Need expert advice-outlet not working

16 years ago

Hello-I have an outdoor outlet on a 3 year old home that has worked great until now. I have a bunch of Christmas lights plugged into it. Several extension cords and one surge protector with multiple cords plugged in. The lights worked for a week or so and now the whole outlet is dead. Plugged the lights into another outlet and they work fine. What to do now? What do you think happened and how much to fix??

Thanks very much for your time

Erin

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Comments (4)

normel
16 years ago
Look for a tripped GFCI receptacle. It may be in the garage, at another outside location, or inside on an exterior wall.
sniffdog
16 years ago
this does sound like a gfi issue. My Xmas lights blew when I was on a business trip and the circuit also powered my garage outlets which had a refrig plugged in - so it had to be fixed asap. DW had to call in an electrician who fixed the problem in less than 5 minutes - it was a gfi in a spot where we didn't even think to look. Cost to us was 150 bucks! Apparently they make lot's of money during the holidays "fixing" these type of problems.

Save yourself some money - start hunting for the gfi outlet. You should keep a list of thed location of all gfi recepticals so that if you ever run into this again - you remember where to look.

Oh by the way - do check to see if you have a GFI circuit breaker in your main panel. I recently fixed an issue with a gfi breaker that tripped. When i looked at the little toggle on the breaker it looked like it was on, but after cycling it off then on again it clicked in and fixed the issue.
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itsunclebill
16 years ago
Sniff, I'm not sure if you are insinuating anything or not with the "fixed" and "lots of money to be made during the holidays" thing in your post.

Whenever someone calls me with this kind of problem I suggest that it is probably a tripped GFCI and even go so far as to tell people where to look. Invaribly when folks call back and still have issues and want me to make a service call, I find a tripped GFCI. AND, it is usually in one of the places I told them to look.

A service call seldom takes less than 2 hours with driving time, paperwork, etc. I also have to stop work on a job I'm already at, work that pays my going rate, and pick up tools, clean up, and tell the customer I'm with that someone has an emergency that just can't wait. Time at the house is nowhere near all that is involved. Absent exceptional circumstances I'm not inclined to charge folks with a tripped GFCI any less than my going rate because they can't find it or that the solution to the problem is pushing a button.

I can't speak for other electricians but I've no doubt most of the ones I know would do the same thing I do when called about this kind of thing.

If you read any DIY boards at all you will find that recommendations abound that suggest you map the circuit breakers in your house and plug a GFCI tester into each receptacle. Any that go off when the button is pushed need to have the tripped GFCI located and noted on the circuit map. This process costs you your time and about $135.00 less than a service call..........
cobraguy
16 years ago
unclebill...your time is money. You should charge your going rate regardless of the reason. It may be Christmas season, but that doesn't mean you have to be Santa Claus.

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Need expert advice-outlet not working

Comments (4)

normel

sniffdog

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itsunclebill

cobraguy

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