Strange electrical problem

[computernerd12345]

I have been trying to fix a strange electrical problem and am now at a loss where to look next. My house was built in 1986 and is a two story with basement. A couple of days ago I came home and found that my garage door would not work. I assumed that it was a stuck button but when I went in I found that the garage lights did not work either. Luckily, the garage outlets (other than the ceiling outlet for the door opener) are on a separate circuit so my freezer, etc. are still on.

The first thing I did was go outside and flip all the breakers off and back on but none appeared to be tripped. Later I noticed that two of my bathrooms were also without power. I am not sure exactly which breaker is the correct one but there are no GFCI breakers. Instead, each bathroom has a GFCI outlet. I checked to make sure that the GFCI's had not tripped but none seemes to be. I then thought that maybe the contractor had wired the second bathroom and garage off of the GFCI output so I pulled out the outlets in both bathrooms. However, I found that the outlets themselves were the only things GFCI- protected; the outputs from these outlets just had wire nuts on them.

I then decided to check and make sure the breakers were good. I used a voltmeter to test the output on each breaker and they all came out at

122 volts. At this point, I am at a loss as to where to look. This seems really strange. I haven't been working on any wiring projects and the house isn't that old and doesn't have any aluminum wiring.

Any thoughts?

[CJT]

I'll hazard a guess to get things going -- somewhere a wire nut has come loose. It's probably at or near the most "upstream" outlet/device that no longer has power.

[RBM]

Sounds like an open circuit, somewhere. You need to determine if the hot wire is open, or the neutral, then open all the boxes involved and check for loose connections, preferably starting with the outlets, switches, etc, nearest the circuit breaker panel

[Terry]

It sounds like your assumption that the outputs of the GFCIs have wire nuts is incorrect. The outputs of GFCI receptacles (any I have seen) are screws.

I would look more closely at the GFCI outlets and take a tester to verify that there is no power at the outlets.

[Noozer]

Do you have any outside outlets? They'll have GFCI breakers as well.

[JimR]

[snip]

I had a somewhat similar occurence and finally had to call an electrician. He found a tripped GFCI in a hidden, out-of-the-way location, shutting off power to everything downstream (including the next outlet, which was also GFCI-equipped). Reset the GFCI and now everything works.

He didn't even charge me for a service call.

[Doug Miller]

Depends on the age of the GFCIs. Back in the early to mid 1980s, at least, some brands had wire leads instead of screw terminals.

[Doug Miller]

[...]

Yep -- you have another GFCI outlet somewhere, and it's tripped. You just haven't found it yet.

Check all your outdoor outlets -- they'll have weatherproof covers on them, so there could easily be a GFCI someplace that you've never noticed before. Wouldn't hurt to check the basement or crawl space, too, but I think you'll find a tripped GFCI behind one of those weatherproof covers on an outdoor outlet.

[RBM]

Some folks have indicated that these things may be fed from the load of a gfcI device, that you haven't found, and this is possible, but easily determined. With a basic continuity tester, test between the neutral conductor and ground If you GET continuity, it's NOT fed from a tripped gfci. If you don't get continuity, check the same thing between the hot and ground. If you don't get continuity between these either, it's almost certain, it IS fed from a gfci device

[Doug Miller]

Bear in mind that the OP mentioned wire nuts capping the load side of his other GFCIs, which means that he has pretty old equipment there. I think the OP said the home was built in 1986, and I imagine his GFCIs were installed at that time, and not replaced since.

Having said that... are you sure that the older, first-generation GFCIs opened both the hot *and* the neutral when they tripped?

I still have one of those old wire-lead GFCIs from the 1980s lying around somewhere. If I can find it again, maybe I'll take it apart and see....

[computernerd12345]

Well, it turned out to be a simple problem. After opening up all the switch and outlet boxes and finding the connections were fine, I went up into the attic. There was another GFCI outlet up there that had been tripped. Apparently it is feeding the two bathrooms and their GFCI outlets as well as the garage lights. Is this a problem?

Thanks.

[computernerd12345]

Well, it turned out to be a simple problem. After opening up all the switch and outlet boxes and finding the connections were fine, I went up into the attic. There was another GFCI outlet up there that had been tripped. Apparently it is feeding the two bathrooms and their GFCI outlets as well as the garage lights. Is this a problem?

Thanks.

[computernerd12345]

Well, it turned out to be a simple problem. After opening up all the switch and outlet boxes and finding the connections were fine, I went up into the attic. There was another GFCI outlet up there that had been tripped. Apparently it is feeding the two bathrooms and their GFCI outlets as well as the garage lights. Is this a problem?

Thanks.

[computernerd12345]

Well, it turned out to be a simple problem. After opening up all the switch and outlet boxes and finding the connections were fine, I went up into the attic. There was another GFCI outlet up there that had been tripped. Apparently it is feeding the two bathrooms and their GFCI outlets as well as the garage lights. Is this a problem?

Thanks.

[computernerd12345]

Well, it turned out to be a simple problem. After opening up all the switch and outlet boxes and finding the connections were fine, I went up into the attic. There was another GFCI outlet up there that had been tripped. Apparently it is feeding the two bathrooms and their GFCI outlets as well as the garage lights. Is this a problem?

Thanks.

[computernerd12345]

Well, it turned out to be a simple problem. After opening up all the switch and outlet boxes and finding the connections were fine, I went up into the attic. There was another GFCI outlet up there that had been tripped. Apparently it is feeding the two bathrooms and their GFCI outlets as well as the garage lights. Is this a problem?

Thanks.

[computernerd12345]

Well, it turned out to be a simple problem. After opening up all the switch and outlet boxes and finding the connections were fine, I went up into the attic. There was another GFCI outlet up there that had been tripped. Apparently it is feeding the two bathrooms and their GFCI outlets as well as the garage lights. Is this a problem?

Thanks.

[computernerd12345]

Well, it turned out to be a simple problem. After opening up all the switch and outlet boxes and finding the connections were fine, I went up into the attic. There was another GFCI outlet up there that had been tripped. Apparently it is feeding the two bathrooms and their GFCI outlets as well as the garage lights. Is this a problem?

Thanks.

[HeyBub]

I really wish you google-groups folk would use a civilized news reader and thereby cut down on the replicated posts.

[computernerd12345]

Well, it turned out to be a simple problem. After opening up all the switch and outlet boxes and finding the connections were fine, I went up into the attic. There was another GFCI outlet up there that had been tripped. Apparently it is feeding the two bathrooms and their GFCI outlets as well as the garage lights. Is this a problem?

Thanks.