Before calling a pro, believe it or not, a homeowner can often solve the mystery of a malfunctioning outlet. Read on to more on how you could use electrician Northern Beaches when this kind of issue happens.
What should you do when an outlet stops to function?
The problem behind a non-working outlet can be easily resolved by the homeowner while there is a chance that you will bring in an electrician Northern beaches Sydney. We will walk you through the most common causes and solutions starting with the ones which you can remedy yourself as we help you to troubleshoot the issue.
The small hole beneath each set of shutters in an outlet is the “ground” whereas the vertical slots in the outlets are called the shutters. 2-prong or 3-prong plugs are there in most outlets which accept any of the both. The third hole may not be present if your home has older wiring. As you try the following troubleshooting tips keep the following anatomy in mind.
- To determine whether you have a half-hot outlet flip a light switch
This type of outlet is a little different from the standard outlets in that half of it is controlled by a switch on the wall as this is sometimes called a “lamp outlet”. To control the lamp from the light switch, the purpose of a half-hot outlet is to allow you to plug in a lamp. It could very well control a half-hot outlet to flip this switch and then try the outlet again if you have noticed a switch on the wall which did not seem to go to anything. And this information is well collected through the electrician Northern Beaches.
- Plugin in something different into the outlet
It might be your cell phone charger which is not working on the off-chance that it is not the electrical outlet. So plug in a hair dryer or a lamp or something else to check where the actual fault lies in.
- It might have shut off automatically and need to be reset if it is a GFCI outlet
Anywhere near water, be it in bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms, the building codes require the installation of ground fault circuit interrupters. Water and electricity do not mix as you hopefully know this. Electric shock injuries were more likely to occur if someone was standing in water sitting in a tub else are in contact with water and they are using an electrical appliance such as hairdryer before the advent of GFCIs. This is the reason why it is advisable that you seek the help from an emergency electrician Northern Beaches.
By electrocuting them the electrical current could surge through the person. It is designed to shut off minimizing the risk of electrocution when a GFCI outlet senses a surge in electricity. Even when a surge has not occurred, the GFCIs can be temperamental and shut off occasionally. All you need to do is to push the small rectangular button on the center of the outlet and this will reset the GFCI. Check whether it comes on or not once you plug in your charger.
- Test the other outlets and check whether they are working or not
The majority of the time, the other outlets nearby will also lose power if you lose power to an outlet. To see if they are working to not plug in your charger into the other outlets in the room. The problem could be at the breaker panel if the other outlets are dead. You will see that there are one or two rows of switches which are labeled “OFF” and on one side they are labeled as “ON” once you open the panel door. The switch will be in the middle if a breaker is flipped. Flip it to the off side first and then flip it to the on side if a breaker is flipped. Test it again once you go back to the problem outlet.
- Outlets can lose power with loose connecting wires
There is a chance it is due to loose wires if you have gone through the previous troubleshooting steps and still there is no power in the outlet. This is the time that you need to call Northern Beaches Electrician if you are not comfortable checking the outlet wiring.
- The outlet as a whole can be faulty
An outlet can burn out or otherwise go bad and quit functioning although this is not so common. You might want to consider replacing the outlet if you have followed the previous steps without any success.
- Calling an electrician
The electricians have special equipment and testers to help them locate electrical problems which are difficult to pinpoint otherwise as the home wiring system is a complex system. It is a good idea to have an electrician to take a look if the problem was not remedied by the previous steps.
