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Outside Garage Receptacle No Power!

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seagiant

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Sep 16, 2011
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Hi,
I have a 120V receptacle in that has been dead for years, and just now looking at it.

This House is about 20 years old and has 2 GFI receptacles in the Garage that I assume has the outside receptacle wired to...

The Power Box in the Garage has no Main Power Switch and the outside box where power comes in from the street has a Power Company lock tag.

So no way to cut power and trace???

I have pulled the outside receptacle so I can test without it in the way and...

Have pulled both GFI's in the Garage and can not find a problem?

Both work and the wires are all connected.

I even jumped the 2 wires on the outside to see if I could get a breaker to pop and show which circuit it was on, and nothing popped???

Do not know where else to go with this, not being able to cut power and trace from the Power Box?

Any ideas are appreciated!
 
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mm08822

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Any other gfci's elsewhere that may be tripped? It was common practice to put all gfci protected recepts on one. Bathroom and garage recepts was a common pairing.

Pull the cover off the inside panel and take a pic.
Take a pic of exterior panel, too. It may be a meter/main combo panel and that is where the disco is. Hard to believe there is no disco.

Check each recept likely to be upstream of the one not working. Could have easily dropped a loadside wire there killing the exterior recept.
 
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mm08822

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The larger panel is wired as a subpanel. So there is a main panel or disconnect elsewhere.
 
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PCustoms

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I can't read either panel label well, but the smaller panel seems to have "GFCI" written in several spots, and I see at least 1 tripped breaker
 
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wssix99

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GFCI's don't handle moisture well and can become duds in an unsheltered outdoor outlet if a lot of moisture gets in. For my boxes that have this habitual problem, I just wire regular outlets in their place through indoor GFCI's, which solves the problem.
 
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seagiant

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wssix99 said:
GFCI's don't handle moisture well and can become duds in an unsheltered outdoor outlet if a lot of moisture gets in. For my boxes that have this habitual problem, I just wire regular outlets in their place through indoor GFCI's, which solves the problem.
Click to expand...
Hi,
I assume mine are that way from day one.

Outside receptacle is regular no GFI...
 
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seagiant

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Hi,
I could find no tripped Breakers in either Box in Garage...

Going around now and checking other GFIs in House...
 
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PCustoms

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seagiant said:
Hi,
And, that is locked by upper panel and lock tagged by Power Company!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
It's not

Rotate the latch (red) in lower right corner out of the way. Then push the tab (blue) to the right, until the panel is free

Edit: pic

1000002291.png

Pull down on the front panel, it will drop 1/2-1".

Open the panel, it swings left
 
Last edited:
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seagiant

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Hi,
Well, kiss my Grits!

Yep, had to get a punch and hammer and pop it down and it came open!

Never saw that before?

So now that I can get the power off, what is the easiest way to find out what circuit the outside receptacle is tied to???

Thanks Gentlemen, appreciated!
 
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Codyboy

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Rotate 1 up vertical
Push 2 to the right into that wide slot
Pull door down 3
4 swing door open
 

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PCustoms

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seagiant said:
Hi,
Well, kiss my Grits!

Yep, had to get a punch and hammer and pop it down and it came open!

Never saw that before?

So now that I can get the power off, what is the easiest way to find out what circuit the outside receptacle is tied to???

Thanks Gentlemen, appreciated!
Click to expand...
They sell tracers

But have you taken the outlet in question apart?

Likely an issue there, or a hidden GFCI it is fed off that is tripped.

I still think you have breakers tripped in your first panel pics
 
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seagiant

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PCustoms said:
They sell tracers

But have you taken the outlet in question apart?

Likely an issue there, or a hidden GFCI it is fed off that is tripped.

I still think you have breakers tripped in your first panel pics
Click to expand...
Hi,
Thanks, I have checked every GFI in the House I can find including the other Garage and they are all working fine from what I can see???

I think I have a tracer that I used years ago to find my lawn irrigation solenoids.

Will have to wait for a day that Wifey is out, to cut power to the house.

Thanks again!
 
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Codyboy

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I count at least 5 labels that say GFI. Did you account for all of those to verify they're working? And if so it could be on the feed through(load side of the GFI )thats the problem.

I've had an issue where the GFI checks good and works but anything else that it feeds does not work. Could be bad internal on that GFI or the load wire has come loose.
 
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seagiant

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Codyboy said:
I count at least 5 labels that say GFI. Did you account for all of those to verify they're working? And if so it could be on the feed through(load side of the GFI )thats the problem.

I've had an issue where the GFI checks good and works but anything else that it feeds does not work. Could be bad internal on that GFI or the load wire has come loose.
Click to expand...
Hi,
Thanks, understand the loose wire, but how do you test for a bad GFI that works???

Do I need to pull every GFI in the House looking for a loose wire?
 
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PCustoms

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Is the outside receptacle GFCI, or standard duplex ?

Is there an indoor GFCI close to the dead outside receptacle?
 
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seagiant

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PCustoms said:
Is the outside receptacle GFCI, or standard duplex ?

Is there an indoor GFCI close to the dead outside receptacle?
Click to expand...
Hi,
The outside receptacle is standard.

I have pulled both GFI's closest to the outside which is in my Garage/Workshop.

Everything looks good but I'm not an experienced Electrician that deals with this everyday.

Still wondering how you know a bad GFI or good, if the green lite is on, and it has power?

Thanks again!
 
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seagiant

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PCustoms said:
Maybe it's the angle or the poor picture, but this looks tripped

1000002292.png
Click to expand...
Hi,
That is labeled "Washer", and I have never had a problem and the Washer works.

It does seem a little different from the rest, but?
 
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seagiant

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Hi,
Is it safe to say that this outside receptacle HAS to be going to one of the close Garage GFI';s???

I have a new GFI, guess I could swap the ones closest with a new one and see if I get power back???
 
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gleman

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Michigan And Florida too!
You should have another set of breakers by your meter, for outdoor circuits(lights, outlets, pool etc...)

Check those, and see if you have power on the wires going to the outlet(non-contact tester).

I don't think your outside outlets are GFCI protected due to humidity and dampness.

IMG20250612135316.jpg
 
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mm08822

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Pull each likely gfci recept and test for power on the load side terminals of it when it has been reset. You should also be able to trip it by probing load side hot terminal and ground.

This doesn't mean a wire elsewhere downstream on the protected circuit hasn't disconnected.

Are the devices in your house back-stabbed or are the wires under side-screws or pressure plates? Back-stabs provide a lot of opportunities for random failures - permanent or intermittent.
 
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