I was using the microwave oven and it suddenly stopped. The CB wasn't tripped but I replaced it with a new one anyway. I used 2 simple voltage detectors (one with light and the other with both light & beep. There are 3 outlets involved and all 3 show power on both hot and neutral! I checked the good receptacles elsewhere and the detectors show power only on hot side. I removed all 3 outlets to check the connection and tighten all the points. One outlet is regular, the other is with the safety button for the bathroom and the other has built-in switch for mirror light.

BTW, the microwave oven still works fine in the other room outlets.

First time post need help & many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

Sounds like an open neutral. Please see the sticky at the top of the forum for troubleshooting tips.

 

What type of "detector" were you using. Saying one with a light and the other with a light and beep makes me think it was the non contact type. If it looks anything like the one below then they are notorious for not being 100% reliable. They can be helpful but I've found them to very often give false positive indications for current when there is actually none.



When debugging I much prefer a contact type volt meter or electrical tester. These have two probes with metal tips that much touch what you are testing. And, believe it or not I also like a old fashioned analog needle type over a digital readout for simple home wiring as they do not show phantom readings.

 

Yes one of them is like that but the other is the old fashion contact type that looks like a small screw driver.
I will go check the sticky "open neutral" as pcboss suggested.

Thanks both,

 

Neither are contact type testers and are not reliable enough to do any meaningful testing. You need either an analog multimeter, (real) test light, or a solenoid tester (Wiggins). Cheap digital multimeters look sexy but can be more prone to false reading than a $8-$15 analog multimeter.