Ok please do not rip into me to badly.

The other day my wife plugged in the vacume and the outlet did not work, at the same time I lost power to 3 other outlets and a ceiling fan.

At the moment I do not have the proper tools, voltage meter or circuit tester. I have figured out which circuit breaker that these outlets are on. I do not believe it is the circuit breaker itself because I know of 2 other outlets on the same breaker that are still working.

When checking one of the outlets, that is not working, I got a small amount of current but not much of a shock.

Headed to store to by a outlet tester. Hoping for advise.
my kids hampsters are running loose and hope that this is not something that they chewed in the walls? Is that possible?

Thank you
Ryland

 

Probably a bad connection on one of the receptacles. It could be on one of the still working ones. If your rectacles use the backstab connections, move the wires to the screws. Back stab give this type of problem all the time.

 

I agree with Joe. It is just amazing to me the number of times that these problems arise coincident with the use specifically of a vacuum cleaner. The obvious answer is that the vacuum cleaner is a significant load that causes an already weak connection to finally fail. Backstabbed connections rely on a tiny piece of spring steel that weakens (metal fatigue) over time with repeated heating/cooling cycles.

I've also seen a vacuum cleaner cause GFCI circuitry to fail, so whenever there is a GFCI on the circuit, check and possibly replace that too. I don't just mean a tripped GFCI -- I mean a failed GFCI.

 

Got every thing working...ended up changing about 7 outlets from the backstab to the side screws and nothing.....Went and got some tools...meters and testers....when checking one of the outlets the white wire come loose in my hand..hmmm...pulled some of the wire out of the wall and re-terminated the outlet...it worked....I added each additional outlet one by one and all is good now....thank you all. I am assuming I just save some $$ by doing it myself....$7 for tester/meter.

Thanks,
Ryland

 

Love to hear a success story. When I read the subject line I also guessed back-stabs. They should be illegal on the basis of annoyance to homeowners alone. Dumbest design ever incorporated into electrical devices!!!

Juice

 

Glad to be of assistance.