pushed into a hole in the
back of the outlet, cut each wire as close to the outlet as possible, and
strip about 1/2 inch of insulation from each wire. Form a loop in the end of
each wire and install each wire under a screw on the side of the outlet. The
ground wire (bare) goes under the green screw. The white wires go under the
silver screws. The black wires go under the brass screws. Tighten each screw
securely.
Carefully fold the wires into the box, install the outlet, replace the
plate, and turn the breaker back on.
It seems possible that you may have too much equipment plugged into the
outlet. When you have everything turned on, does the outlet ever get warm?
If so, you need to plug some of the equipment into a different circuit.
Let me know if this doesn`t solve the problem. There are several more
possibilities, but this is the most likely.
Good luck.
Home Improvement Guru

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