Electricians-I have a dead outlet but when I pulled it out of the wall I....?

Question

....found that if I put my meter from the black wire to the ground (bare) wire I had 120 VAC. Is something hooked up wrong? It's powered by a switch that has two black wires going to it.

Answer 1

So, sounds like you have a switched outlet ?

The wall switch has a hot coming to it, and another hot (both black) that is the switched wire going out to your outlet.

One side of that outlet should have a black wire on it, this should be going to a screw that is darker in color than the other terminal screw, this is the side of the outlet that has the more narrow slot.

The other terminal on that outlet should have a white wire going to it, this is the neutral. It is tied to the same place electrically as that bare ground wire back at your box, but you NEVER use the ground wire for carrying current.

In your electrical panel, you may see all the ground wires going to a bus strip, all the white wires to another bus strip. Some panels have a single bus strip for both white and bare wires. Regardless, at your panel, ground and neutral are the same point, just dont treat them the same. If you have a panel with a single bus bar for both, dont ever put a white and a ground under the same screw, even though that point is electrically the same point.

The bare wire must always be a protective non current carrying ground. If it were carrying current, then due to resistive losses in the wire, there would be a small voltage difference on that wire from true ground.

sorry, back to your problem....

Since you say there is 110 from the hot to that ground, then you have power at the outlet. What about across the terminals from the hot to the white wire ? If you dont have 110 volts black to white, then your white wire is not connected somewhere, most likely back at that switch. You may find two white wires in there wire nutted together. Check to make sure you have a good connection there too.

Perhaps the outlet is so worn internally that the devices you are plugging in are not making contact.

There are tabs on a outlet that you can break using a long nose pliers, this is a small metal bridge area that you can break on the hot side to seperate or split a outlet. This is done quite commonly where you want one half of the outlet always hot and the other half switched. Look at your existing outlet and see if this bridge between the two areas has been severed. If the entire outlet is switched, then you would not want it severed.

If it is severed, then you would have another black wire going to the other half of the outlet. Since you dont mention that, I am assuming that there is only one feed to this outlet and that both halves should be switched.

If the outlet is old, put in a new one, best thing you can do, you want to replace outlets that are getting loose as this leads to heat build up when heavy loads like a vacuum are plugged in to them.

For the record, I am not a electrician, but have done quite a bit of wiring of all types. My best friend IS a electrician and I have worked side by side with him on many jobs. I do know how to do things right, when ever in doubt, I ask.

j

Answer 2

Black is always the hot wire, white is the return. The safety ground (bare wire) is also ground so current will flow to it as well. (these are actually connected together in the breaker box) Measure between black and white, you should see 120V, if you do not the return is open. Sometimes the wire will break inside the insulation, remove some more iunsulation and check for a break.

Answer 3

Sounds like you tested to see if the neutral was good, and you found out it wasn't. Are the receptacles "stab in", or do the wires wrap around the screws? If you have the stab in type, you might have to go through all you outlets and check their connections. In residential work, electricians "daisy chain" the receptacles, and sounds as though you have a neutral not making a good connection. Start at the service and check all the neutrals on the bus, then go on to your recepts and check. Sounds like you have a grasp of electrical work, with the meter and all, good luck to you and be safe! All the above answers are good by the way.