no power in outlets but power in all lighting

[vannatc]

in my aparment all my ceiling lights are powered up, but the outlets in the entire apartment are out. Where do I start looking? All the fuses in the apartment are okay, as well as the main fuse box outside the building. What can be the problem and how do i check?

[Troy]

It sounds like either a breaker is tripped, or you should call the landlord. Do you have breakers or fuses? If you have breakers, I would reset them all one by one to see if it solves the problem.

[kactuskid]

Since this is an apt, your landlord should be called and he should be the one to repair this. It sounds like your lighting is just on a separete circuit than the receptacles. What was happening when the receptacles stopped, did you plug anything in. The very first thing to look for are any GFCI receptacles. Push in the reset buttons to see if power is restored. If that doesn't do it, then power should first be verified at the breaker with a volt meter. If power is at the breaker, then you probably have a loose or broken wire at the first receptacle closest to the breaker box (meaning first receptacle on the string) Receptacles are usually daisy chained. I'm gonna guess you have receptacles that are backstabbed. This is where the wires are inserted into the little holes in the backs of the receptacles. This type of connection is notorius for loose connections. Here's a link explaining backstabbing

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/knowhow/electrical/article/0,16417,562098-9,00.html#

First open the main breaker, then pull each and every receptacle and check for backstabbing. If you find any wired this way, remove the wires from the back and wrap them around the screws on the sides. This should really be done by an electrician since you're renting so be careful. Here's a link that'll show you how

http://www.danswiringpage.com/recepts_gfi.htm

[vannatc]

My 90 father is the landlord and I am helping out. The apartment was built back in the early 60's. The 4 unit apartment has a swithbox that has a manual switch handle with 2 fuses. Here is a drawing of my actual exterior circuit/breaker boxes for the entire 4 unit appartment and front house:

http://www.forumracing.com/images/switchbox.jpg

The remaining 3 units all have power, but unit A only has lights, and no power to any of the outlets. I have pulled the switch handle to kill the pwr then powered it back up, but this didn't fix the problem, I checked all the fuses and they are all okay. I have also check the fuse box in the apartment as well, they are all okay. With a voltage meter i have verified that there is no power running in any of the outlets (non-GFCI receptacles)...I have no drawing of the original wiring diagram of the apartment...any more help would greatly be appreciated.