Electrical advice needed

[ZUKEYPR]

Dual switch in living room; one operates light, one operates fan that is part of light fixture. Flipped on light switch, all three bulbs popped simotanously. One bulb even looks like it slightly melted. The other two just look like normal burned out bulbs. No circuit breakers blown. The fan still works and the outlets connected to that circuit all work as well. House is 19 years old, don't recall ever replacing anything.

Unrelated...maybe..a couple months ago my rear outside outlets went dead, never got it to come back on. Really can use some help

 

[boogie_4wheel]

Replace one of the three bulbs and try again. Uncommon to pop three at the same time, but not impossible.
Do you have a volt meter, even a cheap one? Stab it into the outlet and even on one of the bulb sockets and double check your voltage. I cannot imagine their being a large change in voltage on that circuit. A little fluctuation of a couple volts throughout the day is normal.
The three at once is making me raise an eyebrow though.

 

[frieed]

have you tried replacing the bulbs? when a bulb blows it can cause a transient on the power and take out the others if they are close to burning out as well.
I you replace a bulb and it's happy then you should be good to go.

Are the outlets GFCI protected? if so, where is the GFCI circuit, outside outlet, inside outlet, or GFCI breaker in the panel? GFCI outlets really don't get along well with moisture.
Is it a single duplex outlet or multiple? if multiple outlets are any not dead? problem is before the first dead one and the working one or panel feeding it.
It the outlets were installed using the push in quick connects, that may be the issue. I've had them go intermittent before.

 

[ZUKEYPR]

Living room light in question:Yes I replaced all the bulbs, no not gfci protected, no all outlets work, it's the one switch of a dual switch box that is inop. The one that works the light.

Outside outlet: yes gfci, yes all have been tested and reset, no tripping if circuit breaker, all other outlets on that circuit work.

 

[shortstraw8]

I have seen some very odd exterior outlet wiring Ideas. If you can grab a "cheap-ish" ($80 bucks I think(depending on where you are at you can borrow mine)) toner. Shut off all breakers test that the line is dead and then hook the toner on and run the toner around the walls and find the power feed and check from there and see what is broke.
19yo breakers can kinda lie when it comes to looking like they are set, have you turned all of them off and back on?

As for the light/fan, I say take it apart and check the wire nuts, good chance the switch leg to the light is loose and shorting.
Also good chance the vibrations from the fan over the years have wiggled something loose in the light/fan itself. I replaced on for someone once and was going to fix it to keep for myself and when I pulled the motor/body apart wires had melted together.

 

[RogueJeepr]

I also have a outside plug that decides sometimes not to work. I'm good with automotive wiring but need to learn more about house electrical.

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[sawtooth4x4]

Look for a GFI for your outside plugs. It happened to me in my house. I finally found the culprit and replaced it. It kept popping. When they do that it's time for a new one.


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[Pike2350]

I would also suggest checking the switch itself. It's not likely, but they can go bad....if the bulbs popped, there's a chance there was a surge and it could have damaged the switch itself. For the $2 or so, it's worth a try.

 

[ZUKEYPR]

There s only a few things in this wolrd that scare the bejesus out of me: Clowns, Redheads, and electricity.