How do you fix a blown electrical outlet?

Answer 1

FIRST, make sure if you only tripped a breaker or blew a fuse! Go to your electrical panel and LOOK. Breakers should be ON; if not, flip it to the ON position. You can see a difference in the center on a blown fuse-- buy a new on, unscrew the old one, and screw in the new one.

If the socket still does not work, the socket itself may be overheating or "bad". If you reset a breaker, or replaced a blown fuse, but the outlet again trips the breaker or blows the fuse, you could:

1. Be using an appliance that takes more juice than those wires can deal with;
2. Be overloading that circuit. Unplug things until you figure out what appliance if creating the problem. An overloaded circuit is dangerous (so don't overload them).
3. The outlet itself may be "bad".

How to fix a bad electrical outlet :

1. having the right knowledge to do it-- if not, hire an electrician! You can burn your house down if you wire incorrectly. The next items assume you have basic understanding of what you are doing.
2. Keep children AWAY from the area while working--- until the outside plate is back on the outlet.
3. Check the screw on the cover plate--- do you need a straight screwdriver or Phillips head screwdriver.
4. Go to a hardware store and buy a new outlet socket (the 'innards' that fit inside the box in the wall). Buy a screwdriver if you need it. Buy wire nuts and extra screws.
5. Have a good working flashlight to see the area.
6. When back home, turn OFF the power to that outlet. This means go to and turn off the breaker in the Circuit Breaker Box -- NOT just unplugging items from the sockets in the outlet.
   
7. TEST the outlet with an electrical tester to be sure there is NO electrical current going through it.
8. DOUBLE test the outlet to be 2000% sure the electricity to that outlet is O-F-F.
9. Unscrew the outside plate. *Put the plate screw in a place where you won't lose it. Set aside the plate with its screw.
10. The socket will also have 2 small screws one on each side holding it into the metal box in the wall. Gently unscrew these; SAVE the screws.
11. GENTLY, wiggle the socket while gently pulling forward till you can see the back and sides. Do NOT yank on it. HOLD onto the socket. If you need both hands free, put a thick book on the floor to hold the socket and gently let it dangle to rest on the book.
12. LOOK at the wires first to see WHAT colored wires attach to WHAT colored wires.
13. IDENTIFY the hot, cold, and ground. SEPARATE these wires on your new socket and repeat to yourself which one is which.
14. A socket outlet has a positive (hot) wire, a negative (cold), and a ground wire. The electrical box will feed in from the house (from inside the wall, through the metal electrical box that holds the innards of the wall outlet) has the same 3 wires, hot, cold, and ground. **These wires MUST be properly attached to make the outlet work without causing a fire! If you do not know which wire attaches to which wire, STOP and call an electrician. You can NOT always go by the wire coloring! You may need to manipulate and strip the wires (ex. removing a very short section of the wire's plastic covering). If you do not already know this, and if you do not know how to do it properly, contact an electrician.
15. Once you have each wire correctly 'matched' in your mind and on the new socket, undo the ground wire; apply the new ground fire. (It should connect to the box with a screw.) You then undo the wire nut from ONE wire at a time, connect the CORRECT wire from the new socket to the inside wiring and apply the wire nut. Repeatfor the other wire. Hold on to the socket so it doesn't pull or 'drop'.
16. The socket will now be hanging (you should be holding it up) from the wall and the metal electrical box inside the wall. While holding the outside socket, GENTLY gather all the wires with your other hand and carefully push them into the metal box inside the wall. GENTLY lay the attached wire nuts on the already connected wires in whatever way (up, down, sideways) to fit all the wiring on the socket back inside the metal box.
17. "Seat" the outlet. Get it seated firmly inside the wall opening, in the metal box, and line up the socket screw holes with the metal box screw holes. Make sure no wire is bent or crimped. Screw in the screws.
18. IF YOU FEEL UNSURE OF ANYTHING YOU DID, STOP AND CALL AN ELECTRICIAN BEFORE TURNING ON THE POWER. HIRE AN ELECTRICIAN TO CHECK YOUR WORK (RE-WIRE THE SOCKET FOR YOU).
19. If you DO know what you are doing, KNOW for sure you wired it correctly, screw on the outside plate, and go turn on the breaker.

AGAIN, electricity and house wiring should only be done if you know what you are doing!

The steps above are just an OVERVIEW and should not be relied on as your only source of information.

ASK questions at the hardware store AND hire an electrician if you do not know exactly what to do. Don't risk being shocked, electrocuted, or burning your house down.

Answer 2

Replace with a new one.