Hey guys, I have to rooms on the same breaker. I plugged in a vacuum into one room and the lights flickered and got brighter and flickered more so I unplugged it and turned the lights off. Now the lights won't come on and the outlets in that room have no power. No breakers are flipped and I reset it just to be sure. However, the other room on that beaker has no issues. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

Hey guys, I have to rooms on the same breaker. I plugged in a vacuum into one room and the lights flickered and got brighter and flickered more so I unplugged it and turned the lights off. Now the lights won't come on and the outlets in that room have no power. No breakers are flipped and I reset it just to be sure. However, the other room on that beaker has no issues. Any ideas? Thanks.

Probably a wire came loose at one of the junctions. Could be a hot or a neutral that lost the connection. If you know which outlets/switches are on that breaker, then you can use a tester to identify which ones work and which ones don't. The lost connection is likely between whichever two in each set are closest together. When doing your testing, never forget that you are working with a live mains circuit and even your "dead" outlets might have a live hot wire (since it could be the neutral that is broken). Take suitable precautions to avoid getting electrocuted. If you aren't comfortable with doing that, call an electrician.

 

Probably a wire came loose at one of the junctions. Could be a hot or a neutral that lost the connection. If you know which outlets/switches are on that breaker, then you can use a tester to identify which ones work and which ones don't. The lost connection is likely between whichever two in each set are closest together. When doing your testing, never forget that you are working with a live mains circuit and even your "dead" outlets might have a live hot wire (since it could be the neutral that is broken). Take suitable precautions to avoid getting electrocuted. If you aren't comfortable with doing that, call an electrician.

Okay, thank you very much.

 

Check the panel connections at the breaker and the neutral bar.
Max.

 

Check the panel connections at the breaker and the neutral bar.
Max.

Are you thinking there might be two wires heading out directly from the breaker box, one to each room?

I've never seen that, but then again my experience is limited to just a very few houses so it could be that they just didn't happen to do it or perhaps it's a local code thing.

 

Check the panel connections at the breaker and the neutral bar.
Max.

Will do. Thank you max.

 

Are you thinking there might be two wires heading out directly from the breaker box, one to each room?

I've never seen that, but then again my experience is limited to just a very few houses so it could be that they just didn't happen to do it or perhaps it's a local code thing.

Im not sure. I don't have much electrical experience. But it seems like it if the other room is okay. About to look in the beaker panel.

 

Im not sure. I don't have much electrical experience. But it seems like it if the other room is okay. About to look in the beaker panel.

In my houses a single cable left the breaker panel for each circuit. It would then go to the nearest item on that circuit and proceed from there. The routing didn't really care which rooms the individual points were on, it was based on the easiest and/or most economical routing when the electrician had complete access to the open-framed house. That often meant that circuits that had endpoints in different rooms branched in a shared wall, often where there was an outlet in each room in the same stud space right next to each other, but other times via a junction box in the attic at the shared wall, depending on where the other endpoints were located. Usually any given room had outlets/switches located on at least two circuits so that loss of one circuit still left you with power in that room.

But even if your house happens to be wired like mine, looking at the breaker panel first to confirm that is a very reasonable thing to do -- go for the low hanging fruit. If it's wired with separate cables leaving the panel, you just might find your problem right off the bat.

 

Im not sure. I don't have much electrical experience. But it seems like it if the other room is okay. About to look in the beaker panel.

Do the two rooms involved share a wall (or are located above/below each other)?

 

Do the two rooms involved share a wall (or are located above/below each other)?

They share a wall.

 

In my houses a single cable left the breaker panel for each circuit. It would then go to the nearest item on that circuit and proceed from there. The routing didn't really care which rooms the individual points were on, it was based on the easiest and/or most economical routing when the electrician had complete access to the open-framed house. That often meant that circuits that had endpoints in different rooms branched in a shared wall, often where there was an outlet in each room in the same stud space right next to each other, but other times via a junction box in the attic at the shared wall, depending on where the other endpoints were located. Usually any given room had outlets/switches located on at least two circuits so that loss of one circuit still left you with power in that room.

But even if your house happens to be wired like mine, looking at the breaker panel first to confirm that is a very reasonable thing to do -- go for the low hanging fruit. If it's wired with separate cables leaving the panel, you just might find your problem right off the bat.

 

I checked every breaker and they're all reading right around 120v. I also didn't find any loose connections to the breaker or neutral bar, and there is only one wire coming from the breaker I'm focusing on, so it has to branch off from somewhere in the house. Maybe an outlet in the room that still has power?

 

In my houses a single cable left the breaker panel for each circuit. It would then go to the nearest item on that circuit and proceed from there. The routing didn't really care which rooms the individual points were on, it was based on the easiest and/or most economical routing when the electrician had complete access to the open-framed house. That often meant that circuits that had endpoints in different rooms branched in a shared wall, often where there was an outlet in each room in the same stud space right next to each other, but other times via a junction box in the attic at the shared wall, depending on where the other endpoints were located. Usually any given room had outlets/switches located on at least two circuits so that loss of one circuit still left you with power in that room.

But even if your house happens to be wired like mine, looking at the breaker panel first to confirm that is a very reasonable thing to do -- go for the low hanging fruit. If it's wired with separate cables leaving the panel, you just might find your problem right off the bat.

I'll need to look at that. Just read the important part of that post. Haha thank you very much!

 

I would check the outlet where you plugged the vacuum cleaner in first.
SG

 

If there is a ceiling fan in the room, I'd look there for a poor connection and the outlet where the vacuum was plugged in.

Without the proper tools to trace, you have to guess the path.

Most outlets are not pigtailed, so a loose screw is a possibility.

A ceiling fixture, especially one with a ceiling fan is a real good possibility.