Electrical question

[Guest]

I finally replaced the dead outlet in my bathroom. Yeah! We can now blow dry our hair in the bathroom and not the living room as we had been. Thanks so much for all your help Y and Audie. As you all said it was fairly simple, but trying to get the wires into those little slots tested my faith on a few occasions.LOL
My dilemma is this: When that outlet died the hall light just outside the bathroom died as well. (I had been using a Holmes Heat-Logic portable space heater plugged into the outlet for supplemental heat then one evening when it was particularly cold it just knocked out the outlet and the hall light - it never tripped the safety trip on the heater plug as it was supposed to. Happened on another outlet the same way but thankfully I had a power strip as an interim source. It killed the power strip but at least it spared that outlet.)
Make a long story short, I replaced the outlet which now works with no problem. When I tried the hall light it worked for maybe a count of 10 then browned out to dead. I am pretty sure that the light runs off of that outlet....when the heater fried the outlet could it have damaged or fried the light fixture as well? Any ideas?

[Guest]

Well, I switched out the overhead light in my bathroom. There wasn't anything wrong with the one there, but just thought one I had in storage would look better and add more lighting. The old light fixture I had in the bath worked fine so I took down the troubled one in the hallway and put up the one that I knew worked. It did the same thing. In about 10 seconds it went from flickering full light to brown out to dead. Any ideas?

[Greg]

Shut off the breaker and recheck the connections, sounds like a loose wire. If possible use the screws and not the push in terminals. Greg

[Guest]

I found the reason why the light would not work even after replacing the outlet and the fixture. Took Greg's advice and checked the wiring (had done so at the lighting fixture when I replaced it)...this time at the actual wall switch. It was one of the one piece pull out deals that you have to pry the back off of it. Imagine my surprise to find dirt dobbers had made their home there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I fussed and tried to cram those little wires back into the slots of the new one piece switches I had purchased, but spent more time testing my faith than getting them done correctly. The first one I installed did not get the light to turn on. Only after I replaced it with the standard subset receptacle box with switch that had the screws and face plate did the darn thing work. I again took Y and Audie's advice on hooking up my wiring and what to do to make sure EVERYTHING was off. Hall light now works great....did so well that I replaced the one next to it that went to the outside light. I just figured while I was there I would just go ahead and do it rather than have to do it later. ***Also sealed up where I think the critters were coming in. Did I mention it is hot down here in Alabama?

[Yanita]

Hi AmyKAy,

Good job!

As you have discovered it's an easy enough repair...as time and money permits I would go ahead and replace all receptacles.

Glad to see you are still with us!

~Yanita~

[homebuff]

I have the same thing happening in my rear bath. every once in a while the nightlite i have plugged into it goes out, Thats how i can tell when it trips. It also turns off the other bathroom lite in the other end of house. had a severe short in my kitchen one time where the mice i used to have had corroded the wires while urinating on them inside the wall. Almost caught our house on fire.

[Greg]

Oh, so you have one of those new electric mouse traps!!! Greg