On Dec 10, 12:58*pm, James Sweet wrote:
Bill wrote:

Hi guys,

* Many of you hit the nail right on the head: *The ground is, for some
reason, floating. *I will hire an electrical contractor to look into
this dangerous situation (I have found other wiring idiocies in this
house, so I'll have him check everything for safety).

Thanks again!

-Bill

Welcome to the joys of owning an older home. You never know what
surprises are lurking, keeps life interesting.

Ain't that the truth. I found some fun stuff at my place, like a
14AWG hall lighting circuit connected to a kitchen receptacle, which
was fed from the receptacle in the basement for the clothes washer,
which was on a 20A breaker. Good times. And you wonder why my lights
dimmed every time someone used the microwave. (don't worry; I fixed
it.) Also bootlegged grounds all over the damn place, I'm still
picking away at those. I was happy when I saw the grounded
receptacles at the initial walk through and they all tested OK with a
cheap plug in tester; now, not so much.

nate