I replaced the 3 old outlets in my kitchen with newer ones. The wiring was as follows:
1st outlet - is by the fridge and has 2 white attached on the left and 2 black on the right.
2nd outlet - is by the sink and has a white on the left and a red over black on the right.
3rd outlet - is in the corner and is the same configuration as the second outlet.

For the 2nd and 3rd outlets I broke off the tab on the right so that each of the red and black wires ran independently giving 120 to each plug. The problem with this was that the first outlet then had no power to either of its 2 plugs and the other two only had power to the plug with the red wire. I broke off the tabs on the both sides of the first outlet and now I get power to all plugs on the 2nd and 3rd outlets but only power to the top plug on the 1st. I had a spare outlet so I tried a different configuration on the first outlet and only broke off the tab on the right between the two black wires. This again resulted in no power to the first outlet and power only to the red wired plug on the 2nd and 3rd. Any ideas?

Please explain what problem you were trying to fix that caused you to break off the tabs in the first place. If the original outlets had those tabs in place why did you decide to break them off on the new outlets?

No problem, the original outlets were 25 years old and needed to be updated. The original outlets on 2 and 3 and the tabs on the right removed and the 1st had both in place. However, with both tabs intact on the 1st I only had power to the plug with the red wire on outlet #2 and #3 and the plugs on outlet #1 were both dead. When I removed the tab on the right on outlet #1 I got the same result. When I removed the tab on the left as well I got both plugs on outlets 2 and 3 working and 1 plug on outlet #1 working.

Do you have a voltage tester?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hfcarson

do you have a voltage tester?

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Sorry but no, I don't

Without a tester I don't see how we can do any better than guessing...
A voltage tester, preferably a model called a "Wiggy", would give you
The answers you need in a few minutes...
I think they should teach this in school, along with carpentry.
You should consider hiring an electrician,

Put everything back exactly the way it was.

What you have described appears to be two circuits sharing a neutral with split outlets. If that is what you have, your logic about the path of the current is backwards. Outlet #1 is not the first outlet in the circuit, it is the last. That is, if it is even on one of these two circuits. It may not be. If it is, there will be some other outlet or light that is now not functioning.

Your original problem was not in the outlets themselves. You have some other problem.

Your description of your wiring is incomplete. There will be additional wiring connections in what you label outlet 2 and outlet 3. In the first outlet (electrically) you will have two 3-wire cables. Each with a black, red and white wire. All blacks, whites and reds will be connected together and connected to the outlet.

In the second outlet you will have one 3-wire cable and one 2-wire cable with a black and white. Here, the whites will be connected together and connected to the outlet. Either the red or the black will be connected to the black of the 2-wire cable and connected to the outlet. The other, red or black, will just be connected to the outlet.

Put things back the way they were and then post a description of the wiring in each box.

Be careful, there will be two circuit breakers for these circuits. Current NEC code requires that these breakers be tied together. In effect a double breaker. That was not always the case. Your breakers may be located next to one another and tied together, or they may not.

Purchase a multi-meter at Home Depot or Lowe's, only about $15. Test all wires in the box before working. If you don't know how to use meter post back.

Your original problem may have been simply a tripped breaker. When you post your description of the wiring, tell us if the breaker that you turned off is a single or a double breaker.

OK, a neighbor is an electrician and he took a look at it for me and the issue on the 2nd and 3rd outlets was with a faulty breaker. Because these two recepticles go to a 15amp double breaker, once one of the two was bad I only got power to one of the plugs in each receptacle.

The first outlet had two white and two black. Apparently when the condos were first built there was an outlet above the stove for a wall clock. This has been removed and the hole drywalled over. As a result, he wired it as a regular switch and just capped over the extra wires. This was achieved using a regular outlet with no tabs broken.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.