Everyone pretty much nailed the simptoms of the "phantom voltage". I
plugged some Christmas lights (festive I know) into the socket and
re-read the voltage, it dropped to Zero...

I Tested HOT to Ground and get 120V.
Testing HOT to Neutral produced the 0 or 85v (phantom).

So, somewhere in the circuit the Neutral has a bad connection. I will
trace it tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your assistance...

I also read a little bit about basic home wiring, so I have a better
understanding of what is going on now....

Thanks
Geoff


On Dec 11, 7:26 pm, "Pop`" wrote:

GThat pretty much settles it. You said you had 120 at the breaker and 85 at
the plug. Somewhere between the breaker and the plug there is an open - the
wire is broken, a splice is opened up, a wire is off where it passes thru
another outlet, whatever.
The voltage you're reading is called "phantom" voltage and will disappear
if you put any kind of load on it. For instance, plug something into that
outlet and turn it on, but keep it unseated just enough to get your meter
probes on the blades; you'll find it's now reading 0 volts, I'm pretty sure.

HTH
Pop`