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I will agree with what others have said about using only one dimmer switch. I also agree with what others have said about checking the connections of the work you have done.
I will disagree with what has been said about the no contact voltage sensors.
They are a fine and convenient tool but you have to know how to use them. There is a magnetic field surrounding a conductor with a current on it. The NC voltage sensor senses the field. It simply tell you whether or not there is a current on the conductor. Nothing more. It doesn't tell you the voltage or the amperage, just that there is a voltage on the conductor. It is very sensitive. It may be telling you that you have 120 volts on the wire or it my be telling you that you have 5 volts.
Of course you must separate the wires far enough from each other to know which wire you are testing. The magnetic field surrounds the wire and extends outward. I'm not sure but I think how far out depends o the amperage.
So much for my rant, back to your problem. Since the outlets are on the circuit before the stair lights, I doubts that its the wiring at the light switches.
Suggest that you pull the outlets and check to see if they were wired using the quick connect holes in the back. If so rewire using the screw terminals. Use of the quick connect holes is known to produce bad connections after a period of time. Usually about 10 years, and those bad connections seem to show up at times like this, just to confuse you.
I will disagree with what has been said about the no contact voltage sensors.
They are a fine and convenient tool but you have to know how to use them. There is a magnetic field surrounding a conductor with a current on it. The NC voltage sensor senses the field. It simply tell you whether or not there is a current on the conductor. Nothing more. It doesn't tell you the voltage or the amperage, just that there is a voltage on the conductor. It is very sensitive. It may be telling you that you have 120 volts on the wire or it my be telling you that you have 5 volts.
Of course you must separate the wires far enough from each other to know which wire you are testing. The magnetic field surrounds the wire and extends outward. I'm not sure but I think how far out depends o the amperage.
So much for my rant, back to your problem. Since the outlets are on the circuit before the stair lights, I doubts that its the wiring at the light switches.
Suggest that you pull the outlets and check to see if they were wired using the quick connect holes in the back. If so rewire using the screw terminals. Use of the quick connect holes is known to produce bad connections after a period of time. Usually about 10 years, and those bad connections seem to show up at times like this, just to confuse you.
