Outdoor electrical outlets might stop working for a variety of reasons. The most common issue is the GFCI outlet located outside has tripped and needs to be reset or possibly a main breaker has tripped. If your outdoor outlet has stopped working, follow the information below to troubleshoot the problem to identify and resolve it.
Outdoor GFCI Outlet Has Stopped Working
All Outdoor Outlets Have Stopped Working
Outdoor Outlet Problem: I have 3 outdoor outlets that are located on the outside of my home. 1 outlet is in the front of the house, that I was using, and the other 2 are located in my backyard. The outlets were working until I was mowing the grass with an electric lawnmower. My lawnmower lost power so I unplugged the mower and plugged it into another outside outlet and no have power in the back of my house either. Now all 3 outdoor outlets have stopped working. In the main breaker box all of the breakers are ON and none of the breakers have tripped. I noticed the 3 outdoor outlets have no GFCI as the RESET button is not there, they are just normal outlets. What else can I check to get the electrical outlets on the outside of my house to receive power?
Finding The Tripped GFCI Outlet
First, this may all depend on the age of your home. If a newer home, all outside outlets should be GFCI and you can just reset the tripped outlet from there by pressing the small RESET button on the outlet itself.
If an older home, then most likely the outside outlets are not GFCI and the GFCI outlet that has tripped is located elsewhere in your home. You have to search for it as it could be in the garage, the basement, behind your workbench, near the water heater, in the kitchen, or even in the bathroom.
Once you find the GFCI outlet that has tripped, press the RESET button to turn the power back on to all other outlets that have lost power. Now go test the outside outlets and they should all be working.
Reset The Tripped GFCI Outlet Outside
If all of the outside electrical outlets have stopped working, first check to see if any of the outside outlets are GFCI and have been tripped. Newer homes have GFCI outlets on all outdoor electrical outlets. Check all of your outdoor GFCI outlets to see if one has tripped. If you find one that has tripped press the RESET button to regain power to the outlet.
You may have more outside GFCI outlets than you realize, one near the AC condenser, one near the side of your house near the main breaker box, one near the back patio, one outlet at the very front of your home, and other areas you may not use very often. If any of these are tripped press the RESET button and you should be getting power.
Why are my outdoor outlets not working?
Check The Main Breaker Box
If all of the outside outlets are not tripped, and any inside GFCI outlets that are in line with the outside outlets are not tripped, then check the main breaker box to see if one of the breakers has tripped. Look closely in the breaker box as sometimes it is difficult to see if a breaker has tripped. If you see one breaker that does not look fully in the ON position, slide the breaker from OFF to ON. If the electricians labeled the breakers properly, there may be labeling in the breaker box that tells you “outdoor outlets”. Once you have found the correct tripped breaker and reset it, you should have power to all outdoor outlets.
If you have reset all GFCI outlets and checked the breaker box for a tripped main breaker and still no power to the outlets, there may be an issue with one of the outlets. Have a professional have a look at the issue to troubleshoot it from here. If you know what you are doing, go ahead and test the outlet with a meter to see if a particular outlet has failed.
What Is A GFCI Outlet
A GFCI outlet is a safety feature. A ground fault circuit interrupter or GFCI detects an abnormal current and opens the circuit to prevent any type of hazard. When this happens you will need to press the RESET button. You may have had too many things plugged in at once. Use only one high amp item such as an electric lawnmower at a time with outside GFCI outlets or with outlets without GFCI.
More Help With GFCI Outdoor Outlets
Need deeper help with why your outside outlets are not working? Use the comment section below and please let us know how many outlets you have on the outside of your house and what you have done to troubleshoot the issue and someone can assist you. The more info you can provide the better… such as what did you have plugged into the outlet when it lost power and or are your outdoor outlets GFCI protected?
NOTE: If GFCI outlets are outside outlets and you just had heavy rain, the water may have tripped one of the GFCI outlets.
Written by Keith Schneerer
Certified Appliance Tech · Founder, RemoveAndReplace.com
Keith has spent 30+ years repairing machines, starting as a military mechanic and later maintaining food processing equipment before moving into appliance repair. He founded RemoveAndReplace.com to share field-tested repair advice.
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I have an exterior outlet gfci. I added another gfci outlet off of that outlet. It worked for a few days then stopped. The first gfci had tripped. I reset it and the first outlet works. The second does not. The gfci on the second will not reset. The black hot wire is still hot at the second. I even put another new gfci in the second outlet spot just in case it was faulty.
Outdoor outlets not working. Reseted the GcFI outlet in garage. Checked the the breaker, it wasn’t tripped. Still no power to the all 3 outdoor outlets.
Woke up this morning after heavy rains and the outlets in the bathroom wouldn’t work.
They worked on the same bedroom wall, but not in the bathroom.
There was one GFCI-protected plug in the bathroom (the two outlets that were non-working are not GFCI outlets) and it had not tripped.
Went into our home office (on the same side of the house on the same back wall that faces outside) and the outlets along the same wall didn’t work.
Went outside and the outdoor outlet the shares the same wall as office, wouldn’t work.
It had an extension cord plugged into an outdoor extension cord that was wet.
Outdoor outlet on the front porch was dead as well.
I walked around the inside and the outside of the house checking all GFCI protected plugs.
All were fine.
In the garage, my extra fridge was plugged into an outlet near the breaker box.
THAT was the GFCI that had popped.
I hot reset an all works.
Magical. Again, thank you so much for publishing this tip!
Two outdoor electrical outlet boxes. One has four outlets the other has two. The two is at the base of my lamppost. The four is on my porch. All worked fine until I recently plugged in extension cord to run my Black & Decker hedge trimmer. When one went out, I switched to the other – then it died. I have reset all breakers. Reset GFCI on lamp post outlets. That one now works (finally!) No GFCI button on the porch. Anything else a 73-year old woman with no electrical experience can try? Than you!