Wires without power

[Ralph Joyner]

I have a 1987 home with a socket in the kitchen and another in the bedroom that has no power.
What could cause this problem? I have tested both with a test light and there is no power coming from the socket. The sockets in the kitchen all work except for this particular outlet. In the upstairs bedroom all of the sockets are working in the room except for one. What could be the problem here.

[Rewired]

By "socket" you mean a "receptacle" right?
For the kitchen, it could be a tripped breaker or even a wire that has jumped out of those "backstabbed" connections.

For the bedroom, this may sound a little crazy, but is there a "mystery switch" that doesn't seem to control anything? If so, chances are that switch will control that outlet for you to plug in a table lamp of some sorts. If thats not the case, and its ONLY one outlet, the problem is going to be a wire loose in the back of that outlet or the first one "upstream" of it... (possibly in the ajoining room if there are outlets "back to back" in the same wall.

If you find "backstabbed" connections, they are the root of all evil electrically! Remove the wires from these connections and wrap them around the terminal screws properly (loop in the wire facing clockwise) so as you tighten the connection it will pull the loop in the wire tighter, not tend to spread it out!

Best of luck with your "investigation"

A.D