On 12 Jun 2009 22:57:50 GMT,
(insaneelectic) wrote:


I have a ridiculous problem with a circuit in my house. A simple circuit
tester, when hooked to the black and white wires going to a switch shows
that I have 120V (based on an LED on the tester, not an exact
measurement). The black and whites coming out of the ceiling show the same
result. When I flip the switch on and off, the circuit tester at the
ceiling goes on and off. All is good, right?

However, when I hook up a simple bulb fixture to the ceiling, it doe not
turn on. Tried different bulbs, fixtures. Wall is hot, switch is working,
ceiling is hot, but no lights.

This fixture was functional and then started flickering intermittently and
then ceased to function. There was a leak from the roof in the floor above
that was fixed around that time, but not sure if it is related. . . Any
ideas?
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If the wire to that fixture is not connected to a hot circuit
and if it runs along a circuit that is live, it can pick up the
voltage, but not any significant amperage. Modern meters can measure
that voltage, while older analog meters would not.