[Lawman49]

I went to plug in some small, lit, Christmas displays on the kitchen counter but when I did.. nothing happened. I checked the power with a small illuminating tester but got a very small indication... (Not enough power to run a razor but enough to give me a small shock!) I disassembled the outlet and checked the wires. As I was unscrewing the outlet box, power was leaking through the outlet screw!

When I connected the tester to the Black and white wires, I got a weak indication of power but when I connected the Black and Ground (bare)wires with the tester, It indicated FULL power! As a NON electrical type, I wonder just what causes this... There are no circuit breakers involved that I am aware of.

I capped the wires in question to avoid any problems...

Any ideas?

P.S. As a novice home "Fixer-upper", I have replaced many outlets etc... but I have never run into this.

[Perito]

It sounds like an open neutral (white). The ground is typically connected to the neutral bar in the breaker box. The ground wire does not normally carry any current, but when you connected the tester, it did. The reason for the "small shock" is that the wires are at line voltage (110-120 volts in the U.S.), but since there's no return line for the current, it doesn't flow.

With the neutral wire open (or with a high resistance), you would not get much reading with your tester. Not much current can flow through an open neutral.

You'll get a more complete answer from the electricians who work this part of the board.