GFI problem

[kikker123]

I have 2 outside GFI plugs that stopped working. I have located 3 GFI switches in the house - kitchen, on my bar, and one in the bathroom. I have reset all of these to no avail. I checked my curcuit breaker panel and there are 4 breakers that indicate a GFI and I have identified the 3 controlling the kit bar and br. the other one is marked w. p gfi (the other markings on the other breakers are badly misspelled) not sure what this means. anyway I have reset all the breakers and still cant get the plugs to work. I tried to contact my builder and hes out of business. cant find a 4th GFI breaker (the normal looking kind) is there any other kind that I dont know about? Any suggestions on how to trouble shoot this - i'm pretty handy and have meters and I'm pretty careful. I have not removed the covers from the outside plugs but they appear to be standard plugs with no reset but are marked GFI protected. any help would be appreciated.

[kactuskid]

Do you have a basement or a garage? I'd first check around both these areas to see if there is a GFCI receptacle with the test and reset button that may be tripped.

[kikker123]

Garage is detached and no basement - heh - crawled in the attic and looked at every plug in the house - got me baffled - guess it could be a bad circuit breaker - havent broken the front off the elect panel yet.

[Snoonyb]

Before you get all enthused about working behind the dead front panel, stop by your local home improvement center and purchase an inexpensive VOM, test the recp. for the presence of voltage.

Your problem may be as simple as an open neutral.

[kikker123]

I'll try that - got the vom. also gfi circuit tester and that shows no voltage - ill pull the covers off and see if there is any voltage at all....
thanks

[kikker123]

Well no luck - pulled the covers off both recpt and no power in any direction and the circuit breaker that says gfi and isnt the 2 kitchen ones or the bathroom one has power (119vac) to the side entering the house (black one). neutral and bare wire to that one is firmly set in the buss. its open somewhere just cant find where.

[kikker123]

I found it - it was in the attic?? - just didnt look well enough - no idea why it was there... thanks for the responses...

[kactuskid]

What did you find in the attic? A GFCI receptacle?? Is it providing power to anything? Where is it located in the attic? Is this an attic that is more than just insulation between the joist, I mean is there a floor and is the attic used?

Reason I ask is cause if this GFCI receptacle isn't providing power to something then I'd remove it and install a regular receptacle in its place, then install a GFCI receptacle at the first outdoor receptacle, connecting the incoming power to the LINE side and then connect the outgoing power to the LOAD side. This way you'd have easier access to reset it if it ever trips again.