Deep Freeze/Outlet Not Working (smell, bathrooms, kitchen, lights)

[leah52]

I've had a deep freeze in my garage for 3 years with no problems. I went to get a turkey from the freezer and was alarmed to discover everything in the freezer soft. You can imagine the smell!

To see whether it was the freezer or the outlet failing I plugged some Christmas lights into the outlet and they did not light up. Checking the breaker box, I see no breakers tripped.

What should I do now?

[Tuck91NYG]

is it a GFI outlet?

[leah52]

It doesn't have the reset button that the kitchen outlets have.
Is that what you mean by a GFI outlet?

[harry chickpea]

Trip the breaker to off, then back to on. Try it a couple of times, sometimes the reset doesn't work well.

One other fairly common problem is the outlet itself getting corroded. You also could have a rodent that chewed through a wire.

Your insurance MAY cover the contents of the freezer.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Depending on the year the house was built it could be a GFCI controlled receptacle. Check the GFCI's in the bathrooms. Or, check for the possibility of outside receptacles having reset buttons.

[Ellwood]

We had same problem and the GFI was on the otherside of the garage. Changed the outlet to non GFI so we didn't have to worry about it again. We don't know what kept tripping it but better safe than lose all the food again. The outlet itself did not have a reset button but the one on the other side of the garage did.

[leah52]

Mystery solved! Yes, it was a GFI outlet. The puzzle was in finding the corresponding outlet with the reset button. I finally found it on the other side of the house (problem outlet in the far NW corner, reset button outlet in the far SW corner). Pushed the button, freezer is on again. Thanks for your help.

[cb at sea]

Yeah, my GFI in the garage is connected to one in a bathroom...go figure! Not a problem, if you know where it is!!!!