blew an outlet

AlexStinson · Jul 11, 2008

ok, so setting up my new tank i spilt about 2 cups of water, and it landed right on my powerstrip, then both outlets in the same room immediatly stopped working. I've checked the fuse box and there aren't any blown tripped breakers. Any idea what I can do? Btw, they are not gfci outlets.

Lytehouse · Jul 12, 2008

Have you tried unplugging the powerstrip all together to see if it has a problem?

ofblong · Jul 12, 2008

yup my guess would be the powerstrip blew the breaker/fuse in itself. Most powerstrips have a resetable breaker you may want to try and find it after making sure no water is in it. Otherwise you will have to replace the outlet which is very easy to do. You may have shorted the outlet itself out. Also are you sure the breaker didnt trip? It may not look like it but most breakers that dont have an "orange" tell tale will be "slightly" offset and arent always immediately noticable.

also IF there happens to be a GFCI anywhere on that circuit before the outlet but after the panel it may have tripped. I know I had some wiring that was before a GFCI I had in my bathroom catch on fire and the GFCI tripped so in reality if you have GFCI anywhere on that circuit it may have tripped.

AlexStinson · Jul 12, 2008

well i have reset all gfci i can find in my house... and both power outlets on the wall went out. Ill keep looking for more gfci that might have tripped. Also i reset every breaker int he box. I don't think i could have blown two power outlets in the same wall (only 1 power strip got wet)

ofblong · Jul 12, 2008

if they were wired in series when one blew out the other would go as well. all depends on how they were wired.

demonsperm · Jul 12, 2008

Use another spurce to check the plug like a clock radio.If the outlet works and the strip has no breaker switchthen i would say it did its job and should RIP. I lost a controllable light strip the same way.

AlexStinson · Jul 12, 2008

no they are most defenatly not working, if one was blown do i just go pick up another one at home depot?

ofblong · Jul 12, 2008

AlexStinson said:
no they are most defenatly not working, if one was blown do i just go pick up another one at home depot?

the outlet isnt or the power strip isnt? The outlets cost about $2 unless you install a GFCI then its about $15. Did you check all the possible wiring locations for possible burned up wires?

hexedagain · Jul 12, 2008

You might try checking the wiring for the receptacle the strip was plugged into. It may have burned the wiring somehow, and that might be causing the "chain" to be broken. Most houses have receptacles "daisey chained" together within the same room. Are any other receptacles in that room working?

AlexStinson · Jul 12, 2008

i just replaced both of the non-working outlets still nothing... lights on the same breaker switch still work, so it's not that...
dont know what my next step is

R34dawn · Jul 12, 2008

have you try reseting the breaker? they normally look fine, but if you do reset it to the off position first.... then try to turn it to the on position again. if that doesn't work, maybe there is a problem with the receptacle that got wet. hope you get it going.

ofblong · Jul 12, 2008

R34dawn said:
have you try reseting the breaker? they normally look fine, but if you do reset it to the off position first.... then try to turn it to the on position again. if that doesn't work, maybe there is a problem with the receptacle that got wet. hope you get it going.

if you read the post not only did I already suggest that but he said he already did it. I just dont want him to replace the recepticle to find out some wires got burned up somewhere.

AlexStinson · Jul 12, 2008

im starting to believe i toasted some wires, I have no idea how i can fix that

R34dawn · Jul 12, 2008

AlexStinson said:
im starting to believe i toasted some wires, I have no idea how i can fix that

if the wires are burnt you can unhook from the breaker, take receptacle out and at the closest point try pulling it, but with the new wires tight to the old one, only if you can. or hire an electrician!

R34dawn · Jul 12, 2008

ofblong said:
if you read the post not only did I already suggest that but he said he already did it. I just dont want him to replace the recepticle to find out some wires got burned up somewhere.

Really sorry! i was just trying to help and might of just over read that on your post!

cee · Jul 12, 2008

If you fried the wires you also have a faulty breaker. The breaker's job is to protect the wiring!

AlexStinson · Jul 13, 2008

o well, that upsets me

ofblong · Jul 13, 2008

cee said:
If you fried the wires you also have a faulty breaker. The breaker's job is to protect the wiring!

WRONG it does not always work that way. If the wires burned and then they "moved" away from something causing the connection to no longer be made the breaker wont trip. Kind of hard to explain but simply put burned wires and no tripped breaker doesnt mean its a faulty breaker. A breaker's job is to trip for over current (amperage) and burned wiring does not mean the current will be more than that of the breaker or at least not enough to trip it. For example I have a 20amp breaker on my bathroom circuit on a 15amp GFCI. Wires started on fire the 15amp GFCI tripped shutting the fire off but the 20amp breaker never went because it never made it to the trip point of the 20amp breaker. I still had power going to the wiring upto the GFCI. Course that is what you want in a GFCI system but its still a point.

You can easily test the wiring on your outlet by removing the outlet and then touching the wiring with a meter. if it shows 120v then the problem lies with the outlet. If it shows nothing or way less than 120v then the problem is the wiring somewhere down the line.