dead electrical plugs

[messmaker]

My daughters bedroom has two plugs that are not working. I get a charged reading with a non-contact and a light glow with a circuit tester. I can't seem to get a stable reading with a multi tester. I am thinking one of the feeder wires upstream from the plug is loose. My basement was finished by the previous owner and he piggybacked off existing circuits so it makes no rhyme or reason. i have no doubt I could fix it if I could find it. Any ideas?

[fredhargis]

I'm not the electrical expert several of the others are around here, but the first thing I would do is pull the receptacle and check the wires for current. Do you know which breaker those outlets are on?

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Sometimes it is hard to decifer what a non electrician is saying when it comes to troubleshooting outlets. If you are using something like this and you get a light then there is power at the outlet. The problem could be at the outlets. I say could be because it could also be missing a neutral and you would get the same light. When you say fluctuating voltage readings leads me to believe that is what the problem is. You are missing a neutral. You will need to be able to trace the entire circuit and all outlets on that circuit. Before you start looking for broken splices in junction boxes, check each and every outlet on that circuit at the source and that includes any lights if they tapped off the circuit. Chances are that is where you will find the loose connection. Good luck.

[Bob10]

My daughters bedroom has two plugs that are not working. I get a charged reading with a non-contact and a light glow with a circuit tester. I can't seem to get a stable reading with a multi tester. I am thinking one of the feeder wires upstream from the plug is loose. My basement was finished by the previous owner and he piggybacked off existing circuits so it makes no rhyme or reason. i have no doubt I could fix it if I could find it. Any ideas?

Shut off breaker and remove the offending receptacles even then be careful in the boxes as there might be other circuits pulled in and out of them

[CLETUS]

Shut off breaker and remove the offending receptacles even then be careful in the boxes as there might be other circuits pulled in and out of them

Yep. When an outlet sudden stops working, change the outlet. Don't over think it.

[daddo]

Don't rely on the light to tell you if you have proper voltage. Use a good meter. I've had them read fields when voltage was not present. I quit using them.

If it is two outlets and they are questionable, I usually just remove the wiring from both and start checking voltage there.

[Bob10]

Don't rely on the light to tell you if you have proper voltage. Use a good meter. I've had them read fields when voltage was not present. I quit using them.

If it is two outlets and they are questionable, I usually just remove the wiring from both and start checking voltage there.

I can tell you what I do I am not suggesting you do it that way only sharing an idea.  I shut off all the power to the house so I avoid running into other hot circuits in a box that might not like being bothered.  Then I remove the receptacles pulling all wires off and away from each other.  Since you have 2 not working there is a good chance one is the end of the run and the other is the problem.  So when removing both it should be obvious which is which as the end of the run will only have one set of wires to it.  Now the part that can be dangerous is I flip the breakers on and test the wires at the one up stream to identify the supply line.  Once I have that done breakers back off and install new receptacles.  More often than not when you have this type problem it is back stabbed receptacles if so consider replacing every one in the house.

[crokett™]

I would start by pulling both of the receptacles out of the box and using a multimeter to test voltage at the screws, not by sticking the ends of the test leads into the receptacle. This will tell you if you have a wiring or receptacle problem, and you can do a visual inspection, sometimes it's just a loose wire.

[messmaker]

I would start by pulling both of  the receptacles out of the box and using a multimeter to test voltage at the screws, not by sticking the ends of the test leads into the receptacle.  This will tell you if you have a wiring or receptacle problem, and you can do a visual inspection, sometimes it's just a loose wire.

I had both outlets pulled when I started. No loose wire and no stab connections.

[messmaker]

I would start by pulling both of  the receptacles out of the box and using a multimeter to test voltage at the screws, not by sticking the ends of the test leads into the receptacle.  This will tell you if you have a wiring or receptacle problem, and you can do a visual inspection, sometimes it's just a loose wire.

I had both outlets pulled when I started. No loose wire and no stab connections.Any ides on tracking the circuit upstream?I know how to isolate live plugs ,but dead plugs?