Last week in Jan's condo the outlets in the guest and master bedroom went
dead.
I checked the breaker box and found that the line to the guest bedroom was
live.
It went to one box in the string then all the others followed in two series
strings, one for each room. I started opening boxes and discovered that I
had an open neutral.
The first outlet I opened in the master bedroom revealed the problem when
lights plugged into the outlets came on as soon as I moved the receptacle.
The duplex outlets used in this installation have both screw terminals and
"push-in" connections. The "push-in" connections consist of little holes
in the back of the receptacle into which one inserts the bare copper wires
for neutral and hot connections. A spring finger holds the wire. There is
a square hole into which one can insert a jeweler's screwdriver to release
the wire. This connection was flawed and the insulation on the two white
wires involved was black from overheating.
We opened every box in the circuit and moved every wire from the push-in to
under the binding head terminal screws.
We were fortunate to have had no heavy loads, such as a space heater, on
this circuit as this situation could have easily escalated into a deadly
fire as often happens in houses across the country every winter.
Use of the quick connect push-in connections should be banned as it is an
obvious safety hazard used to save time (money) in house wiring at the
expense of people's lives.
You have been warned...
Norm
S/V Bandersnatch
Lying Julington Creek FL
N30 07.68 W081 38.47
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