Circuit Sorting

Your convoluted description can be boiled down to: there is voltage where the breaker connects to the wire at the breaker box, and there is no voltage at the first outlet...Thus, the problem would be in that wire. Unless you have a live outlet you failed to mention between the dead outlet and the breaker box, in which case the problem is between the dead outlet and the live outlet. The fact that it's in the wall simply means that you have to fix drywall to fix (likely replace) the wire. Start ripping the walls open - or double check the actual connection of the breaker to the wire, and the circuit neutral to the neutral bus-bar. ie, make sure you have voltage there when you connect to the WIRES of the circuit, not just the bus bar and breaker terminal (unless you do have a live outlet, in which case the connection at the breaker panel is working.)

The fact that this is confusing to you might mean an actual electrician would be a good idea.

More of a how does a GFI work question maybe. I talked to a professional that works for a major restaurant chain and he told me that the GFI can fail on the output side and not on the outlet side so it is probably that. But which one of many.

I need a way to trace the wiring so I know what outlets are tied to the circuit otherwise I will be opening all the walls .. not a good solution!

The last outlet I found may not be the one closest to the panel.

So is there a Fox and Hound that can work on a powered or unpowered circuit?

When some (all?) breakers trip they can look like they are still on. The least invasive repair action you can perform is to flip the breakers off, then back on. That will reset a tripped breaker, if there is one. After you have done that, if the problem still persists, reset all the GFIs. If that doesn't fix it, read on.

Your description is not clear, so giving more specific recommendations is difficult. In general, you need to identify which breaker controls the circuit with the problem, and determine everything that is on that circuit. GFIs on other circuits have no bearing on the problem; a GFI on the failing circuit may need to be reset. Your problem lies at the last properly working location, or the first failing location, or between those locations.

If the wiring was done properly there will be *no* connections buried in the walls. All connections are required to be made in junction boxes, and the covers for those boxes are required to be accessible. In very close to 100% of cases, the junction boxes will house a receptacle, a switch or a connection to a light or fan. Opening up the walls is NOT required to troubleshoot this problem. You can, if necessary, open up every junction point on the failing circuit and check for continuity from junction point to junction point using an ohm meter.

Ed

I've got no personal experience with this tool but it does get good reviews:

--Winston

I spoke with a long time professional electrician that works for a major restaurant chain and he said the GFIs can fail on the continuation circuit with no indication at the socket outlet and the GFI will test OK. GFI have a separate set of contacts for the socket and the continuation.

Anyway, I am still looking for a Fox and Hound that can work on a powered or unpowered circuit.

To make matters worse, the dead circuit has turned back on and is fully functional. No one knows why as everyone says they did not do anything like reset a breaker or reset a GFI. Bizarre.

Oh, and I think I said that there is power at the breaker on the output side. The multimeter reads 118 VAC from breaker output to the neutral bus.

The multimeter reading is meaningless, unless there is a load on the circuit. When troubleshooting 120 VAC house wiring, always use a test lamp to load the circuit when measuring voltage. When you measured voltage on the output side of the breaker to the neutral bus, did you have a test lamp connected in parallel with the meter? Did the lamp light?

Ed

Yup. If you reverse the wiring (both hot and neutral) to the LINE and LOAD sides of the GFCI, the GFCI can trip and leave the receptacle portion live while disconnecting the downstream run.

Nope. There is one set of contacts. That set of contacts connects the LINE terminals on the GFCI to the receptacle portion. The receptacle portion is connected to the LOAD terminals on the GFCI. If you wire the power from the panel to the LOAD side of the GFCI, the receptacle portion will always be live, regardless of whether the thing trips or not. The circuit between the LINE terminals and the LOAD terminals will be interrupted when the thing trips.

If you don't know how to proceed ... have you thought of hiring an electrician to find and fix the problem? Power that comes and goes on a circuit where there is no breaker or GFCI trip/reset cycle is a fire waiting to happen. It indicates a connection is getting hot and opening up, then re-connecting when it cools down.

Ed