Hi, my refrigerator recently lost power, and after checking both the plug and the circuit breaker I am very confused. The fridge works when I plug it into an outlet on another circuit, and I can't even get a small lamp to work on the fridge outlet. I have triple checked the circuit breaker, tried slightly bending the prongs on a lamp to see if that would make the outlet work, and still nothing. This is not a GFCI outlet from what I can tell. I have also tried replacing the whole outlet in case it had gone bad, and still nothing. I bought a $15 voltmeter, and it is registering that there is voltage at the outlet and at the circuit breaker, so now I am extremely confused. Any thoughts?? Thanks so much!!

What is the voltage that you are seeing with the meter at both locations?

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Originally Posted by donf

What is the voltage that you are seeing with the meter at both locations?

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Sorry, I misspoke in my question, its not a volt meter that gives me numerical readouts, rather it is a voltage detector that just says if there is a voltage present or not, but it lights up on the circuit breaker, the fridge outlet, and the wires behind the outlet...

Please invest in a multimeter. They are fairly cheap now-a-days and it will tell you how much voltage you are seeing between Black (hot) and Neutral (White).

Thanks Don, I'll go down to Lowe's in a few minutes and see if I can pick one up...

I wasn't able to find an inexpensive voltmeter today... Do you have any other suggestions on what I might be able to try without having the meter? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by 2saint

I wasnt able to find an inexpensive voltmeter today... Do you have any other suggestions on what I might be able to try without having the meter?? Thanks!!

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Make sure all connections are make with the screw, not with the quick connect,is the power coming directly from the panel, or another outlet

All connections are made with the screws, not the quick connects in the back. As far as I can tell, the power is coming directly from the panel, it doesn't appear that there are any other outlets on this circuit.

Check neutral connection in breaker panel.

I checked the neutral connection at the breaker panel, and everything appears to be connected properly...

This is not logical. Check all GFI outlets, ALL. Your Circuit breaker is not GFI is it. How many wires connected to outlet? See what else might be on this circuit by turning off circuit breaker and see what is not working.

That's why I'm so confused as to what's going on here... I have checked all the GFIs throughout the house (garage, kitchen, living room, bedrooms, and bathrooms) and they are all working properly. There isn't anything else on this circuit because when I flip the breaker and test the surrounding outlets, everything else still works. The circuit breaker for this one isn't GFI, only the bedroom breakers are. As for the outlet it has 3 wires (red, black, and ground)... This one is really throwing me for a loop...

Oops!!

Outlet wires should be black, white and ground (bare or green), or red, white, and ground, or red, black, white and ground. You are in US, aren't you?

Yes I am in the US... Any other thoughts on what to try or what to look for??

The wires to the outlet should be black and white and ground. What color is the wire that is connected to the breaker? You said earlier that you had checked the neutral at the breaker box. What color is that wire. If there is nothing else on this circuit those wires also have to be black and red.
It is not uncommon to split the outlets in kitchens and use 3-conductor cable to get the required 2 circuits. When doing this you break the tab between the two hot screws and connect the black to one screw and the red to the other. The white is connected to the neutral side and is shared by the two circuits. By doing this you put the top half of the outlet on one circuit and the bottom on the other. But you must have a white for the neutral. Are you sure there is no white wire in the outlet box. Do you have the old outlet that you removed. If so, was the tab on the hot side removed.

You also said earlier that you couldn't find a meter. These are sold at Home Depot, Lowe's, Sears, Radio Shack and many other places. They should be in the $15 to $20 range. Time to get one so we can do some testing.

Check the color at the breaker panel.

Has any other wiring been done recently, any at all? If so , what?

You need to find someone with a voltmeter or buy one. If you plan on doing electrical work you need to own one. And why would you replace the outlet if you determined it had power? As previously stated I suspect you have an open neutral somewhere... get a voltmeter or get someone who knows what they are doing. Sorry if that's blunt.