Outlet not working

[jck1962]

Hi everybody, my outlet in my main bathroom stopped working,it runs off of a GFCI breaker in my panel and is down line from my master bath,these are the only 2 outlets on this breaker,the breaker is not tripped,and the outlet and lights work in my master bath,I used my ground tester,just a basic one with red and black ends with a red light that comes on when there is power,I put it in and noticed that the ligh is dimmer than when I use it on the master bath outlet,it comes on brighter when i put it in the hot side and ground hole,I checked the wireing in my main bath and reconnected everything and still have the same problem,I even replaced the outlet because I thought that was the problem at first,any Ideas as to what might be the problem? thanks. John K

[mr fix it man]

gfci

check your breaker in the panel box it might need replacing.

[Snoonyb]

Sounds as if its time to purchase an inexpensive volt/ohm meter.

[kactuskid]

It sounds to me like you have a loose neutral wire, check under the wirenuts in the backs of the box's, make sure all connections are tight. If any wires are stuck in the little holes in the backs of the receptacles, remove them and wrap them around the screws on the sides, these backstabbed holes are the cause of lots of loose connections. Check all lights and receptacles on the circuit, you'll find the problem. Let us know when you do.

[jck1962]

Thanks for the help,I did the trick with the neutral wires,took the ones out that I could and put them around the screws,but I still have one neutral wire plugged into the backstabbed hole because there are 3 neutral wires on the outlet that leads to my main bath. maybe I will replace that outlet with a new one, I checked the connections,put all the wires on the screws,hot included and even restripped them all so I had fresh wire,still no luck,is there a possibility that a mouse or something ate through the neutral wire in the wall,although I have 3 cats and never see them staring at the walls...lol...thanks for all the suggestions

[kactuskid]

If you have 3 neutral wires connected to the receptacle then instead of using the backstabbed hole you can combine all 3 neutral wires with a 6" long pigtail wire of same gauge together under a red wirenut. Then the other end of the pigtail wire is connected to the neutral screw on the side of the receptacle.

If the electrical box is small then instead of doing the above you can also buy a commercial grade receptacle at Home Depot that has 8 holes in the back of it (4 hot and 4 neutral) and are called Back-Wired. This means the wires are inserted in the holes in the back and a screw clamp secures the wires. These are different than the cheapie spring clamps you now have. And these back-wired receptacles are great when multiple conductors are present or not much space is in a box. They're about $3.00 a piece.

Also check for loose connections in your switch box's and light fixture box's, the loose connection could be anywhere on the circuit depending on how it's run.