Please help - some outlets don't fully work with some devices

Not sure what might be wrong. Nor should you. I might suggest calling the electrician and politely voicing your concern again. If he gives you grief you might politely mention asking the local inspector what it could be. That might get him going. Fail that, do ask the building inspector and ask the GC.

I can only assume that you are doing your own home inspection. Might be a bad idea. If all else fails, write to the GC and list your concerns, tell him that you will not close until they are corrected. It is your money, should not be your problem as well. Extending a closing is not uncommon, especially for new homes. Plus the GC might have a construction loan out on the home. Missed dates do not make the bank happy.

Good luck.

BTW To try to solve the problem, it might be worth mentioning what the 2 rooms are. I will bet they are bedrooms, meaning same breaker. Secondly did the boombox have a ground plug?

Thirdly, I would be jumping mad if the electrician witnessed your light not working and did nothing. You might need to remind him who is ultimately paying him.

Chris

It is not clear to me just what a GFCI tester includes. At most hardware stores there is a readily available gizmo that tests whether an outlet is wired correctly. It does not really check on how well the connection is made but it will detect things like missing grounds or reversal of conductors. Some of them also have a built-in GFCI tester.

Bill

Not sure about a GFCI tester as well. GFI breakers are based on a two wire system and may not be testing for the ground??? Not sure. If the boom box has a ground plug, than it should be clear what is wrong. Still it should not really be his problem, but good thing he checked it out before hand. Chris

Have you tacken your nightlight to a friends house and tried out their sockets :o), or get your nightlight tested, I'm suprised the electrician didn't offer to do this when you voiced your concern on the circuit.

"Stogie" wrote in news:1125105410.291423.278750 @g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Are the ones that did not work switched outlets? if so did you switch them on? (switched outlets are those that are controlled by a "light switch" on a wall somewhere)...

Good suggestions so far, but I will also add my own experience. I have so far replaced about a dozen outlets in my home which failed due to cheap construction (of the outlet, not the home). Not a failure actually, since they never really did work right. Everything was wired correctly, but certain appliances that I plugged in would not function. It had to do with the contacts inside the outlet that were not making proper contact with the blades of the plug on the appliance cord. Different appliances (with different plugs) acted differently when plugged in. Some worked, and some not. I got by for a while by slightly bending the prongs of the plugs before inserting them in the outlet, but the only correct fix is to replace all the outlets. I am gradually replacing all the outlets with better quality units. The ones originally installed are the cheapest bulk-quality type sold (to many contractors) in all the budget home supply sources. In my own case, the old adage applies -- You get what you pay for. Buy a 29 cent outlet, and it's worth every penny you paid for it.

Nels

Why would any one test bedroom recpts with a gfci tester? Are the bedrooms on gfci's? Where I live the requirement is Arc Fault breakers for bedrooms.

Your testing with a night-light why? The builder and his subs guarantee their work for a period of time. Where I live it is two years.

As others have said check with the general contractor's person in charge and give your concerns.

Try to stay away from the worker bees. They are just doing their jobs. Stick to management when you have concerns.

To be fair he did not say they were bedrooms. I did bet that they were two low load rooms, meaning on the same breaker. Thus guessing at bedrooms.

All good advice, but I guess we will never be able to solve the mystery........

=>

=>Your testing with a night-light why? The builder and his subs guarantee their work for a period of time. Where I live it is two years.

It's obvious to me you have never attempted to get a contractor to come back and fix something in a reasonable time after he has been paid in full.

Cheers-- Terry--WB4FXD Edenton, NC

=>All good advice, but I guess we will never be able to solve the =>mystery........

I vote for the comment above re 29-cent receptacles.

Cheers-- Terry--WB4FXD Edenton, NC

Guess we will never know the answer to the mystery....

Bingo. Nelson pointed out the problem, exactly. Home Depot has those $0.29 outlets, if you are lucky they work twice, then the flimsy contact lose shape and spring. I would ask the GC to replace all the outlets, if he spent $1.29 per outlet to start with it would have been only $80 more.

MG

I could never figure out HOW in the world someone could produce such a unit for 29 cents ?????

Unless it is a loss leader?

What are the odds of all the bad ones in only two rooms?

The night light may have a photoeye that will not turn on until it is dark. Check the outlet with a regular lamp.

Ben Miller

Good point. And forget about the boom box. It might automatically switch over to batteries if no AC power is available.

GFCI testers (the types with the neon lamps) might show OK if there is a high resistance connection.

The collective wisdom here seems to be that your nightlight and boombox probably have different thickness pins on their plugs.

I suggest that you plug your nightlight + boombox into an extension cord w/ double adapter (or one of those power boards that transforms one outlet into 4 or 6 or 12, etc.) and test those dodgey sockets by plugging in that extension lead's plug to see whether the outcome is unchanged. My thinking being that an extension lead or double adapter will be of sturdier manufacturing quality whereas your nightlight may have been manufactured with thinner pins because of its light load. The nightlight has just two pins does it?

I use an electric drill or other power tool to test outlets. It eliminates false positves from a neon, and the only switch is the trigger on the tool.