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No Power , No Trip

Name: OsgoodT  City:

Question: One cicuit to my outside and garage outlets went out and did not trip the breaker. my X-mas lights are connected to the circuit by means of a timer with a GFIC built in and it didn't trip . If the breaker didn't trip could it be a bad breaker. The circuit went out during a good rain, and it has since dried up.

Name: homebild | Date: December 25, 2004, 17:47
Answer: All modern outside recepticles are ground fault protected...This means that your outlet will already have been GFCI protected even before you inserted a GFCI protected timer... What this means is that you should look for a tripped GFCI control for the outlet into which the timer has been plugged... This GFCI outlet may be controlled at the service panel via a special GFCI circuit breaker (In which the usually yellow GFCI reset button would need to be reset while still not showing a 'tripped' breaker) or this outside outlet may be controlled from another INSIDE GFCI controlled outlet perhaps on a kitchen counter, in a bathroom, or in a garage or other wet/damp location....You should exhaust all possibilities looking for a tripped GFCI breaker/reset button on a typical GFCI outlet or in the circuit panel before starting to look for other causes.