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Posted by M100C on July 8, 2006, 10:14 pm
All,
I'm helping a friend diagnose a circuit that just stopped working. After
some diagnosis, we've come up with the following:
1) The outlet that is not working has 20VAC between the white and black
wires (?) and 120VAC between the black and ground wires. Thus, I can power
the two-prong lamp off black and ground, but not by plugging it in (between
black and white).
2) I have not had time to determine what is between the circuit breaker and
this outlet, but I am suspecting there may be a bad GFCI somewhere due to
the voltage difference between white and ground wires. We did a quick check
of the GFCI (by pressing test and reset) and they *appear* to work fine, but
I am still skeptical.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Take care,
Chris
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Posted by RBM on July 8, 2006, 10:49 pm
You have an open neutral. Look for loose neutral connections in outlets
adjacent to the dead outlet, especially back stabbed connections
> All,
> I'm helping a friend diagnose a circuit that just stopped working. After
> some diagnosis, we've come up with the following:
>
> 1) The outlet that is not working has 20VAC between the white and black
> wires (?) and 120VAC between the black and ground wires. Thus, I can
> power the two-prong lamp off black and ground, but not by plugging it in
> (between black and white).
>
> 2) I have not had time to determine what is between the circuit breaker
> and this outlet, but I am suspecting there may be a bad GFCI somewhere due
> to the voltage difference between white and ground wires. We did a quick
> check of the GFCI (by pressing test and reset) and they *appear* to work
> fine, but I am still skeptical.
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Take care,
> Chris
>
>
>
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Posted by Speedy Jim on July 8, 2006, 11:16 pm
M100C wrote:
> All,
> I'm helping a friend diagnose a circuit that just stopped working. After
> some diagnosis, we've come up with the following:
>
> 1) The outlet that is not working has 20VAC between the white and black
> wires (?) and 120VAC between the black and ground wires. Thus, I can power
> the two-prong lamp off black and ground, but not by plugging it in (between
> black and white).
>
> 2) I have not had time to determine what is between the circuit breaker and
> this outlet, but I am suspecting there may be a bad GFCI somewhere due to
> the voltage difference between white and ground wires. We did a quick check
> of the GFCI (by pressing test and reset) and they *appear* to work fine, but
> I am still skeptical.
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Take care,
> Chris
>
>
>
Your tests indicate that the White wire is open-circuit *somewhere*.
Maybe in a GFI (but not too likely since the Blk is still solid).
It could be a bad splice in god-knows which junction box,
or even at the panel Neutral bar.
Or, if the recept you are at is tapped off another recept,
the screw/stab connection at the tap point may be open.
This kind of thing can be nightmarish to track down
if you don't know the exact path the circuit run takes.
Jim
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Posted by CJT on July 9, 2006, 1:07 am
M100C wrote:
> All,
> I'm helping a friend diagnose a circuit that just stopped working. After
> some diagnosis, we've come up with the following:
>
> 1) The outlet that is not working has 20VAC between the white and black
> wires (?) and 120VAC between the black and ground wires. Thus, I can power
> the two-prong lamp off black and ground, but not by plugging it in (between
> black and white).
>
> 2) I have not had time to determine what is between the circuit breaker and
> this outlet, but I am suspecting there may be a bad GFCI somewhere due to
> the voltage difference between white and ground wires. We did a quick check
> of the GFCI (by pressing test and reset) and they *appear* to work fine, but
> I am still skeptical.
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Take care,
> Chris
>
>
>
It sounds like there's an open neutral. I doubt the GFCI is implicated.
--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.
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Posted by Bud-- on July 9, 2006, 11:24 am
M100C wrote:
> All,
> I'm helping a friend diagnose a circuit that just stopped working. After
> some diagnosis, we've come up with the following:
>
> 1) The outlet that is not working has 20VAC between the white and black
> wires (?) and 120VAC between the black and ground wires. Thus, I can power
> the two-prong lamp off black and ground, but not by plugging it in (between
> black and white).
>
> 2) I have not had time to determine what is between the circuit breaker and
> this outlet, but I am suspecting there may be a bad GFCI somewhere due to
> the voltage difference between white and ground wires. We did a quick check
> of the GFCI (by pressing test and reset) and they *appear* to work fine, but
> I am still skeptical.
>
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Take care,
> Chris
>
I agree with all 3 previous posts and would add only that the 20 volts
is not real. The open white wire has capacitance to the hot wire which
produces a voltage on a high resistance, probably digital, meter.
bud--
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