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Electrical Outlet Question Dimitrios Paskoudniakis 09-07-2008
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Posted by Dimitrios Paskoudniakis on September 7, 2008, 5:44 pm


My wife plugged an extension cord with two items (a lamp and an alarm clock)
into an available slot on a surge protector, which is then plugged into an
outlet. The surge protector already had three other items plugged into it.

As a result, the upper socket on that outlet and an adjacent outlet have no
power, but the lower socket has power. Turning the breaker off and on did
not help. The other outlets in the room are fine.

Is this a simple case of going to the hardware store and buying two
replacement outlets, or could it be something else? Why would the lower
socket on an outlet work but not the upper?



Posted by Flatus Johnson on September 7, 2008, 5:51 pm


> My wife plugged an extension cord with two items (a lamp and an alarm
> clock) into an available slot on a surge protector, which is then plugged
> into an outlet. The surge protector already had three other items plugged
> into it.
>
> As a result, the upper socket on that outlet and an adjacent outlet have
> no power, but the lower socket has power. Turning the breaker off and on
> did not help. The other outlets in the room are fine.
>
> Is this a simple case of going to the hardware store and buying two
> replacement outlets, or could it be something else? Why would the lower
> socket on an outlet work but not the upper?
>

Upper outlets sometimes controlled by a wall switch for turning lamp on/off
while lower one is always live.



Posted by Dimitrios Paskoudniakis on September 7, 2008, 6:09 pm



>> My wife plugged an extension cord with two items (a lamp and an alarm
>> clock) into an available slot on a surge protector, which is then plugged
>> into an outlet. The surge protector already had three other items
>> plugged into it.
>>
>> As a result, the upper socket on that outlet and an adjacent outlet have
>> no power, but the lower socket has power. Turning the breaker off and on
>> did not help. The other outlets in the room are fine.
>>
>> Is this a simple case of going to the hardware store and buying two
>> replacement outlets, or could it be something else? Why would the lower
>> socket on an outlet work but not the upper?
>>
>
> Upper outlets sometimes controlled by a wall switch for turning lamp
> on/off while lower one is always live.
>

Sorry all. I guess I'm an idiot for not noticing that my wife had turned
the wall switch off. Thanks for reminding me to check this. That was all.
No problem.



Posted by aemeijers on September 7, 2008, 9:25 pm


Dimitrios Paskoudniakis wrote:
>>> My wife plugged an extension cord with two items (a lamp and an alarm
>>> clock) into an available slot on a surge protector, which is then plugged
>>> into an outlet. The surge protector already had three other items
>>> plugged into it.
>>>
>>> As a result, the upper socket on that outlet and an adjacent outlet have
>>> no power, but the lower socket has power. Turning the breaker off and on
>>> did not help. The other outlets in the room are fine.
>>>
>>> Is this a simple case of going to the hardware store and buying two
>>> replacement outlets, or could it be something else? Why would the lower
>>> socket on an outlet work but not the upper?
>>>
>> Upper outlets sometimes controlled by a wall switch for turning lamp
>> on/off while lower one is always live.
>>
>
> Sorry all. I guess I'm an idiot for not noticing that my wife had turned
> the wall switch off. Thanks for reminding me to check this. That was all.
> No problem.
>
>
Chuckle. Happens to all of us at times.

--
aem sends...

Posted by metspitzer on September 7, 2008, 5:58 pm


On Sun, 7 Sep 2008 17:44:33 -0400, "Dimitrios Paskoudniakis"

>My wife plugged an extension cord with two items (a lamp and an alarm clock)
>into an available slot on a surge protector, which is then plugged into an
>outlet. The surge protector already had three other items plugged into it.
>
>As a result, the upper socket on that outlet and an adjacent outlet have no
>power, but the lower socket has power. Turning the breaker off and on did
>not help. The other outlets in the room are fine.
>
>Is this a simple case of going to the hardware store and buying two
>replacement outlets, or could it be something else? Why would the lower
>socket on an outlet work but not the upper?
>
It might be a simple as replacing just the outlet that was involved in
the trip. It sounds like that outlet is bad.

This would happen more commonly if the outlet was shorted instead of
overloaded.

The lamp or the clock may have a short. There would have been sparks
involved if this were true.



If sparks were involved, I would plug everything back in one at a
time. You might have a problem with the lamp or clock.



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