My garbage disposer got a hole in the side, causing it to leak. The
garbage disposer was still functional, I just had to put a bucket
underneath to catch the leaks.

I bought a new garbage disposer and it sat waiting for me to install
it. At some point the leaking garbage disposer stopped working. At
first I wasn't too concerned, until I realized an outlet in the
basement suddenly stopped working as well.

The power to the garbage is hardwired, there is NM 14/2 (with
insulated ground) coming up through the floor to a switch and then to
the disposer.

I pulled the old disposer this weekend and checked the wiring.
Testing the bare wire, I'm getting only 4v. I pulled (and replaced)
the switch (and wired the ground to a new switch). The feed into the
switch box is also reporting only 4v. I checked the non-functioning
outlet in the basement, same story.

I checked all available breaks and fuses and all looks well. I've
been unable to isolate exactly which circuit these two runs are on.

Could the leaking water from the garbage disposer have caused this?
Any advice as to where to look next? The outlet in the basement is
wired correctly and I even removed the outlet to make sure. It is the
end of the run, so my guess is something in the other direction,
before or at the garbage disposer.

Mike Reef wrote:

My garbage disposer got a hole in the side, causing it to leak. The
garbage disposer was still functional, I just had to put a bucket
underneath to catch the leaks.

I bought a new garbage disposer and it sat waiting for me to install
it. At some point the leaking garbage disposer stopped working. At
first I wasn't too concerned, until I realized an outlet in the
basement suddenly stopped working as well.

The power to the garbage is hardwired, there is NM 14/2 (with
insulated ground) coming up through the floor to a switch and then to
the disposer.

I pulled the old disposer this weekend and checked the wiring.
Testing the bare wire, I'm getting only 4v. I pulled (and replaced)
the switch (and wired the ground to a new switch). The feed into the
switch box is also reporting only 4v. I checked the non-functioning
outlet in the basement, same story.

I checked all available breaks and fuses and all looks well. I've
been unable to isolate exactly which circuit these two runs are on.

Could the leaking water from the garbage disposer have caused this?
Any advice as to where to look next? The outlet in the basement is
wired correctly and I even removed the outlet to make sure. It is the
end of the run, so my guess is something in the other direction,
before or at the garbage disposer.

The leaking probably eventually created a short which either tripped
the breaker or opened a splice connection somewhere.
Use your tester to measure the voltage on each circuit breaker
as a start. You might also manually trip each one and then reset them.
Some brands don't give a positive indication that they have tripped
and you could overlook it.

Jim

I checked all available breaks and fuses and all looks well. I've
been unable to isolate exactly which circuit these two runs are on.

Could the leaking water from the garbage disposer have caused this?
Any advice as to where to look next? The outlet in the basement is
wired correctly and I even removed the outlet to make sure. It is the
end of the run, so my guess is something in the other direction,
before or at the garbage disposer.

The leaking probably eventually created a short which either tripped
the breaker or opened a splice connection somewhere.
Use your tester to measure the voltage on each circuit breaker
as a start. You might also manually trip each one and then reset them.
Some brands don't give a positive indication that they have tripped
and you could overlook it.

Jim

Could there be a ground fault interrupter somewhere that is tripped?
One place I lived had a kitchen outlet wired through a CGFI in the
upstairs bathroom.

- James B