I'm renting a place that has a garage under it. In the garage, there's an outlet right next to the electrical box which I've had my timer plugged into, which in turn has an extension cord plugged into it and I use this to plug my truck in at night.

I noticed the last two days that my truck has been cranking like it WASN'T plugged in.

I went into the garage this morning and the timer seemed to be OK but, I plugged a drill into the extension cord and it had no power. Then I plugged the drill into the outlet itself- the damn outlet is dead.

How might this have happened? I know it worked last week. I checked all the breakers and nothing is tripped. Guess I might have to check the wiring or something.

 

Is it a GFCI receptacle?

Jason

 

No sir, just a standard duplex outlet.

 

I have had an outlet go out on me before. It was in the middle of a circuit so the whole wall went dead.

Pull the cover off and use a circuit tester on the wires attached to the outlet to see if there is power coming in to the box.

If you are not comfortable working on electricity that can kill you, get your landlord to do it.

 

How many amps does a block heater pull? You might have fried the outlet or the breaker if it was say a 15 amp outlet and the heater pulled right around that.

The beauty of renting DON'T worry about it call your landlord!

 

Turn breaker off and back on some older breakers might not trip the whole way.
If you have to fix it yourself shut off power to that outlet.
Remove outlet look for melting or scorch marks on outlet replace outlet with same or higher amp rating.
Still doesn't work check breaker turn off main power to box pull breaker replace it with same amp breaker

The main reasons are likely the outlet or the breaker

There is always the possibility that the wires in the wall where damaged by moisture or rodents.

I'm sure an electrician will be by to give you even better advise.

 

If you are not sure and not confidant, get an electrician (preferably one who has been bit once or twice). If you are ready to dive in:
1st, make sure you KNOW what circuit it is!
X2 on that, turn off then turn back on Not all breakers "TRIP" It may be in the off position after it "TRIPS" too
IF that does not work. I would TURN OFF BREAKER then pull out and inspect receptacle. If you have an older house w/aluminum wire, the wire may have "jiggled loose" (be sure to check your neutral side too).


*EDIT* http://www.faqs.org/faqs/electrical-...ection-16.html

 

If the wire connections are the push-in type, chuck it and replace with a screw connection type.
I have had an outlet die like that, due to using the push-in connections.

 

Check the breakers again, sometimes they hardly move when tripped, do not look tripped.
Run your fingers down the board, see if one feels "spongy" that will be the offender.

 

Some outlets are hooked up to a light switch, so they only have power when the switch is on. Don't know if that is the case here. Check for any light switches that may have been turned off. Like someone said, sometimes the breakers don't look like they have been tripped. You should flip them off and on and see if that fixes it. Good luck.

 

x2 on check for a switch.

Also, a good check for breakers is to cycle them a couple of times and recheck the problem area.

But, it could have failed because of

heat ( high amp connections generate heat)
vibration
contacts in socket spread
poor installation
corrosion
aluminum wire ( aluminum wire is legal, but the original connectors had issues)

If you decide to look at it, do yourself a favor and get a library book that has good pictures of what to do. Electrical outlets are not complicated, but they ARE deadly.


Just my .02

hj

 

oops,

So I got home this evening and went into the garage to take a second look at the outlet- it IS in fact a GFCI outlet, and it was tripped (I was in a hurry this morning and wearing my out-of-prescription glasses, so I didn't take a good look). I reset it and plugged the timer back in...I suppose if it trips again tomorrow, I'll have to assume that my block heater is shorted out or something.

Also, I have realized this would be a difficult outlet to work on because it is a "hot at all times" outlet. All the other ones in the garage are switched, except this one. The wire to it comes straight out of the breaker box. I think it's on the main garage breaker but I'm not sure.

 

GFI outlets can be touchy -- the amount of current flow to ground that trips them is very tiny. But then they're designed to save your life

I'd check it every day -- it may just trip once in a while because of what you're using it for.

I don't suppose you can use one of the switched outlets ( assuming that they're not GFI).

 

It's been my experience that a GFCI outlet and even a GFCI breaker can get 'weak' over time, and go bad.
GFCI outlets are cheap enough now, so, you might want to go to your local supplier and pick up a new one.

To swap it out, turn off the breaker at the breaker box.
Use a meter or even a small light (lamp) to make certain that the circuit is 'cold'.

Replace the outlet following the directions. Normally, the 'hot' side of the outlet will be either black or red and the neutral will be white.
The ground wire will either be bare or possibly green.
Please note: Do NOT use the 'push in' connectors on the back of an outlet. They have been known to loosen over time, and cause problems. Use the connector screws on the outlet. (Sometimes, the outlet will have wires already attached and show 'supply' and 'load'. Again, follow the directions.)

Now, with that said, you might want to buy a 'Night Light' and plug into this GFCI outlet. They only cost pennies a month to use, and they will show you right away if the GFCI has 'tripped'.

 

Well it worked fine this morning, no issues.

I keep one of those Yellow Jacket extension cords plugged into the outlet, it has the LED in the end to show that it's plugged in. The extension cord that I plug into the truck is SUPPOSED to have one of those also but it doesn't work...I guess it didn't like being outside last year, oh well.

I'm gonna keep an eye on it.