JoeD

Or the last working device before the dead one. The problem could be on the outgoing cable and the device would still be working.

Mus

There is a short in the circuit somewhere. It could be a loosewire on a outlet and the power is not feeding the rest of the circuit. A loose wire maynot trip the braker if it does not cause a short (to Ground). Call a Electrician to trouble shoot the circuit for you.

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ohmy

Generally, this is a loose wire somewhere. Its often in the outlets or switches with a poor connection was made. If you are brave enough, try checking the outlets in that circuit for a loose connection.

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Guru_sparkie

In my personal experience - if you're still working on this, I know EXACTLY what your issue is -- but I'm NOT suggesting it is an easy fix...

First of all, you should hire a good electrician and expect to pay a 4 hour minimum. (I wouldn't do it for any less, considering the headaches involved.)

Your problem is:

A loose or improperly joined conductor -- either downstream of the receptacles or in a light device box SOMEWHERE in the house. The best part about this is, it is a NEUTRAL wire that you should be looking for...

Have you installed any new lamps or ceiling fans in the home anywhere?

I can almost guarantee that this is where your problem lies, as I have run into this MANY times on these improperly-wired homes...

Good luck!

TRW22

Had this problem in my girlfriends kitchen. A few of her outlets didn't work. It ended up being a loose neutral wire in an outlet causing everything downstream to be inactive also.

Backstabbling outlets should be avoided. I try to pigtail as much as I can so at least if the outlet or switch goes bad, everything downstream will continue to work.

Wuzzat?

The fastest way to find the problem, on average:

If you have 10 outlets cascaded and there is power to the first one and not to the last one, start checking at outlet #5.
Then, depending on the results, go upstream or downstream.

TRW22

Agreed. The only hard part is knowing what is upstream or downstream. With most of the wiring hidden in cabinets or behind drywall it can sometimes be a guessing game.

Wuzzat?

Some $35 studfinders made by Zircon have a wire-finding option.

If you have working outlets plug in a 10A hair dryer.
For #14 copper, for 10' of wire between outlets, there will be a 260 mV drop between the hots in each outlet. The wire has about 2.6 milliohms per foot of resistance.
Downstream outlets not drawing current will have zero voltage drop between hot leads.

Lightingguru

I would try to find the first plug on the circuit and start there.