Power outlets (Not GFI) randomly stop working

ElementZero wrote:
Yeah that's what I was afraid of. I'm aware of the way that the outlets work but would there be some way to identify where the loose wire is easily?

By the way - why are they like that instead of normal household outlets? Just so everything can be daisy chained together without having to bother with pigtails or something?

Thanks!

The outlets in your house are wired the same but with screws to hold the wires tight, not the pinch pins.
To fix. Try and visualize how you "think" the outlets are wired from one to the next. Plug in a light in the first one Not working. Go back to the one where you "think" it is feed from and plug in anything and push, pull, twist, tap on the plug with your hand. See if the light flickers. You can also try this with the light plug as it may be the IN feed to that outlet. Try a few as the wiring can be confusing to figure out. Last resort will be to remove each. Keep the light plugged into a dead outlet. Remove what you think to be the last working plug while watching the light. Pop the back cover off and in most cases if your on the bad connection outlet you will see burnt brass in the pinchers. I would have No problem doing this with the power on and if I could not see any blacken burnt connections I would grab each wire with needle noses and give each the tug, push, twist test while watching the light. You figure out if you are possibly wanting a little buzz if you handle this incorrectly :). Will be much easier to find live then with power off.
You will see that the wires do Not have any insulation removed. You can use a meter OR a test light to test also. Put one end to ground. Touch the other test end to the very end of the wire in the pinchers. You should have power on both blacks. Now clip one end of your meter / test light to the black and test the ends of the white wires.