My electrical outlets and lights do not turn on. My tester shows power coming out of both ends of the outlet?

Question

Okay I have a bathroom that the lights do not turn on in, and the GFI doesn't seem to work either. I have an electrical tester pen, and all the lights seem to have power running to, and through them, and the GFI outlet also has power running to it, and, strangely, both prongs have power, testing the left and right one (typically, just the right prong shows power). When I plugged a device into the GFI outlet, there was no power coming down the cable into the device, nor did the device turn on.

The breakers are working fine, I have replaced both of them, though I don't know exactly how the rooms are wired, I know there is a half a kitchen outlet that is on the same breaker as the bathroom.

So, to reiterate my question, I am wondering what causes both prongs to have power in them, yet not go down into my device? Same with the lights, they have power to them... the breakers don't pop, so there is no short, and hiring an electrician is out of the question. I appreciate your help!

Answer 1

The reason you are getting a hot reading on both sides of

the outlet is because you lost your neutral. The power in trying

to find its way back to ground, and thats why your lights arent

working either. The first place I would look at is your gfi.

Make sure you didnt put the incoming hot and neutral on the

load side....it should be on the line side which is marked.

Some people will attach more than one wire to the device

instead of making a splice. If the device is bad then the

hot or neutral wont carry on to the next device.

You can also run a wire from a device that you know has a

good neutral...or even from your panel...tie it in with the

neutral at one of the lights or your gfi and if it works then you

know that the neutral is missing, but I am pretty sure that is

the problem. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Your explanation is a little confusing.  I don't understand the type of tester you are using.  Is it a small object that looks like a small pen or punch with a pointy end and a light on the other end?  You should get a proper tester to begin with.  You will get a reading with a "proximity tester" if you put it in the smaller of the two slots of a receptacle.  This smaller slot is the "hot" slot, the other is the "identified conductor" slot or "neutral" or "return" slot.  Current would typically flow from the small slot into the device and back into the larger - identified - slot back to the panel.  I would go to your panel first and turn the breaker COMPLETELY OFF, then on again.  Make sure you feel a firmness when you go from off to on and make sure the breaker switch is not "loose."  This is your first test.  If the breaker holds, then you likely have a different problem.  DO NOT DISCOUNT THIS POSSIBILITY even though you SAY the breaker is not tripped, you can NOT visually tell this, it MUST be on firmly!  Turn in off, then on and perhaps even off and on again.  NOW, if that works, go to the GFCI [GFI] and press the "test" button.  Does it "trip" make a sharp click sound?  If not, or even IF, then push reset, this should reset the receptacle.  Do this a couple of times to be sure.  Be certain that all your breakers are firmly on and not loose and in the middle - aka tripped.  If all of this is in order, the receptacle/s should work.  If it is NOT the breaker and the GFCI is testing and resetting okay, then you have a different problem.  I would recommend - then - that you go out and get a receptacle tester.  It looks like this:  http://images.google.ca/images?um=1&hl=e...

  This tester can tell you if there is a problem with your receptacle.  This will tell you why the receptacle is not working  if there is a wire loose or off but it will not tell you if there is a problem with a connection where the lite is located and where - perhaps - the junction of all the circuits from this breaker meet.  In THIS case, there could be a loose wire in the junction box in the ceiling - where the light fixture is - or in the wall IF the joints are made at the switch - which is unlikely.  These are ALL the most likely possibilities for your problem.  So double and triple check your breakers - ALL OF THEM - then check to see if the test and reset button/s work on ALL your GFCIs, then - if necessary, get a PROPER TESTER - the easiest one for this is the one I mentioned.  Then, you MAY want to get a proper VOM to test the actual voltage between the HOT and GROUND and NEUTRAL at the receptacles if you know how to do this.  Basically get proper testers, not a pen tester.

I don't know what else to say.

Answer 3

This might sound stupid, but is your GFI tripped? Try reseting it? Some incompetant electrician may have wired it in series with the rest of the bathroom. Let me know.

Answer 4

When you say you replaced the breakers, do you mean you have fuses, or that you reset the breaker switches?  To fully reset a tripped breaker, you have to turn it fully off, then back on.  Tripped breakers can be difficult to see: some of them don't really move that far when they trip, so they seem to be in the "On" position.  Turn any suspect breakers off then back on just to be sure.

Rather than the pen thing, which just looks for A/C to be present, but doesn't check for a good circuit, you should try a plug-in circuit tester.  They have three lights on the end that tell you what is wrong with the circuit.  If you use a device to test the outlets, make sure it's something simple like a lamp, to eliminate other possible sources of failure.

You're right that seeing power in both sides of the outlet would seem to indicate a short, but a short would have killed the breaker/GFI.  Though if something got crossed up somewhere, and you only had the hot wire showing up, but not the neutral, you could possibly show A/C to the pen detector, but not have both legs necessary for a circuit.

Answer 5

- Turn off all the breakers.

- Clean the GFI receptacles using electric spray cleaner.

- On the receptacle switch, press reset and test many times, then press reset.

- Turn on all the breakers.

- If didn't work replace all the GFI receptacles.

Answer 6

Perhaps your tester has issues since usually power does not come from the negative side, only the positive side.  Also, perhaps the amount of wattage coming from the socket is too little to power any device, although the tester registers some amount of power coming from it.  Check your wiring and make sure its sound and ok.  It could be faulty wiring as well.  

Good Luck Man!

Answer 7

Like all the others said, get the right tool for the job, makes it much easier.  Or if you can not get the tester then you will need to do the following.

Sounds like you have and open neutral in that circuit, best way is to pull all the effected plugs out of the wall and try to see which way the wiring runs,Also check them for damage or failure. The last plug in line will have just one set of wires to it. Disconnect the plugs back to the  furthest from that one and then check for  a completed circuit. Add back the plugs and wires one at a time until you have found the bad plug and or wire. Tedious, but that way you know for sure they are right. might also just plan on replacing them with new ones, they run about 65 cents each at the store.

Luck to you.