Help w/ GFI and plug outage

I moved into an old condo almost two years ago. I replaced the electric plugs with new ones. Just bought some cheapies at Lowes.

Well, a couple of days ago, we plugged in a griddle to cook some food. The dining room and kitchen are kind of one large area. A few minutes later, the power went out on three different sockets. I thought it was the breaker, so I turned everything off and on (about three times), but it didn't fix the problem. All the light switches, garbage disposal, fridge, and a different plug all work.

Someone at work thought it was most likely a GFI plug that needed to be reset, but guess what? I don't see one anywhere. I bought one at Home Depot today, although I don't see a purpose for it at this point.

Any suggestions to anything I may be missing?

Thanks all.

kafene.

 

Keep looking for a gfci, there should be one in the kitchen somewhere. Check behind the fridge even though the fridge doesn't need to be on one. It could be a gfci breaker but as you said you reset all of the breakers there probably isn't one. Do any of your breakers have a white button on them? Did you leave the griddle plugged in when you reset the breakers? If so, then it may have tripped while you were walking back to the kitchen.

 

There is either a GFCI that needs to be reset, or a connection has failed at a receptacle on the circuit.

When you replaced the receptacles, did you use the backstab connections on the new receptacles, or did you use the screw terminals? The backstab connections are known to fail after a while and may have.

First I would use a receptacle tester and test the receptacles that are out. This may identify a problem that rules out a GFCI problem. These tester plug in and have several lights on them that indicate either working properly, or not working.

Second I would keep looking for a GFCI. Check everywhere. Even though it should be in the kitchen area, also check the basement, the garage, the basement, and outside.

If you have to check the receptacles (after you have exhausted the possibility of a GFCI), check every receptacle on the circuit, even those that work properly.

 

I would go for hunting down a GFI outlet. We had the power go out in our bathroom once. It turned out that the bathroom was wired to a GFI outlet in the garage.

Some service panels will have a GFI breaker.

 

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for your inputs.

I tried taking a reading from the sockets that are not working. I don't get any significant readings, where-as the ones that are working are giving me voltage readings of 120+. I tried looking around for a GFI, but I can't see one. I also tried to look for one in the breaker panel, but had no luck.

Do you think it would to any good to replace all the sockets (four of them)? I don't see how that would do any good since there doesn't seem to be any power going to them. I can also put in a GFI that I purchased (after the fact :/).

I suspect this condo was once owned by crack dealers, because they must have smoked a lot of it the way they took care of this place.

kafene.