No Power - maybe bad breaker

James33

Wow... I can't believe this happened, I was changiing an electric out let and acidently touched hot to ground with my pliers.... pow - no power.. I went out the electrical box and no braker was blown.... so I strated assessing the situation.

1. reset all breakers - still no luck
2. of couser my breaker are labels, tried to find the correct breaker, had it narrowed down to two - replace them both with new breakers. - still no power
3. checked a breakers with a tester all had power (not a meter)
4. made sure where I caused the problem the wires were not burnt. - all wiring in the area good.

It does look like my breakers is tripping, in fact none of my breakers are tripping but I have no power on the floor

could i have caused damaged in one of my other switches or lights


I think it will be time for an electician

Speedy Petey

WHY were you working live???

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Sometimes I feel like if I answer any more questions it is like someone trying to climb over a fence to jump off a bridge and me giving them a boost.

firehawkmph

Best advice is the line right above. You answered your own question.
Mike Hawkins

Tooljedi

The outlet may be attached to a GFI Circuit....make sure that all of the GFI's in the area have all been reset...

frenchelectrican

Not always the case if direct short the GFCI will not trip out fast so the breaker will trip out but due the OP say the breaker did not trip so there is two possility is that.,,

A) GFCI tripped ., well it depending on which circuit the OP is working on so that is a big iffy.

B) Loose or backstabbed connection. This is more common espcally right after a good short circuit it will happend anyway.

So if that the case the B is true you will have to check little closer to the rest of that affect circuit maybe you get lucky if you find it in one shot otherwise it will take time to find the curpit.

As far for GFCI it will be in bathroom or kitchen countertop or in garage or in basement so the location will varies a bit so you will have to find them even behind the bookcase or something you never move for many years and check it behind. ( I did found a GFCI in attic above the garage scuttle door )

Merci,
Marc

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The answer will be based on NEC ( National Electrical code ) or CEC ( Cananda Electrical code ) or ECF ( Electrique Code France )

rrolleston

Wish they would not make backstab devices. I think a good part of my parents house is that way. No power in a room and it's because the wires worked their way out.

dmxtothemax

So is it only some area's that dont have power ?
Or is it whole house ?
It makes it harder when you dont know for sure
where the power originates from for those circuits !
Test the output side of all breakers with a tester !
Can you do this safely ?
Are you sure there are no other breakers or gfci's
hidden somewhere else in the house ?
Its not unusual to find unknown ones in
the most unexpected places !
search !
Otherwise could be a cable fault or loose connection !

frenchelectrican

AFAIK ., for the duplex recepectale they will not take #12 awg anymore that did change sometime back but switch it kinda toss up depending where you buy it.

However yeah I wish they get rid of that crap just make a straight sidewired or backclampled. that will useally take care of it.

Merci,
Marc

__________________
The answer will be based on NEC ( National Electrical code ) or CEC ( Cananda Electrical code ) or ECF ( Electrique Code France )

James33

Guys.. thanks for the responses and yes it was stupid to start this without turning off the power, I really just remove the cover and tried to look in the box to see what I was up against when my piers touched the hot by accident.... anyway it was stupid

There is no GFCI in the circuit that is impacted.

when you talk loose backstabbed connection is that in the outlet or the
breaker?

The power is only out in one section (I assume one breaker). Of course my labels have all wore off so last night I attempted to do an inventory of all 15 amp circuits... I have four I can't find - so it is one of those four?

I realize a circuit is wired from the hydro box to other outlets, switches and lights, could I have caused a problem in one of those devices? Could I have caused to my wiring that is hidden?


To answer the other questions...

Yes it is only one part of the house... I did test the output side of the breaker and it is hot (is that good just to know it is hot or could there be a problem with the number of volts it is outputing???? maybe a stupid question.

dmxtothemax

Do you have even any vague ideas where the power is sourced from ?
Can you physically follow the cables back to there source ?
I know it will be a pain, but it is the most positive way
to find the faulty section !

plummen

Start checking the plugs in the room to see which ones are dead then start at 1 end or the other and pull them out of the box and look for a burned jumper or wire

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