Electrical advice/troubleshooting

[isucyfan]

I am not a particularly handy guy, so I'm turning to CF for some help.

I was sitting in our sunroom this morning when the overhead lights went out. I figured a breaker tripped, but that wasn't it. Something similar happened awhile ago and it was a GCFI outlet that had tripped, but unless I've missed one, that isn't the case either. I've found that electricity is also out on one wall of our living room and a wall of our basement as well, so it must be a whole circuit.

This is driving me nuts. I don't want to call an electrician if it's something silly that I'm missing.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Bader]

Breakers will sometimes wind up in a state where they're tripped but the switch isn't over enough that you can see the orange. I'd flip it off and on once just to confirm. A quick and cheap option is to go buy something like this to try and find where in the line you're losing power (you could accomplish the same thing walking around with a phone charger, but, new tool!)

Edit: Also, are the overhead lights on the same breaker as the outlets? I assume yes if you're saying a tripped GFCI killed the lights before, but just double checking

 

[dmclone]

I am not a particularly handy guy, so I'm turning to CF for some help.

I was sitting in our sunroom this morning when the overhead lights went out. I figured a breaker tripped, but that wasn't it. Something similar happened awhile ago and it was a GCFI outlet that had tripped, but unless I've missed one, that isn't the case either. I've found that electricity is also out on one wall of our living room and a wall of our basement as well, so it must be a whole circuit.

This is driving me nuts. I don't want to call an electrician if it's something silly that I'm missing.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I'm dealing with the exact same type of issue. The light and the one plug on our deck are not working. I've looked for GCFI outlets but none of them are tripped. It started sometime after a bathroom remodel. I find it hard to believe that only those two items are on one breaker. It's also driving me nuts!

 

[iahawkhunter]

I'd assume it's likely a breaker, like @Bader described.

I've also had it happen once where 1/2 of my circuits were out because Alliant lost 1 leg of my power to the house. If 1/2 your circuits are dead, but not tripped, you could have something similar.

 

[AgronAlum]

Make sure you don't have any outdoor GFCI outlets that tripped. A lot of times those are wired with random circuits throughout the house. Also, make sure you flip the breaker even if it doesn't appear to be tripped.

Outside of that, it's trying to figure out where the circuit is disrupted. It could really be anything.

 

[CyByrd]

I'm dealing with the exact same type of issue. The light and the one plug on our deck are not working. I've looked for GCFI outlets but none of them are tripped. It started sometime after a bathroom remodel. I find it hard to believe that only those two items are on one breaker. It's also driving me nuts!

did your GFCI outlet in your bathroom get replaced/moved around during the remodel? I wouldn't be surprised if the "load" side of the GFCI is loose or disconnected.

 

[AgronAlum]

I'm dealing with the exact same type of issue. The light and the one plug on our deck are not working. I've looked for GCFI outlets but none of them are tripped. It started sometime after a bathroom remodel. I find it hard to believe that only those two items are on one breaker. It's also driving me nuts!

Outdoor outlets are a crap shoot. The one on our deck is on the same circuit as one of the bathrooms on our second level. They absolutely could be related.

 

[zarnold56]

Outdoor outlets are a crap shoot. The one on our deck is on the same circuit as one of the bathrooms on our second level. They absolutely could be related.

The outlet on my back deck is on a circuit with an outlet in our garage, main level bathroom, and upstairs bathroom. Took me a while to figure that all out.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I'd definitely flip the breaker off and on like @Bader said.

If not, like others said, check all of your outlets to ensure you didn't miss a GCFI. I had a similar instance in my basement several years ago. Something kept tripping a breaker and it was driving me crazy. I had to go all over and would inevitably keep missing a GCFI outlet until I got smart enough to write them all down and tape it to the inside of my breaker box (original builders put some in some completely unnecessary places)

I eventually found that my sump pump wasn't on its own breaker and kept tripping whenever it rained. Some builders and contractors do some crazy **** to cut corners.

 

[AgronAlum]

The outlet on my back deck is on a circuit with an outlet in our garage, main level bathroom, and upstairs bathroom. Took me a while to figure that all out.

I was doing some work on our basement (finished by previous owners) and realized the plugs are on the same circuit as the dedicated breaker for the radon system. I'm not sure which came first (radon or remodel) but it was definitely the last 120V breaker I tried flipping. The lights and plugs in a 500 sq foot basement are in a random combo of 3 separate circuits. I may have gotten a little jolt because I didn't check voltage at every outlet.

 

[Gunnerclone]

I'm dealing with the exact same type of issue. The light and the one plug on our deck are not working. I've looked for GCFI outlets but none of them are tripped. It started sometime after a bathroom remodel. I find it hard to believe that only those two items are on one breaker. It's also driving me nuts!

Open the cover and take out the switch and plug in question and make sure they are hooked up. We had a project done last year with like 50 can lights added and 50 new switches and covers and 6 new ceiling fans. They almost nailed it. They didn’t hook up one switch on a triple in the basement for a random outdoor light.

 

[SwirlyBird]

just tie the breaker open so it doesn't ever trip

 

[Gunnerclone]

I was doing some work on our basement (finished by previous owners) and realized the plugs are on the same circuit as the dedicated breaker for the radon system. I'm not sure which came first (radon or remodel) but it was definitely the last 120V breaker I tried flipping. The lights and plugs in a 500 sq foot basement are in a random combo of 3 separate circuits. I may have gotten a little jolt because I didn't check voltage at every outlet.

Always carry a sharpie when you’re at the breaker lol.

 

[isucyfan]

I've flipped all of the breakers, no luck. My next strategy is to meticulously look for any GCFIs I may have missed.

 

[dmclone]

Outdoor outlets are a crap shoot. The one on our deck is on the same circuit as one of the bathrooms on our second level. They absolutely could be related.

Good question. When they remodeled, they put in a new outlet as shown in this picture, as well as one that powers the cabinet.

Everything in the bathroom works fine. I tripped the top one in the picture, which made everything in the bottom picture stop working until I hit a button on the bottom picture.

 

[AgronAlum]

Always carry a sharpie when you’re at the breaker lol.

I'm usually a "I definitely wont forget this next time" type of guy that pretty much always forgets the next time.

 

[cycloner29]

Could be an overloaded outlet.

 

[AgronAlum]

Good question. When they remodeled, they put in a new outlet as shown in this picture, as well as one that powers the cabinet. View attachment 139045

Everything in the bathroom works fine. I tripped the top one in the picture, which made everything in the bottom picture stop working until I hit a button on the bottom picture.

Did they wire a new circuit? Did they move existing wiring? Did they tap into an existing wall plug (top picture) and just add a box to run the cabinet? If you haven't had any other issues, I'm really thinking it's all related.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I was doing some work on our basement (finished by previous owners) and realized the plugs are on the same circuit as the dedicated breaker for the radon system. I'm not sure which came first (radon or remodel) but it was definitely the last 120V breaker I tried flipping. The lights and plugs in a 500 sq foot basement are in a random combo of 3 separate circuits. I may have gotten a little jolt because I didn't check voltage at every outlet.

I'm convinced that If you've done any wiring and not gotten a jolt, you're not doing it right.

 

[isucyfan]

I found it! It was a GFCI that I had missed. In an entirely different part of the house than where the outages were. You'd think we'd have a better system than this by now. There's a few hours of my life I'll never get back.