lights do not work
#1
i thought i had a circuit breaker blown and i replaced it with no success. i have 4 outlets and two switches coming off this breaker that do not work the house is 20yrs old could you help. the rest of the breakers all work in the house.
#2
Very common problem. And the most common cause is a GFCI receptacle that has tripped which feeds these several receptacles and sometimes lights, as you have described. This GFCI needs to be reset.
Problem is, the tripped GFCI is usually nowhere near the affected receptacles, which fools a lot of people.
So, look carefully, indoors, outdoors, basement, garage, behind shelving, behind the fridge, etc. If you do this and are certain there is no GFCI that has tripped, search again, but more thoroughly this time.
If you absolutely can't find a tripped GFCI, it is possible that one or all of these receptacles has been back-wired, using the "push-in" style of connectors. These will very often loosen up by themselves and cause the downstream receptacles to konk out. Kill the breaker and remove the receptacles one by one until you find the culprit and replace that recep using only the screw terminals on the sides. One trick for finding these is to take any cord & plug device and run around inserting the plug into your receptacles and wiggling carefully but firmly. Sometimes the power will return, even if only for a second. But when it does you have found your loose connection.
Hope that helps.
Juice
Problem is, the tripped GFCI is usually nowhere near the affected receptacles, which fools a lot of people.
So, look carefully, indoors, outdoors, basement, garage, behind shelving, behind the fridge, etc. If you do this and are certain there is no GFCI that has tripped, search again, but more thoroughly this time.
If you absolutely can't find a tripped GFCI, it is possible that one or all of these receptacles has been back-wired, using the "push-in" style of connectors. These will very often loosen up by themselves and cause the downstream receptacles to konk out. Kill the breaker and remove the receptacles one by one until you find the culprit and replace that recep using only the screw terminals on the sides. One trick for finding these is to take any cord & plug device and run around inserting the plug into your receptacles and wiggling carefully but firmly. Sometimes the power will return, even if only for a second. But when it does you have found your loose connection.
Hope that helps.
Juice