For the past week or so, the two lamps in our living room would go dim for a second or two then everything went back to normal. Last night the light on the ceiling fan started to do it also. Then I noticed a faint crackling from an outlet in the hallway. I immediately shut off the breaker for the room. I was going to start with replacing the crackling outlet.

I pi led up some new outlets and took the cover off the outlet in question. I noticed slight burning around the connections. Very scary to think of the possibility of a house fire caused by a bad outlet.

Anyway, I will be replacing the outlet shortly, but wanted the knowledgeable membership of SigForum to give me a second opinion. Sound like a new outlet will fix my problem, or is it just a symptom of another problem?

Thank you on advance.

I wouldn't call myself an electrical expert so take it for what it's worth.
Replace the outlet but also pop the cover off the others and look at them too. They are probably the same brand.
Also check the line voltage with a volt meter and add up the amps being used on that circuit.
If more than the one look like they got hot then replace them all with a higher quality outlet. The builder probably used the lowest price part.

In addition to the good advice above, pay attention to the connections when changing the outlet. Two things to look for:

1. If they were loose, they were probably arcing which would cause the dim-outs.

2. If they were the "shove them in the hole in the back of the outlet" type, they are known to make high-resistance connections and cause issues.

Let me guess. . .the wires on the original outlet were pushed into holes in the back rather than wrapped around the screws on the sides. If so, that is the problem. The push in connections stink to high heaven.

Use the screws to secure the wires when you replace the outlet.

Here's the fun part, you can assume that every outlet in the house is connected with the push in holes. Each one is a problem waiting to happen.

If you want to be sure, replace every single one and connect the wires with the screws.

Edit: PHPaul types faster than I do.

I once worked on a guys house that had the same symptoms, but he was losing a neutral intermittently. Checked the panel, all was good there. Went outside to look at his service entrance and the entrance cables were under tension from tree branches that had grown taller over the years. Had Georgia Power come out and trim the branches and run a new service drop and all was well after that.

Another thing to do is check the connections in the panel. Go down each side and turn off each breaker one at a time and tighten its screw. You should use an insulated shaft screwdriver of the correct tip size. Then CAREFULLY - since the shaft of the screwdriver will now be next to the breakers' terminals - tighten each of the screws holding the neutral and ground wires to the bus bars.

They do work loose over time.

Make sure you use a chicken stick ie voltage tester to probe the lines for current before you jam a piece of metal in thar. They are cheap.

Double check the breaker is off

quote:

Another thing to do is check the connections in the panel.

THIS ^^^ Many years ago I was living in a 8 year old apartment had the electrical panel catch fire. Luckily I was home and awake. The fire investigation found many of the screw connections were not tight at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Yellow Jacket:
Let me guess. . .the wires on the original outlet were pushed into holes in the back rather than wrapped around the screws on the sides. If so, that is the problem. The push in connections stink to high heaven.

Use the screws to secure the wires when you replace the outlet.

Here's the fun part, you can assume that every outlet in the house is connected with the push in holes. Each one is a problem waiting to happen.

If you want to be sure, replace every single one and connect the wires with the screws.

Edit: PHPaul types faster than I do.

I replaced every switch and outlet in my house to get rid of stab-in connections. But I do this for a living, so it's not that hard for me.

The crackling is arcing which is dangerous. It's most likely to happen at outlets at the beginning of the circuit. It also is likely to happen in outlets that feel spongy when plugging in and feel like they are going into the wall when you plug things in. When this happens the outlet flexes and loosens the connections, further worsening the poor connections. You fix it by adding spacers between yoke (ears on outlet) and box until new outlet sits flush with drywall. It's caused by poor drywall work. Sometimes the newer outlets have larger yoke and no spacers are needed, just replace the outlet (using screw terminals of course). Also use metal plates, not plastic.