I have a small guest bath with only one wall plug. My meter shows less than one volt at the plug. There are two ceiling/wall lights that work, along with a ceiling fan that works. Any suggestions? I really enjoy the forums. Thank you ahead of time.
No Voltage At Wall Plug
- Thread starter bwessler
- Start date
sberry
Banned
It's broke.
sberry
Banned
Ok, what kind of construction is it? Mobile/modular home? Spec built tract house? What year was it built? what amp breaker? Many 15A circuits are backstab wired.
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vhol5
Well-known member
GFCI in another room maybe?
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
Did you check to see if there is either a tripped GFCI outlet in another location such as another bathroom or a tripped GFCI breaker?
Crazyjake8493
Well-known member
Also check for failed backstabbed connections if you pull the outlet, but my first bet is on a tripped GFCI feeding it from elsewhere in the house.
Viper98912
Well-known member
Buy a multimeter and check the voltage. As others have said:
If no voltage on the wiring (inside the box)
1) GFCI somewhere has tripped (baths require GFCI's)
2) You have a wiring problem inside the wall
3) The wire that connects to that box (another outlet) isn't connected
If voltage on the wiring
1) The outlet is broke; buy a new one
If no voltage on the wiring (inside the box)
1) GFCI somewhere has tripped (baths require GFCI's)
2) You have a wiring problem inside the wall
3) The wire that connects to that box (another outlet) isn't connected
If voltage on the wiring
1) The outlet is broke; buy a new one
alfredeneuman
Well-known member
If you know the circuit is supposed to be on turn it off before you remove the receptacle.
Some bad things can happen removing a faulty outlet with power on.
You can turn it back on when you get it out if nothing is obviously screwy with it.
Some bad things can happen removing a faulty outlet with power on.
You can turn it back on when you get it out if nothing is obviously screwy with it.
All brick home built on 2004. No backstabs. Everything was done correct. I’m looking around for a gfci in another room or outside. Can’t see it in basement as it is above major furnace duct runs. I need to look inside light fixtures and triple wall box to see if they wired off of that.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
I dont have an 02 code book but NEC code has required dedicated circuit for baths for quite some time.
Since this is a guest bathroom, maybe they wired it off of the GFCI in another bathroom...
nadogail
Well-known member
Sometimes wiring is done by persons who are neither conscientious or competent. Unfortunately, you may have encountered both in a single person.
James-W
Well-known member
I wonder if he found the problem yet?
No, I haven't. Checked every plug in the house and outside, today and all are ok. We have lived here four years and had never used this plug. We had the interior repainted when we moved in and they removed some, not all of the light fixtures when they painted. I wonder if they didn't get all wires back inside a wirenut when they put lights back up?
James-W
Well-known member
A long time ago I helped a friend of mine find a problem at his sister's house. She had an outlet that did not work and had not worked since she moved in. To make a long story short, the outlet was not hooked up. There was a wire coming off the outlet, then it went down into the basement. We traced it to find where it went, but what we found is that the wire was cut off and not connected to anything. Apparently when the house was wired, this outlet was never hooked up.
Anyway, could this be a similar situation? Could it be that it was never hooked up?
Anyway, could this be a similar situation? Could it be that it was never hooked up?
Lights shoukd be (but not a guarantee ) on their own circuit. you are on the right track though, yiu need ro find where rhisoutlet is fed from. Somewhere something is loose.
Have you checked all other outlets in the area?
Everything else around it works fine. I pulled on the wire a little and it does feel like it is stapled in the wall. I have attic access nearby so may just have to access it from attic and drop new wire. I’m getting old and really don’t like working in attic anymore. At least it’s not the middle of the summer. Thank you for all your suggestions.
Bigbandguy
Well-known member
Outlet in master bathroom was out..upstairs bath normal outlet . Drove myself crazy looking for the problem until I discovered that GFCI in downstairs half bath was tripped. I turned out that this one GFCI controlled half bath, back porch outlet and both upstairs baths. Code is long since changed but that one was a pain.
rburke65
Well-known member
Do us all a favor and let us know what, if anything, you find. Good luck!
Lelandwelds
Well-known member
Not all the trades are careful around anything "not my problem." I have seen plumbers drill 3" holes in a load bearing 2x4 wall and concrete guys who can't level an embed plate and set them 12" off from plans.
I missed the part where your meter says there is no power at the back of the outlet. Is the ground used as neutral at the panel but hooked to outlet as ground? (Don't laugh.) Do you have power from any wire to any wire? If you remove the cover from inside the panel, can you see if each breaker has a wire connected? (Don't laugh)
Add any grab bars, chair lifts, or universal access in a seemingly unrelated room? Change out any windows or anything anywhere? Use any 3" deck screws to hang pictures?
Does every breaker actually work? ( not just "none are tripped") Any burnt plastic smells?
I have had projects where it is easier to just run a new line than discover actual problem. Your need is for a working outlet not to solve a puzzle.
As somebody already pointed out, the power to the bad outlet may be coming off another outlet. The feeding outlet may test good but the wire coming off it to the bad outlet could have a bad connection.
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rburke65
Well-known member
Those things can drive one to drink. You probably need one after all that.