power is out in one room of my house... had a couple of things running along w/ a space heater... everything was running fine for a few minutes (not sure how long b/c i had left the room) but everything was black when i came back in... breaker wasn't tripped, but i tried to reset it anyways (also tried to reset it with no known loads - didn't work)

it's a bonus room with 10 receptacles, 2 switches and one dimmer switch... also has a ceiling fan w/ lights (don't know if any of that matters)

do know:
with the breaker on, i get no voltage across any of the receptacles in the room
i've checked and verified continuity across all of the receptacles
at the breaker, i get approx 120 volts (make me think the breaker is fine)
i've got 4 gfci receptacles throughout the house and they've all be reset

i'm currently taking each of the receptacles out one-by-one and checking their connections, but i thought i'd see if anyone had any ideas... thanks in advance

11/29/2009 9:50:49 PM

i'd say that you have another gfci recepticle hidden behind a couch or something

11/29/2009 10:04:20 PM

power into or power out of the breaker is fine? the former is meaningless of course.

11/29/2009 10:04:22 PM

Do you have a non-contact voltage detector to see if the line coming out of the breaker is hot?

What ^ said.

11/29/2009 10:09:22 PM

^^^ i'm 99.9% certain i've found all the gfci receptacles (2 in kitchen, 1 in garage, 1 in downstairs bath, 1 in upstairs bath)

well... power into the breaker is definitely fine (multimeter with one end touching the hot wire / breaker node - the other end touching the neutral bus)... i didn't see a good place to check the "out"... i've actually tried to replace the breaker twice (2 separate units) just in case

edit: i also just bypassed the dimmer switch, but still nothing (i had read about someone's dimmer switch going bad and opening the circuit - which is what i'm thinking i have somewhere)

[Edited on November 29, 2009 at 10:20 PM. Reason : .]

11/29/2009 10:17:22 PM

did you look outside for any gfci outlets?

11/29/2009 10:34:42 PM

haven't checked specifically... pretty sure i don't, but i will definitely take a look tomorrow

11/29/2009 11:02:35 PM

there are not going to be an gfci's in a bedroom circuit, chances are there was a loose connection that was arcing and finally burned through, you need to trace the outlets back until you find the first one from the breaker box, if all of them are dead you will probably find your problem there, if not, start following it back in the attic or crawlspace looking for a junction box

11/30/2009 7:31:56 AM

i looked pretty closely at the two receptacles that would most likely be closest to the breaker box, and the connections there were very tight (from what i could tell)... what does "burned through" mean exactly? - is restoring the connection sufficient in that case?

i'll also definitely look around in the crawl space and the attic this evening to see what's around

it is possible for the failure to be within the receptacle, right? as i mentioned before, i'm pretty sure i checked continuity with all of them, but i wanted to make sure i was doing it right: i basically closed the circuit by plugging in a desk lamp that i knew to be on, and then touched the screws on either side of the outlet to make sure i could measure some resistance - is that the best way (or even correct)?

11/30/2009 10:46:32 AM

You really need a non-contact voltage probe (less than $10 at lowes or somewhere).

You can follow the line coming from the breaker and make sure it is hot, especially if you have access to the line through the attic/crawlspace.

11/30/2009 10:53:15 AM

do you have a voltmeter?

i would still suspect the breaker and don't neglect the nuetral wire coming back to the ground bar in the panel

you should have 120v on the breaker terminal when its on, sometimes running a breaker near its load for an extended time can screw it up and cause the springs to lose tension from the heat buildup

if there is a bad connection on the nuetral wire in the box or outlet closest to it, you still won't have a complete circuit

if you have power at the breaker terminal, follow that wire to where it comes into the box, then follow the white wire to the ground strip and tighten that terminal

also, check for voltage from hot to ground, not just from hot to nuetral, remember that even if the power is getting to it on your hot wire, if the nuetral is burned through or broken, it still won't work

11/30/2009 11:05:58 AM

cut the breaker to that room and pull all the outlets out and have a look

11/30/2009 11:14:38 AM

^^^ can't i do the same with a voltmeter / multimeter?

^^ i do have one - used it to figure out that i had no voltage at any of my receptacles... i'm definitely not saying it's not the breaker, but i've tried 3 separate ones and they haven't worked... to check from hot to ground, do you mean in the box outside, or at each receptacle?

^ i've checked about half of them so far, will probably check the others tonight

11/30/2009 11:32:18 AM

at any of the receptacles

[Edited on November 30, 2009 at 11:41 AM. Reason : i had an identical problem before, and it was the neutral wire burned in half on one outlet]

11/30/2009 11:40:28 AM

ok, thanks... one other question - in a simple scenario, say you have the breaker and then 6 receptacles in a line, if there was a problem at the 5th receptacle (away from the breaker) - would you get power at the first 4 prior to reaching the problem? - or none at all? if you wouldn't get any power at all, does that mean i wouldn't get a voltage reading on the "out" of the breaker (open circuit)... i've definitely got 120 volts heading into the breaker for that room

11/30/2009 11:55:30 AM

Quote :

"^^^ can't i do the same with a voltmeter / multimeter?"

Yes and No.

With a contact multimeter, you need to touch the wires, doesnt help you much along the cable run unless you are going to cut the insulation off the wire, which means you will be recabling after you are done.

When you say youve got 120 heading "into" the breaker for that room, what do you mean?



In the picture above (I googled for a pic, not a pic I took), see the black wire coming out of the breaker, you want to measure once from that wire to the neutral bar, and once from that wire to the ground. You should get 120v AC on both of those measurements.

If you do, you know the breaker is letting power go through.

One of the reasons I wanted you to use a non-contact at the outlets, or along the run, is because that can sometimes help you figure out what is going on "inside" the run. If you follow the run and nothing is visibly burnt, you can use the non-contact to find breaks in the line (at least on the hot line).

I dont mean to be rude, but this isn't something to just tinker with. If you are having an issue diagnosing it, I would recommend just calling someone to come out and look at it. If you dont fix this properly, or let this go, you could end up with a fire, and no house.

You need to know things like if the breaker is rated at the proper amperage for the gauge cable that was used, etc.. before you can even begin to figure out what happened (is it a faulty breaker, etc..) Otherwise, just fixing the break/burn through might not fix the problem, and this could happen again with more devastating consequences.

My two cents.

11/30/2009 3:13:28 PM

i meant "out" - i've got 120 volts from the hot wire at the breaker to the neutral bar, but i didn't check from there to the ground (i will tonight though).

i'll probably stop by lowe's on the way home and pick one of the non-contact testers as well (can prob use it sometime in the future if nothing else)

and i understand what you're saying about tinkering... i typically troubleshoot everything to what i feel my ability is, prior to calling a professional - and fix what i can (whether it's electrical, plumbing, etc)... i also understand that i'm almost to my limit as far as this goes, so i've already began asking around for a name of an electrician i can trust...

[Edited on November 30, 2009 at 3:45 PM. Reason : .]

11/30/2009 3:43:35 PM

it ended up being a wire behind the switch for the overhead light and fan - there was no contact, and from the looks of it, i'm surprised it hung on as long as it did...

thank you guys for your help

12/1/2009 8:27:45 AM

Glad you got it fixed

12/1/2009 9:23:30 AM