2 blown outlets
#1
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2 blown outlets
I have 2 outdoor receptacles with 3 prong outlets. I was doing work with an electric hedge trimmer and accidentally cut the extension cord. Now both that receptacle and the one in the back yard patio don't work. I have tried all the breakers. Could I have blown the outlets? Thanks for any help
#3
Group Moderator
Even if your circuit breakers don't look tripped turn them completely off and then back on. If that doesn't work look for a GFCI somewhere that might have tripped.
#5
Often the GFCI is behind something that hasn't been moved in years.
If still no luck you need to open the boxes and look for failed connections. Do you have a multimeter or neon test light? (No a non contact tester won't work for serious testing.)
If still no luck you need to open the boxes and look for failed connections. Do you have a multimeter or neon test light? (No a non contact tester won't work for serious testing.)
#6
Group Moderator
Usually circuits are daisy chained with one outlet being connected to another and another. Once you are absolutely certain there are no hidden gfci you start checking outlets. I usually start with the dead ones. Remove the cover plate and pull the outlet out while still leaving its wires attached. Check all the wires for current. If none then move on to the next outlet. If you don't find power anywhere in the enclosure for our dead outlets then I move on to other nearby outlets that are hot. I'm looking for an outlet where power goes in and has wires going out but are not energized/hot.
#7
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After moving into my current house I noticed the two small appliance branch circuits in the kitchen had only one GFCI receptacle. Neither of the two bathrooms had GFCI receptacles and the outside receptacle on the back porch did not have a GFCI receptacle.
My house was built in 1987 so the requirement for GFCI protection of these circuits was definitely in place. I had two GFCI circuit breakers in the panel and testing showed these to be on the two kitchen appliance circuits. That meant that the GFCI receptacle in the kitchen was redundant and had been installed by someone not knowing what they were doing. Turning off these two circuit breakers removed power from the kitchen (and dining room) receptacles but had no effect up[on the bathrooms or the outside receptacle. That told me that SOMEWHERE was located a GFCI receptacle OR that my home had some huge wiring mistakes.
I used a GFCI testing device in the front bathroom and it did trip something somewhere as I no longer had power at that receptacle. Testing the back bathroom and outside receptacle showed that these also had lost power. Now the search was on to find that hidden GFCI receptacle.
No other receptacle in the entire house was a GFCI type and that included the garage however I DID notice the lone receptacle in the garage (not counting the one for the door opener) had an adapter providing 6 places to plug in a cord. This adapter fully covered the face of the installed receptacle and when I pulled the adapter off there was the GFCI with the reset button tripped out. I reset it and the bathroom and outside receptacles again had power. Obviously the wiring went from the garage to the front bathroom to the back bathroom and then outside.
Not too long after I changed the receptacles in the bathrooms so that each had its own independent GFCI receptacle.
My house was built in 1987 so the requirement for GFCI protection of these circuits was definitely in place. I had two GFCI circuit breakers in the panel and testing showed these to be on the two kitchen appliance circuits. That meant that the GFCI receptacle in the kitchen was redundant and had been installed by someone not knowing what they were doing. Turning off these two circuit breakers removed power from the kitchen (and dining room) receptacles but had no effect up[on the bathrooms or the outside receptacle. That told me that SOMEWHERE was located a GFCI receptacle OR that my home had some huge wiring mistakes.
I used a GFCI testing device in the front bathroom and it did trip something somewhere as I no longer had power at that receptacle. Testing the back bathroom and outside receptacle showed that these also had lost power. Now the search was on to find that hidden GFCI receptacle.
No other receptacle in the entire house was a GFCI type and that included the garage however I DID notice the lone receptacle in the garage (not counting the one for the door opener) had an adapter providing 6 places to plug in a cord. This adapter fully covered the face of the installed receptacle and when I pulled the adapter off there was the GFCI with the reset button tripped out. I reset it and the bathroom and outside receptacles again had power. Obviously the wiring went from the garage to the front bathroom to the back bathroom and then outside.
Not too long after I changed the receptacles in the bathrooms so that each had its own independent GFCI receptacle.
#8
Not too long after I changed the receptacles in the bathrooms so that each had its own independent GFCI receptacle.
I work in a condo association that was wired with one GFI receptacle, usually in the upstairs bathroom, feeding three bathroom receptacles, garage receptacles, two outside receptacles and one in the basement. What a pain. Many customers have opted for multiple GFI receptacles.