There is an extension cord outlet where i plug my laptop charger into it and connect it to my laptop. Thats also the extension cord to where the lamp is connected to. I was also cooking something at the time in my studio apartment, cooking with a rice cooker.
Suddenly i heard a sound and then i noticed my laptop wasn’t charging. So i took a look and saw my laptop charger was connected to it so that wasn’t the issue. The other thing is i have a heater in the apartment because the apartments in this building you can’t adjust the heat yourself so i opened it because its pretty cold here. Its the thing where you can move it around with wheels… not sure the right name of that. That also went out as well.
Then i took a look at my rice cooker was turned off. So i look at that and i noticed that doesn’t work either. The thing was right when all this happened, i heard a sound… it sounded like a popping sound like a light bulb but im not sure if it was that or if it was my rice cooker turning off. The lamp turned off as well.
Basically now the extension cord outlet that i use to connect my laptop charger to my laptop doesn’t work. It has 3 outlets doesn’t work in that cord. The 2 outlets in my kitchen which is in my studio… those outlets don’t work as well. I do have 2 other outlets around there near my bed but those outlets do work.
Does anyone know what could have caused this? I basically cannot charge my laptop now unless i move my laptop/monitor from my computer desk to the eating table because of this. I find this strange that those outlet doesnt work and so does the kitchen… yet the 2 outlet near my bed works though. Those outlet near my bed is around 5-6 feet from the other outlets since im in a studio apartment. The thing is im using a monitor as well with laptop so i need 2 outlets. But issue is that table in the kitchen is very small to put monitor/keyboard on.
Does anyone know what i can do about this?
I also like to mention that my TV works though. And one of the electrical outlets that i connect my monitor to works as well since im typing this while looking at my 24’ moniotor. Those 2 outlets are near the TV.
My bathroom light and the light in the kitchen in studio works. The stove works as well.
What can i do about this? I will ask the person i rent from about this later as its getting late now.
It sounds like you blew a fuse due to overloading a circuit, and that the outlet with the extension cord plus the non-working ones in the kitchen are on the same circuit, but the other outlets aren’t. Check your fuse box. (Do you know where that is?)
Did you check the circuit breaker panel? It’s usually a gray metal box embedded in a wall somewhere. See if anything switched off or if a fuse popped.
Is the fuse box look like a safe? Because i do see it.
Just a word of caution, once you find the circuit breaker panel…any appliance that uses a heater is typically a heavy user of electricity. A rice cooker, a room heater – these draw much more current than a computer, TV or battery charger. You need to be aware of the circuit capacities, which may not be much in an old apartment, and a single circuit may span several rooms.
In apartments is the US, the breaker box is often outside, next to or underneath your electrical meter.
You are overloading the circuit. The big current draws are the rice cooker and the heater(most likely) plug one of those in an outlet that did not trip and you should be ok.
If this happens often call management or maintenance.
Capt
Sort of. Open it up and see if any of the switches are flipped to the opposite position (“off”).
Im in canada.
I turned the switch to the left and it turned off my light bulb in my kitchen and my hallway. I then went and turned those lights off. I then turned it to the left and back to the right. The same outlets in the kitchen and the extension cord outlet still doesn’t work…
I plugged the heater into the outlet that is near my my bed… heater works.
So the 2 outlets in my kitchen in studio doesn’t work and the extension cord that i connected laptop charger and heater into doesn’t work.
Go back and check all the switches in the box. They should be in rows and the “on” position will be facing the center.Sometimes a tripped switch will pop only slightly out of the full “on” position. If you feel one that is out of place, flip it all the way to the outside (“off”) then back to the center. You’ll feel a click.
The other option is to check and see whether your apartment has a GFCI outlet. Check to see whether the reset button in the center has tripped. If so, push it in until it clicks.
Any circuit that is tripped will have the breaker switch slightly offset from “on” or “off”. Disconnect some appliances, find the one that is tripped, move it to “off”, then “on”. If you don’t see a difference, try turning all of them off, then on. If that doesn’t work, call your landlord, janitor or supervisor.
Well in that box, i see 2 round switches where the one on the left… i turned it all the way to the left and it turned off the other lights in the apartment. I then turned it back all the way to the right back on to turn it back on. I then turned off the lights in the apartment that doesnt seem affected by this and did this with the left button.
The button the right… i cannot turn it left or right. Is there a reason for that? Is it because that serves no purpose? Basically these 2 buttons are like 2 round things where only the one on the left i can turn to the left/right. There isn’t a power on/power off button so its more like a turn left and turn right. Does that make sense?
I currently do not have anything plugged into that extension cord outlet and the 2 outlets in the kitchen and thuse verything is disconnected from those outlets that doesn’t work.
I might be able to help with more information. Is it possible to post a picture of the breaker box?
It sounds as if you may have plug fuses. Can you take a picture? If they are plug fuses, turning to the left unscrews them slightly and disconnects the power at that fuse. The other one my be stuck or just screwed in really tight. Is there a clear part in the middle of the button?
I can’t take a picture of it unfortunately. The camera i have doesn’t work anymore.
No there is no button that you can click on…
Call your building manager … he really does enjoy calls like this … I’m envisioning you spinning screw fuses. But whatever, the building manager needs you to need him.
Pauly01 - do the things in the box look like THIS or like THIS?
The first is a fuse box, the second is a breaker box.
Can you search online for images of fuse boxes and breaker boxes and link us to something that looks like yours?
It’s also possible you have more than one fuse/breaker box. We have one in the basement and one in the attic, with different circuits controlled by different boxes.
Okay well i guess im an idiot. I got it fixed.
The way the thing looked… i had no clue you could actually click on it because it looked like a thermostat those 2 round buttons. So i then clicked on the left one and it would turn off the power when my other light is on… so then i tried to move the right round button that couldn’t turn. It didn’t work. I then clicked on it and now he light came back on for the lamp.
So basically what happened here was the right circle button… that thing just popped out and i needed to push it back in?
Aha! What you have is a type of circuit breaker that replaces a plug (screw-in) fuse. You can thus get the reset of a breaker without replacing the whole panel. Or having to replace a fuse when you have an overload.
Don’t know about Canada, but the NEC (National Electric Code) here in the US doesn’t allow plug fuses in new residential service panels.
Yes, that is what you needed to do, just push in the button. That resets the breaker.