[JFfixit]

O.K. First post on the forum. Looking for advice and this seems like a pretty good forum from the two days I'm been lurking.

Sorry for the long read but I probably should be detailed.

My problem is that 4 or 5 days ago the lights in the kids playroom and 1st floor bathroom went out for no apparent reason. A quick check proved it wasn't the breaker and not the bathroom or closet switch (the most used). That was about all the time I had to look around.

Next day as the wife was playing with one of the kids everything just goes on.

The circuit, best I can tell, goes from the panel to a switch. The switch controls the ceiling fan/light and the lower part of the duplex outlets (I hate this BTY and will be changed on the next remodel). From the switch box the circuit is daisy chains to 7 outlets, then to a bedroom closet light, a second bedroom closet light, a hall closet light, then to the bathroom overhead light/fan and finally to the vanity light. (The bathroom outlets are a separate circuit)

Tonight I pulled off the covers and checked the wiring for the switched and outlets. Everything looked tight. The hot (top black, bottom red) was screwed into the side properly and tight. Then the holes in the back were used to move on the next outlet. Both neutral wires were screwed on.

Both the wife and I are 99.9% positive the ceiling light worked while the bathroom and closet lights did not. I didn't even think to check the outlets as I thought they were a separate circuit.

So I'm thinking somewhere along the 7 outlets something went wrong but what. I'm not a fan of the back holes (just the push in type, not the push in and screw down type) but if so do they fail then come back to life without warning?

So is there anything else to look for? What would be the professional answer to this? Just replace all the switched/outlets? Would that guarantee 100% everything is good? My wife is paranoid the house is going to burn down. The breaker is left off for now unless I'm showering in the morning before work.

Thanks guys.

 

[RAL238]

The back stab (push-in) connections are a likely cause of failure. And yes, they can start working again. Vibration as well as heating and cooling can cause the connection to fail and then to re-establish itself.



If the outlets are split due to the wall switch controlling one half (metal tab between the screws removed on the hot side), and you need to connect more than one wire to each screw terminal, use a pigtail from the screw terminal to a wire nut that connects to the other wires.

 

[surferdude2]

Determine how many receptacles are affected and start looking for the problem one that is likely burned up inside from a back-stabbed connection. Closest to the panel first makes sense usually. It's a common failure.

If you knew that some of the things on the string were not affected when the trouble occurred, you could at least eliminate those but that may be asking for too much. If the entire group is affected, at least it will eliminate the farthest away items... maybe.

Good luck hunting.

 

[Old Thomas]

All good tips. Also check the hot at the breaker and the neutral in the breaker box. I have seen them get loose.