I have 4 consecutive 110v outlets that are only receiving 82v and the receptacles are not working. I tested them with a multimeter. I tested from both the receptacle and the wiring to the receptacle. What do i need to do to resolve this. The breaker isnt tripped, and the fuses are good. I have checked switches- to see if maybe one needs to remain on for the string of outlets to work, but there doesnt seem to be one tied into them. it is 4 outlets on one side of the living room. no gfi to reset. the house was built in the mid -90's. as far as i know-- there has been no hack job engineering done before i moved in. i bought the place from original owner, and they said its original wiring. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
sounds like there is and on and off swith cutting current to outlets
Check the power at the breaker and make sure you are getting 110 there.
Great answer from 'mermeliz'. Please reward it with 10 points. I agree with the probable culprit. Here is a method to find the problem. Not 100% guaranteed, but works almost all of the time. If it doesn't, you will be stuck opening each receptacle on the circuit until you find the problem. Turn on all of your non-working lights and plug lamps into any non-working receptacles. Make sure that any computers, or other sensitive electronics are not plugged into this circuit. Take a lamp or an extension cord around to the all of the receptacles on this circuit. DON'T rule out the working receptacles either. Try them too. Plug it in and wiggle the plug (hard enough to wiggle the receptacle too). You will probably find one where doing this suddenly causes your non-working lights/receptacles to come back to life. This will be your culprit. As 'mermeliz' correctly stated, a lot of homes are wired with receptacles using 'stab-in-the-back' connections. These are actually still in use and are deemed safe for installation. The problem is that they have a terrible failure rate. The term 'stab-in-the-back' also applies to what they do to you later. Any replacement should have screw terminal connections.
You have a loose wire connection in the daisy chain wiring. Outlets are wired from one to the next. First identify which circuit breaker is feeding your problem circuit. Then after turing it off. Go around and see which other outlets are also being fed by that circuit (they will be the ones that are turned off). Make a note of it and then turn the breaker back on and find the one that is the last one working before the first problem outlet. Now turn the breaker back off and pull that outlet out of it's box and check the wiring in the back of the outlet. Usually this problem occurs when the electrician that was wiring the circuit used the stab-in-the-back connections. The barbed prong that digs into the wire sometimes works loose. then makes a intermittent connection. You're getting 82 volts because the power is back-feeding back through to the loose connection. Anyway keep checking the back of each outlet that is in the bad circuit until your find the loose connection and can repair it. OK, if this is too far over your comfort zone, have a qualified electrician come out and trouble shoot it.
