All electricity, including residential electricity, is dangerous and carries significant personal risk as well as risk to the home when working to repair outlets (electric receptacles). If you are unsure of what you are doing or lack the knowledge to work on the system safely, you should call an electrical contractor to complete the work.
Perhaps you have an outlet that doesn’t work, has stopped working, or has been giving you trouble. It could be that appliances and things you plug in stop working after some time.
The very first thing to know is if the work was done by a qualified electrician. If it’s a new addition to a home or a newly finished basement, the work could have been performed by a DIYer or an acquaintance of the homeowner and not necessarily someone who was qualified.
Improper wiring can lead to appliances and devices not working, or having their internal circuitry fried over time by having the wires reversed at the outlet.
To Start:
The first thing to check is the circuit breaker panel. If the breaker is tripped, this could be the cause of your issue. When you look at the breakers, ensure that all the breakers are fully in the “on” position. Some breakers do not flip completely when they turn off, and they may appear to be on.
Next…
If the circuit breaker is not the problem, you could be dealing with an outlet that has tripped its GFCI protection and has stopped working. A GFCI outlet looks like the picture below. However, many outlets now are linked together, so even if they don’t have buttons on the outlet, they can still have this protection; many times, the outlet with the “Reset” and “Test” buttons can found in a completely different room but still be linked. The thing here is to first push the “Test” then the “Reset” buttons on each outlet. (Many of these outlet types are found in any room that have a sink, tub, or water fixture.) Each of the buttons should click when pressed. If you do not hear a click, then you may have a faulty outlet. Unless you are qualified to repair an outlet, this is the time to call an electrician.
After That…
If all of your GFCI outlets work when they are tested, or the problem has persisted for some time, it may have to do with the outlet itself; any number of issues could be going on with the outlet. To help you diagnose what that could be, you could pick up an outlet tester (receptacle tester) at your local hardware store. You can purchase one for $10-15. The tester will have lights that will illuminate if power is running to the outlet. In addition, the lights will illuminate in a specific pattern; you can use the legend for the light pattern that came with the tester to see what the issue may be. Some testers even display the number of volts running to that specific receptacle. Generally, a home in the U.S. should have 120 volts running to the outlet. If the voltage reading is off by 3 or so volts, generally this is not a big deal. If it is off by more, this could indicate a problem. CLICK HERE to find a tester.
Finally:
If you still can’t find the issue, it is time to call a qualified electrician. There are many in the Tacoma and Lakewood areas. When speaking with them, be sure to explain the problem that you are having; try to give them as much detail as possible and inform them of any remedies that you tried yourself.