jeff_wisnia wrote in
:

Darro wrote:

After disconnecting and reconnecting the wires in an electrical
circuit, my low-tech current tester seems to indicate (with low lamp
brightness) that the current in the reconnected wire circuit isn't as
strong as I think it should be. Could there be a problem with my
reconnections?

Facts:
Wires are in a metal ceiling box governed by a wall switch.

One 14/3 wire plus ground enters the box and one 14/2 plus ground
enters the box from the opposite side.

Black wire from 14/3 is connected inside the box to black wire from
14/2 wire. White wire from 14/3 is connected to white wire from 14/2
wire, both of which are connected to one end of a short white 14
gauge wire. The other end of the short white 14 gauge wire isn't
connected to anything. The red wire from 14/3 isn't connected to
anything.

The ground wires from the 14/3 and 14/2 are connected to each other
and rest against the metal box which has no screw to fasten them to
the box.

I'm assuming that I can connect a standard two-wire lamp fixture to
the red wire and the white wire. When I test the circuit by touching
one wire on my tester to the red wire and the other wire on my tester
to the short white wire, the lamp that indicates current flow is much
dimmer than it is if I insert the wires on my tester into the
prong-holes in a wall socket.

Is the relatively dim indicator light on the tester a sign that I've
reconnected the wires incorrectly? If not, why is the indicator light
so much dimmer?

Thanks in advance for your replies,
Dennis

Did you take a photo or make a sketch of those wirtes before you
disconnected and reconnected them Darro?

Digital cameras. One of the handiest tools from wiring to carb
rebuilding to whatever.


Most likely the indicator light is "so much dimmer" because the red
wire isn't connected to a 120 volt source and what's making the
indicator bulb light is just capacitively coupled current from the red
wire being adjacent to a black wire carrying 120 volts.

Now, you also didn't tell us whether that wall switch you say is
controling the circuit was on or off when you made your measurements,
so we don't have enough information to give you a complete answer.

Stop using that tester and use a 25 watt candelabra bulb in a socket
with a coupklee of wires on it. That'll give you a much better idea of
whether there's a completed circuit there or not there.

Good Luck,

Jeff