Dead Outlet / Lost Circuit

1. Try more than one outlet or lamp on the circuit, and try a known-good cord or bulb so you are not chasing a bad device.
2. Check GFCI and AFCI devices that may be upstream — press Reset on every GFCI in the area (bath, garage, kitchen, outdoor, basement) and any AFCI/GFCI breaker in the panel. A single tripped GFCI can kill several downstream receptacles.
3. Look at the panel: tripped breaker (not just off), a breaker that will not reset, or a loose handle. If it trips immediately, stop and use the tripping-breaker guide — do not keep resetting into a fault.

• Identify the breaker from the directory, then confirm by dropping the breaker and checking the dead outlets (or using a circuit tracer). Update the directory when you are done (408.4).
• Note shared neutrals (MWBC): two hots, one neutral, usually a handle-tied or two-pole breaker. Measuring 240 V between hots and ~120 V to neutral at a live device is the clue. Opening only one pole can energize the neutral from the other leg.
• List every device on the run: receptacles, switches, lights, and junction boxes. Dead outlets “downstream of the first dead one” often point to an open backstab or a loose splice at the last working box — or at the first dead box.

1. At the panel (cover off only if you are qualified and using the required PPE): voltage on the breaker output to neutral and to ground; tightness of the breaker on the bus and of the conductor in the lug; a tripped AFCI/GFCI breaker that looks “on” until you cycle it fully off and on.
2. At the first dead outlet: with the circuit re-energized and safe work practices, measure hot to neutral, hot to ground, and neutral to ground. 120 V hot-ground and 0 V hot-neutral is an open neutral (see open-neutral guide). 0 V everywhere may be an open hot, a tripped upstream device, or a lost feeder in a junction.
3. Open the last working box and the first dead box (power off, verify). Look for backstabbed conductors that have pulled out, loose wire nuts, a broken tab on a receptacle that was feeding downstream, a nicked conductor in a staple, or a switch-loop that was mistaken for a feed.
4. Renovation work, doorbell transformers, and “someone added a receptacle” junctions above drop ceilings or under insulation are common lost-circuit hiding places.

Retest every outlet on the circuit (hot-neutral, hot-ground, polarity, and GFCI where required). Tug-test splices, torque devices to the listed value, and restore any AFCI/GFCI protection the adopted edition requires. If the circuit died after water, heat, or a burning smell, inspect the entire run before you call it fixed.