Read details in this video here on U Do It™: udoit.me/how-to-fix-outdoor-outlet-that-will-not-power GFI Tester - amzn.to/2KucEDk The electrical tools used in my installation are available here: amzn.to/3EKLyH4 The general contractor tools used in my installation are available here: amzn.to/3s3K8A5 The materials used in my installation are available here: amzn.to/3ggk5Df “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
I reset every GFI I knew of in the house, looked for one in garage and behind fridge, about to give up then as I checked the circuit breaker panel one last time, I closed the door on it and saw a gfi outlet right next to the panel! That was it!!!!
Thank you for the update. Take all preventative measures, turn off breaker, verify that the correct breaker was turned off with a volt meter (I've went overboard and turned off every break in some cases where you just couldnt tell ... and then label the breaker if it werent labeled) and consider consulting an electrician if you feel uncomfortable working on it.
hope this is the mystery at my home my neoghbor has the testing tools can not wait to see I forgot about the gfi in the kitchen when he was helping me so it might be same thing!!
This was helpful!! We are having the same issue. Outdoor outlet not supplying power. Having difficulty locating the GFI that is giving it power. I know how you found the breaker section, but how did you know to look in the garage and determine that was the GFI?
Hey Christal, Were you able to solve your problem? There are a few ways this can be handled. Outdoor power definitely requires GFI protection. This can be done through a breaker that has GFI protection or it can be done through an outlet (the first outlet in a series of outlets) that has GFI protection. The GFI outlet has two sets of terminals. One terminal is for the feed from the main panel. If this is the only outlet, which you would have in a basement for a sump pump for instance then the feed would only be connected to the supply side of the GFI outlet. If you have multiple downstream outlets connected to the GFI then the feed connects to the supply side of the GFI outlet and the next outlet that is protected by the GFI outlet is connected to what is called the LOAD side of the GFI outlet. Several outlets can be tied together and as far as I know there is no limit on the number of outlets that can be daisy chained for residential use but most electricians try to limit them to a number they are comfortable with, such as 4 to 6. The next part to identify is what you are mentioning as the breaker section and know what is feeding what. HOPEFULLY, your breakers in your electrical panel are labeled. If they are labeled then it makes the job of the electrician much easier. Ideally, you'd be able to trace the wire from the panel to the first outlet but that could be unlikely if the panel is installed within the drywall between studs.
Great video I followed all you found. But I have 2 outdoor outlets that are connected to a gfci in my garage and it is not tripped but I have power to just one outlet on same gfci breaker. Any ideas? I'm stumped.
I hope it is the first outlet on the circuit that is working. Identify the other outlets that you know are tied to that one and perform a continuity test on the wire using a DMM. Flip the breaker off, remove the wires from the lugs and ground foe the wire that feeds the next outlet. Unplug all devies on all outlets on the circuit. Connect the black, white and ground wires with a large wirenut. On the next outlet measure continuity from white to ground, black to ground and white to black. If it all checks out then that wire is good. Repeat steps for remaining outlets on that circuit. If there are any breaks then one of the combinations will not work. Connect everything back as you saw it. It is also possible that there is a break in the connection from one lug to the next lug on the same outlet. Test that with the continuity tester on the DMM. Consult a licensed electrician.
So all my outlets outside don't work. I checked all my gfci in my house. They all work. I don't have any gfci outside to push on. Just outlets. Panel box everything switched to on. Any suggestions?
Take care in this situation. You can solve it yourself but I really recommend that you hire a licensed electrician to do this. An electrician will probably try the following: 1) verify that the breaker is functioning as expected. Breakers do stop functioning. 2) with a signal tester affix one end to the breaker labeled (hopefully it is labeled) for outdoor outlets and trace the line to where it looks like it is going (if possible). This may require the electrician to remove the outlets from the receptacle boxes to expose the wiring. 3) This last step is an opportunity for visual inspection and possibly tightening of the wirenuts. Sometimes water gets in the outdoor outlets simply from condensation and corrosion is a high probability in these cases, which leads to poor conductivity. 4) If the visual inspection doesn't pass or it is questionable the electrician may remove all wires, expose new wire through the use of an abrasive like emery cloth and use new wirenuts and possibly replace the outlets (outlets do go bad from corrosion as well). 5) confirmation of solid electrical connection between the outlets and the main panel (a wire could have been broken from an animal, construction, house settling in extreme cases). The electricians job is made easier if you know where the wire is routed throughout your home. For instance, if your home was purchased as new construction and you have photos of the construction it is sometimes possible to trace the wiring or if your panel is in the unfinished basement and you can clearly trace the wire to the outdoor outlets then you can have a better shot. I hope all of this helps Jarvis. Again, a licensed electrician is hard to come by right now due to demand but that will be the safest choice. Go by local recommendations and wait for the best to help you. -John
Did you figure out your problem? Having same issue but I have a gfi in garage. I just replaced and still no power, going to try breaker next. Mine happened when I didn’t properly cover my Hotwire from ground wire when replacing lamp post,ugh. Last time I hired an electric I paid about $120 for 5min of work... that’s the last last resort.
I got about 3 of these outside that need to be fixed. About how much would this cost to fix, if I hired help? 2 haven't worked in years & one stopped working this year. They're rarely used.
it's usually time...maybe an hour to two hours to fix this so could cost $300 plus parts/tax? Most likely a wire thwt pulled out, a loose wire/screw terminal or a bad GFI.
Yes i agree however this situation the non contact tester is working fine...there is something crazy going on in the outlet.. Everrthing is hot...the metal box is hot and all the wires are hot per my tester...the other outlets dont do this... Hey if indeed everything is hot and i use my voltage meter to test, what happens if i touch 2 hot wires when testing for voltage via volt meter?
A volt meter is very high impedance and will be able to handle a high potential. But measuring two hot wires would show zero if they are the same phase and 240 if they are opposing phases. To the important point that your metal box itself is hot can you post some photos and tag me in twitter or instagram? Extreme care needs to be exercised here and I would seriously consult an electrician. If I were to do this to inspect I would remove all drywall around the box and look around and behind it to see what is connected to this metal box. This could be a dangerous case in which ground is hot (at that point of the box) or neutral is hot or if neutral is broken and current is flowing from hot to ground. How can ground become hot? It would have to be broken at some point between the breaker and the box and become tied to hot either from a fault (worn insulation, poor or incorrect installation or the ground wire is making a connection to hot in another box). If neutral is broken, everything will find a path to ground. There are a couple of videos out there of broken neutral at the meter which means that ALL ground points become hot. If you were to touch an air conditioner unit you would get a shot. If I remember correctly I think Mike Holt has a video on this. Definitely consult a licensed electrician.
Yes you are correct could be very dangerouse...i have since disconnected all the wires and taped them off temporarily until inhave time to fuerther troubleshoot...whats odd is that no breakers are being tripped for this odd situation
Hi i have a very odd issue..home electrical outlet not working....the outlet left of it works and outlet right of it works. The odd thing is when i removed the outlet cover and used a non contact tester, all the wires in the outlet are hot...the black and white are all testing hot....the outlet box tests hot too...there are 2'sets of wire in box....whats more odd is that i disconnected the wires and taped them off for now....and nothing in the,room lost power....a proper working outlet in series once disconnected should cuase,loss of power downstream...if any.....something is defintely wrong...the entire elec box and all wires should not be hot....no evidence of wires touching box that i can see.....havent looked in crawlspace yet....just inside elec box....any ideas?.....and if all terminals are hot.....what happens when you plug something intomthe outlet?
I like to use a DMM set to AC and physically connect it to the terminals to know for sure. I had some bad issues in my house where I had to remove ALL outlets to find the problem outlet and each time I had to check the wires with the DMM and then cap them off with wire nuts (so I didn't accidentally hit them later when going back to reinstall new outlets). Eventually I found that there was a loose hot wire (black) that would make connection based on the sun hitting it (it would heat it up just enough to expand and make contact). I do not like the non contact tester because I found that wires above or to the side of the outlet junction box were enough to trigger the non-contact tester.
LOL - you know, I didn't think about it until you made this comment. I'm LOLing now too. Thank you for sharing this! BTW I'm into model railroading. I love the decals they get of real graffiti to add to railcars. Good stuff!
I'd love too. I recommend that you seek out a licensed electrician to perform this work. Get recommendationa from friends and familly because there are some who give the profession a bad name and it is best to avoid those by choosing recommended electricians.
I appreciate that feedback. I hate this too when watch TV shows and they subtitle white over white. My more recent videos I include captions in bubbles for contrast. Here is an example about 43 seconds in ua-cam.com/video/Yb5q4NSQrKQ/v-deo.html
hahahaha! I ended up making that my line sometime in the last year or two when someone says U Do It - I respond back with "I Don't Do It - U DO IT" now I have to figure out a clever way to make that into merch
U Do It I got in here while looking for causes and solutions. Some outlets work and some don’t; some lights work and some don’t. We had a rude electrician last winter, he didn’t finish his job because it was really cold. He told me to call him back with another astronomical estimate to finish, but because his attitude and money I didn’t call him. Somehow I see some water accumulation in the box (between the switches and behind the transparent plastic “on, off”), all switches are on but ... It’s been very rainy last weeks but I have no idea how the water got into the board. Out of work last two months (and I don’t know when I will start working again, if ever in my current profession) and although my rule is to everything myself, the electricity most of the time is “no-no”. Any thoughts... theoretically ...?
Read details in this video here on U Do It™: udoit.me/how-to-fix-outdoor-outlet-that-will-not-power
GFI Tester - amzn.to/2KucEDk
The electrical tools used in my installation are available here: amzn.to/3EKLyH4
The general contractor tools used in my installation are available here: amzn.to/3s3K8A5
The materials used in my installation are available here: amzn.to/3ggk5Df
“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
Found the GFI outlet in the garage behind some storage. That did the trick 😀
You just saved me 150.00
Thank you so much Sara!!!! Great news!! -John
I reset every GFI I knew of in the house, looked for one in garage and behind fridge, about to give up then as I checked the circuit breaker panel one last time, I closed the door on it and saw a gfi outlet right next to the panel! That was it!!!!
Great news! I love it! Thank you for sharing your journey in solving your problem!
Thanks it helps me
Thanks!!! You just saved us hundreds of $$!!! Was ready to call an electrician but decided to try UA-cam first. Whew!
Great news....and it works now?
@@UDoIt2 Yes!! Went to put up Christmas lights and outside outlets didn’t work. All good now.
Dude i knew from the first second of your video i like your style, best how to video ever
Thank you so much for this comment!
This video just saved ne hundreds of dollars. You guys are awesome!!!!
Thank you for letting us know Valerie! -John
Thank you for this informative trouble shoot, will try this on mine.
Thank you for the update. Take all preventative measures, turn off breaker, verify that the correct breaker was turned off with a volt meter (I've went overboard and turned off every break in some cases where you just couldnt tell ... and then label the breaker if it werent labeled) and consider consulting an electrician if you feel uncomfortable working on it.
Thank you
You saved Halloween!!
NO WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!! That's so cool. Glad this worked out for you! Love hearing this. - John
Ur The Best thank U Sir my ljghts work again thanks 2U stay blessed
This is great news!
Great video! We're having the same problem! Hope this works! 👍
Hope it worked out for you. Thank you for leaving the comment.
Awesome video. This helped me solve the same issue.
Great news. Thank you for sharing.
hope this is the mystery at my home my neoghbor has the testing tools can not wait to see I forgot about the gfi in the kitchen when he was helping me so it might be same thing!!
This was helpful!! We are having the same issue. Outdoor outlet not supplying power. Having difficulty locating the GFI that is giving it power. I know how you found the breaker section, but how did you know to look in the garage and determine that was the GFI?
Hey Christal, Were you able to solve your problem? There are a few ways this can be handled. Outdoor power definitely requires GFI protection. This can be done through a breaker that has GFI protection or it can be done through an outlet (the first outlet in a series of outlets) that has GFI protection. The GFI outlet has two sets of terminals. One terminal is for the feed from the main panel. If this is the only outlet, which you would have in a basement for a sump pump for instance then the feed would only be connected to the supply side of the GFI outlet. If you have multiple downstream outlets connected to the GFI then the feed connects to the supply side of the GFI outlet and the next outlet that is protected by the GFI outlet is connected to what is called the LOAD side of the GFI outlet. Several outlets can be tied together and as far as I know there is no limit on the number of outlets that can be daisy chained for residential use but most electricians try to limit them to a number they are comfortable with, such as 4 to 6. The next part to identify is what you are mentioning as the breaker section and know what is feeding what. HOPEFULLY, your breakers in your electrical panel are labeled. If they are labeled then it makes the job of the electrician much easier. Ideally, you'd be able to trace the wire from the panel to the first outlet but that could be unlikely if the panel is installed within the drywall between studs.
Thank you so much , that helped me a lot.
Thank you for leaving this comment. This is great feedback.
Great video I followed all you found. But I have 2 outdoor outlets that are connected to a gfci in my garage and it is not tripped but I have power to just one outlet on same gfci breaker. Any ideas? I'm stumped.
I hope it is the first outlet on the circuit that is working. Identify the other outlets that you know are tied to that one and perform a continuity test on the wire using a DMM. Flip the breaker off, remove the wires from the lugs and ground foe the wire that feeds the next outlet. Unplug all devies on all outlets on the circuit. Connect the black, white and ground wires with a large wirenut. On the next outlet measure continuity from white to ground, black to ground and white to black. If it all checks out then that wire is good. Repeat steps for remaining outlets on that circuit. If there are any breaks then one of the combinations will not work. Connect everything back as you saw it. It is also possible that there is a break in the connection from one lug to the next lug on the same outlet. Test that with the continuity tester on the DMM. Consult a licensed electrician.
So all my outlets outside don't work. I checked all my gfci in my house. They all work. I don't have any gfci outside to push on. Just outlets. Panel box everything switched to on. Any suggestions?
Take care in this situation. You can solve it yourself but I really recommend that you hire a licensed electrician to do this. An electrician will probably try the following: 1) verify that the breaker is functioning as expected. Breakers do stop functioning. 2) with a signal tester affix one end to the breaker labeled (hopefully it is labeled) for outdoor outlets and trace the line to where it looks like it is going (if possible). This may require the electrician to remove the outlets from the receptacle boxes to expose the wiring. 3) This last step is an opportunity for visual inspection and possibly tightening of the wirenuts. Sometimes water gets in the outdoor outlets simply from condensation and corrosion is a high probability in these cases, which leads to poor conductivity. 4) If the visual inspection doesn't pass or it is questionable the electrician may remove all wires, expose new wire through the use of an abrasive like emery cloth and use new wirenuts and possibly replace the outlets (outlets do go bad from corrosion as well). 5) confirmation of solid electrical connection between the outlets and the main panel (a wire could have been broken from an animal, construction, house settling in extreme cases). The electricians job is made easier if you know where the wire is routed throughout your home. For instance, if your home was purchased as new construction and you have photos of the construction it is sometimes possible to trace the wiring or if your panel is in the unfinished basement and you can clearly trace the wire to the outdoor outlets then you can have a better shot. I hope all of this helps Jarvis. Again, a licensed electrician is hard to come by right now due to demand but that will be the safest choice. Go by local recommendations and wait for the best to help you. -John
@@UDoIt2 thank you
Did you figure out your problem? Having same issue but I have a gfi in garage. I just replaced and still no power, going to try breaker next. Mine happened when I didn’t properly cover my Hotwire from ground wire when replacing lamp post,ugh. Last time I hired an electric I paid about $120 for 5min of work... that’s the last last resort.
@@tl414 I have not. I'm going to call my contractor to see what wrong though
Awesome!
Thank you! i just fixed my GFI Outlet, turns out it was a broken ground cable.
Great news! Thank you for sharing this!
I got about 3 of these outside that need to be fixed. About how much would this cost to fix, if I hired help? 2 haven't worked in years & one stopped working this year. They're rarely used.
it's usually time...maybe an hour to two hours to fix this so could cost $300 plus parts/tax? Most likely a wire thwt pulled out, a loose wire/screw terminal or a bad GFI.
Yes i agree however this situation the non contact tester is working fine...there is something crazy going on in the outlet.. Everrthing is hot...the metal box is hot and all the wires are hot per my tester...the other outlets dont do this... Hey if indeed everything is hot and i use my voltage meter to test, what happens if i touch 2 hot wires when testing for voltage via volt meter?
A volt meter is very high impedance and will be able to handle a high potential. But measuring two hot wires would show zero if they are the same phase and 240 if they are opposing phases. To the important point that your metal box itself is hot can you post some photos and tag me in twitter or instagram? Extreme care needs to be exercised here and I would seriously consult an electrician. If I were to do this to inspect I would remove all drywall around the box and look around and behind it to see what is connected to this metal box. This could be a dangerous case in which ground is hot (at that point of the box) or neutral is hot or if neutral is broken and current is flowing from hot to ground. How can ground become hot? It would have to be broken at some point between the breaker and the box and become tied to hot either from a fault (worn insulation, poor or incorrect installation or the ground wire is making a connection to hot in another box). If neutral is broken, everything will find a path to ground. There are a couple of videos out there of broken neutral at the meter which means that ALL ground points become hot. If you were to touch an air conditioner unit you would get a shot. If I remember correctly I think Mike Holt has a video on this. Definitely consult a licensed electrician.
Yes you are correct could be very dangerouse...i have since disconnected all the wires and taped them off temporarily until inhave time to fuerther troubleshoot...whats odd is that no breakers are being tripped for this odd situation
The same person labeled my breaker box!!!
All for a SHOCKING guessing game?
@@UDoIt2 basically....i play it safe and just turn it all off cus I don't wanna play games!
I hear that. I would really prefer to pull the meter but I manage to get by.
Hi i have a very odd issue..home electrical outlet not working....the outlet left of it works and outlet right of it works. The odd thing is when i removed the outlet cover and used a non contact tester, all the wires in the outlet are hot...the black and white are all testing hot....the outlet box tests hot too...there are 2'sets of wire in box....whats more odd is that i disconnected the wires and taped them off for now....and nothing in the,room lost power....a proper working outlet in series once disconnected should cuase,loss of power downstream...if any.....something is defintely wrong...the entire elec box and all wires should not be hot....no evidence of wires touching box that i can see.....havent looked in crawlspace yet....just inside elec box....any ideas?.....and if all terminals are hot.....what happens when you plug something intomthe outlet?
I like to use a DMM set to AC and physically connect it to the terminals to know for sure. I had some bad issues in my house where I had to remove ALL outlets to find the problem outlet and each time I had to check the wires with the DMM and then cap them off with wire nuts (so I didn't accidentally hit them later when going back to reinstall new outlets). Eventually I found that there was a loose hot wire (black) that would make connection based on the sun hitting it (it would heat it up just enough to expand and make contact). I do not like the non contact tester because I found that wires above or to the side of the outlet junction box were enough to trigger the non-contact tester.
6:37 I fixed your shit lol.
LOL - you know, I didn't think about it until you made this comment. I'm LOLing now too. Thank you for sharing this!
BTW I'm into model railroading. I love the decals they get of real graffiti to add to railcars. Good stuff!
She had no clue what you were talking about - "You know anything about GFI outlets?"
Could you come and fix mine. Thanks !!!
I'd love too. I recommend that you seek out a licensed electrician to perform this work. Get recommendationa from friends and familly because there are some who give the profession a bad name and it is best to avoid those by choosing recommended electricians.
Ooa
I'm just 13 watching this I'm really something else 😂
Well thank you for taking the time to watch this video. I hope you learned how to fix an outlet that is not working!
You should be proud of yourself. 🙏🏼
Good information, but the white font color is HARD to read! Make the color brighter or used red, yellow, orange, etc.
I appreciate that feedback. I hate this too when watch TV shows and they subtitle white over white. My more recent videos I include captions in bubbles for contrast. Here is an example about 43 seconds in ua-cam.com/video/Yb5q4NSQrKQ/v-deo.html
A Test wiggle and that’s not going anywhere
you understand gfi and all that?. Yeah lol.
No, "you do it", not me ;)
hahahaha! I ended up making that my line sometime in the last year or two when someone says U Do It - I respond back with "I Don't Do It - U DO IT" now I have to figure out a clever way to make that into merch
U Do It I got in here while looking for causes and solutions. Some outlets work and some don’t; some lights work and some don’t. We had a rude electrician last winter, he didn’t finish his job because it was really cold. He told me to call him back with another astronomical estimate to finish, but because his attitude and money I didn’t call him. Somehow I see some water accumulation in the box (between the switches and behind the transparent plastic “on, off”), all switches are on but ... It’s been very rainy last weeks but I have no idea how the water got into the board. Out of work last two months (and I don’t know when I will start working again, if ever in my current profession) and although my rule is to everything myself, the electricity most of the time is “no-no”. Any thoughts... theoretically ...?
U Do It yes, I saw a lawnmower with logo “it will make you work harder”. I said to my wife: “I am sure not this one. Yamaha is the answer”. ;)
lets unscrew some more new outlets since i charge hourly. l m a o
I charge by the coulomb.