Help with electrical socket problems?
Question:Hello,
My brother was living in my place last year, and he tried to change out a loose electrical socket (the plugs didn't stay in), but when he did, I think he wired it wrong because now it doesn't work.
The maintenance man came over (who knows how to do these things) and put back the original socket (correctly) but when we tried it, IT didn't work. He thought that perhaps when the socket was used with the incorrect wiring, it blew out the switch that leads to the socket, so I tried changing it and still no dice.
I would call an electrician, but I don't want one to come out and charge me to tell me that there is nothing he can do without tearing up the walls.
The socket is attached to a switch, but I am unsure whether electricity is even running as far as the switch. But every other socket in the room (and connected to that breaker) is working. Please, anyone with some insight into what might be wrong and how much it might cost to have someone come repair it help!
Thanks!
Answers:
I'm a electrician, and really theres alot of things that it could be. Every electrician wires switched outlet differently. Its hard to know what it is from the discription, I would need to know what kind of wires are behind the outlet and the switch and you would need to check which wires have power, etc. Best thing for you to do is call a electrician, if it worked before it should be easy to fix, it'll run you about 75$ for a service call for the first hour and then its like 50 or so there after, but truely sounds like it should take less than a hour for a experienced electrician.
Buy a cheap ohm meter (mulitmeter) they are about $10. That will tell you if it has electricity going to it and then you can trace it back to where the problem is.
check the breaker rating
Sounds like you have a ''switched'' outlet. this outlet usually has a lamp plugged into it and upon entering the room you flip the switch and the lamp comes on. You should have a white wire attached to one side(pole)of the outlet and a black wire attached to the opposite side(pole) of the outlet, next check the switch and see if you have either the black wire or the white wire attached to top and bottom of the switch(poles)only one color wire is used on the switch.(It should be the black wire)
Get a cheap multimeter (less than $15) and look at this web site:
http://electrical-online.com/wiringaswit...
For more diagrams that might be helpful, look at:
http://electrical-online.com/wiringdiagr...
You can test a circuit with a multimeter, but even better is an inductance tester. These look like a pen, are usually red, and chirp when the tip is near a live wire. They are under $20 at most home improvement stores. The advantage is that you don't have to take the plates off to test and it will detect a "hot" switch where there is no ground to connect a multimeter.
Get one, learn how to use it on a known good switch and good outlet, then test the doubted switch.
The switch should "chirp" whether it is on or off, because the hot feet has to be there. If there is no power to the switch at all, there is probably a circuit breaker problem. If there is power there, see if there is power to the black wire in the outlet when the switch is turned on and off. That should help you figure out where the problem is.
Depending on where you live, an electrician may be more that $75, but a professional can be cheap in the long run if you really don't know what you are doing.
If you know that little about electricity then I do not recommend trying to fix this yourself. you need to call a licensed electrician. The main thing you need to remember is to tell him exactly what you did and what all you messed with when it was worked on. I do this sort of work for a living and the worst thing a person can do is tell a service man that he didn't mess with anything because he doesn't want to admit that he messed it up. This costs people lots of money because trust me when we do find the problem we can tell that someone who didn't know what they were doing messed with it.
I agree with Nate and troyd. I am an electrician also. Call one. Electrical work is NOT a hobby.
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