Garmaine asked 4 years ago
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?
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