Why would the wall outlets seem to be blown and the circuit breaker was not tripped?

Answer 1

Finding Household Electrical ShortsWhile there could be a number of causes, the most likely is either that one of the receptacles (wall socket) is bad or that an electical appliance plugged into the circuit is shorting out after it runs for a while. The quickest way to check the wall sockets is to get close enough to smell each one. If the socket has gotten hot enough to trip the breaker numerous times you should be able to smell a burnt smell. If you have an older home that has never been rewired think back to when this all started. Did you add a new appliance, microwave oven, space heater, refrigerator or other appliance that uses lots of electric. Some new appliances draw more current than older circuits were intended to provide. If no new appliances have recently been added, check the items currently plugged into the circuit. Smell the appliance for any burnt smell or try plugging a small table light into the circuit and then run an appliance already on the circuit as you normally would. Do this one item at a time, with each item on the circuit. If the table light goes out while you are running a certain item chances are that item is in need of repair or replacement. If you have added a new appliance that uses more current than the circuit can handle you will need to upgrade the circuit with a larger breaker, if the existing wire size permits, to handle the extra load, and you might need a heavy duty receptacle for that appliance. If you cannot find the cause of your problem soon, call an electrician who can quickly find and correct the problem. DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO CONTINUE WITHOUT FINDING THE PROBLEM, ELECTRICAL SHORTS CAN CAUSE FIRES. Thankfully your circuit is tripping out, but that does not assure absolute protection from an electrical fire.

Answer 2

Generally the ingress of water into the socket or the load which is connected. <><><> As always, if you are in doubt about what to do, the best advice anyone should give you is to call a licensed electrician to advise what work is needed.

Before you do any work yourself,

on electrical circuits, equipment or appliances,

always use a test meter to ensure the circuit is, in fact, de-energized.

IF YOU ARE NOT ALREADY SURE YOU CAN DO THIS JOB

SAFELY AND COMPETENTLY

REFER THIS WORK TO QUALIFIED PROFESSIONALS.

Answer 3

You don't explain the phrase "seem to be blown". If the outlet appears to be burnt and the breaker didn't blow this is reason for concern. If it happens to be a GFCI outlet, it could trip without the breaker tripping since it is looking for a ground fault and not a current surge. If there is just no power to outlet and breaker is on and working then you have a wiring problem; or the outlet could be controlled by a switch that is off. All these things have happened in more than one case.

Answer 4

This could be due to a faulty wall outlet, a loose connection, or a problem with the wiring in the wall. If the circuit breaker is still receiving power but the outlets are not, it may indicate an issue with the wiring between the circuit breaker and the outlets. It is recommended to have a qualified electrician inspect and repair the issue to ensure safety.

Answer 5

Either a defective interrupter or an actual ground fault exceeding .005 amps