Hot/ground reverse

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Nope. It's 8 outlets, a few lights and I think the garage door opener. What surprised me is when the 3 others worked for 10 seconds. My tester (I know, you all hate it by now! Lol) has the second light for "correct" wiring dimly lit and flickering if you stare hard enough. Otherwise from far away it looks like "neutral" issue. And the results with a dmm at each outlet are above. I only spend a few hours here so I'll have to try again next time. I'm determined to find the issue.

 

[Muzzy]

I'm not an electrician, but I think you have a bad connection somewhere.
Keep up what you're doing, checking device by device until you fix it or go crazy.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I'm not an electrician, but I think you have a bad connection somewhere.
Keep up what you're doing, checking device by device until you fix it or go crazy.

If an outlet tests fine and showed voltage, can it still have a neutral issue which would cause this? And I'll do that! Lol. Probably crazy first

 

[Muzzy]

Yes.
The flickering on your tester and intermittent good values are what made me suggest a loose wire. I have had problems like this on the infamous back-stab outlets that a lot of people use, which have connections that tend to loosen over time.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Yes.
The flickering on your tester and intermittent good values are what made me suggest a loose wire. I have had problems like this on the infamous back-stab outlets that a lot of people use, which have connections that tend to loosen over time.

The people who lived there previous loved that feature. Me, not so much.

 

[prostreetamx]

You need to clear the entire circuit of any loads before checking with a plug in tester. Anything like a power strip or garage door opener can cause a false reading and will let the hot return part way on the neutral wire until it gets to the bad section. You have a neutral issue and it could be as simple as a loose connection at a receptacle. You stated there was a heater plugged in at one time. These will max out a circuit pretty quick and cause a bad connection to get worse over time. If you have the older type of stab in back feed plugs you can just move the wires to the screws or replace them. Make sure all the screws are tight also at every plug in the circuit. The wires in the walls themselves rarely fail but any connection point can fail if not tight. It could take years before this is an issue until you put a big load on the bad connection. Unplug all loads and turn off switches before testing.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I'm going to replace the outlets on the circuit today. As you stated, I noticed that when I unplugged the power strip in the third outlet it went from the original reading to open neutral. I'll check back in after outlet replacement! Thanks so far guys

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

 

[wyliesdiesels]

The panel "looked" fine but there's too much crammed in there for me to feel comfortable poking around.

Actually panel doesnt look fine. U have multipe different brands of breakers in there that need to be changed for the correct brand.

What brand and model of panel is that?

yup. bad burned neutral connection on a crappy failed "back-stabbed" outlet. U should go through all the outlets in the house and replace each one with a spec grade/"preferred grade" outlet that has pressure plates. They cost a few bucks each but are worth it.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

I have. All but the bedroom outlets have been replaced by me.

 

[Muzzy]

"Well there's your problem right there."

Good catch! I'm glad you were able to find and fix this one.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

"Well there's your problem right there."

Good catch! I'm glad you were able to find and fix this one.

Thank you. It was the next outlet I suspected. 5/8 outlets in the circuit had burnt neutrals, the insulation was blackened and brittle.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

So the outlet read voltage because the Feed from the breaker was fine, but all the outlets past that had "no" neutral because the neutral was open. Great learning experience I can add to my book of knowledge.

 

[mm08822]

Is that box missing cable connectors? Wires look like they are passing through ko without any protection or strain relief.

Not sure I see any grd wires.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

For the ground, it's underneath the lower hot wire if you look closely. It comes in from the wall with a hold down in the box, grounds from the cable to the box and then back out to ground at the outlet as well.

 

[American Locomotive]

Blows my mind that the NEC mandates things like AFCI breakers, but still allows trouble-prones spring-loaded backstabs to be a valid wiring method.

 

[SuzukiGS750EZ]

Blows my mind that the NEC mandates things like AFCI breakers, but still allows trouble-prones spring-loaded backstabs to be a valid wiring method.

Ive always hated back stabbing. It's a lazy mans means of hooking up outlets. I also find through this house the people who did wiring A) Didn't tape the outlet when they were done wiring. B) Back stabbed. C) Put all the loops backwards if they did use a screw and D) Cut all the wires in the box too short. They also screwed up ALL the 3 way switches in the house so those are next on my list after i get all these outlets replaced... but the switches are simple to straighten out.

 

[prostreetamx]

Back stabbed outlets for #12 have been gone for years. I was wiring tract houses when the code changed and they quit making them. You can still buy back stabbed for #14 wire but in my local jurisdiction they don't work anyway since we are required to run #12 for all plug circuits. One fix for those short burned wires is to cut them until you find decent clean copper and just wirenut each pair together with pigtails. This also moves the pass thru load to that connection rather than the pretty thin jumper on the plug. A little No-Lox in the wire nut wouldn't hurt.