[Dbdcapt]

Electrical Troubleshooting question.
I have a light switch and a outlet on the first floor not working. Above them on the second floor I have my bathroom which also does not have power to the outlet and light switch. I checked all the outlets and switches for 120ac and they all were dead. I just checked my circuit breakers and they are all showing 120ac and are in the on position. Does this mean there's something messed up with the wires running through the walls? Any help would be awesome!

 

[iamrfixit]

Most likely scenario, you have another receptacle nearby that feeds the rest of your dead circuit. That receptacle might be working just fine, but due to a loose or broken wire, or failed backstab connection it's not passing power (or ground) on to the rest of the circuit.

Or could also be as simple as a GFCI that has tripped, loose wire or failed breaker at the panel. The good news is that unless you've been cutting, drilling or driving large nails/screws into walls, the wiring itself is probably fine. Far more likely to be a connection issue somewhere.

You'll need to trace the wires as best you can in attempt to figure out just how the circuit was wired and figure out where to look first. It will likely require crawling around in the basement, attic or crawlspace to figure it out. Sometimes the cable routing makes perfect sense, other times you may wonder what the electrician could have possibly been thinking when they ran the circuit. Unfortunately, once the walls are all up, figuring out the layout can be difficult.

 

[mikeyp78]

Get yourself a circuit tracer at one of the Home Improvement stores... $40-$50 ... also an outlet tester... $10-$15 great tools if you're finding yourself doing electrical projects... they take out a lot of the guesswork.

 

[RAL238]

Check every other outlet and light in the house to see if they have power. Don't forget outlets in the garage, basement and outside that may have a GFCI receptacle that has tripped. Since you have a bathroom outlet that's not working, a GFCI is a highly likely suspect since the electrical code requires bathroom outlets to be on a GFCI circuit. So unless this is a rather old house that was built before 1971, there must be a GFCI on that circuit somewhere.