problem with outdoor electric outlets
 

before I call an electrician, I wanted to be sure I'm not missing something. NeiTther of the electrical outlets on the side and back of my CYV work. They used to work because I used them in the past. Today I was going to mow the lawn with my new electric mower and neither of them worked. Luckily, I had a cord long enough to plug in inside the house.

The only thing done here was installation of cable.

I checked the breaker box and nothing is tripped.

Is there a switch or something that controls them?

There is usually a GFCI outlet in the garage that needs to be reset. It usually gets tripped when someone power washes the home and water gets into the outside outlets. It must be manually reset.

If that doesn't work and your home is new, call warranty.

where is GFCI outlet
 

is the GFCI outlet somewhere other than the electrical panel?

Yes. It is usually on the wall in the garage. It is an outlet...you probably use it if you have an electrical golf cart. In the center of the outlet is a RESET button.

In my house the GFi reset in in one of the outlets under the cover right in the middle of the two outlets. It trips once in a while and I just push the button and all is well.

My golf cart outlet is a dedicated line not a GFI.

We live in a CYV and that happened to us about one month after we moved in. We called an electrician and he told us to check that outlet in the garage first. That was it. Ours is on the back wall of the garage, on the same wall as the circuit box.

You should NEVER use an outlet that does not have ground fault protection for something you are using outdoors. If something should fail in whatever you are using, you could get a nasty shock or worse.

I have this same problem all the time. It's always the gfi. It looks like a regular outlet in the garage but has a test button in the middle. Press it and you'll be good.

you should also have a GFI where there is a sink or tub. If something electrical (hair drying blower) falls into sink the GFI should trip the electrical power and prevent a shock or possible electrocution. Go to Google and type in "GFIoutlet" for an education on the subject including pictures of GFI outlets.

Thanks to all....I found it. I knew what a GFI was but at my old house each outside outlet was a GFI outlet...never heard of one controlling the outside. But now I know.

just check out all the recptacles in or near the garage...if it is a GFI that is tripped it will have a little red dot glowing between the outlets. Just push it to reset it.

Yes the ones that trip are usually in the garage or nearby......for the outlets that are either exposed to weather or water....look around your bathroom sinks...you will find they are GFI outlets as well.

btk

Don't forget that some homes have the GFI protection in the form of breakers in the power panel... not always in the outlets.

By the way GFI outlets wear out if they get tripped a lot and sometimes need to be replaced if they don't reset. I had one go that was on the outside line and the electrician said it was worn out. I didn't know they wore out but apparently they do. He had me replace the covers on all the outside outlets with ones that have a rubber gasket and a tight cover to help keep the water out and they don't trip anymore and given it rains here every day that was a big help. He told me that when I plug in Christmas lights I need a bubble cover so the outlet is protected when the lights are plugged in. All available at Home D or Lowes easy change out takes 5 min and a screwdriver.