James is a Master Electrician with over 30 years of experience. We do not use AI for the content of our articles.
When diagnosing a problem, I’ve always considered a flow chart to be the best thing invented since sliced bread. Nothing gets you to your solution faster or with more confidence. So that is the exact approach I’ll use in this article, albeit in word-form as opposed to a diagram.
To quickly rule out potential culprits, check these things in this order:
- GFCI (Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter) reset at the outdoor outlet itself
- Breaker reset at the electrical panel
- GFCI reset at a garage outlet (typically near the panel)
- GFCI reset at an outlet inside the house.
- Examine the outdoor outlet for connection issues and circuit power
I’ll explain each of these steps in detail below.
Now, let’s rule out some easy things so we can narrow it down fast.
If your outdoor outlet has no power, think about when it first stopped working. What were the circumstances? Was it raining? Was it right after a power outage? Have you had major repairs or renovating done on your home recently?
The answers to those questions will help us pinpoint the cause of the issue, and keep us from unnecessarily wasting time barking up the wrong tree.
The next questions to ask yourself are: Is this the only outdoor outlet that is no longer working? Are my interior garage outlets working? What about bathroom or kitchen outlets (on older homes)? Is there any other part of the house that has lost power (outlets, lights, etc.)?
Just considering these questions sometimes will cause the lightbulb to come on in your head and give you a direction in which to start searching. Now let’s jump into each scenario and rule out possibilities one-by-one.
1. Tripped GFCI Circuit (Most Common Cause)
There are three ways an outlet can be GFCI-protected:
- The outlet itself is a GFCI outlet.
- An outlet “upstream” on the circuit is protecting the outlet in question.
- The breaker serving the circuit is a GFCI breaker.
Note: In some cases, an outlet may have double GFCI protection (perhaps at the outlet and at the breaker). Though this sounds like an extra-safe installation, it is not a good idea. The GFCI devices will often sense each other and cause nuisance tripping. The more sensitive of the two will sometimes trip, even though there is nothing technically “wrong”.
The GFCI outlet and the GFCI breaker will be the easiest to identify and test, so check them first.
GFCI Outlet – No Power
If the dead outlet is a GFCI outlet, there are a few possibilities:
- The outlet is bad
- The outlet is mis-wired
- There is no power coming into it.
A GFCI outlet will have two buttons on its face labeled TEST and RESET. Press the reset button firmly. On most brands, you will hear a click and even feel the engagement of the internal contacts as it resets.
Look for a small green LED light on the outlet. Not all brands have them, but if yours does (like Leviton), and the light comes on upon resetting, it is an obvious indicator that power has been restored.
One thing to note: Some brands (like Eaton or Cooper) use a red or amber LED light to indicate a tripped state (and no lit LED in normal mode).
If pressing the reset button does not restore power, move on to section #2.
Read: Why Is My GFCI Outlet Not Working?
Outlet downstream from GFCI Outlet
If your dead outlet is not a GFCI outlet, it may be protected by one on the same circuit. This is the most common scenario, but is often the hardest to find. It may take some searching.
An outdoor outlet is typically protected by a GFCI outlet in the garage – even if the outlet is at the very back of the house. This has been standard wiring practice for over 40 years.
Since the garage outlets are required to be GFCI-protected, it makes economic sense for the electrician to jump off of that circuit to feed the outdoor outlets, rather than install another (expensive) GFCI outlet. Check there first.
The garage GFCI outlet is almost always located near the electrical panel. If it is tripped, resetting it will likely restore power to your outdoor outlet.
Another fairly common location for a GFCI outlet is just inside the wall from the outdoor outlet. If the outdoor outlet is at a back patio or porch, check just inside the back door for a GFCI outlet.
If you don’t find it in the garage or in the general proximity of the outdoor outlet, it may be hiding elsewhere in the house. In older homes, this may be in the bathroom or kitchen, but generally not after the mid-1990s.
GFCI Breaker
Whether you have a GFCI breaker or a standard breaker, the troubleshooting is essentially the same. The noticeable difference between the two is that a GFCI breaker has a small test button on it.
If you were to remove the panel cover, you would also notice a white wire coming off of the GFCI breaker and attaching to the neutral terminal bar.
If it is tripped, the breaker handle will be in the center position (half-way between full off and full on).
Regardless of whether the breaker is a GFCI or not, they both reset the same way – by switching the handle to the full off position and then back on.
Read on in the next section for assessing a tripped breaker.
2. Tripped Circuit Breaker
If the dead outlet is not a GFCI type, or you have established that there is no power feeding the outlet, the next thing to check is the circuit breaker.
Note: Another indicator that the breaker may be the primary suspect, is if you have other outlets or lights not working besides the outdoor outlet in question.
Take a look at your breaker panel and see if any breakers are tripped. Keep in mind that the labels for the circuits might not be accurate, especially on older homes that have had wiring additions or renovations.
Breaker Will Reset
If no breakers are indicating a tripped state (handle in the center position), find the one for your outdoor outlet circuit and cycle it fully off and then on. Sometimes an older breaker will be internally tripped even though the handle doesn’t change state. It’s not common, but I’ve seen it more than a few times.
Quickly check the outlet to see if power is restored.
If the breaker resets, and then trips off a few moments later, that is indication of a “soft short” somewhere in the circuit, usually caused by water intrusion. Since we’re working with an outdoor outlet, that is the most likely suspect. Refer to the section below “Outdoor Outlet Works Intermittently”.
If the breaker will not reset, you need to dig a little deeper. First, make sure nothing is plugged into anything on that circuit. You might have a defective appliance plugged into a different outlet that is short-circuiting.
Once everything is unplugged, see if the breaker will reset.
Read: Why does My Circuit Breaker Keep Tripping?
Breaker Won’t Reset
If the breaker still won’t reset, it’s time to open up the dead outlet and check the wiring and power status there (if you haven’t already done so).
Always double-check with a
As you pull the outlet out, inspect the ground (bare) wire to see if it was touching either the hot (black wire) or neutral (white wire) screw terminal on the outlet. Look for signs of arcing or soot on the terminal or wire.
If the breaker is a GFCI, the ground wire must not touch the neutral anywhere on the circuit. It will sense a closed ground-neutral loop and trip.
Check for tight connections, correct wire placement per screw, and inspect all wiring for breaks. If there are wire nuts being used in the box, check those thoroughly by backing them off and making sure all conductors (individual wires) are twisted around each other tightly.
Once everything looks good, leave the outlet hanging out of the box. Arrange the wires so that all wire groups are clear of contact with other groups (grounds, whites, and blacks are all isolated from each other).
Now go try turning the breaker on. We want to rule out the possibility that it was a short in the outlet box. If it resets, you know the problem lies in the outlet box, and that your repositioning of the wiring has temporarily alleviated the issue.
If it won’t reset, the next step depends on how many sets of wires you have in the box.
If you just have one set (black, white, bare), then move on to the next section below. If you have two or more sets, we need to separate the wires in order to isolate the real culprit.
After making sure there is no power on the wires, start by removing the wire nut from the black wires. Use pliers or wire strippers to untwist the wires just enough so that there is no copper touching any other copper.
Now go turn the breaker on. If it holds, the issue is downstream from your box, on one of the wires feeding another outlet or device. You then need to search for another outlet, light, or appliance that has no power.
If the breaker still trips, then the issue is upstream from your box. This could mean another outlet or appliance on the circuit, a wiring integrity problem (least likely), or it could be the breaker itself is bad.
Read: How to Tell if a Circuit Breaker is Bad – A Master Electrician’s Guide
3. Breaker Not Tripped (and no GFCIs on circuit)
If your outdoor outlet isn’t working, and yet your breaker is not tripped (you fully flipped it off and back on), then there are only a couple of things to check.
Loose Connection
The #1 cause will be a loose connection somewhere in the circuit. This could be at the breaker, the outlet, or any junction box or splice point in-between.
Since it’s easiest to check the outlet (and it’s also the most likely candidate for failure), let’s begin there.
First, turn the breaker off and test the outlet to be sure there is no power.
Remove the outlet from the box without detaching the wires. Again, test for hot wires before proceeding.
Check all connections. This means at the terminal screws and any wire nuts that may be there.
Remove the wire nuts and visually inspect the copper-to-copper contact of the conductors.
Make sure the terminal screws are tight and not obstructed by conductor insulation. If the wires are stabbed into the back of the outlet, tug on each one firmly to verify that they are secure. But see my note below under the “Defective Outlet” section.
With all connections tight and in order, leave the outlet hanging out, supported by the wires. Turn the breaker on so you can test for voltage at the outlet wiring.
Using a
If you get voltage between hot and ground, but not between hot and neutral, then you know that your issue is an open neutral somewhere upstream. Check other outdoor outlets and garage outlets first.
If you get no voltage at all, then you have an open hot (at least) upstream. Again, check other outdoor and garage outlets first.
Defective Outlet
Usually, an outlet fails in one of two ways: weak stab-in springs for the wires (as mentioned above), or weak socket jaw springs for plugs. Aside from those, an outlet problem boils down to installer error by not making tight, clean connections.
Stab-in connections are quick and easy, so many contractors take advantage of their use. The problem is that their springs have a tendency to lose strength over time.
For the most part, they do well enough, especially for lighter loads. But in the early 2000s, even the National Electrical Code put a ban on using stab-in connections for anything above 14-gauge wire. Data shows that wrapped-screw terminations are far superior to stab-ins for trustworthiness.
Note: I would recommend removing the wires from the stab-in ports and wrap the conductors around the screws on the outlet. It’s a much better connection, easy to verify, and won’t likely ever fail. Trust me, I’ve had many service calls where the problem was a poor connection at the stab-in port. The spring pressure weakens over time, leading to arcing, which can then cause a fire.
The second problem an outlet can have is weak socket jaws. After many insertions of plugs over the years, those jaws lose their grip. This will sometimes cause your plug to either sag, or even fall out of the socket.
Even if the plug stays in, the internal jaws can be weak, which can lead to intermittent connection and arcing.
There is no way to repair such an outlet; it must be replaced.
Read: Circuit Breaker Is On, But No Power? Follow These 7 Steps
Outdoor Outlet Works Intermittently
What about a breaker that only trips every now and then? Or has a delayed trip? These symptoms point us in specific directions.
If your breaker trips intermittently, pay attention to the circumstances surrounding the event (time of day, day of the week, time of year, during or after a rainstorm or snowfall, etc.).
Intermittent Loads
Some electrical loads are automatically controlled (timers, motion security lights, photocell sensors, etc.). If they or the load they serve is faulty, they’ll only trip the breaker when activated.
Many outdoor outlets are used for Christmas lighting or other holiday decorations at different times of the year. These often incorporate plug-in timers.
If a faulty motion-sensing device is plugged in, like perhaps a security light, it could trip the breaker without you being aware that it was even happening – until you discover later that your garage plugs have no power.
Needless to say, automatically-controlled devices can add an extra bit of mystery to troubleshooting.
Water Intrusion
If the breaker only seems to trip when it’s raining, that indicates a water intrusion issue. Check the seal around the cover of the outdoor outlet. The thin gaskets break down over time and are prone to eventually leak.
Note: For added protection, I like to run a bead of clear silicone along the top and each side of the cover. However, if you do this, do not silicone the bottom. You need to allow a place for water to escape in the event that it finds its way in.
Water can also get into the devices you plug into the outlet. For instance, though Christmas lights are designed to be weatherproof, water is sneaky, and can make its way into the bulb sockets or cord connections.
One more place is if you have any cords or wires buried underground that are connected to the outlet. Landscape lighting wire can get damaged by shovels, tree roots, or moles. This allows water to come into contact with the wiring. But again, it may happen only when it rains or when the sprinklers run.
Loose Connection
Every circuit has electrical connections. And any connection can potentially become loose if it wasn’t properly installed, or if it has been disturbed since the install.
A loose connection can cause intermittent operation whenever the slightest movement occurs at the connection point.
- Plugging or unplugging a cord can cause the loose connection to make or break contact.
- Wiggling the plug will often expose the presence of a loose connection (either at the cord prongs, or at the wire connection to the outlet).
- Temperature swings can cause enough contraction and expansion to alter the connection.
Faulty Outlet
If a regular outlet is faulty, it will usually be due to weak spring pressure, as mentioned in the “Defective Outlet” section above. However, if the outlet is a GFCI, then there are more ways for it to fail.
A GFCI outlet has a circuit board inside that monitors the circuit and activates the trip mechanism to kill power when a fault is detected.
Being in an outdoor location, moisture can negatively affect the electronics and cause the GFCI outlet to malfunction. This can have one of two different outcomes.
I’ve seen GFCIs fail ON (they won’t trip when they’re supposed to), and I’ve seen them fail OFF (they won’t reset, even though the circuit is clear). The former is dangerous, and the latter, a nuisance.
There is no way to repair a GFCI outlet, so replacement will be necessary.
Conclusion
Outdoor outlet problems are almost always solvable without a service call — as long as you approach it methodically. The vast majority of cases I’ve seen over 30 years come down to a tripped GFCI somewhere on the circuit. So if you take nothing else away from this article, remember to track down that upstream GFCI as one of your first steps.
From there, work your way through the checklist in order. Don’t skip steps, and don’t assume. Patience and logical thinking will get you further in electrical troubleshooting than any other skill.
If you’ve worked through everything in this guide and still can’t find the problem, it’s time to call a licensed electrician. There are situations — like if your
And if you just need a quick second opinion before you pick up the phone, you can chat with me or another electrician through the link at the bottom of this article. No service call, no appointment — just straight answers.
FAQs
What is a GFCI and where do I find it?
Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter. It is a device (either an outlet or circuit breaker) that monitors the circuit for ground-faults. Upon detection, the unit will instantaneously kill power to the outlet or circuit.
They can be found in most places where a water source is common (kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, near sinks, garages, outdoors, crawl spaces, pool areas, etc.).
Is there a difference between a GFCI and a GFI?
No. GFI is the shortened trade slang for GFCI.
How do I reset my GFCI outlet?
There will be two buttons on the face of the outlet: TEST and RESET. Press firmly on the reset button. You will usually hear a faint click and feel the contacts engage. Also, depending on the brand, you may see a red or amber LED light turn off, and/or a green LED light illuminate upon resetting.
Can one GFCI outlet control multiple outdoor outlets?
Yes, when wired correctly, a GFCI at the beginning of a circuit will protect all circuits downstream from it.
Why does my outdoor outlet keep tripping after I reset it?
This indicates that there is a fault somewhere at or after the GFCI in the circuit (or in an appliance plugged into it). You must track down the fault and clear it before the GFCI will stay set.
Can I install an outdoor outlet myself?
Yes. Whether you are replacing an outlet or adding a new one, it is something anyone with a smidgeon of handiness and willingness to learn can do.
One warning: There are good and bad sources of information available online. Be sure to check the credentials of any material you find. I’ve come across many YouTubers that make claims that are not wise nor safe. This could lead to disastrous results.
Do outdoor outlets need to be GFCI protected?
Yes, with very few exceptions. Since 1978, the National Electric Code has required almost all outdoor outlets to be GFCI-protected.
What is an in-use weatherproof cover and do I need one?
This is a weatherproof cover that has an extra deep lid that allows a cord to be plugged in while it is closed. This helps keep the rain from interfering with the connection while you are actively using the cord, potentially averting a GFCI trip or even an electric shock.
In-use covers have been required by code in most outdoor locations since 2008. Exceptions may be in soffits, up high under eaves, or other locations where it is unlikely for driving rain to reach.
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