cleaners broke a wall socket

Came home after the cleaners had cleaned my apartment and found the kitchen and hall lights wouldn't switch on. Checked the breakers - nothing had tripped. Then I noticed one of the nightlights in the hall was out - tried swapping it with another socket and discovered that not only was the nightlight fine but if I wiggled it when it was in the socket the kitchen light came on - must be loose wire - no biggie.

So, next day I got a bunch of nice floody lights out (P7, Rayovac lantern, etc.) turned off all the electricity and dismantled the socket - sure enough there was a loose wire - so I reattached it, screwed it back in the wall, switched back on the electricity, and hey presto! on came the kitchen light!

But not the hall light or the nightlight and when I wiggled the nightlight the kitchen light went off. The socket has 2 places where wires can be attached - they can either be pushed through holes in the back or screwed onto the sides. The loose wire was slipping in and out of the holes - so off with the electricity, rewired the socket to the screws on the sides, back in the wall, on with the electricity and ... kitchen light works + doesnt go out when the nightlight wiggled but hall light and nightlight still out

On, off, on, off - must have taken the socket out and turned the electricity on/off a dozen times. Recheck the nightlight in another socket - fine. :scowl:

Eventually I broke out the step stool and replaced the light bulb in the hall and it worked! :thumbsup: Bulb had blown! Two hours of running around turning things on/off, screwing/unscrewing, replacing batteries etc. to find the bulb had blown. :sigh:

But the nightlight was still not coming on - perhaps the socket was broken - electricity off, check the breakers, doesnt seem to be any fuses or anything to blow, recheck the nightlight in another socket - fine

After some 3hrs from start to finish I decided the wall socket was probably broken inside and getting the lights working was good enough. I would pick up a new wall socket the next day and replace it.

So, I turn on the electricity, vac up all the dust, put all the tools away, then come back to collect my flashlights that are all pointing at the socket.
When I turn the last one off - bink! on comes nightlight

It was light activated (goes on when its dark) - lol!

-PG

Not bad for a handyman, but as an electrician you have a way to go

I am confused since you mention that the nightlight was fine when you plugged it into another socket, but it did not work in the original socket until it was dark.

petergunn said:

But the nightlight was still not coming on - perhaps the socket was broken - electricity off, check the breakers, doesnt seem to be any fuses or anything to blow, recheck the nightlight in another socket - fine

After some 3hrs from start to finish I decided the wall socket was probably broken inside and getting the lights working was good enough. I would pick up a new wall socket the next day and replace it.

So, I turn on the electricity, vac up all the dust, put all the tools away, then come back to collect my flashlights that are all pointing at the socket.
When I turn the last one off - bink! on comes nightlight

It was light activated (goes on when its dark) - lol!

-PG

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FlashKat said:

I am confused since you mention that the nightlight was fine when you plugged it into another socket, but it did not work in the original socket until it was dark.

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the nightlight goes off when there is light (photoelectric sensor), it has to be dark to run or you have to block the sensor receiving light. I have a cheap circuit tester you plug into wall sockets that has 3 LEDs in it I use. Cost me $3 and worth the money over messing with plugging lamps and meters in the holes and wondering if you are getting a good connection, have a blown fuse in the meter or a defective lamp.

You're blaming the cleaners? How?

Why did it work in the other socket without turning off the lights? Those circuit tester are great to use!!!! I still trust a meter a little more.

Lynx_Arc said:

the nightlight goes off when there is light (photoelectric sensor), it has to be dark to run or you have to block the sensor receiving light. I have a cheap circuit tester you plug into wall sockets that has 3 LEDs in it I use. Cost me $3 and worth the money over messing with plugging lamps and meters in the holes and wondering if you are getting a good connection, have a blown fuse in the meter or a defective lamp.

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jugornot said:

as an electrician you have a way to go

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LOL, I think would have been a better icon to use...

@ petergunn, I'm just surprised and relieved to hear you weren't consumed by a large sheet of blue flame while you were messing around with your electricity supply. Please be careful...

FlashKat said:

Why did it work in the other socket without turning off the lights? Those circuit tester are great to use!!!! I still trust a meter a little more.

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Other socket was in the nearby bedroom. I had all the unecessary lights switched off as I was switching the breakers regularly so it was dark there. I was unplugging another nightlight that was already on and replacing it with the one from the hall to test it

-PG

Empath said:

You're blaming the cleaners? How?

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The socket must have broken and the hall light blew when they plugged in their vacuum. Not saying they did anything wrong, but they did break it.

-PG

PG, if lease's almost up, f it, leave it for them to fix.

My apartment is all sorts of messed up.
Lights fall out of ceilings,
porch light and bedroom light don't work unless kitchen AND living room light is on,
the only room that the AC reaches is the kitchen,
no sprinklers and no fire extinguishers,
only 2 walls that are actually straight and level and flat,
AC unit sits above the water heater, on a rotten, damp piece of particle board,
rainwater accumulates on top of the front door, a la bucket of water prank,
water leaks from the dining room chandelier (I don't even know... don't ask me)

Leaks seemed to be the most important issues to fix. maintenance came by and liberally applied silicone sealant to the outside wall. Still leaks.

Like I said, it's an apartment. If landlord/owner doesn't want to fix it, that's his prerogative.

bshanahan14rulz said:

PG, if lease's almost up, f it, leave it for them to fix. ...

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No can do - its a condo and I own it Everything is working fine now though - just a loose wire that is nice and secure now.

Your apartment sounds a bit dangerous though - you could probably pressure your landlord to fix it. Send a 'recorded delivery' letter with some photos stating that you think it might be dangerous and not up to code and that your considering getting the local utility to check it. That will usually get some form of response . If you don't the landlord will argue that he arranged for maintenance to remedy the issues and there was no further complaint so you will have no recourse if something bad happens.

-PG

I am sooooo confused:shrug:

petergunn said:

Then I noticed one of the nightlights in the hall was out - tried swapping it with another socket and discovered that not only was the nightlight fine but if I wiggled it when it was in the socket the kitchen light came on - must be loose wire - no biggie.

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so your hall light is on the same branch as your kitchen?

So, next day I ...turned off all the electricity and dismantled the socket - sure enough there was a loose wire - so I reattached it, screwed it back in the wall, switched back on the electricity, and hey presto! on came the kitchen light!

But not the hall light or the nightlight and when I wiggled the nightlight the kitchen light went off.

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So you dismantled the kitchen light to fix the hall light?
Your nightlight is plugged in your hall, when you wiggled it the kitchen light went off?

The socket has 2 places where wires can be attached - they can either be pushed through holes in the back or screwed onto the sides. The loose wire was slipping in and out of the holes - so off with the electricity, rewired the socket to the screws on the sides, back in the wall, on with the electricity and ... kitchen light works + doesnt go out when the nightlight wiggled but hall light and nightlight still out

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So now you've made the hall light and kitchen light separate, but wiggling the nightlight that is out to begin with affects the kitchen light?

On, off, on, off - must have taken the socket out and turned the electricity on/off a dozen times. Recheck the nightlight in another socket - fine. :scowl:

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So we're dealing with a hall socket, not just a fixture?

Eventually I broke out the step stool and replaced the light bulb in the hall and it worked! :thumbsup: Bulb had blown! Two hours of running around turning things on/off, screwing/unscrewing, replacing batteries etc. to find the bulb had blown. :sigh:

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okay, the hall fixture now works, cool

But the nightlight was still not coming on - perhaps the socket was broken - electricity off, check the breakers, doesnt seem to be any fuses or anything to blow, recheck the nightlight in another socket - fine

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No fuses in your breaker? is it resettable? is there a penny in it? if nightlight fixture works, but not in that socket, just replace the socket.

After some 3hrs from start to finish I decided the wall socket was probably broken inside and getting the lights working was good enough. I would pick up a new wall socket the next day and replace it.

So, I turn on the electricity, vac up all the dust, put all the tools away, then come back to collect my flashlights that are all pointing at the socket.
When I turn the last one off - bink! on comes nightlight

It was light activated (goes on when its dark) - lol!

Click to expand...

so you went through the entire workout because the hall nightlight is dark activated? or is your kitchen really wired with your hall?

No way it could be that confusing :nana:

The overhead kitchen lights, hall lights, and the wall socket in the hall do appear to all be on the same breaker although there are separate light switches for the kitchen and the hall (the socket is always on). There are also separate breakers for kitchen sockets, appliances, etc. Not sure why the kitchen light is on the same breaker as the hall lights - might be something to do with the extra kitchen light switch by the door.

All good now tho. I guess the moral of the story is "be careful with flashlights when you have light activated circuits in your house".

-PG

petergunn said:

After some 3hrs from start to finish I decided the wall socket was probably broken inside and getting the lights working was good enough. I would pick up a new wall socket the next day and replace it.

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I didn't quite follow your explanation, but the part I've quoted above scared me.

If something on a circuit is funky, leave the entire circuit turned off. Just kill the breaker.

Most times a wall outlet will be only one outlet on a string of outlets. That ONE outlet that you're testing can test fine, but the wires on the back feeding power to the rest of the circuit can be fried/intermittent/burnt/corroded/UNSAFE, and pulling any kind of power through those unsafe wires is a good way to start a fire.

I wish I still had the damaged wall socket to post pictures of that I found in my house. Started smelling electrical smoke and had a devil of a time tracking it down, since it was coming from inside the wall. Everything still worked. Eventually felt the cover plate and it was WARM, even though the power had been off for over an hour at that point. I figure we were only a very few minutes away from a fire.

Once again, if something is funky with the circuit, turn it off and leave it off until you can figure the entire problem out.