A/C outlet problem

[robertearl]

Help me to understand what is going on with a ceiling outlet.

My son was installing a new ceiling fan. He got it up but called me that it was
not working. When I got there I checked the wiring. Ground to green, white to white, and black to black. Seemed good but when I checked the voltage between the white and black, I got 60 volts. He said that when he disconnected the old fan, the ground and common where tied together. We did that and now we have 120 volts. Can someone explain to me what is going on?

Reb

 

[David0858]

What's your voltage between "white and black" and "ground and black" . Try ground and white, too.

 

[Jim greengo]

Sounds like an open neutral to me

 

[Innovate1]

^^^ +1

Trace the wire back to the next junction box and check there. If there is a wall switch I would start there. Likely a bad splice. If its bad there continue back the power feed until you find the issue.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Sounds like an open neutral to me

X3. Don't continue runnig it with the G&N tied together. Find where the N is lost and repair it.

Tommy