Bedroom outlets/Overheadlight not working
I have a 1960s house with an intermittent electrical problem on one bedroom circuit.
The circuit appears to supply:
- Two bedroom receptacles
- One overhead bedroom light
- Nothing else in the house appears to be affected.
The breaker does not trip when the problem occurs.
Originally, one of the receptacles was severely burned/melted and had previously produced a very large arc/spark. I left that circuit off for some time. I recently replaced that receptacle with a new 15A receptacle.
The wiring at the receptacle consists of:
- Two black wires on the brass/hot side
- Two white wires on the silver/neutral side
- Bare copper grounding conductors
- Metal electrical boxes
The visible wiring doesn't appear to have burned or melted insulation.
After replacing the receptacle, I noticed the following behavior:
- The bedroom light will work normally.
- If I plug a load (such as a lamp) into either receptacle, the light and both receptacles can lose power.
- The breaker remains on and does not trip.
- After a random amount of time, the circuit may start working again.
- The problem can repeat when another load is applied.
- A separate receptacle in the bedroom is on a different breaker and continues working normally.
There is also a ceiling junction/light box with multiple wire splices. Nothing visually obvious appears disconnected or burned there.
I'm suspecting an intermittent/high-resistance connection somewhere on the circuit, but I don't have enough electrical experience or proper test equipment to locate it.
What would be the most likely points to investigate, and what would you recommend testing first?