House was rewired by friends a couple years ago. All the outlets in my house were switched out but 2 in my laundry room. That's the room with the breaker box and I had all my stuff for the house stored in there. I think that's the reason why they didn't get switched out. Anyway. my laundry room shares a wall with the kitchen. My stove is on that wall. The power doesn't work on either side of the wall. I've had to use an extension cord to use my stove and switch it to use my washer. Every other outlet works in my house. Is it possible that the whole wall doesn't work b/c the old outlet is still installed? There's only 1 outlet on each side. The one for my stove was replaced but it doesn't work either. I'm at a loss and really hope this is the issue.
Outlets not working
receptacle
Related Solutions
That blog certainly should have taken down; terrible, dangerous work. First, obviously, providing grounded NEMA 5-15 receptacles when the plug is 1-15. (a water-protected GFCI would eliminate the electrocution hazard at least.) Also the cord is too light, and there's not proper strain relief.
How circuit protection works
Imagine you plug two 1500W (12.5 amp) heaters into a 20A circuit. That's 25A and the wires will slowly overheat. The circuit breaker, internally, will also slowly overheat. After 5-15 minutes, the breaker will trip. This will happen before the wires get dangerously hot -- assuming they are the correct 12 AWG wires!
Trick is, there's an idiom within the Electrical Code that a 15 amp receptacle can be on either a 15A or 20A circuit breaker. You aim to put a NEMA 5-15 plug on the furniture. That means it could be plugged into a 20A circuit. You aim to provide multiple NEMA 5-15 receptacles. So the user (you can't count on this being you) - could plug two 1500W heaters, as above. Or he could plug in two 1200W (10A) loads and the breaker would not trip -- and your cordage needs to handle that!
That means your cordage will need to be 12 AWG, as well as any internal wiring within the furniture. You can use stapled Romex, or THHN running within plastic or metal conduit. The conduit would be more professional IMO.
Correct cordage
The blog example doesn't have a cordage problem, but just for reference, here's what you can't do: use Romex or loose wires. You need special multi-conductor cable called cordage which is sold at electrical supply houses, with or without a NEMA 5-15 connector cast into the end. As he did, you can lop an extension cord (presuming it is listed to be cordage; one would expect!)
Cordage doesn't seem special when half your appliances have cords. But it really is special.
Strain relief
Strain relief is another thing you take for granted because every appliance has it. But it's very important to prevent chafing or cutting damage from the cord being pulled on.
You can see where the blogger is using a cheapie plastic residential junction box. Those boxes aren't strong enough to provide proper strain relief, and are not designed for it. (when I say "cheapie" I mean in construction, not in cost.) A much better choice -- at least, for the first box where the cordage goes in -- is an all-steel stamped box. It has proper knockouts which can accept quality strain reliefs.
GFCI doesn't hurt
I also agree with Ecnerwal's comment that because of the flat horizontal receptacles, the furniture itself should incorporate GFCI protection. It's likely to be plugged into a living room which will have, at most, AFCI protection. AFCI protects against arcs, not electrocutions.
If you have face-up outlets, they should be fed off the LOAD side of a GFCI which is not itself a face-up outlet. A tripped GFCI still has hot parts inside it, and if the GFCI outlet itself gets soaked wet, its protection is not sufficient.
I would run up to the attic, over, and down. Unless you have basement access, it's the only way you'll do this without cutting up the wall. (I also value the absence of cords across my walls.)
- Carefully disconnect all wires in one box, removing the outlet and all nuts. Take photos or make notes if you think you'll need them later.
- Depending on the box type, remove it by cutting the nails with a small saw. A hacksaw blade in a Vice Grip plier can be useful. If it's a brown fiber box you can break it up with a plier. Remove the box from the wall completely while taking care to not damage your drywall. A couple layers of painter's tape around the opening are a good idea.
- From the attic, drill through the double top plate in the same stud bay as the box.
- Drop a new 12/2 cable down to the box opening, ideally in front of the insulation but behind the vapor barrier. An assistant is helpful here.
- Cut a new hole behind your tv, sized for a remodeler (old work) box. Double check stud locations first. You don't want to have to notch a stud. If you mess up there, a sharp 1" spade bit will make quick work of the stud. Be sure to consider your tv mount location as well.
- Drill through the top plates in that stud bay as well, and drop other end of the cable down.
- Install remodeler boxes at both locations and install the outlets. Be sure to use a deeper box at the original location as it'll have many connections.
Be prepared to do some sweating and swearing, but for the aesthetically-minded homeowner it's worth it to have completely clean walls around a hanging tv panel.
Related Topic
- Electrical – Lights will not come on after taking out wall outlet
- Electrical – Why are some outlets still out after replacing an outlet
- Electrical – Why do the bedrooms in the home have split switched outlets
- GFCI – Solving Electrical Issues: Tripping and Unlocatable GFCI Outlets
- Electrical Outlets not working after pressure-washing the house
- One outlet in kitchen
- Electrical – Outlet not working
Best Answer
By code a washer receptacle should be on its own 20A circuit. It sounds like someone at sometime went back to back and tapped the washer circuit to install a receptacle to serve the 120V controls for the oven. Since controls usually use very little power I see no problem with that.
What you need to do is find the washer circuit in you panel and see if there is a breaker problem or for some reason. The panel should be labeled and should tell you which breaker is the washer circuit. What are the odds on that? Regardless, you might open the receptacles and check to see if a wire has pulled loose. MAKE SURE ALL POSSIBLE CIRCUITS ARE DEAD. If it's not that then the problem is in the panel.
I always hesitate to tell someone who isn't licensed to open a panel and check the breakers and circuitry because bad things can happen and you need to be properly trained. If it isn't a tripped 20A breaker it might be wise to have a professional help you from there.