As I may have mentioned elsewhere I live in an old rowhouse (105 years old). Things have been sporadically updated by previous owners but not always in the best way.
Yesterday, the electricity in one room and the lights in two others went off. I checked the circuit breaker but it hadn’t been tripped. When I went to get a lamp for the other room, I moved elcectrical cord and the lights came back on. Further experimentation has shown me that if nothing is plugged in, no electricity in the room. If I plug it back in, the power comes back on.
My questions are:
In an old house, is it possible that the wiring for this room is connected in serial instead of in parallel. (I think that is the right term.) I’ve seen the wiring in that room and it is wrapped in black cloth which I don’t think they have used in some time. I’m thinking that the outlet has gone bad and I need to replace it.
I would think that the outlet may be bad and is causing some sort of short which is causing your lights to go out but not drawing enough power to trip the breaker.
Indeed, cloth covered wire is very old and this could be part of the problem. Maybe part of the cloth covering has worn off and when something is plugged or unplugged it can shift a little bit and cause a short circuit.
That’s my best guess from being somewhat of an amatuer electrician.
Oh, and I doubt it is wired in series – wouldn’t work. And yes, this could be dangerous in terms of indicating that there is something wrong with your electrical system and that there is a possible short.
If I understand you correctly your power for the whole room goes on or off depending on whether you pluc something into one outlet?
If that’s the case then your problem is most likely located at that outlet. It’s not a short circuit its an open discontinued circuit. From your description I would first suspect that this outlet is probably the first outlet in the circuit and while it is connected to your breaker panel it has a poor connection to the rest of the circuit.
If you are unfamiliar (or uneasy) with electrical wiring you should find a pro or at least an experienced and confident DIY. Since this circuit displays signs of an intermitent energized/de-energized state whoever works on it should have sufficient knowledge and skill to determine WHICH breaker switch de-energizes the circuit before attempting a repair.
Another thing - Your circuit isn’t in series but it does rely on the fact that the parallel circuit is routed through each outlet.
If your wiring is old and funky, you might want to consider upgrading it. It’s not amazingly hard to do and the benefits (including peace of mind) are worth the trouble.
I’d recommend obtaining a guide to the National Electrical Code, to ensure that what you do will pass muster. Consulting this before you start will also give you an idea of what aspects of the job you should get professional help with.
Sounds like your house is wired in a “wire-through” style where the receptacles themselves are part of the wiring, rather than just points to plug things in.
As you’ve noticed, this can be bad.
The best way to wire up a receptacle is for the incoming and outgoing wires to be connected with wire nuts, and a short “pigtail” feeds the receptacle. Here’s an example of pigtails.
Wire-through is done by connecting the incoming wires to one end of the outlet and the outgoing wires are connected to the other end of the receptacle. If there’s a loose connection at the receptacle (VERY common if the push-in contacts are used) the “downstream” receptacles can be affected. This is no longer recommended, and in some areas, not allowed at all for new work.
I don’t recall seeing pigtails when I did another outlet in that part of the house although curiously enough, I’ve seen it in other parts of the house.
I don’t think fabric insulation has been used in the developed world for a half-century or more. If it’s old enough that it’s starting to fray/crumble I would say that it could be very dangerous indeed - my mum had some of this stuff in her old house and a ceiling light fitting managed to arc-weld itself.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s no longer legal, and may have some consequences for your house insurance.
Ask a knowledgeable professional for some advice - when household wiring starts playing up at random it’s normally time to start worrying…
Good point on calling the pros. I overlooked the parts about 105 year old house and fabric-covered wires. Chances are somewhere between good and excellent that the house has knob and tube wiring, and that’s something the average home handyperson should not mess with as it’s easily damaged.
If you can’t solve the problem by pigtailing the receptacles, it’s time to call an electrician. While you’ve got the receptacles out, replace them. Get the ones that sell for about $2-3 each, rather than the 59¢ cheapies as they don’t last long.
Yeah, I called an electrician who is coming tommorow. I checked some of the other outlets and they don’t have the same kind of wiring. Theirs is the regular kind.
