Electrical problem

[jazz lady]

I went to dry my hair this morning, plugged the blow dryer in and nothing. Great. I at first thought the dryer had died but further investigation revealed the outlet was dead. I have two in my bathroom that are both GFI outlets so I reset them and still nothing. I went to the circuit breaker panel and none of the circuits had tripped.

Fine, I'll just use the outlet in other bathroom. Same thing. GFI outlet and no power. I tried resetting it and nothing. I went to my powder room and tried the outlet in there, which doesn't appear to be a GFI outlet but I'm not sure, and nothing. I tested several other outlets around the house and they all were working, although I didn't have time to check every single one.

Any idea what could be wrong and what to look for? The outlets were working fine yesterday.

 

[jwwb2000]

Does your hair dryer have a reset button on it?

 

[jazz lady]

Does your hair dryer have a reset button on it?

Yes, it does. It was the first thing I tried. The hair dryer worked fine in other outlets - just not the ones in the bathrooms.

 

[Suz]

I went to dry my hair this morning, plugged the blow dryer in and nothing. Great. I at first thought the dryer had died but further investigation revealed the outlet was dead. I have two in my bathroom that are both GFI outlets so I reset them and still nothing. I went to the circuit breaker panel and none of the circuits had tripped.

Fine, I'll just use the outlet in other bathroom. Same thing. GFI outlet and no power. I tried resetting it and nothing. I went to my powder room and tried the outlet in there, which doesn't appear to be a GFI outlet but I'm not sure, and nothing. I tested several other outlets around the house and they all were working, although I didn't have time to check every single one.

Any idea what could be wrong and what to look for? The outlets were working fine yesterday.

Jazz-Reset every GFI outlet you have in the house. One of them is tripped and obviously tied in to the bathrooms.

 

[Dutch6]

Yes, it does. It was the first thing I tried. The hair dryer worked fine in other outlets - just not the ones in the bathrooms.

Jazz, try resetting all your GFCI plugs including the ones in the breaker box. Reset all the breakers for wall outlets, even if you think they are fine, because they can trip and don't appear to be tripped.

P.S. If this doesn't work take two asprin and call me in the morning.

 

[Agee]

Make sure your GFCI reservoir is full of fluid

 

[jazz lady]

Make sure your GFCI reservoir is full of fluid

You are SO going to get it, Mr. Gasm.

 

[jazz lady]

Jazz-Reset every GFI outlet you have in the house. One of them is tripped and obviously tied in to the bathrooms.

I thought I had but I'll have to go on a search mission when I get home tonight. I'm wondering now if the outside outlets are GFI and one of them has tripped because of the rain yesterday. I guess I know what I'll be doing tonight.

 

[jazz lady]

Jazz, try resetting all your GFCI plugs including the ones in the breaker box. Reset all the breakers for wall outlets, even if you think they are fine, because they can trip and don't appear to be tripped.

P.S. If this doesn't work take two asprin and call me in the morning.

I didn't see any GFCI plugs in the breaker box. I did reset the three GFI's I found in my travels this morning around the house but obviously I must have missed one. Morning is NOT my best time. Like I said to Suz' there might be one outside and that could be the problem if it tripped.

I don't do aspirin, but Tylenol works fine.

 

[SamSpade]

Does the bathroom outlet itself have a little breaker on it?

 

[jazz lady]

Does the bathroom outlet itself have a little breaker on it?

Yes and no. The two outlets in the master bathroom have separate outlets with the breakers. The breaker is part of the outlet in the one in the other bathroom. The one in the powder room doesn't have a breaker that I can see but since it's not working also, I assume there is one but I just didn't see it this morning. :shrug:

 

[Ken King]

Go to breaker box, turn off GFI breaker, go to each GFI outlet and reset the individual breakers contained on the outlets, return to breaker box and activate the GFI breaker, and then test outlets. It is possible that a GFI outlet has failed and that you will need to replace it.

 

[DoWhat]

Any idea what could be wrong and what to look for? The outlets were working fine yesterday.

For the record.
I did not touch anything electrical, except plugging in the extension cord.

 

[jazz lady]

For the record.
I did not touch anything electrical, except plugging in the extension cord.

"I did not have electrical relationships with that house"

 

[Suz]

And the fix was?

 

[itsbob]

Did you reset your outside GFCI outlets??

 

[Mikeinsmd]

Sounds like a breaker in the panel is tripped. If a breaker is clearly marked "Bathroom", turn the breaker completely off (even if it looks off) and completely back on again. If none are clearly marked, turn off ALL 15 and 20 amp breakers one at a time and turn them back on. Don't be a girl either. Turn them off and on with force, they can be finicky.

The outside receptacle should be GFI also but should not feed the bathrooms. Check it anyway.

 

[jazz lady]

I went around and reset all the GFCI outlets one at a time. When I got to the one in my other bathroom and reset it, the nightlight I have plugged in it started working. I went around and checked the rest. Everything is working now!

I definitely learned a lot more about my house today. Thanks for all the help and suggestions everyone (even YOU Mr. Gasm ).

 

[itsbob]

Sounds like a breaker in the panel is tripped. If a breaker is clearly marked "Bathroom", turn the breaker completely off (even if it looks off) and completely back on again. If none are clearly marked, turn off ALL 15 and 20 amp breakers one at a time and turn them back on. Don't be a girl either. Turn them off and on with force, they can be finicky.

The outside receptacle should be GFI also but should not feed the bathrooms. Check it anyway.

Parents house in NH had all the GFCI outlets on the same circuit, inside and outside.. but I thought if you tripped one all the others would still work.

I wonder if she's noticed anything else not working.. I tripped the MAIN fuse coming into the house in NH (thanks to my GREAT dryer wiring job).. lost half of the house.. one BIG inline fuse between the fuse box and where the power comes into the house to replace and everything was back to normal

 

[jazz lady]

By the way, there is no main GFCI breaker in my electrical panel. I have 3 outside outlets and only one has a GFCI outlet - on the outlet directly opposite it on the INSIDE of the house. I still haven't found the one for the powder room outlet, though.

Everything I ever wanted to know about GFCI outlets and was afraid to ask.