Electrician in the house?

[Gobi King]

I used to pay for snow service and the service used to clear my snow around 5 am ish in the morning.
Right in the middle of winter my diesel truck batteries were a bit low, I parked it in the driveway to charge the battery.
I use a long 3 prong extension cable.

Well, I had a Gobi moment and I left the 3 prong extension cable laying at the edge of the driveway near the garage door.

The plow nice cut the end of the extension cable off while it had juice to it.

Fast forward next morning, no power at the outlet, I walked to the panel and, what the Gobi, no breakers were tripped.

I still do not have any power at the outlet. I rechecked all the breakers.

I need to trace the outlet back to the breaker was as the directive given to me.
But what the heck, why no tripped breaker?

[Brewcrafter]

Is the outlet a GFI outlet, or is it in (parallel, series, heck I can't remember) with another outlet that is a GFI outlet that may have tripped? - john

[nelz]

Did you try flipping the breaker off/on a couple of times?

[Dominick]

Shib, that is an easy one.  Throw the main switch to cut off the power.  Unscrew the outlet and you should have a blown wire in the outlet.  If you have a new outlet just replace it.  It should have 2 black wires on one side and 2 white wires on the other with a copper wire for a ground.  If you can put a reel together this is a piece of cake.  Good luck.  Dominick

[oldmanjoe]

  I would check for another outlet that is gfi and see if it is tripped .
A example gfi tripped in kitchen equals no power in bath room outlet .
Garage outlet tripper  no outside outlet power .

[Dominick]

I forgot to mention that same thing happened to me yesterday and that is how I fixed it.  What a strange coincidence.  Dominick

[foakes]

Duplex power outlets are typically wired in series runs -- meaning there are a few plugs on the same circuit -- controlled by a circuit breaker switch in your main box.  Many times, there is a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) plug that is at the start of perhaps 6 or 8 plugs.  When an issue occurs -- the GFCI at the front of the circuit trips to OFF -- and it is not necessarily in a close location to the duplex plug (might be in a different room or on the other side of a wall) you used to energize your extension cord.  At this point, all plugs on this circuit are dead -- until the GFCI duplex plug is reset.  It works like a mini circuit breaker -- and will not trip the main breaker in your service box.

Could also be a faulty wire or plug that failed when a short caused by the sliced extension cord occurred.

Could also be a faulty breaker in the main service box that is no longer effective.

If it is not any of these obvious fixes -- and you are not 110% confident of the remedy -- hire a licensed professional electrician.

They will not charge much -- and this is quick and easy for them to troubleshoot.

Most likely is a tripped GFCI outlet.

I'm an amateur -- but have upgraded and wired a few of my own houses -- some new construction -- and some remodel upgrades.  When installing GFCI's -- I have gone to the newer style that has LED indicator lights.  They are only a couple of dollars more -- and any time I walk by them -- I can easily see that they are working.  Kitchen, bathrooms, utility room, garage, and any outdoor protected plugs -- all get a new one with the indicator lights.  I also make sure every duplex is grounded back to the service box by using a solidly fastened green pigtail in each receptacle.

I have also found it useful after doing any wiring work -- to test each plug with a receptacle tester.  These are less than $10 -- and foolproof.  Tells me if I am good to go -- or if there are reversed wires, open ground, etc.  Just plug it in and read the indicator lights.  You can even try it on any receptacle in your home -- and correct any issues.  Or check your electrician's work.  Professional electricians have these on their tool belts all of the time.

If you are not fully confident in your abilities -- hire an electrician.  You will sleep better at night, and when you are not at home.  No bad surprises that way.  I have been on too many incidents where non-professional faulty wiring, wrong wiring, or shortcuts caused major loss of structure and sometimes life.

Best, Fred

[Keta]

How many amp is the breaker in this circut.

Use a extension cord plugged into a circuit you know is working for a ground jumper.

#1. Manually trip and reset the breaker
#2. Test the load side of the breaker to see if you have power.  If not replace the breaker.
#3 If you have power look for a GFI receptical in the circuit and if there is one reset it then test the outlet in the GFI receptical. If no power replace the receptical.
#4. If you have power check the recepctical you are having problems with.
If you have power the problem is fixed.
If no power take the cover off and check to see if the incoming wires are energised.
#5.  If still no power you either missed a GFI receptical or you have a bad wire.

[Alto Mare]

Not an electrician, but been a g c for 25 years and in construction for 44 years.
You would  want to make sure the wire is of the proper size.
Usually a 15- amp breaker and a 14- gauge wire for lights... as long as there aren't too many.
For outlets 20-amp breaker requires 12- gauge wire.


Sal

[Bill B]

As stated above check all your outlets for a GFCI outlet that has been tripped.  It could be quite a distance from your other outlet. I had an outlet in the garage that was connected to a GFCI outlet on the second floor of the house.  Also older breakers may not show it was tripped due to weak springs and will need to be turned off and back on.  Do it a couple times......Good luck brother.  Bill

[Midway Tommy]

I was typing this as Bill posted.

You don't indicate where the outlet is located but assuming it's in the garage or an outside outlet and your house is 1980sih or newer it's probably on a GFI protected circuit like Oldmanjoe & Fred described. Early GFI brakers were in the panel but there were so many problems with them being too sensitive and continually tripping most people eliminated the GFI breaker in the panel and went to a regular breaker with GFI protected outlets. Generally the first outlet in a GFI protected circuit is the protector, but not always as it could be the second, third, or even the last, as one's specific needs are met. See if you have any other seldom used outlets in the bathrooms, garage, basement, outside, or maybe even the kitchen, that don't work and you'll probably find the GFI breakered outlet. All you have to do is reset it.

Also, some times, depending on the type of panel you have, tripped breakers are visually tough to identify by just looking. Square D is a great example. They'll trip but they still look to be inline and on. Take your fingers and lightly see if any of the 20 amp breakers flip sideways easily. That could easily be the culprit and you'll have to totally flip it off to reset it. Most GFI circuits I listed above would/should be on a 12 AWG 20 amp circuit.

In an older house Dominick's suggestion may have happened but it's unlikely because unless you have a faulty breaker, or oversized fuse if you have fuses, the breaker should have tripped before the wire on the outlet burnt off. It is a possibility, though.   

[Rancanfish]

Late to the party but I'm going with locate the tripped GFI outlet.

[Ron Jones]

The only thing I can contribute other than agreeing with most of what is above is that I would now NOT trust the breaker responsible for protecting that circuit unless you are certain the GFCI tripped upstream. Once you get it sorted out I would replace that breaker. I have replaced several this year, they are cheap and knowing they will help your house from burning down will let you sleep better at night.

Ron Jones

[Dominick]

In an older house Dominick's suggestion may have happened but it's unlikely because unless you have a faulty breaker, or oversized fuse if you have fuses, the breaker should have tripped before the wire on the outlet burnt off. It is a possibility, though.   

The cabin was built in 1973 so it is an older structure with the original wiring.  I was working on the range hood fan.  It stopped working.  I pulled the fan and tested it.  The fan was ok.  I concluded that the switch was bad.  I ordered new switches and put power to the hood.  The hood was upside down on the top of the stove.  The fan would not work.  I asked my neighbor to take a look at it and during his probing around he created a dead short.  The range hood is on one outlet which powers the refrigerator and hood.  I went to reset the circuit breaker and was surprised that it had not tripped.  I pulled the refrigerator away from the wall and discovered that when the short hit the outlet it exploded and blew out the side of the outlet.  I turned the circuit off and replaced the cooked outlet.  That solved one problem.  I rewired the hood but I cannot get it to work,  I can only conclude that I purchased a defective switch.  I'll work on it again bypassing the switch.  I put it aside to cool off my frustration with it.  Dominick

[Midway Tommy]

In an older house Dominick's suggestion may have happened but it's unlikely because unless you have a faulty breaker, or oversized fuse if you have fuses, the breaker should have tripped before the wire on the outlet burnt off. It is a possibility, though.   

The cabin was built in 1973 so it is an older structure with the original wiring.  I was working on the range hood fan.  It stopped working.  I pulled the fan and tested it.  The fan was ok.  I concluded that the switch was bad.  I ordered new switches and put power to the hood.  The hood was upside down on the top of the stove.  The fan would not work.  I asked my neighbor to take a look at it and during his probing around he created a dead short.  The range hood is on one outlet which powers the refrigerator and hood.  I went to reset the circuit breaker and was surprised that it had not tripped.  I pulled the refrigerator away from the wall and discovered that when the short hit the outlet it exploded and blew out the side of the outlet.  I turned the circuit off and replaced the cooked outlet.  That solved one problem.  I rewired the hood but I cannot get it to work,  I can only conclude that I purchased a defective switch.  I'll work on it again bypassing the switch.  I put it aside to cool off my frustration with it.  Dominick

That's crazy!    You're lucky the place didn't burn down!