Electricity

I've spent a portion of my morning reading websites and trying to find a solution to my latest challenge as a homeowner.

Last night when I went out to grab a COLD diet 7-Up from the mini-fridge on the patio, I could tell something was wrong. The soda was warm. I checked to be sure that it wasn't an issue of the fridge itself or the surge protector. It was the outlet.

This morning I've checked the circuit breaker switch (had to do some guessing there -- but eventually determined that this outlet and one the front stoop are both served by a breaker labeled "weatherproof") and it was not tripped. Shut it off and on and re-tried the outlet (using a radio -- I don't have a voltage tester gizmo).

I pulled the outlet out of it's box and checked the wires to be sure they were not loose. They are not -- but I did find out that they are "stabbed" which I've now read is not preferred by the electricians who post comments to bulletin boards on-line.

I also did the same for the outlet on the front of the house, understanding that if these two are part of the same circuit, the upstream one will impact the down stream one. No issues found there either.

At this point, I'm not sure what my next action should be.

I'm guessing I'll be wise to go purchase a voltage tester gizmo and test all the outlets in the house (and, while doing that, "map" all my circuits) so I can determine if any other outlets are affected.

Mystery.