Probably the first issue that needs to be resolved is the fact you cannot reset your circuit breaker. When you reset the breaker, does it trip immediately or just fail to latch in the on position? If it fails to latch in the on position, push the handle all the way to the off position and then move the handle to the on position. If the breaker is tripping immediately when you turn it on, then you have either a short circuit or a ground fault. If this is the case, then you should probably call in an electrician, since the problem is with the house wiring or dishwasher (you said you unplugged everything on this line). A breaker that is tripping immediately on reset will likely make some sound that will be fairly loud, perhaps a snap or dull boom. If there is no noise when you reset the breaker and the handle goes to the trip position, the breaker is probably defective. I'm not 100% sure, but some of the newer GFI receptacles cannot be reset if there is no power or if the GFI receptacle has lost the ability to provide protection. This could be why your garage GFI cannot be reset. Another possibility is that it is not tripped at all and you don't have any power because you cannot get the circuit breaker reset.

We put it in a bad place when we renovated the kitchen, and our contractor didn't stop us. Since we moved it, we sort of lost our grandfathering of its original position (which was WAY up high). We moved it only a couple of feet in the original wall, but it can't stay there. I *might* be able to justify moving it a couple more feet down, but it won't *truly* be code, because it'll be on the side wall between upper and lower kitchen cabinets. It'll be much more accessible, but not code. There aren't that many walls in the apt. that are thick enough to sink it. The one exterior wall it's on (which has cabinets on it), and the dumbwaiter shaft are the only places that are more than 2" thick, *and* are wide enough to hold it. Everywhere is is cosmetically a *really* bad place (like, the dining room wall?). Even that short stretch of hallway wall is aesthetically really, really bad. It'll be a 4" bulge at eye level in a relatively narrow hallway. I might be able to put it where the dumbwaiter door is, if I replace the door itself. There wall itself is set back slighty; if I factor in the thickness of the dumbwaiter wall, might mean the back of the panel wouldn't interfere w/ the dumbwaiter if it ever operated again. It would mean *my* apartment couldn't use the dumbwaiter, but since I won't be living there, I don't care. And I don't actually believe the dumbwater will ever be used again, it's a pretty safe gamble. And I don't think I'd need co-op approval for that, or if I did, I would think they'd give it to me. And since we're hoping to put our place on the market, I want it resolved before we do. How *low* can it be mounted? I don't have 40 circuits--surely 36" high is WAY big? Aren't there shorter ones? I'm sure the one we have isn't that large. I guess I need to get my hands on a box to see how big it is--both the part where the breakers go, and the front panel. How *low* can it be?

Old thread, but tricky problem. My GFCI in the washroom bathroom was set up to protect the hall bathroom, master bedroom bathroom, and three outdoor outlets in a daisy chain fashion, that is, one GFCI protecting six outlets. I unplugged everything from all the outlets and while the GFCI would set initially it would click off after a few minutes. So I did replace the GFCI, but predictably that did not solve the problem; the new GFCI would set but click off in a few minutes, not immediately. I finally accepted bullheimer's advice above and replaced the three outside outlets. Boy, were they old, corroded, and full of bugs. Lot of work but problem solved. Oh, and after replacing the outlets, I checked the receptacles on each one with a outlet tester that showed I wired them right. I used a tester that allowed me to test the GFCI for each outlet's receptacles so I was sure the one GFCI was still protecting each of the other five outlets. For me that involved testing 12 receptacles; two for each of the six outlets. GFCIs are very important. I saw a friend decades ago get severely shocked by an outside outlet not protected by GFCI. She almost died.

I suspect your guess that there's a GFCI somewhere that is tripped is valid. Especially in houses built in the early days of GFCI requirements, it wasn't uncommon to string many protected (outdoor, bathroom) receptacles off a single GFCI. Have you looked in all the bathrooms in the house? If there is a basement, have you looked at all the receptacles there? Did you look in the panel? Of course with dubious contractors they may have covered it up or put it in a less than readily accessible location, you'll have to hunt.