Help, half of receptacle not working

[kylec121]

Hello, I have a question regarding half of my outlet not working. First off it is not a switched outlet, it is a single outlet circuit providing power for the Central AC Unit. It is #10 Aluminum with a 20amp breaker. Using a circuit tester both plugs on the outlet are showing as wired correctly, using a Klein mm100 both plugs are showing 120-121 volts, (tested from hot screw to neutral screw, hot screw to ground screw, and hot to neutral inserts on the outlet) after removing the wall plate the tab on both hot and neutral side are still intact, however once I plug an appliance into the top of the outlet I receive no power but when plugged into the bottom of the outlet the same appliance actually works!! Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. It is as simple as being a bad outlet that I just need to replace? it just doesn't make sense to me that if it was a bad outlet would it still be able to provide the voltage and register as being wired correctly on both the top and the bottom plugs yet not deliver any power once it has something plugged into half of it.

Thank you for any of advice!

 

[davesparks]

If one side of a twin outlet works but the other doesn't then the outlet will be at fault and need replacing.

A voltage can be present with no load connected but disappear when load is connected if there is a poor connection. Or the springs which make contact with the plug are weak/broken so that voltage is present at the terminal screws but doesn't get through to a connected appliance.

 

[kylec121]

Ok thanks Dave sparks for the advice, today I will Work on pig tailing then installing the new outlet!

If one side of a twin outlet works but the other doesn't then the outlet will be at fault and need replacing.

A voltage can be present with no load connected but disappear when load is connected if there is a poor connection. Or the springs which make contact with the plug are weak/broken so that voltage is present at the terminal screws but doesn't get through to a connected appliance.

 

[Megawatt]

Hello, I have a question regarding half of my outlet not working. First off it is not a switched outlet, it is a single outlet circuit providing power for the Central AC Unit. It is #10 Aluminum with a 20amp breaker. Using a circuit tester both plugs on the outlet are showing as wired correctly, using a Klein mm100 both plugs are showing 120-121 volts, (tested from hot screw to neutral screw, hot screw to ground screw, and hot to neutral inserts on the outlet) after removing the wall plate the tab on both hot and neutral side are still intact, however once I plug an appliance into the top of the outlet I receive no power but when plugged into the bottom of the outlet the same appliance actually works!! Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. It is as simple as being a bad outlet that I just need to replace? it just doesn't make sense to me that if it was a bad outlet would it still be able to provide the voltage and register as being wired correctly on both the top and the bottom plugs yet not deliver any power once it has something plugged into half of it.

Thank you for any of advice!

Kyle it’s not unusual for the power coming is is terminated on the top part of the receptacle it could be wired to the bottom screws, which explains why the bottom works and the tops not. All you need to do is change the receptacle