[PLUG-TALK] Strange A/C electrical issue

[Rich Shepard]

On Thu, 29 Dec 2022, John Jason Jordan wrote:

> And one final thought - more than once I have had an outlet fail,
> especially one that gets stuff plugged in and out a lot. And when they
> fail there is often a display of fireworks, and sometimes the failure is
> silent. And note that the problem may be a loose wire in the outlet just
> before the three dead ones.

John,

Worn out interior outlet parts are most likely the problem. I don't recall
replacing any of the outlets in the baths or kitchen since I moved in, so
these are likely 40 years old. And they do have appliances that are plugged
in and unplugged on various schedules, rather than having a light, clock
radio, or air bed compressor plugged in and left.

I'll buy three more of the Leviton skinny GFI outlets for the kitchen. Those
outlets, for some reason unknown to me, also control the outlets on the
north exterior wall of the former living room, now office. I had an
electrician add a couple of extra outlets in the garage, and re-wire the
garage door opener to a circuit breaker in the panel rather than the
extension cord to the workbench at the rear of the garage. Makes me wonder
how the house passed code inspection when it was built. The electrician had
the same thought.

Rich