Zorah, I've had problems with the chat # just in the last few days, myself. Sometimes it won't even open... I do know I had more trouble last night after checking into the gallery, and had to clear my cache after that (which DocJohn has told us about.)
Also, you might find a number and not see any names in the rooms. That happens when the ppl IN chat are in private rooms... another feature here at PC. Once you enter a chat room that has noone in it (safe for you) you can click on the eye icon at the bottom of the room, and see who is in which room, even though you might not be able to go into them.
Not all ppl who are in chat will show up "online" as some ppl's browser for the forums close once they enter the chat rooms. Depends upon which browser I use as to whether I will show up as online AND in chat.