Hire a licensed electrician to make any repairs to your wiring.
One of the first problems you run into when moving into a new house or apartment is an electrical outlet that, for some reason, doesn't work. While you want to hire a licensed electrician to make any repairs, you can get a start on figuring out the problem by hooking up a volt/ohmmeter to the outlet and see what is coming into it from your electrical supply. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Remove any childproof covers and plugs from the outlet. Even if there is one socket free, it can be hazardous to you and to the item plugged into the socket if you don't remove it before testing the other end.
2. Move the scale on the volt/ohmmeter to the appropriate voltage for the outlet you're testing, and make sure you're testing for AC (alternating current) volts. If you're in a house and looking at a standard outlet, you should look for 110 or 120 volts.
3. Slide one probe of the volt/ohmmeter into each vertical slot in the socket. If the meter is significantly different than what you're expecting (110 or so volts for a normal home socket, or 220 for the dryer or stove plug), you know you have a problem. Contact a licensed electrician to diagnose the problem.
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