There are several possible reasons your outlet (or device in electrician-speak) may not be working, such as:
- A breaker on your panel may have tripped (but you’ve already checked that, right?)
- The device itself may be damaged or decayed
- There may be a short somewhere on the circuit which tripped the breaker
- The device may be on a circuit with a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) that has tripped
Here are a few things to remember:
Breakers and GFCI outlets trip for a reason. Read Why Do My Breakers Keep Tripping? and/or What Is a GFCI Outlet and Why Are They Needed?
- Shorts can be super easy or incredibly hard to repair, since there could be a nick in the wire anywhere on the wire and, therefore, the entire circuit needs to be looked over. It’s possible to identify the approximate location of the problem based on what isn’t affected on that circuit, but a big challenge to repair the wire.
- Damaged devices are a simple repair.
- GFCIs also trip if water gets in them, or if they are overloaded. Simply re-set the GFCI.
This calls for troubleshooting. That’s right we will shoot that trouble away for you. Like a doctor can diagnose an illness by the symptoms, so do electricians diagnose electrical problems.
Let us help you. Give us a ringy-ding and we’ll schedule a visit. Our contact info is at the bottom of this post.
