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cjd2404 · May 2, 2009, 06:00 PM

Hi all.

A month or so back I replaced an outlet in the kitchen with a GCFI outlet. This outlet apparently is the only thing on the circuit. Through this process I visually traced the wire through the basement and it seems to go from the outlet, down the wall, and into the breaker, no junction boxes at all. This is an older house (1980) and I moved in late last year, I am moving room to room swapping out plugs/switches.

A week or so ago my vacuum cleaner popped the outlet and I was unable to reset it. I figured the outlet was bad. So today, I decide to fix the outlet. When I took the outlet out and used my tester to test the wires, now when I touch black and white nothing happens. However when I touch black and ground my tester lights up.

When I put switched the outlet out last month, it lit up with a black/white combo, and I never had trouble with it until it popped.

Any Ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have obviously turned off the breaker, I just down know what to do.

TristaNicholle · May 2, 2009, 06:21 PM

You're sure that there are no junction boxes or other outlets on the circuit?. It may be that the neutral wire is not wired up in the box, just the power and ground wires.

hkstroud · May 2, 2009, 06:47 PM

If you are comfortable opening you circuit panel, turn off main breaker, remove the cover and trace the neutral (white) of that circuit to the place where it is connected to the neutral/ground buss. Make sure that the neutral wire has a good connection. Are you certain that there is nothing else on that circuit?

cjd2404 · May 3, 2009, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by hkstroud

If you are comfortable opening you circuit panel, turn off main breaker, remove the cover and trace the neutral (white) of that circuit to the place where it is connected to the neutral/ground buss. Make sure that the neutral wire has a good connection. Are you certain that there is nothing else on that circuit?

Not 100% comfortable opening the panel. Yes I am fairly certain it is on its own circuit. From what I can guess it probably was for a microwave or other such appliance that was on the counter.

ohb0b · May 3, 2009, 09:52 PM

If you have 120 volts between Hot and Ground, but 0 volts between hot and neutral, than the neutral wire is broken.

I'd venture to say it is a wire nut inside the box. The shock (physical shock, not electrical) and heat of the vacuum tripping the circuit could have caused a wire to work loose.