GFCI outlet not working, the outlet box in garage has tripped?

Question

I noticed that the light were not working in one of my bathrooms.
I went to the garage- noted that one of the switches had tripped. I tried to reset it but no luck. It kept tripping.
I went back to the bathroom. I thought maybe the GFCI outlet was culprit, and I tried to press the test button- but could not push it in. The reset button has NOT popped out. so I cannot reset it. Would you say the GFCI outlet has shorted on itself?

Answer 1

It would be unusual for the GFCI itself to be bad...the reason you can't push the button in is because they won't work without power to them.
There are almost certainly more outlets on that circuit...trace down which outlet are also dead, and unplug everything. Try the breaker again...if it works, look at what you unplugged and find the culprit. One way is to just plug them back in, one at a time...and see what snaps your breaker. Be careful to handle only the insulated part of the plug, and don't be in contact with the appliance or whatever is plugged in.
Because you also have lighting on this circuit, it may be in a fixture or a light switch, too. Turn off the lights, and after you have power...turn them on, one at a time to see what trips the breaker.

It is unusual for wiring to go bad inside the walls or boxes without some provocation!

Answer 2

A GFI will not reset if there is no power to it. So, your inability to reset or make it trip doesn't mean it is the problem; it simply means there is no power there. You obviously have a short somewhere in the circuit. It could be the GFI. It could also be a bulb that has burned out and shorted against itself. If you have done any construction, remodeling or picture hanging in the near past, I would suspect that first. I would make sure the bathroom lights are off and then try to reset the circut. If it still trips then the short is before the switch. Make sure any appliances or heaters that are plugged into outlets on that circuit are unplugged. The short could be in one of them. This time of year Christmas decorations are always suspect. You can pull out the GFI and disconnect the line, if you have a voltmeter, see if there is 120 volts there. Outside of that, it is pretty hard to diagnose from here. Good luck.

Answer 3

Another point is that a GCFI only protects against ground faults, not short circuits. The GCFI may be OK, but you may have a short circuit.

This happened to me recently, where I was blowing the breaker because the black and the white wires on my air compressor has melted together forming a direct short.

The direct short tripped the breaker, but not the ground fault protector.

Often times the GCFI for the bathrooms can also be protecting some outdoor outlets, or maybe some garage or basement outlets, so check and unplug anything that might possibly be on the GCFI circuit and see if the breaker will reset.

If the breaker resets than you can check the gcfi to see if the "test" button will cause it to trip.

If everything is unplugged and the breaker still trips, then it would be worth changing out the GCFI.

Answer 4

couple different questions need answering 1 gfci s do go bad some times 2 your lighting and bathroom receptacles should be on different circuits. if the lights are off in bathroom and gfci wont reset and panel keeps tripping breakers? you can try and replace receptacle your self but sounds to me like you may have other issues that a electrician needs to look at so if you swap out the gfci and that does not fix it call a electrician

Answer 5

anything else on that circuit? find out and disconnect it then try resetting the breaker again. If the reset holds then plug soemthing into the gfci and see what happens.