I have two (standard?) outlets under my kitchen sink (brand new apartment building). The garbage disposal is plugged into one of them, and works fine. Switching outlets is fine, too. The disposer works in each.

However, no other appliance works in either of the two outlets. I have tried a handheld vacuum and a roomba, both of which I'd like to hide/charge under the sink.

How is that possible? Is this outlet a special outlet that prevents "standard" appliances from being powered?

It is possible the outlet is switched, is there a switch underneath or above the counter that may work it? Or there can be a GFI outtlet tripped, or a breaker is off, or the outlet is just not wired corredctly.

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Originally Posted by tkrussell

It is possible the outlet is switched, is there a switch underneath or above the counter that may work it? Or there can be a GFI outtlet tripped, or a breaker is off, or the outlet is just not wired corredctly.

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BINGO! That's the problem; the outlets are switched. (switch on - power on, switch off - no power).

New question: is it possible to somewhow get continuous power to the lower outlet to charge the handheld vacuum, while the uppoer outlet is still switched (for the dispoal)?

Yes, it is possible to split an outlet and have 1/2 switched and 1/2 constant hot. This would require a wire ran to the "hot" side of the switch and then the other end connected to the lower half of the outlet.

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Originally Posted by Morrowrj

Yes, it is possible to split an outlet and have 1/2 switched and 1/2 constant hot. This would require a wire ran to the "hot" side of the switch and then the other end connected to the lower half of the outlet.

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That also requires breaking off the jumper on the hot side, brass, between the outlets. Should be easy to spot while you have the outlet out to attach the new wire. Running a new wire up to the switch may be a pain if it is several wall cavities away and you have NM stapled in place. Might be easier to tie into the dishwasher feed and add another outlet.

PROBLEM SOLVED!

Thanks everyone for their help. I ended up plugging an extension cord into the dishwasher outlet (pain to get to - but it worked), and now both vacuums are nice stowed underneath the sink, charging away.