No power to room but breakers okay

I'm a new homeowner so I'm not too verse on electrical stuff.
Recently the third floor room shorted(?) when I replaced a light bulb. I thought that simply resetting the breakers would solve the problem.

But to my surprise, none of the breakers were tripped.
To be sure, I turned all the power off and on, but still no power to that room.
(well, some of the outlets in the room work but I suspect they're on another circuit).
Can anyone offer any advice or help? Do I need an electrician to come in or is this something I can easily repair myself.

Thanks in advance.

 

I learned this lesson once. So, here goes...

It sounds like you've got a hidden GFCI somewhere that protects this room. Check every socket in the house and do the test/reset thing on any GFCI that you find. Be sure to check any outside outlets as well (where there is surely a GFCI).

 

Also check the basement and garage....

 

I had a similar occurence. My "mystery tripped GFCI" was located in the bathroom on the completely opposite corner of the house. So, don't eliminate unlikely and remote GFCI's in your search.

 

Curiousity what did you mean by shorted? What happen? Most likely you are dealling with a GFCI tripped but I'd like to know what you mean by shorted what you saw and what the effects were.

 

could also be a faulty circuit breaker.
check them closely.
I had one burn out recently without tripping.

 

Thanks for all the feedback.
But basically I was removing a bulb some track lighting in the room. Suddenly there was a pop sound and lights were out (scared the crap out of me).
From that point on, only one of the outlets in the room work.

As far as GFCI, I believe I have one in the washroom one floor down, but it seems to be working okay.

 

Keep looking for more GFCIs. 95% of the time the answer to posts like yours lies in a tripped GFCI that the homeowner didn't even know existed.

 

Remember, the idea with GFCI outlets is for them to be installed at the first outlet of a circuit run (i.e., nearest the breaker switch). This way they provide coverage down the whole circuit. You might try to follow the path of your non-working outlets along a "logical path" back towards the breaker box and look for GFCI's as you go along.

 

If the sound of a pop came when remove the lamp from the socket then you may of had a wire come loose in the box the fixture is connected to. If no ground fault receptacles present then the next thing to do is check the fixture. A loose or burnt off neutral may be the problem. The odds are then in favor of it being in the box right at the fixture and the lines feeding the rest of the room are up there.

Carefully remove the fixture paying attention to the wiring method being used if there is a wire broken or burnt off your should be able to spot it quick.

 

Now that I think about it, how would a problem with a fixture (above) trip a GFCI which is located on a circuit for receptacles (below)? Aren't the usually on separate circuits?

 

You cannot count on lighting not being on a GFCI. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

 

Just a quick suggestion: I learned the hard way to turn off lighting before changing a bulb, especially snap-on track lighting that uses transformers in the fixtures. One slip of the finger and you'll get a jolt that will knock you off the ladder -- or worse. It seemed to stupidly simple and safe at the time ...