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Electrical Wiring

kitchen lights, dining area light and living room lights

16 years ago

Hi,

My kitchen light, dining area light (which is in a different room) and living room lights have stopped working. Initially, the breaker had tripped and I reset this. The lights came back up. Subsequently after sometime ( a few hours later) the lights went out again. Now the lights don't come back on any more. All this was triggered after the carpet cleaner hooked up his steam carpet cleaner into one of the electrical outlets. The funny thing is all the sockets in the kitchen, dining room and other rooms work. The fan and lights on the work as well. Appreciate any suggestions as to what could be going on here.

Featured Answer

joersilva

12 years ago

thank you, saved me a bundle. The first outlet I checked was nearest to the electrical pannel. There was black on the inside. There was a storm last night and apparently the hot wire shorted and burnt to the ground wire. The hot wire burnt to the point that it was not making connection with anything.

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Comments (7)

normel
16 years ago
Loose connection. Look for a loose wire at the receptacle where the cleaner was plugged in or in one close to it. Most likely the wire came loose due to the use of pushin connections... rewire it using the screws.
mohan_r
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi Normel,
Thanks for the suggestion.

I opened the receptacle and the wires were taut (i.e. nothing was loose there). Of course, since the wires come through the sheet rock I can't see where it is coming from. All the sockets closeby and infact pretty much every socket appeared to have power. Somehow it is the living room lights, the kitchen lights and dining area lights that are not having power. All the sockets in the living room, fan and the lights that go with the fan have power. Any other suggestions? Any ideas about how I can check if the circuit breaker that supplies to this circuit is ok ?

Thanks

Regards,

Mohan_R
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texasredhead
16 years ago
If you do not have a proximity tester or a volt meter, go around each receptacle with something you can plug in such as an electric drill. This process will verify that all the receptacles in the area are working. However, lights and receptacles are usually not on the same circuits but this is not always the case. In the receptacles, are the wires backstabbed or around the side screws? Finally, what is the brand of your panel and breakers? A breaker tripping usually indicates and overload or an open ground. Again, check all your receptacles to begin.
groundrod
16 years ago
If you are qualified you could turn off the panel and swap a couple of similar breakers to verify the condition of the breaker in question.
normel
16 years ago
Just because the receptacle has power does not mean it does not have a loose wire. The "outgoing" wires could have come loose. Also check connections in any switch boxes associated with this circuit.

If some of the devices on this circuit are working and some aren't, the breaker is not the problem. The problem is in the continuity of the wiring.
mohan_r
Original Author
16 years ago
TexasRedHead, GroundRod, Normel,
Thanks for the tip and suggestions. I did check all the other receptacles and they were working.
Normel, this particular receptacle that did not have power was the last one i.e. there were no outgoing wires.
GroundRod, Since I am not "qualified" I did not open the panel of circuit breakers.

After spending $80 ( ;-) ), I found out that the wire in the circuit breaker was blown. The electrician rectified this in about 5 minutes.

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