I just bought a new home and it seems that some of the outlets in our house have stopped working since we've moved in. They are just regular outlets in the living room and also the outside outlets are not working. Is this a problem for a licensed electrician or is there something I can do to fix it?

Your ability to work with screwdrivers,wire, pliers, and a voltage tester will dictate weather you can repair this problem.

The most likely cause for this condition is a loose wire at an outlet. The wires are probably only stuck in the back of each outlet, this method is called whiz wire, or quick wire, and other names to indicate the wires are simply pushed into holes at the terminals. These connections loosen easily. The wire is pressed into spring type metal tabs that are suppose to dig into the copper. The installation trick to using theses connections is to pull back on the wire to be sure there is a connection. Most electricians simply push in and do not insure a good connection.

This method is not for the electrician that does 5 star installations, many of us take the extra time to use the screw terminals on each device.

Go to the last live device of the circuit. And pull out of the box and check each wire to be sure they are all plugged in, tug on each one to see if it will come back out. Check the interior of each outlet bx for any bad or loose splices, just in case some wires are spliced with wirenuts.

If this does not work, all you can do is begin opening each outlet, switch, and light looking for a loose connection of some sort. A basic knowledge of circuitry will help you find the problem faster.

Just to be sure, check any out side outlet for a tripped GFI, unlikely but I have found this a few times.

Before you start this work, only continue if you are sure the devices with no power are only a portion of a complete circuit. You could have a tripped , bad or loose circuit breaker. Checking this will require you to open and check inside the beraker panel. Unless you are very comfortable and knowledgeable working in a panel, I do not recommend going there. Time to call in a pro.

Keep in mind, working this problem will require you to work with lives wires. Again, may be time to call in a pro if you are not able to work with live wires safely.

Before you do anything else, identify the breakers that feed the outlets. Turn the toggle to the completely off position, and then back to the on position. Sometimes a breaker is off, but doesn't look like it.

Look around & test your Ground Fault Interrupt (GFI) outlets.
Make sure your breakers are not reset. Turn suspect circuit(s), off - then back ON...

P2E

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Originally Posted by smem

I just bought a new home and it seems that some of the outlets in our house have stopped working since we've moved in. They are just regular outlets in the living room and also the outside outlets are not working. Is this a problem for a licensed electrician or is there something I can do to fix it?

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