[2ndchance]

Good morning all,
I have a 15 y.o. oleander model. I have two outside outlets that are without power running to them. We are in this house for over a year and this is the first time I tried using them to no avail. I tried clicking the breaker marked outside several times and still no power. A neighbor came over and checked the outlet inside the garage with a default switch and we cycled that a couple times and no change. Am I missing something? Is there such a thing as a bad or defective breaker? I'm stumped.
Mike

[leftyf]

Somewhere there is a GFI controlling all outside outlets. Try to find it and reset it.

[virgind]

Ck the GFI in the garage.

[jsw14]

Hmm, start with one outlet & take it out. Test the wires for power. It could be just the outlet is bad....

[Bonnevie]

same thing happened to me and the kind people of this forum told me to check in my garage where there is a gfi outlet that also controls the outside ones. I just reset it and all was fine.

[2ndchance]

I found the gfi outlet in the garage and cycled it a couple times and still no power. Can that gfi ever go bad?

[New Englander]

Look closely at the outside outlets. Sometimes they have a GFI reset button on them.

[debow]

Sounds like the GFI needs replaced.

[Henryk]

If you're certain you found the GFI in the garage.. When you try to reset it, does it immediately trip again? If so, did you recently plug in something new? (I bought an outdoor extension cord that was defective when new. Tripped the GFI each time I plugged it in.) You could try unplugging everything from outdoors and see if one thing trips when you put it in.

Is it possible you have an outlet that is wet outdoors? My neighbor's doorbell was waterlogged after Irma.

Finally, can you define "reset?" Sometimes the reset needs a little force with a blunt instrument, like the handle of a spoon. Don't push too hard!

[villagetinker]

OP, there may be more than one GFCI in the garage, our house has 3 of them. Double check all of them. There will be 2 buttons, one labeled TEST and one labeled RESET. Push the TEST first, then the RESET. You should hear a click when the GFCI resets. If you do not hear a click, the GFCI did not reset, check the breakers (see below). Try plugging in a known good lamp to confirm the GFCI is working.
Yes, circuit breakers do occasionally go bad. When you reset the breaker, make sure you move the handle all the way to the OFF position, and then on the ON position, you should hear and feel a click as the breaker closes in to the closed position.
As noted above, if you got a lots of water in an outdoor outlet, it may be so wet that it is tripping the GFCI immediately.
Also, your outside Post lamp is on a GFCI, which might be the same GFCI as the outdoor outlets. There have been many problems reported with post lamps. NOTE: if you post light is working, this is not the problem.
Send me a PM with your phone number and I will try to give you additional help.

[Ooper]

The outlets may not be fed from a GFCI outlet. I have GFCI circuit breakers in my garage that feed the outside outlets. Check your breaker panel to see if you have any GFCI's in there and also to see if they are tripped.

[Bavarian]

The GFCI Breaker can go bad, I have had to replace them. Depends on how long the circuit was wet, like in a flood. (or previously, snow)

[2ndchance]

The outlet with the gfi has power. When I press test there is no power at the outlet. After I reset it the power returns to the gfi outlet. My front yard lite has power to it and works perfectly. There is no gfi on the outdoor outlets.

[New Englander]

Try contacting the villagetinker. He is very good with electrical issues. He said he would help.

[kansasr]

Yes, a GFI can go bad...I have had to have one replaced in my garage that was on the same circuit as my outside boxes.