Printable View
Any electricians out there?
My outlets in the garage are all dead. Not the lights, just outlets/plugs. There is a GFCI plug which I originally thought was the problem because it wouldn't reset. I replaced it, but the problem remains. The GFCI still won't reset which means there is a voltage 'leak' somewhere. I don't think it's the breaker, but can't be positive because I don't know if the plugs are on a breaker by themselves. Any ideas how/where to start troubleshooting this?
How many plugs on the circuit? Anything still plugged into the circuit?
One thing you can consider doing is to pull each plug in the circuit until the problem goes away. I had an outside plug that had a moisture issue, luckily it was the first one I pulled. YMMV
Garage freezer was plugged in. The huge puddle of water in the garage this morning was my clue something was wrong. :confused: There are a few other things plugged in (sprinkler timer, power strip for the workbench).Quote:
Originally Posted by POS Racing
If it's garage only plugs (can't be sure), there are 4 counting the GFCI plug. 2 of them are on outside walls now that you mention moisture. They should be daisy chained off of the GFCI, correct? So pull the plugs and just cap their wires together?
PS
Outside plug on by front door still works. I think it's on a separate circuit.
Make sure ya kick the breaker before ya mess with the 'lectric. What happens if ya unplug everything including the freezer, does the GFI still trip??Quote:
Originally Posted by sammm
I turned the main off when I replaced the GFCI this afternoon. :rolleyes: It won't reset even after I unplugged everything in the garage. New GFCI's are shipped tripped. They won't reset at all if something is wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by POS Racing
Yep, should be daisy chained.Quote:
Originally Posted by sammm
You may want to start by just eliminating all the downstream plugs and see if you can get it to reset on it's own.
http://www.helpinaflash.com/images/I...et-Install.jpg
First... pull the cover on the breaker box and measure the voltage coming off the breaker... if it's missing then you have a bad breaker.
Next, pull the cover off the first GFCI and check the wire going from the breaker box to it. If you have no voltage you have a break in the wire from the breaker box to the outlet.
If you have voltage and you have nothing on the other side of the GFCI then flip the breaker off and remove the wires from the downstream outlet. If you can't get the GFCI to reset then it's bad. If it does reset then you have a problem downstream. Reconnect and move to the next outlet in series and repeat these steps until you narrow it down.
RJ
Okay this may be a long shot but this happend to me. On my old house there were 2 houtside plugs. Everytime it rained the GFI would trip that protects them. When it dired up the problem went away. Turns out there was grout in the plug box that would get wet and ground out the plug. Make sure your boxes are clean.
I could remove the 'LOAD' wires and see what happens. That would tell me if I'm getting juice from the box.Quote:
Originally Posted by POS Racing
eeek! :cat:Quote:
Originally Posted by channelmaniac
I have 2 outside plugs. Both are working. Hopefully they were wired after the GFCI!Quote:
Originally Posted by HudsonHawk
Sorry sammmmmm, but for electrical questions I'm the last one that you need to seek advice from. :cat:
No, I'm pretty sure that my advice on this would be worse. Lessee...Quote:
Originally Posted by Ataim
With the cat's tail in one hand and you left foot in a bucket of water, see if you can get your fingernail (of the hand not holding the cat) into on of those holes in the outlet far enough to make contact with the metal pieces...
Were you able to reset it with the downstream plugs removed??Quote:
Originally Posted by POS Racing
It's not that bad...Quote:
Originally Posted by sammm
That's how I found a toasty wire that needed trimming and a bad breaker that tripped early.
I opened the panel and used my clamp on ammeter to watch the load on the line when the dryer was on. It was interesting to see the 30 Amp breaker prematurely trip with only a 20 amp load. Turns out the previous owner of the house overloaded the circuit and toasted the breaker.
It also turns out that if you have an older house with Federal Pacific breakers you should get a new wiring panel due to fire hazards. We had ours redone last year when we had the new shop building put out back and a 75 Amp sub panel installed in it.
Working with electricity isn't that scary. Just take your basic precautions with it and you'll be fine.
Oh, while you have the plugs out of the outlet boxes you should check to make sure the wires aren't loose under the screws on the sides of the outlet. That can cause those GFCI outlets to go nuts too.
RJ
I just tried. I removed the LOAD wires (for plugs downstream) and still the same. At this point I'm thinking the breaker is bad, but haven't tested it. Not really sure which one to test. The PO labeled the box, but when I trip the one for the 'garage plugs' the garage door opener light goes off too. :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by POS Racing
The GFI plugs are on a separate breaker at my house from the openers.Quote:
Originally Posted by sammm
Any when the wired my house they didn't want to dirty up the box by labeling anything....... ::Censor::
That would make sense, but how do I track down the correct breaker if I've got no live circuits to check?Quote:
Originally Posted by POS Racing
Process of elimination? I hear a butter knife comes in handy too.
I can't imagine you have two bad GFI's. Just to be sure, remove it and tie the input and output sides together and see if 1) the breaker pops, or 2) the outlets now work.
or you see fire anywhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMerv
Step 1. See if all the breakers reset completey. Just because you flipped them the right way doesn't mean the breaker closed. Look closely to see if any of the levers seem to not be going as far toward the on position as the others.
GFCI? Breakers? Screw it!
Team CB says: "Burn the M___er F___er down!"
POS pointed me to this little gadget - LINKIE
Soon as I can kill the main power again, I will remove the service panel cover and see if I have a dead breaker (picked up one of those too). Thanks guys for the help.
OK. Sniffed all the wires coming out of the service panel/breakers. They are all hot. I totally removed the GFCI plug and wire-nutted the wires together to complete the circuit...still nada. Pulled all the garage plugs and they are all dead...zero live wires. The only plug I didn't pull is the one in the ceiling where the garage door opener is plugged in. The garage opener still works. My last hope is the leg coming off the garage opener plug feeds the rest of the plugs, but that doesn't seem logical to me. (The breaker labeled 'Garage Plugs' does include the garage door opener plug FWIW)
I even replaced the breaker with a new one just for grins and got the same result. I'm getting close to breaking down and calling an electrician. I am running out of ideas.
I wonder if you have a fried squirrel up in the attic... ;)
Checked that out too. Nothing obvious up in the attic.Quote:
Originally Posted by channelmaniac
Mmmmm...fried squirrel.Quote:
Originally Posted by channelmaniac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsyowZqgJEg
Success! Turns out the problem was with an outlet inside the house in the laundry room. The outlet was using the 'stab-in' type connection and apparently a hot wire had worked itself a bit loose. Had to trace the wires from up in the attic and see where it went down the wall. :rolleyes:
Special thanks to Radio-Active who volunteered to come out tomorrow and help me track it down. Enjoy your Sunday and thanks again! :clap:
OH.Quote:
Originally Posted by cam76034
MY.
GOD.
::Banana::
A squirrel-hunting milf? Really? I didn't know they made those...
I hope you used a real screw type connection to fix it. Those stab-ins are a PITA.Quote:
Originally Posted by sammm
Congrats on getting it fixed!
RJ
Yep. Used the screw terminals on the side this time. Much more secure!Quote:
Originally Posted by channelmaniac
Whew... Nothin' like a loose connection to throw off heat & sparks to cause a fire.Quote:
Originally Posted by sammm
Congradulations on solving the electrical connection problem.
Man I hate back stabbers! ;)