Outlets lost power

[CarlosHRNYC]

The other day I was testing out a tire pump (one of those small 12v pumps you can buy at the local store) in a free outlet in my kitchen and I heard a pop when I switched it on. Now the two outlets on that wall do not work. The outlets on the remaining three work just fine.

I checked the control box and none of the breakers were tripped. Just to be on the safe side I reset them anyway... with no luck.

I pulled one of the outlets off and it seems to be the kind you stick in from the back, not the screw in with pigtails kind.

There was no juice flowing in any of the wires when I used my voltage tester.

Is this as simple as replacing the bad outlets or is there rewiring that's going to need to happen?

Thanks in advance for all who reply.

[jnaas2]

recheck the wires one has to have juice, if there is no power you may have a wire that arc faulted inside the wall , if thats the case you will need to do some work to find out where it is coming from

[Biddle34]

Is the outlet on a switch?

If the outlet is on a switch, check that as well. The switch could be bad, but there should be some power getting to the outlet.

Good luck

[LazyPup]

The two outlets in question are on a kitchen counter top and you stated that you heard a popping sound when the power went out. I suspect that the outlet you were using is wired downstream from from the other outlet that is not working, and the other outlet is a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt) type outlet.

When you look at a GFCI outlet you will see two plug receptacles and in the space between the receptacles you will see two small oblong buttons, one marked "Test' and the other marked "Reset". Generally the test button will be the same color as the outlet and the TEST button will be red, although there are some where both buttons are the same color as the outlet.

Code requires that all outlets within 6ft of a water source such as your kitchen sink must be GFCI protected. The GFCI devices have a mini circuit breaker built in that tests the ground side of the circuit. If there is any problem with the ground the internal breaker will trip and the power is immediately cut off. When it trips the Reset button pops out slightly. Most GFCI's also have a tiny hole on the face that has a Red, Green or sometimes orange light behind it. When the power is on the light should be lit but when the GFCI trips the indicator light goes out as well.

To reset, begin by unplugging the device you were trying use when the power went out. You should then be able to press the reset button in until you feel it click and the power should be restored. (note, In the early days of GFCI's there were some that the internal circuit interrupter tripped but it did not always pop the reset button out to the reset position. As a matter of habit I always press the test button first to insure the reset button it popped completely out to the reset position, then i press the reset button.)
NOTE: Code requires that all the outlets in the near proximity of a water source must be GFCI protected, but not all of those outlets will be GFCI outlets. On the back of a GFCI device there are four terminals. two marked "line" and two marked "load". When you first get the device the load terminals are usually covered by a yellow plastic tape. When you need GFCI protection for two or more outlets a GFCI outlet is first installed on the upstream end of the circuit where the power lines come in from your breaker box and that line is connected to the "line" terminals. Aline is then connected to the "Load" terminals and runs downstream to the other outlets on that circuit. In this configuration the GFCI outlet will provide ground fault protection for the other outlets which are connected down stream.

When connected n this manner, if the ground fault interrupter should trip it will kill the power to all the outlets connected downstream, which would explain why you could not get power on any of the contacts at your problem outlet.

[CarlosHRNYC]

The outlets are not on a switch but I will investigate using the other tips supplied in the threads.

Thanks all for your time and I'll reply with my findings later this week

Carlos

[HayZee518]

I got to reading your posting again. you said you heard a pop. this tells me that a gfci receptacle tripped. as lazypup said there are two grounding type outlets on the yoke with a reset and test button on the same yoke. push the reset which I believe is BLACK.

[CarlosHRNYC]

Sorry if I didn't make this clear in my initial post. The outlets are on the dry side of the kitchen (sink is on opposite wall) so these are not GFCIs. I have a feeling I'm gonna have to replace the wire but I'll be certain once I do more investigating this week.

Thanks for your persistence HayZee!