Help!!

[willsk]

Hi Everyone

OK so I did a really dumb thing. I was putting in an outlet and when pushing it into the metal box a loose ground wire touched a live black wire and sparks flew, so I went town to the breaker box and turned it off and then on again. I put in a new recepticle and still no juice. Can anyone help?? Thanks!

KW

[thedcdude]

I assume you have probed the wires directly and not through the outlet checking for current. If there is none, I would test the breaker in the box. Remove the cover, put one probe on the screw of the breaker holding the black wire and touch the other probe to ground. If the breaker is in the "on" position and nothing lights up, replace the breaker.

You may want to wait around for Hayzee. He's the resident electrician and may have better advice.

[HayZee518]

why, oh why would you replace an outlet with the power on? I do it for a living and I'm still squeemish doing it. OK you said something touched a hot lead and sparks flew. shut off the breaker than feeds the circuit. remove the outlet and look carefully at the wires for a burn mark. if the insulation was compromised at the point of contact, the wire could have melted. once you find this if the wire is too short, splice in a short piece of wire and wire the outlet black to brass, white to nickel and the bare or green to green screw on the yoke. then turn on the breaker. if all is ok, shut off the breaker again and gently fold the wires into the box, fasten the outlet and re-establish the breaker power.