Out Let Malfunction

Sometime, with age and use, outlets just go bad, John. I doubt it has anything to do with the transformer, etc. Is that the only dead item on that breaker?

Probably a simple outlet replacement is all that is needed

Lionelski posted:

Sometime, with age and use, outlets just go bad, John. I doubt it has anything to do with the transformer, etc. Is that the only dead item on that breaker?

Probably a simple outlet replacement is all that is needed

Thank you was hoping I did not do anything catastrophic. I have two plugs that are withing 4 feet of each other they are both bad. Those to plugs are the only nonfunctional issues in the house.

What he said. Very doubtful that whatever you do on your layout would cause a wall outlet to go bad. Just coincidental. It's funny how often two unrelated things happen at the same time, that makes you think they are related. 

Rod

Just read you have two dead. Ok that's not coincidental. If they are on a stub end circuit, chances are good there is a bad box connection where they feed from. I think you're going to need an electrician.

Rod

Electrician here...

Sounds like a bad connection in one of the receptacle boxes. If you are comfortable investigating then turn the circuit off and open up the receptacles to check for loose wires. Start at the last working outlet on the circuit until you find the cause. If you find that it was a loose wire then replace that outlet. The heat can cause hidden damage. A decent multi-meter will help too.

If not then call a local pro.

John Patrick posted:

Lionelski posted:

Sometime, with age and use, outlets just go bad, John. I doubt it has anything to do with the transformer, etc. Is that the only dead item on that breaker?

Probably a simple outlet replacement is all that is needed

Thank you was hoping I did not do anything catastrophic. I have two plugs that are withing 4 feet of each other they are both bad. Those to plugs are the only nonfunctional issues in the house.

If you are not educated on home electrical wiring, I would shut the breaker off that controls those outlets and call a good electrician. There are a number of things that could be wrong and some of them could be serious. It's odd that two outlets go at the same time without a breaker failure. Although if it is age related, it's possible they are aging out. All the more reason to have an electrician check if there will be more going soon. However, it could be wiring, and that would be more serious and potentially dangerous. 

One last thing to check, is it possible those outlets are on a wall switch that got turned off?

George

It's also possible that a ground fault outlet elsewhere in that branch circuit has tripped and has killed the rest of the outlets  beyond that point.