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I am a DIYer and would like some advice (even if the advice is "call an electrician").

I have a house built in the 1950s. I have 2 independent electrical panels from the meter-1 inside, the other outside. B & W wires initially run through conduit. While running a new circuit from the inside panel, I needed to get easier access, so I pulled out a breaker and disconnected the white wire from the bar. This circuit ran to my pantry.

Now, with the inside panel turned off and the outside panel turned on, both the disconnected B & W wires that ran the pantry are hot (per voltage detector).

When the B & W wires are connected to the inside panel and the inside panel is turned off and the outside panel is on, the wires B & W wires are not hot.

What is going on?

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Phantom/induced current. With the wires disconnected on both ends, they get an induced current from nearby wires. With the wires connected to the panel, the neutral (white) is pulled to ground, and I suspect that helps keep the hot wire "less hot". Either way, the current you are seeing is likely extremely low. Instead of a non-contact tester (which is always a good safety check), use a multimeter directly on the wires and I expect you will not see any real voltage.

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  • Things were working fine so this makes sense. Thanks
    – Gandy
    Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 20:56
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    Those non-contact voltage testers are OK for safety, in that if it does NOT glow / beeps, it is not hot. But they are bad at going the other way, meaning just because it glows / beeps does not mean it absolutely IS hot. I can get one to glow / beep by blowing compressed air across the tip. They pick up "false positives" in stray voltages, static discharges and weak induced voltages..
    – JRaef
    Commented Nov 23, 2020 at 0:27

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