Help with basic electrical issue needed

1

Hi folks, please excuse my electrical ignorance…I’ve just put an AC wall socket tester into a wall socket about 10 feet from the wall socket I use to power all my audio products.

To my surprise, when I put the tester into the socket it cuts off power to the other socket (I.e. my hi fi). I never knew there was any “connection” between these sockets but clearly there is. My amateurish guess is that the hi-fi socket is in line, downstream from the other socket. Which maybe means I should be more careful about the crappy things (lights, telephone) plugged into it ?

Can anyone help me understand what’s going on here and recommendations?

Thanks for any advice.

2

It sounds like maybe you have something loose in that outlet perhaps. I would get an electrician to look at it - someone that know what they are doing.

You dont say where you are located…but wherever it is mains voltages should not be messed with. Get someone qualified to check your issues out immediately.

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Thanks. I live in the US (NJ). That sounds like good advice.

4

That third-world circuitry can be a bear. :smile:

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5

Most housing circuits are divided into rooms. A living room will be powered from one circuit, a bedroom will be powered from another circuit. There should be a list on your breaker panel that shows which circuit powers what room.

Give a bit more detail concerning the power going off when you plugged in the tester. Did the power come back on by itself when you unplugged the tester, or did you have to reset a breaker? Some receptacle testers are made to test GFCI receptacles, if there is a ‘GFCI receptacle’ or ‘GFCI circuit breaker’ on that circuit, then the ‘GFCI receptacle tester’ should have properly tripped the GFCI.
If your receptacle tester is just a simple tester (not made to purposefully trip a GFCI) and your circuit breaker tripped, then there may be a problem with your tester or a problem with that receptacle.

6

Thanks for your reply. When I plug in the receptacle tester, the power doesn’t go off. What happens is that my Hegel HD25 DAC does into a tail spin and flicks from one input to another (Coax 1,2, USB…) - which cuts the music. The circuit breaker doesn’t trip. Maybe there’s a problem with the receptacle - I may change that.