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View Full Version : Ground wire and hot show charge


tommywilliford
Dec 9, 2009, 09:10 PM
Replaced all the power outlets in my bedroom. Two of the power outlets did not work, so I thought I blew a fuse. I did not. I tested the wires for power and I got a charge on my voltage meter by touching the one of the hot wires to the ground, but when I touch the hot to the neutral no charge. Both outlets have two hot and two neutral. The person that did the work before obviously didn't know what they were doing from other work I have found. Could it be that they switched the neutral and the hot when they wired it in the past or might there be another problem?

Missouri Bound
Dec 9, 2009, 09:25 PM
Well... if the neutral was hot, it would show when you meter from the neutral to ground. Did the outlets work before you replaced them? I suspect you have an open neutral somewhere. You said both outlets have two hot and two neutral... are either of these outlets switched? Did you wire the outlets the same way as the old ones?

tommywilliford
Dec 9, 2009, 09:37 PM
The neutral doesn't show charge no matter what I do. The hot and the ground show power. The plan is to cover both of them and not use them. I do not know if they worked before (should have checked). I never intended to use them because I am installing a closet system that will cover them. I guess I know power is coming into the box because of the hot wire... would it hurt anything to try and swtich the neutral and the hot on the two wires coming it to see if it completes the circuit?

ballengerb1
Dec 10, 2009, 10:02 AM
This sounds l9ke you dropped a neutral. The balck to ground/green shows poer so the black is hot. If black to white shows nothing then the white has a broken connection somewhere down the line. Check all of you receptacles starting with the nearest that works, follow the white toward the bad receotacle and look for poor connections. If back stabbed try releasing them and use the side screws