Voltage from Neutral to Ground

Question

I have a very specific, and very strange issue that I'm hoping someone with more knowledge can help me with.

In my bedroom, the majority of outlets (all on the same circuit) work just fine, and test fine. ~120v hot to neutral, ~118v hot to ground, less than 2 volts neutral to ground.

However, I noticed that a single outlet has issues. It appears that someone ran 3 wire electrical wire (I dont know why) from Outlet 1 to Outlet 2. Outlet 1 tests fine, just like the rest of the room. When testing Outlet 1 to Outlet 2, here's what I found:

• Continuity passes from black to black
• Continuity passes from red to red
• Continuity fails from white to white

The white wire leaving Outlet 1 feels broken/loose, not sure how else to explain. So, as a test, I used the red wire on both ends to connect neutral, and black for hot, and capped off the white wire. Both sides are grounded. Outlet 1 tests fine, but here's what happens then on Outlet 2:

• Hot to Neutral tests at ~120v
• Hot to ground tests at ~30v
• Neutral to ground tests at ~90v

With Outlet 1 disconnected, the only impacted device I can find is Outlet 2. But it seems as if the "broken" white wire in Outlet 1 is being used somewhere for ground, though I fear the problem is buried in the walls.

Is there something I can do here short of capping this off and running a new line from a good source?

Answer 1

With an open neutral at some point it would not be unusual to see a phantom voltage close to line voltage. The reason to have a black and red hot to an outlet is to have a switched outlet (when there are only 3 + ground) the jumper on the receptacle/ outlet needs to be broken for it to work but this is normal.

I would check and see if there is a bit of slack at the location you thought the white could be broken because I believe your neutral is open and the hot wires in close proximity to to your open neutral is creating a phantom voltage to ground.

Answer 2

I'm not really sure that I understand what you are saying? I'm reading it as: Using the existing wire already in place, you have connected the active and neutral from Outlet 1 to Outlet 2. You have left the 3rd wire unconnected. You say that "both sides are grounded", but you don't say how?

You say that you have tested Outlet 2 to earth, but don't specify how? Are you testing against a known good earth, or simply testing at the Outlet?

If I have read this correctly, then it sounds like your 2nd outlet is not properly earthed. As such, any measurements to earth using the outlet will be inaccurate, and that outlet is also dangerous.

You need 3 good wires to connect an outlet. Active(Hot), Neutral, and Earth (Ground.) (Some of your colours are not to spec, but you can fix that with some coloured tape.) Point is that you need 3 good wires. If you cannot get good conductivity on all three, then you need to either run another cable, or remove the 2nd outlet.

That said, it's rare for cables to fail (unless they are super antique) and most problems occur at joins and junctions, so recheck all your terminations carefully.

Please correct me if I have misunderstood the circumstances in any way