Riddle me this...

[dando]

Just found that the dishwasher is defunct. Not sure if the dishwasher is the cause or the dedicated outlet. The reason I question this is we have 6 outlets that have failed over the past couple of years...two in the garage (one outside is a GFCI), one in the laundry room, two in the kitchen and one in the family room. No breakers are tripped. A couple I could explain being on the same circuit, but they can't all be on the same circuit breaker. I tried replacing one of the failed kitchen outlets last year, but no luck.

Any ideas?

-Kevin

[nrc]

I'm guessing you have a problem in your main panel. I'd find a good electrician on Angies list and have them check your main panel as soon as possible.

Have you tried using a circuit tester in those outlets to see if they're completely dead or have some other problem?

It may be that the contacts where the breakers plug in are corroding or melting. Not good.

[Andrew Longman]

What do you mean by "fail"?

What do you mean by "tried to replaced but failed."?

Is there no power at the wire hook up or in the outlet itself where it transfers power the plug.

I agree with ncr that your panel might be bad. Is it a high quality Square D or similar?

[G.]

Is it connected to cameraman's furnace blower?

You got our attention, this doesn't sound right.

Need more info. I've never really heard of outlets failing. You can break the "swiper" inside and lose connection. You can have a wire work loose, or break. Not sure about the GFCI's.

When they failed before, how did you fix them?

Is the wire in the wall encased in conduit, or is it Romex or something? How old is it?

Rodents?

Could be some serious juju going on. Get it fixed by a real electrician.

[cameraman]

I've seen some seriously cheap builder special outlets that fall apart after a couple of years but not usually in a dedicated circuit where you are not plugging and unplugging things.

You might want to invest in one of these

http://www.datacomtools.com/images3/Ideal/cabletesters/61-035.jpg

and check every outlet in the house.

[dando]

If the panel is going bad, I would think more outlets in the kitchen would be affected. The kitchen outlets are on the same wall...two work and two don't. The other outlet in the kitchen is on the island. I'm fairly certain the bad outlets in the garage are tied to the failed GFCI. I tried testing it and resetting that GFCI, but the buttons won't budge. The laundry room is next to the kitchen. The one over the mantle should be tied to the other two outlets on the same wall. The GFCI in the kitchen works.

The electrician Toll Bros. used wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. He spelled lights 'lites' on he main panel. :saywhat:

The house is only 10 years old. but we've already had to replace the HVAC units to the tune of $15K in 2010. This place is a money pit. :irked: I submitted a settlement offer to the Mrs. to buy her out. Now i'm wondering if that is prudent. I don't want to live in a 4K square foot house, but I the girls to be close to their friends in the neighborhood and school.

-Kevin

[cameraman]

If the buttons don't move, you should always be able to cycle a GFI, then it needs to be replaced immediately.

[dando]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Toll Bros. didn't insulate the exterior wall on a a second floor bathroom. Frozen pipes funness ensued. :saywhat: My advice is to buy any homes Toll Bros. built.

-Kevin

[Andrew Longman]

I have seen GFI outlets fail, especially outside. By fail I mean they won't reset. If any other outlets are on the same circuit they obviously won't have juice either. I've also seen some odd configurations of circuits hooked to GFI, usually because an inspector insisted that some unexpected outlets to be GFI protected and a GFI got thrown in an oddball place. In my house half the basement is hooked to a GFI on the other side of the house.

[G.]

To clarify (maybe): For a given circuit-breaker feed, you can have one GFCI outlet protect the whole circuit.