# Outlet gone bad



## sirenwerks (May 17, 2010)

A few weeks ago, things one side of the house started going squirelly, until one day lights started dimming, the cable kept going on and off on its own, and finally, everything shut down. Turns out, the ground coming into my 20+ year-old house went bad. 

The G&E company fixed that but I have one outlet, the one that was acting up the most before the ground went out, that still will not work. I tried replacing it and it's still out and I can't see any hint of damage to it. 

Any ideas as to what it might be?

Bryan


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## Wuzzat? (May 17, 2010)

If both the hot and neutral have gone to an open circuit it's probably an upstream GFCI.

To test hots and neutrals you need a known good hot and neutral, an extension cord and an incand. lamp.


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## ohmy (May 19, 2010)

There is a problem in the circuit. It needs to be troubleshot.


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## sailor86 (May 27, 2010)

Wuzzat? said:


> If both the hot and neutral have gone to an open circuit it's probably an upstream GFCI.
> 
> To test hots and neutrals you need a known good hot and neutral, an extension cord and an incand. lamp.



What's wrong with using a receptacle tester?


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## Wuzzat? (May 27, 2010)

sailor86 said:


> What's wrong with using a receptacle tester?


They do test 7 out of ~30 wrong ways to wire a grounded outlet.  
I guess they're OK.  I never got one.


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