my rabbit took a few bites on my lamps power cord. is electrical tape safe?

I’m a newer homeowner and I personally am terrified of working with electricity so I leave it up to the pros - what could have caused all this damage???

It's at work

I’ve installed a garbage disposal. It’s hardwired into the wall. I’ve tested the line and it a live circuit. However, when I switch it on, there is no power and the GFI appears to have tripped since the light goes from green to white. Where do I start troubleshooting? I’m a novice to say the least.

Question: I’m looking for a wire tracer model/brand to find the location of a damaged/burned wire behind the drywall. And one that can also help me easily map out what breaker every outlet in my house is connected to.

Background: A portable AC and other devices appear to have caused a power loss to daisy chained outlets in 3 bedrooms. The breaker is not tripped and no voltage with a voltage tester.

After years of running the AC from the primary or possibly the second outlet in the chain, I noticed a slight burning smell. Turned off the AC as I thought the smell was coming from it.

A few days later, ran it again with no issue. Burning smell came back after another month of daily usage. Turned it off again. Then I plugged a lamp into the outlet and realized it was the outlet as the lamp was not as bright on that specific outlet only. Then the lamp started flickering. Then a complete loss of power to that outlet and all the outlets in 2 other bedrooms.

I turned off all the breakers and opened the outlet. No visible signs on the 14 AWG romex or outlet, and no burning smell. I replaced the outlet with a new commercial grade outlet. Turned breakers back on. Still no power. I have an extremely strong sense of smell and I am confident the burned wires are nearby in the wall close to that outlet.

I plan to do some upgrades. Run 12 AWG on the exterior wall through a schedule 40 conduit on a dedicated circuit for one outlet in that room to continue using the portable AC until I install a mini split soon. Repair the 14 AWG daisy chain for the other 2 bedrooms. While I’m at it, I plan to run 12 AWG on another dedicated circuit to a disconnect for a near future mini split install.

I have a deep freezer I kept in the garage, it kept ripping the GFI in the garage when plugged in downstream from it. I moved it and plugged it directly into the GFI in the garage, and it stopped tripping it.

This is with no other load on that circuit. Just the freezer.

I moved it into the house and it doesn't trip the GFI that it's downstream from inside the house. It only trips the one in the garage, and only when it's downstream from it.

I'm comfortable doing light electrical, like swapping outlets or switches, maybe a ceiling fan, but I am by no means an expert here. I was an apprentice for a year, fifteen years ago.

My first instinct is just replace all three outlets, the GFI and both normal outlets that are downstream. Am I barking up the wrong tree?

Can you guys help me with my assignment? Our teacher doesn't really teach us and we're forced to learn by ourselves. He gave us unfamiliar worksheets and expects us to get it by the next day. Can you guys help if my work is correct? Even with the help of AI, I'm still confused. If you have sources or videos to share with similar work, I would appreciate it! The other numbers are simple, it's just that "one of the branches" thing is messing with my understanding. Am I right or wrong?

1. Multi-Branch Hybrid Circuit
   Two bulbs in series, connected in parallel with another two bulbs in series, and the remaining two bulbs in parallel with one of the series branches.

2. Complex Nested Circuit
   Two bulbs in parallel, connected in series with another two bulbs in parallel, and the remaining two bulbs in series with one of the parallel branches.

3. Multi-Level Parallel-Series Circuit
   Two bulbs in parallel, connected in series with another two bulbs in parallel, and the remaining two bulbs in parallel with one of the series branches.

4. Advanced Hybrid Circuit
   Two bulbs in parallel, connected in series with another two bulbs in parallel, and the remaining two bulbs in series with the entire combination.

I had planned on moving this outlet 6 inches up the wall-I’m in the middle of a bathroom redo. However once I looked behind I’m thinking I’m going to leave it. I do want to swap it with a white receptacle, but I want to make sure I’m doing it correctly. There are 3 white wires and 3 black. What are my options? I read I can pigtail them, but is there a way to safely put them in the back of the outlet how it is now? Is the way it’s currently wired up to code?

Got a 40-gallon, 4,500 watt water heater. The manufacturer says "For this unit it is recommended that a double pole 25-30 amp breaker be used."

Some sources online say definitely go with 25A. Some say that while the math works for a 25A breaker, definitely go with 30A. Other sources say either/or.

The circuit had 10 AWG wire.

Thoughts?

I had a small electrical item go (BANG!) the other day, and I also noticed that a portable air conditioner was sometimes cutting out. Being a bit slow, I finally thought to take a look at the extension lead and the power socket.

I can't see anything at the power socket, I'd have to take it apart and I'm not very savvy about electricals so I might not even know there was a problem if I was looking at it.

The extension lead plug though has obvious signs of a problem!
The wall socket is old; a new power point was installed for a heater about 2 years ago next to it.

I am installing a GFCI outlet so I went to test which wires are for line and which are for load, but now I’m just confused…? Both black have voltage readings and the white has one with a reading and one without. Can anyone help me with what my next steps should be?

EDIT:
Okay so I got a multimeter. Thank you everyone for pointing this out.

I successfully discovered which black wire is the line. However, I have also found that there is a neutral to neutral reading of 115v. And a 235v reading between the powered neutral wire and the black line wire. I’m a bit concerned by these results so I think am going to move forward with calling an electrician. I have a feeling that the home owners before may have done their own wiring and messed it up somewhere.

EDIT 2:
It’s all good now! Turns out I have a multiwire branch circuit so I cannot use the load section. I combined the two wires of each color into only one of each and connected them only to the line screws. It is working great now! Thank you all!

Pros and cons here? Thanks alll

This is the current setup in my basement. Wiring comes down from the panel, turns the corner and is connected to four outlets spaced approximately 4’ apart. My question: can i remove two of the four, increase the spacing and add them back further down the line? Or is what I am trying to do mote complex than that? Im comfortable doing basic electrical work but I would not want to mess around with the panel. Thanks in advance for your comments.

For the past couple months our kitchen and dining room lights will sometimes start flickering in the pattern as shown in the video. If I repeatedly turn on and off the light switch it will eventually have them stay on normally. Lights do not have a dimmer, and are screwed in tight. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. House was built in 2010.

Opened up a covered ceiling box and this is what I’ve got. Looks like the left side cable loosely wrapped there is a ground? You tell me. TIA

DIY electric heater with a spoon and some cables laying arround

Not sure what this is. It appears to be some kinda grease or signs of a burnt breaker?

Reposting to here also cause if this is actually a serious issue then I would rather have that information as soon as possible (more eyes, more opinions ykyk)

I replaced 2 outlets in my bedroom and one in the restroom that needed to be updated to the reset box. The two outlets were backstabbed. The restroom wire was screwed.

The two bedroom outlets were pulled and we noticed that there were only 2 wires connected to the previous outlets.

We used those wires and screwed them.

Turned the power back on and nothing happened. I also noticed that now half my house isn’t working.

We double checked the outlets and everything is done correctly.

I’ve checked the electrical box and nothing is tripped. I reset everything and nothing.

Hi peeps,

I need some help with these fairy lights. I am putting them in my stairwell. One PIR at the top and one PIR at the bottom. I set this up successfully a few years ago but now for the life of me I can't figure out how to do this again in our new place. These are 12v lights as well as the PIR. Can anyone give me a hand with this? I can't remember if I ran a runner between them or exactly what I did. I know it worked well once I set it up though. And can you explain it like I'm a 5 year old because apparently I am!!