My Outlets Quit Working But Breaker Not Tripped
Here’s an electrician’s answer of where to look when you ask why don’t my outlets work when the breaker is on. Sometimes at Cannon Electric we get calls to look at why outlets have suddenly quit working. Maybe you have already ran to check the breaker box and found that not a single breaker is tripped. Now where should you look next? A good place to start since you’re already at the breaker box is to actually go through your entire panel and physically turn off each breaker and then turn it back on. When a breaker is tripped, it needs to be turned off fully and then turned on to reset the breaker. Sometimes when a breaker trips, the handle looks like it is on when in fact, it is in a tripped state. By resetting all of the breakers you will be certain that it is not a trip breaker causing the issue.
If there is still no power at the outlet, the next thing you can look for is a tripped GFCI outlet (Sometimes they can be hidden behind things, or located right next to the breaker box). They are usually rectangular in shape and have test and reset buttons in between the two plugs. They are commonly found in bathrooms, garages, and kitchen spaces. They sometimes are also found in basements and laundry rooms as well. So look through those rooms throughout your home and make sure all of them you cycle by pushing the test button to trip the outlet and then pushing the reset button to turn them back on. Many times GFCI outlets, feed outlets in other rooms or locations or even outside outlets in a home.
If you have reset all of the breakers and all of the GFCI outlets and still have no power, the likely answer for the issue is a connection that has gone bad in a junction box or a GFCI outlet that has gone bad. If you have tried all of the steps and would like help troubleshooting, we would be happy to help.