Some Outlets Not Working


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Old 06-18-06, 01:25 PM
J
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Some Outlets Not Working

About two weeks ago we had our house pressure-washed in preparation for painting. Since then several outlets have not worked. Two of the outlets not working are outside and one of those is on a wall where the pressure washing was done. Today I discovered that the screw holding the cover of that one was loose. The cover, despite having a rubber seal was not snug and was easy to wiggle.

There are only two GFCI breakers in our house and they both are working properly and have power.

I checked for a tripped breaker, none feft spongy. I then powered each breaker off and back on, but still no power at the problem outlets.

What steps do I need to take to resolve this problem and to get all outlets working properly?
 
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Old 06-18-06, 02:07 PM
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The problem could be a GFCI that you are not aware of, or it could be a wire that has come loose.

Depending on the age of the house, check for a GFCI. Outdoor receptacles, under current code, must be GFCI protected. Have you checked the basement ans the garage for a GFCI?

If a GFCI is not the problem, then check the receptacle to see if it is getting power. That means both the hot and the neutral wire. It is easiest to use a tester for this.

Finally, check each and every receptacle, light or other location on the circuit for an open wire.
 
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Old 06-18-06, 09:48 PM
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Some Outlets Not Working

About two weeks ago we had our house pressure-washed in preparation for painting. Since then several outlets have not worked. Two of the outlets not working are outside and one of those is on a wall where the pressure washing was done. Today I discovered that the screw holding the cover of that one was loose. The cover, despite having a rubber seal was not snug and was easy to wiggle.

There are only two GFCI breakers in our house and they both are working properly and have power.

I checked for a tripped breaker, none feft spongy. I then powered each breaker off and back on, but still no power at the problem outlets.

What steps do I need to take to resolve this problem and to get all outlets working properly?
 
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Old 06-19-06, 04:54 AM
J
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Pardon the double-post, I must have done that in my sleep!

The house is thirteen (13) years old and the outside outlets are standard 'outside' outlets for the time, they have the shielded, spring-hinged covers over each outlet. Neither is a GFCI,but perhaps I should switch them for GFCI.

No basement and the outlets in the garage were never compromised, they are working normally.

I will start testing with the outlet that was exposed to the pressure-washing event and go from there. Fortunately, there are no lights involved, only outlets.

I will post my findings once I've resolved this problem.

Thanks, Bob, for the suggestions.

Jerry
 
  #5  
Old 06-19-06, 09:18 AM
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If the house is only 13 years old and the outside outlets are both ordinary outlets then (if installed to code) they will be fed from either a GFCI breaker or another GFCI outlet. What do the GFCI breakers feed? (Bathrooms, Kitchen?) Otherwise, even though the garage, basement outlets weren't compromised, they could still have tripped because of the water in the downstream outlet. I would check all of the basement and garage outlets to see if one is a tripped GFCI outlet. I believe that because of the age of your house, the outside outlets could not be run from either the kitchen or bath, but you should also check these outlets also. Check good in the garage and basement for outlets. They are always behind the big stack of boxes or similar where you didn't know you had an outlet.
 
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Old 06-22-06, 10:09 AM
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Problem Solved

Bob said, "The problem could be a GFCI that you are not aware of..."

Scott said, "They are always behind the big stack of boxes or similar where you didn't know you had an outlet."

Sure enough, the wall where we have some boxes stacked does contain a GFCI. As soon as I got a view of it the red button was staring right back at me!

Reset it and everything is working fine.

Thanks, Bob and Scott, for your helpful suggestions.

Jerry
 
 

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