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Stumped on home repair of GFCI circuit all dead after light repair

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Stumped on home repair of GFCI circuit all dead after light repair Donna 05-19-2008
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Posted by Donna on May 19, 2008, 12:45 am
I'm stumped. I need your help. And, worse yet, I don't have much to tell
you. And, it's hard to explain. But I'll try as I'm not sure what to do
next.

- I have a dead circuit in my house (6 outlets in toto)
- The dead circuit "seems" to have gone dead after I put a bathroom
switches in but I don't remember exactly when it went dead
- The bathroom timed-light switch works perfectly fine though, so I don't
see how they could be the source of the problem
- All the house circut breakers have been set and reset scores of times
- The circuit that is dead contains GCFI boxes and regular outlets
- Specifically, the dead circuit contains 6 outlets, all dead
a) bathroom 1 GCFI outlet (dead)
b) bathroom 2 GCFI outlet (dead)
c) bedroom 1 GCFI outlet (dead)
d) bedroom 1 regular outlet (dead)
e) outside two weatherproofed outlets (dead)

When I put a circuit tester into each of the dead outlets, nothing lights
up. Other outlets in the same bedroom work just fine. All but two of the
dead outlets are along the same wall while the other two are nearby. No
other outlets or switches in the house seem to have a problem.

What more information can I provide so you can help me debug why I have
these dead circuits? I'm sorry this is so frustrating but I don't know what
to do for the next step. I'd take pictures but I don't know what to take a
picture of for you.

Posted by buffalobill on May 19, 2008, 1:28 am
> I'm stumped. I need your help. And, worse yet, I don't have much to tell
> you. And, it's hard to explain. But I'll try as I'm not sure what to do
> next.
>
> - I have a dead circuit in my house (6 outlets in toto)
> - The dead circuit "seems" to have gone dead after I put a bathroom
> switches in but I don't remember exactly when it went dead
> - The bathroom timed-light switch works perfectly fine though, so I don't
> see how they could be the source of the problem
> - All the house circut breakers have been set and reset scores of times
> - The circuit that is dead contains GCFI boxes and regular outlets
> - Specifically, the dead circuit contains 6 outlets, all dead
> a) bathroom 1 GCFI outlet (dead)
> b) bathroom 2 GCFI outlet (dead)
> c) bedroom 1 GCFI outlet (dead)
> d) bedroom 1 regular outlet (dead)
> e) outside two weatherproofed outlets (dead)
>
> When I put a circuit tester into each of the dead outlets, nothing lights
> up. Other outlets in the same bedroom work just fine. All but two of the
> dead outlets are along the same wall while the other two are nearby. No
> other outlets or switches in the house seem to have a problem.
>
> What more information can I provide so you can help me debug why I have
> these dead circuits? I'm sorry this is so frustrating but I don't know what
> to do for the next step. I'd take pictures but I don't know what to take a
> picture of for you.

buffalo ny: one gfi is bad or tripping that feeds the next outlet; a
regular outlet has a broken wire in the stab connector, the house
switches and outlets must be numbered on each cover plate to match the
numbers stamped into the metal cover plate at the main panel to save
your sanity now and for the future, and you need to use a 110v old
radio that goes on when plugged in so you can reduce running around
with no helper.
see similar at:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.home.repair/browse_thread/thread/a543c03cb0b4a2b7/c8ca9232909adb14?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=buffalobill+gfi#c8ca9232909adb14

Posted by Telstra on May 19, 2008, 2:38 am
House wiring is Looped For example a light switch might
have three wires Active wire + Wire to the light + Active
loop wire to the next light.
If that loop wire is dis - connected then any room lights
downstream of that connection go dead.
Power points are also looped and the same thing occurs
if the Active loop wire is disconnected then any power
points downstream on that loop go dead.

> I'm stumped. I need your help. And, worse yet, I don't have much to tell
> you. And, it's hard to explain. But I'll try as I'm not sure what to do
> next.
>
> - I have a dead circuit in my house (6 outlets in toto)
> - The dead circuit "seems" to have gone dead after I put a bathroom
> switches in but I don't remember exactly when it went dead
> - The bathroom timed-light switch works perfectly fine though, so I don't
> see how they could be the source of the problem
> - All the house circut breakers have been set and reset scores of times
> - The circuit that is dead contains GCFI boxes and regular outlets
> - Specifically, the dead circuit contains 6 outlets, all dead
> a) bathroom 1 GCFI outlet (dead)
> b) bathroom 2 GCFI outlet (dead)
> c) bedroom 1 GCFI outlet (dead)
> d) bedroom 1 regular outlet (dead)
> e) outside two weatherproofed outlets (dead)
>
> When I put a circuit tester into each of the dead outlets, nothing lights
> up. Other outlets in the same bedroom work just fine. All but two of the
> dead outlets are along the same wall while the other two are nearby. No
> other outlets or switches in the house seem to have a problem.
>
> What more information can I provide so you can help me debug why I have
> these dead circuits? I'm sorry this is so frustrating but I don't know
> what
> to do for the next step. I'd take pictures but I don't know what to take a
> picture of for you.


Posted by Telstra on May 19, 2008, 3:04 am
Looped circuits can be very confusing and can consist of
switch loops, ceiling rose loops, neutral loops and ring
mains ( loops that start from one circuit breaker go round
the loop and return to the same circuit breaker ) Spurs also
come off loops and contain only one active and neutral but
they also depend upon a loop wire on a power point up
stream of the spur. You have disconnected an Active or
Neutral loop wire to the dead circuits.

> I'm stumped. I need your help. And, worse yet, I don't have much to tell
> you. And, it's hard to explain. But I'll try as I'm not sure what to do
> next.
>
> - I have a dead circuit in my house (6 outlets in toto)
> - The dead circuit "seems" to have gone dead after I put a bathroom
> switches in but I don't remember exactly when it went dead
> - The bathroom timed-light switch works perfectly fine though, so I don't
> see how they could be the source of the problem
> - All the house circut breakers have been set and reset scores of times
> - The circuit that is dead contains GCFI boxes and regular outlets
> - Specifically, the dead circuit contains 6 outlets, all dead
> a) bathroom 1 GCFI outlet (dead)
> b) bathroom 2 GCFI outlet (dead)
> c) bedroom 1 GCFI outlet (dead)
> d) bedroom 1 regular outlet (dead)
> e) outside two weatherproofed outlets (dead)
>
> When I put a circuit tester into each of the dead outlets, nothing lights
> up. Other outlets in the same bedroom work just fine. All but two of the
> dead outlets are along the same wall while the other two are nearby. No
> other outlets or switches in the house seem to have a problem.
>
> What more information can I provide so you can help me debug why I have
> these dead circuits? I'm sorry this is so frustrating but I don't know
> what
> to do for the next step. I'd take pictures but I don't know what to take a
> picture of for you.


Posted by RBM on May 19, 2008, 7:03 am

> I'm stumped. I need your help. And, worse yet, I don't have much to tell
> you. And, it's hard to explain. But I'll try as I'm not sure what to do
> next.
>
> - I have a dead circuit in my house (6 outlets in toto)
> - The dead circuit "seems" to have gone dead after I put a bathroom
> switches in but I don't remember exactly when it went dead
> - The bathroom timed-light switch works perfectly fine though, so I don't
> see how they could be the source of the problem
> - All the house circut breakers have been set and reset scores of times
> - The circuit that is dead contains GCFI boxes and regular outlets
> - Specifically, the dead circuit contains 6 outlets, all dead
> a) bathroom 1 GCFI outlet (dead)
> b) bathroom 2 GCFI outlet (dead)
> c) bedroom 1 GCFI outlet (dead)
> d) bedroom 1 regular outlet (dead)
> e) outside two weatherproofed outlets (dead)
>
> When I put a circuit tester into each of the dead outlets, nothing lights
> up. Other outlets in the same bedroom work just fine. All but two of the
> dead outlets are along the same wall while the other two are nearby. No
> other outlets or switches in the house seem to have a problem.
>
> What more information can I provide so you can help me debug why I have
> these dead circuits? I'm sorry this is so frustrating but I don't know
> what
> to do for the next step. I'd take pictures but I don't know what to take a
> picture of for you.

Most likely you miswired something in the bathroom switches. The fact that
they work means little to any wiring downstream of them. See if the dead
outlets work when the bathroom switches are "on"



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