The Electricity’s Out Again—Certain Outlets, Certain Rooms!

[retro-man]

Get an electrician in pronto! If your power is being interrupted only on certain circuits and then it comes back on later your having a grounding out issue. I had this problem in an old house and what was found that at one point I had a squirrel in my attic that chewed through the wire insulation, leaving all three wires exposed in a 2 inch space. When a load was placed on the circuit the wires would heat up and bend a little and make contact. That would power down the circuit. After a while when the wires cooled down they would break the contact and the circuit would be active. No load and everything was fine. What I thought was interesting that never once did it blow a circuit breaker. Quite the fire hazard. The fiberglass insulation was where the wire was laying so that prevented a fire. Had to have that line replace and all was well. Mice, rats squirrels can do a lot of hidden damage. So back to my original statement, get a qualified electrician in and have him go through your attic now, not later. You and your families life are in jeopardy right now. Make sure your smoke detectors are working. This is not a joke my friend or a wait and see if something else happens, this is your home and family and no screwing around. Do it today.

Jon

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well, it took a 10-year-old to somehow discover this problem isn't as big or unsolvable, as she pointed out something simple and obvious, so no extreme measures of needing to go up in our ceiling needed as initially thought...

Just a press on this plug, until maybe the plate can be removed and its wiring inspected, so it doesn't just go beyond a small short:

-- Dave

 

[combo52]

Partial Power Outage

If pressing in on the pictured non-GFI outlet restored power you have a loose or burned connection in that outlet, It needs to be FIXED NOW, This is a loose or burned connection, not a short although it could turn into a short, in any case you are playing with FIRE, turn OFF that circuit until it can be looked at and fixed.

 

John L.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

I know this sounds like a wild suggestion, but why not call a licensed electrician? Doing the conga is just inviting disaster.

 

[iej]

Definitely, definitely call an electrical contractor. It's not a fault you are going to resolve yourself and there's a fire hazard and also a possible shock risk, if for example, it's a grounding / neutral fault.

Most likely it's not going to be a huge deal to fix, but you need to get an EC in. They'll be able to identify what the issue is very quickly. Definitely don't just put up with an intermittent fault as that's what will turn into a house fire.

Not only that, but from an insurance point of view, you're aware there's a fault so you should get it resolved. Leaving a known faulty circuit live could be seen as negligent.

Isolate the circuit involved by throwing the breaker and call an electrical contractor.

 

[volsboy1]

That happened to my parents house and it was a blown leg. They had to have the wiring service redone totally redone.

 

[mattl]

Wow, come on guys. The simple explanation is a wire worked it's way off the connection, either push in or screw.  It's just a matter of turning off the circuit and replacing the $.50 outlet. If that does not fix it then call in a pro.

 

[iej]

My reading of it is that multiple circuits are off and this has happened before and the OP isn't all that familiar with wiring systems or fault finding.

So in that case, I wouldn't recommend anything other than calling an electrician.

Not everyone is used to doing DIY electrical work and this to me sounds like it could be any number of things ranging, all of which are easy fixes but some are beyond what any DIY work should be involved in.

If there's a problem with one of the legs of the supply or any issue in the distribution panel / fuse board - thats very definitely electrical contractor only territory.

Also you can get issues with broken neutrals that can be quite hard to trace without proper test equipment and familiarity with wiring practices.

Got safety's sake please an electrician!

 

[mattl]

If pushing on the outlet "solves" the problem - at least temporarily, it really sounds like a simple loose wire.  I questions if multiple circuits are involved as it' pretty common for one circuit to run through any number of rooms making it seem like multiple circuits are involved.

 

One way or another this needs to be resolved ASAP.

 

[reactor]

repitition

I told Dave AMKray.. to call an electrician and then six people have told him the exact same thing afterward like they were giving new knowledge to him, ha.

After discovery an outlet is sensitive to motion, most of us would have cut the power, removed the outlet, looked for burn marks and loose connections. We would have then either tightened the connection and/or replaced the outlet if it were charred.

DAveAMkray.. does not seem to have this ability as Glenn so appropriately put it, "He is leery to even push the reset button on a GFCI."

I am not sure DaveAMK has the ability to safely remove an outlet and replace it. He may cut power to the wrong breaker and shock or injure himself. He could reverse the hot and neutral, not retighten connections properly, ground something out.

I am not denigrating you DaveAMkray..., many people are not knowledgeable of electricity. But you have allowed this problem to continue despite multiple repetitions of the exact same advice from us on what to do.

You are playing with fire (possibly literally), and you do not have any electrical knowledge or ability. That leaves you with no option but to get a qualified person their to affect a repair.

You have been warned and if you continue to sit on your rear end and watch an intermittent circuit go on and off then we are not responsibly for your safety and you deserve exactly what you get.

I don't mean to be unkind, but nothing seems to phase you into action. I would rather have you mad at me for being blunt than to have you be dead or injured.

 

[iej]

A fault like that will often start with harmless low level arcing and poor contact heating. That will, over time, damage the contact surfaces and the wire at the loose connection and then the arcing gets worse - this will typically repeat until it eventually burns out either causing damage to the fittings and a run of the fixed wiring, necessitating a lot more work, or may even cause a house fire.

I would also caution that most American homes are wooden structures, so it's vital that you get this resolved. This isn't a minor hazard. It's a significant fire risk. You don't want red hot metal in your walls!

Until you do get it revolved, identify which breaker controls that circuit and turn it off. Do not continue to use this circuit as the risk increases with every flicker and fizzle.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Well, I see the further down we go, the more and the more we discuss, the more serious things get, and I needed a lot of foresight to outsmart and head off...

Here is the van of a qualified electrician on duty now to fix that small, simple fault in that outlet:

But as for a good shot of this individual at work, fixing the faulty plug, I think what I got would only be suitable for a place like Dirty Laundry, if even with a lot of trepidation, put even there...

— Dave

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

I'm just shocked (groan) that this has gone on so long. Despite so many telling you to get a professional. And no, telling someone to get an electrician is not copyrighted.  In this case, I think it was repetition that worked. I'm glad this has been resolved and hopefully next time something goes wrong that can be potentially fatal, it will be dealt with swiftly and safely.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Yes, fellas, all was well-intended, and please excuse my whatever choice of words, I think this has gotten resolved once and for all...

We safely dismissed it as that one outlet next to our daughter’s bed, he went into and corrected that inherent problem which some seemingly hard use, it must have got, whereas I think everything else is safely operational, and on top of that, we weren’t charged even a nickel...

— Dave