Electricians?

[Tod osier]

I'm rewiring my house right now and everything is AF\GF protected in the panel with standard outlets mainly because of that but also I don't want to take apart half the house to pass inspection. Its also a pain in the ass to get those dual receptacles into older boxes.

Had a similar situation with a random GFCI breaker in the kitchen killing an outlet in the living room and light in the basement. Made absolutely zero sense and took a while to figure out. Not fun.

Won't help the OP, but if someone is looking for a project it only takes a couple hours to do an electrical survey. It is especially nice in houses that are not wired intuitively.

One of these speeds things up a lot.

Amazon.com

 

[arock]

If someone is looking for a project it only takes a couple hours to do an electrical survey. It is especially nice in houses that are not wired intuitively.

One of these speeds things up a lot.

Amazon.com

Lol - thats exactly what I used to figure it out. It was surprisingly accurate.

 

[Tod osier]

Lol - thats exactly what I used to figure it out. It was surprisingly accurate.

Wife and I have done it with a night light and flipping breakers - that works OK on a house not wired by someone on crack. We have a house that is crazy wired with a service main feeding 2 subs and also sending 12-2 directly into the house and also feeding a barn with a sub there too - very tough to figure out. Once inside the house it is crazy. Glad I had the tool for the job or we probably still be at it.

For the OP, there are wire tracers that you can clip on a wire and trace the wire. I have not used one (own one still in box), but I'd bet you could also rent one.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Check for a lost neutral somewhere up stream. I have found that many times on various houses Not real common but it does happen.

 

[dtrkyman]

Got on the roof, outlet up there is dead no gfci, same on neighbors roof. Gonna have to get into her garage I think.

She is a bit strange so we shall see.

Thing is I really don't even "need" power there hardly ever, just under my skin!

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Identify the circuit the outlets are on. Starting at the panel make sure neutral wire is tight. stating at first dead outlet work backwards and check all neutrals. You are looking for a lost/open neutral. If you don't find lose neutral, that is not the problem.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

In for resolution! Pulling for you OP, don't let us down!

 

[NRA4LIFE]

GSP is correct about the neutral. Had this happen in our house. Drove me nuts trying to find it. Our house was wired by the homeowner who built it (that we bought it from). And yes, I believe he was on crack. We've been here 25 years And I am still discovering oddities.

 

[Amos Keeto]

GSP is correct about the neutral. Had this happen in our house. Drove me nuts trying to find it. Our house was wired by the homeowner who built it (that we bought it from). And yes, I believe he was on crack. We've been here 25 years And I am still discovering oddities.

Youngest bought a house in south west Texas.
Called me and asked if I'd wire 8n some can lights. There were some dark spots in the master bathroom that needed some light.
Not only that, the sink light wasn't centered over the lavatory!
Sure! Be right there!
Kid had already bought some small remodel lights, si this should be easy peasy!
Installed and wired the lights. Wire to the switch and we're good to go!
Not hardly!
Had black wires and white wires tied to two different switches!
WHAAA....?
Finally went to the panel to try and figure out what's what!
There were black and white wires tied to the ground bar, white and black wires tied to breakers and ground wires tied to the ground bar and neutral bar! EVERY wire I tested with my Wiggy was hot! Even 2 neutrals!
What should have taken an hour max, turned into an 8 hour day!
Pulled the lavatory light.
There were white wires tied to black wires and vice versa!
Instead of moving the vanity light, we bought a new vanity top and installed the sink square under the light!
How in hell that house passed an inspection to sell is still a mystery to me!?

 

[NRA4LIFE]

OK, you win. I too have wondered for years how this house ever passed inspection for electrical. Right from the get go, our home inspector found over half the outlets were reverse polarized. We had them fix that.

Hope the OP gets to the bottom of this. Electrical problems can be frustrating.

 

[monteman11]

Has to be a GFCI somewhere that is tripped. I had a similiar issue and found an outlet I didn't even know about behind a piece of furniture that was tripped.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

If it is a lost neutral , you will either read nothing at the receptacal or very Low volts. You can check for lost neutral by putting the probe of your meter in the hot side of receptacle, them take the other probe to a know ground. You may need to run a wire from known ground over to area with the problem. then check hot side of receptacle against the known ground., you should read 120 volts.

 

[monteman11]

If it is a lost neutral , you will either read nothing at the receptacal or very Low volts. You can check for lost neutral by putting the probe of your meter in the hot side of receptacle, them take the other probe to a know ground. You may need to run a wire from known ground over to area with the problem. then check hot side of receptacle against the known ground., you should read 120 volts.

This is also a good thought, sometimes electricians force over-sized wires into the "quick connects" and they break. Or, they bend the wire to wrap around the screw lug and it can break.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

One more thing I know for certain is, trouble shooting from many miles away over the internet is iffy at best. good luck.

 

[dtrkyman]

I’m no sparky!!!

I have no clue where power is coming from as far as my panel, nothing was tripped in there.

Seems it would be a gfci somewhere but if there’s one here it’s invisible, I’ve gone through them multiple times, nothing about any wiring is fishy I know enough I think to see that.

Was out of town all week so I will try to get the neighbor to let me take a look in her garage.

She is supposedly retired FBI and keeps to herself.


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[dtrkyman]

I just have a test light no meter, had one at some point buts it’s mia after a couple moves.


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[GSPHUNTER]

If you can run a temporary neutral to the outlet that is not working, you can remove outlet, then remove neutral, white wire , and attach temporary wire to the neutral side. Once again if it's a lost neutral, that should give you 120 volts.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I forgot to say, be careful, you will be working with an outlet that may have a hot leg to it. If you know for certain which breaker feeds that outlet, turn it of then make temp. hookups. 120 volts has a bite to it, ask me how I know? so does 277 and 480.

 

[RS3579]

Get one of these. Check every gfci/outlet. When you press the button the GFCI out will trip and will need reset at the outlet. You may have a bad GFCI as stated. If that doesn’t work. Take apart all tripped outlets and check for voltage. May have to check every outlet on the house. If you have kids now’s a good time to check and change outlets to tamper proof outlets. It’s definitely a little time consuming. Use an impact drill to speed it up a little. Good luck, keep us posted. One more thing. Check attic space, maybe a random outlet there.

 

[Catchfish]

If there is any cabinetry in the garage check inside them there may be an outlet that is buried there or was cut into the cabinet.