How do you fix a Wall socket outlet that won’t work is a common electrical problem in homes. I am going to answer this question in a short while.
The answer I am going to give you is based on my personal experience fix wall outlets that won’t work.
what are the common causes of wall socket outlets not working?
- A circuit breaker has tripped
- Loose connection in the sockets outlets
- No continuity in the contacts
- Overload
- Short circuit
- Faulty appliance
In the next sections,I am going to explain how to fix the above mentioned problems.
Circuit breaker has tripped.
Many are times when an outlet won’t work because the circuit breaker has tripped. Of course, it is a simple thing to reset a circuit breaker.
What would cause a circuit breaker to trip? There are two main reasons a circuit breaker would trip. The first one is a short-circuit. The second reason is overload. While at times a circuit breaker trips due to system disturbance.
In all the three instances that I have mentioned, the best remedy is to reset the tripped circuit breaker. allow me to explain how to reset the circuit breaker at a later stage.
Loose connection in the socket outlet.
I have found that this is a major cause of outlets not working. This usually happens when you check the circuit breaker you find it is intact. You check the other sockets in the same circuit, they are working. Then you must unscrew the faulty socket outlet.
Steps to follow when unscrewing a faulty outlet.
- Switch off the circuit breaker
- Get the right screwdriver
- Unscrew the faulty socket outlet.
- Check the wires connecting to the socket outlet.
- Tighten the loose wires
- Screw back the socket outlet.
When a socket outlet won’t work because of a loose connection.follow the above mentioned steps.
No continuity in the socket outlet contacts.
This is a problem that occurs when the outlet is faulty. You have checked the circuit breaker, you checked for loose connections, and you find all these checks are OK.
You even check the voltage is present in the wires. This tells you that the socket-outlet is faulty. How do you correct or solve this problem? The best you can do is to replace the faulty socket outlet.
Overload.
An overload arises when you connect a lot of appliances in one circuit. In other words, the load that you connect in a circuit draws more current than what the circuit breaker can supply. For this reason, the circuit breaker trips.
What appliances draw more currents? I think you will agree with me that most heating appliances like electric kettles, electric cookers, draw more current.
How do you correct an overload fault? The best way to correct an overload is to remove additional appliances that are causing an overload. I know there are times when those appliances that are causing an overload are essential, you can’t do without them.
There are two things you can do. The first one is you upgrade the circuit breaker feeding the overloaded circuit. What do I mean for example if the amperage of the circuit breaker is 10A, you upgrade it to either 15A or 20A. However, you don’t just guess when upgrading the circuit breaker, you perform some calculations.
You do this by checking the power consumption of all the appliances connected to that circuit. Then you determine how much current is needed to supply all the appliances from on circuit breaker.
The second way to solve the overload problem is to split the existing circuit. You do this by introducing a new circuit that will supply the extra load.
Short circuit.
A short circuit usually happens when a neutral wire comes into contact with the live wire. Or when a live wire comes into contact with the earth wire. This is what is called either a phase neutral short circuit or phase earth short circuit.
What happens in a short circuit? In most cases, heat is generated due to rising temperatures. This heat can cause fires and explosions. A circuit breaker is designed in such a way that it will detect the rising temperature and currents that may cause fires. This tigers its safety features to operate. hence tripping and protecting appliances and people.
How do you solve the short circuit fault? I believe there is one effective way to solve this. You use appropriate tools to detect where the short circuit has occurred. You can not reset the circuit breaker before clearing the short circuit.
When you have cleared a short-circuit, you reset the circuit breaker then try you socket outlet.
Faulty appliances.
Many are the times that a socket outlet won’t work because of a faulty appliance. Most of the time an appliance might have a short circuit. These short-circuit from the appliance can cause the circuit breaker to trip and cut power to the sockets outlets.
To solve this problem of an appliance making a circuit breaker trip, you remove the appliances one by one until you find the appliance that is shorting.
Once you identify the faulty appliance, you remove it from the circuit.
FAQ
What would cause multiple outlets to stop working?
1. An overload
2.Short-circuit
3.System disturbance
How do I test an outlet with a multimeter?
1.Select the correct meter to use. If you want to check if voltage is present, You select a volt meter.
2.You insert the probs of the multimeter, into the pins of the of the outlet.
3. Check the reading on the display of the multimeter.
4. Interpret what the reading on the display is telling you.
How do you fix a wall socket outlet that won’t work?
- Find out why the wall socket outlet won’t work
- Solve the problem that is making your wall socket outlet not work.
- Restore the wall socket outlet.
What is your experience dealing with a wall socket outlet that won’t work? Share your experience with me in the comments section below.
