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Troubleshooting Electrical Issues

Electrician working on electrical components in a new house.
Should you encounter electrical problems in your rental property, including flickering lights, outlets that don’t work, or circuit breakers that trip frequently, you may be looking for solutions.

It’s crucial to prioritize safety and consider a licensed electrician for major electrical issues, but you can try some troubleshooting for common household problems. By checking for tripped circuit breakers, testing outlets, and inspecting light fixtures, you can get a better grasp of the problem and decide how to move forward.

Visual Inspection

When an appliance, lamp, or electrical device stops working, first check the outlet and cord for damage. Power outlets can occasionally fail and become inactive. Signs of damage, like discoloration, may be noticeable. Similarly, examine all plugs and cords for breaks, fraying, and other damage. When the outlet or cord shows damage, it’s probably time to replace them.

Try a Different Outlet

If your outlet and power cord appear fine, the next step is to plug your lamp or device into another outlet. It’s vital to determine whether the outlet or the electrical item is at fault. If you try your device in another outlet (ideally in a different room) and it works, the outlet is the main issue.

Reset the GFCI

An outlet often stops working because it is linked to a GFCI outlet that has tripped. Most outlets are equipped with a reset button. If you can’t locate it, the reset button is on another outlet in the same circuit.

The reset button for the circuit is on a GFCI outlet, most often found in the bathroom or kitchen, but sometimes in more obscure locations like the garage or laundry room. You might need to look around for it, but resetting a GFCI outlet is a straightforward fix for a dead outlet once you find it.

Check the Breaker Panel

Occasionally, the problem lies not with the outlets but with a bad circuit breaker. You can often locate the bad breaker by examining your home’s electrical panel. Many breaker boxes have clear labels showing which circuits correspond to which parts of the house. In such cases, flipping the breaker off and then on again can often resolve the problem. Other times, the breaker might be faulty or have a loose connection. If this happens, the breaker will need to be replaced.

Call Your Landlord

Regardless of the electrical issue you encounter, make sure to contact your landlord and inform them of the problem and your troubleshooting efforts. If these problems happen regularly, it could suggest more serious electrical issues.

If your troubleshooting efforts don’t fix the non-working outlets, your landlord must hire a professional electrician. In any situation, good communication with your Salt Lake City property manager helps resolve electrical issues promptly.

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Originally published: April 2, 2021

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