One single outlet keeps going out?

Question

Yesterday and today I've had one outlet in my apartment keep going out and the TV and VCR which are plugged into that outlet go off and then turn back on immediately. It's not a full power outage since it's just that one outlet. This has happened about six times over the past 24 hours and hasn't happened before.

What could be the cause? It's blazing hot right now, so people in my building are running their A/C units (I'm not). Could this be creating a power overload? Or could it be some kind of power surge (but why would it just hit that one outlet)? Or could the outlet be shorted out or faulty in which case it could potentially burn and cause a fire? Should I unplug the stuff when I leave?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Answer 1

A couple things to think about,  VCR's and TV's will shut themselves off if the line voltage drops, so (if your appartment shares a circuit with others) the AC units could cause a sufficient drop to do this.  If your appartment shares no circuits, then it is unique to that outlet.  Wouldn't be uncommon for the wires to become loose over time and cause an intermitant connection, I'd replace the outlet, $2 at any home store.

Answer 2

Maybe all your outlets are losing power momentarily, but affects only the sensitive TV and VCR.  Turn a light or two, and see if they dim when the TV shuts down.  If so, it is just a low supply voltage.  If it is only the one circuit, I would suspect a loose connection in the wiring.  Hopefully at that outlet, or its connection to the branch circuit panel.

Answer 3

Find-out exactly what is on this circuit. Shut-down the circuit breaker and see what no-longer works. Chances are it may be feeding the fridge or other high-amp apliance somewhere allong it's length. Lastly is the possibillity that somewhere allong that chain of outlets exhists a loose connection. Heat flowing out of an outlet is a good indication that somethings not right.

Answer 4

call the apartment manager let them deal with it  now