tracing wires
#1
tracing wires
OK, i have a series of switches and an outlet that has no power. all the circuits are working fine, all have 120 V coming off them but none of the wires in the series have power. i've found the source wire. how do i find the other end to find out why there's no power?
#2
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What you must do is to examine each location to see if there is power coming into the box (or fixture). This is a trial and error job, but you can make educated guesses. Start with locations closest to the electrical panel.
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"Series of switches and an outlet"----- Is this a receptacle-outlet or a fixture-outlet, and is the outlet controlled by more than one switch?
If controlled by more than one switch, it's possible there are two 3-way switches, or two 3-way switches + X number of 4-way switches.
If controlled by more than one switch, it's possible there are two 3-way switches, or two 3-way switches + X number of 4-way switches.
#4
outlets series
here's how it goes. source wire in a double box. in the box are two single throw switches, one for the light, one for the exhaust fan, a jumper goes from the fan switch to the light switch. then one wire from each switch goes to their respective fixtures, then from the light switch a wire goes out of the double box into a single box. inside there resides a GFCI recepticle, wirenutted together with the source wire are two other wires and a jumper going to the GFCI. from the wire nut, one wire goes to a smoke alarm for the security system and one wire goes to the light switch for the hall light, once again a single switch. there is no power coming from any wire. correction. the source wire is getting a reading of 2 volts. all the others show effective zero volts. the problem is i don't know where the source wire, the first one, starts. how do i find out where that wire starts at?
#5
If you know what circuit breaker controls this (from prior knowledge, since you can't determine it now), then shut it off and check every connection in every box on the circuit, whether they have a problem or not. Of course, you should also look for another GFCI while you're working. Don't forget the receptacle in the garage.