Electrical outlet
I’m recently widowed, was married to a master electrician, so I never learned a thing about electrical because I had him. I went to plug my vacuum into an outlet, which I used the week before to vacuum, but had no power. The last 20 years, I’ve plugged vacuums into this outlet. I grabbed a working lamp, plugged it in and nothing.
Things I checked out before coming here.
- Made sure all light switches on the wall were on (even though the light switch only impacts the farthest light outlet, still made sure it was on). In 20 years never did this, but hey, who knows, maybe it has always be on the on position. I even went into every other room in the house and made sure all light switches were on!!!
- Checked panel box to make sure nothing tripped. Went through each one and turned it off and on because I remember him telling me once it can look on, but it actually tripped.
- Checked every gfci in the house reset them all, kitchen and baths are the only places I saw them.
- Went and checked every single outlet, top and bottom in the house. Plugged the lamp in each, all of them worked. (Except the dead outlet).
Do I need to call an electrician? If so, how do I go about getting choosing a good one? My husband was an industrial electrician, worked for a large aerospace company. I don’t have any of his coworkers numbers, who would likely steer me in the right direction. I’m just so lost at what to do.
Edit: I also used his fluke meter on the wires, nothing. Went to the outlet next to it and it showed power. I switched the receptacle with another one from the room that was working, swapped them, the dead outlet is still dead. The receptacle from the dead outlet works on the other outlet.
UPDATE: I called my son, who is in college and was telling him about this outlet. He said, “did you check the attic?“ I didn’t even think about the attic. It’s not like one of those nice attics that you can remodel into a room. I grabbed a ladder and the voltage tester pen. Sure enough, a junction box and receptacle under a bunch of insulation was the culprit. I also have mice (this is going to be a whole other issue). He said it’s weird because it would mean that outlet below is fed from it, but the breaker panel is in the garage. Who knows, but I went out to the garage and grabbed a new receptacle, my husband had so much electrical stuff, it’s like walking down an isle in Lowe’s. I changed it out and voilà, I have power. I think my hubby would be proud, I know 100% that he would be very grateful to everyone who offered advice and helped me on here. Y’all are all the best! thank you!!!!