you can get the same economy of wire using the same leg.
the wiring in the wall doesn’t have to change, you can relocate the wire in the fuse/breaker box to put both circuits on the same leg if this hazard exists (should only be done by someone skilled in electrical work).
Snnipe_70E:
You have not explained what you mean by half an outlet.
I will assume that you are meaning a duplex outlet. That is an 2X4 outlet with two places to plug something in. They can be wired to have two seperate feeds. This is done by breaking a small bar between two screws.
It would be strange to have two outlets wired with double feeds, can’t imanage it but sometimnes strange things are done, they may be tied together. A loose neutral would cause the the complete outlet to not work.
+1.
This is the most likely cause. I’ve done an enormous amount of electrical work in my house and have had a few outlets that have had this problem.
http://www.smarthome.com/images/22490b1side2big.jpg
In this picture, you can see the little gold bar that connects the two outlets. If this bar breaks, the outlets need to be wired separately to work.
Sinaptics:
+1.
This is the most likely cause. I’ve done an enormous amount of electrical work in my house and have had a few outlets that have had this problem.
http://www.smarthome.com/images/22490b1side2big.jpg
In this picture, you can see the little gold bar that connects the two outlets. If this bar breaks, the outlets need to be wired separately to work.
That was the bar I was meaning. Thanks for the picture.
