Electrical troubleshooting question

bu11seye · Jan 10, 2022

That was my first thought. Check for a tripped GFI in your attached garage or basement. Good luck.

vpierceiii · Jan 10, 2022

Hi there. I’m an old electrician. Here’s what I think you should do:
1. Turn off your main breaker so that all power is cut to your panel.
2. Make sure all set screws are tight. Especially the ones on the neutral bar (where all the white wires terminate). Many times a loose connection can cause the neutral to be lost.
3. Turn power back on and see if you have 120 volts at your new breaker with a tester that you know works. That way you are sure the breaker works.
4. If you still don’t have power at your receptacle (plug), then go around and test all plugs to see if any others are out as well. Mark the plugs that are out with a piece of tape. ESPECIALLY look for any tripped GFCI receptacles in the area. If you find a GFCI plug; use a pencil eraser or wood dowel to push the TEST button to trip it and then reset it. If you find a tripped GFCI, then re-test your receptacle.
5. Once you have found all plugs that don’t work, you need to open those up and look for loose connections (with power off). Start with the plug closest to the panel. And look at the receptacles that do work in the immediate vicinity.
6. Put it all back together and hopefully you will have found the problem.
7. If all that doesn’t work, call an electrician. Whatever you do though, please don’t rely on these forums or YouTube to further troubleshoot. Get a pro.
Hope this helps.

vpierceiii · Jan 10, 2022

A couple more tips:
Whenever you are trying to reset a circuit breaker, turn it all the way OFF and then back ON. Never try to turn it just back on because it usually won’t reset and give a false indication that it is bad. And don’t be afraid to reset it several times, especially with older breakers.
Remember too that sometimes it takes a little force to reset a GFCI receptacle. That’s why I encourage people to use something to push the button.

mrpriceisright · Jan 10, 2022

A $5 non contact ac detector can be quite useful in that situation, providing you can access the cable at a few spots along its route.

Xfaxman · Jan 10, 2022

There is a lot of good info here, but the OP has not seen it:

fishdrivel · Jan 10, 2022

Xfaxman said:
There is a lot of good info here, but the OP has not seen it:
View attachment 728678

I hope he did not get electrocuted!

mgstevens · Jan 10, 2022

Recent code allows up to 12 devices (lights or outlets) on the same 15A residential circuit. I'd start with a test light to identify the outlet devices on the same circuit. As almost everyone else has said, very rare to have the Romex fail within the wall. If you can ID all the devices on the same circuit, you can test back from the offending outlet and my guess you'll find the break in the chain and can fix it easily.

Little Red Tractor · Jan 10, 2022

The simplist solution that fits the facts is the obvious answer. GFI in the circuit is a suspect; a bad outlet or bad connection on the outlet is another (check the wire with a meter, not your finger!). Could a rat or mouse have chewed through the wire somewhere? If so, replacing the entire run of wire is the only option.
If this is the only outlet on a breaker, it could be any of those things or more. If it's one of several, but the only one not working, it's most likely the outlet.

Boss 302 · Jan 10, 2022

I read through all the posts and didn't see this mentioned, first you need to determine if it's the hot or neutral wire that is open. Hopefully you do have a volt ohm meter, your receptacle is probably installed with the ground hole down, if that is the case use your meter and go between the slot on the right of the receptacle and the ground hole. If you have 120 volts that means that you have an open neutral, if you don't have voltage then that means that the hot wire is open. Either way chances are as mentioned earlier, one of the receptacles upstream from it has a wire that has come loose.