# Turned on lamp, bulb blew out, no power in outlet(s) now. Why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turned-on-lamp-bulb-blew-out-no-power-in-outlet-s-now-why/516740>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 7, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turned-on-lamp-bulb-blew-out-no-power-in-outlet-s-now-why/516740 "2009-11-07T23:02:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![SimonMoon5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@SimonMoon5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SimonMoon5)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turned-on-lamp-bulb-blew-out-no-power-in-outlet-s-now-why/516740/1 "2009-11-07T23:02:26Z")

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An odd thing happened in my bedroom last night. I turned on the lamp on the bedside table. The bulb blew out. Okay, I went and changed the bulb. The lamp still wouldn’t turn on. And I noticed the clock wasn’t working. Nor was the clock on the other side of the bed.

So… I have two outlets (on either side of the bed) and they don’t work. There’s another outlet that works fine and the light in the closet works, but the light overhead doesn’t work either. So, I have power in the house and even the room.

I tried looking at the fuse box. Everything was fine there. Just in case, I turned 'em all off and then on. Bedroom was unchanged.

What happened? How do I get this fixed?

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turned-on-lamp-bulb-blew-out-no-power-in-outlet-s-now-why/516740/2 "2009-11-07T23:20:32Z")

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You probably have a bad outlet - I’ve had this happen to me before. A lamp can create a huge surge when it blows - that may be enough to damage a poorly-wired outlet. Have an electrician look at it, unless you are absolutely sure you know what you are doing.

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**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turned-on-lamp-bulb-blew-out-no-power-in-outlet-s-now-why/516740/3 "2009-11-07T23:29:35Z")

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Yes, you have an open in the circuit between the breaker and the outlet. Most likely it is a broken or disconnected wire at the outlet itself. Turn off the breaker, remove the outlet cover and inspect. Reconnect the wire or replace the outlet as necessary.

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turned-on-lamp-bulb-blew-out-no-power-in-outlet-s-now-why/516740/4 "2009-11-08T07:18:11Z")

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If you’ve got newer wiring, you probably tripped an arc-fault circuit breaker. They’re somewhat like the ground-fault interrupters that have been in kitchens and bathrooms to prevent shocks for the past 20 years or so, but they trip out if they detect arcing in order to prevent fires.