[damastayo]

While using my 15AMP chop saw in my garage, power on my circuit suddenly went out. I know it was triggered by my turning on saw. When I went to flip the breaker, i noticed the breaker was not tripped, it was still on. This is a GFCI circuit, so when i went to the GFCI, pressing the reset button would not enable the circuit. I thought i had a faulty GFCI so i replaced it, however it did not fix the issue. I went to the breaker box to verify i have voltage and that it toggles my line wire. It works, and i get voltage at my line at the GFCI. I hardwired my line wire to one of my loads, getting voltage to one of my outlets. My outlet tester works on the outlet, but the device i plug in to the outlet does not work. I am at a loss for what is wrong. Unfortunately my voltage tester is dead so i can't actually measure voltage, all i know is that its hot. Could this be a faulty breaker? Is it not supplying enough voltage? I couldn't find any loose wires in any part of the circuit, and the entire circuit seemed to be working perfectly fine before i turned on my saw.

House was built in 2012 and running on a 15AMP circuit with 1 GFCI outlet. This circuit powers most of the garage devices and i believe the exterior outelts (not GFCI).

Please help.

 

[joed]

Sounds like an open neutral.

 

[damastayo]

Open where? At the breaker panel? Or at the GFCI outlet? I am fairly convinced the wiring on the outlet is tight and i couldn't find anything inside the panel that looked loose. Also, how could turning on a device trigger an open?

 

[gregzoll]

Sounds more like it may be on another GFCI circuit somewhere. Look behind everything in the garage and outside for a GFCI outlet that may be tripped. Also check the bathroom, Kitchen, laundry area and if a basement or crawlspace, check there.

You would be surprised where people will hide the suckers. You can also get a 120/240/480 tester that you can touch the hot & Neutral on the outlet, to see if there is power getting to it. I had one outlet in my garage that went bad on one side of the outlet. Just chalked it up to all of the other Easter Eggs I came across, when we moved in and I was slowly working on fixing the messes that were done over time.

 

[joed]

Open neutral could be anywhere.

 

[ToolSeeker]

But aren't they generally on a plug where a wire has come loose, or a backstab that has come out?

 

[gregzoll]

But aren't they generally on a plug where a wire has come loose, or a backstab that has come out?

It depends who wired it and if the followed SOP.