Electrical advice needed...

I plugged my vaccum in to an outlet last week, only to not have it turn on.  I tried an outlet on the opposite side of the wall, and the vaccum worked.  Over the course of a couple of days, we found several lights that did not work either.  After using an electrical kit, we discovered that they all belong to the same breaker.  The outlet is still receiving power, enough to make an LED nightlight flicker, but not come on full power.  However, one light that belongs to the breaker still works.  We tried flipping the breaker on and off several times, to no avail.

My husband is going to try replacing outlets and switches on the breaker, in the hopes that one of them has gone bad and is affecting the current going to the others.  Is there anything else to try before we call an electrician?

Thanks everybody, for your help.

I have no advice.  Electrical things scare me.

Scares me too.  Especially at the thought of something arcing in the walls.  Right now, we have just left the breaker off - it feels safer that way.

And this breaker controls the lights in the kitchen, laundry closet, backyard deck, stairwell, and garage.  Just one outlet.  So we are majorly in the dark.

Sometimes when that happens you just have to replace the one fuse in your fuse box. Also if you don't move the switch (in the fuse box) from left to right in one smooth & complete move it does not catch.

I get an electrician to the house asap!

It sounds like a bad breaker, because if the breaker were functioning properly, it would trip off and you'd have to keep resetting it. But I agree with Tom. Call an electrician.

The areas you describe should all be on a special type of circuit, a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter), used for "wet" areas and respond to moisture for safety reasons. It may be the breaker itself or any of the outlets. Check and see if one of the outlets has a reset button. The GFI has failed and must be replaced. If you are confused or doubtful, paying 50 bucks for an electrician is a deal compared to burning down the house ...family. Good Luck!

Call an electrician.

I wouldn't touch that one with a 10-foot aluminum pole.

I had a circuit get flaky like that.  Turned out that one of my ground wires on the breaker box had burned out.  Serious hazard.  It cost a lot to get the box fixed, but it was worth every penny.  No more flaky electrical plugs and lights and I feel much safer.  Houses are expensive to maintain sometimes.

I'm not an electrician but I have some experience in this kind of thing.  I was getting the alarm clock to work in one outlet but the microwave wouldn't in that same outlet.  I went to the fusebox and flipped all the breakers and nothing...the same "weird" stuff was going on.  I finally went and got a meter (I don't suggest doing this...quite frankly, it could kill you).  There are two "phases" that come into you house from the main entrance (not your front door).  Each phase gives your house the same # of volts.  I found that one of those phases wasn't giving me the same (110 volts) as the other.  The other was giving me like 30 volts.  Odd.  What I ended up figuring out was that one of the phases was shorted out and the small amount of voltage was from the other phase feeding back through.  So, small appliances (night lights) would work but larger appliances wouldn't.  Where I live, this is the responsibility of the electric company...so they were called to come in an fix the problem...which they did...free of charge.  The electrician is going to cost you though. 

I dont suggest doing any of this if you don't know what you're doing!  It could be a bad breaker or it could be a shorted out phase...either way, it requires someone that knows what they're doing!!!!!!!!!!

Don't EFF around with electricity. Just don't do it.

Don't use a fly by night contractor or someone cheap either.

Use a certified licensed electrician.

I'm with mooni on this one.

Definitely call an electrician, but if for some reason you do not, make sure that the electricity is turned off with the main breaker, not just the circuit.  It is not fun to be the ground for electricity.