Help! Changed outlet now nothing works

Submitted by Bixbybray t3_11bxy9x in DIY

Edit: I figured out the issue so thanks to everyone who was helpful and kind!! Won’t be responding anymore as the issue is resolved.

I’m a newbie at anything electrical. I wanted to switch a dimmer switch in one room to another room and put the regular flip switch in that room. We hooked up the regular flip switch no problem and have electricity/light in that room. In the other room with the dimmer switch we have no lights nor do we have now have lights in our hallway and bathroom (same side of house) what did we do wrong and are we safe? We capped all exposed wiring. Cross posted

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IpsoFact01 t1_ja0i8yr wrote

Not an expert by all means but did turn off your breakers before you started? And in case you didn’t, you might have tripped it. Check your box for any switches that are facing the wrong way or even slightly misaligned.

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Bixbybray OP t1_ja0jywu wrote

Yea I flipped the main breaker to be safe. Flipping it back on didn’t do anything for that circuit and all the switches are correct.

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52Lewis20Reed t1_ja0pwnf wrote

Try loosening the screws on that switch and see if it works.

I have an outlet that takes out the whole GFCI circuit if the screw is in just a little too tight. Weird

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Trumps-a-dick t1_ja0lxxn wrote

This is why it’s a skilled trade…… you need to know what you are doing. Doing it wrong can or not knowing what you are doing can get yourself killed or lead to a fire.

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Bixbybray OP t1_ja0of24 wrote

Clearly. We always have electricians do our work. They just finished our whole house. I’m not an idiot. I just wanted to swap out one light switch without waiting for weeks and calling them back. The breaker is off and the wires capped so I’ve taken the safety measures necessary. Unless I’m missing one and you actually want to be helpful in your commentary.

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Gunjink t1_ja0z7n8 wrote

Take what he said with a grain of salt. Not only would I never pay an electrician, at electrician rates, to change a switch…this person is only trying to reenforce the fallacy that electrical work is some type of magical sorcery. It’s not. Not only can SOME electrical work be learned and done by a home owner, it’s completely legal in many jurisdictions. Whether or not it needs a permit, you’ll have to check your local regs. Don’t be hard on yourself.

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GuitarZero132 t1_ja12ank wrote

This. Replacing a switch that shoots sparks and turns off a breaker that controls power to the entire upstairs? Easy! Figuring out why that switch turns off a breaker to the entire upstairs and figuring out why one breaker controls the entire upstairs in the first place? That's what a paid electrician is for. At least it doesn't shoot sparks out anymore...

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Bixbybray OP t1_ja14hmu wrote

Thank you. I really appreciate this. I’m just really hoping it’s safe for now.

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Trumps-a-dick t1_ja0pl3b wrote

You previous post history about removing lights tells me otherwise.

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Bixbybray OP t1_ja0pybl wrote

I asked a question about removing lights and when someone went through the steps of how to do so, we decided that was risky and hired an electrician. Asking a question out of curiosity doesn’t mean I went ahead and did it. It was to see if it was possible. But maybe you didn’t read the actual post.

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Trumps-a-dick t1_ja0qnuq wrote

So you thought it was risky to remove lights but not risky to try remove/replace dimmers and switches….. at the end of the day, I looked at your photo but your countries colours are different than mine so I can help there sorry.

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Bixbybray OP t1_ja0tx0e wrote

Yes that is what I thought because the lights I wanted to remove were a complete removal. All the wiring etc. And disconnecting things from the electrical panel. That is very different than just swapping two light switches. In any case i will try one more thing in the morning and if it fails will just call back the electricians.

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ac1dre1gn77 t1_ja0scm5 wrote

The dimmer switch is a lot larger than a regular single pole switch. Its possible when you pushed the dimmer into the box you knocked the neutral wires or a hot wire junction loose. Pull the switch and inspect the other wires in the box. There maybe multiple wires coming together in that box. Hot feed in, hot feed out to other switches and the wire to the light. All of the neutrals(white) will be together in a wire nut. The hot in and out will either connect to one screw or wire on the switch or will be together in another wire nut with a spare wire to switch leaving the power to the light on the other screw or wire to dimmer. Grounds are together also. Remove the switch and check the connections

It gets way more complicated if they were 3 way switches (two switches controlling one light)

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Bixbybray OP t1_ja0tj22 wrote

Thank you. I will look at this tomorrow and if I can’t fix will just call back the electrician. I’ve capped everything and put a plate on it for tonight

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Jolubaes t1_ja0ugfp wrote

Another thing to check, no all lights are dimmable. Good luck.

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Bixbybray OP t1_ja0yvi8 wrote

Nothing to do with lights. Half our house has no lights right now and only room is on a dimmer.

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Pekkleduck t1_ja1ia17 wrote

It may be that your lights are all connected in a series with other outlets. If one part of the series loses connection / blows out, it can prevent the rest of the series from getting power.

As others have said, see if something has tripped as a GFCI outlet. I've purchased a voltage tester pen, and it has saved me many a headaches and allowed me to feel more confident and safe when dealing with electrical.

In my situation, I ran into a weird phenomenon where I updated a light switch (same type) and then lost lighting to the entire room.

Except then it turned back on. Then off again. I checked the box for a blown fuse. Nada. I went up to the attic to see if a junction or something burnt out. Everything had power.

I eventually figured out that there was an outlet that had a backstabbed connection and it would sometimes lose connection / regain when opening or closing the door. That outlet was connected in series with the lights, so when it lost connection the rest of the lights.

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pharaohpete t1_ja0t1na wrote

A wire nut inside the box got loose which likely was common amongst the other rooms.

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jagedlion t1_ja1fak4 wrote

Could be that you blew the breaker on one of the two phases coming to your house.

These breakers are often in a separate box from the normal breakers.

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Bixbybray OP t1_ja1fmie wrote

I actually shut off the main breaker because I’m paranoid:)

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jagedlion t1_ja1gm3c wrote

Is it possible then that is just never re-engaged? Maybe it has nothing to do with the dimmer.

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Bixbybray OP t1_ja1gt2p wrote

I’m not sure. I did turn it off twice and restarted as well as flipped each breaker. I think it’s either a wire I disconnected or possibly I didn’t connect the hot wire.

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jagedlion t1_ja1nm6p wrote

Sorry, maybe I jumped to conclusions. Is half your house dark now? Or just the handful of lights near that switch?

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Bixbybray OP t1_ja1o5q1 wrote

So we have one bedroom, a laundry room, bathroom and then another bedroom all in a row on one side of our home. The one bedroom where we installed the regular flip switch works fine. The next three rooms, which would be bathroom, laundry room and this room with the dimmer are all without lights.

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