[PLUG-TALK] Strange A/C electrical issue

[Galen Seitz]

On 12/29/22 12:54, Rich Shepard wrote:
> On Thu, 29 Dec 2022, Galen Seitz wrote:
> 
>> The odds of both outlets failing at the same time are pretty much nil.
>> There must be something else amiss. Are there other loads that are on the
>> same breaker as the bathroom outlets? If so, are they known to be good?
> 
> Galen,
> 
> The bathrooms have only the one dual outlet, adjacent to the sink. One 
> holds
> a waterpic and an electric toothbrush, the other a waterpic and a hair
> drier. Both worked fine before this morning. And, the ceiling lights in 
> both
> rooms work.
> 
>> Or to put it another way, are you *certain* that the breaker in your 
>> panel
>> is good?
> 
> Certain? No. But since that one breaker controls all electricity to the
> three bedrooms and two baths, and the only lights/outlets that don't
> function are the two bathroom outlets, I assume the breaker is okay.
> 
>> Is there something else in common with the bathroom outlets that could
>> have failed? It sounds like power isn't even coming into the boxes in the
>> bathroom.
> 
> According to my multimeter, there's nothing reaching the probes inserted in
> the outlet. It makes sense to replace the outlets with CFI-protected ones
> even if there's a strange problem external to the outlets themselves.
> When they arrive early next week I can test that.
> 
>> If that's the case, why? 14 gauge wire isn't likely to have spontaneously
>> disconnected after working properly for 40 years.
> 
> It's also not likely that only both dual outlets would fail overnight.
> 
> We had a 3+ hour power outage last Tuesday, but the outlets worked as
> expected when the PGE repair crew restored power.
> 
> It's all more than strange and certainly beyond my expertise.

Given that data, my guess is that one of the bathroom outlets is 
downstream of the other.  A further guess is that the upstream bathroom 
outlet has failed in some way.  A further WAG is that the outlet with 
the hairdryer has failed.  I suggest the following:

turn off the breaker

confirm power is off to the circuit

pull the bathroom outlets out of their boxes such that the wiring is 
exposed.  Inspect the wiring for damage.  Look for broken wires or signs 
of heat.  See if you can determine which is the downstream outlet.  The 
downstream outlet (the one at the end of the circuit) should have power 
coming in, but none going out.  I.e. there should only be one 3 
conductor cable coming into the box.  If both boxes have two cables, 
then there's likely another box on the circuit which should be without 
power.

With the outlets safely exposed, turn the breaker back on.  Use your 
meter to determine whether either box is getting power.  If not, then 
the outlets are fine and the problem lies elsewhere.

Turn the breaker off.

Push the bathroom outlets back into their boxes.  Be careful not to 
short anything.

Turn the breaker back on.


If you think you might be doing more electrical work, consider getting 
one of these:
<https://www.fluke.com/en-us/product/electrical-testing/basic-testers/fluke-1ac-ii>

Another tool I've considered purchasing but never did is this:
<https://www.amazon.com/Sperry-Instruments-GFI6302-Receptacle-Professional/dp/B000RUL2UU>


galen
-- 
Galen Seitz
galens at seitzassoc.com