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why no power to gfi outlet?
...i have a lone gfi outlet in the garage that has no power to the wires themselves...it was fine until my wife accidently cut the extension cord..[ ext cord was plugged into the outlet that is now dead ] .what is strange is that i seemed to have lost the hot and the neutral..again,i'm taking readings at the wires where they screw to the sides of the outlet,not at the female outlet slots...the garage and family room are on the same breaker..breaker was not tripped and the rest of the garage [ garage door opener that is plugged into a ceiling outlet and 2 lights ] as well as family room are ok...there is a double switch box a few feet from the dead outlet..the 2 switches control lights only...i thought maybe the outlet got its power from that box but all is ok inside the box...i even took alligater clip jumper wires and manually jumped the known good neutral in the switch box to the dead outlet neutral,,,no 120v to the dead outlet hot wire.....then i jumped the known good hot wire at the switch box to the dead outlet hot wire connection...no 120volts from hot to neutral at the dead outlet but i did get 120 volts from hot to the bare ground wire.....with power off i took a continuity reading from the neutral at the dead outlet to the known good neutral at the switch box and had no continuity,,,infinite ohm reading....arent all neutrals in the house connected at the neutral bar??....so i seemed to have lost both hot and neutral at the dead gfi outlet.....are outlets only bugged off of other outlets and not from switch boxes??....other gfi's in house are ok..where should i check next?...is it likely the dead outlet gets power from wires at the ceiling outlet or the front porch outlet??...he front porch outlet is also dead,,not a gfi..would power to the dead gfi outlet come from another gfi outlet in the house??...any help is appreciated.........dan
thanks alan,,sounds like you know what you are talking about....one more question.....if power to the dead gfi outlet is coming off of another gfi outlet,,does the other [good] gfi outlet need to be tripped in order to kill the outlet it is feeding,,or can it still be working for whatever is plugged into it but at the same time breaks power to the outlet downstream...i'm asking this because i'm pretty sure all of the other gfi's are not tripped and are usable.... i did just move into this 9 yr old house about 8 months ago,,,might not know where everything is yet....thanks.......dan
one more question to alan...if i decide its easier to just splice a new romex wire into the nearby switchbox and run it to the dead outlet would that be ok?.. i would then disconnect and tape up the dead wires..i wouldnt control the outlet with the switches,,just would splice new wire to the existing hot and neutral wire nuts..its all on the same breaker anyway........dan
7 Answers
- ?Lv 61 decade agoFavorite Answer
When a GFCI trips, it disconnects BOTH the hot and the neutral, so my guess is that another GFCI has tripped, though that *should* not be the problem, yet often is. One GFCI should not be wired to or from another, but it happens all the time. Based on this part-->
"then i jumped the known good hot wire at the switch box to the dead outlet hot wire connection...no 120volts from hot to neutral at the dead outlet but i did get 120 volts from hot to the bare ground wire....."
I would say it's the most logical problem. With the hot to the outlet live to ground but NOT to neutral, it's very probable that you've missed a GFCI somewhere. *IF* that turns out to be the case, replace the GFCI in the garage with a standard outlet. It's already protected. I wish I could say *for sure* that this is the problem, and even though it may not be, it IS a logical conclusion.
Al
Edit: Nope. If there IS a GFCI that is preventing power from getting to the one in the garage, anything plugged into IT will also be dead. When they trip, they disconnect power (both hot and neutral) to not only what may be downstream of them, but to the outlet itself. The only other thing I can suggest before you get in to some major Sherlock Holmes work, is to check the breakers again. If they are GE breakers, they can be VERY hard to see one that has been tripped. GE breakers, for whatever reason, don't move very far when they trip, and their handles *look* like they are still good, when in fact many times they ARE tripped. They are the ONLY manufacturer that seems to have this rather anoying problem, so if yours ARE GE, check them VERY carefully.
Al
Source(s): Edit 2 : Dan, yes that would work, but I would still have concerns about where the circuit that used to feed it is broken, so even though your method will work, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. One, do NOT remove the non working wires from the outlet box. Cap them and tuck them in the back of the box. Put a tag on them that explains that they stoped working but that the reason is as yet unknown. Two, and from now until you find out where the problem lies, you will always have to assume that any wire you find in the walls or a box are live until you have verified with a meter that they are not. That should be safe *enough* though I would still recommend that you continue to search for the problem until it is found. I know it's hard to do sometimes, but I personally would find it VERY hard to sleep at night knowing that there *may* be a live wire that is not attached somewhere either in a wall or a box. Something you might try here is turning off the breaker to that outlet and see what else is NOT working. Then, one by one open up every non working box to ensure a good connection on all the wires in it. Chances are one of them may have a bad connection, especially if they are of the stab in variety. Though what you propose will work, I just wouldn't feel comfortable till I found the real culpret. Al - 5 years ago
It appears that someone is answering electrical questions who is clearly not qualified to do so. 'H', I am sure that you are good at something. By all means, answer questions about it and help someones day a little. But please leave electrical questions to those who actually know what they are doing before someone gets hurt following such dangerous advice. (Saying this may get me a 'thumbs down', but I do not care when people's safety is involved.) 'dtstellwagon', 'eaglewatcher', and 'stratm663' are all absolutely correct. Older versions of the National Electrical Code only required GFI protection if the receptacle was within 6 feet of a sink. This is no longer true for kitchens. ALL receptacles that serve the countertop surfaces are required to have GFI protection. (see: NEC 210.8(A)(6)) I am not certain, but I believe that it was either the '96 or '99 code revision that made this change.
- 6 years ago
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why no power to gfi outlet?
...i have a lone gfi outlet in the garage that has no power to the wires themselves...it was fine until my wife accidently cut the extension cord..[ ext cord was plugged into the outlet that is now dead ] .what is strange is that i seemed to have lost the hot and the neutral..again,i'm taking...
Source(s): power gfi outlet: https://shortly.im/R3z28 - Anonymous5 years ago
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Water or not, if you can touch any part of the sink, the receptacle "shall" be GFCI protected. PERIOD! And yes, they do go bad. If you have power on the line side of the GFCI receptacle, and nothing on the load side AND the reset button is engaged, it's time to replace the receptacle. Good luck in all you do and may God bless.
