Electrical Troubleshooting for Outlet Wiring

How to Troubleshoot and Repair Wall Outlets: Checking Electrical Wiring Connections, Inspect Wiring to Additional Outlets, Burnt Outlet Wiring Connections. © By: Dave Rongey

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Problems with Wall Outlets and How to Fix Them
Electrical Question: I have two wall outlets that are not working.

• These are standard household wall outlets at the end of a daisy chain wired configuration that are not working.
• All three lights on an outlet tester are off, indicating “open hot” according to the tester.
• I replaced the first non-working outlet, but that didn’t fix the problem.
• Then I replaced the last working outlet before the first non-working one too, and that didn’t help either.
• What else can I do to troubleshoot the problem with these outlets?

• To give you a better idea of the setup because I don’t have a diagram:
  • Let the outlets be “A” (working and testing as wired correctly), “B” and “C” (both testing as open hot).
  • I have outlet “A” on one wall, and outlets “B” and “C”, in that order, on an adjoining wall at 90 degrees.
  • Both “A” and “B” have a hot/neutral pair going “in”, and a pair going “out” from “A” towards “B” and “B” towards “C”.
  • “C” only has one hot/neutral pair going in.
  • Neither “A” nor “B” has pig tailed wires, other than the ground.

Thank you, Dave!

This electrical wiring question came from: Stephen, a Homeowner from Sunnyvale, California.

Comments: Great electrical information for homeowners.

Dave’s Reply:
Thanks for your electric wiring question Stephen.

How to Troubleshoot and Repair Wall Outlets

Application: Repair Electric Wall Outlets.
Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced – Best performed by a licensed electrician.
Tools Required: Basic Electricians Pouch Hand Tools a Voltage Tester or Plug-In Circuit Analyzer.
Estimated Time: Depends on personal level experience, ability to work with tools, the extent of the electrical repairs the number of outlets that are affected.
Precaution: Identify the outlet circuit, turn it OFF and Tag it with a Note before working with the wiring.

Method of Electrical Wiring for Outlets

• Checking Electrical Wiring Connections
  Double check all of your connections. One of the best methods for wiring outlets is by making pigtails for each color set, and then connect the pigtail wire to the outlet.
• Inspect Wiring to Additional Outlets
  This will avoid feeding the circuit wiring through each receptacle outlet.
• Burnt Outlet Wiring Connections
  Twist each set of stripped wires, trim them off evenly and apply the appropriately sized wire connector for the number of wires that are being spliced and the wire gauge.

More about Electric Wiring for Outlets

Wiring an Electrical Outlet

Wiring Electrical Outlet for the Home

Home electrical wiring includes 110 volt outlets and 220 volt outlets and receptacles which are common place in every home. See how wiring electrical outlets for the home are done.

Electrical Troubleshooting and Repairs

Troubleshooting Electrical Outlet Wiring Problems
Licensed Electrician Reveals the Secrets of Successful Electrical Troubleshooting Methods used to solve the majority of the home electrical problems and wiring failures encountered.

How to Use an Electrical Tester

Electrical Safety and Voltage Testers
When working on home electrical wiring, quality voltage testers can play an important part in electrical safety. Electrical testers enable you to identify electrical circuits and help prevent the possibility of accidental electrical shock.

More about Installing Outlet Wiring
How to Install Electrical Outlets

Wiring Electrical Outlets
Fully Explained Photos and Wiring Diagrams for Wiring Electrical Outlets with Code Requirements for most new or remodel projects.