Garage Electric Outlet. Need your help

[DTro]

So just out of the blue a while back, one of my outlets quit working out in my garage. Here are some details.

1. Attached 3 stall Garage Split Level house

2. Total of 4 outlets in garage. One next to utility/entrance door that leads to house (non-working), one above 2 stalls on ceiling, one above third stall on ceiling, and one on wall next to utility door leading outside (GFCI).

3. Everything in the garage other than this outlet works fine.

4. One circuit from panel in house controls garage.

5. Non Working outlet is at end of run, or in other words, only one pair of wires coming in.

Things I've checked.

1. Circuit Breaker

2. GFCI Test

3. Replaced non working outlet

4. Tested voltage on wires at outlet (dead).

I have a vaulted ceiling and cannot access attic from house side, and the garage is insulated with no attic access cut in garage.

I'm stumped, and other than cutting some holes in the wall or ceiling, I don't know what to do next to troubleshoot.

[baitshopboy]

first question is do you have voltage to the outlet?

[baitshopboy]

check to see if there is a switch that runs it, or maybe you might not even be hooked up there, easy way to check is to take the cover off and look at wires tell me what you see

[DTro]

I checked voltage at the line and it is dead.

It is not a switched outlet. One 14/2 line coming in.

[dillrodd]

check gfci outlets in house could be hooked to bath outlet

[PerchPounder]

Didn't this question come up one other time?

Are your outlets pigtailed?

[DTro]

I might have asked it before as it has been non-working since this past winter.

One day the X-Mas lights were working off this outlet, then they weren't.

I'd like to use it now that I'm out in the garage more, but it's driving me nuts not being able to figure it out.

I don't think they are pigtailed.

[Tom7227]

Avert your gaze and use an extension cord.

[BoxMN]

If they are not pigtailed the rest of the outlets AFTER the bad one should not work. If they do, then they theroetically should be pigtailed, as that is exactly what the pigtail is for. You probably just need to take the pigtail out and re-do it. BTW, I am not sparky, but anything even remotely new should be pigtailed by code, unless first outlet and then should be gfi I think.

[BoxMN]

Just re-read and see it is at end of run. So that throws my theory a bit but it still could be at the previous pigtail where the problem is, the previous outlet/connection.

BTW - why can't we edit posts anymore, or maybe just me?... I would have changed mine after re-reading

[DTro]

Avert your gaze and use an extension cord.

That's exactly what I've been doing.

Just want to make sure I'm not overlooking anything. I guess I will need to try resetting every GFCI and pull out every other outlet to check connection that could be powering it. I wish I knew which outlet/switch the power was coming from. I could troubleshoot this so much easier. Because if there is power at that outlet, then it's only 1 of two things. I either have a bad connection at a junction box in the attic, or a critter might have got at the wiring.

[Surface Tension]

No need to punch any holes in your ceiling. For now assume the garage receptacles are on the same circuit.

Check the outlet that feeds the outlet in question. If its not pigtailed and it turns out it was the receptacle replace it and then pigtail it.

Still no go.

You have a broken wire or the outlet is getting fed from somewhere else. Yeah, could be off a bathroom outlet but lets check the above first.

[DTro]

Check the outlet that feeds the outlet in question.

How do I find that?

[Bear55]

I had something similar happen in my kitchen, loose wire at a pigtail. You might have to do a little hunting to find the loose connection. Maybe check an exterior outlet if you have one on your garage.

[marine_man]

How do I find that?

You could take a stab at it... assume all the outlets are on the same circuit, and guess which outlet makes the most sense to be the feeder; pull the second set of wires off that outlet and see what doesn't work (check the rest of your outlets).

I hate troubleshooting when you're blind

marine_man

[BobT]

That's why it's called troubleshooting. If you knew what the cause was you'd have solved it already.

Reminds me of work. Yikes! I troubleshoot PLC programs. It can take hours to find the cause but only seconds to fix it. It amazes me how my customers forget that and seem to think I should be able to start with the fix it part and find the cause later. Doesn't work that way.

Good luck!

[DTro]

I hear ya Bob

I just can’t believe that 1, my attic is walled off so I can’t get to the garage section from the hallway access and 2 there is no access in the garage. I could easily find the source if I could crawl around up there and poke around a little bit.

Maybe this gives me a good reason to cut an access in the ceiling and install a drop down ladder.

I know it's not good to play around with hot wires, but any other good way to check continuity between outlets other than running up and down the stairs 100 times to trip the breaker?

[Surface Tension]

If the garage has its own circuit it would be logical that which ever receptacle has the shortest run to the panel would be first on the circuit. From there the 2nd, 3rd should be somewhat obvious and you know which one is last. Or start with the closest receptacle to the one that isn't working.

Or flip a coin.

[DTro]

The closest one is the non-working one

I'll call it in the air....

[PerchPounder]

Its pretty standard that there is no access to the garage rom inside the house they use it as a fire wall between the two. if your sick of tripping the breaker you could just leave it off and tie the black and white in the dead outlet together then go around to the other boxes and seperate everything and check for continuity between each set of wires (black/white) that will tell you where the outlet is fed from.

Do not check for continuity with the power on.

[JohnMickish]

The garage is sheetrocked off from the house for a reason. It's called a firewall and required by building code. I've got a circuit tracer in my van that would make short work of your problem, but like most things in life, the good tools aint' cheap. I bet a competent electrician with the right tools could have this fixed in no time. If it is a broken wire caused by a screw/nail (you didn't recently add any sheetrock lately, did you?) there could be much bigger problems down the road if this isn't fixed. Broken wires lead to fires. Current and resistance make heat, broken wires corrode and make resistance, heat and wood don't mix.

I'm going to say bite the bullet and hire it done and not worry about it anymore.

I still think it's hooked up to a switch or GFCI but everyone else around here seems to think broken wire or bad connection. Bad connections also create heat.

And no, I am not trying to get work for myself, I have enough already.

[Surface Tension]

It could very well be hooked up to a GFCI. Most likely case there a previous homeowner added a receptacle. Why wouldn't they have come off the garage circuit though?

Ah yes sometimes things are done that don;t make sense , like 14-2 used on a outlet in a garage.

Is there by chance an outside light next to the entrance/exit that feeds this outlet? If this outlet is on a switch that would be the likely one.

An electrician would have this solved quickly.

Some folks would do that right away and some want to try themselves.

There is not right or wrong answer there. Just be safe.

[DTro]

I dug in a little more today.

It seemed like every outlet only has one pair of wires coming in.

But...

I opened up a switch in the foyer and found the motherlode.

I discovered that nothing else in the garage works when these were all disconnected so I assume the non working outlet would be tied in as well.

Here's the problem, I couldn't get any resistance from the wires in the switchbox. So then I tried each wire individually with a long piece of wire. Nothing on black, nothing on white and nothing on ground.

What are the odds of all three wires being severed?

Tearing into the wall might be my next option.

[JohnMickish]

Resistance to what? Are you checking it to ground or to the neutral (grounded) wire? You should be checking for continuity. Turn the power off, tie one set of black and white wires together and see if there is continuity at a receptacle in the garage, repeat for each set of wires.

[DTro]

That's what I meant continuity. I tied the wires and checked each set at that switch box.

So then I tied a wire individually one at a time (externally) to the dead outlet and ran that around to the switch box.